The sun shines through the window and shines into this office, which is far from spacious. The left and right walls of this office are a whole bookcase, and the bookcase is filled with various books, many of which are Chinese classics, including pan-Confucian academic classics, and a large number of English books. In addition to the two large bookcases, there is only a large desk in the office, with the desk facing away from the window, and the window is a Western-style floor-to-ceiling window.

Four chairs were placed in front of the desk. At this time, four people were sitting on the four chairs, Zhang Yilin, Lu Zhengxiang, Gu Weijun and Cao Rulin, one was in front of the desk in turn. One was the Secretary-General of the General Office, the Chief of Foreign Affairs, the Chief of Foreign Affairs, and the last was the Deputy Chief of Foreign Affairs.

Looking at the four people in front of him, Li Zicheng was smoking a cigar, but he felt funny because, according to the textbook, he was working with diplomatic officials who "misfortune the country", "incompetence", "traitor", "traitor", "compromise", and "surrender".

The Beiyang era began with the training of Yuan Shikai at a small station, to the success of the Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army and the end of the Northeast's flag change. Both parties tried their best to attack the Beiyang era, calling the Beiyang era the darkest era in Chinese history, which was connected with stereotypes such as the failure of the Westernization Movement, the destruction of the Beiyang navy, and the stolen warlords of the country. Was the Beiyang era a war of warlords and the people were living in poverty?

But after coming to this era, I realized that sometimes textbooks are textbooks, and people always vilify their opponents for their own political interests. In fact, Beiyang is an era and force that has been vilified. Although Yuan Shikai became the president and the local situation is also semi-sage, there are still moral constraints between them and will not be killed. Beiyang has many factions, and more importantly, this era is a diversified era, with free and relaxed social atmosphere and no official ideology, with hundreds of flowers blooming, and academic freedom, which is the golden age of intellectuals and education.

In diplomacy, through the transformation of the old diplomatic institutions in the late Qing Dynasty, the old was destroyed and the new was completed, and a group of professional and technical new diplomats were brought on the diplomatic stage. They went abroad to receive specialized education through various forms and were the earliest group in China to open their eyes to the world.

Moreover, diplomats have a lofty prestige and diplomacy is not restrained by party interests. They can start from the real national interests and make decisions and are more continuable than other departments. However, due to the long-term inculcation of revolutionary diplomacy, they are described as cunning, excellent and difficult Beiyang diplomats in the archives of the great powers. They have become "compradors", "lack dogs", and "xi cubs" in later textbooks. The results of negotiations have been written off.

The diplomatic achievements and deeds in the Beiyang period, but many people only see the bad things in the past and cannot see the good things. They only emphasize today's achievements and past mistakes. Their concessions are to take the overall situation into consideration. Others concessions are to lose power and humiliate the country. That double standard is ridiculous.

Just like now, just like at this time, if you follow the "standards" of later generations, you are "destroying power and humiliating the country" and "traiting the country to compromise"! With a cigar at your fingertips, Li Zicheng began to recall the history you learned in the past.

Since modern China's contact with the world, the "Inequality Treaty" has suffered humiliation and setbacks.

Since the 1920s, patriotic propaganda such as "anti-imperialism and abolishing the Treaty" and "annihilation of Inequality Treaty" have begun to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Since then, who has ended the century-old national humiliation of "annihilation of Inequality Treaty" is closely related to the legitimacy of the regime.

The National Government benefited from the anti-imperialist and anti-warlord passion after the May 30th century, and obtained power after the Great Revolution. It emphasized that it was always committed to abolishing the treaty and signed the "New Sino-US Testament" and the "New Sino-British Testament" during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and abolished the "Unequal Treaty", but depressed the importance of the Axis Powers' return to the Wang Jingwei regime. Later, a certain party deprecated the achievements of the National Government abolishing the "Unequal Treaty" for political purposes and pointed out that there were still many unretracted rights, emphasizing that they were the first to propose the abolishing the treaty and made unremitting efforts; 49 years later, the imperialist forces and influence were completely eliminated, and the chains of the "Unequal Treaty" stuck in the Chinese nation. Finally, the return of Hong Kong and Macao was truly ending the century-old national humiliation.

In fact, the "unequal treaty" has been carrying a century of national tragedy and has strong political implications. The introduction and use of its concept means doubts and challenges of the legitimacy and effectiveness of the treaty, and then advocates "abolition" it. However, too much emphasis on the moral flaws of the "unequal treaty" and the moral superiority of the "abolition of the treaty" will have contradictions. The Qing government also enjoyed treaty privileges in foreign countries, such as three exclusive concessions in North Korea, and in public concessions such as Zengnanpu, there were also Chinese concessions, and they also enjoyed consular judgment rights. Before the Treaty of Shimonoseki, China and Japan enjoyed consular judgment rights.

It should be said that the main function of "abolition of the Contract" is internal and closely related to real politics. The rich and wonderful "revision of the Contract" process and achievements are obscured by the concept of "abolition of the Contract", which has led to the efforts of generations of diplomats being forgotten, and the many characteristics and development processes of China's diplomacy have been ignored and distorted, and it is impossible to summarize the results and understand the past with confidence.

Getting rid of the constraints of treaties is the unanimous goal of the whole country. "Amendment of the contract" and "abolition of the contract" are both means to achieve the goal. "Amendment of the contract" follows the legal approach and revises the equal treaty in accordance with legal requirements; if the opponent's country insists on revising the Old Testament, it can resort to revolution and public opinion, take the political line to "abolize the contract" and get rid of the constraints of the old contract, and the purpose is to reconstruct the new contract of equality. Revising the contract" and "abolizing the contract" should complement each other, and different choices or use them interactively depending on the environment, current affairs and its own environment. "Treaty must be kept" is a long-standing Western legal tradition. Treaties can be amended, but amending the treaty should not negate the principle of "Treaty must be kept".

However, after the May 30th Massacre in 1q25, the two parties insisted on "anti-imperialism and abolishing the treaty", emphasizing the abolition and revision to two completely different things, defining "commitment" as a treason of compromise and surrender with imperialism, believing that only "abolition of the treaty" can be lifted out of the shackles and escape from semi-colonial status. Since then, "commitment" and "abolition of the treaty" have become two clearly and irreconcilable lines. Whether to advocate unconditional "abolition of unequal treaty" as a watershed between patriotism and counter-revolution, the good and bad. "commitment" has become deeply rooted in the minds of the Chinese people and has become a negative term.

“I have no other requests,”

Holding a cigar, Li Zicheng made a gesture.

"From now on, all decisions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be approved by the State Council, and at the same time, they must strictly order the envoys to foreign countries to not make any remarks that are contrary to the decisions of the State Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This must be stated to them."

After saying that, a smile flashed on the corner of his mouth and gently patted the handboard a few times.

While the general was talking, Cao Rulin just kept slashing foreign fires there and lit his cigarettes. I don’t know if it was because of nervousness or other emotions that made his fingers tremble and it was even difficult to lit foreign fires. At this moment, accompanied by a crisp sound, a golden lighter appeared in front of him with a flame. He raised his head in surprise, but saw that the general was actually lighting a cigarette for him.

"Second Chief Cao!"

Looking at Cao Rulin with a smile, Li Zicheng said loudly, the famous "pro-Japanese faction" in history.

"Our time is precious, so I hope we don't waste any time. Now we are proposing a revision of the countries. We must attack and attack again, and never stop any steps."

Seeing that Cao Rulin was about to speak, Li Zicheng waved his hand and said:

"Okay... OK. Although you haven't said anything yet, I already understand what you want to say. Let me talk about the steps of this matter first."

After a stop and taking a few chews of cigars, Li Zicheng glanced at everyone.

“My opinion is simple, only three points,”

Li Zicheng's face licked his lips.

"The first point is that every staff member cannot slacke off work. Instead, on the contrary, work must be stepped up. There is no need to say much about this. You are all working very hard, you can all work enthusiastically. I am very grateful to you. But there is another point - you must not forget it at all times, that is the second point I want to say."

He took two more puffs of cigarettes, and only the heat came out of his mouth. Then he scraped another piece of foreign land.

"The second point is: we must understand that this matter is related to the rise and fall of China's national fortune in the next few decades. During the Battle of Ma Hai, Marshal Dongxiang once said, "The rise and fall of the empire is here," and today I want to say that China is here, and the rise and fall of China is here. It is undeniable that each of us is patriotic, but patriotic enthusiasm alone is not enough. In this matter, we must make full use of the contradictions of various countries, as well as the interests and points of each country, choose a few suitable goals, and open a few breakthroughs."

Looking at the faces of the four of them, the muscles on Li Zicheng's face thrust a moment - showing a smile. He continued to say:

"The "commitment" and "abolition of the covenant" are both means to achieve the goal. "Commitment" follows the legal approach and revises the equal treaty in accordance with legal requirements; if the opponent's country insists on revising the Old Testament, it can resort to tough and public opinion, take the political route to "abolition of the covenant", and get rid of the constraints of the old contract, and the purpose is to reconstruct the new covenant of equality. The "commitment" and "abolition of the covenant" should complement each other, and different choices or interactive applications can be made depending on the environment, current affairs and its own environment."

After a moment of silence, Li Zicheng added.

"Although those unequal treaties are evil treaties and imposed treaties, none of which were signed voluntarily by us, since we are in this era of strong meat and strong prey, since we want to play this game, unless there is one day we have the ability to formulate the rules of the game, we must abide by the rules of the game set by Westerners. "Treaties must be kept" is a long-standing Western legal tradition. Treaties can be modified, but amending treaties should not negate the principle of "Treaties must be kept."

When it comes to "the treaties must be kept", Li Zicheng seemed helpless. The principle of "the treaties must be kept" seems a bit nonsense, but it is the minimum rule of the game. Whether it is a weak country or a strong country, this principle is generally binding.

"You are all diplomatic experts, diplomacy. You are better than me. I am an outsider, so I am very frank. There may be something that you may not consider. You can point it out directly, but there is no politeness to talk about the issue of principle, and there is no room for negotiation. I think you all will definitely work hard to achieve the goal of "revising the New Testament."

The nation will remember you, the people will thank you, and I am grateful to you in person.”

Looking at the four people in front of them, they will form a small group that "revises the New Testament". They must undertake the task of negotiating with various countries in the future. They must use all their diplomatic skills to achieve their ultimate goal, but they will not give up.

"You guys work - do you have any questions?"

Seeing that the four of them were just silent, Li asked again.

"What do you need, just say it bluntly. If you need a military exercise, you only need a phone call..."

Li Zicheng had a smile on his face. In his cognition, in later generations, the one used to express tough stances is often a direct military exercise. However, it is unknown whether outsiders can understand this era.

The general - the reasoning was just a little stunned by Lu Zhengxiang, Gu Weijun and Cao Rulin. After looking at each other, Lu Zhengxiang asked.

"General, you have said before that when negotiating with a country without a contract, insisting on equality and reciprocity no longer granting privileges. Even if the negotiation fails, the diplomatic relations cannot be established, and the President cannot accommodate them..."

The pursuit of recognition from all countries can be said to be something that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been working hard in recent years. Now, although major countries have recognized China one after another, many countries have not yet established diplomatic relations. The President has set the diplomatic principle of "making friends with all over the world". Obviously, Li Zicheng's decision is contrary to the President's decision.

He held the cigar in his mouth, then looked directly at Lu Zhengxiang, and was silent for a long time:

"Um, um, um. I know I know. I don't have any extra time to talk about this. In the future - you don't have to mention this matter anymore. I can tell you clearly that from today on, if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs signs a treaty that is not equal and reciprocity, and then give any privileges to any country..."

He smiled coldly, and at the same time he looked at the four of them, humming with a nasal tone—

"Although the central government has made a profit of 30 million since last year, the fiscal crisis still plagues us, especially since the beginning of the country's large-scale industrial construction this year, the fiscal crisis is nearing its sight. The tariff balance this year will reach 20 million yuan. If the tariff increases to 10%, the tariff balance will exceed 10 million yuan. If the tariff power can be regained, it will not only alleviate the fiscal crisis, but also make the annual surplus allow my country to build multiple large industrial bodies. Therefore, striving for tariff autonomy will be the focus of re-constructing the new contract and the first step!"

Looking at the four of them, Li Zicheng began to take the work steps of his subordinates. Whether from the perspective of objective urgency or actual operation, he should take the lead in recovering tariff sovereignty. On the one hand, because the government needs to increase tariffs and increase government fiscal revenue to be used for industrial construction in the next few years. On the other hand, in the past few years, he has frequently contacted people from all walks of life in the United States, and the Ministry of Security has also taken all opportunities to explore the details of the United States.

Li Zicheng is now very clear about the attitude of the United States: US ambassador to China Rui Ensi does not oppose re-arrangement of tariff treaties, but he is supported by American entrepreneurs who invest in China. However, there are nearly 10,000 Americans in China, one in ten of them are missionaries. Churches in various places stand on China's side. After boycotting the American goods movement in the late Qing Dynasty, they wrote letters to the White House, urging the US government to improve relations with China to promote more Chinese people to believe in religion and join the society.

Its influence on the Washington Church is much greater than that of entrepreneurs who only recognize money.

Moreover, now Rui Enshi has also been influenced by himself. In Washington, Congress, Congress has begun to discuss the proposals submitted by lobbying companies to treat China equally, and will be reviewed soon. Li Zicheng does not doubt the result of the review. The company has invested nearly one million dollars for that proposal.

It can be said that everything is there, only the east wind is not needed. Today I want to boost this east wind here, and then take advantage of this east wind to induce the United States to agree first. As long as you open a breakthrough, the remaining problems will be simple, and the most important thing is...

"Now, due to the issue of customs personnel rights, the relationship between the State Council and the Customs is very stiff, but the UK will not persist for long. Soon, a more suitable person will be elected as the General Taxation Department of Customs. Once the current General Taxation Department of Customs is fired, then the State Council will fully cooperate with the actions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Now..."

Looking at Lu Zhengxiang and Cao Rulin, he finally focused his sight on Gu Weijun. Compared to the previous two, he was more willing to trust the people around him, especially Cao Rulin. The disgust of history can always influence people's thoughts.

"What you need is to tell the nations our decisions and remind them! Son, tomorrow, you will announce the abolition of the Old Testament and the New Testament in the name of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When the Old Testament and the New Testament are abolition, and the New Testament are reorganized by three principles: the treaty that has expired shall be abolished and a new testament is established; if the government has not yet expired, it shall reorganize it with equivalent procedures; if the Old Testament is expired and the New Testament is not established, a temporary solution shall be set to deal with everything. Abolishing unequal treaties by reorganizing the New Testament, starting today until the new testament is completed, is the central task of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Do you understand?"

When the words were finished, Li Zicheng looked directly at Lu Zhengxiang, but his mind flew out of the State Council. He knew very well that the public could not only make a sensation in the capital, but also caused a storm in the country. At that time, all he needed was to use public opinion to operate public opinion, turn public opinion into existing ones, and at the same time carry out "national diplomacy". Such a big thing can be successful!

"Please don't worry, the general manager, we will definitely be lucky enough to be unwilling to be the last one and will fulfill the heavy trust of the people!"


Chapter completed!