Jagged Warlord

Under the pressure of the SS's wall, the markets in Xuzhou and Yanzhou, which were newly occupied, became increasingly stable, but there was still a force making trouble in it, and that was the Japanese Volunteer Team organized by Tian Nobuo.After the SS took over Xuzhou, they still followed the remnants of Zhang Wensheng's braided army and retreated to Haizhou. At the same time, they contacted the Japanese army stranded in Shandong due to the blockage of the railway, intending to create excuses for Japan to further expand its aggression.

After February, this matter gradually leaked, and soon aroused great attention and strong opposition from all walks of life. On March 2, the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce and all walks of life reacted first, holding a national assembly in Zhangyuan with more than 3 people, and proposed six boycott measures: (18) Telephone the government, please maintain the dignity of the country, and strive to protect rights and interests; 3) Organized petitions for the Chinese people to jointly plan ways to save the nation; (6) Connected petition branches in various provinces; (1) Boycotted Japanese products; (2) Organized militia groups to raise funds in case of unexpected events; (3) Established a vernacular newspaper, as a propaganda agency.The national anti-Japanese national salvation action plan was fully deployed.

At the same time, chambers of commerce from all over the country sent telegrams expressing their resolute disapproval of "Article 21" and their willingness to fully support the government in resisting Japan's aggression.By the end of March, there were Andong Sinuiju Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Shanghai Export Association, Guangzhou General Chamber of Commerce, Guangdong Province Business Group Export Yangzhuang Chamber of Commerce, Osaka Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Japan, Shanxi General Chamber of Commerce, Kobe Japanese General Chamber of Commerce, Hangzhou General Chamber of Commerce, Shandong 3 chambers of commerce, including the General Chamber of Commerce, Anhui General Chamber of Commerce, Ningbo General Chamber of Commerce, Cuban Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Little Luzon Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Nanning Federation of Chambers of Commerce, and Changsha General Chamber of Commerce, successively sent out calls.

In addition to sending telegrams to express their views, many chambers of commerce have begun to take practical actions to boycott. At the beginning of April, Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce Dong Song Hanzhang, Yu Qiaqing, ** San, Wang Wendian and others began to discuss the launch of the "National Salvation Fund" campaign. On the 4th, the "General Office of the China National Salvation Fund Reserve Group" was established, and 8 members of the General Chamber of Commerce and business people including Yu Qiaqing, Zhu Baosan, and Bei Runsheng were elected as temporary clerks.A few days later, Yu Qiaqing was elected as the director-general, and Bei Runsheng and Ma Zuochen were elected as deputy director-generals.Set up the head office in Shanghai, and set up branch offices in various provinces, counties, and commercial ports at home and abroad. It is planned to raise 37 million silver dollars for the purpose of adding military equipment to the country.

On May 5, Japan presented an ultimatum to the Yuan Shikai government, and was limited to give a satisfactory reply before the 7th.This undoubtedly added fuel to the flames of the already rising chambers of commerce and the national salvation activities of the industrial and commercial circles. On the 9th, the Beijing General Chamber of Commerce sent a telegram to all chambers of commerce across the country: The government made concessions and made peace, and the power was lost. , to help the country.The time is endless, and there is a period of hard work. This body can be destroyed, and this ambition is immortal.All chambers of commerce across the country are called upon to mobilize the business community to participate in this national salvation movement.

Since then, the activities of saving the nation’s funds have sprung up rapidly in response to the responses of various chambers of commerce across the country. By the end of August, 8 institutions for saving the nation’s funds had been set up in all provinces of the country, of which 299 had declared a deposit of more than 120 million yuan, and 640 had paid in deposits. 54 million yuan.In order to further promote the activities of saving the country, on September 202, a joint meeting of representatives of the National Gold Saving Group was held in Shanghai.There were 9 representatives present at the meeting, and the National Association of Gold Savings Representatives was established, and Yu Qiaqing was elected as the chairman.The meeting adopted a unified national approach, calling on governments at all levels, newspapers, chambers of commerce, and gold storage offices to do their best; amending the charter of the gold storage group, emphasizing independent control over the use of gold storage, and adding provisions for the use of gold storage for manufacturing plants .Soon, this vigorous national saving gold reserve activity was forced to be returned and disbanded in order to prevent Yuan Shikai from misappropriating the reserve gold as funds for the restoration of the imperial system, but it also showed the intention of the chamber of commerce and the industrial and commercial circles to try to shoulder the responsibility of saving the country's rights and interests.

While initiating and leading the National Salvation and Gold Savings Campaign, the Chamber of Commerce also initiated and led the boycott of Japanese products and the promotion of domestic products. In mid-to-late March, the Shanghai business community first gathered to discuss boycotting Japanese goods.Then all over the world responded, and within ten days, chambers of commerce and other industrial and commercial groups in Guangdong, Wuxi, Songjiang, Fuzhou, Anhui, Yantai, Yingkou, Jinan, Changchun, Xiamen, Hankou, Wuhu, Datong and other places successively set off boycott days. cargo movement. After April, chambers of commerce in Changsha, Huzhou, Harbin, Kunming, Shashi, Tianjin, Fengtian, Chongqing and other places started up one after another.A nationwide boycott of Japanese goods was soon formed.

Unlike the rest of the country who were busy boycotting Japanese goods, Li Mohan only called a meeting of middle and senior officers of the SS in such a turbulent situation.Li Mohan believes that the unity of thought and understanding is more important than the form.

Li Mohan said openly to the officers: "Everyone knows that the Japanese proposed "Article 21", and that the reason why President Yuan leaked this secret agreement was to hope for mediation with Britain, France, the United States and Russia, but you know why Britain and France Instead of mediating, the U.S. and Russia are still favoring the Japanese?"

Someone replied: "Britain, France, the United States, Russia, and the Japanese are a nest of snakes and rats. I hope they come out to uphold justice, which is simply seeking skin from a tiger."

Li Mohan said: "You only mentioned the phenomenon, but not the essence."

It can be seen from the war situation in 1915 that during the negotiation between China and Japan on "Article 21", Britain was mired in the quagmire of war. This situation made Britain unable to take into account Japan's activities in China.In addition, on the afternoon of February 1915, 2, the Indian garrison at the Alexandra Barracks on the outskirts of Singapore set off a riot.Since almost all the British troops stationed in Singapore were sent to the European battlefield at that time, Britain had to ask the Japanese army to send troops for assistance.By the 15th, with the help of the Japanese army, the British quelled the riot.Yoichi Hirama believed that it was the United Kingdom that concentrated its forces on fighting against the Allies, and that its security in the Far East depended on the assistance of the Japanese army.It was the events of the war in 25 that determined Britain's attitude towards Japan on the "Article 1915" issue.

As for France, it even took advantage of the fire to rob and provoke the Lao Xikai incident.This incident seemed to benefit the French, but it made the Chinese people have a strong aversion to France. This aversion directly affected the subsequent French recruitment of Chinese workers in China.

The United States was originally the country most likely to interfere with Japan regarding "Article 21", but during most of the negotiations between Japan and the United States, the United States' attitude towards Japan was compromised.

First of all, maintaining vested interests in China is one of the goals of the US foreign policy. The Spanish-American War in 1898 had great historical significance for the United States.Through this war, the international status of the United States was unprecedentedly improved, and its foreign policy began to change from mainland expansion to overseas expansion.The control of Cuba and the Philippines, the occupation of Hawaii and Samoa, the seizure of the Panama Canal, and the proposal of the "Open Door" policy towards China are all typical examples of the United States' overseas expansion strategy during this period.The United States naturally does not want other powers to intervene or carve up its own interests when it gains rights and interests in the above-mentioned regions.

The proposal of "Article 21" is certainly Japan's criminal act of aggression against China, but the United States' negotiations with Japan on "Article 21" will not be based on China's interests, but will try to protect the interests of the United States in China as its fundamental purpose.Therefore, the negotiations are only limited to the Fujian issue related to the rest of the interests of the United States, and the United States will never adopt the same tough attitude as Japan for the interests of China.

Second, the United States is not as powerful as Japan in East Asia.In terms of economy, after the Spanish-American War, the total industrial output of the United States exceeded the sum of the industrial output of Britain, France, Germany, and Japan.But America's traditional investment venues are America first, Europe second, and Asia third. In 1911, the total foreign trade export volume of the United States reached 22 billion US dollars, but the export trade to China was only 4000 million US dollars, which was less than 2% of the total foreign trade volume of the United States, and the investment in China only accounted for 3% of the total foreign investment in China. Financial strength is far inferior to that of Japan.

In terms of military affairs, at the beginning of the 20th century, the United States had relatively weak military strength in East Asia and had no naval bases in the Western Pacific.Although the United States has a large number of naval ships, its overall combat effectiveness is not strong, and its senior naval commanders are less than half of Japan's.In addition, at the beginning of the 20th century, Japan, Britain, France, Russia and other countries had reached bilateral or multilateral agreements to jointly dominate the international situation in East Asia, and the United States had no room to intervene in East Asia.In short, the United States has a short history of expansion in East Asia and lacks the strength to compete with Japan.Japan also has a superior geographical location, which determines that the United States is at a disadvantage in diplomatic activities backed by national strength.

Again, the United States is disturbed by other affairs and cannot compete with Japan with all its strength.The outbreak of the First World War plunged the entire European economy into chaos. Europe is the most important investment place for the United States. Although the wartime military supplies guaranteed the United States’ foreign trade quota, the European War has always troubled the United States. The focus of political issues.In addition, after the end of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), frictions between Mexico and the United States continued. From the outbreak of the Mexican bourgeois revolution in 1910 to the entry of the United States into the First World War in 1917, the Mexican issue has always attracted the attention of the United States.The strength of the United States in East Asia cannot compete with Japan in the first place. Coupled with the obstacles of these factors, it is even more impossible to compete with Japan in East Asia.

The mid-level and high-level officers of the SS felt that their eyes were wide open after listening to Li Mohan's narration. In fact, the Chinese at this time, even those so-called diplomats, are not capable of analyzing the international situation from the perspective of internationalization and globalization. It is not high, and often suffers from dark losses, especially without knowing it.In this regard, the Japanese at that time were very good at it, and they took advantage of all the maneuvers.

In the end, Li Mohan said: "In fact, there is another point, that is, Britain, France and other countries believe that once China and Japan go to war, China will be defeated, and may even perish and be annexed by Japan, just like North Korea. In their view, China is a giant The fat sheep cannot be eaten by the Japanese alone. Therefore, they would rather let this big fat sheep cut off a hand and a leg to temporarily feed the hungry wolf of Japan."

"Damn it." Ma Qian'an couldn't help but explode, "Who said we can't beat the Japanese?"

"That's right, I really look at people through the cracks of the door and look down on people." The SS officers, mainly young men, were gearing up one by one.

Xiao Wenlong said: "I understand the meaning of the general, that is to say, if we fight the Japanese on the battlefield, even if we win miserably, Britain, France, the United States and Russia will know that even if China and Japan go to war, the Japanese do not have the tooth to swallow it all at once. China. Then they have the confidence to force the Japanese to spit out more, just like the three countries intervened and returned to Liao?"

"Yes. The dignity of no country or nation is maintained by humility. Today's world is a jungle where the mighty outweighs the public, and the law of the jungle is the eternal law." Li Mohan said: "Now the Japanese are in Haizhou and Shandong. To add to our obstacles, no matter whether it is public or private, we must fight the Japanese."

Liu Musheng put away his folding fan with a huff, and said, "But once the war starts, it will be difficult to end. I am afraid that someone will blame you, young master. They will say that you have resorted to fighting recklessly, causing people to die. Besides, President Yuan will not agree?"

"So, instead of sending troops in the name of the SS, we send troops in the name of the Volunteer Army."