And this time Qin Zheng came to Wuchang to talk with Zhang Zhidong, of course, he would not bring too much cash, and he only brought 50,000 taels of silver with the ship, which was regarded as a deposit. 81 Chinese Network (1) (8) (8) 8 1 (1) Z?? However, there is a radio station on the 318 ship that can directly communicate with the Tianjin side, so Qin Zheng communicated with the Tianjin side a lot, and soon got the consent of the Tianjin Executive Committee, after all, for the current crossing group, money is not a problem, and obtaining enough weapons and ammunition is the top priority. The Executive Committee immediately decided to set up a transport fleet at once, bring the first batch of 5o thousand taels of silver paid, and transport ships to Wuchang to pick up the goods, and arrive in Wuchang Mansion in about 3-5 days.

After getting the confirmation of the executive committee, Qin Zheng also made an appointment with Zhang Zhidong, asking Zhang Zhidong to prepare the first batch of weapons and ammunition to be delivered to the traverser, and after the transport fleet arrived in Wuchang, he would immediately conduct random inspections, and once the inspection was qualified, it would be loaded and shipped away immediately.

The efficiency of overseas Chinese is very fast beyond Zhang Zhidong's expectations, and it will take a month to complete such a thing in the Qing court, not to mention it, among which there are naturally countless quarrels, discussions, crying poverty, plus the goose plucking when pulling money, It is not impossible to deal with it even if it is delayed for two months, and it only takes three or five days for overseas Chinese to finalize it all, and this kind of efficiency has to make Zhang Zhidong marvel, if the Qing court has even half of the efficiency, the state affairs will not be corrupted to such a point.

Fortunately, the first batch of weapons and ammunition delivered to overseas Chinese were all in the inventory of the Hanyang Arsenal, and it was not difficult to do, but Zhang Zhidong did not dare to slack off, and ordered Rong Junye to personally supervise the matter, and within three days, the weapons and ammunition delivered to overseas Chinese must be prepared. Although Zhang Zhidong likes to be famous, he still knows what kind of goods his subordinates are, and if he doesn't give them a rope, he can't work.

In addition, Zhang Zhidong ordered the Hanyang Arsenal to immediately resume production in full swing and step up work. The Hanyang Arsenal's stockpile of weapons and ammunition could only cope with the delivery of the first batch, while the last two batches relied on the production of the Hanyang Arsenal, but the date was only three months, but it could not be delayed at all. Prior to this, due to lack of funds, the production capacity of the Hanyang Arsenal was greatly reduced, and with such a scale of production, it would definitely not be able to complete the order, so although the first batch of overseas Chinese had not yet arrived, the arsenal must also start to fully resume production immediately, otherwise it would be too late.

However, after signing the purchase contract, Qin Zheng did not stay in Wuchang and waited, and immediately transferred back to Shanghai, on the one hand, to meet the transport fleet and do a good job in Shanghai. Because the convoy will definitely be escorted by warships, and if the warships want to sail into the Yangtze River, they must obtain the consent of the British side, and when they return to the Yangtze River, they can be fully loaded with munitions. On the other hand, before Qin Zheng came to Wuchang, he and Li Sanjie agreed to discuss the work in Shanghai, and let it be the united front work for the young people.

So Qin Zheng politely refused Zhang Zhidong's retention, and after signing the purchase contract, he returned to Shanghai by boat overnight.

Because when he came, he had basically discovered the waterway, and it was down the river, so after a night of sailing, Qin Zheng arrived in Shanghai in the early morning of the next day. And after going ashore, Qin Zheng did not rest for a moment, and after meeting with Li Sanjie, he first went to visit Li Hongzhang, on the one hand, to thank him for sending Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang to Shanhaiguan to lobby Admiral Zheng Caisheng, which was indeed a great favor to the traverser;

After listening to Qin Zheng's words, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but be surprised, but at the same time, he was also quite moved, although he was called Li Zhongtang, but in fact, Li Hongzhang had not entered the military aircraft for a day, of course, unlike Zhang Zhidong who had always wanted to enter the military aircraft, before the First Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang had always served as the governor of Zhili, The Minister of Beiyang was not very interested in whether to enter the military aircraft or not, after all, the power held by Li Hongzhang at that time was even more powerful than that of the Minister of Military Aircraft, and as a local official, Li Hongzhang could also get rid of all kinds of restrictions of the imperial court to a certain extent, and he could have a certain space to develop his fists and feet and do some business.

But the current Li Hongzhang is not Li Hongzhang before the First Sino-Japanese War, all the official positions of substantive power have been removed, although in order to negotiate peace with other countries, the Qing court has restored Li Hongzhang to the position of governor and minister of Beiyang, and also served as the minister of peace plenipotentiary, and at the same time there is one more: the imperial court is not shaken. But Li Hongzhang knew very well in his heart that now these positions are just false titles, and the Qing court has even lost Beijing, what is the use of the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang, to be honest, it is not as valuable as Li Hongzhang's current governor of Liangguang. And the real power is the plenipotentiary and the minister, but this is by no means a glorious position.

However, Li Hongzhang still accepted the appointment of the Qing court, and traveled north from Guangzhou to Shanghai, if it were not for the arrival of the traverser, Li Hongzhang would have tried his best to bargain with the Eight-Nation Coalition in Beijing by now, and strive to lose less silver. In addition to Li Hongzhang's desire to do his best to save the fate of the Qing court, there is also power. Although Li Hongzhang is 78 years old this year, his thirst for power and 3o years have not changed. Serving as a plenipotentiary minister for peace, and the court is not shaken, means that during the period of peace, Li Hongzhang has the right to command everything, including the imperial court. Therefore, before leaving Guangzhou, Li Hongzhang issued an order to the imperial court in the name of the plenipotentiary minister, demanding that the imperial court, even the Empress Dowager Cixi, publicly make a review, admit his mistakes to the foreigners, and draw up a list of court officials who should be punished, and so on.

It's just that the arrival of the traverser interrupted the time for Li Hongzhang to regain power, and Li Hongzhang worked hard to get in touch with the traverser, and indeed saved the relationship with the traverser and returned to the peak of power. Therefore, Qin Zheng's proposal to enter the military aircraft department in exchange was not only for Zhang Zhidong, but also for Li Hongzhang.

Of course, for the outcome of the Qing court, Li Hongzhang saw it far more thoroughly than Zhang Zhidong, knowing that the Qing court was already terminally ill and would definitely not get better, and the sudden rise of overseas Chinese was the most powerful force to replace the Qing court, so Li Hongzhang tried his best to get along with overseas Chinese, and asked Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang to help overseas Chinese, and also to find a way back for their own descendants.

However, Li Hongzhang also believes that this process can by no means be completed in a short period of time, after all, a country like China with a vast territory and a complex situation, it is a long-term process to change the sky, not to mention that overseas Chinese have returned to China for the first time, and the foundation is not stable, this time will take longer, according to Li Hongzhang's estimate, it will take about 2o years, and he is already a 78-year-old man, and he still has a few years to live, as long as he is alive, the Qing court will not perish. And if you die, you don't care about what happens after you. Although Li Hongzhang had not heard of Louis XVI's famous saying, the principle was the same.

So Li Hongzhang soon reached an agreement with Qin Zheng, agreed to this exchange of interests, and also said that he would try his best to help the overseas Chinese coordinate the relationship with the British, so that the weapons and ammunition purchased by the overseas Chinese from Wuchang could be smoothly transported out of Shanghai.

After receiving Li Hongzhang's promise, Qin Zheng and Li Sanjie immediately rushed to the British Consulate to visit the British Consul Huo Bilan and confirm the current cooperative relationship between the two sides with the British again.

At this time, Huo Bilan had already received authorization from China, and now he should do his best to help overseas Chinese against Russia. Originally, after discussion in Britain, it was believed that the war between the overseas Chinese and Russia, no matter what the outcome, would be beneficial to Britain, and if Russia won, then the overseas Chinese would inevitably lose the right to bargain with the British, and then Britain could take the opportunity to put pressure on the overseas Chinese to obtain greater benefits, and even to return to Weihaiwei, and integrate the forces of Japan and the overseas Chinese to jointly fight against Russia. And if the overseas Chinese defeat the Russian army, then the Russian threat will inevitably be greatly weakened, but the strength of the overseas Chinese will also be greatly damaged, Britain can use Japan to contain the overseas Chinese, and it can also force the overseas Chinese to submit. Therefore, the final victor will be the United Kingdom.

Under this strategic goal, Britain will naturally not set up obstacles to the traverser now, so Huo Bilan took Qin Zheng and Li Sanjie very friendly, and promised them that Britain will fully support the overseas Chinese to resist the Russian army, and the overseas Chinese transport fleet will also be completely released.

After getting Huo Bilan's confirmation, Qin Zheng was a little relieved, and then visited the consulates of Japan, Germany, France, and the United States, on the one hand, to express the attitude of the traverser, and on the other hand, to negotiate with other countries after defeating the Russian army.

When they returned to the Shanghai office, it was already around 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and Qin Zheng and Li Sanjie began to discuss the work in Shanghai. In fact, during this period of time, Li Sanjie did make serious considerations, and in view of his understanding of Shanghai during this period of time, he believed that united front work should not only be limited to young students, but also include Shanghai's merchants, handicraftsmen, enlightened gentry, and even officials of the Qing court.

In this way, it is necessary to cooperate with multiple departments, and a special agency should be set up to be responsible for these work, and it is not good to rely on a few people in the Shanghai office, so Li Sanjie suggested that the group should set up a special united front working group, which is jointly established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Education, and is directly managed by the Ministry of Administration, so that the united front work can be done well.