The weather is getting hotter day by day, but the relations between China and Germany and Austria are getting colder and colder, and at the same time, the call for going to Europe to participate in the war is getting louder and louder, and even the Shuntian Times in Beijing has called for China to enter the war -- to join the war with the Japanese Army.

When it comes to oil, salt, firewood and rice, the Chinese are realistic, but when it comes to international status and national dignity, at least half of the 400 million people are idealists. As the people's lives are getting better and better, all the previous misfortunes are attributed to two points: first, because China is not strong and has always been bullied by foreigners. Second, in order to sit firmly in the country, the Manchu people enslaved the Han people with all their might, hoping that the Han people would die; these were some pamphlets issued by revolutionary organizations such as the Revival Society and the League Society before the founding of the People's Republic of China, which were already widely circulated and are now the absolute truth.

How the Manchurians went to Europe to participate in the war has nothing to do with it, but the country's strength and international status affect the hearts of countless overseas Chinese; In addition to overseas Chinese, the people in the northeast involved in the Russo-Japanese War, Shandong and Zhili, where Gengzi was hardly affected, all supported going to Europe to participate in the war. According to the secret speculation of the Imperial Daily, at least 30 percent of the 612 deputies of the Inspectorate supported the declaration of war against Germany, and more than 40 percent did not express their position, and less than 30 percent of the deputies opposed the war against Germany. It is not good for the country. However, the Prime Minister's Office did not take a position on the matter of going to Europe to participate in the war, and officials of various government ministries and generals of the army were also silent about this. It's getting weirder and weirder.

The summer is scorching, although it is only noon, in the Huguang Hall on the side of the Hufang Bridge in the outer city of the capital, the knowledge on the plane tree is babbling and calling non-stop, which makes people upset. Kuomintang Chairman Soong Chiao-jen was still determined to write again under this disturbance, as if no interference could affect him in the slightest. Only when the electric fan turned, the manuscript paper on the copy was blown up. As if the leaves rustle in the breeze, he smoothed the floating paper with his hand and continued to write.

With the clarity of the position of 'revitalization industry'. The experience of the Kuomintang can only be fully told with twists and turns. When this position was first proposed, many gentry quit the Kuomintang and joined Liang Qichao's Constitutional Protection Party, but with the Tao Chengzhang case and the Yunnan rebellion. Those who withdrew begged to join the Kuomintang again. The general election is just around the corner. But who would have thought that these people who had joined the Constitutional Protector Party would be criticized by the locals as remnants of the Liang Party and Russian spies during the election, and the election would not only be chaotic, but even whether they could keep the 31 seats in the Secret Court became a problem.

On the occasion of this survival, the Kuomintang went out in full, and they abandoned the inland provinces. Day and night, he went to various counties along the coast and along the Yangtze River to give speeches and meet with local industrial and commercial representatives to expound the Kuomintang's proposition of 'revitalizing industry and strengthening the country and enriching the people'; for the sake of insurance. Soong also made a special effort to persuade the 30 members of the King James Congress to join the KMT and increase their seats.

At the time of the war, not only state-owned companies made money, but also private companies and workshops made money, and the small bosses and masters who had tasted the sweetness of industry for the first time frequently voted for the Kuomintang. In the end, although the Kuomintang only won 24 seats in the country's 428 state capital constituencies (12 seats were added after the recovery of Outer Northeast China and Taiwan), it won 8 seats out of the 154 seats allocated according to the amount of taxes paid and the 30 seats approved by the King James Dynasty, so that a total of 32 seats, just one more seat than the statutory admission seats, and finally successfully became the second largest party in the Inspectorate Yuan.

At the election summary meeting, Soong Jiao-jen claimed that the election was a real victory for the Kuomintang, and that the Kuomintang must adhere to the general program of 'revitalizing industry, strengthening the country and enriching the people,' and serve the industrial and commercial circles for life.

The slogan is easy to shout, but it is extremely difficult to revitalize the industry with the current strength of the Kuomintang. The country's economic system is completely controlled by the Renaissance Association, and the trade associations and trade unions are also controlled by the Renaissance Association.

But even so, the work is difficult to carry out, the industrial and commercial circles are already divided into workshop owners and factory owners, and factory owners are divided into compradors, industrialists, compradors and industrialists, and this is only private, if you count those giant state-owned companies, it will be even more difficult to revitalize the industry, fortunately, the state-owned companies do not compete with the people for profit, and the industries they engage in are all things that private capital cannot afford to play, so there is nothing to do.

After more than two months of investigation and investigation in Shanghai and Xinwuchang (Wuhan) as a representative of the Inspectorate of Inspectors, Song Jiaoren, who returned to Beijing, prepared to start from the financial market to promote the establishment of domestic private banks. The reason why he chose to start with finance is that he believes that the development of industry is closely related to the development of banks, and although the money bank has become a thing of the past, the bank that is more advanced than the money bank and integrates the functions of the bank will definitely be popular.

In addition to the reason that finance promotes industry, the Kuomintang, which has few supporters, must have a huge source of election donations if it wants to develop. There will be donations from the peasant associations for revival, and the money will not be spent; Therefore, the Kuomintang can only obtain sufficient development funds to gain momentum by currying favor with those wealthy capitalists, so the richest bankers are the first to be wooed.

Putting down the heavy pen, Song Jiaoren glanced at the financial industry development plan report that he had annotated, and exhaled easily. He believed that, based on the dazzling data in the report and the analogy with the current situation of the financial industry in Europe, the United States, and Japan, this financial case will certainly be deliberated and approved by the General Assembly when the next Inspectorate of Inspectors opens. If this bill is passed, then the KMT's funds for the next election will be guaranteed.

"Escape to the early ......" Hu Ying's voice came from outside, and he walked closer to see the annotated report, and asked, "Is it okay?" Okay, I'll take it to the secretary and print it. ”

"Don't go to the fight." Song Jiaoren said, "If you can save some, you can save some." Let's find someone to transcribe it. Let's ask those experts to take a look at it for us. Be careful to find people separately and not believe what they say. ”

"Understood." Hu Ying cleaned up the report and said, "Escape." Qingyun came, and he said that he had an urgent matter to see you. Isn't it ......"

"Cao Qingyun?" Song Jiaoren said Cao Abo's words and said with a smile, "It's not that there is a rumor that he follows Sun Wen ......."

"He said that he only went abroad, and did not go to Yunnan to make trouble with Sun Wen." Hu Ying said. "This time he returned to China with a swagger, whether it was the East Factory or the patrol police. Didn't bother him. ”

"Oh......" Song Jiaoren sighed softly. This Cao Abel is a native of Daye, Hubei, and he has long been committed to the revolution, the Huaxing Association, the Science Tutorial Institute, and even the Alliance. At the time of its establishment, he was both the initiator and the backbone. Because he was originally from Huguang, he was naturally familiar with the people in Huguang, but when Song Jiaoren sincerely invited him to join the Kuomintang, he politely refused, and later it was rumored that he joined the Chinese Revolutionary Party. Said that he was involved in the Yunnan rebellion. But these are just rumors.

"Has he arrived at the guild hall?" Song Jiaoren remembered many past events and asked after a while.

"Yes, in the living room." Hu Yin said. "Did you invite him in?"

"No, Qingyun is an old comrade, I will go to greet him in person." Song Jiaoren patted his thigh and walked out of the study.

Looking at Song Jiaoren in a suit from a distance, Cao Abel was a little surprised, he thought that the whole country was wearing Han costumes.

"Brother Qingyun is really unharmed!" Probably following the locals. Cao Yabo is wearing a Han costume, and the style is newly bought in Beijing. Song Jiaoren has been in the capital for a long time. He looked at Cao Abo's clothes and said with a smile: "Your outfit is custom-made by Ruifuxiang, right?" ”

"Haha, yes, yes. Rich people all over the country have changed to wear Han costumes, and I, an outsider, had to spend a lot of money to buy one in order to get some luxury. Cao Abel only smiled, "At the beginning of the year, I haven't seen you for many years, how did you, a council fan, become a fan of Han costumes?" ”

"This matter is not the work of Mr. Taiyan of the Ministry of Rites." Song Jiaoren shook his head and invited Cao Abel to sit down, "When the founding of the People's Republic of China, the official uniform was copied from the former Ming Dynasty, and so was the calendar, and even the grammar advocated ancient Chinese and belittled the vernacular language, which is simply to make the twentieth century into the fifteenth century." A few days ago, the newspaper also said that if there are ancients resurrected, then they will think that they are in the Ming Dynasty. ”

"Haha......" Cao Abel admired Zhang Taiyan very much, and was called Zhang Cao two crazy people, and he did not object to the old calendar, Hanfu, ancient texts, etc. He smiled and said: "I'm abroad, as long as I see Chinese people wearing Han costumes, I am very kind, but you are disgusted at home." ”

didn't want to talk to Cao Yabo about the margins and corners of Han costumes, after the fragrant tea was delivered, Song Jiaoren got straight to the point and said: "Brother Qingyun has been abroad for many years, and this time he returned to Beijing to tell me that he had something urgent, what is this?" ”

"What?" Cao Abel didn't want to hide it, and said calmly: "When I was in England, I knew a German doctor named Kleelai, who said that he wanted me to learn Chinese, and he studied two or three times a week, so that he had a deep friendship. After the founding of the country, I went to England again, at this time the war in Europe had begun, at first I wanted to find this person to help one or two, but I didn't want to hear that this person was actually a spy of the German Emperor Wilhelm II, because he found out a lot of British military secrets, and was later discovered by the British authorities, and absconded with makeup.

He said that now our government is ready to declare war on Germany, and hopes that I can help Germany in order to maintain the friendship between China and Germany, and when we talk about the relationship with you, he begged me to come to you, and he said that I can donate some money to your Kuomintang campaign account, and then you will make some remarks against going to Europe to participate in ......the war. So, here I am. ”

Cao Abel finished talking about his intentions, and then said: "On the way here, I was thinking about whether I was breaking the law, and then I thought that it was not illegal to just pass the word, and besides, if the thing could not be done, I was still in the beginning, I was just a messenger." You can do it. ”

Unexpectedly, Cao Abel was actually a guest lobbyist, Song Jiaoren laughed and calculated, and after a while he said: "In fact, if it is an overseas Chinese in Germany who has been reviewed by the consulate in Germany, it is not illegal to donate money to our party's election account, but he is a German who donates money to us, this is ......, especially now, the whole country is in favor of going to Europe to participate in the war in order to recover rights and abolish unequal treaties, and the Kuomintang has really done this, that is to seek death." ”

Historically, after the death of Yuan Shikai, Japan no longer supported Sun Wen, and the expenses of Cheng Biguang to lead the Beiyang Fleet to the south and the members of the Senate and House of Representatives to go south to Guangdong came from this German fund. At that time, it was Cao Abel who negotiated. The money amounted to two million dollars, all paid in gold by the Germans. [Note:]

Hearing that Song Jiaoren didn't dare to take the money, Cao Abel said: "Since that's the case." Then we won't talk about it. After he finished speaking, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, feeling that he had completed a task, and then changed the subject: "At the beginning of the day, do you think we really want to declare war on Germany?" ”

"Pretty much." Song Jiaoren said, "This matter, this government, is the final say of the Revival Society." Although I knew about it, they had to let me know according to the rules. Wait until I know. It had been less than two days since the news broke. ”

"But wasn't the Revival Society propped up by Germany?" Cao Abel asked curiously.

"What Germany lifted up?" Song Jiaoren felt funny, "This revival meeting is the size of a hundred meals." At first, I found a German to set up a military school. Then they went to the Northeast Russians and the Japanese to reap a lot of benefits, and in the end, the Americans pulled them up again and won the battle against Japan, so that this position could be regarded as secure.

The means are a little slippery. But there is nothing to say. There is nothing that cannot be seen, and it is the same thing to find Germans and semi-military schools, not to mention that the Germans who are looking for by the Revival Society are all those who have been betrayed by the Kaiser and are unwilling to return to China, and they are not tied to the German government at all, so they are not supported by the Germans at all. ”

"That's exactly what happened." What Song Jiaoren said was very different from the rumors that Cao Abel had heard, and even different from the German spies who asked him to lobby the Kuomintang, "Even if the Revival Society has nothing to do with the Germans, then we are still at war with the Russians in the northwest." This traveled thousands of miles to Europe to fight with the Germans. Aren't those people in the Revival Society worried that the national power will not be able to bear it? Since the founding of the country, the people do not seem to have a few years of peace. After fighting the Manchu Qing Dynasty and fighting Japan, after fighting Japan and Russia, and after fighting Russia and Germany, this is simply ......"

"That's what I do." Song Jiaoren nodded, "The Manchurians don't say it, Japan and Russia don't say it, but this Germany is far away in Europe, and it didn't provoke us, so why bother to help Britain and France shed blood?" No matter how cheap the life of the Chinese is, it is not grassy, if they can save the money that went to Europe to participate in the war and invest it in industry, it will at least benefit the country and the people. It is a pity that public opinion has been instigated by Britain, France and other countries, and the people want to use this war to abolish those treaties, as if by entering the war, any problems in the past have been solved. Have they ever thought that foreigners respect you or not, depending on your strength, your country is still that country, the industry is still that industry, and even Japan is not as good as Japan, even if this battle is won, they still look down on you. ”

Song Jiaoren complained, feeling that Fuxing would spend too much money on military spending. In his opinion, the battle between Shenwu and Japan in the third year should not have been fought so early, and if it could be delayed until now, the price paid would be much less.

He was complaining here, and Tan Renfeng, Li Pingshu, Hu Ying and others suddenly came in a hurry. A copy of the Beijing-Tianjin Times was handed over by Tan Renfeng anxiously, and the old man said with some excitement: "This is really going to war!" ”

"Go to war?!" Song Jiaoren was taken aback and thought of Germany. He picked up the newspaper and looked at it, but saw a big headline on the front page: Russia's Two Invasions of the East. The article is very long, but the content above Song Jiaoren is swept away. I remember that when China sent a volunteer flight team to England the year before last, the news that Russia's invasion of China was actually instigated by the German emperor was reported once, but at that time, the German minister came out to refute the rumor and said that there was absolutely no such thing, and the matter faded down. I don't want to say that this time it is not only that Germany instigated Russia's eastward invasion in the third year of Shenwu, but also that the Russo-Japanese War 12 years ago was instigated by Germany. The most fatal thing is that the article is extremely well-written, and the photos published are actually a personal telegram from Kaiser Wilhelm II to Tsar Nicholas, which shows the content of the Kaiser's instigation of the Tsar to go to war against China.

"Is this true?" Song Jiaoren looked at the photos of the Russian telegram and felt that all this was unbelievable.

"It should be true!" Li Ping wrote. He glanced at Cao Abel with some vigilance, but what he wanted to say was not a big deal, so he continued: "After the tsar was imprisoned by the Russian Provisional Government, all the privacy of the past was not guaranteed. Although the Japanese Government did not recognize the secret treaty between Japan and Russia that was translated a few days ago, the British were still very annoyed. ”

Li Pingshu didn't mention the secret treaty between Japan and Russia, but as soon as he mentioned Song Jiaoren's brain, he 'buzzed'. He also wondered why the Russian Provisional Government did not guard the secret treaties so that they were embarrassed. But in any case, the news that has recently been dug up from Russia is basically true, and the publication of this article in the Beijing-Tianjin Times is very telling.

"Looks like this excuse for declaring war has also been found!" Song Jiaoren sat on a chair with a newspaper. Feebly.

Song Jiaoren saw that the newspaper was still late, and the day before the newspaper was published, the Beijing-Tianjin Times sent the sample to the Prime Minister's Office for Yang Rui to see. Yang Rui, who originally thought that the declaration of war would drag on for several months, shook his head and smiled when he saw this newspaper. The offensive on the Western Front lasted only a little more than eight months. The Anglo-French army suffered more than 700,000 casualties; Except for the 1st Division of the Army and the Lafayette Air Force, which had already declared war, most of the rest of the troops were still in the American boot camps.

Even when it arrived in France, the 1st Division of the US Army did not immediately enter the battlefield, and the commander-in-chief of the US Army, General Pershing, believed that the US Army was completely unable to adapt to the brutal European battlefield, and the necessary military supplies such as arms and artillery had not yet arrived, so the troops needed a long training to participate in the battle. Only the Lafayette Air Force was officially operating, but this was only in terms of filling in the achievements of the German pilots. Nothing will help the whole war.

the United States, which issues large checks but does not know when they will be cashed; reluctantly launched an attack, but finally collapsed and fled Russia under the counterattack of the German-Austrian forces; and Italy, which has been defeated again and again; The Japanese ......, who knew their own situation and did not want to make senseless sacrifices, was in a war situation of all kinds of countries and struggling to survive. A critic who concluded that the Allies would be defeated after the United States declared war. At this time, a diametrically opposite judgment was made, that is, if the U.S. Army could not quickly train and enter the war, then the German army on the eastern front that had defeated Russia would move westward, and what awaited the Anglo-French alliance would only be the end of the world.

"It did. Are we really ready? "Inside the Yin'an Palace. Yu Huizu, who was holding the same copy of the Jinjing Times, looked at Yang Rui and asked. Although he is no longer a member of the Standing Committee, he is the first to know the results of each Standing Committee discussion.

"Basically." Yang Rui crossed his hands and legs under the table, his hands and feet swaying regularly, looking complacent. "Even if war is declared now, we will only be able to send troops according to the established plan, and since the Americans can delay, we can drag it too."

"What about the Renaissance Army?" Yu Huizu asked again. "Isn't the army still stationed in various counties to prevent people from making trouble after the land reform?"

"It was already replaced a few months ago with a secretly called reserve division. Units that need to go overseas to fight are now doing targeted training. Yang Rui said: "The Russian prisoners also began to touch the gun a few days ago, it is North Korea, because they made a few dollars by building wooden boats, they actually said that they wanted to send troops with us, which is really ......."

Japan's Matsukata Cabinet was very aware of its own country's situation, so when it learned that China was going to send more than 500,000 troops to Europe to participate in the war, it simply did not send a single soldier. As far as Japan is concerned, since China's dispatch of troops cannot be stopped and changes in the international pattern cannot be changed, it is better to save some military spending, anyway, he is already a participating country. It was after Xie Zhangtai issued an invitation to send troops, Japan's reply was that its national strength was limited, so it could not afford the cost of the army's war in Europe, and only expressed its willingness to escort the Chinese expeditionary force to Europe.

The Japanese did not go, and the Koreans immediately rejoiced. They either wanted to share China's worries, or they hoped that participating in the war would enhance Korea's international status, but they also wanted to send two divisions to the European battlefield to see and understand, and I really don't know what to say about them.

"North Korean ......" said that Yu Huizu also smiled when he said that the country with 40 million tax revenues was in ruins, although he made some money by relying on China's promotion, but his brain was hot and he shouted that he wanted to send troops, and he really didn't know what to say about them. He said: "If we declare war now, how will Germany react?" ”

"What else can you react to, hate it to the bone." Yang Rui said, "But with Britain, France and the United States in the top cylinder, it is not our turn to kill or chop, and after this war, why does Germany hate us?" ”

"That being said, but Leo is ...... there," Yu Huizu said and suddenly remembered that the crippled German was coming, and his words were very regretful.

"Brother Hanzhang, the interests of the country are above, and personal feelings can only be put aside." Yang Rui heard him mention Leo, and the swing in his hand stopped. Although he found a 'national interest' comfort for himself, Ben's eager heart also cooled, and he suddenly thought of what Leo would think when he heard the news of China's declaration of war. (To be continued......)

PS: Note: Selected Shanghai Literary and Historical Materials, Vol. 74, p191;