Respectfully

At the beginning of August, the countries of the European continent were filled with smoke and gunpowder.

Regardless of the threat of Germany, Tsarist Russia launched a national general mobilization under the pretext of supporting and protecting Serbia.Keeping his promise to Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II began mobilizing his troops and declared war on Tsarist Russia on August [-].

As an emerging imperialist country, Germany has always lagged behind Britain and France in scrambling for colonies in the world. From Kaiser Wilhelm II to the Junker nobles, and then to ordinary people in Germany, it is agreed that this has a great deal to do with Germany's strong industrial and military strength. Not commensurate.

Germany has the number one industrial system in Europe, but there are not enough raw material origins and markets.In order to develop, Germany needs to expand outwards,

At the same time, in order to compete for hegemony on land and sea in Europe, Germany must defeat its old rival France and Great Britain across the sea.During Bismarck’s period, Germany had formed an alliance with Russia, but due to conflicts between the interests of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Tsarist Russia, Wilhelm II abandoned the alliance with Tsarist Russia and chose the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which jointly pursued Greater Germanism, as an ally.Together with neighboring Italy, they formed the Triple Alliance on the European continent.

Wilhelm II of Germany once said after the alliance was formed, "Italy's motives for joining the alliance are impure."

Facts have proved that although William II was often hot-headed, his evaluation of Italy was quite insightful.

When Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were fighting with the Allies, Italy chose to watch from the sidelines. Halfway through, they simply changed their doors and fell into the arms of the Allies, which in turn stabbed their allies twice.

For such an Italy, why did Hitler continue to choose to form an alliance with him only because of the geographical relationship?It's really puzzling.

However, Italy is not the only one who is maverick. There are also rebels in the Allies. Bulgaria, which was betrayed by Tsarist Russia in the Second Balkan War, joined the Allies out of anger at Russia and neighboring Serbia.

The small countries on the Balkan Peninsula also stood in line one after another. Serbia mobilized the whole country, and even the king went to the front line in person. For this small European country, there is no second choice. The only thing to do is to firmly hug Tsarist Russia. Then go all out with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

On August [-], according to the battle plan that Earl Schlieffen had drawn up several years ago, the German army invaded Luxembourg, a small European country.At this time, the chief of the German general staff, Mao Qi, cleverly modified the Schlieffen plan, abandoned some low countries, and weakened the power of the right wing, laying a hidden danger for Germany to lose the entire war.However, this does not prevent Germany from declaring war on France on August [-]rd. After the Franco-Prussian War, the two countries have always disliked each other, and sooner or later they will fight again. Not only Germany, but also France has always wanted to take back what was cut off by Germany. Alsace and Lorraine, there is no other solution but war.

On August [-], Germany invaded the neutral country of Belgium and stormed the Belgian Fortress of the Liege.

Britain hadn't planned to join the battle group in Europe immediately, and the treaty signed by Britain with France and Russia did not stipulate that Great Britain must join the war between the two countries and other countries, but the appearance of the German army in Belgium touched John Bull's nerves .

Finally, Britain declared war on Germany.

On August [-], the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had already exchanged fire with Serbia and became angry, declared war on Tsarist Russia.

According to Earl Schlieffen's prediction, it would take at least six to seven weeks for Tsarist Russia to mobilize the national army. The mobilization time of the Russian army has been improved, and the strategy and tactics of the Russian army have been improved, the Russian military supplies have been improved, and the morale of the Russian army has been improved. It took only one week for the Russian army to complete the mobilization, but the domestic backward transportation system and poor road conditions , It still greatly reduces the mobility of the Russian army, casting a shadow over the war on the Eastern Front in Europe.

Tsar Nicholas II was very depressed. He was almost forced to get on a chariot. As the emperor of an empire, he had to drive this chariot forward. Should he rush to Europe or Asia?

The Chinese army that invaded Siberia and the indestructible resistance organization made Nicholas II feel like a thorn in his throat, but if he left Europe alone and let the group of people in the Duma conference dictate, the tsar could not swallow this breath.

In the end, the helpless Nicholas listened to Queen Alexandra's opinion, chose to negotiate with the Chinese, and sent most of the troops to the European battlefield. In the final analysis, Tsarist Russia still pays more attention to Europe. As for Asia, it will end in Europe It's not too late to deal with this group of Chinese people who don't know the heights of the sky and the depths of the earth!

Most Europeans shared Nicholas II's belief that the war would be over within a few weeks.It's a pity that they guessed the beginning but didn't guess the end. This war lasted for four years. From the initial few European countries, it gradually spread to more than 30 countries in the world. The blood of the soldiers was bled dry.

There are also countries that seized the opportunity to rise when Europe was united, such as the United States and Japan in another time and space.Even China experienced a brief spring of capitalism.It is a pity that after the Europeans escaped from the war, the domestic capital economy that had just recovered was crushed crazily and came to an abrupt end.

In this time and space, Huaxia will not miss such a good opportunity again, nor will it make the same mistake again.Even if you can't take advantage of the war in Europe to skin them and tear them apart, you still have to bite off a few pieces of meat!

Li Jinyan hugged Lou Er Shao with a smile, held his armpit, and kissed his chubby little face, "Isn't it? Ruier?"

Lou Er Shao laughed, and took the initiative to wrap his arms around Li Jinyan's neck, "Brother Yan, dear!"

"Hey!"

Mrs. Lou, who was sitting by the side, couldn't help laughing when she saw this, "Look at these two."

"Second Young Master and Yan Shao have a really good relationship."

Fifth Aunt was joking aside, Miss Lou Liu touched her belly that was showing signs of pregnancy, and the smile on her face became more and more gentle, but Lou Qi who was sitting on the side looked a little sad.She married Lou Liu together. In the Qian family, Lou Liu was loved by her father-in-law and mother-in-law, and her husband also respected her. So far, she has never heard of any unruly girls and concubines in the house. She married into Mrs. Du's relatives, although her husband's family also For the sake of the Lou family and the Du family, they treated her well, but she always felt that something was missing.Looking at Lou Liu's appearance now, Lou Qi couldn't help feeling sour in his heart, touched his flat belly, would it be much better after having a child?But now her husband is busy with opening a factory in Guanbei. After a day of exhaustion, he falls asleep after returning home. It is rare for the husband and wife to speak a few words, let alone... Thinking of this, Lou Qi's face became even more pale. Sadly.

"Xiaoqi, what are you thinking?"

Miss Lou Liu pulled Lou Qi, Fifth Aunt didn't pay attention, but she found out that Mrs. Lou had already looked at Lou Qi twice, although her expression was nothing, but their married girls, go back to their mother's house It's not easy, not to mention smiling faces to welcome people, and not being able to put on such an expression, isn't it uncomfortable?

"It's nothing." Lou Qi also realized that his expression just now was wrong, and hurriedly put away the emotions that were exposed.She also learned a lot at her husband's house, knowing that Mrs. Lou treated her very well when she was at home.Looking at Li Jinyan again, thinking about her husband's two younger sisters, Miss Lou Qi felt that she was really not an ordinary idiot back then.

"Brother Yan, can I talk to you about something?"

"Ah?" Li Jinyan was teasing Lou Er Shao, his face was smeared with saliva, when he heard Lou Qi Miss calling him, he turned his head, "What?"

"I..." Lou Qi thought of her husband's business, and wanted to ask Li Jinyan for help. If Li Jinyan could make things easier, maybe...

Before she finished speaking, the girl came to report, and someone came to Li Jinyan.

"Who?"

"It's Mr. Xiao." Xiao Youde often went in and out of Lou's house, and the girls were no strangers to him, "I also brought a few young people with me."

young people?

Li Jinyan frowned, then turned to look at Mrs. Lou, "Mother, do you see?"

"Go get busy if you have something to do." Mrs. Lou moved towards Lou Er Shaoshi, "Rui'er, come to Mother's side. You said brother has something to do, so I'll play with you when I come back."

The Second Young Master Lou didn't seem to like it, so Mrs. Lou simply "pulled" him out of Li Jinyan's arms like a carrot.

"Okay, you go."

"..." Li Jinyan glanced at the aggrieved second young master Lou, and for some reason, had the urge to cover his face again.

When Li Jinyan got up to leave, Madam Lou put Lou Ershao on the sofa, teased him with a toy, and asked seemingly casually, "Xiao Qi, what do you want to say to your brother Yan?"

"I……"

Lou Qi bit her lip, but her hand was held by Lou Liu, Lou Liu shook his head towards her, Lou Qi swallowed back the words that came to his lips.

"Son-in-law is busy opening a factory in Guanbei, right?" Mrs. Lou continued, "I heard it seems to be a canning factory too?"

"Yes."

"He is capable. Your fourth brother-in-law is also planning to open a factory in Guanbei. A few days ago, your fourth sister sent a telegram to ask your brother Yan for help. Doing business is always not as solid as working hard on your own, do you think that is the case?"

"Ma'am, I..."

"Okay, I know what you are all thinking. Jinyan is not that unkind. If he can help, he will definitely not let go. If you can't help, it's useless to ask. Also, please ask Jinyan to help , Was it your own plan, or did the seventh son-in-law speak?"

"It's me."

"Xiaoqi, before you speak next time, you'd better discuss it with the seventh son-in-law, don't do anything wrong with good intentions."

"Yes."

Miss Lou Qi lowered her head and stopped talking, Lou Liu sighed silently, but Aunt Fifth smiled and patted her arm, signaling her not to say anything.

In the living room, Xiao Youde and five young people were sitting on the sofa. Several young people were all dressed in western clothes. One of them had a pair of round glasses on his face, and he was carrying a black briefcase with him.

Li Jinyan walked into the living room, Xiao Youde got up and said hello to him, the young people were stunned for a moment.

This is, Lou...Young Madam?The third young master of the Li family?

"Hi everyone, I'm Li Jinyan."

After brief greetings, Li Jinyan learned the identities of these five young people from Xiao Youde. They are all overseas Chinese, four of them are from Nanyang, and the one with a black leather bag is from the United States. He has another identity , the contact person sent back to China by the US Zhigongtang.

"I've heard about the name of the Third Young Master for a long time." The young man who called himself Situ Jing opened the document bag and took out an envelope from it. "This is a little thought from the boss and brothers in the hall. Please accept it with a smile."

Seeing the well-mannered Situ Jing, who opened his mouth full of quack talk, Li Jinyan couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth, telling himself that this is the "characteristic of the times", the less he looks like a gangster, the better he can get along in it.

Situ did not shy away from Xiao Youde and the other four people, proving that the things in the envelope should be ordinary.Li Jinyan opened the envelope in front of Situ Jing, took out a few money orders from HSBC, saw the numbers on them, and couldn't help but gasp.

It costs hundreds of thousands of oceans to sell, or is it just a trivial matter?

"I have also had a lot of contact with the students who went to study in the United States, and I have also learned about the changes in China in the past two years. I admire the young commander-in-chief Lou and the third young master very much." It was once said that Zhigongtang works up and down, asking for money and giving money, and asking for people to pay people, but if there is a drive, he will do whatever he wants."

"Mr. Situ, Mr. Li knows about your hall's wishes, and this money will definitely be used where it should be spent."

"San Shao's words are enough, and I have another merciless request."

"please say."

"I graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor's degree in law. I used to be a legal counsel at the Zhigongtang. When I return to China this time, in addition to giving a message to the boss, I also want to treat the third young master to a meal."

Li Jinyan: "..."

What a "wonderful" talent is a sea turtle bachelor and a gangster.

Since Xiao Youde can bring him here in person, it means that there is no problem with his identity.It is impossible to assign him to a government department. Li Jinyan does not have that power, and even if he had the power, he would not do so. However, Lou's Commercial Group, which has just been established, still lacks a legal adviser. Since he can serve as a legal adviser to Zhigongtang, his level is absolutely It won't be any worse.Regardless of the fact that Zhigongtang is a gangster, US President Franklin Roosevelt once served as a legal adviser to this Chinese gang organization, which shows its great energy.

After arranging Situ Jing's matter, Li Jinyan turned to the other four young people. Compared with Situ Jing, they were obviously much "younger", and their speech was a little reserved.

"We returned to China only when we heard about the recruitment of pilots."

pilot?

Li Jinyan thought about it carefully, and it seemed that there was such a thing. After the aircraft factory was completed, he once published an advertisement at the end of the revised "Celebrity", but how did they know that they were in Nanyang?

Li Sanshao was wondering when a young man wearing glasses said: "The telegram sent by my cousin who returned to China to do business also told us a lot of things in China, so we made up our minds to come back. There are many people Like we think, just one step behind."

The young man's Huaxia is not fluent, and English is often mixed in when speaking. Li Jinyan has to listen and guess at the same time to understand what he is talking about.

"The grandparents in the family taught us that we are in Nanyang, but we are the descendants of Chinese people. We are Chinese, yellow-skinned, black-haired and black-eyed. My grandpa just passed away not long ago. Before he died, the only My wish is to be buried in my homeland." At this point, the young man was silent, "I originally wanted to bring back the ashes of my grandpa when I came back this time, but my family disagreed. I am afraid that my grandpa's wish will not come true."

Hearing these words, Li Jinyan's throat was a little congested. He was not the young overseas Chinese in front of him, so he couldn't understand all his thoughts, but one thing was that they were all descendants of Chinese people with yellow skin and black eyes. They were all Chinese. This piece of land is their motherland.

The four young overseas Chinese were all arranged to study in the aviation schools of the six northern provinces, and the instructors were transferred from the Nanyuan Aviation School in Beijing to teach temporarily.Although the French are often unreliable in their work, the Nanyuan Aviation School established in the capital is full of gold in terms of teachers and teaching tools.

It is really helpless for the aviation schools in the six northern provinces to recruit instructors from Nanyuan Aviation School. At present, Europe is fighting, and all countries will recall soldiers and pilots who are abroad one after another. It is not easy to find qualified instructors and flight trainers at this time. easy job.

Therefore, there are advantages and disadvantages in everything. The European war gave Li Jinyan a chance to make a fortune, but it also caused him a lot of trouble in other aspects.

If you want everything to go well and everything goes well, I am afraid that even the gods can't do it.

When the matter was settled and Li Jinyan sent them away, Situ took out another letter from his purse and handed it to Li Jinyan, "As entrusted, this letter should have been handed over to Third Young Master."

for him?Wouldn't it be a few more money orders?

There was no signature on the envelope, and when Situ Jing and the others left, Li Jinyan opened the envelope and took out the letter paper inside. He always felt that the handwriting on it looked familiar, and then looked at the signature, and was stunned.

Li Qinglong?

His... father?

Could it be that Mr. Li Er is also a gangster, or a gangster who has gone abroad?

On August [-], Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia, and Serbia declared war on Austria-Hungary on the battlefield.

On the same day, the Chinese Democratic Republic announced its neutrality towards the European War after discussion by the Congress.

On August [-], German Minister Xin Ci secretly arrived in Dalian by train and had a private meeting with Lou Xiao. No one knew what they talked about, but when Xin Ci left, the expression on his face was very relaxed.Subsequently, Marshal Lou announced the construction of a temporary prisoner-of-war camp in Dalian, where officers and soldiers of the Fifth Division, officials of the Lushun Governor's Mansion, and Japanese and Korean nationals in Dalian were all imprisoned.

The Japanese consul Yada made representations to the six northern provinces, and Ren Wuchu was forced to "go into battle" again. He didn't say a single word, but handed Yata a price list, which clearly listed how much to redeem a prisoner of war. How much is the overseas Chinese, the price of the military officers and the officials of the governor's office is calculated separately. As for the Korean overseas Chinese, they can generously buy one and get one free, and buy two and get three free.

Yada was trembling with anger, Ren Wuchu was expressionless, but he was thinking in his heart that next time he would never take over such a matter, he was different from Zhan Changqing, he was not interested in "diplomacy", he was only interested in finance.

Due to the sudden death of the former Japanese ambassador to China, Yamaza Enjiro, the new ambassador to China has not yet arrived, and Tsuneo Matsudaira, First Counselor of the Legation, is temporarily acting as the minister.Regarding Yamaza's death, the Japanese Embassy in China privately said that Minister Yamaza was pissed off.

As for who is mad at him...except for China's foreign minister Zhan Changqing, who doesn't think of him.

It's just that the dead can't speak, and he died in the Japanese embassy, ​​and the Japanese couldn't seek justice for him. In addition, the situation between Dalian and North Korea was tense at that time. The body was transported back to China and buried hastily.As for the protests of Yamaza's family, they were also ignored by the Japanese government.

The first-class counselor Matsudaira took over the duties of Yamaza for the time being. After dealing with Zhan Changqing twice, he fully understood the helplessness of Yamaza Enjiro. He began to look forward to the arrival of the next Japanese envoy to China as soon as possible to deal with the Chinese foreign minister. , It is definitely not an "easy" thing that ordinary people can do.

As for the Japanese captives in Dalian, Matsudaira simply let go of them and waited until the new ambassador to China arrived.

On August 17th, after dealing with the post-war affairs in Dalian, he ordered the new No.[-] Division to march into Dalian to re-form the government. After appointing officials, Lou Xiao set off for Guanbei.

That night, Li Jinyan was surrounded by a familiar aura in his sleep. He thought he was dreaming, and opened his eyes in a daze. The hot kiss had blocked his lips.

When the other party's lips moved to his neck, Li Jinyan could barely make a sound, "Young commander?" Doesn't it mean that he will arrive tomorrow?He still wants to pick up the station.

"En." Responding vaguely, Lou Xiao pulled away the collar of Li Jinyan's jacket, and kissed him like a bite, landing on his collarbone and shoulders.

Li Jinyan raised his head, inserted his fingers into Lou Xiao's hair, feeling the itching and numbness that kept falling on his body, he will 100% not want to sleep tonight...

On August [-]th, Li Sanshao and Lou Shaoshuai spent the day in their room.

On August [-]th, at the military government's celebration banquet, Li Sanshao cheered up, but still yawned a few times when everyone was not paying attention.By the time the celebration banquet was over, he was almost unable to stand still.

That night, Young Marshal Lou was ordered to sleep in the study.

Li Sanshao didn't have the guts to give orders to Young Marshal Lou, and it was Mrs. Lou who hadn't returned to Beijing to let the tiger sleep in the study.

The next day, Li Jinyan felt refreshed, but Young Marshal Lou felt cold all over his body.After breakfast, Adjutant Ji trotted to send a telegram to Marshal Lou, Germany officially sent a note to the Huaxia United Government, willing to return the leased land of Jiaozhou Bay to Huaxia.

Li Jinyan paused holding Lou Er Shao's hand, looked up at the calendar on the wall, today is the sixth year of the Republic of China, August 1914, 8 in the Gregorian calendar.

"However, the Germans also have a few conditions." Seeing Li Jinyan looking over, Adjutant Ji continued, "Germany wants flamethrower technology, and requires Huaxia to ensure the safety of the German nationals in Shandong and the nationals of the Austro-Hungarian Empire."

Li Jinyan blinked, this seemed to be a little different from the history.Will Japan send the Second Fleet to attack Qingdao together with the British as happened in history?

They absolutely dare not intimidate the coalition government. After all, the prisoner-of-war camp in Dalian is still there.However, if the British play tricks in the middle, it is likely that Qingdao will play another game.

Li Jinyan pinched Lou Second Young Master's chubby paws, who cares, there is Lou Young Marshal here, if he comes, he will beat him back!It just so happened that the German Far East Fleet hadn't left yet, so it might be possible to reap some benefits by the way.Even if you can't keep these German warships, it would be nice to get the cruiser Elizabeth of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Although it is a little old and its technology is a little behind, it is at least a cruiser...