The second volume is full of glory and splendor in the capital, and the spirit is full of vitality in the foggy city. Chapter 309 Turtle Totem
Subtitle of this chapter: I am a bastard, but I am your bastard.
Wednesday afternoon, July 20, 1921.
Is it possible not to exchange an invitation for a research notebook written by Darwin himself and a science fiction novel tailor-made for Hirohito?
Is the answer obvious?
This invitation is now in the hands of our Master Yuan. His Royal Highness Prince Qin of Digong personally invites him to attend the diplomatic ball to be held at the Embassy of the Empire of Japan in the UK this Saturday.
This Saturday... doesn't that mean July 23rd?
What a good day!
They are having their own party, and I am going to have mine...
Seeing Yuan Yanshu's strange expression, the man who delivered the invitation to him couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Yuan, is there something wrong with this day?"
"What's wrong with this date? It's absolutely, absolutely, absolutely an auspicious day. History can prove it."
"I thought I'd have a party on that day..."
"Pika Pika."
"Master Ball, you really spoil the fun!"
He knew he couldn't continue, so he changed the subject and said, "Yamamoto-kun, I'm so sorry to bother you to deliver the invitation in person."
Yamamoto Isoroku laughed heartily and said, "This is something His Royal Highness Prince Di Gong instructed me to do in person. How dare I neglect it? If he hadn't been so busy these past few days, he might have come to visit you in person."
Master Yuan was flattered and said, "Visit me? Just let me know and I'll go, right?"
"My prince said that you were injured and had difficulty moving... By the way, what was your injury?" Ba Maoqian asked in surprise as he looked at him jumping around.
"All right, completely fine."
Isoroku Yamamoto thought, this guy could even recover from terminal tuberculosis without treatment, so it’s no wonder that his knee injury healed so quickly.
"Anyway, after reading your novel, His Royal Highness Prince Digong was completely possessed..." Ba Maoqian shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "You can only say he couldn't put it down. He didn't eat or sleep. Minister Matsui scolded Nomura-kun, Inoue-kun, and me, calling us 'big fools.'"
"Yamamoto-kun, why did he scold you?"
"Weren't we the three 'big fools' who introduced you to His Royal Highness Prince Digong?"
"Hahaha... Fourth Auntie, this is my fault." Yuan Yan suddenly smiled and apologized, "I didn't expect Your Highness to like my novel so much."
Just at this moment, the room waiter brought standard English afternoon tea.
Our Master Yuan called out, "Mr. Yamamoto, come and have some tea. It's a little pricey here at the Savoy, but it's worth it. This is top-quality Darjeeling black tea, which you definitely can't get anywhere else."
Upon hearing this, Ba Maoqian took a sip and praised it highly.
But this thing added so much sugar, I don’t know if you can taste the real flavor.
Then he half-jokingly said, "Mr. Yuan, it's a good thing I came to give you an invitation this time. This way, you can have afternoon tea in such a luxurious hotel. It can be considered an eye-opener."
You need to broaden your horizons, so that you can make the Yamato Hotel more luxurious and sturdy in the future. Make sure you don't build a battleship, but an aircraft carrier.
"Hahaha, Yamamoto-kun. You don't have to complain about your poverty to me. Let me tell you some good news..."
Master Yuan signaled to his female secretary, and Miss Moman handed a telegram to "Eighty Cents".
"Yamamoto-kun, this is a telegram from Germany. Five thousand Mauser rifles, three hundred thousand rounds of ammunition, plus some machine guns and pistols have been shipped."
I have to explain here that the "Mauser rifle" he mentioned is the real Mauser rifle designed by the master firearms master Mauser. Its scientific name is the 1898 Rifle Commission Rifle.
The "Mauser rifle" that the Serbs refer to is the famous 1888 Commission Rifle, and the name of the Chinese copy is "Hanyang-made".
A hundred years later, professional ethics are the most important thing among the public intellectuals and the petty bourgeoisie. The Germans who loved to hide oil paper bags really had no idea that they had such loyal fans in later generations, so they have been calling the problematic 1988 rifle the "Mauser rifle" to fool the Chinese.
In fact, Hans himself called the 1988 rifle the "Jewish rifle (Juden flinte)", which is certainly not a good name.
However, this "Jewish rifle" that the Germans themselves looked down upon became the most widely used main combat weapon by the Serbs before the end of the Anti-Japanese War.
“Snap!”
Yuan Yan suddenly lit a cigar and said leisurely, "This is just the first batch, just to test the waters."
"Mr. Yamamoto, this batch of goods will be unloaded in Shandong. Will there be any problems on your side then?"
Yamamoto Isoroku chuckled and said, "Don't worry, Yuan-kun. My friends have arranged everything."
Our Master Yuan thought to himself that your friends should be your classmates, close friends, and Hori Teikichi who acted as your matchmaker.
This lieutenant colonel is now a member of the Naval Affairs Bureau of the Navy Ministry and an instructor at the Naval Academy, but he will be attending the Washington Conference with the Japanese delegation in September this year.
"That's good." He nodded and said casually, "Luckily, you have occupied Qingdao now, otherwise we really wouldn't be able to do business here."
Ba Maoqian's heart was moved when he heard this, and he asked casually, "Mr. Yuan, what do you think about the Shandong issue?"
"Mr. Yamamoto, does my opinion matter?" Yuan Yan exhaled a puff of green smoke and said with a half-smile, "I think you Japanese have done a very stupid thing. You won't just return Qingdao to us like this."
Yamamoto Isoroku suddenly lowered his head and apologized sincerely, "Aunt Four, Aunt Three. I'm sorry for being so abrupt."
"Mr. Yamamoto, there's no need for that." Our Master Yuan waved his hand and said after a moment's hesitation, "Since we're partners now, it's better to talk it out. This will prevent any grudges from forming between us, hindering future cooperation."
He played with the cigar in his hand and said, "But what I said today is for you, Yamamoto-kun, a wise man. I won't admit anything after I leave this room."
Ba Maoqian was stunned when he heard this and said, "Well... please give me some advice, Mr. Yuan."
Yuan Yan quickly picked up the teapot and poured him a refill of black tea. She also poured him half a can of sugar before asking, "Mr. Yamamoto, do you think the current situation in China is good or bad?"
"Arnold... I'm afraid the situation in your country is not very good." Yamamoto Isoroku was still quite pragmatic.
"That's true. But..."
Our Master Yuan is about to speak his mind: "I think from a historical perspective, this is normal!"
"Since the Qing dynasty has lost its empire, many warlords will inevitably rise up. This cycle of order and chaos has occurred many times in China. After a few decades of chaos, a wise leader will naturally emerge to rebuild the nation, unify the world, and recreate the Celestial Empire."
"Hey, actually, your country is also like this. I'm sure you feel the same way, so I won't say more."
"But what's different this time is that China is surrounded by powerful countries, and everyone wants to take a piece of the pie, and your country is not willing to lag behind."
Seeing the other party about to bow his head again, Yuan Yan immediately raised her hand to stop him and said, "Yamamoto-kun, you don't have to apologize. This is normal. The strong prey on the weak. This is the common sense of the world. What else can I say?"
"So, this time, our nation's heroes are facing a major shift not seen in three thousand years. Past experience and wisdom are of no use. My cousin simply doesn't understand how time has changed. He thinks restoring the monarchy will bring the world to heel. He's truly foolish and self-destructive. As for the others on the scene... I'm afraid they can't even match my cousin's ability."
"Furthermore, this time is even more dangerous than Yashan and Jiashen. This is because it is the first time we face an enemy more civilized than us. If this chaos continues for decades, I'm afraid the country will no longer exist, and there will be no China."
He spread out his palm and raised it, saying, "Mr. Yamamoto, on one side are the heroes, and on the other side are the great powers. What do you think we Chinese should do?"
"Arnold..." Ba Maoqian had a vague understanding in his heart and asked tentatively: "Mr. Yuan, what do you mean..."
"Pa!" Our Master Yuan clapped his two palms together hard, making a loud noise.
Yamamoto Isoroku understood that this was exactly what he thought - the two merged into one.
The so-called "merging into one" means that the great powers can also become part of the group of heroes.
I only heard this "Chinese man" say in Chinese in a very serious tone: "It is better for the Chinese to have no ruler than for the barbarians to have one."
Of course, Confucius's famous quote is ambiguous. It can be interpreted as meaning that barbarians with rulers are inferior to the Chinese without rulers. Alternatively, a ruler without benevolence, righteousness, and morality is still a barbarian, while even without a ruler, it is still a Chinese.
He naturally adopted the second meaning. In fact, the Xia people were truly without a ruler and were being beaten by the barbarians.
He pointed at himself in his Western clothes and said, "As a native of Zhuxia, I have already cut my hair and wear my clothes on the left. Oh, it's a bit embarrassing to say this, but in fact, we have already experienced Yashan and Jiashen. It's nothing."
He sighed again and said, "As a Chinese, I have to travel thousands of miles to learn the ways of the barbarians."
He said with a complicated expression: "As a Zhu Xia person, I don't have a Zhu Xia monarch to be loyal to now."
"Then why shouldn't I serve a barbarian as my ruler?"
Yuan Yanshu was secretly pleased in his heart. Fortunately, he had seen many guides on the Internet in later generations. They could describe surrendering to the enemy in such a fresh and unconventional way.
I don't know what Ba Maoqian was thinking, but he showed appreciation on his face and nodded happily, saying, "That makes sense."
"Mr. Yamamoto, the question now is whether the barbarians are willing to be the rulers of the Chinese nation."
Master Yuan raised five fingers and said, "Looking around the world, among the barbarians, although America is the world's leading industrial nation, its people are quite naive. They just want to live a good life behind closed doors. At most, they want to dominate the Americas, nothing more."
He bent his pinky finger and continued, "England is still the world's greatest empire, but a man of your insight should know that the British Empire is already in decline. It's already struggling to preserve its own territory, so how could it even dream of conquering the other kingdoms?"
"There's no need to say more about France and Germany." He retracted the other three fingers.
With only one thumb left, Yuan Yan suddenly looked at Yamamoto Isoroku and said, "After much calculation, I find that only your country's barbarians can be considered the ruler of the Chinese nation."
"Yamamoto-kun, I'm not trying to flatter you, a Japanese. But elites like you are more proactive and enterprising, far superior to those confused meat-eaters in our country."
"Mr. Yamamoto, an old empire like Zhuxia needs an injection of fresh blood like yours to rejuvenate itself."
Yuan Yan suddenly thought to himself, if it weren’t for my future reputation, I would have written "Wolf Totem".
If so many Shabis still believe this nonsense at the beginning of the 21st century, then even more people would have believed it at the beginning of the 20th century.
To be honest, it's a bit of an honor to call you wolves . Wolves are animals that know the pros and cons and know when to advance and retreat. They let go when it's time to let go, and retreat when it's time to retreat.
The Japanese can only be said to be a little clever but not very wise. They only know how to hold on and don't know how to let go. Once they fail, they will completely retreat and admit defeat.
However, this turtle was really lucky. During the decline of Zhu Xia, a group of heroes emerged. It really became a big turtle that almost bit Zhu Xia to death. Even I had to be a bastard against my will.
The reason why he "sincerely" said these words against his will in front of Isoroku Yamamoto was to dispel the other party's doubts.
Without waiting for Ba Maoqian to speak, he sighed heavily and said, "But from what I've seen, your country still doesn't have anyone who can be a king."
"As for the Shandong issue, it's truly unwise to forget righteousness for the sake of petty gains."
"I'm afraid that when the time comes, your country will be too cautious to pursue great things, and miss the chance to become the ruler of all the Xia people."
Yamamoto Isoroku pondered for a moment and said, "Mr. Yuan, does our country really have such an opportunity?"
"Yes, how could there not be?" Master Yuan asked curiously, "If there are no opportunities, we should create them."
"Aren't you actually creating opportunities by cooperating with me?"
"Only if you increase your collaborators and reduce your opponents will you have a chance."
Upon hearing this, Ba Maoqian couldn't help but say with admiration, "Well, Mr. Yuan. This is truly a wise saying."
That's right! Don't you even look at who said it?
"Hehe..." Yuan Yan suddenly chanted in a gentle voice: "Those who know me say that I am worried, those who don't know me say that I am seeking something."
"People are so ignorant. If I were to tell these words to my compatriots, I would risk the wrath of the world. So, Mr. Yamamoto, let me leave it at that."
"One more thing, Yamamoto-kun, do you understand that sometimes we have to take actions that may be misunderstood in order to achieve our goals?"
"Arnold..." Yamamoto Isoroku thought for a moment and nodded.
"If, and I mean if, I take some actions in the future that appear to be detrimental to your country, I still hope you won't misunderstand me. Such actions will definitely benefit both you and me."
"Yuan Jun, what do you mean..."
"Yamamoto-kun, you'll understand when the time comes."
Yuan Yan suddenly extinguished her cigar, picked up the teacup and said, "Mr. Yamamoto, I'll offer you a glass of tea instead of wine. I wish you a happy cooperation."
"KAN PAI!"
"cheers!”
