Li Xin became the minister of foreign affairs, and the atmosphere of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately changed. The original Ministry of Foreign Affairs was just a very ordinary liaison agency, and the two foreign ministers did not want to do a better job, one is that the foundation is weak, and the other is that neither of them actually knows the economy, so it is easy to misunderstand the judgment of foreign devils.

Now that the Minister of Commerce has become Minister of Foreign Affairs, he immediately makes use of the information he has accumulated before. The colonial era was the era of ultimate interests, and the Ministry of Commerce was also the department of ultimate interests.

"Governor, why don't you order the central government to prepare for war now? I don't think the British will rest on their laurels. Li Xin asked a question when he went to see Wei Ze alone.

Wei Ze replied: "The preparations for war have been prepared for a long time, as long as the fleet in the plan is completed, the sea trials, adjustments, the staffing, and a period of training, I am not afraid of the British coming." That being the case, it makes no difference whether to command or not. ”

"But I always feel better mentally prepared." Li Xin still insists on his own views.

"I used to think so, but I don't think so lately. The British will call the judgment, I have done it a long time ago. I have also discussed with my comrades many times about fighting the British. This general direction is correct, but I did not expect that the specific situation is likely to become a situation in which the British take the initiative to provoke or even take action. I'd rather see a move on this more specific thing than do some useless work. Wei Ze explained to Li Xin, who was quite satisfied with him.

Li Xin is 31 years old this year, nine years younger than Wei Ze, and even now, when senior officials are generally young, Li Xin is a very young ministerial-level cadre. He was born in a family of Hui merchants and studied since childhood. When he was 12 years old, he joined the Liberation Army with his family and was one of the tens of thousands of people who went to Guangdong. At this age, he was still young and vigorous, and Li Xin said with some unconvincing: "Dudu, you repeatedly told us when you gave us a lesson, and we didn't fight unprepared battles." I think anticipation is also a form of preparation. ”

Wei Ze smiled: "I was also young when I gave you a lecture, and I felt that everything could be controlled by myself. At this age, it's not that I'm not unmotivated, but I really know that I just couldn't see through some things in the previous stage. Just like you, I believe that when you were Minister of Commerce, you always wanted to serve the country. But did you think at that time that you would serve the country as Minister of Foreign Affairs? ”

"This ...... Not really. Li Xin admitted calmly.

Weeser patiently explained, "It's the same with the British fighting with us, and we can prepare from the basic principles of war. But we are not fortune tellers, and we don't know when the British will call, what equipment they will have, how many troops they have, and what preparations they have behind their backs. In the absence of information, it is not good for us to make excessive predictions. ”

"Governor, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also in charge of intelligence. I will definitely do my best to improve our intelligence network and make the predictions as accurate and accurate as possible. Li Xin explained his expectations for the future to Wei Ze.

Li Xin's failure to understand Wei Ze's thoughts made Wei Ze really regretful, but his kind of young man's unique momentum made Wei Ze like it very much. Young people have grown up little by little, and Wei Ze can only look forward to Li Xin's growth.

If you want to grow, you have to have experience, and the British can not care about what the Chinese think, and wait for the end of the third session in January 73, and the central government will resume foreign affairs. The British ambassador then continued to put pressure on China on trade issues. "If China continues with such a policy, we will have to impose a trade embargo on the two countries in accordance with our laws and in accordance with the war between China and Russia."

"Oh? Has Russia officially declared war on us? Li Xin pretended to be puzzled and asked.

China and Russia fought happily, but I don't know if it was because of the distance or for some other reason, Russia did not declare war on China. The central government does not care about this matter. If Russia does not declare war, China will concentrate on retaking the territory stipulated in the Treaty of Nebuchu, and the harsh climatic environment is the worst enemy of the Chinese army. If Russia declares war, China will attack Russia in a wider area, and the harsh climate and environment will still be the biggest enemy of the Chinese army.

The British ambassador actually knew that Russia had not formally declared war on China, and that the diplomatic work of encouraging Russia to declare war on China was underway, and the results ...... the Russians were in a long stage of the great power game against the British, and they were very afraid of any action by the British. But that's not a problem, and for the empire on which the sun never sets, finding a reason couldn't be easier.

The British ambassador sneered: "Spain has officially declared war on China. ”

"Then ask the Spanish ambassador to hand us the declaration of war." As a former commerce minister, Li Xin knows better than anyone else the tricks of the British. It is true that Sino-British trade is relatively large now, but it is not large enough to bring the whole of China to its knees because of trade. On the contrary, due to urbanization and deepening land reform, the economic activities of the private sector have been greatly enlivened. The amount of tax that can be collected has increased a lot. Even if trade with the British is cut off, China's economy will not collapse. Not to mention that the trade between China and the United States is also quite developed, and with more powerful freight capacity, Chinese merchant ships can even go to South America to do business.

Not being afraid of the British does not mean that the foreign minister can be according to his mood, Li Xin said with a smile: "I don't think that the Spanish can affect the friendly relations between China and Britain. ”

Seeing that Li Xin seemed to have the intention of giving in, the British ambassador tried to continue to persuade Li Xin, but Li Xin talked nonsense with the British ambassador on the basis of maintaining principles. In short, Li Xin obeyed the policy of the central government and would never accept any forced dumping by Britain against China.

Normal trade is like this, since China can produce its own heavy industrial products to replace the British, the British can't do it. This is no longer a question of whether the Chinese market is open or not, but a question of commercial competition. If this problem is to be solved by force, Britain might as well send troops to attack Germany and the United States, these two countries are not the same as China, they actually need British high-quality heavy industrial products, and the two governments rely entirely on high tariff barriers to forcibly keep British goods out of the markets of both countries. Now that both the US and Germany have tariffs of more than 50%, if their tariffs are the same as China's 15%, British manufacturers will definitely be able to beat the same products in both countries. Sending the fleet to China on the way required a lot of money, which was enough to build several capital ships.

The British ambassador to China was even ready to abandon the use of threats against China, but the Downing Street order forced him to continue to use tough measures. Downing Street's demands at least forced China to use the pound sterling as China's settlement currency and even its reserve currency. The British government specifically asked China to allow the UK to issue sterling bonds in China. In addition to these, Downing Street specifically mentions the need to support countries around China that dare to carry out military action against China as much as possible.

It is entirely in the interests of Britain to want China to open up its financial markets and to nurture countries that dare to fight against China. After opening up China's financial market, Britain will be able to invest in Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) at least if they cannot force them to buy British products, and get a share of the booming development of Chinese SOEs. Raising funds through the issuance of UK bonds in China is even more lucrative. Preventing China from taking full control of all of Northeast Asia is a long-term strategic issue. These two goals are only somewhat conflicting at the practical level. But the British-stirring sticks have been around for hundreds of years, and they don't know how many troublesome things they have encountered, and they are quite confident in their abilities.

In February, Hokkaido is still covered with snow, and in the Muroran area, black ground is already visible in many areas. The most conspicuous building in the area is the towering iron-making furnace, which has long since melted from the snow on the roofs of the steel-making workshops around it, and the dry roofs show no signs of winter. Muroran is already the most important industrial center in the Ezo Republic, and the core of this industrial center is the Muroran Iron Smelting Plant.

In terms of its policy of aiding the Republic of Ezo, China's attitude is that "it is better to teach a man to fish than to teach him to fish". With the population and land area of the Ezo Republic, it is impossible for it to have a complete industrial system. A very simple question, cotton is not suitable for growing in this place in Hokkaido. Having an industrial system that suits the conditions of the Ezo Republic not only allows the Ezo Republic to protect itself, but also gives the Ezo Republic the ability to counterattack the main state. Britain took control of Japan's three islands, and China naturally supported the Republic of Ezo to fight against it.

More than half of Japan's coal mines are in Hokkaido, and a significant portion of iron ore is also in Hokkaido. Hokkaido is fertile and receives a lot of rain every year, so even if it can only be grown for one season, agriculture is enough to feed the people of Ezo Republic.

The Republic of Ezo has an electoral system, but it is very Japanese. The right to vote is not the same as the right to be elected. The right to be elected is granted only to citizens with a certain degree of education, and citizens only have the right to vote.

Quite a citizen has to be a soldier. After adopting a system in which all men and women were obligated to serve, the Republic of Ezo discovered a problem. The women of the northern feudal domains also received military training, so they were able to fight on the battlefield. In this case, it means that women also have the right to vote. This is in conflict with Japanese tradition.

Finally, after discussion in the Assembly of the Republic of Ezo, a plan was proposed. In addition to the military service, women have to give birth to two children before they automatically have the right to vote. This result looks quite funny, but it is really reasonable and convincing. Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Xinhua, commander of the Chinese Dispatch Army to the Republic of Ezo, was surprised and had to admire.

On March 1, 1873, a telegram from Hakodate reached Muroran, and the Meiji government navy reappeared in the Tsugaru Strait to see what was being done.