Tokyo, official residence of the Foreign Minister.
At this time, Japan's Foreign Minister, the future Prime Minister of Japan, the founder of Hirota's Three Principles and Japan's militaristic system, Hirota Koki, the only civilian war criminal sentenced to death after the war, snatched the telegram from the secretary's hand and held it with trembling hands.
Read it once.
"idiot!"
Hirota Hongki frantically tore the telegram into pieces and said angrily: "Idiot, idiot! The top students sent by the empire to study abroad on official scholarship are actually such idiots. How did they pass the exam to study abroad in the first place!"
Just half a month ago, Hirota Koki met with pro-Japanese elements of the Nanjing government and immediately launched diplomatic consultations with China.
The Nanjing government proposed "peaceful settlement of Sino-Japanese relations, equal exchanges, banning anti-Japanese movements, and cancellation of Japan's recognition of the Puppet Manchukuo" and other contents. Hirota Koki refused to accept it, and also proposed the famous "Hirota Three Principles", namely: first,
China completely banned the anti-Japanese movement and got rid of its dependence on Europe and the United States, and instead moved towards goodwill and cooperation with Japan; second, China officially recognized the independence of Manchukuo and supported economic and cultural exchanges between Manchukuo and the surrounding areas controlled by China; third,
In order to deal with the threat from communist forces in Outer Mongolia and other places, China should cooperate with Japan at its request and set up facilities in areas bordering Outer Mongolia.
Now is a critical period for negotiations between the two parties. Hirota Koki is almost going crazy because such a big deal has happened.
"Dong dong dong!"
There was a knock on the door.
Hirota Hongyi tried his best to calm down his excitement and said: "Come in."
"Sir, the Chinese representative suddenly suspended negotiations and canceled tomorrow's meeting," a Foreign Ministry official reported.
Hirota Hongyi waved his hand with a headache: "Let them dry out for a few days, don't be anxious, you can go down."
"Hai, I resign from my post!" The Foreign Ministry official bowed and resigned.
Historically, although the Nanjing government did not accept the "Three Principles of Guangtian", it agreed to some of the conditions, such as banning anti-Japanese movements, actively building goodwill with Japan, jointly preventing Russia and communism, strengthening economic and cultural exchanges with the puppet Manchukuo, etc.
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It can be said that the Nanjing government actually accepted half of the "Guangtian Three Principles" and only rejected major right and wrong issues such as "recognizing the Puppet Manchukuo" and "breaking away from dependence on Europe and the United States". In particular, "strengthening the economic relationship with the Puppet Manchukuo"
"Cultural exchanges" is actually a disguised recognition of the existence of the Puppet Manchukuo.
Now that the Nanjing government has suddenly suspended the negotiations, it is not out of righteous indignation, but because it wants to take advantage of the assassination of Zhou Hexuan to gain more benefits from the negotiations.
Of course, Hirota Koki knew this very well, so he was not in a hurry and decided to deal with it coldly first. Of course, out of "apology" to the Chinese people, the Japanese side will definitely make some non-principled decisions in the subsequent negotiations.
Concessions: For example, when the Nanjing government and the puppet Manchukuo engage in economic exchanges, they can get more preferential treatment in terms of "tariffs".
The shots Zhou Hexuan received were worth at least tens of millions of yuan.
…
Shanghai, Zhabei Railway Station.
This is the place with the largest flow of people in the entire Shanghai area, with countless tourists coming and going every day.
"Extra number, extra number!"
"Zhou Hexuan was assassinated by the Japanese in London. He was shot five times and his life was in danger!"
As the newsboy kept shouting, the noisy train station seemed to quiet down in an instant, and people turned their heads and looked in surprise.
"Come here and give me one!"
"Sir, urgent special edition, four copper coins."
"Stop talking nonsense, give me the newspaper, the train is leaving soon!"
A young man leaned his upper body out of the car window. As soon as he retrieved the newspaper, the passenger next to him urged: "Read it quickly, read it quickly!"
The young man quickly opened the newspaper and read:
"According to British Reuters news, at about 6 o'clock yesterday evening (10 a.m. London time), the internationally renowned scholar Mr. Zhou Hexuan was assassinated by three Japanese while giving a patriotic speech in Trafalgar Square, London, England. Mr. Zhou was shot
Five shots were fired, life was in danger, and 10 London citizens were killed on the spot. One of the gunmen has been arrested."
"It is reported that since the end of September, Zhou Hexuan has conducted more than ten lecture tours in the UK, strongly condemning the atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders, and is widely loved by the British people. On the day Mr. Zhou was assassinated, more than 20,000 London citizens came to listen to the speech spontaneously.
There was thunderous applause and people shouted 'Long live world peace'..."
"At around 10 a.m. during the speech, three Japanese youths suddenly threw bombs at Mr. Zhou. Two of the bombs fell into the crowd and exploded, killing nine London citizens on the spot and injuring countless others. Then gunshots rang out, and Mr. Zhou continued
He was shot five times and fell to the ground, one of which hit his abdomen. Blood was spread all over the podium..."
This was the content of the front page of the urgent special issue. After reading it, the young man burst into tears, his throat was choked and he could not speak.
The entire carriage was silent, everyone was stunned by the news of Zhou Hexuan's assassination.
Who is Zhou Hexuan?
An internationally renowned scholar, the pride of the Chinese people!
For ordinary people, they don't understand academic status, and they can't understand Zhou Hexuan's "The Goddess". They only know that Zhou Hexuan is a patriot. He edited a magazine to call on the whole people to resist Japan, and also donated food and money to save the lives of countless victims.
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It is simply unimaginable that such a good man and hero was shot by the Japanese. Now his life or death is uncertain!
The young man reading the newspaper continued with a cry: "There are related articles later, let me read them for you..."
"In September, Mr. Zhou Hexuan and his wife, Ms. Zhang Leyi, arrived in London. The Mayor of London, Avery, the British Minister of Culture's Private Secretary Bowen, and the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, Guo Taiqi, personally went to the pier to greet him. There were also London citizens who picked up the ship, and tens of thousands of Chinese overseas Chinese.
This shows that Mr. Zhou is loved by people all over the world."
"After coming to the UK, Mr. Zhou forgot all about food and sleep, and worked hard to appeal for peace. In just 38 days, Mr. Zhou gave a total of 9 academic lectures, 18 public speeches, and attended 15 social receptions. He did not have a spare day.
"
"The lectures and speeches given by Mr. Zhou were all related to the Japanese massacre in China, and were highly valued by the British academic community and the public. As a result, the British people's donations to China have reached 26,000 pounds, and the British people are
Sympathy for China's suffering. It is reported that Mr. Zhou has persuaded the British government to help China solve the silver crisis..."
"Mr. Zhou's patriotic actions were obviously hated by the Japanese, which led to his death!"
There were several reports at the back of the special issue, but the young man who read the newspaper no longer wanted to read any more. He choked up and said: "Friends, compatriots! The five shots Mr. Zhou received were not for himself, but for you and me.
For the sake of all Chinese people. We can no longer sit still and wait for death. We must unite to defeat Japanese imperialism and defeat the hateful Japanese invaders! Long live the Chinese nation! Long live Mr. Zhou!"
"Keep your voice down, the government is not allowed to shout anti-Japanese slogans!" a passenger immediately reminded.
"Shut it down," another passenger said angrily, "Mr. Zhou has been shot five times. Now I don't know whether he is dead or alive. I just want to shout, come and arrest me. If you have eggs, follow me."
Let’s shout together, long live the Chinese nation! Long live Mr. Zhou!”
"Long live the Chinese nation!"
"Long live Mr. Zhou!"
More and more passengers followed suit, and some people were trembling with fear. They didn't feel at ease until the train started.
In the waiting hall and platform of the station, as well as throughout Shanghai, and in big cities such as Nanjing, Tianjin, and Peking, where the news spread quickly, more people were discussing the matter, and all newspapers with relevant special numbers were sold out.
On the third day of the incident, the news gradually spread to Wuhan, Changsha, Guangzhou, Kaifeng, Chongqing and other places. The education, academia, business circles, women's circles... began to hold a large discussion on this matter, severely accusing the Japanese government of its barbaric assassination.
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Celebrities from all walks of life sent condolences to Zhou Hexuan's wives who stayed in Tianjin, and actively inquired about Zhou Hexuan's health.
On the fifth day, Peking University students suddenly launched a street demonstration and surrounded the Japanese Consulate in Peiping. Immediately, students from Shanghai and Tianjin also took action, and Japanese shops in the concession were smashed to pieces.
The Japanese government lodged a solemn protest against the Nanjing National Government and demanded that Nanjing restrain students' rude behavior.
While the Nanjing National Government appeased the students and banned all demonstrations, it also sent a diplomatic note to the Japanese government, demanding that Japan hand over the remaining two assassins and ordering the Japanese government to give a reasonable explanation.
This matter is no longer just an issue between China and Japan. British public opinion is boiling, driving the British government crazy. A total of 16 London citizens died (data on the fourth day), and dozens of others were injured.
, where does this put the British Empire’s face?
The captured Yamashita Kinnosuke was obviously determined to die. Faced with torture and questioning by the British police, he insisted that the assassination was his own personal act and had nothing to do with the Japanese government, and then shouted "Long live the Empire of Japan".
"Be loyal to the emperor." As for the news about the other two assassins, Yamashita Kinnosuke refused to tell them, prompting the British police to even more frantically torture them to extract confessions.
On the second day, Yamashita Kinnosuke couldn't bear the beating and actually chose to bite his tongue and commit suicide. Although he was quickly rescued, the tip of his tongue had been bitten off and he would be unable to speak at all in the short term.
All the police in London were mobilized, and all Asians living in the UK were implicated, including Chinese. Anyone who looked like a Japanese was arrested and questioned by the police in minutes. Asians in London during this period were not at all involved.
Unable to work and study normally.
There was no progress in the case and public outrage grew. The British government immediately issued a diplomatic condemnation to Japan and suspended the 1936 study abroad enrollment plan in Japan.
The matter became more and more serious, and the French government was the first to follow suit. Then the United States, the Soviet Union, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and other countries expressed great concern and ordered Japan not to conduct political assassinations overseas.
Assassinating an internationally renowned scholar and also injuring dozens or hundreds of innocent citizens is an international political incident and violates the taboos of all normal countries.
In the civilized world, there is no such thing.
Japanese Foreign Minister Koki Hirota was so miserable that he wished he could go to the London Police Station and chop that idiot named Yamashita Kinnosuke into pieces.
