Chapter 715 Shanghai Negotiations (2)
Xu Jichao's opinion has also been agreed by many people. After all, most people think that if he achieved such a major victory this time, he must at least take back Taiwan.
Xia Bohai was a little disappointed. Although after 5 or 6 years of experience, most people have good administrative abilities, they still lack strategic vision. Taiwan and Borneo are essentially different, because Taiwan is China's inherent territory. It is legitimate to take back at any time, and even if China takes back it for this, it is legitimate. Moreover, after this Far East War, East China will gain strategic initiative over Japan, but Japan will never be willing to fall behind East China. In the future, whether it is to completely defeat Japan or include Japan in the Chinese-dominated order, China and Japan will definitely have conflicts in the future, so China has a lot of opportunities to take back Taiwan.
Borneo has never been considered a formal territory of China. The only thing that can be linked to China is the Lanfang Republic established by Chinese in Borneo between the 1770s and 1880s. However, the Lanfang Republic had no affiliation with the legal Qing court of China at that time, so it was too far-fetched to declare China's sovereignty over Borneo on this reason.
Moreover, Borneo is not valued as a colony of Britain and the Netherlands. Therefore, the East China *** can take advantage of this victory to take Borneo for itself. It can be said that after passing this village, there will be no such store. Even if East China *** and Britain and the Netherlands conflict again, the two countries can instigate the Borneo colony to establish an independent country, so that East China *** will not have the chance to get involved. Unfortunately, no one else can see the difference clearly.
At this time, Qin Zheng said: "Everyone, I can understand your feelings, but have you ever thought about it? If we insist on using Taiwan as a condition of this negotiation, Japan will definitely take the opportunity to raise prices and demand a reduction in compensation. How much compensation do you think Taiwan can offset? Of course, the territory of the motherland cannot be measured by the value of money, but things must be prioritized. We will sooner or later recover Taiwan. But the primary goal now is development and industrialization. What we need now is funds to develop industrialization. When our economy develops and becomes strong, Taiwan can be recovered at any time."
After hearing Qin Zheng's words, Xia Bohai was relieved first. Qin Zheng's strategic vision did not disappoint himself. Others also discussed for a while, and Ye Yanfu said: "Isn't there Russia behind Japan? Even if you get less compensation from Japan and take back Taiwan, can't you make more compensation from Russia?"
Qin Zheng said: "First of all, we have not started negotiations with Russia. Although we will definitely have our plans when negotiating with Russia and will try our best to realize the plans, whether the negotiations with Russia can proceed as our plans are now unknown. Therefore, when negotiating with Japan, don't consider it with Russia; secondly, developing industries and realizing industrialization requires huge funds. Even if the compensation obtained from Japan and Russia is only enough for 3 or 5 years at most, the more compensation you can get, of course, the better."
At this time, Xia Bohai said again: "Old Qin's words are very good. I also want to take back Taiwan immediately, but the idea is achieved by strength. Our current strength is not enough. As for not taking back Taiwan now, it will affect our reputation, I don't think there is any need to worry, because Taiwan was not lost by us, but was ceded by the Qing court. This is not our responsibility. Moreover, in this Far East War, we recaptured the three northeastern provinces and Vladivostok and Twin Cities. These are not our lost land. Even if we failed to take back Taiwan, it is reasonable."
Qin Zheng continued: "And we can put this responsibility on the Qing court, because during the war, did the Qing court attack our river and lake bases? It just so happened that the Qing court could take the blame. Of course, the propaganda department should do a good job in this area and guide public opinion."
Wang Jun said: "No problem."
Xia Bohai said: "So, do you have any comments on the issue of land?"
This time everyone agreed. After all, Xia Bohai and Qin Zheng had already made the words so clearly, so everyone naturally understood the truth.
Xia Bohai said: "Okay, then this one is decided like this, the next one is the issue of captives."
You Mingqian said: "Of course, we cannot return the prisoners to Japan. We have finally found so many laborers, and they are all laborers in the past. Then we can return them to Japan so easily. Moreover, after the war, we must fully develop the three northeastern provinces. In addition to funds, labor is also an important condition. With these prisoners, we can greatly improve the speed of developing the Northeast. At the same time, we can also hinder Japan's recovery time, which is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone."
Now, after the Japanese soldiers, civil servants, and the People's Army captured on the battlefield, the total number of Japanese arrested by the East China National People's Army has exceeded one million, and they are still being transported back from Japan. The age structure of these people is very good. Most of them are between 20 and 30 years old, and only a very small number of them are over 40 years old or younger than 15 years old. They are all laborers in the past year, including many technicians and skilled workers. After all, Japan's Meiji Restoration has been around for nearly 40 years, so a considerable number of technicians and skilled workers have been trained, and of course many of them have been captured by the People's Army. These people are urgently needed by the East China National People's Army.
Wang Yunpeng said: "I also know that these prisoners are very important, but after the war is over, isn't it a customary practice to exchange prisoners of war with each other?"
Xiao Jianjun laughed and said, "We don't have so many soldiers captured by Japan, and it is estimated that at most 1,200 people."
Wang Yunpeng said: "But Japan can redeem all these prisoners by redemption."
Jia Zhenzhao said: "We have millions of Japanese prisoners in our hands. How many can Japan redeem them? Besides, will we not raise the price? So Japan cannot redeem many people to go back."
Xia Bohai also smiled and said, "Then let's do it. Article 4? What do you have to say."
Ye Yanfu hurriedly said: "Yes, Japan needs to open up its market, let our goods enter the Japanese market, and make another profit in economic terms."
Qin Zheng nodded and said, "Okay, this one is OK."
Wang Jun said: "Just the Japanese market, what can it do if there is one? It would be great if we can occupy the domestic market."
Xia Bohai said: "You can't say that. If you enter the Japanese market, economic interests are second. Guanjian is to attack Japan's economy and control Japan economically. After all, we are ultimately to subdue Japan and incorporate Japan into our system dominated by our leadership. In addition, we can also take advantage of economic and trade opportunities to penetrate into Japan."
Qin Zheng said: "Okay, that's it."
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Qin Zheng stayed in Qingdao for only two days. After determining the negotiation plan, he also formed a negotiation team and immediately set off to Shanghai to prepare for the negotiation. Because the Japanese negotiation team had already set off, the member list was also passed to East China **.
After arriving in Shanghai, Li Songchen, the head of the Shanghai New District, welcomed Qin Zheng and his group at the wharf. In fact, East China has now controlled the entire Shanghai area, but the administrative level of Shanghai has not been adjusted yet, so it is still under the name of the Shanghai New District to manage the Shanghai area.
After the two met, Li Songchen sent Qin Zheng to his residence. The insiders of East China ** have a special residence in Shanghai. Qin Zheng was arranged to be in a small three-story villa. Of course, in addition to Qin Zheng, his entourage also moved in.
Then Li Songchen reported to Qin Zheng about the preparations for Shanghai. The negotiation location was not located in the China Merchants Building, but in the original Shanghai New District, including the residence of the Japanese delegation, which was also in the Shanghai New District. He also made a special mobilization of a company's army to protect the safety of the Japanese negotiation team throughout the negotiation period.
This is because 10 years ago, during the negotiations between Shiguan, Li Hongzhang was assassinated by Japanese radical Toyama Toyama, which once put Japan in a very passive situation and had to make some concessions to the Qing court, reducing the amount of compensation from 300 million silver to 200 million, and a truce in advance. If Japan also follows suit and performs this drama in Shanghai, it can also cause considerable trouble for East China. This is not impossible, because everyone knows that Japan will pay a significant price for this negotiation, so maybe Japan will stand by and direct and act on a drama.
In addition, although the Chinese are very gentle, in recent years, East China ** has also focused on promoting nationalism. Although this has indeed ignited the passion of Chinese people, it has also promoted extreme emotions to a certain extent. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the extreme emotions of a few people are overwhelmed and do something extraordinary.
Of course, East China ** cannot allow such a situation to happen in Shanghai, but East China ** has just controlled Shanghai for less than half a year, and Britain, France, the United States and other countries have been operating in Shanghai for many years, and their power has penetrated into all levels of society. East China ** cannot completely eliminate foreign power in Shanghai in a short period of time.
The China Merchants Building is located in the original concession area, with a relatively complex environment, and the control ability of East China ** is still somewhat insufficient, so the negotiation location is changed to the original Shanghai New District. East China ** has been operating in the Shanghai New District for 4 or 5 years, which can ensure full control, and also shorten the distance between the Japanese delegation from its residence to its negotiation location, reducing the chance of accidents. At the same time, Li Songchen also formulated a plan to set up a special negotiation channel, which can basically ensure foolproof.
Chapter completed!