In 1868 there were not many human organizations in the world that could be called nations, and even fewer countries that could send ambassadors to the countries of the globe. There will never be a lively situation in which China alone and more than 40 countries will hold a China-Africa forum in the 21 st century.

There are only a few major countries that decide the fate of the world, so Wei Ze feels that the British guy's speech is quite familiar, after all, the United States is also a student of Britain, and the overbearing smell is very strong.

"Your Majesty, how is the Navy preparing now?" Zuo Zhidan asked angrily. Wei Ze is a bit of a contrast, and the angry love is mixed with a comical feeling brought about by comparing different eras with each other. As the foreign minister, Zuo Zhidan was nakedly threatened by the British, and his anger was very simple.

Zuo Zhidan's murderous question made Wei Zehui calm down a lot, and he thought about it a little before saying: "Recently, we are going to establish shipbuilding bases in Qingdao and Lushun, and now the number of main warships of the navy is not enough, only more than thirty ironclad ships. There are also some that are thin iron sheets. And now many warships are changing their steel armor. There are also newly designed steel warships ......"

When it comes to these, Wei Ze is a little big. Shipbuilding belongs to heavy industry, and heavy industry itself poses a great challenge to the country's industrial strength, and China's existing heavy industry technology is too far from the dumpling-like production of warships. Very simple things, during World War II, Japanese warships used riveting technology, and American warships used welding technology. In terms of the quality of warships, American warships completely surpass Japanese warships, but in the current era, all-metal warships can be produced by riveting, which is absolutely high-tech. But until now, China has not been able to produce qualified rivets in large quantities. As for the processing of ultra-long metal parts, there is no breakthrough in the difficulty.

As an engineering dog, as soon as it came to such issues, Wei Ze's thinking began to run at high speed based on knowledge points, and he sat on the chair in a daze, and the whole person showed a "deep thought" appearance.

Foreign Minister Zuo Zhidan was frightened by Wei Ze's expression, he waited for a while, and saw that Wei Ze still didn't speak, and then said tentatively: "Your Majesty, what do you think of the British request." ”

This greatly reminded Wei Ze, and Wei Ze asked Zuo Zhidan calmly, "The British have always said that they want us to be consistent with the attitude of the British, okay, let's ask the British for the time being, under the possibility of being consistent with the attitude of the British, what are they going to do in Japan!" ”

China does not want to follow the orders of the British at all. The British can consciously believe that the sun never sets on the empire, but the Liberation Army had a hard fight with the British in Foshan 12 years ago. In that battle, the British eventually retreated, and the Liberation Army recognized the British as a strong opponent, but not an enemy that could not be defeated.

Twelve years ago, Weese said that if the British sent 200,000 elite lobster soldiers into China, they might be able to defeat the Liberation Army. Twelve years have passed, and Britain still does not have the ability to send 200,000 elite lobster soldiers to fight in China, and the Liberation Army is far from being able to defeat 200,000 British elite lobster soldiers.

However, Weeser is going to have a good talk with the British this time to see how the British are planning to design the Western Pacific order in their minds. Before Weeser could decide to agree or disagree with the British, he had to figure out what the British really wanted.

After Zuo Zhidan listened to Wei Ze's opinion, he went to arrange a meeting. If you think about it, the Liberation Army and the British have never had a real strategic level negotiation. The attitude of the Liberation Army has always been a matter for China, and we are in charge of the Liberation Army, and the attitude of the British is probably that we in the British can only act according to the rules of the British in any country. As a result, the bottom line of both sides is the ability to fight, and Britain believes that its land forces may not be able to take advantage of the war on Chinese territory, so it is more cautious. Coupled with the large increase in the total trade between the two sides, Britain's export was greatly reduced, which can be regarded as maintaining peace for all these years. If peace is to continue, the two sides must understand each other better.

From late January 1868 onwards, there were several negotiations between China and Britain. The first thing to negotiate was the Japanese question, and when the British saw that China was finally willing to negotiate on it, they were very happy to propose a whole set of proposals.

The British demanded that China stand on the same side as Britain in the Japanese Civil War, that is, to support the Emperor's alliance with Sacho, and to cut off all assistance to the Shogunate. In addition, after the end of the Japanese Civil War, the British controlled the customs of Japan, and the British banks controlled the settlement of Japan's foreign trade.

Of course, the various privileges that Britain had already acquired in Japan would of course be maintained, and if the Sacho Alliance dared to revoke these privileges, it would be necessary for China to put pressure on Japan, including by military means, together with the British.

Zuo Zhidan listened to the British ambassador talk endlessly about their demands, and the position of the British can probably be summed up in one sentence: "The new Japanese government must completely obey the arrangements of the British!" ”

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zuo Zhidan also knew that after the Third Great Smoke War of this era, the British forced the Manchus to sign the "Beijing Treaty", because the war situation changed abruptly, and the British saw that the Manchus had no chance, so they did not care about the implementation of the "Beijing Treaty". They have also approached the new government about whether or not it will recognize the Beijing Treaty. Zuo Zhidan's answer at that time was this, "If we sign a treaty with other countries, such as France, and we sign a treaty about Britain and take it to you Britain, will you British recognize it?" ”

The negotiations of the Liberation Army were backed by their own force, and the British did not press too much after listening to Zuo Zhidan's words. If they continue to be pressed, they can only take military threats against each other, and the British will not be able to enter China. Because at that time, the Liberation Army had already purchased a large amount of British train equipment, and their engineers were also involved in the construction of China's railways, and saw that China's railway system was being built. Having a railway to transport troops can greatly increase the mobility of the Chinese Army.

After listening to the British demand for the Japanese issue, Zuo Zhidan asked a question, "After we support your British demand in Japan, what can we get?" ”

The British ambassador did not seem to hear the ridicule in Zuo Zhidan's words at all, and he said with a straight face: "Under the new Japanese trade system established by our Britain, Chinese can fully trade with Japan. Don't you think that's where the best interests lie? ”

Zuo Zhidan didn't say anything at the time, and when he went to see Wei Ze, he immediately said, "I have never seen such a shameless country!" ”