After sending the guests from Khiva to Xixiao, Zhao Bei hurriedly painted Hunger Island "At this time, it was five o'clock in the afternoon, and after Zhao Bei rushed back to the commander's hall, he first met with several foreign guests, during which the adjutant came to report. Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi asked to see him, so after sending off the foreign guests, Zhao Bei met Tang Shaoyi in his presidential office.

These days. Tang Shaoyi was also very busy, on the one hand, the situation on the Russian side. On the one hand, there is the situation in Central Asia, and now the hand of the center is too long, and some things cannot be completely solved by military means alone, and diplomatic means must be used.

But it's not enough. It is not necessarily China that has the final say in dealing with small and weak countries. Tang Shaoyi, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, can handle it by himself, but if he is dealing with a strong country. For example, Britain and France, then, Tang Shaoyi can't go into battle shirtless, and he must also pull the center and the president to support him.

Now, Tang Shaoyi is here to find the president's support, but this time, he is dealing with neither Britain nor France. Rather, it was Australia, a Dominion of the British Empire.

"Dominion." It sounded like a self-governing colony under British rule, subject to the "oversight" of the British government in matters of defence and foreign affairs. But in fact, due to its relative economic independence and rising national sentiment, Australia is now almost a sovereign country, not only taking care of its own internal affairs, but also basically relying on itself for national defense, but in order to get the protection of the British navy and the vast colonial market. Australia also actively participated in the European War, and the Australian army fought side by side with the British ** team on the Western Front in Europe, as well as in the Middle East and Near East theaters, and performed quite well.

Such a "Dominion". In the eyes of the British government, the spoon is useful, so after the end of the European war, the British decided to further give Australia "freedom of movement." "In order to contain the rising Chinese and Japanese forces in the Far East.

It is also in this international context that Australia finally put forward a proposal on the island of New Guinea at the Paris Peace Conference Drug Gate Committee, asking the special committee to discuss and vote on the establishment of a sovereign and independent indigenous state in the northeast of the island, and the reason why Tang Shaoyi was in a hurry to visit Zhao Bei. It's for this Australian proposal.

Australia's first takeover of the eastern part of New Guinea was in the Mum Years, when Australia had been declared a "Dominion" and the Australian Parliament passed a bill to administer the backward colonies of the British Empire. In the same year, the British government officially handed over the British dependencies on the island of New Guinea to the Australian government, and renamed it "Papua". The Australian government then appointed a Governor of Papua to colonize the area, which was still nominally a British colony, but in reality. From then on, it was the Australian executive who ran the area, and the event marked a fundamental change in the subordination between Australia and the United Kingdom. After the explosion of the European war. Australia declared war on Germany, became a member of the Entente, and sent troops to land in the southern part of the island of New Guinea, attack the German colonies in the north, and carve up the German possessions with Japan, after that, the Australian army has been confronting the Japanese army on the island of New Guinea, and during the South Sea War, the Australian government was also secretly supporting the Dutch East Indies colonial authorities, but in the end it was powerless, the Netherlands was defeated, and Australia also had a direct contradiction with China and Japan because of those small actions, Among them, the contradiction with Japan is the most important.

Australia's proposal for the island of New Guinea at the Paris Peace Conference was designed to force Japan to withdraw from the region. Weakening Japan's influence on the ground?

In the face of European forces, Japan was alone and had no choice but to seek help from China. In exchange, it is hoped that China will show support for Japan's position at the Paris Peace Conference. The Government of Japan is willing to hand over some of the islands of the Republic of New Guinea to the Republic of Lanfang.

Tang Shaoyi received the same news not only from the Japanese ambassadors to China and the Chinese ambassadors to Japan, but also from Gu Weijun, the Chinese plenipotentiary to the Paris Peace Conference.

After Tang Shaoyi relayed the news he had just received in the afternoon to Zhao Bei, Zhao Bei did not make a decision immediately. Instead, he asked Tang Shaoyi a question first.

"Chief Tang, in your opinion, is the British government playing tricks behind the Australian proposal?

。 I think that's possible. It is reminiscent of the fact that the other day the British government tried to put forward a proposal for Central Asia at the Paris Peace Conference. Then, Australia's sudden proposal for the establishment of an independent state in New Guinea is probably instigated by the British government. ”

Tang Shaoyi nodded, he also thought so, but in fact, the reason why the British proposal a few days ago did not succeed was mainly because of US President Wilson's opposition, because the US Government was unwilling to offend China on the Central Asian issue, and the United States saw the decline of British power in Central Asia, so it is obvious that there are private forces that have infiltrated Central Asia and the Middle East.

"I wonder how the President replied to the inquiries from Paris? Gu Shaochuan's idea is very interesting. ”

Seeing that Zhao Bei was silent, Tang Shaoyi took out Gu Weijun's telegram and asked Zhao Bei's opinion.

Zhao Bei glanced at the telegram, on the telegram. Gu Weijun suggested that this opportunity be used to make a deal with Britain and Australia, exchange Japan's interests in New Guinea for stability in Central Asia, and get Britain to stop its provocative actions in Central Asia, and in return, the Chinese representative would abstain from voting in the special committee of the Paris Peace Conference.

"Chief Tang, in your opinion, will the British government agree to this political deal?" Zhao Bei took the telegram and asked Tang Shaoyi.

Tang Shaoyi hesitated for a moment and said, "If you don't try it, I don't know." It is better to order our ambassador to the UK to make contact with the British Foreign Secretary first to see what the other side means. Time is running out, and the proposal will be voted on tomorrow afternoon, so it is best to act immediately. ”

Seeing that Tang Shaoyi had the intention of cultivating Gu Weijun, Zhao Bei just smiled faintly, he knew very well that Tang Shaoyi and Gu Weijun were Weng sons-in-law, and with such a relationship, it was impossible for Tang Shaoyi to remain completely sober in this matter.

In fact, Tang Shaoyi was confused by the smokescreen bombs cast by the British government, and he did not see clearly what the British government really wanted to achieve.

The reason why the British government used Australia to throw out the New Guinea proposal was to drive a small wedge between China and Japan and divide and conquer them, while saving the Anglo-Japanese alliance that was coming to an end. On the one hand, it undermines the increasingly obvious situation of "Asian solidarity".

This wishful thinking of the British government ran counter to the plans of Zhao Bei, who insisted that it was not yet time for a break between China and Japan, and that the Lebanese Peace Conference had already made it clear. Britain and France will control international affairs, so it is impossible for Japan and the United States to fail to see the purpose of Britain and France, and in this situation, both Japan and the United States want to find an alternative to the Paris system, which is in the Abyss, in the Far East.

Zhao Bei was well aware that in history, although the League of Nations was formed after the Paris Peace Conference. However, the United States, which proposed the formation of this international organization, finally chose to return to "isolationism" because it was excluded from the core power of Britain and France, and the United States did not join the League of Nations, but at the same time, the United States tried to continue to play a role in the international community, as a direct evidence, the signing of the "Washington Naval Agreement" showed that the United States was not willing to be a second-rate country, and at the same time, the United States also used this naval arms agreement to break up the Anglo-Japanese alliance.

Considering the above historical facts, then Zhao Bei's strategy is very clear, and he hopes to draw the United States and Japan into the "Far East Pacific system". He fought against the "Versailles System" presided over by Britain and France, jointly dominated Asian and Pacific affairs, relied on the power of the United States to balance Britain and the power of Japan to balance the United States, and used an international force to support the unstable new Asian order that he had formed in the European war, and to prevent the resurgence of European forces.

The basic position of this strategy was that it was necessary to separate Japan from the British alliance, effectively end the Anglo-Japanese alliance system, and eventually part ways with Britain.

Of course, history has changed too much now, and considering that the United States is more inclined to Europe, it is still unclear whether the United States will not participate in the League of Nations as it did in history, and even if the United States does not join the League of Nations, it may not be willing to join it, and the "Far East Pacific System" will then Zhao Bei has to change some details of the strategy and rely on Asia's own strength to resist the European colonial forces that are trying to make a comeback, and in this case, Japan is even more important. "Chief Tang, Gu Shaochuan is inexperienced, he only saw the surface, but he didn't see the truth behind it. What is the truth? The truth is that Britain intends to maintain the Anglo-Japanese alliance, so Britain decided to use Australia's proposal to drive a wedge between China and Japan, and eventually split the ways between China and Japan. Under such circumstances, how could China abstain from voting? China can only support Japan's position, and if necessary, it can even use Australia's "white Australia policy" to make a fuss. Pushing the British government to the forefront. ”

After Zhao Bei analyzed, Tang Shaoyi immediately woke up, so he hurriedly went to Gu Weijun to send a telegram: "Ding instructed him to fully support the Japanese government's position at tomorrow's Paris Peace Conference special committee, and when necessary, he did not hesitate to make strong speeches to show the unity of Asian countries, and at the same time, Tang Shaoyi also greeted the foreign affairs departments of small countries such as Lanfang, Kokand, and Bukhara, and ordered them to follow in China's footsteps at the Paris Peace Conference.

After Tang Shaoyi left, Zhao Bei walked to the office window, looking at the sunset, his heart swelled with a pride that changed history, he believed that in this era, only he could truly grasp the key to the change of the international situation.