"As a foreigner, I have always been curious about what Li wanted. He had unimaginable wealth. Even in 1915, his wealth was unimaginable. But as a wealthy local powerhouse,

He is willing to give up everything, which is unimaginable.

Originally, as a powerful local warlord, that's how to describe him! His strength can completely protect his wealth. But in the end he chose to give up his protection. Perhaps, judging from future development, he seems to have everything in mind.

, but in my opinion, that is obviously the delusion of scholars.

However, until that day, from his answer, I understood what he needed. It was from that day on that I clearly realized that we were not dealing with the China I imagined, but the same China.

We are dealing with a young China. This country is young, and it is restless because of its youth. Similarly, this country is extremely old, and because it is old, it is arrogant. When arrogance and restlessness are combined, what do we need to face?

What kind of China?

In this regard, I have been thinking about this issue after resigning as Minister to China. When the cruise ship started to leave China, I witnessed China's cutting-edge warships in the Yellow Sea. From then on, that huge warship

It has always been engraved in my mind, and the same question has always bothered me.

I think now, the Chinese have given us a clear answer!"

"Memoirs of Zhu Erdian"-1925

On September 29, the fourth year of the Republic of China, the "Treaty on the Adjustment of Tariff Relations and Extraterritorial Rights between China and the United States" was signed in Beijing. The treaty stipulates: "Historically, the effective treaties between China and the United States have contained provisions on the import and export of goods in China.

The various provisions on tax rates, deposits, sub-export duties and ship notes shall be immediately revoked and invalidated, and the principle of complete national tariff autonomy shall apply. However, the contracting countries shall enjoy the above-mentioned and related matters within each other's territories.

The treatment should be no different from that enjoyed by other countries." The United States became the first Western country to renegotiate a tariff treaty with China, abolish the agreed tariffs, and recognize China's tariff autonomy.

On September 21, after the Sino-US tariff negotiations were officially launched, under the instruction of Li Zicheng, neither Lu Zhengxiang nor Gu Weijun raised any objections to the plan proposed by the US. This made Rui Enshi very happy.

I am surprised, because according to the plan of the State Council, although the United States agreed to abolish the agreed tariffs and restore China's tariff autonomy, it left the United States with the impression of "enjoying equal treatment with other countries". The concessions of the Special Foreign Affairs Committee even exceeded satisfaction.

During the Qing Dynasty, the bottom line was required when negotiating tariffs. However, the United States realized the original intention of the negotiations of "I will have it if everyone has it. I will only if everyone is willing to do it" and consolidated its economic privileges in China.

As for the issue of "abolition of consular jurisdiction," the United States proposed that it could only be considered after China establishes a modern legal system. China directly invited the U.S. government to "send legal advisers to assist China in formulating a modern legal system." The U.S. government naturally said

Support. And this is what Rui Enshi hopes.

Although the United States finally agreed to cancel its consular jurisdiction in China, it had many reservations about this content in the form of an annex. According to the terms agreed in the treaty, the treaty came into effect on January 1, 1920. Before it came into effect,

The two governments should work out detailed measures for the Chinese government to exercise its legal power over the American people; secondly, if such measures have not been drawn up by then, the American people should do so when more than half of the countries that enjoy consular jurisdiction recognize that they have waived this privilege.

It is subject to the jurisdiction of Chinese laws and courts.

In short, several difficulties expected by Washington were either accepted or avoided. It turned out that with the strong and enthusiastic support of Li Zicheng, the Chinese side avoided several points on which they might not be able to reach an agreement and went straight to the "signing"

And go. In the end, after the treaty was signed, apart from extraterritoriality, all China really got was tariff sovereignty, and in the first four years of the implementation of tariff sovereignty, it was subject to many restrictions. For example, the annual increase in tax rate must not exceed 2.5%, and the specific protective tax rate

There are restrictions such as annual growth not exceeding 5%. But for China, this must be a beginning...

For Li Zicheng, what he needs is to take back diplomatic sovereignty, and the sooner the better. He urgently needs to "enhance his reputation" to pave the way for his career, although as the chairman of the Special Foreign Affairs Committee, Lu Zhengxiang really wants to restore all this.

But in the end there was nothing that could be done.

"What we need is to open a gap as soon as possible. If we can't open the gap, everything else is empty talk. The fortress is conquered from the inside. Once the gap is opened, it couldn't be easier to destroy everything!"

Faced with everyone's confusion, Li Zicheng had his own persistence and also his own stubbornness. On the second day after the Sino-US negotiations and signing of the contract, Zhu Erdian, as the minister to China, announced the British plan to the outside world for the first time.

manner.

"The United Kingdom does not object to the United States' move to conduct separate treaty negotiations with China!"

After Zhu Erdian made this statement, the Special Foreign Affairs Committee began negotiations with the United Kingdom on issues of tariffs and extraterritoriality.

"Tariffs first, extraterritoriality second!"

On the way to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhu Erdian, who was sitting in the car, repeatedly analyzed the contents of the "New Treaty between China and the United States". One thing that is certain is that the purpose of the State Council is not just to "sign a contract", but what they value is

"Tariffs", the reason why the State Council attaches great importance to tariffs is not just a simple increase in taxes!

The more important reason is that they want to use "tariff autonomy" to implement nationwide tax reform and tax rectification, and ultimately establish a real domestic market and domestic tax system. This may be the real goal of the State Council. Li Zicheng's mentality is to quickly

Sign a contract, and then use the additional conditions of tariff autonomy to force local governments to accept the conditions required by the treaty, thereby establishing a fiscal and taxation system that is beneficial to the central government. This means that in order to achieve the purpose of "quick signing", they will make some concessions.

After understanding the plan of the Prime Minister, Zhu Erdian smiled. He knew how to maximize the interests for himself, or to be precise, for Britain.

"On the issue of tariffs, you can make appropriate concessions, but on issues of extraterritoriality, concessions, leased areas and other privileges, you must insist as much as possible!"

London's plan is so simple that Zhu Erdian can only control the dimensions. Zhu Erdian is not surprised by London's simple plan. On the one hand, the British business community has completely withdrawn from China due to the war in Europe, which has led to

The interests of the industrial and commercial circles in China have declined sharply, especially those of export business. On the other hand, China's industrial and commercial circles have developed rapidly. Now many of China's industrial finished products are even sold back to the United Kingdom and other European countries.

For the dye industry in the United States, for them, the European War was originally an opportunity for rapid development. However, after the British and German dye industries withdrew from the U.S. market, Chinese dyes and pharmaceuticals quickly filled the market. It is expected that even though

Even after the war, it was difficult for the British industry to occupy most of the Chinese market as before the war, so they did not have too much objection to whether China would provide tariff protection after it achieved tariff independence.

However, they are extremely insistent on extraterritoriality, concessions, leased land and other privileges. This is for the benefit of British investment in China, so this is the real focus of negotiations, and what Zhu Erdian needs is to take advantage of their eagerness to sign.

psychology to ensure that Britain’s interests in China are not damaged.

"We recognize in principle the principle of complete tariff autonomy in China!"

In the conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhu Erdian said meaningfully.

"Except for some detailed issues, we have no objections to this. We can discuss some issues in the preparatory stage. Of course, after you fully study the plan submitted by the UK..."...

"We'll be ready in half an hour."

Lu Zhengxiang said politely that since the beginning of the meeting with Zhu Erdian, he began to mentally prepare to refute some questions. After the Prime Minister told him that Zhu Erdian agreed to make concessions, although he was surprised by the change in Zhu Erdian's attitude, he knew that the Prime Minister wanted

He signed the contract as soon as possible, knowing that the Zhu Erdian in front of him was a typical China expert and a typical British elite diplomat. They are very good at capturing problems from the details. Perhaps they had already taken the initiative at the beginning of this negotiation -

—Mastered China’s bottom line.

However, before the negotiations were held, he saw a confidential cable in the State Department. The cable was a British diplomatic cable deciphered by the intelligence agency. Although the content was very simple, Lu Zhengxiang and Gu Weijun knew the British bottom line.

While Gu Weijun was studying the British plan there, Lu Zhengxiang handed Zhu Erdian a cigar, and then he took another cigar and started smoking it, blowing out smoke rings and politely waving his hands a few times to prevent the smoke from reaching the guests.

He walked in front of him and then said with a polite smile:

"On the issue of tariffs, I am very grateful to the Minister for respecting China's decision. This should have been the most difficult issue to reach agreement on, but with your understanding, we finally made real progress! I will convey this to the Prime Minister.

a little!"

He emphasized the word "prime minister" when he said it.

"All this marks the beginning of a new beginning for every country, including the UK, that is waiting for me on an equal footing. As we all know, China has embarked on a path of its own. Of course, on this path, China's development is far from

It does not require the support of all countries, especially the support of a powerful country like the United Kingdom. Moreover, we are also willing to play our role as a friend of the United Kingdom in the future!"

Lu Zhengxiang said after leaning forward slightly and leaning forward for a moment, followed by a long pause.

After a moment of silence, Zhu Erdian strengthened his tone and said meaningfully:

"London believes that we respect China's autonomy in tariffs, but we also need your country to respect the treaties that have been signed!..."

"A treaty that has been signed?"

Lu Zhengxiang unexpectedly interrupted Zhu Erdian's words, with a hint of strangeness in his tone.

"Of course we respect those treaties, otherwise we wouldn't be negotiating here, what do you think? Your Excellency, Minister!"

Raising his eyebrows slightly, Zhu Erdian looked at Lu Zhengxiang with a smile on his face. Couldn't he understand the meaning of this sentence? This sentence was very straightforward. But Lu Zhengxiang seemed not to understand it at all.

The meaning behind the words is similar.

Maybe he was pretending to be confused. Zhu Erdian, who knew how difficult these professional diplomats in China were now, would underestimate the enemy. He nodded.

"Of course, so we are willing to negotiate with your country on an equal footing and with mutual respect on the tariff issue!"

"I believe,"

After burning out the cigar in his hand, Lu Zhengxiang said,

"Now that we have reached a consensus on this historic issue, and both our countries will benefit from it, we should take advantage of this rare opportunity to have more in-depth talks on some issues, so that we can solve our problems

There are some problems with the target. In the future, cooperation between China and the UK will bring benefits to our people. Don’t you think this is natural?”

When he said these words, Lu Zhengxiang remembered the contents of the confidential telegram he saw in the Prime Minister's Office: On the tariff issue, if the United States makes concessions and France agrees, the United Kingdom can give up the agreed tariffs and use extraterritorial jurisdiction.

On the issue, the significance of London is that if China takes a tough stance and insists on this condition, and Chinese laws are in line with the legal spirit of European and American countries, and are recognized by the British legal community, and are convinced that it is a good law, and after five years of implementation, the United Kingdom can

In addition to ensuring detailed interests, expressing support in principle, on the concession issue...

So Lu Zhengxiang smiled again and looked at the British representative who didn't know that the bottom line had been revealed. Zhu Erdian also looked at him. It seemed that both parties were full of confidence in this negotiation because they understood the other side's bottom line.

“Very natural indeed!”

Zhu Erdian nodded affirmatively.

"That's why there is a plan submitted before!"

Zhu Erdian quickly put out the cigar and pressed the cigarette butt into the bottom of the crystal glass ashtray. Zhu Erdian looked at the other party without showing any expression.

"I think,"

After a moment of silence, Lu Zhengxiang said.

"We can first sign a treaty on tariffs and then negotiate on other issues one by one."

Because the British plan was too far away from the requirements, Lu Zhengxiang was not willing to waste too much time on unrealistic plans.

"I think,"

Faced with this suggestion, Zhu Erdian said.
To be continued...