When Weizer received the news that the Japanese fleet had requested the opening of Goryeo, he was inspecting the Nanjing shipyard. After the completion of the 3,000-ton hydraulic press, a series of products such as large support rollers, large marine crankshafts, and pipe sections required by the 6,500-ton battleship can finally be produced. If the alloy material technology is insufficient, it can only rely on large hydraulic presses to improve the quality of components. This is especially true for the gun carriage of the 305 gun with a retracted tube, where the huge dead weight and the reaction force when firing the gun require a higher quality of the material.

Before the technological breakthrough, Weeser gritted his teeth and insisted on letting the battleship start, preferring ships and other parts to start shipbuilding after having parts. This decision has now finally been rewarded, and the key components have not delayed the shipbuilding schedule. At the current pace, at the beginning of 1874, the first battleship was ready for sea trials. If there were no problems with the sea trials, the battleship could be outfitted by mid-1874 for further sea trials and commissioning. It was able to officially join the naval sequence at the beginning of 1875.

If the development went well, by 1878 China would have had 6 battleships, 12 cruisers, 24 destroyers. Relying on such a navy, Weeser had the confidence to engage in a full-scale conflict with Britain in the western Pacific.

Resisting the urge to speak, Wei Ze closed his mouth and listened to others. The secretary handed over the information, and Wei Ze glanced at it and handed it to the secretary to put away. The small actions of the British are not surprising, and since they want to force China to submit, these small actions will only increase. And for the British, these small actions are really nothing. If you want to force China to the point where you have to do it, it is actually very simple, Britain colludes with France to block the Siam route, and China seems to have no other choice but to do it.

The war will definitely be fought, and Weeser has been preparing for war for a long time, and now the biggest problem is the transfer of the initiative. The Central Committee of the Restoration Party has always believed that the initiative in the war is in its own hands, and the facts have taught the Chinese side a good lesson. From the time Britain attacked China's South China Sea Fleet under the guise of the Spanish fleet, the initiative was always in the hands of the British, who had naval superiority.

At the Central Committee meeting, many members of the Central Committee felt that the construction of the battleship in 1874 might be too early and too hasty, and that it was acceptable to complete it in 1876. Less than two years after saying this, the British forced China to complete its military preparations as soon as possible.

Wei Ze didn't want to make some hindsight judgments, and even Wei Ze himself didn't expect such a situation. In the last five or six years, the construction of all old warships has been halted in order to build new warships. The new warships are very demanding, and in order to achieve the design parameters, the heavy industry with high income is doing its best. For the sake of secrecy, China is unwilling to pull out new warships to flex their muscles. Since China is still full of large ironclad ships from the 60s, it cannot be blamed that the British feel that there is an opportunity.

After returning from the inspection of the shipyard, Weizer ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform the Japanese ambassador to China that China had signed the Treaty of Seoul with Goryeo and had the obligation to protect Goryeo from foreign military threats. Weeser also asked the Chinese ambassador to Japan to inform the Meiji government of the same.

Foreign Minister Li Xin told Weser that China had long since withdrawn its ambassador from Japan. Because China openly supports the Republic of Ezo, the Meiji government of Japan has a hostile attitude towards China, and does not see the possibility of the Chinese ambassador returning to Japan in the short term.

Wei Ze couldn't help but sigh, at the beginning, Wei Ze felt that there was no need to rush to solve the Japanese problem, and there was a great chance that Japan would be hammered hard when Japan was forced to need China. Now it seems that Weeser is too wishful thinking to think about it. There are some things that are not entirely available for sale, such as the normal diplomatic route. It would be naïve to want to get the most out of every point.

Now Weizer has to pay for his previous naivety, and in addition to sending a special envoy to Japan to explain and emphasize to the Meiji government that China must protect Goryeo in accordance with the Treaty of Seoul, he must also work to restore diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. However, China is the only country in the world that openly recognizes the government of the Republic of Ezo, and all other countries recognize the Meiji government as the legitimate government of Japan. If the Meiji government had had a minimum diplomatic literacy, it would not have allowed China to set up embassies in the Meiji government and the Ezo Republic at the same time. If the Meiji government did this, it would be admitting that the Ezo Republic and the Meiji government were equal. Britain, France, the United States and other countries will immediately follow China and establish official diplomatic relations with the Republic of Ezo.

The only way to intimidate Japan is now to use the recent victory of the Ezo Republic in the war can only provoke the Meiji government to redouble its hatred of China, but hatred is better than contempt. Japan, which hates China, will be careful not to provoke China too much, and the "Seoul Treaty" that China has come up with is sufficient to deter Japan. If China were to be the object of Japan's contempt, Weeser knew nothing more than what would happen.

When Weeser thought things could be handled, he soon found that he was right to reflect on the recent past. After the general direction is determined, insist on going down, as long as we act in accordance with the objective law, we can basically achieve the goal of the general direction. However, the process in between will be completely different from what you imagined beforehand.

On June 1, 1873, the French marched north, and on July 19, the French conquered Hanoi. Basically occupied the whole of Vietnam. As early as July 1, the Central Military Commission ordered the South China Sea Fleet to arrive at Hongji, and the army was also stationed near the Hongji coal mine to defend China's Hongji coal mine.

In the past, China used to use high-quality fuel coal from Hongji Coal Mine to smelt iron and steel, and once the source of coke was determined, the high-quality anthracite coal from Hongji Coal Mine only supplied fuel coal and coal-to-gas from Guangdong. If the Hongji mine is lost, the supply of fuel coal to ships in Liangguang and Qiongzhou, China, will be immediately interrupted. Once this situation flourishes, France will not be stuck in China's neck, but will cut off China's arteries and blood vessels.

Wei Ze has already plagiarized the song in February, the lyrics "He who sows melons gets melons, and he who plants beans reaps beans, whoever sows hatred will suffer himself!" China's rescue of the members of the Paris Commune, whom the French republican government hated to the core, greatly angered the French authorities. The economic crisis also stimulated the expansion of France's overseas colonies, and although the French army did not dare to actually enter the Chinese cordon, the French army still surrounded the Hongji coal mining area guarded by China.

On August 13, the French ambassador arrogantly asked Foreign Minister Li Xin to recognize China's de facto control over Vietnam. With a hint of a mocking smile, the French ambassador to China said politely: "Your Excellency, in view of the changes in the situation in Vietnam, we hope to revise the previous treaty with China. ”

China and France once reached a treaty on the partition of Vietnam. At that time, the Liberation Party was much more tender than it is now, and everyone could not clearly see Vietnam's visceral hostility and fear towards China. China also made a bold offer for Vietnam to cede the right to appoint officials in the Jiaozhi district, and China helped Vietnam defeat the French invasion.

Vietnam ostensibly agreed, but turned its back on China's conditions and handed over China's conditions to France, hoping to use China to threaten France, and at the same time use France to counter China's ambitions against Vietnam.

The colonial powers only recognized strength, and at that time, China and France fought a big battle in the Kowloon area, and the French army suffered heavy losses. France, which was more mature in terms of international relations, was not deceived by the Vietnamese at all, but directly sold the Vietnamese. Knowing of the treachery of the Vietnamese and the French guarantee about the Chinese Siamese rice route, the Liberation Party sold Vietnam without saying a word. China and France joined forces to trap Vietnam, and although China did not gain control of the old Cochin County, it did get the lease rights of the more important Hung Kai coal mine. Actually swallowed the Hongji Coal Mine. France got the southern region of Vietnam.

It turned out that the Vietnamese were more afraid of the French than the Chinese, and after being attacked by the French, it was not until July 9 that the Vietnamese messenger for help ran to Nanjing. Even when kneeling in front of Weze and crying like a tearful man, the Vietnamese envoy was still "polite and courteous" when he talked about the issue of China's remuneration after saving Vietnam, and he wanted to fully protect Vietnam's national interests from being harmed.

Since the Vietnamese have such backbone, the Chinese side can only show enough respect for the Vietnamese and believe that Vietnam can rely on its own strength to drive the invaders out of Vietnamese territory.

The French ambassador put forward the hope of revising the old treaty between China and France in Vietnam, and Li Xin carefully listened to the French ambassador's opinions and obtained the content of the French ambassador's written request. Then he calmly told the French ambassador, "This matter is not a trivial matter, and it is impossible for the Chinese side to give an answer immediately." If there's anything new, I'll let you know right away! ”

The French ambassador also did not think that if he took a document, the Chinese side would honestly accept it in its entirety. Now that the content has been formally submitted to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the French ambassador naturally took his leave with interest. China is not Vietnam, and the French ambassador really dares to provoke the Chinese foreign minister, for fear of triggering a full-scale military intervention by China. France, unlike Great Britain, did not have a comparable delivery capacity to the British Royal Fleet. China shares a border with Vietnam, and the Chinese rifles copied by Germany during the Franco-Prussian War were so powerful that the French could not resist at all. Originally, the equipment of the Vietnamese colonies was inferior to that of the French mainland, and now France has not developed a new rifle. Relying on the weapons in hand to fight with China, the fate of France's defeat is inevitable.

Vietnam has not been the object of consideration by the Central Committee of the Liberation Party, and as long as Vietnam can supply a certain amount of rice every year, China does not care what Vietnam thinks and does. The sudden military action in France has caught the Central Committee of the Liberation Party by surprise. Like Vietnam, France's presence in China is quite low. Now that France has swallowed Vietnam like chicken blood, the Central Committee of the Liberation Party is very suspicious of what France is going to do.

After listening to Li Xin's report, everyone looked at Wei Ze. The choice at this time is nothing more than the two choices of "war and peace", both of which need to be ordered by Wei Ze. Wei Ze said coldly to Li Xin: "Tell the French that if you want to revise the treaty, you can hand over Jiaozhi County to us China first." Without this condition, everything is not negotiable! ”