After Oda Tsurojiro expressed his support, Powell smiled and nodded at him, and cast a meaningful look. Oda Tsurojiro also returned the expression that was silent.

It turned out that this was not something Powell thought of, but was passed on to Powell by Japan, and asked Powell to propose to all countries in his own name, and was responsible for organizing and leading the operation. The reason was that Japan's national strength, international reputation and prestige were not enough to organize the operation, and only the UK was the most suitable leader.

After listening to this plan, Powell also believed that it was very feasible and the chance of success was not low. And now Powell is trying to make some contributions, because there has been a rumor in China and we must unify our actions in China, that is, among Chinese diplomats, choose a person in charge.

In the past, Britain did not establish a person in charge in China. Although the level of the ambassador to the Qing court was the highest, he could only take charge of British affairs in northern China. In other parts of China, diplomats from other places were responsible, and the ambassadors to the Qing court could not take charge. For example, during the Boxer Rebellion, the Qing court's Southeast Governors formed Southeast Mutual Protection, and the British Consul in Shanghai participated and supported the participation of the British Consul in Shanghai at that time. Although the British Minister to the Qing court opposed this plan, he was unable to stop the actions of the British Consul in Shanghai.

However, the strong rise of the East China Government has greatly damaged the interests of Britain in China. Moreover, the East China Government is not comparable to the Qing court. Whether it is strong pressure or the means of supporting agents, it is not good for the East China Government. Therefore, it is necessary to deal with the relationship with the East China Government carefully. Naturally, it is necessary to establish a person in charge in China to be fully responsible for the British diplomatic affairs and unified actions of the East China Government.

After the fall of the Qing court, Britain recruited the minister to the Qing court. Now the highest diplomatic official in Britain in China is the consul, with three people, namely Qingdao, Shanghai and the newly established consuls in Nanjing. The person in charge in China is basically chosen among these three people.

All three people have their own positions. Qingdao and Shanghai are all places under the jurisdiction of the East China Government. One is the political center of the East China Government and the other is the economic center of the East China Government. An important task of the Chinese head is to handle the relationship with China, manage the conflicts between the two sides, and ensure that the conflicts are not intensified. Therefore, the reason why the consuls in these two places act as the head of China seems to be much more sufficient than that of the consuls in Nanjing.

However, Qingdao and Shanghai have very obvious disadvantages, that is, the East China government has strong control capabilities, so under the rule of the East China government, activities will be subject to considerable restrictions, far less free than the Nanjing consul's movement. Bijing is not all over the East China government. It can also be said that the three of them are on the same starting line, and at this time, if anyone can make a contribution, they will undoubtedly add a lot of weight to themselves.

Powell had just arrived in Nanjing, but he had political ambitions and wanted to compete for the position of the head of China. If he fought for this position, it would be of great benefit to his future political career. At this time, Japan proposed this plan to him, which was a waste of carbon in the snow for Powell, so Powell immediately made some modifications to the plan and sent it back to China in his own name.

After receiving this plan, the British cabinet immediately conducted research and evaluation, and finally believed that the plan was very implementable. The British country really hoped to attack the East China Government and show the strength of the UK. Because the relationship between the East China Government and Germany developed rapidly, it posed a great threat to the UK. Since it was the East China Government and Germany engaged in colonial territory exchanges with Germany, the power of the East China Government entered Africa, and Germany gained a foothold and a large number of ports in the South China Sea. The UK naturally understood that this behavior posed a huge threat to it, but there was no way to deal with the East China Government and Germany. Now there was finally an opportunity to attack the East China Government, so naturally it would not give up easily.

Moreover, this plan does have a great chance of success, and it is also the most ideal model of struggle between the UK and the East China government, that is, there is no direct war, but rather a proxy war model based on politics, economy, culture, etc. Although Britain lost the Far East War, the British still regarded the Chinese as barbarians in their psychology. Therefore, after seeing this plan, the British generally have a kind of struggle. Although they can't beat you in war, you are still far from playing the economy.

So soon Powell received a domestic reply, agreed to his plan, and appointed him to preside over it. Powell was also very happy, which led to this gathering of consulates from various countries.

In fact, Japan recommended this plan to the UK, on ​​the one hand, it really wanted to cause some trouble for the East China government. If it could do something for the East China government, of course it would be great. After all, it would be possible to let yourself get angry, and it would be possible to follow the UK to make a few sips of soup. Even if there was no news, it would have nothing to do. Anyway, there would be no losses to Japan. Moreover, it was led by the UK, and the revenge of the East China government would not fall on Japan.

On the other hand, this is also to attract Britain's attention and cover up Japan's actions to support Pu Jun's emperor in southern China. This is Japan's main goal. After the failed action to convince Yuan Shikai to support Pu Jun's emperor, Japan also realized that this plan was not so easy to achieve, but Japan was unwilling to give up this plan that seemed to bring huge benefits to itself. It only required more careful arrangements and time, and also paid attention to the secret. Therefore, it was impossible for countries led by Britain to be unconscious. Therefore, Japan came up with such a plan to attract the attention of Britain and other countries to the direction of attacking the East China government, thus ignoring Japan's actions. As of now, this goal has been clearly achieved.

At this time Jackson said: "Sir, I admit that this plan is very bold and imaginative, and in my personal opinion, there is indeed a high chance of success, but I must ask the country for advice whether our United States supports and participates in this plan."

Powell nodded, expressing his understanding.

All the countries of France, Russia, the United States and Japan made statements, and the consuls of other countries also spoke one after another. Some expressed their support for Powell's plan, while others expressed their desire to ask for instructions at home. Powell also expressed his understanding very generously, because he could see that the consuls of various countries basically supported their plans and let them convince the country, and the success rate was quite high, not to mention that the British government was helping behind the scenes.

After all the consuls of various countries expressed their attitude, Powell nodded, stood up and said, "Okay, let's stop here for today's gathering. Thank you for your support. I am looking forward to your good news, but let's enjoy the food and joy as much as possible. I think your wives and female companions are already anxious to wait outside."

So everyone left the reception room together and came to the banquet hall outside to start today's banquet.

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The night of the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the lunar month passed, and the New Year officially ended. The resolutions decided by the East China Government before the New Year were also being carried out step by step. The most important thing is that the East China Government officially announced that the seigniorage tax was piloted in four cities, Qingdao, Shanghai, Tianjin and Jinan, and officially began to be formally collected from March 1. In everything, silver coins are used for tax payment, banking business, and enterprises controlled by the East China Government will need to increase seigniorage tax by an additional 3%. Other private transactions are not mandatory. At the same time, in order to facilitate the public, a one-month transition period will be implemented. During the month from March 1 to April 1, seigniorage tax can be exempted when conducting storage, silver coins exchange and other businesses in banks, but in banks, cash transactions, tax payments and other businesses, seigniorage tax is still required. This is also convenient for the public to exchange paper money at banks.

At the same time, the propaganda machine of the East China Government has also been fully launched to publicize the reasons and significance of the East China Government's coin tax, and compare the seigniorship with the Qing government's fire consumption to the quota system, proving that seigniorship is not the Qing government's fire consumption to the quota system. It is just that the cost of using silver coins is too high and the loss is too great, so seigniorship has to be levied, and vigorously promote the benefits of using paper money, such as reducing consumption, easy carrying, etc., and repeatedly assured the people that paper money has the credit of the government, and will never turn into a pile of waste paper. It also lists the various political achievements made by the East China Government since its establishment, and its achievements prove that the East China Government is a responsible government and will never do anything that harms the interests of the people, and calls on the people to trust the government.

Overall, after the announcement of the seigniorage tax, it did not cause much reaction in the four pilot cities. Firstly, the credit of the East China government is indeed very high, and the people still have strong trust in the government; secondly, the publicity is relatively in place, and the people have basically experienced the rule of the Qing court. Although the East China government claims that seigniorage tax is not the Qing court's fire consumption and the public belongs to the public, in the eyes of most people, the two are actually similar, but they are just a different statement. However, seigniorage tax is far below the proportion of fire consumption and public returns. The people in the four pilot cities have a relatively high living standards and can fully bear this fee. Moreover, if paper money is used, the seigniorage tax can be exempted, so naturally there will be no excessive reaction. Even if a few people exchange silver coins and rush to buy daily necessities, it will not cause social unrest.
Chapter completed!