"Let's go back to China." It was April 1, 1919, when Shang Yuan said this to Zhang Yu.

For Shang Yuan, the biggest feeling was no longer anger, but exhaustion. If he were in China, Shang Yuan would still feel that no matter how tired he was, he would achieve some results. Being suppressed desperately by the representatives of Britain, France, and Japan all day long, Shang Yuan felt that this was simply murdering his life.

"How about Premier Shang Yuan, you go to visit Italy?" Zhang Yu was also tired enough. He admired Chen Ke's foresight very much in his heart. At least Chen Ke had never thought of coming to participate in this peace conference, while other comrades invariably had the thought of being eager to try.

Italian Prime Minister Orlando had left the conference on March 27 to return to Italy, handing over the work at the Paris Peace Conference to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. China was besieged, while Italy was ignored. Given the poor performance of the Italian army in World War I, and at the same time, Italy had no profit to speak of at all, Britain and France had no interest in Italy at all, treating Italy completely as a soy sauce-buying (insignificant) follower.

Ironically, the Italians still hoped to make a big fortune at the Paris Peace Conference. Shang Yuan saw more than once that when Italians tried to fight for interests, the British said "No! No! No!" in a contemptuous tone. The French "Tiger Prime Minister" even dared to shout loudly at the Italian Prime Minister. In the end, the Italian Prime Minister simply went back to his country first to express his dissatisfaction with such treatment.

Hearing Zhang Yu's suggestion, Shang Yuan also felt it was not bad. After telegraphing the Italian side, the Chinese delegation soon received a response. The Italian side welcomed the Chinese Premier to visit Italy.

The People's Party had booked a cruise ship in the United States long ago, which came in handy for the Paris Peace Conference. Shang Yuan handed over the work of the delegation to Zhang Yu. He and some members of the delegation boarded the ship in Marseille and went straight to Rome.

The Italian welcome was not enthusiastic at all, just following the rules. The Chinese visiting delegation had an audience with the King of Italy the day after disembarking, saying a bunch of meaningless nonsense. Shang Yuan didn't start negotiations with Italian Prime Minister Orlando until the third day.

Mr. Prime Minister looked worried and had no enthusiasm. Shang Yuan could fully understand the Prime Minister's attitude. Along the way to Rome, there were refugees, beggars, and veterans everywhere. Near the hotel where Shang Yuan stayed, people were demonstrating. The theme of the demonstration was probably anti-hunger and anti-unemployment. Under such circumstances, it would be strange if Mr. Prime Minister could be triumphant.

Under such circumstances, Shang Yuan felt it was really inappropriate to say some New Year's greetings. He said: "Mr. Prime Minister, if we curse Britain and France together here, I personally think our two sides should have enough common ground."

After listening to the translation, the Prime Minister first showed a genuine smile, but soon the smile turned into a look of alertness.

The People's Party actually gained huge benefits in World War I, whether it was the actual control of national sovereignty, economic interests, or even the looted cultural relics. China had a great harvest. Being pressed now was simply because countries like Britain and France felt they lost too much and wanted to threaten China. Italy suffered heavy losses in World War I, and in the current situation, there was no place to make money at all. Those godforsaken colonies had no output, and domestic unemployment was appalling.

Hearing Shang Yuan's speech establishing a common stance, the Prime Minister intuitively thought that China was trying to pull Italy together to oppose Britain and France. He certainly couldn't accept such an attitude. Britain and France were hateful, but allying with powerless China was an even worse idea.

Shang Yuan certainly wouldn't propose stupid suggestions like allying with Italy. "I came this time to cooperate with your country. Our country has formulated a merchant ship manufacturing plan and is looking for collaborators. Your country's shipbuilding level is not weaker than Britain and France. I wonder if your country has any intention in this regard."

"You want to buy ships?" The Italian Prime Minister's face immediately cleared up from cloudy. This was the best economic news the Italian Prime Minister had heard in years. He asked eagerly: "How many do you want to buy?"

Shang Yuan laughed: "We want to build a large number of cargo ships. Not only buying, but we also need to acquire manufacturing technology. I wonder if your side is willing to cooperate."

Seeing Shang Yuan propose his idea seriously, Italian Prime Minister Orlando immediately began to brag about how awesome Italy's domestic shipbuilding industry was. If not for reasons one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, etc., Italy's shipbuilding industry would have long made the British, French, and Americans kneel.

Shang Yuan didn't understand shipbuilding, and secondly, talks at his level were not responsible for the details. After the two sides roughly reached an intentional agreement, the specific discussion work was handed over to specialized personnel. After discussing the possibility of trade cooperation between China and Italy, Shang Yuan prepared to leave.

The Italian Prime Minister originally thought Shang Yuan came to pull allies. Seeing that Shang Yuan didn't do this from beginning to end, he tentatively asked about China's plans for the future.

"I plan to go to Persia again." Shang Yuan gave the Italian Prime Minister an answer.

"Go to Persia?" The Italian Prime Minister completely didn't understand what Shang Yuan wanted to do.

"I want to go to Persia to discuss oil business." The People's Party had been importing oil in large quantities. Chen Ke prepared to discuss oil business with Persia, so Shang Yuan simply went to Persia, which was not too far from the Mediterranean.

"Has China abandoned this peace conference?" Prime Minister Orlando felt even more surprised.

"You also saw that Britain and France treat us like a defeated country. Instead of being angry there, I might as well use the time to talk business. At least when talking business, no one will mock us," Shang Yuan replied.

The Italian Prime Minister felt deeply empathetic about this. Even if Italy was defeated repeatedly, it kept fighting despite defeats. In Italy's view, the Entente Powers' practice of killing the donkey after it had done the grinding was really too excessive. When parting with the Chinese delegation, although he didn't say it, the Italian Prime Minister had a great fondness for China.

The delegation didn't actually go to Persia completely; some representatives went to Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia was a region with quite strong industry in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Seeing that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was about to lose the Czech region after World War I, the People's Party thought it was also a good choice to contact the Czechs at this time.

While Britain, France, and the United States were giving directions for the division of the future world, the Chinese delegation visited, contacted, and negotiated with various industrial countries in Europe, especially those with uncertain futures and precarious situations. Many negotiations were conducted on purchasing machinery and equipment, purchasing industrial technology, and even potential future industrial cooperation.

By May 4, Shang Yuan finally rushed back to Paris after completing the preliminary intentional plan for oil exploration investment in the Persian region with the King of Persia.

The Paris Peace Conference was still in chaos. To divide the spoils, every country used up its lip service. The biggest change in the Chinese delegation was not what agreements were reached, but a greater understanding of the world situation. Even Tang Shaoyi, who feared the powers in his heart, made great progress; at least he was no longer afraid of the Japanese.

The Japanese had been trying to pressure China into making concessions. When Shang Yuan was absent, the Japanese representative finally plucked up the courage to have a one-on-one talk with the Chinese representative. Tang Shaoyi attended this meeting.

The meeting atmosphere was of course extremely unfriendly. After the Japanese side talked nonsense for a while, Zhang Yu simply tore off his face. He said arrogantly to Makino Nobuaki: "If you think we will make concessions, you might as well take all the means you have the guts to take. If all else fails, you can declare war."

The Japanese side didn't expect Zhang Yu's attitude to be arrogant to such an extent, but given the current balance of power between the two sides, Japan dared not declare war no matter what.

Looking at Makino Nobuaki's angry and aggrieved face, Zhang Yu sneered: "You are not convinced, are you? Or do you feel we insulted you? Then you can go find your British daddy, hug your British daddy's thigh and cry, 'Daddy, you have to decide for me! Daddy, you can't ignore me!'" Speaking of this, Zhang Yu waved his hand contemptuously at Makino Nobuaki, "Go! Go! Hurry up and cry to your daddy!"

Tang Shaoyi, who attended the meeting, was frightened by Zhang Yu's behavior, but he saw that the two young comrades Li Runshi and Wu Xiangyu, who also attended the meeting, had already burst into laughter. Looking at the Japanese's distorted faces with anger and trembling lips, Tang Shaoyi was really trembling with fear, afraid that the Japanese who had suffered such humiliation would really declare war.

The Japanese representative left the seat indignantly and didn't speak to the Chinese representative at any meeting later. But half a month passed, and the Japanese representative didn't have any declaration of war speech or posture.

After suffering such humiliation in diplomatic occasions, Japan dared not declare war at all. Even Tang Shaoyi saw Japan's weakness, but he still found his son-in-law Gu Weijun to discuss this matter.

Gu Weijun said in a knowing tone: "Father-in-law, weak countries have no diplomacy. If Japan declares war on us, can Japan resist if we fight into Korea?"

"This..." Tang Shaoyi already understood that once the Sino-Japanese war started, Japan could not win at all. But he still felt very uneasy, "What reaction will the British have?"

Gu Weijun replied: "Father-in-law, Minister Zhang's words are rough but the reasoning is not. Britain is Japan's daddy, but Japan is not Britain's daddy. Britain has a large amount of trade with us. If Britain goes to war with China because of Japan, this trade will be interrupted. Britain will have great economic losses. Britain is still waiting for Japan to pay tribute to Britain now; how could it pay any price for Japan?"

"But..." Tang Shaoyi still felt very unaccustomed to this way of thinking.

Being a young man after all, Gu Weijun got used to the latest situation earlier. He explained proudly: "We always say accept the status quo. What is the status quo? The status quo is that China has actually recovered most of its sovereignty and interests. What we need is just for foreign countries to publicly recognize this status quo. To change this status quo, the Japanese have to fight us. Since neither Japan nor Britain is sure of defeating us, they can only accept the status quo. Britain is willing to let Japan change the current status quo a bit, but that is treating Japan like a dog to order around. Japan is not stupid; they won't fight a war with absolutely no chance of winning."

After listening to this and connecting it with reality, Tang Shaoyi was also considered to have confirmed the current situation. He asked almost strugglingly: "What if the Japanese fight over? Won't the Central Committee pursue Minister Zhang's responsibility?"

Gu Weijun laughed: "If the Japanese fight over, we will fight them. What does this have to do with Minister Zhang? Is Minister Zhang the Emperor of Japan? If Minister Zhang tells the Japanese to do something, will the Japanese do it? Besides, the Japanese don't want to fight us, but we still want to fight the Japanese!"

Looking at his son-in-law's confident demeanor, Tang Shaoyi finally discovered where his greatest sense of maladjustment came from. Whether in the Manchu Qing era or the Beiyang era, once a tough Chinese official triggered a strong posture from foreign countries, the domestic government would make an issue of this Chinese official. However, during the period when the People's Party was in power, officials with a tough attitude were actually backed by the state. This world of difference was the change Tang Shaoyi could least adapt to.

Shang Yuan's actions after returning convinced Tang Shaoyi even more of his son-in-law Gu Weijun's judgment. Shang Yuan only asked if there was any content targeting China in the recently reached world standard agreements. If there was content targeting China, the Chinese side must argue strongly on just grounds. If not, the Chinese side could accept it.

Tang Shaoyi was mainly engaged in this aspect. He reported some situations; a considerable part of the newly established international organizations actually required membership fees.

"We'll pay them reasonable fees. What we want to do is integrate into this world, not close the door to guard ourselves. The key is the implementation of this agreement. We must find out whether there are clauses targeting China openly or secretly in the agreement. We can't be calculated by others." Shang Yuan replied.

Shang Yuan's calm attitude made Tang Shaoyi even more unaccustomed. In the Manchu Qing era, as long as it involved paying money, the imperial court would not consider it at all. The People's Party's attitude of trying hard to integrate into the world was diametrically opposed to the Manchu Qing.

In negotiations concerning individual countries, the Chinese delegation upheld the stance of defending national sovereignty tit for tat, not giving in an inch. In the stance within the entire international framework, China also had a clear attitude. The Chinese government firmly supported normal economic activities. And it repeatedly reiterated that even if China lacked funds at this stage and trade was in principle based on reciprocal trade amounts, China would not take this method as an unwavering stance. Therefore, China welcomed the establishment of normal exchanges between the banking industries of various countries and China, so as to make the Renminbi a world currency as soon as possible.

This statement, especially China's proposal of the internationalization of the Renminbi, made many countries laugh quite a bit. Chinese banks had no branches overseas, and as "fiat money," the Renminbi had no precious metals as collateral at all. The Chinese actually hoped that their "paper money" would become a world currency; wasn't this an international joke?

Adopting a series of targeted actions to protect its own interests, China did not participate in various ambitious actions of various countries. Plus, China did not sing high profile, but just confidently announced to countries around the world that China was very confident in its own development and welcomed countries to fully cooperate with China in trade and technology.

At the Paris Peace Conference filled with greed and ambition, China had quite a "fresh and pure" peaceful flavor.

According to the tacit understanding between the two sides, the US side received public support from China. However, President Wilson began to doubt whether pulling in China as a little partner was the right choice. The reason the US liked China, besides its large size, was the combat effectiveness China demonstrated. As a result, China was like a harmless little white rabbit at the Paris Peace Conference, pulling connections and talking business everywhere. Facing blackmail from countries like Britain and France, China could also refuse to give in to their faces, but didn't mention this matter at all in other places.

This mature diplomatic style was certainly praiseworthy, but it inevitably made China's image too weak. So weak that Japan dared to publicly propose a motion "requiring China to fulfill international treaties" at the general assembly attended by representatives from all countries.

Although the Chinese side raised objections saying this was a "problem between China and Japan," led by Britain and France, many countries still temporarily expressed their stance by betraying China's interests.

Of course, this was originally a problem between China and Japan, and all countries abstained in the actual voting. Only the Polish representative expressed strong support for Japan on this matter that had nothing to do with him at all. The US representative was stunned. Poland had not yet truly become independent, yet it tried to show its existence. What exactly did it want to do?

Anyway, representatives of most countries knew well not to participate in things with no profit. Plus, China expressed opposition with an extremely tough attitude and suggested that this matter could be negotiated separately after the Paris Peace Conference. The Chinese representative's motion was supported by representatives from various countries, and the international conference excluded this matter from the discussion scope of the Paris Peace Conference.

This was originally just a matter between two countries, and eventually returned to its original face. It would be discussed separately by the two countries involved, China and Japan. Anyway, after the Paris Peace Conference, this matter would be forgotten by all countries.

However, the Chinese delegation breathed a big sigh of relief about this. In the view of the Chinese delegation, this matter was not so simple. Having suffered enough from the "principle of consistency among the powers," the Chinese representative was very sensitive to such matters of China making concessions. Finally eliminating the threat of the "principle of consistency among the powers" was a huge breakthrough after all.

The Chinese side managed to get rid of the blow of the "principle of consistency among the powers" with difficulty, but this did not mean that the "principle of consistency among the powers" went bankrupt. Regarding striking Russia, China finally received a notification of the six-power joint meeting.

In fact, countries had their own ideas and actions long ago. After the Russian Revolution, the Russian Communist Party led by Lenin resolutely withdrew from the Great War. First, they discussed with the Entente Powers, but the Entente Powers didn't discuss this with Russia at all. So Lenin simply reached an agreement with the Central Powers and withdrew from the war after making major concessions. The Entente Powers were extremely dissatisfied with the treacherous action of the Russian Communist Party. Moreover, the World War did not bring any war benefits to any country at all. If they could carve up Russia a bit, it would be some territorial interest compensation for all countries.

So the Entente Powers had decided to jointly strike Russia.

The Japanese representative was truly impatient. Japan borders Russia. Since they encountered a huge failure in China, if they could bite off a few mouthfuls of meat from Russia fiercely and occupy large territories, it would naturally be a great thing for Japan.

The United States held the mentality of beating rabbits while gathering grass (doing something incidental while doing the main task). It would be best if they could take advantage, and it didn't matter if they couldn't.

The Chinese representative proposed the condition of not recognizing the old territorial agreement with Russia. This formally indicated that China was going to take action against Russia. However, the Chinese representative stated that China could only echo the actions of other Entente countries on the Sino-Russian border and was not prepared to send troops to participate in combat in the European part.

Britain and France were somewhat puzzled by China's attitude, while the Japanese side was very uneasy about China's statement of sending troops, but Japan had no way to oppose China sending troops.

The United States supported China's attitude, so this matter was settled like this.