Xia Bohai said: "I agree with Lao Qin's opinion, so our statement should rebuke Japan and Russia, and the heavier the words, the better, and the stricter the wording, the better." ”

Li Sanjie said: "Of course, there is no problem in scolding Russia, but is it too much to reproach Japan, at least we are still in a cooperative relationship with Japan, although it is only a fake cooperation, and the agreement is not public, but at least for this year, we must stabilize Japan, if we condemn Japan, will it arouse Japan's suspicion?"

Wang Jun said: "If we only blame Russia and not Japan, then we will not be able to get rid of the suspicion of betraying the country, after all, this time it is two countries fighting on our territory, and we can't say that Japan is helping China by fighting Russia, right?

Qin Zheng said: "I think there is no need to worry about Japan's reaction, one is that Japan still needs our help now, and the other is that Japan didn't put us together some time ago?" This time even if it is an act of retaliation on our part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has conveyed to Japan through private channels that our statement is only the need for the image of the government, and the attitude of cooperation has not changed, and I estimate that Japan will only admit it, and I am worried that after I made the statement, the people's emotions will be aroused, and we will really ask us to send troops to rescue the northeast, and our government will be coerced by public opinion and forced to send troops ahead of schedule, thus disrupting our plans, so we must grasp this degree well. ”

Xia Bohai said: "This is easy to do, we can play the Qing court to push the front as a shield, such as asking the Qing court to express its position in the statement, or asking the Qing court to order, so that the ball will be kicked to the Qing court, and we ourselves can be picked out."

Ye Yanfu said: "I'm afraid this is not very good, in case the Qing court really orders us to send troops, isn't it self-defeating?

Qin Zheng smiled and said: " Rest assured, this is absolutely impossible to happen, first of all, countries will not allow the Qing court to send troops, they will naturally put pressure on the Qing court, and secondly, even if we are asked to send troops, it is not a word, at least give us a big name, and at least give us a part of the military and political power, all say that the First Sino-Japanese War is a war between Li Hongzhang and one country, but in the name of the discussion, Li Hongzhang is in control of most of the country's resources, but Li Hongzhang can't move other local forces, but do you think the Qing court will hand over most of the military power to usWe could have mentioned it in the statement. ”

Xia Bohai said: "We don't need to mention this in the statement, but we can let public opinion cooperate, find a few Shanghai newspapers, and make a joint recommendation or something like that, asking the Qing court to use us, and hand over the military and political power to us, let us send troops, this effect will be better." ”

Qin Zheng also nodded and said, "Well, this operation is indeed better." We might as well make the momentum a little bigger, and we should also put us in charge of the military aircraft. ”

Xu Jichao said: "But all along, we have appeared in the name of an independent political body, and everyone who understands knows that we don't listen to the Qing court at all. ”

Qin Zheng said: "This is always inevitable, we can't be seamless, so that everyone is satisfied, there will always be people who have doubts about us, but with the Qing court in front of us, our pressure will be much less, and we only need to get through this more than a year, and when we really send troops, the doubts about us will disappear." ”

Xia Bohai said: "There is nothing wrong with this truth, but we can't be too perfunctory, I think so, add 'we will reserve the right to take all actions' in the statement, so that it is easier to say in public opinion." ”

The others listened and did not object, so the general framework of the statement was determined. On the very next day, the East China Government issued its own statement, which was very stern, severely reprimanding both Japan and Russia, demanding that both sides immediately stop the war and withdraw from Chinese territory, let alone harm Chinese civilians, and at the same time demanding that the Qing court express its position as soon as possible and take effective measures to protect Northeast China, and finally mentioned that the East China Government would retain the right to take all actions.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also privately communicated with the Japanese and Russian consulates, saying to Japan that the attitude of the East China Government in cooperating with Japan would remain unchanged and that the statement was only for the sake of the government's image; although its attitude toward Russia was tough and demanded that Russia protect the Chinese residents, it also said that the East China Government had no intention of immediately entering the war, and both Japan and Russia expressed their understanding of the East China Government's statement.

After the release of the statement of the East China government, there was a great uproar in the whole country, and they demanded that the Qing court express a tough attitude toward Japan and Russia, and even sent troops to expel Japan and Russia, and several newspapers published editorials, believing that only overseas Chinese could be expelled by the Qing court at present, so they demanded that the imperial court use overseas Chinese, in line with military power, and some newspapers even demanded that the imperial court dissolve the military aircraft department, and use overseas Chinese as military ministers to take charge of the imperial court, which can not only expel Japan and Russia, but also lead the imperial court to implement a new policy, enrich the country and strengthen the army.

This wave of public opinion came very violently, and a day later, many officials even wrote to the imperial court, demanding that the imperial court use overseas Chinese, send troops to the northeast, expel Japan and Russia, and defend the territory. Although there were also a small number of opposing voices in this wave of public opinion, such as the belief that the strength of Japan and Russia was too strong for the imperial court to deal with, and that overseas Chinese harbored evil intentions and could not be of great use, they could not change the general trend of public opinion this time.

Originally, the day after Japan broke off diplomatic relations with Russia, the Japanese minister Yasuya Uchida would meet with Prince Kei and advise him that the Qing court should remain neutral in the event of a war between Japan and Russia. After Japan and Russia declared war on each other, Japan officially sent a diplomatic note to the Qing court and other ministers stationed in the Qing court, again demanding that the Qing court remain neutral in the Russo-Japanese War. Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Italy, and other countries were also very cooperative with Japan, and they demanded that the Chunting maintain neutrality and set up a war zone.

As early as December 27, 1903, the negotiations between Japan and Russia had entered a deadlock, and Yuan Shikai folded to the Qing court, believing that there would be a war between Japan and Russia. Of course, at this time, Yuan Shikai was only talking in generalities, if the battlefield of the Russo-Japanese War was not on the territory of China, it would not be wrong to strictly maintain neutrality.

After entering 1904, the war between Japan and Russia was about to break out, and the battlefield was definitely in China, and the Qing court also began to formally discuss, Yuan Shikai folded up again, divided the world bureau, and believed that if the Qing court wanted to defend the entire territory of the northeast, it needed at least 300,000 troops, even if it only defended a few large cities in the northeast, it also needed 100,000 troops, and now the new army of the Qing court has not yet been completed, and it is also defending the land of the Beijing division, so the troops that can be used in the northeast are only 2-30,000 people at most, and they are simply unable to defend the northeast.

On February 8, after the Russo-Japanese War officially broke out, Yuan Shikai once again urged the Qing court to declare neutrality. Of course, Yuan Shikai's repeated requests for the Qing court to remain neutral in the Russo-Japanese War did not mean that it was Yuan Shikai's personal behavior, but that he represented a large number of Qing court officials, but Yuan Shikai belonged to local officials, and these matters should be played by local officials to the imperial court.

Of course, from an objective point of view, the Qing court at this time determined that there was no better choice than neutrality, so after a few days of negotiation, the Qing court was also preparing to declare neutrality, but at this time the East China government issued a statement, pushing the Qing court to the forefront. If neutrality is declared at this time, it is estimated that the imperial court will be drowned in saliva, and I don't know what the overseas Chinese plan to do this time, whether they will take this opportunity to really turn the other around, after all, Japan and Russia are at war, and there is no time to take care of anything else, and the other Britain, the United States, France and Germany are far away, and the intervention is limited.

Originally, the Qing court planned to send troops in February to recruit and suppress the Henan bandits, but the preparations were almost done, and they were temporarily stopped; first, although the Russo-Japanese War was outside the Guan, the Qing court could not afford not to guard against it; second, since overseas Chinese suddenly came to such a hand, it was necessary to first find out their attitude, perhaps for the sake of the Henan bandits.

So Cixi and Guangxu hurriedly summoned the Minister of Military Aircraft to discuss countermeasures, and this time Li Hongzhang was pulled out from the beginning, and at the same time, at the suggestion of Li Hongzhang, Yuan Shikai was specially recruited to Beijing to participate in this court meeting.

At the beginning of the court meeting, Tie Liang first offered a plan, suggesting that the imperial court might as well order overseas Chinese to send troops to resist Russia and resist Japan, recover the Northeast, and let the overseas Chinese fight with Russia and Japan to lose both, and the court could reap the benefits. In fact, Tie Liang's suggestion represented the thoughts of many Qing court officials, so Tie Liang also thought he was very proud.

After listening to Tie Liang's suggestion, Cixi remained silent, and Guangxu was a little eager to try, but seeing Cixi's eyes slightly closed and her face expressionless, she didn't speak for a while, but Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong's faces showed a very obvious look of disdain.

A group of Manchu young and powerful people represented by Tie Liang and Rong Qing are more hostile to Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong, and their usual words are not very polite, so Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong naturally will not give them a good face, but the two of them have their own identities and will not come forward to argue with them, of course, someone will come out.

Sure enough, after a little cold, Yuan Shikai said: "If overseas Chinese are allowed to send troops outside the customs, military power will inevitably be granted, and the center also needs to have overseas Chinese in the center to dispatch, should two overseas Chinese be selected to come to the military aircraft?"

Tie Liang was stunned for a moment, and couldn't answer for a while.

Yuan Shikai said: "If the overseas Chinese really expel Japan and Russia and enter the Northeast, how should the imperial court deal with it. ”

At this time, Cixi's slightly closed eyes suddenly opened, but they closed immediately, but Guangxu was shaken all over his body, as if he had moved, and Tie Liang was dumbfounded, unable to say a word.

Yuan Shikai didn't see Cixi and Guangxu's expressions, but he was very satisfied with Tie Liang's reaction, and turned to Cixi and Guangxu again, and said: "Queen Mother, Emperor, the ministers think that ordering overseas Chinese to send troops outside the border seems to drive tigers and wolves, but it is not advisable. ”