After listening to Qin Zheng's words, Yuan Shikai and Li Jingfang couldn't help but be a little surprised, because this suggestion was quite beneficial to the Qing court, which was tantamount to putting themselves in an invincible position, and they could sit back and watch Russia, Japan, and the East China government fight each other, and all the risks were borne by the East China government, and even the three eastern provinces were finally lost, and the responsibility could be completely shifted to the overseas Chinese, just like the responsibility for the First Sino-Japanese War was put on Li Hongzhang. Therefore, with Yuan Shikai and Li Jingfang's understanding of the imperial court and the Empress Dowager Cixi, they would definitely accept this suggestion from overseas Chinese.

Of course, the traverser will not do anything to take risks for the Qing court, not to mention that once Russia and Japan are defeated and the Northeast region is kept, of course, the East China government will not return it to the Qing court, which is a huge benefit, and in this proposal, there is a big hole buried for the Qing court.

In the old time and space, although the Russo-Japanese War took place on Chinese territory, the Qing court maintained a neutral position in this war, and also divided the war zones between Russia and Japan. In all fairness, with the national strength and strength of the Qing court at that time, this was indeed a helpless move, because neither Japan nor Russia could compete with the Qing court. Moreover, in the end, although the Qing court ceded a large number of Japanese interests in the northeast, it still retained its sovereignty over the northeast region, which was indeed a great diplomatic victory for the Qing court at that time, and in this sense, the Qing court was also one of the beneficiaries of the Russo-Japanese War.

However, by allowing other countries to fight on their own territory, the people of Northeast China have suffered great disasters and unprecedented catastrophes in their lives and property. As the ruling class of the country, the Qing court not only could not control it, but also set aside a war zone for others, which was a gross violation of China's territory and sovereignty, and caused the people of northeastern China to suffer huge losses and casualties in the war. It further undermined the authority of the Qing court, and the revolutionary party's uprising was carried out precisely after the Russo-Japanese War. Therefore, this has also become an important criminal evidence for later generations to evaluate the corruption and incompetence of the Qing court.

If, in this time and space, the Qing court still stood idly by and remained neutral in the Russo-Japanese War, and even still set up war zones, while the East China government was struggling to resist aggression and safeguard its territory and sovereignty, then the Qing court's weakness and inaction and did not dare to protect the country's incompetent image became a very sharp contrast with the strong and responsible image of the East China government that dared to resist aggression and protect national interests, which won the support of the people of the whole country for the East China government and further weakened the legitimacy of the Qing court's rule.

In fact, Yuan Shikai and Li Jingfang are very shrewd people, and their knowledge and experience are not bad, but after all, they are cultivated by traditional Chinese culture, so they can't see that the influence of the people's will and public opinion on the country is far from comparable to the original feudal dynasty. Although they also know the great changes that have not been encountered in 3,000 years, they still can't get rid of the inertia of traditional thinking in their thinking, and the concept of the supremacy of imperial power and the world of furniture still affects their judgment, so that they can't see the big pit under their feet.

At this time, Qin Zheng said again: "However, I estimate that as soon as the war starts, both Japan and Russia will force the imperial court to negotiate and ask the imperial court to cede the interests of the Northeast, so before the situation is clear, the imperial court must not be intimidated by them, and must not negotiate with any of them." ”

Yuan Shikai's heart sank, and he said: "Okay, your proposition and suggestion, Yuan will tell the court truthfully, and try his best to persuade the court to listen to your advice." ”

Qin Zheng said to Li Jingfang again: "Brother Jingfang, this matter is very important, and I hope that Brother Jingfang can tell Zhongtang and ask Zhongtang to do more in the court, we are grateful." ”

Li Jingfang hurriedly said: "Yes, I will tell my father in the future." ”

Speaking of this step, Yuan Shikai and Li Jingfang's task has been basically completed, and the two of them are correspondingly satisfied with this result, since he is Yuan Shikai, after returning to Beijing, he will inevitably be rewarded by the imperial court. At present, Yuan Shikai is planning to write an excerpt to the imperial court, set up the Beiyang Military and Political Department in Baoding, to be in charge of the training of the new army directly under the province, and also wrote his own method of training troops into the "Simple Regulations for Army Training" to promote it to the whole country. It is suggested that the imperial court should use this as a blueprint to set up a military training office and uniformly organize and inspect the formation and training of the new army across the country. In this way, once a war breaks out, it is also convenient for the imperial court to effectively unify command and conduct joint operations.

On the surface, Yuan Shikai is all for the sake of the training of the imperial court, and there is not a word about himself, but if the Beiyang Military and Political Department is established, it must be Yuan Shikai himself who is the superintendent, after all, the Beiyang New Army was built by Yuan Shikai, and if the Qing court establishes a training office and trains according to the way of the Beiyang New Army, then Yuan Shikai will definitely dominate the training office, which means that Yuan Shikai has mastered the military power of the whole country.

However, Yuan Shikai also knew that although his abacus was good, the old lady in the palace was more shrewd than herself, and she would definitely be able to see her own calculations, so it was difficult to say whether she would approve it. Even if it's accurate, I'm afraid I won't let myself dominate this training office. But now that the Russo-Japanese war is about to break out, he can use this benefit to persuade the imperial court.

At this time, Qin Zheng said again: "It is rare for both of you to come to Qingdao, it is better to stay in Qingdao for a few more days and take a look at the scenery of Qingdao, and the day after tomorrow, the two warships we built ourselves will be officially launched, and we will also hold a launching ceremony, don't you want to come and take a look?" After a pause, he said: "And Shanghai has set up an industrial and commercial delegation to visit Qingdao and inspect the investment environment here, and will arrive in Qingdao tomorrow. ”

Yuan Shikai and Li Jingfang were both interested in warships, and Li Jingfang experienced the preparation, formation, prosperity, and prosperity of the Beiyang Naval Division. Destroyed, it can be said that he knows the performance of each warship of the Beiyang Naval Division very well, and he can be regarded as half a naval expert, of course, he knows how difficult it is to build a warship, and the Qing court can only build its own warships after more than 20 years of the Westernization Movement, and now the overseas Chinese have only established themselves in Shandong for a few days, and they can actually build their own warships, and this is about to be launched, Li Jingfang naturally wants to see with his own eyes what the warships of overseas Chinese look like. Anyway, he doesn't have an official position now, and there is no time limit for coming to Qingdao, so he doesn't have to stay for a few days.

And Yuan Shikai was born in the army, although he is in the army, but after all, he is a soldier, he is also quite interested in warships, and he also wants to see the industrial and commercial delegation that overseas Chinese said to Qin Zheng, Yuan Shikai also has some ideas. In fact, among the wealthy businessmen in Shanghai, Yuan Shikai does not know much, and now Yuan Shikai is quite ambitious and wants to do a big career, but if he wants to do things, he can't do it without money, and it is far from enough to rely on the imperial court to draw money, not to mention how difficult it is to ask the imperial court for money, even if the imperial court approves the money, there is still the level of the household department to pass, as long as the household department says "no money" , I can only stare at without a curse, and even if the household pulls out the money, it has to go through layers of exploitation, and finally half of the ones that can be obtained will thank God thank you, so I must have a reliable source of money in my hands, Zuo Zongtang recovered Xinjiang back then, and relied on Hu Xueyan to raise military salaries for him, Li Hongzhang also has Sheng Xuanhuai, this cornucopia, and if he wants to become a big thing, he must find his own Hu Xueyan, Sheng Xuanhuai can do it, now is a good opportunity to make some businessmen and find his own collaborators. From this point of view, it is completely necessary to stay in Qingdao.

After the ship receiving team arrived in Germany, the East China Government reported on the German side, learned about the situation of the two warships being built in Germany, and learned that the two warships had performed very well in sea trials. Originally, the construction progress of these two warships was about the same, and now the entire hull, the main superstructure structure has been completed, and the internal equipment such as steam engines, boilers, and generator sets have also been installed.

And because this is the first large and medium-sized warship built by itself after the establishment of the East China government, although the vast majority of materials, equipment, The weapons are imported from Germany, strictly speaking, they can only be regarded as self-assembled, but after all, this is an important step out of the self-built warship, not only has great symbolic significance, its practical significance should not be underestimated, after all, it has experienced the entire warship construction process and technology, and has also trained a group of shipbuilding management personnel, skilled workers, this is a huge wealth, so the East China government also decided to let the two warships be launched at the same time, and also hold a major launching ceremony.

It is also the practice of various countries to hold launching ceremonies for important warships, which can not only shape the cultural traditions of the navy, but also improve the morale of the army, enhance the self-confidence of the people, and increase the prestige of the army and the government.

At this time, the East China Government had already received a report from the working group for receiving ships, and knew that the two warships were about to depart from Germany and return to Qingdao, and the return journey would take about 30 to 40 days, and that after the two warships built on Jiandao were launched, it would take about one month of installation work before they could conduct sea trials.

The sea trials will take about 2-3 months, and if there are no major failures during this period, then the two warships built in Qingdao can be officially put into service, so if all goes well, these four new advanced protection cruisers can officially enter service in June 1903 and form a formation.