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Tsarist Russia was very militaristic. Although the country was large, it was not rich. If it hadn't been for Peter the Great, who went to the West to learn from advanced European experience and carried out a series of class reforms in Tsarist Russia, and then Catherine II.

Despite his tyrannical rule and decades of continuous efforts, perhaps Tsarist Russia still lives in a semi-slave, semi-feudal medieval society.

Nicholas II was a tsar who loved success but had great ambitions and talents. When his cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and his other cousin, King George V, were fighting, he severely interfered with this "dear"

The German cousin stabbed him in the back. But what he caused was the wrath of Kaiser Wilhelm and the revenge of hundreds of thousands of elite German troops armed to the teeth. The disastrous defeat on the front line made Nicholas II panic, and he tried his best to cover up the suffering on the front line at home.

He suffered huge losses in order to maintain his image as a "little father" in the eyes of the Russian people. Abroad, he sought assistance everywhere to raise and equip more troops and stabilize the defense line.

Fang Zida once did some research on the character of Tsar Nicholas II, thanks to the classic movie "The True and False Princess". The industrial foundation of Tsarist Russia is not as strong as that of Britain, France, Germany or the United States.

The financial situation is not optimistic either. If Nicholas II were to spend such a huge sum of money to purchase so many civilian and military supplies, he would not be able to do so even if he agreed. Besides, the greedy polar bear has always been unable to make progress.

It turns out that Nicholas II racked his brains to come up with such a proposal to exchange land for aid, which was obviously based on the idea of ​​​​returning first and taking later.

The 8,000 square kilometers of land in Kalda, northwest of Xinli, sounds good. But don’t forget that it is an area that is difficult for China’s central forces to control. If Tsar Nicholas II really wanted to, why not use Vladivostok in the Far East?

To exchange?

Fang Zida was very clear-headed and ignored Nicholas II's bait. In the final analysis, Fang Zida was actually a pure businessman at heart. As a qualified businessman, actual interests are the most important. Moreover, at present

Under the circumstances, China does not have so much financial resources for it to waste randomly. Although Tsarist Russia is poor and big, it also has many good things. In addition to the lack of talents, funds, machinery and equipment, etc., the most lacking thing for domestic development is

We have the raw materials and supplies. If you want to do business, you can buy them with money. It’s okay if you don’t have money. You can exchange them with things. As for the other things? Haha. No need to discuss anything.

Of course, China still owes Tsarist Russia a large amount of loans and reparations, but business is business, and no one will use loans, reparations, etc. under such circumstances. Now that the European War has reached such a state. China.

There was no need to worry about the products being unsold. Although Nicholas II was greedy, he did not have a fever. The document did not mention these things at all, which allowed Fang Zida to see a little bit of his "sincerity".

After discussing with Song Jiaoren, the matter was handed over to Fang Zida. After the official discussion, Fang Zida reported on his work going south. He also mentioned Neji Okamura, who replaced Fujita Ichiro, intentionally or unintentionally, and

When he jokingly said that Okamura Neiji was so anxious to meet with the military attaché of the Embassy in China that he did not even attend the banquet to see off Ichiro Fujita, Fang Zida clearly saw something strange in Song Jiaoren's calm expression.

"It seems that my guess is right." Fang Zida thought, Song Jiaoren was actually no less wary of Japan than he was, and Song Jiaoren's consistent views on Japan were far less close to those of the pro-Japanese faction. Even

It can be said that Song Jiaoren has never had the slightest fondness for Japan. This is only because he personally investigated and verified the border dispute between the two countries and argued with the Japanese, so that Japan finally had no choice but to give up the plan of "map expansion".

From this point we can see the difference between Song Jiaoren and most revolutionaries.

"You should be solely responsible for this matter. I'll say hello to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ask them to cooperate with you in negotiating with the Russians. You guys cooperated on Qingdao last time, so there shouldn't be any problems, right?" Song Jiaoren

Finally he said this and asked a question.

"Haha, brother Dunchu, don't worry. When has Fang Zida ever suffered a loss in this?" Fang Zida flicked the document with his fingers, looking extremely relaxed.

Song Jiaoren also laughed immediately. Fang Zida was very good at doing this kind of thing. He had never seen him suffer a loss. Song Jiaoren was very confident that he would handle this matter.

Seeing that Song Jiaoren was busy with official duties, Fang Zida did not stay much, got up and left. After leaving the Prime Minister's Office, Fang Zida went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, found Cao Rulin, and discussed with him in the office for a long time. The two sides initially came up with a feasible solution.

Afterwards, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs came forward to conduct preliminary negotiations with the Russians. When things were almost done, it was getting dark. Thinking of his wife who was about to give birth at home, Fang Zida declined Cao Rulin's kindness to invite him to the banquet and rushed directly.

Went back.

"With such a big belly, you should ask someone to do these things." After returning home, Yuan Sizhen quickly stood up to help Fang Zida take off his coat. Fang Zida quickly waved his hand for her to sit down and scolded.

"The Western doctor said you can exercise at this time." Reluctantly lying back, Yuan Sizhen touched his already big belly and replied with a smile.

"I won't do it if I say no. Be obedient and rest well. You are the treasure of my old Fang family now." Fang Zida said, hugging his beloved wife's shoulders.

"Hmm..." She groaned softly, and Yuan Sizhen felt that she was very happy. After recalling this feeling, she suddenly exhaled softly.

"What? You're about to give birth?"

"What, there's still more than a month left." Yuan Sizhen said with a blushing face: "The child kicked me just now, please touch..."

Fang Zida quickly squatted down, placed his ear on Yuan Sizhen's belly and listened carefully. After a while, a surprised smile appeared on his face.

"This little guy really knows how to do things. He will definitely be a capable kid in the future."

"I haven't given birth yet." Yuan Sizhen found it funny that Fang Zida looked like a child now.

"My son must be a capable child!" Fang Zida said seriously, and then asked softly: "Has your father-in-law given the child a good name?"

"I've picked up a few, and I'm just waiting for you to come back to pick them."

"Okay! I have something to do tomorrow. I'll go see his old man the day after tomorrow." Fang Zida smiled and asked, "How is his old man's health? How is he doing lately?"

"It's much better. I've been talking to the people below these days. By the way, Mr. He went to visit his father some time ago. I met my eldest brother again." Before leaving Beijing, Fang Zida asked Yuan Sizhen to pay attention.

People entering and leaving the presidential palace.

"Ariga Nagao?" Seeing Yuan Sizhen nodding, Fang Zida suddenly thought of Okamura Neji from Ariga Nagao, and his face became a little solemn.

"What's wrong?" Yuan Sizhen noticed something strange and looked up at his husband.

Fang Zida smiled and said relaxedly: "It's nothing, some little things, come on! Let me hear what the child is doing." He squatted down again with a smile, leaning on his wife's belly and listening carefully.

The next day, Fang Zida went to the Central Bank very early. After handling some matters, he brought Jiang Zhiqing over.

"President!"

"Sit!" Fang Zida pointed to the seat in front of him and was approving a document without raising his head. After a few minutes, he waited for the document to be approved before he raised his head.

"Ruiyuan, I want to hear your views on Japan." Fang Zida put down the pen in his hand and looked at Jiang Zhiqing and asked.

"Japan's view?" Jiang Zhiqing was a little confused about what Fang Zida meant.

"Just tell me, you have been in Japan for so many years, so tell me your views on the Japanese and the Japanese government."

Jiang Zhiqing thought for a while and then replied: "Back to the president, Japan is a very complex nation, and its national character cannot be explained clearly in one or two sentences. From an individual point of view, the Japanese are obedient, obedient, and patient.

, tough, polite, and at the same time rebellious, cruel, inferior, arrogant, etc., which seem to be somewhat contradictory characters. Japan has a strong sense of sequence and hierarchy from top to bottom. They have a sense of inferiority and superiority at the same time.

If I could express it in one sentence, it would be a strange contradiction, or a combination of multiple contradictions in personality."

Fang Zida nodded. Jiang Zhiqing did understand the Japanese, and he could tell the Japanese character in one sentence. He was right. The Japanese were indeed such a strange nation, a society composed of contradictory individuals.

"What do you think of the Japanese government?"

Jiang Zhiqing shook his head and said with a wry smile: "President, your question is too big and it is really difficult to answer."

Fang Zida smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, just tell me your views on Sino-Japanese relations."

"Evil neighbor!" Jiang Zhiqing hesitated for a moment and then said: "Although I have lived in Japan for many years, I don't have much favorable impression of Japan. I have seen a lot of Japanese methods. Since the Ming Dynasty, Japan has invaded China.

The heart has never died, and in the past hundred years, they have continued to occupy our land. Don't look at some Japanese who pretend to be friendly on the surface, but in fact they have ulterior motives!"

"Including those Japanese who were members of the original alliance?"

Jiang Zhiqing looked a little ugly, thought for a while and nodded heavily.

"Very good!" Seeing Jiang Zhiqing tell the truth, Fang Zida was very satisfied. He stood up and walked to a safe in the corner and took out something from it.

"Ruiyuan, there is a big thing now that I want to find someone to take charge of, but there has never been a suitable person."

Jiang Zhiqing's eyes suddenly lit up, and he seemed to sense that a major opportunity was about to fall on him.

"From today on, the Central Bank will establish a special department, and the person in charge of the special department will be you." Fang Zida looked into Jiang Zhiqing's eyes and said: "There is a reason why this department is called the special department. It will not exist.

In any public list of the Central Bank, the composition of its members is strictly confidential. For example, your relationship is still in the original department, but you are actually responsible for the work of the Special Department, do you understand?"

"Zhiqing understands!" Jiang Zhiqing's bright eyes became more and more excited, and he nodded repeatedly.

"This is the list of people I selected for you. You can take a look first." Fang Zida took out a piece of paper and handed it over. Jiang Zhiqing looked at it carefully. There were about a dozen people on the list. Some of them he knew, and they were all in the Central Bank.

He held positions in several other departments, and some were probably transferred from other departments by Fang Zida. It took him a few minutes to remember these names firmly in his mind, and then returned the list to Fang Zida.

Nodding, Fang Zida took the list, struck a match and burned it on the spot.

"President, what do you want me to do specifically?" Jiang Zhiqing asked.

"Look at this first." Fang Zida handed over another thing he took out from the safe. Jiang Zhiqing was stunned when he opened it and looked up at Fang Zida in confusion: "Isn't this... a Japanese yen?"

"Fake!"(..)

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Chapter completed!