Beiyang reactionaries

"Customs, yes."

Customs, China has taken control.

But like reparations, it is necessary to negotiate with the big powers to change everything that should be changed.Because the Manchu Qing government and the early Beiyang government signed many contracts with these great powers, ceding the rights and interests of the customs to the great powers.If you want to control customs, you have to change these contracts again.

That's justified.

If you don't change this contract, you don't know what will happen in the future.

"Finally?"

"Tax."

Wang Yongjiang is talking about economic aspects.

In Wang Yongjiang's view, the most important thing to negotiate with the UK is to talk about the economic aspect first.

Because Wang Yongjiang is under a lot of pressure now.

Although the political situation is stable, fiscal revenue has been increasing.But the same expenditure is also increasing rapidly, and China's current fiscal deficit is very serious.Duan Xun has many things to do, and the cabinet has formulated many development plans, each of which requires a large amount of investment, but all of these require money.

But where did that money come from.

All departments asked Wang Yongjiang for money, but Wang Yongjiang couldn't get money out.So Wang Yongjiang's biggest headache is the economic problem.

"Prime Minister, there are many unreasonable things in our country's tax laws. The most unreasonable one is the Act on Taxation of Foreign Goods. The former foreign powers forced our country to sign the 'Preferential Countries Act', stating that our products entering other countries will not There is no need to collect taxes. As long as you enter, there is a tariff. This regulation seems to be for both parties, as if they are equal. But in fact, this treaty is unidirectional. Because our country does not have any industrial products that can enter the market of the big powers, And the industrial products from the market of the great powers can flood into our country wantonly. Because our country has always had low tariffs and no tax on their products, the result is that the prices of the products of the great powers are far lower than our domestic products. It has destroyed our national industry. Although the government has supported our national industry with tax cuts and government procurement programs in recent years, it is not the fundamental solution to the problem. To solve the current situation, we still need to change this regulation. "

"kindness."

Duan Xun nodded.

This treaty is very funny, just like some people ridiculed after China and the United States signed the "Sino-US Treaty of Friendship and Commerce".Said that this contract was "Truman can rape Soong Meiling, Soong Meiling can also rape Truman, but in the end I remember that Truman raped Soong Meiling".

why?

Because it seems to be beneficial to both parties.But the great powers are industrial countries, and China is an agricultural country.China has no industrial products that can enter the markets of the big powers, so this treaty is useless at all.

Compared with the industrial products of the great powers, they can wantonly enter the Chinese market and destroy China's weak national industry.

The three aspects mentioned by Wang Yongjiang are all economic aspects.

But it is the most important.

"Prime Minister, I have also learned about British politics. Now the British Labor Party is in power for the first time. It has little strength in the government and has little experience in governing. I am not optimistic about their long-term governance, so we should quickly negotiate with the British government. Put those simple We need to talk about things first. If we talk too much with the British government, the negotiation time will be prolonged, and any changes in the British government will cause problems for the negotiations.”

Wang Yongjiang rarely expresses his views so forcefully.

But it's very reasonable.

Duan Xun looked at everyone.

Everyone is nodding.

Dai Kan said: "Prime Minister, there are too many problems to be solved with the UK. We should choose the easy ones before the difficult ones. Let's talk about the easier ones as soon as possible. Speaking of which, these problems do not affect the interests of the UK. Regarding the indemnity Everyone has reached a consensus, and the UK has not received our compensation for many years. As for customs, we are already in control, and the UK can do nothing. As for the issue of taxation, due to the bad relationship between China and the UK, British products It is very difficult to enter our country, and the Chinese market is hugely squeezed out, and the sales volume is plummeting. If we reduce the domestic "anti-British" wave and support British products to enter the Chinese market as a condition, then the tax issue can be negotiated logically .Get the easy ones first, which I think is fine."

"Okay. Our first step is to discuss these three issues with the UK. We will sign a contract with the UK in a short time. What about the second step?"

"The Concession, Consular Jurisdiction, and Inland Sea Exercising Power."

423

"Concessions, consular jurisdiction, and navigation rights in inland seas."

This time Wang Yongjiang did not speak.

He said all he had to say.

Diplomatic work was not his domain, so he didn't want to say anything more.In the beginning, he was the first to speak because it involved the economic work he was in charge of.

What is left now are negotiations on national sovereignty and other fields, so Wang Yongjiang does not intend to steal the limelight from others.

So it was Dai Kan who took the call.

"Prime Minister, after completing the first step of negotiations, the second step is to resolve other rights of the UK in our country. Mainly the issue of the concession, the issue of consular jurisdiction, and the issue of navigation rights in the inland sea. These special rights of the UK in China have always been It is the focus of our government and public opinion, and we should concentrate on solving it. And as long as these issues are resolved with the UK, it can be used as a model to discuss this issue with other powers.”

"kindness."

Duan Xun nodded.

Ending these things was the initial ideal of Duan Xun, or many people in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China.These powers were imposed on China by the great powers by force.These special powers of the great powers in China are visible and tangible, and are hailed by many as a shame.It is also the issue that public opinion has been most concerned about.

Taking back these powers is a necessary step for the nation to move towards independence.How can an independent country allow other countries to have something as shameful as a concession on their own territory.

There must be a change.

If it weren't for the outbreak of the European War, China would definitely not have the strength to take back these powers.

Therefore, Duan Xun is very grateful for the European War.It was precisely because of the outbreak of the European War that severely hit the European powers and caused their strength in the Far East to plummet.That's why Duan Xun, that's why the Chinese government has the opportunity to get these things back.

But two steps?

too slow.

Duan Xun thought for a while, then hesitated and said: "Can we divide our forces into two groups. One side will discuss issues of compensation, customs, and taxation, while the other side will discuss concessions, consular jurisdiction, and navigation rights in inland seas. The two sides can be discussed at the same time without interfering with each other. .”

Talk one by one.

too slow.

Many things should be done in one go.

Who knows how the political situation in the UK will change.Now that the British Labor Party has taken office, it has taken a somewhat retreating policy in order to shrink the forces in East Asia.

But once the ruling party is changed, the negotiations will be postponed again.Who knows how their foreign policy will change if the UK changes parties.

Duan Xun is not very optimistic about the British Labor Party.

After all, it is the first time to be in power. Facing a veteran imperialism like Britain, can they control it?

Maybe it won't take long for someone to drive him down.Therefore, taking advantage of the opportunity that the British Labor Party has just come into power, quickly complete various negotiations with them.

"it should be OK."

Dai Kan thought for a while and nodded.

"Prime Minister, when we were negotiating in the past, we would occasionally adopt this method. Divide up into several negotiating teams to discuss different issues."

"Mr. Yan, you are the Minister of Foreign Affairs, let me tell you."