Shandong Province provided Germany with an opportunity to attack the commercial dominance long held by Britain in China.

In addition to the railway plan and various commercial expansions, the occupation of Qingdao was an important part of Germany's world policy. Qingdao was only the northern end of its area of ​​influence. The boundaries have not yet been fully determined, but it will see it expand as far south as possible to

Shantou, another naval base may be established connected to it. Using Shantou in the south and Qingdao in the north, Germany quickly built an important position in Hankou, making it a rough western world.

And all of this is centered on the Jiao'ao leased area. If Germany returns Jiao'ao, it will lose its very important advantage in carrying out new aggression plans in the future. In Hankou, the German area and the Russian area

Just as much, and German interests are successfully competing with British ones. Likewise, in Shantou, the Germans have shown a clear advantage in port negotiations, while for a long time in the past it was rare to see the German flag.

Furthermore, if Germany reaches the Yangtze River basin from Shantou and beyond Hankou, Germany's momentum to advance beyond the areas hitherto associated with Britain remains strong.

Therefore, no matter from which point of view, Germany's status in China is the same, and the Germans are closely dependent on Qingdao in China policy. Regardless of politics and business, in fact, Germany's future presence in the Far East will

Reflecting its existence in the Jiaozhou territory, Jiaozhou needs to be returned to China under pressure from Japan. However, as a diplomat, he has to consider Germany's future interests in China. The war will end soon, and all crises are

temporary.

But... the other party's reminder clearly told Mal Shen the fact that Gu Weijun in front of him could not make any concessions on this issue, and as he said, as the local Huaihai Economic Envoy, he had no power to agree to allow the port

For foreign countries, they bypassed the central government to negotiate with themselves, which means that Germany is negotiating with the same local power. It also means that in the future, Germany will not need to abide by the treaty to return Jiao'ao. This kind of treaty does not have any

In terms of legal effect, at least for Germany, Germany has never signed any treaty with the Chinese central government to return the Jiaoao leased land.

And all this means that after the war is over, Germany can still send a fleet to China, and after appropriate deterrence, retake Jiao'ao and do so openly and without any treaty guarantees from the other party.

"Um"

Mal Shen, who pretended to be heavy, pondered for tens of seconds, then looked at Gu Weijun in front of him seriously, and then nodded heavily.

"Well, out of friendship between the two countries, I will not insist on compensation from China, but..."

Although he realized that for Germany, handing over Jiao'ao to the local government was even better than handing it over to the central government, Malcan still relentlessly put forward other conditions. In his view, the sudden change would cause the other party to

Doubts, in diplomacy sometimes it is necessary to give the other party an illusion.

"Germany spent nearly 100 million marks to operate Jiao'ao, so Germany needs economic compensation."

"impossible"

Gu Weijun shook his head decisively and said.

"According to the Jiao'ao Lease Treaty, when the treaty expires or Germany takes the initiative to return Jiao'ao, China does not need to pay even one mark of compensation."

At this moment, Gu Weijun even took out the Jiao'ao lease treaty to fight back against the other party. Out of the desire to end the negotiations as soon as possible, he added.

"However, out of the friendship between the two countries, we are willing to provide a guarantee to German expats in China."

"ensure?"

What guarantees can they provide?

"A security guarantee means that in the future, no matter how the current situation evolves, even if China declares war on Germany, Longhai will be willing to accept Germans unconditionally and provide them with a job to meet their daily needs," Marr said.

Sir, this is the biggest concession we can make."

The resettlement, work, and management envoys will never refuse to accept this group of Germans. After all, many German expatriates are the technical personnel and managers that Longhai needs.

After a moment of silence, Mal Shen asked in reply after weighing the pros and cons in his mind.

"What about the soldiers?"

"If they are willing, I think the Jiangsu Army would not mind accepting some German soldiers"...
Chapter completed!