"So what? We have already issued a statement condemning the murder of Huang Yuansheng by Yuan Shikai's political fǔ faction, and most people will still think that Yuan Shikai killed him because he had refused to write an article for Yuan Shikai. The Chinese said, "As long as we don't admit it, the confessions of those people are nothing." ”

Hearing his words, the Japanese sneered and did not answer.

"We need further help from the Japanese government," the KMT leader said, staring at the black letters on the front page of the newspaper, in a voice that seemed to come from hell, "I will select some good party members to be trained with the help of the Japanese Ministry of Intelligence." Now that we have entered an extraordinary period, we must adopt extraordinary measures. ”

Hearing the leader's words, the Chinese couldn't help but slightly fight a cold war, and the Japanese kimono young nv standing next to the leader noticed his uneasy movements, but she just glanced at him silently and said nothing.

At this moment, another young Chinese hurried in.

"What's going on? So flustered? The Chinese in the room rebuked dissatisfiedly, probably to hide the unnaturalness of hearing the leader's decision just now, and he coughed several times in succession as he spoke.

His movements had the opposite effect, and the coughing sound might have reminded the people around him of something bad, and everyone invariably focused their eyes on him.

"Are you feeling unwell?" The leader stared at him intensely, his eyes flashing with concern, and he was very moved.

"No, no." He quickly shook his head and waved his hand to show that it didn't matter.

"Although the plague has been extinguished now, everyone still has to be careful." The leader returned to his usual kindness.

Listening to the leader's words, both Chinese nodded repeatedly, while the Japanese heard the word "plague", and their faces showed indignation.

In his opinion, if it were not for this sudden plague, Japan would have been able to defeat China and smoothly turn China into its protectorate.

"What's the matter?" The leader asked the young Chinese.

"Let's line with Germany...... ...... was discovered," the young man said with a pale face, giving the leader a telegram in his hand.

Listening to his words, all the Chinese and Japanese in the room changed their faces.

The leader's face sank again, and he took the telegram and read it quickly, letting out a heavy sigh.

"How did the news get out?" The leader asked in a deep voice.

"It is likely that the last assassination attempt failed, and the news of the captured people leaked ......," the young man replied timidly, "and the details are not clear......

"Is Lin Shen no longer in touch now?" The leader's face began to grow more and more ugly.

"Yes......"

"The funds promised by the Germans are important to us and we must not give them up." The leader held back his anger and did not flare up, but ordered in an irrefutable tone, "At all costs, we must also get these funds." ”

The two Chinese listened to the leader's order, and both nodded submissively and did not speak.

"This matter also needs the help of your country's intelligence personnel, please." The leader turned to the Japanese and said.

"I want to know how much money is and if it's worth it." The Japanese asked unceremoniously.

"This fund, converted into my country's silver dollars, should be about four million yuan." The leader replied.

Hearing the number reported by the leader of the Kuomintang Party, the corners of the Japanese eyes jumped unconsciously.

"I will report to my superiors and make arrangements." The Japanese replied.

After sending these people away, only the leader himself and the quiet and beautiful Japanese young man were left in the room, and the young man saw that the leader sat on the chair with some annoyance, holding his forehead with his hand, and seemed to be a little uncomfortable, he stepped forward slowly, and gently pressed the leader's sun with his hand, and the leader's face gradually softened.

"Don't be anxious, sir, everything will be fine." Shao NV said softly in pure Chinese.

"Hmm" The leader nodded, and suddenly reached out and took the hand that Shao NV was massaging him, and impulsively pulled her into his arms.

Los Angeles, USA.

"That's what we've achieved so far."

In a small living room, Shen Gaoyi gave Yang Shuoming a piece of paper with charts and figures written on it.

"Now you have $12 billion in capital," Mr. Shen said to Mr. Yang proudly, "and almost all of them come from the gold market." ”,

Shen Wanyun, who was sitting on the sofa, carefully looked at the handsome young general in front of her, her big beautiful eyes were round, full of surprise.

She really couldn't imagine that it was such a young man who had repeatedly defeated the Japanese army and recovered Qingdao.

"Very good, Mr. Shen really lives up to his reputation." Yang Shuoming nodded, and his face showed satisfaction, "These have far exceeded my expected benefits." ”

"It's my pleasure to serve you." Shen Gaoyi listened to Yang Shuoming's praise and smiled happily. Even though the other party was a young man who was much older than him, he couldn't help but feel flattered.

"I can use this money at any time, right?" Yang Shuoming asked.

"Yes." Shen Gaoyi looked back at NV and said, "According to Xiǎonv's suggestion, all your wealth will be stored in the six most creditworthy banks in the United States, so that you can access it at any time. ”

"Thank you." Yang Shuoming nodded, and his eyes fell on Shao NV, who had already stood up, "So, Sister Shen Xiǎo is also a master of financial management." ”

Shao NV couldn't help but blush when she heard his approval, she looked at him a little shyly, and forgot all the things she wanted to say just now.

"To be honest, I sometimes can't get busy, and some business is handled by Jiāo for xiǎonv." Shen Gaoyi noticed NV'er's strange demeanor and immediately spoke.

Yang Shuoming looked at the young nv of the bright ** person in front of him, felt the strangeness of her gaze, and couldn't help but secretly laugh in his heart, he didn't want to embarrass the young nv, but changed the topic and asked: "Shen Xiǎo sister jīng is very concerned about current affairs?" ”

"Oh...... Right. Hearing his question, Shao NV came back to his senses and nodded a little panicked.

"Sister xiǎo thinks when will the war in Europe end?" Yang Shuoming asked.

Shen Gaoyi looked at Yang Shuoming with some surprise, not understanding how he could ask such a question.

"I think the war will probably end soon." Shen Wanyun calmed down, regained her usual calmness and self-confidence, she thought about it for a while, and replied, "I think there will be many people in the American public who think the same way." ”

"I see." Yang Shuoming smiled slightly, "If that's the case, we can't put all the jī eggs in one basket like we did at the beginning." ”

"You're quite right, General." "If you want to invest in other areas, I can still help you." ”

"I haven't fully figured this out yet, but I'd love to hear from the American business community." Yang Shuoming said, "I will hold a cold dinner here the day after tomorrow, and I hope that you and Sister Shen Xiǎo can come at that time." Yang Shuoming said, inadvertently looked at Shen Wanyun, and provoked Shao NV's heart to beat wildly again.

"It's a great honor." Shen Gaoyi just wanted to say something more, but saw several Chinese in suits and leather shoes walking into the living room quickly, and he saw that there might be something important to discuss between them, so he pulled NV to leave.

Yang Shuoming personally sent Shen Gaoyi and Shen Wanjun's father out of the mén, and when he returned, a Chinese in a suit couldn't wait to say to Yang Shuoming: "Become a general"

"How much is it?" Yang Shuoming nodded and asked quietly.

"Four million silver dollars." The other party couldn't suppress the joy in his heart and replied, "It's already saved." ”

"Didn't ask what the money was for?" Yang Shuoming asked.

"According to the confession of the person who was caught, it was the Germans who provided the funds for the activities of the ** party," replied the other party, "and the Germans hope to prevent our country from participating in the European war through the ** party." ”

"This money is in their hands, but I'm afraid it may not be able to be used on **, so that their leaders will squander it." Someone sneered, "In the past, the Japanese gave them money like this, but when the Japanese found out about it later, they refused to be wronged anymore." The Germans don't know this yet, and if they did, they wouldn't have wasted their money. ”

"It's not easy for them to get in touch from such a distance." Listening to the words of his subordinates, Yang Shuoming nodded thoughtfully.

"The Germans should have underground communications stations in the United States," said one of the subordinates.

"By the way, you're right, General, in Honolulu, there is a German ** ship parked." Another subordinate said.

"We checked, and as you said, it's an old cruiser called 'Gore'." Another subordinate added, "They were detained by the Americans on October 19, 1914, when they went to Honolulu to coal, and they have been there until now." ”,

"Very good, now let's make good use of this German ** ship." Yang Shuoming smiled faintly and said.

After listening to Yang Shuoming's words, several subordinates all looked at each other, as if they didn't quite understand what the "use" in Yang Shuoming's words meant.

Of course, they would not have thought that as a traveler who was very familiar with the history of naval warfare, Yang Shuoming still knew a little about the story of the "Gore".

The "Gore" is an old single-chimney cruiser with a displacement of 1,650 tons, and this old sail dual-purpose ship and the development of the "Königsberg" from the German mainland were then ordered to go to Qingdao to join the German Navy's Eastern Fleet under the command of the famous German Admiral Count Spee. Due to the slow speed of the voyage, the war broke out before the "Gore" was still on the way, and Count Spee led his fleet south to fight in the waters of South America. After Japan entered the war, it began to besiege Qingdao, and the situation of the "Gore" was very dangerous. The loss of contact with the group, the lack of armor protection, the few shells, the long service in the tropics, and the lack of maintenance made the speed of the ship more and more sluggish, but the German officers and men on board did not flinch in the face of difficulties, and still decided to do the same as the water assault ship, cutting off and disturbing the British shipping routes in the Pacific.

Because the British Navy was unable to fully deploy in the global waters at this time, it asked the Allied Japan to send warships to take care of the backyard, and the Japanese carelessness gave the "Gore" a great opportunity, so that this old warship actually had quite a success, sinking a lot of British merchant ships (it must be said that many captains of the German Navy in World War I were both responsible and professional).

But the Gore did not last long, and like many German naval assault ships at the time, the Achilles' weakness was that it was often not replenished with coal during the voyage, so it sometimes had to go to the ports of neutral countries such as the United States to replenish it. The British and Japanese, of course, understood the weakness of the German raid ships, and when the "Gore" arrived in Honolulu on October 19, 1914, they immediately spotted two Japanese warships waiting for the rabbit here - the 12,000-ton battleship "Féi Mae" and the 9,700-ton armored cruiser "Asama".

However, the captain of the "Gore" had a very good level of business, and even sailed his own warship into the harbor before the Japanese warship launched an attack. Since the Japanese warships were unable to attack the "Gore" in the ports of neutral countries, they could only demand that the US side detain the "Gore" in accordance with the principle of neutrality on the grounds that the German and Japanese warships were in a state of war. The Americans did the same.

Although it may seem that the "Gore" has lost its role as a warship, Yang Shuoming knew that these German naval officers and sailors who were enjoying the tropical sun were not so pure, and now they had turned the warship into a communications relay station to serve the German secret foreign service, who had helped carry out the plan for the escape of German assets from the United States, and played an important role in Germany's efforts to persuade Canada and Mexico to join the Allied camp. Although the latter ended in failure, the results of the former were quite good.

At present, the Entente and the United States do not know the hidden mystery of this Xiǎoxiǎo German ship, but Yang Shuoming intends to use the communication relay station of the "Gore" as a fulcrum to pry the wheels of the First World War and turn it in the direction he wants

A few days later, in a villa on the beach, US President Wilson received a telegram with a strange content.

"We plan to restart negotiations with the Japanese side this month, and in the meantime, we will do everything in our power to keep China neutral." "If the negotiations are successful, we propose to form an alliance with Japan on the basis of the following, conduct a coordinated war, and jointly conclude world peace."

"We will provide a lot of financial assistance to Japan, Japan will regain access to Manchuria, Méng and Shandong, and the details of the proposal will be drawn up by the Japanese side."

"Please try to inform the head of the Japanese government of this proposal as top secret, and encourage Japan to participate in this plan immediately. At the same time, we are engaged in good offices for our negotiations with Japan. ”

"Please be sure to convey to the Japanese government that if our powerful fleet and the Japanese fleet were to fight together, we would have the strength to destroy the main force of the British fleet, and Japan would once again be as glorious as a victory in the Battle of Tsushima, and Britain, having lost its fleet, would no longer be our opponent. Even if the United States wanted to help Britain, it would be powerless. After the victory, Japan will become the dominant player in Asia. There is no need to fear the United States anymore. ”,

Wilson finished reading the telegram, his brow furrowed, and little by little he fell into deep thought.

After a long time, Wilson raised his head and asked the colonel who had sent the telegram, "Can you guarantee the authenticity of this telegram?" ”

"The British side affirmed beyond any doubt the authenticity of this telegram." The colonel replied, "It was intercepted and deciphered by the British Office No. 40, and they sent the original copy of the telegram as well, and said that if we did not believe the contents of the telegram, we could decipher it ourselves and check it." ”

"What they mean is that they don't want people to know that they have transmitted the information to us," said one general, "and they use this way to believe that we have intercepted and deciphered it ourselves." ”

Wilson handed the telegram to Lansing and did not speak.

"If the content of the telegram is true, it is easy to understand how the Japanese are behaving these days." Lan Xin said with some anger, "Their ambitions are indeed beyond our imagination. ”

"We should bring about a peace treaty between China and Japan as soon as possible, and not give Japan a chance to accept the German yòuhuò." Wilson nodded, "We don't have enough strength to stop Japan from invading China right now, and it is necessary to take action together with Britain." ”

"We would do well not give the public the impression that the U.S. government is overzealous about wars in Europe and Asia." Lansing suggested.

Wilson heard the accusation in Lansing's words and nodded, "If China participates in the war on the side of the Entente, it will not only stop Japan's aggressive ambitions, but will also bring unexpected benefits to the United States." ”

"That's right." Lansing agreed with Wilson's idea, "Provided, of course, that the peace treaty between China and Japan was signed under conditions that were more favorable to China." ”

"The Chinese foreign minister has repeatedly expressed to me that he wants American capital to participate in the construction of Manchuria," Mr. Wilson said, "and I believe in his sincerity, and in the willingness of the American public to participate, although for me I do not like to see such a job." ”

Lansing understood the meaning of Wilson's words, but just smiled and didn't continue.

Because of the strength of isolationist forces in the United States, Wilson, who won re-election with "he kept us from going to war," has always made Lansing, as secretary of state, very worried. Wilson certainly understood this, but Wilson's ultimate goal was to make the United States play an important role in international affairs, and Lansing's opposition could not prevent him from realizing his ideas.