Qin Zheng said: "Although we are also descendants of China, but after all, we have lived overseas for many years, and we have no relatives and friends in Middle-earth, and when we first returned to Middle-earth, the people's hearts were not attached, and the foothold was not stable, and it was during the Gengzi National Revolution, the Eight-Nation Coalition Army had captured Beijing, and the Qing court fled to Xi'an to breathe and steal peace, and the whole country was in danger. ”

Xia Si nodded bitterly and said: "What Speaker Qin said is extremely true, but now that the countries have withdrawn from the army, the Qing court has also returned to Luan, and the nobles have also gained a foothold in Shandong, I don't know when the nobles plan to raise the flag and officially oppose the Qing?"

Qin Zheng smiled and said, "This will have to wait until the time is ripe." ”

Xia Si was a little puzzled, and said, "When is the time ripe?" ”

Qin Zheng said: "This has to be divided into two aspects, one is the internal timing, and the other is the external timing. In terms of internal timing, although we have a foothold in Shandong, the land reform in Shandong has not yet been completed, so our rule in Shandong is not stable, and there is our five-year plan, only when our five-year plan is completed, can we be regarded as the initial establishment of an industrial system, and can we achieve the self-production capacity of all kinds of weapons and ammunition, because once an incident starts, there will definitely be a war, if we can't even achieve the self-production of weapons, what can we talk about overthrowing the Qing court? In addition, it costs money to fight a war, and we have just arrived in Shandong, and we have not accumulated enough, and it will take a certain amount of time to accumulate the materials and funds needed for the war. ”

Xia Si said bitterly: "The nobles are cautious and cautious, and it is not an exaggeration to arrive, but with the current strength of the nobles, it is really easy to overthrow the Qing court, Shandong is only a few hundred miles away from Beijing, and the nobles still occupy Tianjin, and it is even closer to Beijing, so the nobles are a little too cautious." ”

Qin Zheng smiled and said: "The Qing court is not its own dry bones in the mound, it is indeed not a waste of power to destroy it, what we are concerned about is still Europe and the United States, although the countries have withdrawn their troops, but they may not be willing, if China is chaotic internally, I am afraid that it will cause trouble again, not to mention that the Qing court has always been weak and incompetent externally, and seeks to survive by betraying the country, but it is very strict with internal crimes, and it is repaid with 'rather give to friends, Therefore, in the midst of great urgency, I was afraid that the Qing court would not hesitate to betray the sovereignty of the country and ask for help from other countries, which would even lead the wolf into the house and repeat the old story of Wu Sangui; the other countries were all thousands of miles away, and it was not yet a great trouble, but Japan in the east and Russia in the north, all of which were adjacent to China, had ambitions, and often had the intention of annexing China's territory. As soon as we raise the banner against the Qing Dynasty, Japan and Russia will definitely make moves, and the strength of these two countries cannot be underestimated, and if we send troops to intervene, the consequences will be unpredictable, and we cannot afford not to guard against it."

Xia Si was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but feel a little awe-inspiring in his heart, and said: "It's still that the nobles are thoughtful, but they are not thoughtful." But in this case, when will we be able to overthrow the Qing court and reorganize our China?"

Qin Zheng said: "Then there is no need to worry, because the countries are not monolithic, even between Japan and Russia, there are also deep contradictions, and there will be wars within five years, so this is our opportunity, which is also the external opportunity." Of course, if our own strength is reached, even if Japan and Russia intervene, it will be enough to win, and then we will not care about any external opportunities. Otherwise, if I am not careful, I am afraid that my country will be in danger of never recovering. ”

After a pause, Qin Zheng said again: "If you want to make China rich and strong, of course it is a good thing, but as the so-called speed is not reached, it is easy to govern a province, but it is difficult to govern a country, not to mention that my China has accumulated disadvantages and weaknesses for a long time, the land is vast and the population is numerous, even if it is necessary to eliminate the disadvantages and innovate, but it is a thousand things, how can it be done easily, a slight mistake, not only affects tens of millions of people, I am afraid that even the country will not be overturned, governing a big country is like cooking a small fresh, you must not be cautious." ”

Xia Si was silent for a while, and then smiled bitterly and said, "It's still too late for you to think far-reachingly." ”

Qin Zheng said with a smile: "There, there, the rise and fall of the world, it is the responsibility of the husband, to revitalize China, we can't rely on our strength alone, but we should gather people of insight from all over China, and everyone can work together to share weal and woe." ”

Xia Si listened bitterly, and couldn't help but perk up, and said: "Well said, well said, as long as it is for the revitalization of China and the salvation of the people of Li from fire and water, it is also my duty to do my best, and I am willing to do my best to do my best, even if it is to go to the soup and fire, I will not avoid it, but I don't know what can serve your people." ”

Qin Zheng smiled and said: "We want to invite Mr. Xia to go to Japan again, first, to contact people who are interested in serving the country, to come to Shandong to discuss with us the great plan to save the country; second, to try our best to persuade Chinese students in Japan, as long as they have the ambition to serve the country, they can come to Shandong, we will recruit them based on materials, here can not only apply what they have learned, but also save the country and save the people, it is not a secret, we are here in the industrialization construction, there is a shortage of educated young people." ”

Xia Si nodded bitterly, and said excitedly: "Okay, there is no responsibility in the next year, although the time in Japan is not long, but I have also made some groups that are determined to serve the country, and there are many people who are passionate about serving the country, and they can contact the noble people and discuss the great plan to save the country; That being the case, I didn't hesitate to leave for Japan as soon as I got there. ”

After all, the travelers had their own plans and arrangements, and they would not participate in their anti-Qing activities, but only wanted to borrow their overseas connections to open up trade routes in Nanyang, and the main purpose was to attract Chinese students in Japan to Shandong. Of course, these two goals are not contradictory, because many of these anti-Qing groups in Japan are Chinese students.

One of the main difficulties facing the East China government is that there is an extreme shortage of educated and knowledgeable young people, and in the process of establishing industrialization, it needs the participation of a large number of educated and knowledgeable people. In a short period of time, it is difficult for the East China government to greatly improve the quality of its population, so the East China government has also tried every means to bring in more than 200 students from Shanghai, but this is only a drop in the bucket, so it has set its sights on overseas students.

Of course, the quality of international students is higher than that of students staying in China, and after all, they are people who have gone abroad, so they also have a certain international vision, and as long as they are students studying abroad, their loyalty to the Qing court will drop significantly, and this is because foreign countries are relatively free to speak, and since they talk about China's current affairs in foreign countries, they basically do not forget a hundred words, and of course foreign governments will not care, and the Qing government is beyond the reach of the Qing government, and when they talk about China's current affairs overseas, of course, they will not have anything good to say about the Qing court; second, there are many anti-Qing revolutionary groups abroad, and they naturally try their best to belittle the Qing court。 is like Kang Youwei to protect the emperor, and the only one who wants to be a nephew is Guangxu, and the rest of the Qing court, because he is Cixi, is also blamed, of course, the Qing court itself is too bad, there is no need to erase it, it is black, and even if there are a few people who want to whitewash the Qing court, they can't find a few reasons.

Under such an environment, even some young students who were loyal to the Qing court in China did not take long to change their ways and become staunch anti-Qing forces. And this is more in line with the needs of the East China government. This is also incomparable to the students who stayed in China, and a considerable number of students in China are still studying the Four Books and the Five Classics and preparing to participate in the scientific examination.

From 1872 to 1875, at the initiative of Rong Hong and with the support of Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, the Qing court sent four batches of 120 students to study in the United States. The average age of this group of students when they went abroad was only 12 years old, so they are also called Liutong. Although most of them did not have time to complete their studies, there were many well-known figures in modern Chinese history, such as Zhan Tianyou, Cai Shaoji, Tang Shaoyi, Liang Dunyan, Cai Tinggan, etc.

For example, in 1877, the Fujian Shipbuilding Academy successively sent students to study in Britain to learn naval knowledge, and these students were the backbone of the Beiyang Naval Division; later Sheng Xuanhuai founded the Beiyang University and sent students to study in the United States one after another. There are also some students who study abroad at their own expense, and there are also some schools founded by churches in China that have also organized some students to study abroad.

Before the First Sino-Japanese War, the overall number of Chinese students studying abroad was not large, and most of them were on public assignments, with less self-finance, and the destinations for studying abroad were mainly in the United States, Britain, and other European and American countries; after the First Sino-Japanese War, the number of people studying abroad increased sharply, and the proportion of self-funded students was rising sharply, but the majority of countries studying abroad were Japan.

This was mainly because the Qing court's crushing defeat in the Sino-Japanese War alerted many Chinese that relying only on the tinkering changes of the foreign affairs movement could not save China, so they could only go abroad to find a way to save the country and learn from foreign countries in all aspects. However, Japan, a small country, defeated the old empire of the Qing court in one fell swoop after passing the Meiji Restoration, which also made many Chinese look at Japan with admiration, and China and Japan are separated by water and similar cultures, so it was generally believed that Japan's road to self-improvement was more worthy of reference from China at that time.

In the Wuxu period, Kang Youwei wrote to persuade Guangxu to reform the law, and the example he cited was also to imitate the Meiji Emperor of Japan, and the cost of studying in Japan was much easier than studying in Europe and the United States, so a large number of Chinese students chose to study in Japan at their own expense, including a considerable part of the military studies in Japan, so the number of people studying in Japan also increased rapidly for a time.