Chapter 59 balance beam

Responding to the U.S.’s advice was originally an important reason for China’s participation in the war, but the U.S. government became passive after that. This made the Beijing government want to re-test Japan’s attitude before taking the next step to see if it can gain the other side’s support. support. On February 14, 1917, Duan Qirui jointly called Zhang Zongxiang in the name of the State Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, mentioning that once China broke off diplomatic relations with Germany and declared war, it would inevitably require a very large sum of money. At that time, it was hoped that Japan and other members of the Allied Powers would It can be allowed to allow China to "improve tariffs as appropriate" and "relieve or extend the term of Boxer indemnity".

Japan's foreign minister once expressed sour "regret" that China had protested against Germany under the persuasion of the United States without consulting with it.Now that the Duan government can be the first to discuss with Japan "things after the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany and the declaration of war", it is obviously showing a "pro-Japanese" attitude.After Zhang Zongxiang informed the Japanese government of this, the Japanese side expressed "extreme satisfaction" and believed that this was the "first expression of sincerity" by the Chinese government towards Japan.

In order to strengthen China's confidence in participating in the war, Temple immediately sent Nishihara to China to lobby.Before departure, Nishihara discussed with Prime Minister Terauchi, Prime Minister Katsuta, and Foreign Minister Motono about the preferential conditions for China to join the Allied Powers, and obtained their approval. On February 16, Nishihara arrived in Beijing, met with dignitaries such as Cao Rulin and Liang Qichao, and visited Duan Qirui many times.During this period, they had a long conversation on preferential conditions. Nishihara hinted to Duan Qirui that if China participated in the war, the Japanese government could arm the Chinese army by sending instructors and providing ammunition, but China did not need to directly send troops to Europe, but only needed to send Chinese workers.Of course, China can also use this to get more loans.

A series of talks and "guarantees" made by Nishihara in Beijing made Duan Qirui and his staff determined to further sever diplomatic relations with Germany and even declare war after protesting against Germany. The frequent secret contacts between Nishihara and the members of the Duan faction immediately aroused the doubts of the opposition, including Li Yuanhong, who believed that Duan Qirui was taking the opportunity to join Japan and borrow money from Japan in order to eliminate dissidents. The issue of joining the war, which originally concerned only national interests, immediately became complicated.Li Yuanhong sent secret telegrams to celebrities across the country to solicit opinions, and most of these opinions were those who opposed the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany.This increased Li Yuanhong's confidence, and he completely turned from supporting the severance of diplomatic relations to opposing the severance of diplomatic relations. The dispute between the government and the court further escalated due to different attitudes towards Germany.

The stalemate between the government and the court made Feng Guozhang in Nanjing the focus.As another powerful faction in the Beiyang faction besides Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, who was elected as the vice president long before the turmoil of participating in the war, was the sweet pastry that both sides of the government and people from all walks of life were competing for.Feng Guozhang didn't want to offend Duan Qirui, nor did he want to embarrass Li Yuanhong, so he could only adopt a perfunctory and noncommittal approach. On February 22, at the strong invitation of Li, Duan, and the National Assembly, Feng Guozhang arrived in Beijing to mediate for the court. However, his attitude remained the same as before, calming things down and being impartial.

Duan Qirui originally thought that the "fourth brother" (Feng Guozhang ranked fourth among the brothers in the family) was Beiyang Paoze, and the family would always help the family. Unexpectedly, Feng Guozhang played on the balance beam.Fortunately, he lost the East and harvested the Sangyu. At this critical moment, he received the full support of Liang Qichao. In the cultural circles in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, Liang Qichao's literary knowledge was recognized as being at the top level. At the same time, he also had the courage to discuss politics, and he was a person who had a strong interest in political life.

Liang Qichao once traveled around the world and was familiar with the national conditions of various countries. Based on his understanding of the international situation, he wrote the book "Understanding the European War", judging that Germany had no hope of winning the "World War I".Like Duan Qirui, Liang Qichao was originally a "pro-German faction". This veritable public opinion giant can take the initiative to stand on Duan Qirui's side, which is not only enough to offset part of the opposition in public opinion, but also greatly strengthens Duan Qirui's support. Confidence.

At this time, China just got an excellent reason for severing diplomatic relations with Germany: After the German government replied to reject China's protest, on March 1, a French cruise ship was sunk by a German submarine, and more than 500 Chinese people on board the ship The laborer died unfortunately. Duan Qirui seized the opportunity and held the highest state affairs meeting at the presidential palace on the same day to discuss the issue of severing diplomatic relations with Germany.Although Li Yuanhong did not express any objection, he emphasized that he should not rush to draw conclusions and should obey the decision of the National Assembly. "If the National Assembly, which represents public opinion, decides to agree to join the alliance (that is, join the Allied Powers)", he personally would never object.

Since Li Yuanhong said so, Duan Qirui, as prime minister, invited the speakers of the Senate and House of Representatives, and leaders of various political parties in the Congress to hold talks. As a result, none of the attendees expressed any disagreement on the issue of severing diplomatic relations with Germany. The next day, under the urging of the ministers of the Allied Powers, Duan Qirui presided over a cabinet meeting and passed the case of severing diplomatic relations with Germany.At the same time, Cabinet Duan drafted the "Abbreviated Conditions for Joining the Allied Powers." The abbreviated content was to ask Japan to sponsor various rights that China hoped to enjoy after joining the war.

Duan Qirui was going to hand over the abridgement to Zhang Zongxiang, the Minister in Japan, and then Zhang Zongxiang would submit it to the Japanese government.Regardless of the case of severance of diplomatic relations or the abridgement, it must be approved by the president. Duan Qirui believed that Li Yuanhong would have no more problems if there were no objections from the Congress, so he sent someone to send the abridgement to the presidential palace on the same day, but unexpectedly Li Yuanhong put it aside.