At this time, among the various forces, only the East China Government appeared to be the most calm, and in the face of frequent overtures by Russia and Japan, exchanges and consultations, the attitude of the East China Government was that it could be discussed, and it tried its best to strive for more interests for itself, but it would never sign any agreement or treaty unless the other side made substantial concessions. In the plan of the East China government, Russia and Japan were both its enemies, so all preparations for war were formulated with this goal.

Gaining a foothold in western Liaoning was a windfall for the East China government, but the East China government also quickly formulated a relative plan to make maximum use of this windfall, on the one hand, to have an additional offensive launch point when entering the war in the future, and on the other hand, to attract the attention of Japan before the war began, so as to cover the real strategic intentions of the East China government.

Therefore, on the one hand, the East China government used the Battle of Fengtian to send additional troops to western Liaoning and expand to eastern Liaoning, and on the other hand, it also invested a lot of manpower and material resources to build wharves, roads, and railways in western Liaoning, which was not only to prepare for an offensive from western Liaoning in the future, but also to deliberately build momentum, creating the impression that the East China government would use western Liaoning as a base and intervene in the battlefield.

It should be said that all preparations have been carried out very successfully, and immediately after the end of the Battle of Mukden, Japan deployed troops to garrison along the Liao River, which shows that the arrangements of the East China Government in western Liaoning have indeed attracted Japan's attention. The reconnaissance fleet's reconnaissance of Vladivostok was also carried out very smoothly, not only successfully completing the reconnaissance mission, but also establishing good relations with the local tribes, so it can be regarded as exceeding the task.

In addition, new progress has been made in the bonds of the East China government, because the East China government occupied the strategic point of western Liaoning, and because of Japan's victory in the Battle of Mukden, even the bond sales of the East China government have also appeared a small *, and more than 3 million pounds worth of bonds have been sold in the United States, bringing the total value of bonds issued to more than 13 million pounds, while the bonds issued in Germany worth 15 million pounds have been sold out.

According to the agreement between the East China government and the United States and Germany, another 15 million pounds worth of bonds can be issued in each country, but the East China government has decided that it is not too late to issue the second phase of bonds after entering the war, after all, the funds raised so far, as well as the East China government's own war preparations, can sustain the war process for about 10 months, which is completely sufficient in the initial stage of the war. Moreover, the interest rate of the first batch of bonds issued was very high, and a considerable part of the bonds were sold at a discount, so it also put some pressure on the finances of the East China government. If the East China government enters the war and achieves significant results in the early stages of the war, it will not only stimulate bond sales, but also give the East China government room to adjust the interest rate on the bonds, thus diluting the high interest rates of the first batch of bonds.

It can be said that the East China government's preparations for war have almost been completed, and the unfinished parts are being completed step by step, and they can officially enter the war just waiting for the Russian Second Pacific Fleet to arrive in the Far East.

According to the course of the old time and space, the Battle of Tsushima took place on May 27, 1905, about two months away, and judging from the current itinerary of the Second Pacific Fleet, this time will not be too far behind.

At this time, the East China government received two pieces of news, the first is that Li Hongzhang is seriously ill and has been bedridden, and Zhang Peilun and Li Jingxuan, who are in the Qingdao cooking industry, have rushed to Beijing to visit the patient, but according to the situation grasped by the East China government, Li Hongzhang's condition is not optimistic this time, and I am afraid that it is a big limit.

Compared with the old time and space, Li Hongzhang has lived for more than 4 years, and now he is 82 years old, in this era, he can be regarded as a long-lived person, so even if he is dead, it is not unexpected, and due to the arrival of the traverser, the Qing court avoided signing the [Xinchou Treaty], which can be regarded as allowing Li Hongzhang to save some face, and thus officially entered the military aircraft and became a veritable Li Zhongtang, which can also be regarded as a well-deserved death.

However, Li Hongzhang's death can be regarded as bad news for the East China government, so from then on there is one less person who can maneuver between the East China government and the Qing court. At present, the East China government and the Qing court are actually like fire and water, but they still maintain an unbroken relationship and have not completely torn their faces, and Li Hongzhang has played a big role in this. The Manchu magnates repeatedly asked the Qing court to list the East China government as hostile, and even suggested that they should unite with the foreign powers against the East China government, but Li Hongzhang opposed it to no avail.

Of course, the East China government will not be afraid to be the enemy of the Qing court, and the little trick of the Manchu magnates is completely beyond their means, but if it is really hostile to the Qing court now, it will also greatly involve the energy of the East China government, so maintaining the current state of being hostile but not broken is actually the most beneficial to the East China government, and according to the plan of the East China government, it is to turn around and deal with the Chun court after the Russo-Japanese War is fought.

Of course, Li Hongzhang's purpose in doing this was not all for the East China government, but also for the Qing court, because Li Hongzhang knew very well that the Qing court was by no means an opponent of the East China government, and sooner or later it would be destroyed by the East China government, so he arranged for his son-in-law and daughter to buy property and property in Qingdao, leaving a way back for his children and grandchildren, but Li Hongzhang himself was still loyal to the Qing court and hoped to delay the time of the Qing court's demise as much as possible, at least not to be destroyed in his lifetime.

After the People's Army entered Jinzhou and controlled western Liaoning, Britain, Japan and other countries encouraged the Qing court to come out against the actions of the East China government, and said that once the two sides tore their faces, they would fully support the Qing court.

A large part of the reason for maintaining such a situation is that the Empress Dowager Cixi, the actual ruler of the Qing court, is still very sober-minded, knowing that the Qing court cannot be the opponent of the East China government, and the foreigners are unreliable, so they have the courage to tear their faces with overseas Chinese, and the Qing court is the most dangerous. However, the status of the Manchu magnates was different, and Cixi could not blindly suppress them, so she just used Li Hongzhang's suggestion to stop the adventurous actions of the Manchu magnates. In fact, Cixi's mentality is the same as Li Hongzhang's, knowing that she won't live for a few years, so as long as she doesn't cause more trouble, she can drag it out for a day, and wait until she closes her eyes, as long as the Qing Dynasty does not die in her own hands.

Of course, the Manchu magnates did not dare to accuse Cixi, so they immediately pointed all the fingers at Li Hongzhang, accusing Li Hongzhang of colluding with overseas Chinese and plotting rebellion, and turned out Li Hongzhang's old accounts during the First Sino-Japanese War, and even some people posted notices at the door of Li Hongzhang's mansion to curse people. Li Hongzhang's illness this time has something to do with this.

In fact, the Manchu magnates were also drunkards, not because they were against overseas Chinese, but in fact they hoped to take this opportunity to overthrow several Han ministers, so as to bring the power of the court into their own hands, so that the Qing court could return to the era of Manchu dominance.

But the Manchu magnates are against the overseas Chinese as a slogan, so if Li Hongzhang dies, the Qing court will have one less important minister who can stop them, and Cixi is hindered by her own position, and she can't treat the Manchu magnates toughly, and she is likely to be coerced by the Manchu magnates.

Although there is still Zhang Zhidong in the Military Aircraft Department, Zhang Zhidong's prestige and connections are quite different from Li Hongzhang, and the most important thing is that Zhang Zhidong lacks Li Hongzhang's courage to take responsibility, and he pities his feathers too much, of course, to put it bluntly, he has no determination to take the blame for the imperial court, so if the situation reaches a critical moment, Zhang Zhidong often chooses to protect himself, rather than standing up and turning the tide, which is unreliable.

Since it is now, the situation in the Far East has reached the moment of Guan Jian, and the East China government is also about to enter the war, if the Qing court makes trouble for the East China government at this time, it will indeed be a headache. However, the East China government did not pin the hope of letting the Qing court settle down on Li Hongzhang alone, and made two preparations early, that is, the establishment of the river and lake base area.

The establishment of the river and lake base areas is not only a move by the East China government to expand its power, but also to prepare for a complete turn of face with the Qing court in the future, and the General Staff has long made a plan; once the East China government enters the war and the Qing court wants to make trouble, then it can use the river and lake base areas to contain the Qing court, so that the base areas can quickly expand to Hebei Province, forcing the Qing court to devote all its forces to dealing with the river and lake base areas, and so that the East China government can deal with the war situation in the northeast without interference.

After nearly three years of development, the area of the river and lake base area is now not limited to Henan and Hubei provinces, but has expanded to Hebei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanxi and other places, and three branches have been established, with a core area of more than 60,000 square kilometers under complete control, and a total area of 180,000 square kilometers and a population of nearly 1,500,000. The armed forces in the base areas have also reached more than 70,000 people, with a total of 3 divisions and 8 regiments, and a large number of militia units, which can be expanded to 120,000 troops in a short period of time. Despite the poor assembly, the possession rate of guns is only more than 7 percent, and the artillery is even rarer, it is still an armed force that cannot be ignored.

At present, the river and lake base area has expanded the scope of control to Zhengding Prefecture, that is, the area around Shijiazhuang City, which is only more than 120 kilometers away from Beijing, of course, it is still mainly active in the countryside at present, and has not occupied the county seat, but as long as the East China Government gives an order, it can ensure that all the prefectures, counties and towns in the control area can be taken within three days, and then threaten Beijing's security.

After carefully dividing the situation and making two military chess exercises, the General Staff held that even if the Qing court became enemies of the East China Government after the East China Government entered the war, it would not have much impact on the East China Government. Relying only on the river and lake base areas was enough to hold back the Qing court.