Respectfully

The sixth year of the Republic of China, October 1914, 12 in the Gregorian calendar

The Shanghai Municipal Government announced that it would try the previously captured Japanese ronin and armed expatriates on charges of "intentional homicide, armed brawl, and disturbance of public order."The major newspapers in Shanghai, including the "Shanghai Times", "Damei Evening News" and other English-language newspapers in the concession, also published the news released by the Shanghai Municipal Government in full.

Many newspapers speculated that the Chinese government would once again send a special person to serve as the interrogator in this trial, and consuls from various countries would serve as jurors.

Japanese Minister Plenipotentiary in China, Hikisuke, arrived in Shanghai by train a few days before the start of the trial. Together with the Japanese consul in Shanghai, he successively visited the consuls of Britain, France and Russia. Because of the British-Japanese alliance, Japan was naturally included in the Allied Powers. In the German and Austro-Hungarian camps, Hiki Masaki was powerless.

As for neutral countries such as Meiyi, Niichi Masaki also made a big effort, but this group of Western ghosts and beasts all put their interests first, and they can only do things with money. The Japanese government also considers borrowing money to live, so naturally it is impossible to give Nii Zhiyi too much support.

The Japanese chaebols are rich, but commercial organizations like the Taiping Group can completely disregard the interests of the empire and sell a large number of weapons to the outside world, wanting to take money from their pockets without any cost?Totally impossible.Moreover, with the loss of China's rich resources, the situation in North Korea is also changing three times a day. The chaebols who used to live very well are not too happy now.

If it weren't for the Chinese government's announcement of a public trial, the Japanese government would not have made such a big effort. After all, this is related to the face of the Great Japanese Empire.

The Japanese government and Hiki Masaki himself, who is running around, secretly hope that the imprisoned Japanese will die in their cells before the trial begins. In this way, Japan will not have to lose face, but it can also take the opportunity to attack the Chinese government.

But actually?

According to reliable sources, these Japanese ronin and armed expatriates lived quite well in the prison cells. According to a guard who was "bribed", apart from the bruises left on their bodies, there was not even a trace of interrogation.

"A bunch of bastards!"

Hikimashi walked out of the British consulate in disgrace, got into the carriage, and then cursed fiercely. He didn't know if he was scolding the British consul who refused to help, or the Japanese in the cell, or he was using his strength to fight The Chinese who dominated all of this.

Without any punishment, how could there be a confession?The "suspect statement" mentioned by the British consul must be false!

So what if it's fake?These "suspects" are all in the hands of the Chinese. As long as some of them publicly admit that the contents recorded in the confession are true, even if the Japanese are full of mouths, they will not be able to tell clearly.

In the past, it might have been possible to rely on force for deterrence, but now... the army has been overwhelmed, and the navy lost two cruisers when it went to North Korea!Furthermore, the military expenditure of the navy is several times or even dozens of times that of the army.No money and no fuel, no amount of warships!

3000 million pounds seems like a lot, but it needs to be apportioned to various government departments, and it is impossible to use all of them for military expenses!

Sitting in the carriage, Hijimasu clenched his fists, and he had to think of a way, and he must definitely draw the British to his side!He decided to send a telegram to the headquarters immediately. There are still many antique treasures looted from China in Japan. For the sake of the Japanese Empire, now is definitely not the time to be stingy!

If relying on consular jurisdiction to handle matters, Hiki Masaki's idea is feasible. As long as more than half of the jurors can be bought, the Japanese may be exonerated.But a piece of news after that made Hijimasu completely dumbfounded.

"The presiding judge and jurors of this trial are all Chinese. Consuls of various countries and other people without Chinese nationality can only observe."

"Is the news true?"

"Yes."

The Japanese Consul in Shanghai had a gloomy expression, but he still nodded.

"Damn it!" Hioki stood up fiercely, "How dare the Chinese people do this?! Wait!"

He seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly his expression changed, maybe this is an opportunity!

The next day, Rizhiyi visited the British Consul again. Compared with the previous tough refusals, this time, the attitude of the British Consul softened a little. The British were also annoyed that the Chinese did not follow the "rules". They even abandoned the concession In defiance of the established rules of the Consular Jurisdiction, it announced that it would hear this "case" on its own.

It has to be said that the news announced by Huaxia touched John Bull's nerves, including France and the United States, who expressed "shock" at this.The Chinese are targeting the Japanese, they don't care, they can just watch from the sidelines.Disregarding consular jurisdiction risks violating their own interests.

"Your Excellency, the Chinese people's actions are definitely not aimed at Japan!" Hijimashi vigorously lobbied the British consul, and as a minister of one country, bowed his head to the consuls of other countries, "It will be very dangerous to let them continue!"

The British Consul didn't nod or speak, but it could be seen from his expression that he still listened to Hikimashi's words.

very good!

Hikima began to applaud the "reckless" actions of the Chinese people. They were too arrogant and completely overwhelmed by the previous series of "victories". Don't the Chinese people know that ignoring consular jurisdiction will cause European countries to retaliate? dissatisfied?

After leaving the British Consulate, Hikimashi had a rare smile on his face.

On December 12, two days before the start of the trial, Japan joined forces with Britain, France and other countries to send a note to the Chinese government, expressing "regret" and condemnation of the Chinese government's violation of consular jurisdiction.

The Chinese government responded by publicly declaring Japan a country unwelcome.

"An unpopular country?"

Li Jinyan's jaw almost dropped when he read the report in the newspaper, the Chinese language is really profound.

"Amazing." Li Sanshao put down the newspaper, took a sip from his teacup, and couldn't help squinting his eyes because of the intoxicating aroma of the tea. Perhaps he was also in love with Mrs. Lou and Marshal Lou. Qi Menhong, "I don't know how Japan should jump this time."

In fact, when Zhan Changqing, China's foreign minister and prime minister, said these words in front of ministers from various countries, Rizhiyi, who had returned to the capital from Shanghai, was completely stunned and didn't know how to react for a while.

Unpopular country?Is China planning to declare war on the Great Japanese Empire?

"Because of Japan's previous unfriendly actions towards China, with the approval of the Congress, the Chinese government will publicly declare Japan as an unpopular country, and at the same time abolish all the treaties signed by the Qing government with Japan, and take back all Japanese concessions in China. Japan's garrison in China and armed personnel must be evacuated from China by January [-]."

After Zhan Changqing finished speaking, the room was silent for 3 minutes.

Before the others came back to their senses, Zhan Changqing added, "Also, Marshal Lou from the six northern provinces asked me to send a message to the Japanese government. When will the war indemnity in arrears be paid off?"

Hiki Masaki was so angry that he almost vomited blood.

Ignoring the livid Japanese envoy, Zhan Changqing turned to the British and French envoys and said, "It is really helpless to make this move, but please rest assured, Great Britain and France are still China's friends."

now or?The seemingly polite words carried an out-and-out threat.Zhu Erdian and Kant looked at each other, how dare Chinese people say such things, how can they have the courage to say such things?

Once again, Zhu Erdian clearly felt how different the Chinese government in front of him was from the Qing government he was familiar with.If I had known that things would develop like this, I would rather intervene by force than let China go from confrontation between North and South to unification.He thought that Huaxia was only unified in a formal sense and would not be any different from the past, but he was completely wrong.

The divided Germany and the unified Germany for only 40 years are the best examples.China's land area, population and resources are how many times that of Germany?Once such a country straightens its back, what will happen next?What awaits Great Britain?

For a moment, Zhu Erdian felt an indescribable fear.

Neither Zhu Erdian nor Kant spoke for Japan. Perhaps Kant was temporarily persuaded by Zhan Changqing's reasons. As for Zhu Erdian, no one could see anything from his old face, not even Zhan Changqing.

On December 12th, the Shanghai court opened a trial for Japanese ronin and armed expatriates. The prosecution cited a series of evidence, including witness testimony, material evidence, the Japanese’s own confession, and the traitor’s confession after being arrested. , Even the Japanese ministers and consuls sitting in the public gallery could not find more reasons to refute.

Strong words are unreasonable, and there must be "words"!

The foreign lawyer who defended the Japanese had poor reasoning, but a Chinese lawyer hired by Japan spoke plausibly in court. According to him, the Japanese were certainly at fault, but the Chinese were even more at fault!

"If it weren't for this strike, how could there be so many incidents?"

He completely disregarded the glares of his compatriots in court, and even the seamen who came to observe were called a group of "mobs" by him.Rather than saying that he is defending the Japanese, it is better to say that he is trying to provoke the anger of more Chinese people.

The sailors had red eyes and clenched their fists, staring at the lawyer who was spitting in court. One of the sailors was about to jump up in anger, but was held down by a handsome young man beside him.

"Don't be impatient."

"But he..."

"There will be results, and the damned people won't live." The young man was dressed in a black suit, and the collar and cuffs of the jacket were very neat. He sat quietly with his back straight, "Trust me."

For some reason, upon hearing this man's words, the sailor unexpectedly fell silent, a man of medium build sitting behind the man came over and whispered something in the man's ear, the man nodded, "I see. "

The man spoke with a Suzhou accent, and he was from the same village as the sailor held by him.

The lawyer's performance finally came to an end, and the judge announced an adjournment to continue the trial the next day.

When everyone walked out of the courtroom, the Huaxia lawyer defending the Japanese held his head high, but quickened his pace when passing by a few sailors. It was hard to tell whether it was deliberate or guilty.

A large number of reporters had already gathered outside the court, and when they saw the people coming out of the court, they rushed forward one after another.

Song Wu also walked behind the crowd. He looked at the lawyer who was being interviewed, and a cold light flashed in his long and narrow eyes.As he had said to the sailor, there was no reason for a damned man to live.

After a week of trial, 73 Japanese wanderers and expatriates, five of them were sentenced to death, 21 were sentenced to more than 15 years in prison, and the rest were sentenced to five to ten years in prison. The six paralyzed people were exempted from criminal punishment, but they were deported in court and banned from entering China for life.

From the moment the verdict was read out, the faces of the Japanese ministers and consuls were dark. When the results of the trial were told to the Chinese people waiting outside the court, there were thunderous cheers.

The declaration and major domestic newspapers competed to make large-scale reports on the trial.

"Our country, our China!"

"Huaxia people, on the land of Huaxia, you can say no to anyone!"

"Whoever insults me will be humiliated! Anyone who offends me will be repaid a hundredfold!"

The Shanghai branch of Shizheng News also focused on this report. The revised version of "Celebrity" also published a special issue with an exclusive interview with the presiding judge in the court. The leader of the strike is a Chinese sailor from Swire Jardine Shipping Company. It also appeared in the special issue. This special issue, like the previous supplement reporting on the old Beiyang and Beiyang Navy, was out of stock when it went public.

Outside the court, a black car was parked by the side of the road. Huaxia lawyer, who had defended the Japanese in court before, got rid of the people following him, and when he walked out of the alley by the road, his appearance was completely changed.

The western clothes on his body were changed into long gowns, his thick black hair turned into a bald head, the beard on his face disappeared, his eyebrows seemed not as thick as before, and his nose was a bit collapsed.

"Mr. Situ, you have worked hard."

The person sitting in the driver's seat turned his head, and it turned out to be Adjutant Liu who had been working beside Li Jinyan.

"It's not hard work." Situ Mao touched his bald head, "I said that it's no good that that kid Situ Jing is in such a hurry to ask me to come to Shanghai. It turns out that he is doing such a hard job that thousands of people reviled."

"Mr. Situ is Gao Yi."

"Hey, Jianghu people, what you're talking about is loyalty!" Situ Mao glanced out through the car window, "Just now the Japanese envoy was holding me and thanking me so much that I got goosebumps all over my body, I wish I could Chop off his paw."

Adjutant Liu smiled, and Situ Mao went on to say, "I know the severity, and I know what to do. Please, Adjutant Liu, help me send a message to the Young Marshal and the Third Young Master. Situ Mao will definitely fulfill his mission."

When the two people in the car were talking, a black car passed by. Song Wu, who was sitting in the car, rolled down the window and looked at the side of the road, then rolled up the window, turned his head and said to the adjutant in the front seat: "Go back and check that lawyer named William Liu."

"Yes."

Guanbei City

Xiao Youde delivered the telegram from Shanghai to Li Jinyan, "Shut up, everything is going well."

"En." Li Jinyan picked up the telegram and glanced at it, then turned to look at Situ Jing who was sitting beside him holding a plate of dim sum and eating vigorously.This is the third set, right?Dare to feel that this is not just a highly educated gangster, but also a highly educated gangster who likes sweets.

"Mr. Situ, look..."

"Third Young Master, call me A Jing." Situ actually put down the empty plate again, and wiped his mouth, "Amao's side is absolutely fine, he often does such things. Not to mention the Japanese, those ghosts are all killed He lied all over the place. As long as the news is not leaked here, the main hall will also say hello. Before the matter is over, there will be no such person as Situ Mao in the world, only Liu William."

Situ Jing proposed the idea of ​​asking Situ Mao to defend the Japanese, and then get in touch with the Japanese.When he saw the news about Shanghai in the newspaper, he immediately came to Li Jinyan. Li Jinyan disagreed at first, thinking it was too dangerous, but Situ actually looked at Li Jinyan and smiled, making him puzzled.

"Third Young Master, don't you think that the overseas Hongmen sent me back to the country just for this matter on the surface?"

In a word, Li Jinyan was stopped by the question.

"Overseas is no better than at home. No matter how chaotic the country is, we are all our own people. But abroad... let's not hide it from the third master. If there is a chance, the third master can go abroad to see for himself. There, if we want to survive, we must be better than anyone else." They are all ruthless and poisonous! Loyalty is only for our own people, and we use all the means we can to outsiders. Amao is dedicated to this. He returned to China a month earlier than me. He is in Hong Kong, and he does the same thing. Lawyer is the most suitable person for this job.”

In the end, Li Jinyan was persuaded by Situ Jing.

But for Situ Mao's safety, apart from Situ Jing and Li Jinyan, the only ones who knew his identity were Xiao Youde and Adjutant Liu who was sent to Shanghai to contact him.

Regardless of what methods Xiao Youde, Situ Jing and Situ Mao used, in short, through various "reliable" channels, the Japanese knew about this well-known Lawyer Liu William and Liu in Hong Kong who only recognized money but not people.

If things go well, William Liu will become a nail in the side of the Japanese.He was different from Pan Guangxing. Pan Guangxing implemented a "bottom-up" policy, but Situ Mao was directly approached by the Japanese consul.

The influence of the Japanese in northern China was uprooted, and in the south, many spies who had been lurking since the end of the Qing Dynasty still did not show their whereabouts.Although the Song family has already taken action, there is still a long way to go to completely eliminate the Japanese influence in China.

In addition, you can get a lot of news about the British through the Japanese.I'm afraid the British don't even know that the Japanese have hidden eyeliners around them.

Situ smiled at the girl who brought the fourth plate of dim sum, and pushed the glasses on her face, but the girl put down the plate calmly, without even turning red, which made Situ quite frustrated.

But thinking about it carefully, after looking at Shaoshuai Lou and Li Sanshao, it is really difficult for the people in the Marshal's Mansion to be too interested in other people's looks.Situ actually touched his face, well, it's definitely not because he is not handsome enough.

"A Jing?"

"Third Young Master, I think I'm still very handsome."

"..." This gangster and Ding Zhao, that chemical madman, must have a common language.

After sending Situ Jing away, Li Jinyan sat on the sofa without making a sound for a long time. Do these geniuses have strange personalities?His first impression of Situ Jing was the gentle and gentle turtle gangster, who would have expected that it would be like this after getting along?

Looking at the dim sum plate that was swept away again on the table, Li Jinyan couldn't help laughing. He didn't forget to take it before leaving. It's really...

Just as he was smiling, he heard the girl who put away the dishes call "Young Marshal".Li Jinyan raised his head, Lou Xiao was walking to the sofa and sat down, looked at the curve of Li Jinyan's mouth, and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing?" Li Jinyan signaled the girl to go out first, and when he and Lou Xiao were the only ones left in the room, he said, "There is a clue about the incident in Shanghai."

"Oh." Lou Xiao leaned against the sofa, put his arm on the armrest, supported his forehead with one hand, and for the first time did not straighten his back.

"Young commander, are you tired?"

"En." Lou Xiao pinched the base of his nose, pulled Li Jinyan into his arms, wrapped his arms around his waist, rested his chin on his shoulder, and closed his eyes.

Li Jinyan didn't move, didn't make a sound, just brushed Lou Xiao's black hair with his hands, as if smoothing the hair of a tiger who put down his guard, which gave Li Sanshao a sense of accomplishment.

At the end of December, the general strike in Shanghai was finally coming to an end. The Shanghai Municipal Government came forward to negotiate with representatives of companies from various countries, arguing for the interests of the striking workers. Many seamen and workers stayed outside the negotiation site, waiting for the outcome of the negotiations. .

The Huaxia negotiator simply moved the negotiation venue outside the building, "I represent the sailors, workers, and citizens in front of me. Every word I say and everything I do will be worthy of my heart!"

Due to the resolute attitude of Huaxia negotiators, representatives of companies from various countries can only accompany the Huaxia people to blow the cold wind.They are keen to wrap up the negotiations as soon as possible and get workers and seafarers back to work, and they are willing to make some concessions to do so.

The telegram sent by Whitehall to Zhu Erdian also vaguely revealed that he could make concessions to the Huaxia people within a certain limit.

During the negotiations, President Lou Da and Vice President Song successively issued telegrams to support the decision of the Shanghai Municipal Government, which also directly demonstrated the firm attitude of the Huaxia government to support their own people.

At the same time, Long Yiting, the governor of Yunnan, blocked Hekou Town on the border between China and Vietnam under the pretext of suppressing bandits, and at the same time sent troops to forcibly take over the Kunming Station of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway.A large number of Yunnan troops with live ammunition also appeared at the stations along the railway section from Kunming to Hekou. Facing the black guns, even the arrogant Gallic rooster had to shut up after protesting twice, and walked out of their office honestly.

The French in Yunnan were completely caught off guard. When they realized it, Long Yiting had completely cut off the railway from Yunnan to Vietnam, and almost cut off the connection between the French in Yunnan Province and the colonial authorities in Vietnam.

Liu Fuxian of Sichuan also ordered the Sichuan army stationed on the Sichuan-Tibet border to start operations. Compared with Long Yiting's drastic actions, his actions were much more secretive.

Because Yunnan and Sichuan are located in the southwest, and Long Yiting joined forces with Liu Fuxian to cut off the connection with Myitkyina and other places in India, the governors of Guizhou, Guangxi and other places also jointly blocked the passage of these people to other provinces, and they were arrested. The French and some British people trapped in Yunnan really had nowhere to go, and they couldn't even send telegrams.Long Dushuai neither closed them nor did anything to them. Instead, he proposed a favorite method of this group of foreigners: civilized negotiation.

negotiation?

Negotiate with them at gunpoint? !

This is called civilized negotiation? !

The negotiator of the Yunnan Army gritted his teeth, yes, didn't you enter Yunnan in such a "civilized" way back then?