The sudden statements of the diplomats from various countries in the mediation team caught both negotiating parties off guard. After a brief silence in the meeting place, the Japanese side first proposed a temporary adjournment of the meeting. This suggestion was also agreed by the Chinese side. Everyone packed up and left in a hurry.

Regardless of how the Japanese side communicated this matter with Tokyo, members of the Chinese negotiating team rushed back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after leaving the Liuguo Hotel. On the way, Cao Rulin arranged for someone to inform Prime Minister Song Jiaoren of the news.

"What are these old men planning?" Cao Rulin asked to himself while sitting in the car. Fang Zida, who was sitting next to him, just smiled faintly and did not answer the question. Although he roughly guessed

Although he knew the true intentions of Tsarist Russia, there are some things that simply cannot be explained on the table. Could it be that Fang Zida could pat his chest and tell Cao Rulin that Tsarist Russia would soon cease to exist. Was Lao Maozi making a last-ditch effort to save the empire?

When they arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cao Rulin immediately convened the members of the negotiating team and the think tank of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for consultation. Fang Zida attended the meeting and listened for a while before leaving early because he had something to deal with at the Ministry of Finance. Anyway, the situation was changing for the better, regardless of what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

No matter what countermeasures are taken, it will not affect the overall situation.

The meeting was supposed to be adjourned for one day. Perhaps because the Japanese cabinet did not reach consensus on the unexpected situation, the Japanese side continued to propose adjourning the meeting on the second day, and the peace talks were not able to continue until the third day.

After resuming the peace talks, Japan finally came up with new demands for peace talks under pressure from various countries. Although this treaty was much better than the initial treaty, there were still several aspects that China could not accept, and they immediately continued to argue.

Got up.

"Everyone, the mediation team has a proposal." Looking at the quarrels between the two sides, the British ambassador stood up and cleared his throat and said: "The key now is a truce. The mediation team suggests that if the two sides cannot reach peace talks in the short term, is it possible?"

Why not form a temporary agreement for the purpose of armistice first? After all, this boring war not only caused huge losses to both parties involved in the war, but also consumed the internal strength of our Allied Powers in vain."

The word "temporary armistice?" flashed through the minds of China and Japan, but then they thought that doing so would also be beneficial to each other. If agreement on peace talks cannot be reached, it would be feasible to conduct negotiations with the purpose of armistice first.

"These British guys have been toying with the European continent for hundreds of years. They are really treacherous!" Fang Zida was also stunned by Zhu Erdian's proposal, and then he smiled bitterly. Compared with the smooth methods of the British, the greedy Japanese

He is just a primary school student, and Chinese diplomats are no match for him either.

Armistice seems to be the best way to solve the current problem as soon as possible. But it also means laying a fuse between China and Japan that can be detonated at any time. After the armistice, China and Japan did not end the war, but continued

In a state of war, it is just a temporary stoppage between the two sides. Once the international situation or the domestic situations of Japan and China change, the war may break out again at any time. But what will this do to the British? With the war in Europe in full swing,

Next, temporarily stabilize the situation in the Far East to ensure that the internal strength of the Allied Powers is no longer wasted in vain, and put all their energy on the European battlefield to defeat their opponents. This is the real purpose of the British. And who can say what will happen in the future?

Clearly, even if China and Japan fight again in a few years, the war in Europe will be over by then. What does it have to do with Westerners if these yellow-skinned monkeys fight to the death? They consume each other's strength and fight.

With corpses strewn all over the ground, perhaps this would be more in line with Britain's interests in the Far East.

The British abacus was endorsed by France, Tsarist Russia, the United States and other countries. How could the diplomats of these countries be so kind to help China or Japan? Diplomacy is not about being a Lei Feng. Diplomatic means reflect national interests, and a temporary truce can solve the problem.

The current problems will make China and Japan consume each other's strength in the future and prevent rapid development. This is a result that Western countries are willing to see.

The Japanese side turned over the pros and cons of the temporary armistice in their minds, and suddenly felt secretly happy. To be honest, it was not that the Japanese did not want to fight this war, the main reason was that they did not have the strength to win for the time being. Otherwise, the Japanese would not be able to sit in the negotiations.

On the table. What also alarmed the Japanese was the secret weapon that the Chinese Communist Party suddenly took out - the rocket launcher. Without knowing the true status of this powerful weapon, the current strength of Northeastern troops would not be able to capture Fengtian. If there is an armistice

, although it is temporarily impossible to obtain the territory and compensation that the Japanese government dreams of from the negotiation table. It also gives Japan time to prepare for launching another war at any time. This is a good opportunity for the greedy Japanese side.

As for the Chinese side, they are also somewhat interested in the temporary armistice proposal. President Yuan Shikai does not have much time left, and he may only be gone for a few days. Although the Sino-Japanese war did not last long, it caused extremely serious losses to the central government's finances.

Yes, according to Song Jiaoren's instructions, the Sino-Japanese war must end as soon as possible to ensure the stability of domestic politics. When it is impossible to reach a peace agreement in a short period of time, a temporary armistice is also a way.

The negotiators from both sides were divided into two camps and exchanged opinions with each other. In the end, most people expressed that they could accept the proposal of a temporary armistice. Seeing that the Chinese and Japanese negotiators had the results, the British Ambassador Zhu Erdian smiled slightly and put the peace talks in his capacity as chairing the meeting.

The topic turned to a temporary truce, and the proposal of a mediation team was proactively put forward.

The mediation team's ceasefire recommendations mainly include three major points.

1: Starting from the signing date of the armistice agreement, China and Japan will unconditionally cease exchanges of fire, draw a military demarcation line centered on the area where the Japanese Army and Chinese Army Corps are currently stationed in Fengtian, and withdraw five kilometers from each other. This ten-kilometer area will be used as an illegal

The military zone serves as a buffer zone.

2: The Chinese government released the 15th and 18th Japanese divisions besieged in Jiaodong and brought them back to the mainland by the Japanese Navy's Second Fleet. The two sides completed the handover in a limited area and within a limited time.

3: The armistice parties shall form a military armistice committee composed of the members of the mediation team and members of the armistice parties. The committee shall supervise the armistice steps of both parties. Neither armistice party shall conduct any conduct in the demilitarized zone, from the demilitarized zone, or to the demilitarized zone.

hostile behavior.

In addition, there are some supplementary clauses. When he heard these contents, Fang Zida was so stunned that he seemed to be not sitting at the negotiation venue of the Liuguo Hotel in Beijing, but at Panmunjeom in North Korea. Opposite

The negotiating opponents sitting there are not the short Japanese, but the coalition led by the United States.

They really have the same ancestry! Fang Zida looked at Zhu Erdian who was talking eloquently and sighed in his heart. The British guy and the American guy are really relatives. The tricks they came up with are similar. Except for some slight differences, these contents are simply Korean.

The terms of the armistice.

After the negotiating parties had digested the contents of the armistice agreement of the mediation team, Zhu Erdian began to ask representatives from both sides if they had any objections to it.

These contents may seem reasonable on the surface, but in fact the Japanese took advantage. Especially on the military demarcation line south of Fengtian, the Japanese extended the Kanto Prefecture's sphere of influence to the north by nearly a hundred kilometers in disguise. In addition, they could not

The Japanese side was certainly eager to take back the 15th and 18th Divisions at any cost and immediately agreed to this suggestion.

As for China's immediate objection, it clearly pointed out the inappropriateness of the demarcation of the military demarcation line. It also had objections to the unconditional release of the 15th and 18th Divisions and requested that the terms be modified.

For a while, the two sides started quarreling again over this disagreement. At this time, the members of the mediation team who had been bystanders were also not idle. It seemed that some of them acted red and some acted bad, and they persuaded me one by one.

China and Japan, in order to reduce the differences and gaps between them.

"Weak countries have no diplomacy." Fang Zida really understood this sentence. Although there was no winner in this war, in the end, the Western countries ultimately leaned towards Japan for their own interests. Although they had their reasons for doing so.

, but these terms are still a shame for the undefeated China. Looking at the noisy venue, Fang Zida frowned deeply.

The negotiating parties and the mediation team conducted many consultations on the content of the armistice agreement, and it was not until New Year's Day in 1917 that an agreement was reached.

Thanks to the efforts of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the military demarcation line was confirmed with the Japanese army retreating fifty kilometers from Fengtian. In exchange for this, China proposed the unconditional release of the 15th and 18th divisions trapped in Jiaodong. This result is already within China's reach

In the later stage, due to the confirmation of the military demarcation line, the Japanese side even clamored not to give in, and did not relent until repeated pressure from the mediation team. China's request for Japan to completely withdraw to Kanto Prefecture also came under diplomatic pressure.

In this case, both parties took a step back and reluctantly reached an agreement.

After the negotiations were completed, the formal armistice agreement drafted by the mediation team began to be signed at the scene. As the main representative of the negotiations, Cao Rulin, the Chinese Foreign Minister, received the agreement letter from Zhu Erdian, his face was solemn.

"Brother Zhangming, I think I will be second to Li Hongzhang. Once this is signed, I will be a traitor!"

Cao Rulin said with a sad expression. To be honest, in terms of the content of this armistice agreement, China only suffered a slight loss. It would be very difficult to get back some of the lost areas through negotiation when the war was not won. Although in the Jiaodong battlefield,

The Japanese army has the upper hand, but once the war situation expands, the Japanese navy and army, which are much higher than the strength of China, will bring heavy losses to the young and fragile Republic of China. Especially when the country is facing Yuan Shikai's serious illness, the political undercurrent is turbulent and turbulent.

In an uneasy situation, China stabilizes the situation as soon as possible to ensure a smooth transition. In doing so, China also takes the overall situation into consideration.
Chapter completed!