On the evening of the end of the negotiations in Shanghai, Qin Zheng met with Li Hongzhang. 8.1 Chinese Network =≈≤.≥8≥ Although all parties have now signed a treaty, the war of aggression against China of the Eight-Nation Alliance has officially ended. However, Russia did not join the treaty, and Russia still occupies the northeastern part of China, so this is not the end of the treaty, and the next step is to force Russia to recognize the treaty and withdraw from the northeastern part of China. It is precisely this question that Qin Zheng wants to discuss with Li Hongzhang.

Of course, Li Hongzhang also expressed his gratitude to Qin Zheng first, because the traverser exchanged the prisoners for the Zhenyuan ship, which can be regarded as a matter of his own heart, after all, the establishment of the Beiyang Naval Division was all Li Hongzhang's hard work and experience, and in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Beiyang Naval Division was completely annihilated, and one of the main forces, the Zhenyuan Ship, became a prisoner of the Japanese army, and became a member of the Yueben Navy, which also became a knot of Li Hongzhang's heart, so in his lifetime, he was able to watch the Zhenyuan ship return to China again, Li Hongzhang's heart could finally let go of this knot, and this time his gratitude to the traverser was from the heart。

Qin Zheng said with a smile: "Zhongtang is too polite, these are all small details, but now although we have signed treaties with various countries, there are still Russia that has not recognized the treaty, and it still occupies the northeast region, so before oppressing Russia to withdraw from the northeast, I am afraid we will not be able to go to Xi'an to meet the queen mother and the emperor, and please explain this point to Zhongtang." ”

Li Hongzhang nodded and said, "It's easy to say about this matter, the old man will make a case to the imperial court, but on the Russian side, I don't know how you plan to negotiate with Russia?"

Qin Zheng said: "We have negotiated with Britain, the United States, and France, and they have promised to put pressure on Russia to accept the treaty we have signed and withdraw its troops from the northeast. ”

After hearing this, Li Hongzhang was also a little relieved, and said: "Britain, the United States, and France are all powerful countries, and their national strength is not under Russia. ”

Qin Zheng shook his head and said with a smile: "That's such an easy thing, Russia has always been arrogant and unreasonable, and it is warlike and warlike, how can it be easily submitted, and although Britain, the United States, and France put pressure on Russia, they have no coercive means, so I don't think Russia will necessarily accept the treaty." ”

Li Hongzhang was stunned and said, "Then how is it good?"

Qin Zheng said: "Of course, the only way to defeat it is to use force, to bend it with force, and to force it with war." ”

Li Hongzhang was taken aback and said, "Do you want to start a war with Russia?"

Qin Zheng shook his head with a smile and said: "Of course not, now that China has finally restored peace, and is waiting to recuperate, how can it be easy to start a war again, but it is just necessary to make a big army to suppress the border, and use force to intimidate Russia." In addition, Japan will send more troops to Korea, and we will wave troops into Jinzhou, which will be enough to shock Russia, and in addition to the diplomatic pressure exerted by Britain, the United States, France, and other countries, not to mention that Russia is now unable to start another war, so there is no fear that Russia will not be convinced by the time come. ”

After Li Hongzhang heard this, he completely relieved his heart and said: "There is no doubt that your public strategy is calculated, and the old man can also have no worries." ”

Qin Zheng said again: "But there are two things that I still need to ask Zhongtang for a favor." ”

Li Hongzhang hurriedly said: "There is something, but there is no visit, as long as the old man can do it, he will go all out." ”

Qin Zheng said with a smile: "Actually, it's very simple, we hope that in this maritime joint military exercise with Japan, the Beiyang Naval Division will also be able to send warships to participate and form a fleet with our warships." ”

Li Hongzhang listened to it, and couldn't help but be surprised, it should be said that Qin Zheng's proposal was a good thing for the Qing court, because after the Geng Xiao State Change, the imperial court had already experienced a sharp drop in prestige, to put it mildly, if it were not for the interference of external forces, if it was not for the sudden return of overseas Chinese, then in any period in Chinese history, such a major change would be enough to lead to the end of the country, so now the Qing court urgently needs to enhance its authority, so this time to participate in the maritime joint military exercises of deterring Russia is a great opportunity。

In 1886, after the two ironclad ships of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were commissioned in the Beiyang Naval Division, Li Hongzhang ordered Ding Ruchang, the commander of the naval division, to lead the four ships of Zhenyuan, Dingyuan, Weiyuan, and Jiyuan to Nagasaki, Japan, for a "goodwill visit." This was also the second visit to Japan by the Chinese ironclad fleet. The purpose was to warn Japan about the "Kashin Coup" in Korea two years ago.

Although this visit led to the "Nagasaki Incident", the two giant ships of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan at that time still caused great shock to Japan, and as a result, the "Nagasaki Incident" ended with a compromise between the two sides rather than a unilateral concession by the Qing court, and the two sides compensated each other for their losses, with the Japanese side paying 525oo yuan, the Qing court paying 155oo yuan, and the Japanese side paying 27oo yuan for the medical aid of the wounded.

However, the gunboat diplomacy of the Beiyang Naval Division this time greatly stimulated the Japanese national psychology and formed a fanatical mood among the whole people who desperately displayed their navy. The Japanese emperor ordered the allocation of 30,000 yuan from the inner treasury as a subsidy for coastal defense, and the nobles and wealthy people of the whole country were all moved by the emperor's act of subsidizing the construction of the navy, and they all competed to donate money for coastal defense and strengthen the construction of the fleet, in order to pass through China. The Beiyang Naval Division did not add a single ship after it was fully established in 1888. As a result, by the time the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1894, the overall strength of the Japanese Navy had passed through the Beiyang Naval Division, not counting the two battleships that had not yet been delivered.

Due to the threat of force from the two major forces of overseas Chinese and Japan, coupled with the diplomatic pressure of Britain, France and the United States, Li Hongzhang also believes that it is indeed possible to force Russia to give in, so let the Beiyang Navy Division participate in the joint naval military exercises to deter Russia, and naturally also get a share of the credit, although everyone knows that the Beiyang Navy Division is actually playing soy sauce, but after all, it is one of the participants, and it is enough to make the imperial court boast for a while. In addition, it is also very beneficial to enhance the reputation of the Beiyang Naval Division, although the current Beiyang Naval Division has nothing to do with Li Hongzhang, but it is the four words "Beiyang Naval Division" that are soaked in Li Hongzhang's hard work, so Li Hongzhang still hopes that the Beiyang Naval Division can be displayed in a good direction. It's just that Li Hongzhang doesn't understand a little, it is said that with the naval strength of overseas Chinese, there are not many Beiyang naval divisions, and there are not many Beiyang naval divisions, so why should the Beiyang naval divisions be brought in?

At this time, Qin Zheng said again: "The second is that we have exchanged the Zhenyuan ship with Japanese prisoners, and we also hope that the Zhenyuan ship can also participate in this exercise, but for us, the Zhenyuan ship is a new ship, and it is not easy to operate, I don't know how many of the current Beiyang Naval Division are the crew sailors on the original Zhenyuan ship, and I want to invite them to pilot the Zhenyuan ship." ”

Li Hongzhang was stunned for a long time, and he couldn't speak for a long time.

In fact, the decision of the traverser is after serious consideration, this Shanghai negotiation, the traversal group is an independent force to sign treaties with various countries, although because the traversal group has not yet accepted the formal policy of the Qing court, plus the effect of exhibitions and concerts, so there are not too many objections for the time being, but now the Qing court is still the orthodox government of China after all, and the traversal group still needs the banner of the Qing court, so it can't go too far, at least in the big picture. Otherwise, when the effects of exhibitions and concerts have passed, it will still make the crossing group unfavorable in public opinion.

The Beiyang Naval Division is the regular navy of the Qing court, so inviting the Beiyang Naval Division to participate in joint naval exercises means that the crossing group is not independent of the Qing court, but still has a certain respect for the imperial court, so that some people's tongues can be blocked. Although this will indeed allow the Qing court to enhance some authority, and the Qing court can boast to the outside world that it is forcing Russia to submit, but such a little authority is really a drop in the bucket for the current Qing court, and it will not play much role at all, so there is no need to care.

On the other hand, the crossing group also hopes to strengthen exchanges and communication with the Beiyang Naval Division through joint military exercises at sea, because the Beiyang Naval Division is the army with the highest degree of modernization in the Qing court, although the Beiyang New Army trained by Yuan Shikai is also all based on the establishment and training methods of the modern army, and has hired a large number of foreign instructors, but this is only a superficial phenomenon, and in essence, the Beiyang New Army is still only a traditional Chinese army.

However, the Beiyang Naval Division not only hired foreign instructors, but most of the main generals had the experience of studying abroad, and even after they did not stay abroad, they all studied in new-style schools in China, and after the Beiyang Naval Division became an army, it went abroad many times to visit activities and exchange with foreign navies, and the officers and men not only broadened their horizons, but also increased their knowledge, which is incomparable with the Beiyang New Army.

In the Xinhai Revolution in the old time and space, the Beiyang Naval Division was the only army in the Qing court that turned against the Qing Dynasty as a whole. Qin Zheng is familiar with history and naturally understands these situations, so he also has some expectations for the Beiyang Naval Division.

The navy is not as good as the Sixth Army, and it can go to the battlefield with a single gun; the navy is a high-tech service, and it requires soldiers to have a certain cultural quality, and it takes a long period to train a group of qualified naval soldiers; troops and soldiers like the Beiyang Naval Division, who have received regular naval training and even have a certain amount of actual combat experience, are exactly what the People's Army Navy needs.

At present, the People's Army has a number of salvaged warships, and the scale is far larger than that of the Beiyang Naval Division of the past, and in order to form actual combat strength at an early date, it is precisely in need of such grassroots personnel with naval experience; the People's Army Navy has previously received some soldiers of the Beiyang Naval Division, and now they have all become the grassroots backbone of the Navy, but the number is too small to be insufficient at all, so in this joint military exercise at sea, the traversers also hope that through exchanges between the two sides, they will strive to attract or pull some middle- and lower-level officers and men of the Beiyang Naval Division to supplement their own navy. And in the long run, of course, it is best to serve the Beiyang Sailors in one pot.