Shanghai has a lot of rain, and it will enter the rainy season after summer, and there is still abundant rain after the continuous rainy weather, Yi Zhizhi originally did not like rain, but after experiencing five consecutive years of drought in the north, he was in a surprisingly good mood every time it rained.

On rainy days, there are few visitors, easy to be content and difficult to relax, hide in the lotus garden to make tea and enjoy the rain, Chen Mengzhu has a good hand in tea art, and deliberately changed into a plain long skirt to cook tea for it.

Sipping fragrant tea, listening to the sound of rain hitting lotus leaves outside the window, Yi Zhizhi unconsciously remembered the situation when he founded Yuanqi, time flies really fast, unconsciously it has been more than 40 years, he should be regarded as an egoist, the founding of Yuanqi is not for the country and the people, and he doesn't want to change anything, but he hopes to repay the debts of the Yi family, and hopes to live better and more freely.

But many things are out of people's control, when there is no money, I just want to have money, after I have money, I want to have more money, and when the money reaches a certain level, I try my best to keep my wealth, just like Wu Bingjian back then.

After the creation of the Yuanqi group training, after tasting the taste of power, it is out of control, there is a good saying, when it reaches a certain height, it will inevitably unconsciously assume some responsibilities.

When Yuan Qicai was powerful and had a large number of generals, which was enough to change the status quo of the Qing Dynasty, he began to unconsciously take on the vanguard of the reform of the Qing Dynasty, and then carried the banner of revitalizing the country and the nation, of course, the purpose of better consolidating power and wealth was not ruled out.

Just as he was immersed in the memory of the past, there was a sound of stomping his feet from outside the door, and he was not alone, he looked up and saw that it was Zhao Liewen and Yi Zhengxing, so he said: "I actually found it here, it can be seen that it is not a trivial matter." ”

"The Great Shopkeeper Mingjian." Zhao Liewen stepped in and said: "Zaizhao sent a telegram from Lima, the capital of Peru, that Chile was rude and had a tough attitude and could not mediate, and now it has signed a protection treaty with Poland and Peru, and I implore you to declare war directly on Chile. As he spoke, he stepped forward and handed over the telegram.

After reading the telegram, Yi Zhishu pondered for a while before saying, "What do you think?" ”

Zhao Liewen glanced at Yi Zhengxing, "Let's just say it." ”

Yi Zhengxing was not polite, and said straightforwardly: "The two battles of South Africa have established my country's status as a first-class military power, especially my country's navy, which can be said to have replaced England as the new maritime hegemon.

Chile has a close relationship with England, and it should be very clear about China's military strength, although Chile dominates South America, but when it comes to military strength, it can be said that it is very different from China.

China has a lot of investment in the two countries, and has sent a fleet to mediate and openly support the two countries, in this case, Chile is still rude and arrogant, which is quite intriguing.

There are no more than two possibilities, one is that Chile has learned of the rebellion in the northwest of our country and it is impossible to use troops in South America, so it has a tough attitude.

Moreover, the British are behind the scenes, instigating and agitating to use Chile's provocation to test our country's reaction, otherwise Chile would not have been so arrogant. ”

"It's not unreasonable." Zhao Liewen continued: "After all, Chile is an independent sovereign country, and naturally its national interests are paramount.

Even if Chile does not accept mediation, it will not be arrogant and arrogant to create a strong enemy for itself, and in addition, our country is one of Chile's major trading countries, and in every respect, Chile's reaction is very unusual.

It is estimated that this is a deliberate attempt by the British to use Chile to test our country's reaction, and its purpose is to the northwest. ”

Yi Zhizhi nodded, under normal circumstances, the Qing Dynasty would inevitably try its best to avoid fighting on two fronts, in the case of the Northwest Rebellion, it was impossible for the Qing Dynasty to start a war in South America at the same time, especially since the northern part of the Qing Dynasty had just experienced a rare drought that lasted for five years, at least in terms of financial resources, it was not allowed to fight on two fronts.

Seeing the two people sitting down to discuss the matter, Chen Mengzhu hurriedly served tea to the two, and after Yi Zhixiang stretched out his hand to ask for tea, he said slowly: "With the current situation in our country, we should indeed avoid war in South America, otherwise, the British will inevitably be suspicious." ”

"However, will this affect our country's reputation in the international community?" Yi Zhengxing said: "In addition, China's interests in South America may also be greatly damaged. ”

Taking a sip of tea, Zhao Liewen said slowly: "There is another thing that must be considered, it will be outside, and the king's order will not be affected." Although Zaizhao has been in the navy for several years, he has never participated in the war, and this time he finally led the fleet to South America, and he was afraid that he wanted to fight a war. ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, Zaizhao was the first to enter the Nanyang Navy in the group of Eight Banners of the best of the people, but because of his sake, he has been under the suspicion of the imperial court, he has been a naval admiral for a period of time, and then he has been at home for a short time, although the situation is clear, although he entered the East China Sea Fleet, but he failed to participate in the two South African naval battles.

Zai Zhao, as a senior admiral of the navy, has no military merits, and he is his contented brother-in-law, saying that he wants to fight a war with all his strength, but he will not wronged him.

In fact, this time he asked Zai Zhao to lead the fleet to South America, which meant to let him make contributions, and the partial situation became like this.

He was about to speak, but Yi Zhengxing preemptively said: "Actually, South America is not incapable of war. ”

The first time the Qing Navy arrived in South America, Yang Wei returned to avoid the war, and he also felt aggrieved, and immediately looked at him and encouraged: "Let's talk about how to watch the war without making the British suspicious." ”

"There are only three reasons for avoiding a two-front war." Yi Zhengxing said unhurriedly: "On the one hand, it is financial support, on the other hand, it is military strength, and on the other hand, it is industrial strength.

Industrial strength can be put aside, and the industrial strength of our country is enough to support a long-term large-scale war, no one will question this.

There is also no problem in terms of troops, there is a land war in the northwest and a naval battle in South America, and there is no problem of troop tension.

The main reason for the constraints, or rather, that the British and Chileans believe that our country will not fight on two fronts is that the economy is financial, and the drought in the north of our country has just been alleviated, and there is a war with the European coalition forces in South Africa, and in terms of financial resources, it should not be able to support the two-front war.

However, there is one thing they overlook, which is that in the first war in South Africa, we captured many warships and sold them to Germany, as long as we spread the news. ”

Yi Zhizu waved his hand and interrupted him: "The warship transaction with Germany should not be made public for the time being, otherwise it will arouse the alarm of the British." ”