Shanghai Wharf.

Escorted by two columns of marching troops with sonorous steps, Li Hongzhang walked along the shore of the wharf, and on the side of the sea, there was a column of soldiers standing as straight as javelins. In the sea behind this column of soldiers, a row of warships of various sizes is moored, like steel giants, quietly lying on the sea.

It turned out that this was a welcoming ceremony held by the commander of the German fleet, Waldsea, for the arrival of Li Hongzhang.

Walking in front of the array of the German army, Li Hongzhang also had a lot of emotion in his heart, although the ceremony of welcoming him by the German army could not be said to be grand, and it could be regarded as giving himself enough face, but this still could not change the gap between the strength and weakness of the two sides, and it was himself who was on the weak side, otherwise he should not have come to the dock to see Waldesi, but sat in his apartment and waited for Waldesy to come to the door.

Speaking of which, Li Hongzhang has a deep relationship with Germany, when he founded the Huai Army, he purchased a large number of German-made weapons, and most of the warships of the Beiyang Fleet were produced by Germany, and Li Hongzhang's most relied on foreigner De Xuanlin was a German.

In 1896, after attending the succession ceremony of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Li Hongzhang began his own tour of Europe and the United States, which was also the first time in Chinese history that an important minister of the state made a visit to China.

At that time, China was a big overseas customer of German military equipment, and Sino-German relations were in a good period, so Kaiser Wilhelm II held an unprecedentedly grand welcome ceremony for Li Hongzhang, and a few days later, at the invitation of the Kaiser, Li Hongzhang visited the training exercises of the German army. The Kaiser also specially prepared a tiger skin chair for Li Hongzhang. Seeing the excellent equipment and high morale of the German army, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but sigh: If I had an army like the 10th battalion, I would not be afraid of Japan.

However, the experience of this visit to Germany did not leave Li Hongzhang with all good memories, when visiting the former famous German iron-blooded prime minister Bismarck, although this famous European politician gave Li Hongzhang a very grand reception and explained his experience in governing to Li Hongzhang very frankly, Li Hongzhang claimed that he was called "the Bismarck of the East", and Bismarck's answer was that "he does not think that the Bismarck of the East is a flattering title", and said that "he does not want to be the Li Hongzhang of the West." ”

At that time, Li Hongzhang had just signed the [Treaty of Shimonoseki] with Japan on behalf of the Qing court, and was unanimously accused of being a traitor by the whole country, so after listening to Bismarck's words, he couldn't help but feel quite embarrassed, and he also learned the rigorous and serious style of the Germans. Just a year later, Germany used Juye Church as an excuse to forcibly occupy Jiaoao, and forced the Qing court to lease Jiaoao to Germany, so that Li Hongzhang once again realized what "there are no eternal enemies, no eternal friends, only national interests are eternal".

Now I see that the appearance of the German army is still neat and solemn, and Li Hongzhang himself has fallen from the peak of the Qing court's political arena and gradually marginalized, and the situation in the Qing court is getting worse and worse.

At this moment, Li Hongzhang's eyes were suddenly attracted by several German warships moored on the shore, and he couldn't help but stop and look at them.

It turned out that what Li Hongzhang saw was the four Saxony-class ironclad ships in the German fleet this time. Although at this time, the Saxony-class ironclad ship was already an outdated warship, this type of ironclad ship had a very special status in Li Hongzhang's heart, because the Saxony-class ironclad ship was the original model of the two main battleships of the original Beiyang Naval Division, Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. The two were almost identical below deck, so Li Hongzhang could recognize them at a glance.

At this time, Li Hongzhang also had mixed feelings in his heart, and the establishment of the Beiyang Naval Division was indeed exhausting Li Hongzhang's life's work, and at the same time, Li Hongzhang reached the peak of his personal political career, but all this with the defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War and the fall of the Beiyang Naval Division, Li Hongzhang also completely fell from the peak. Although the Beiyang Fleet was later rebuilt, and most of the survivors of the original Beiyang Naval Division were used, this Beiyang Naval Division was incomparable with the original Beiyang Naval Division in terms of strength and influence, and it had nothing to do with Li Hongzhang at all.

Now that he saw the Saxony-class ironclad ship again, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but think of the First Sino-Japanese War. If he had been able to urge the imperial court to buy the Yoshino, with his own power and influence back then, as long as he persevered, he would have been able to squeeze out hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to buy the Yoshino, and in this way, the strength of the Beiyang Naval Division would have been greatly strengthened, which would have been enough to deter the Japanese Combined Fleet; if he had been able to reequip the Beiyang Naval Division with rapid-fire guns at the very moment, even if the imperial court did not withdraw money, with his own financial resources, he would have been able to afford this expense, then the result of the First Battle of Dadonggou may be different, and the Japanese army will not obtain complete sea control after the First Battle of Dadonggou, then the First Sino-Japanese War will be a protracted war, and it is the book that cannot be delayed. Then now whether it is Li Hongzhang himself or the situation of the Qing court, I am afraid it will be very different.

At this time, the servant around him: "Zhongtang, Zhongtang." ”

Only then did Li Hongzhang wake up from his contemplation, and found that he was actually more than ten meters behind by the German honor guard army that greeted him, and he was stopping to wait for Li Hongzhang at this time.

Therefore, Li Hongzhang hurriedly took a few steps, caught up with the German honor guard, walked out of several hundred meters, crossed four Saxony-class ironclads, and came to the flagship of the German fleet, the Count Bismarck, the armored cruiser, and to the left and right of the Count Bismarck's armored cruiser, were three Brandenburg-class battleships. These four warships all have larger and more majestic hulls and thicker guns than Saxony-class ironclads, and naturally they are more powerful than Saxony-class ironclads. At this time, the gangway of this huge warship, which represents the highest shipbuilding technology in Germany at present, has been lowered and leads to the coast.

When Li Hongzhang saw this, he couldn't help but sigh, and found that what he was thinking about just now was useless, because even if the Qing court won the First Sino-Japanese War, what could it be, such a German fleet was not at all comparable to the Beiyang Naval Division, unless after the First Sino-Japanese War, it continued to purchase more powerful warships to enhance the strength of the Beiyang Naval Division, just like Japan now.

However, Li Hongzhang knew that this was an absolutely impossible fact, because even if he really won the First Sino-Japanese War, his political career would probably have come to an end. The four words of "meritorious and shocking", no matter in which dynasty, are taboo for ministers, so if they win the First Sino-Japanese War, they will never have the opportunity to live in harmony with the imperial court, unless they are like the teacher Zeng Guofan, honestly hand over the military power, otherwise there is only one way to rebel, and the imperial court will not let itself buy new ships and expand the Beiyang Naval Division.

Thinking of this, Li Hongzhang suddenly found that this was an unsolvable problem, and whether he won or lost the First Sino-Japanese War, the outcome was the same.

At this moment, I saw a German army with standard steps, came to Li Hongzhang, gave a military salute, and said: "Your Excellency Zhongtang, Marshal Wadsey is waiting for Zhongtang on the warship, please follow me on the ship." ”

Li Hongzhang nodded, followed the officer, and boarded the armored cruiser Count Bismarck from the gangway.

At this time, the commander of the German fleet, Field Marshal Waldsee, the deputy commander, Rear Admiral Falkenhait, the quartermaster, Rear Admiral Gehr, and the chief of staff, Major General Schwarzhofer, and other major officers of the German army, were already on the deck of the armored cruiser Count Bismarck to welcome Li Hongzhang's arrival.

Seeing Li Hongzhang on the deck, Waldexi took a few steps forward and said, "Your Excellency, welcome to the armored cruiser Count Bismarck. ”

During Li Hongzhang's visit to Germany, he had a one-sided acquaintance with Wadsey, although the two only met in general terms at that time, and there was no deep friendship, but at this time it became a good excuse to get closer to the relationship between the two, so Li Hongzhang also took two steps forward and said: "Your Excellency Marshal, I have been saying goodbye for more than four years, and when I see it today, the marshal's demeanor is still the same, and His Majesty the Emperor of your country is good." ”

Wadsey nodded and said, "His Majesty the Emperor has always been concerned about His Excellency Zhongtang, and this time he also specially asked me to greet His Excellency Zhongtang. ”

This sentence is quite ironic, because Waldsey led the German fleet to China not to visit, but to fight, but to fight, fortunately, Li Hongzhang is also a person who is used to seeing the scene, and he snorted and said: "It turns out that His Majesty the Emperor of your country still remembers me, an old man." ”

Wadsi said: "Your Excellency, let's go to the cabin and talk." ”

Li Hongzhang nodded and said, "Okay." ”

So everyone came to the reception room of the armored cruiser Count Bismarck, sat down and waited for the guards to bring coffee, Wadsey took a sip of coffee, and then said: "Li Zhongtang, I won't hide it from you, we came to China this time to quell the rebellion of the Peace League and rescue the northern expatriates of our country. However, the situation in the north must be clear now, and a group of troops claiming to be overseas Chinese have intervened in this war, and will also be our main adversary. We also know that the local officials in the southeast of your country have reached an agreement with us on the mutual guarantee of the southeast, and His Excellency Zhongtang is one of the main promoters, so we would like to know what this army has to do with the officials who participated in the mutual insurance in the southeast?"

Li Hongzhang was silent for a while before he said, "Your Excellency Marshal, I can assure you that this group of overseas Chinese has absolutely nothing to do with the officials participating in the Southeast Mutual Insurance. ”

Waldexi said: "Then does Lord Zhongtang know the origin of this group of overseas Chinese, and is it related to the imperial court of your country?"

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