On December 21, 1917, outside the British Concession in Xiamen.

The gunshot suddenly rang! I don’t know who fired the gun first, were the tens of thousands of unarmed Chinese people at the scene? Or were the more than 100 British soldiers and Indian police holding rifles?

According to the report of Major Walter of the Royal Marine Corps afterwards, it was really not that the British side fired first, but that the Chinese terrorists mixed in the crowd shot at the British and Indian military police, and knocked down two Indian policemen on the spot. He naturally ordered the fire to fight back. The two machine guns set up on both sides of the street also began to spit out flames. The dense crowd in front of the British Concession was swept by the seven-caliber machine gun bullets, and it was immediately a scene of flesh and blood flying!

This scene of British imperialism massacre of the Chinese people was just heard of gunfire and rushed to the current French bishop Du Paul, American journalist Moore, and their British own barrister James Walpole and others...

At this time, the British consul Frez didn't know that so many famous imperialists were witnessing their British performances, but he still felt dizzy and his legs were weak and he almost fell to the ground. In any case, this trouble was aroused!

The Major Walter, who ordered the fire, was also stunned. The British Empire's troops and police stationed in the colonies were originally trained to deal with today's situation. They should find suitable cover, protect themselves first, and then shoot at the top of the crowd to disperse, and at the same time look for terrorists hidden in the crowd for precise shooting... But the problem is that to this extent, the experienced officers and soldiers serving in the colonies had long fought with the German army in the trenches in France! Instead, they were middle-aged people with inexperienced and seriously over-age. Even Major Walter himself was a former British Royal Navy officer who was summoned to the army after the outbreak of the war.

Those over-age British Royal Marines and Indian police, although they didn't know how to deal with the situation in front of them, they could still shoot 10 7.7mm caliber bullets in the Li Enfield rifle magazine in their hands at the fastest speed! After the guns poured down, not long after, the gate of the British Concession in Xiamen was already in a state of grief...

The protesters were finally dispersed. Dozens of lying corpses and injured people screaming shrillly. However, before these British soldiers and Indian police who had just completed a massacre had time to breathe a sigh of relief, they saw thousands of Fujian Army officers and soldiers wearing blue and gray uniforms rushing over from the Chinese community in Xiamen. Everyone was fully armed with rifles! Some soldiers occupied the commanding heights and set up machine guns under the command of the officers!

The person who commanded this team of Chinese soldiers was Colonel Xu Tingyao, the commander of the 8th Regiment of the Second Division of the Fujian Army. He was also a loyal member of the Iron Blood Comrades Association of the Third Class of Baoding, and was regarded as a core figure in the Chang Ruiqing system. He had long received Chang Ruiqing's warrant. After hearing the gunshots in the British Concession, he immediately led his troops to expel the British and Indian military and police who slaughtered the Chinese people and occupied the British Concession in Xiamen.

"The first battalion disperses, in a battle formation, ready to attack!" Seeing the sad and terrifying image in front of him, Xu Tingyao took a deep breath and issued a battle order loudly.

The first battalion commander Peng Jinzhi and Xu Tingyao graduated from the fourth class of Baoding. He was just assigned to Chang Ruiqing's team in August and was promoted to the battalion commander in just a few months. He came to Xu Tingyao and shouted: "Captain, do you really want to attack? They are the British team!"

Xu Tingyao glared at him. Chang Ruiqing's orders, Bai Chongxi, commander of the Second Division, and commander of the Fourth Brigade Zhang Zhizhong, were all in his pocket! Since the "big purge" in October, the military discipline has become increasingly strict. If he dared to disobey his orders today, the consequences would be shooting!

"Execute the order!" Xu Tingyao had no choice but to stomp his feet suddenly and issued an order loudly: "First Battalion, launch an attack in five minutes! The regiment-owned machine gun company, warning shot!"

Of course, Peng Jinzhi also knew that the Fujian Army was a military order. At that moment, he saluted without saying a word and turned around and commanded his more than 500 officers and soldiers to form a combat formation.

At this time, the British Consul Frez, and British Major Walter, two were watching thousands of well-trained Chinese people setting up front and preparing for attack! The two of them felt dizzy and had only one thought in their minds. It's over! The British Concession in Xiamen is about to be captured by the other side!

Major Walter looked at the pale consul and trembled: "Sir Consul... Should you go to negotiate with those Chinese?"

"Negotiation!" Consul Frezer glanced at the elderly major hatefully, his eyes full of resentment. Why didn't you think about negotiating when you ordered a gun to shoot at Chinese civilians just now?

At this time, the gunshots rang again, and this time the machine gun of the China Team was firing!

"Retreat! Retreat!" Consul Flezer stomped his feet and ordered at the top of his lungs: "There is a ferry on the dock. Let's hurry up and retreat to the Gulangyu Public Concession!"

Major Walter raised his head, as if he remembered the naval spirit of the British Empire, and he shouted: "Sir Consul, this is the territory of the British Empire. As soldiers, we can only stick to it! We cannot give up! Please transfer to a safe place first!"

Frezer hummed softly and shook his hand: "Mr. Major, it's no longer the Victorian era! The British Empire is already deeply trapped in the quagmire of the European war. London would rather give up a small piece of concession than send troops to China... As civil servants of the empire, we must understand this, and the situation cannot be expanded anymore! Now take your people to retreat to the Gulangyu Public Concession!"

After saying that, the consul of the British Empire took his entourage and walked towards the dock without looking back.

Major Walter's insistence seemed to have ended here. He looked at the hundreds of soldiers who had already opened the scattered line and sighed, and issued an order to retreat to the more than one hundred British and Indian soldiers who had almost been scared.

On December 21, 1917, at the same time as the Mawei Customs incident in Fuzhou, a tragedy called the "British Concession Incident" occurred in Xiamen. More than 100 British and Indian military and police stationed in the British Concession in Xiamen used the excuse of self-defense counterattacks to shoot at the Chinese people who were protesting! The officers and soldiers of the Eighth Regiment of the Fujian Army of China who arrived were ordered to shoot at the British and Indian troops and expel them from the British Concession in Xiamen. During this conflict, 31 people in the Chinese march were killed and 75 were injured. Seven British and Indian military and police were also shot dead by unidentified armed personnel and injured 19 people.

In the evening of that day, Sun Yat-sen, a revolutionary pioneer who had long been coveting the rich benefits of Guangdong Customs, finally made up his final decision and ordered a battalion of law guardians to enter the Guangdong Customs Building in Guangzhou Nanguan and announced the revocation of Guangdong Customs...

At this point, the Sino-British conflict caused by the Sino-Russian New Testament incident and the attack on the Red Brigade further escalated to the brink of war!

...

Of course, no one fell asleep in the British Embassy in Dongjiaomin Lane, Beijing. The entire embassy was full of bright lights, and the mellow fragrance of high-quality cigars and coffee was filled with the embassy conference room. The British Minister Sir Jurden sat listlessly on the seat at the top of the conference table, drinking coffee to refresh himself. He was already an elderly man. He was busy all day yesterday. He first bargained with Duan Qirui in Fuxue Hutong, and then spent a long time with President Feng, who was yelling to resign and step down in Zhongnanhai. When he returned to the embassy, ​​he heard about the bad news about the "Xiamen British Concession Incident" and the "Guangdong Customs Incident"!

In less than a day, the British Concession in Xiamen was forcibly taken back by the Chinese! The management rights of Fujian Customs and Guangdong Customs were also returned to the hands of the Chinese! Moreover, the British Empire also brought the reputation of massacring Chinese people...

"...Jazz. Whitehall's telegram, Mr. Before (British Foreign Minister) said that he would send an investigation team to China to fully find out the truth about the Xiamen incident and the customs incident. Before the investigation team arrived, he asked that the situation should not be further expanded! He also criticized your behavior of seizing Chinese customs Yu and is inconsistent with the Chinese policy of the British Empire..."

A secretary of an embassy rushed into the conference room in a hurry and loudly reported the latest telegrams received.

"Investigation Team! How damn it!" Juerdian stood up suddenly, paced back and forth in the conference room with his hands behind his back, looking extremely angry.

"Sir, is there anything wrong?" asked Eston, the embassy counselor, slowly. He was curious. Why was the minister angry at a group of investigations? Was he afraid that they would find out something that was unfavorable to him?

Zhu Erdian took a deep breath and suppressed his anger a little: "Of course not! The British Empire's colony was just occupied by a Chinese army... No matter what the other party had, such behavior could not be forgiven. The British Empire must maintain its majesty and must make those who dare to challenge her pay a heavy price! So we should immediately use the Far East Fleet to block all ports in Fujian and Guangdong. And shell Xiamen! If necessary, we should also send troops to China. As long as there is an army of tens of thousands of people, it is enough to overthrow the rule of the barbaric warlord in Fujian!"

The conference room was silent. After a while, Eston heard a faint voice: "Just, I think London's unwillingness to further escalate the conflict must have their considerations. As a diplomat, we are just a tool to realize government policies, not policy makers. Jazz, we should not criticize Whitehall's policies now, but should return the situation to its original track as soon as possible."

Zhu Erdian stopped, looked back at Eston, and smiled bitterly: "My counselor, do you think I don't want the situation to return to normal? No! On the contrary, I hope that the situation in China will remain stable, preferably unchanged, and preferably that the corrupt Qing Dynasty will not fall...

But that's just my wishful thinking. China is breaking free from the shackles that we have worked hard to tie them to them! The China-Russia New Testament is that they try to seize the opportunity of civil unrest in European countries and get rid of the constraints! The Red Brigade wants to use terrorist activities to intimidate civilized countries, so that we dare not seize the shackles that tie China! This time the 'Xiamen Incident' and 'Customs Incident' are the Chinese local warlords and Chinese people smashing the chains that tie them... and they have also achieved unexpected success!"

Eston frowned. He knew that Jurden's attitude towards China was actually quite "friendly", but his thoughts were a bit out of date. He thought that now was the Victorian era! He sighed softly: "Sir, we are powerless to change what has happened. All we can do is to find a way to strengthen this chain that has begun to loosen... Sir, the most urgent task now is to let the truly responsible Chinese politicians take over the State Council of China, so that we can find the object of negotiation and pressure! We'd better let the Chinese sanction the lawless warlord themselves!"

...

While the British Empire's representatives in China held an emergency meeting overnight to discuss countermeasures, in Beiyang, Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, Wang Shizhen, and Xu Shichang, who was the same generation as Yuan Shikai, as well as Xu Shuzheng, Cao Rulin, Liang Shiyi and other think tanks gathered in the conference room of Jurentang, Zhongnanhai to "discuss the country together".

Speaking of which, the atmosphere in Jurentang is even lower than that in the British Embassy. The few here are all Chinese who "lived in the Victorian era". If they were not forced to do so, they would never dare to offend the majesty of the British Empire!

Even if he had to provoke Britain this time, he would have grasped the right measure and thought about the countermeasures to calm Britain's anger afterwards. But no one expected that Chang Ruiqing would make the matter so big. Not only did he take back the Fujian Customs, he also sent troops to attack the British Concession in Xiamen! He killed and injured dozens of British and Indian military and police (actually, the terrorists in the Red Brigade)! Although the other party fired the first time in this conflict, and the other party killed more than 30 Chinese civilians, the other party is the world's most powerful British empire! When encountering such a thing, China can only endure it. If someone is beaten to death, he has to send someone to apologize and compensate. How could he fire and fight back when he is angry? This is too disregardless? How can such a person be a member of the side? This is really unreasonable!

"Zhiquan, this Chang Ruiqing is yours? He doesn't discipline him well on weekdays, but now something has happened? Look, this matter is so troublesome... he has sent troops to attack the British Concession! This is equivalent to declaring war! The Gengzi National Change is right in front of you, right in front of you!"

The person who spoke was Xu Shichang. His expression was obviously a little excited, and his two white beards were trembling slightly. It seemed that he was a little angry. This Beiyang civil servant leader who had been the president in history was Yuan Shikai's best friend. He also had a lifetime of Western affairs and thought he knew that he was very clear about the foreigners' temper and nature. So when he heard that the British Concession in Xiamen was taken back by the China ** team, he knew that something was wrong! He rushed to Zhongnanhai from home overnight, and personally gave Duan Qirui. Wang Shizhen hung up the phone and invited them to discuss countermeasures.

This person is actually very sincere to the country and Beiyang.

Duan Qirui's face was gloomy and he sat there quietly. Xu Shuzheng was not qualified to sit in this scene. He stood behind Duan Qirui and listened to Xu Shichang's words. He just smiled faintly: "Old Ju, what do you think you should do? You are the old senior in Beiyang. Now, please give us juniors a guide to us?"

"What else can I do? Of course, I'm trying to try to calm the British people first! Zhiquan, Pinqing, I think you two should stop being nervous, quickly organize the cabinet, negotiate Guan Yu's affairs slowly, and appease the British first. If you should apologize, apologize, and if you should pay compensation... By the way, there is also Chang Ruiqing! He is the culprit! He quickly gave an order to exempt him from the Fujian military supervision. The division commander, brigade commander, regiment commander and platoon leader who caused the accident were dismissed from investigation! Oh, and the Fujian Customs and the British Concession in Xiamen were also immediately returned to the British!"

Wang Shizhen sighed after hearing this: "It's hard! Chang Ruiqing has three divisions of troops in his hands, and he has firmly controlled the entire province of Fujian, and Fujian is adjacent to Guangdong. If he is forced to force him to surrender to Sun Yat-sen... In that case, it will be integrated into Fujian and Guangdong, and perhaps the entire south of the Yangtze River will be Sun Dapao!"

"What about our Beiyang Army? If the surname Chang dares to rebel, he will send troops to attack!" Xu Shichang gritted his teeth and said.

"Where is the salary?" Duan Qirui, who had not spoken, said coldly: "Guan Yu asked the British to deduct it. We will lose 30 to 40 million a year. Where can we still have salary to fight? What are the virtues of our Beiyang soldiers? You still don't know? You can only listen to the orders if you have money, and it is good if you don't have money to make a mutiny!"

Xu Shichang sighed and said, "Then go and negotiate with foreigners and tell them that as long as they check on us, we will send troops to pacify Chang Ruiqing! Is this OK?"

"No!" This time the person who spoke was Liang Shiyi and Liang's God of Wealth. He reminded with a wry smile: "Old Ju, don't forget that Fujian Customs and Guangdong Customs have been taken back by Chang Ruiqing and Sun Yat-sen! Those two customs have an income of more than 20 million a year... If they refuse to return it, our Guanyu will be reduced by more than 20 million a year, which is only half the original one!"

After hearing this, several voices in the room asked at the same time: "Why are there only so many?"

Liang Caishen explained with his finger: "Of course there is only so much. Our so-called customs remuneration refers to the balance after deducting all compensation and loans due to customs duties. Now Fujian Customs and Guangdong Customs are controlled by Chang Ruiqing and Sun Yat-sen. Do you still expect them to bear the compensation and repayment for the central government? So now even if the British return the remuneration to us, it will be at most 20 million... If they still deduct the cost of forming the Wanguo Business Group from it, they may not even have this number." (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!