Chapter 77 Chapter 6 The more you are afraid of something, the more it will come

As the first prerequisite for going north, Feng Guozhang proposed to Duan Qirui that anyone except Xu Shuzheng could agree to the candidate for the Secretary-General of the State Council. Duan Qirui also understood what Feng Guozhang was jealous of, so he fully agreed, and the post of Secretary-General of the State Council was taken by Zhang Zhitan in Duan Muzhong.Every day at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Zhang Zhitan would come to the presidential palace as usual, accompanied by Yun Baohui, a member of Feng Mu and acting secretary general of the presidential palace, and asked Feng Guozhang to stamp his seal at the Spring Festival.

When stamping the seal, Feng Guozhang, Zhang Zhitan, and Yun Baohui sat at a desk in three directions. First, Zhang Zhitan handed Feng the State Council's orders one by one.After Feng had seen it, he handed it to Yun Baohui as usual, and Yun Baohui took the "Presidential Seal" made of white jade that was one inch square, and stamped the orders one by one.After building, hand it over to Zhang Zhitan. The hustle and bustle of the dispute between the government and the court is gone, and there is only everyone repeating the sealing procedures again and again, and the scene is extremely harmonious.Since then, things in the government have become much smoother.

When Duan Qirui successfully prevented Zhang Xun's restoration and came to power again, the "World War I" situation became more tense, and it was urgent to declare war on Germany. The envoys of the Allied Powers in China and Japan once again urged the Chinese government to make relevant decisions as soon as possible.At the same time, the Germans tried to persuade Duan Qirui not to declare war on Germany. The German envoy specially came to Duan Gongfu to pay a visit to Duan Qirui.He first touched on the old relationship, talking about "Your Prime Minister studied at our country's military school thirty years ago, and also practiced at the Krupp gun factory. When the international war is raging and the outcome is uncertain", continue the spirit of goodwill towards Germany in the past, and don't declare war even if you break off diplomatic relations for a while.He also said that if Duan Qirui can do this, it will benefit both China and Germany, and so on.

Germany is afraid of China declaring war, thereby accelerating its fate of failure. It is completely understandable for the German minister to say and do this on behalf of the government. What makes Duan Qirui angry is that the other party has another move. The German envoy suddenly asked the manager of Deutsche Bank who was accompanying him to take out a check, on which a huge sum of one million yuan had been filled.While putting the check on the coffee table, he said: "Your government and your Prime Minister need a lot of money now, and the amount is a mere amount. I would like to express my respect."

In the Beiyang Department, Duan Qirui is a unique figure.He has a clean and honest government and is known as the "six nos prime minister", that is, "no smoking, no drinking, no whoring, no gambling, no greed, and no occupation".Feng Guozhang's "Min Yuan Public Bonds", he will never be contaminated by it. Duan Qirui thought that his reputation for being noble and clean spread both at home and abroad, but he did not expect that the Germans would take him as a bribe in a hurry, which was tantamount to an insult to his personality.Immediately, he straightened his face and replied loudly: "Your minister just said something, from your standpoint, I can't say what you said and shouldn't say it, but what you did is absurd!"

Then, Duan Qirui refuted the flaws in the minister's words: "I used to study in your country. The militarism, with the ambition to annex the whole world, is an outrageous act." After explaining that Germany deserves its own fault, he told the other side categorically that, as the prime minister of China, he insisted on joining the Allied Powers based on China's interests.As for the envoy's bribe to him - "Gifts are not acceptable, please take back the check." Duan Qirui's justice was strict, and the German minister was so red-faced by the refutation that he had to withdraw with his check.

After seeing off the guests, Duan Qirui was still angry.In view of the fact that the members of Congress were scattered during the restoration period and there was no quorum, he quickly launched a declaration of war against Germany by means of the state council passing the prime minister's responsibility. On August 14, 1917, Feng Guozhang announced it in the form of a presidential decree, and China officially declared war on Germany. One month later, the envoys of the Allied Powers responded to China’s participation in the war, agreeing that the Boxer indemnity from Germany and Austria should be revoked forever, and that the Allied Powers’ Boxer indemnity would be suspended for five years, and no interest would be added during the suspension period.This is undoubtedly of great significance to China's finances, which have long been dragged down by Boxer indemnities.

According to the agreement with the Allied Powers, it was not the army that China sent directly to Europe at first, but the Chinese laborers.Chinese workers were by no means dispensable to the Allied Powers. The "World War I" was like a lawn mower for the European population. Before it was fought for a few years, there was a shortage of labor in the rear of the warring countries, especially France. for urgent. Long before China declared war on Germany, the Transportation Department headed by Liang Shiyi and Ye Gongchuo organized Huimin Company to recruit Chinese workers from North China, East China, and South China to Europe in the name of improving their international status in the future.After the declaration of war, the recruitment of Chinese laborers to Europe to join the war officially became a government action. The number of Chinese laborers agreed between Britain and France and the Chinese government was 100,000 in Britain and 50,000 in France, and they were all recruited in the end.The salaries of these Chinese workers and the various expenses and materials needed for their basic necessities of life were all provided by the British and French governments.

After the Chinese workers were recruited, they went to Europe in batches, and more than 2,000 people were recruited in Weihaiwei.On the way to Europe, the Chinese laborers went through untold hardships, and also experienced the cruelty and horror of the World War. One day, the Weihaiwei Chinese laborers on guard at the bow of the ship suddenly found suspicious "little ideas" on the sea. While firing a warning gun, he ordered everyone on board to put on lifebelts. Their luck was not bad. The frigate released depth charges, and the alarm was lifted. However, three months after arriving in France, someone read from the newspaper that the large ship that took them was still sunk by a German submarine torpedo up.