"The Imperial Navy would never be involved in a war that had nothing to do with Germany?!" The crown prince asked.

"Never! It was only a demonstration of the strength of Minister Barland's diplomatic efforts. Joey replied in the affirmative.

"It's like maintaining world peace like the Americans in my previous life, while diplomacy mediates, while aircraft carriers are approaching the border, the diplomatic method of sticks and carrots is simple and clear." Joy said in his heart, "After all, there are no warships in the Qing and Japanese countries now, and using the powerful German Navy to show their strength can also stimulate their desire to buy warships, and the rest is how to turn this desire into purchasing power for German products." ”

"If so, I can try to convince the Prime Minister that I will visit Albrecht von Storsch, Chief of Staff of the Navy, again, and Joy must make it clear that we cannot be involved in an unrelated war." After thinking about it for a long time, the crown prince agreed to Joey's request, but still did not forget to remind Joey again.

"Also, Dad, I suggest that Henry go and meet His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Kingdom on behalf of the Hohenzollern family, and in terms of gifts to give, my suggestion is a model of an ironclad ship, a model train, or some small gift related to it." Based on the rich experience of his own company in East Asia in his previous life, Joy proposed a way to do business on the upper floor.

"Jojo, why do you have this idea?" The crown prince thought it was even more incredible.

"In the Qing Kingdom, if I understand correctly, all affairs are decided by their emperor, and the ministers of the Qing State only need to be responsible to the emperor. If, on the matter of warships and railways, we can get the support of the Qing Emperor, I think we can avoid a lot of unnecessary resistance. Joey replied earnestly.

When Joy said this, he couldn't help but think back to his good friends from East Asia in his previous life, and still remember some of the ideas in their papers when discussing the modern history of East Asia with them, that East Asian countries had only imperial power for thousands of years before forming specific national and national concepts.

Since there is only imperial power, then it is naturally the emperor alone, and one person has the final say, so Joey is ready to make good use of the knowledge that his friends bring to him.

"Let Henry go to Beijing on behalf of the Hohenzollerns? Qiaoqiao, you must know that the Qing Kingdom is not the Western civilized society you imagined, and there has never been a Western royal family to visit their emperor! ”

"Also, I have a booklet about the Qing Kingdom here, and I can read a few words to you to make you understand the difference between the Qing Kingdom and the Western world." As he spoke, the crown prince found a booklet from the bookshelf and read it for Joey.

"Their officials are ignorant and arrogant, and corruption is rampant; The people suffered, and the people were filled with anger and resentment; The emperors and officials of the Qing state did not want Prussia at all, they were not nationalists at all, they were always inconceivably tolerant and generous to foreigners, but they always treated their own people ....."

"Wait, Dad, did you notice what you just said? They have always been unimaginably tolerant and generous towards foreigners. Joey looked at his father with bright eyes.

"Therefore, we just need to show that we are different from other Western countries, we have special respect for the royal family and officials of the Qing Kingdom, we oppose any country's intention to try to change the territory of the Qing Kingdom, we are maintaining world peace, and the rest is to do business and carry out trade, and that is enough." Joey spread his hands.

"Also, there has never been a Western royal family visiting the Qing Kingdom before, this is the arrogance and prejudice of civilization, since we want to do business with the Qing Kingdom, do big business, we need to make the Qing Kingdom feel that Germany is different from the British and France who bully him, we value them and like to be friends with them. Even, we are willing to advance the friendship between the royal family with them. ”

"We are different from the Russians who want to take the land of the Qing State, and we are different from the French who instilled democracy in the Qing State, and we are not the British, who use gunboats to ram the door and do business unreasonably, the position of the Germans is to support the territorial integrity of the Qing State, support their ruling friends, and by the way, do some business that can only be done between friends." Joy positioned himself for the relationship between Germany and Qingqing.

"Father, as the crown prince, you are willing to do whatever it takes for the German economy, I think as long as you communicate well with Henry, brother can understand your hard work." Joey said while the iron was hot.

"Ahh Joey, it seems that your logic is right. The crown prince thought about it carefully, "Let Henry visit the Qing royal family, establish high-level friendships, and go to the upper echelons to build relations, to a kind of business attitude." Only, can Henry do this well? ”

"Yes, my brother's diplomatic talent is definitely beyond your imagination, Dad." Joy said with a smile, and couldn't help but think of Albert Wilhelm Heinrich, the greatest diplomatic prince of the Hohenzollern family before World War I, a diplomat who had fascinated the entire United States, and a diplomatic genius who had changed the impression of the entire American society before World War I of antipathy towards the German Empire.

Crown Prince Frederick thought carefully about his second son's ability to communicate and socialize, and nodded slightly, no longer entangled in this matter, and continued, "Let Mark stand on the moral high ground of maintaining world peace and avoiding war, come forward to uphold justice for the Qing State, and with the backing of the German Grand Fleet, ask Japan to spit out the territory of the Qing State and show goodwill to the Qing State."

"Then send the fleet to Tianjin to demonstrate the strength of German shipbuilding, and finally warn the Qing country, oh, it is to create a sense of anxiety in the Qing country, if you want to avoid the threat of war from other countries, you should buy weapons and industrial equipment from Germany, and arm yourself, Joey, you mean that, right?"

Without waiting for Joey to answer, the crown prince continued to ask, "Joey, although your idea is good, but there are too many uncertainties in it, how can you be sure that Qingguo will definitely accept Germany's kindness?" What if they don't care about territory, they don't care about reparations, they don't care about industrialization, they don't even want Germany to arm them? ”

"Dad, after all, the Qing people have been buying weapons and industrial equipment from the West, at least this Lord Li wants to buy them, doesn't he?" Joey gestured to the message on the Crown Prince's desk.

"You ask, will there be people in the Qing Kingdom who don't care about how much territory they have, I must admit that there may be such people in the Qing Kingdom, but I also believe that there will also be staunch opponents, we just need to find the right allies in the Qing Kingdom."

"I don't care about reparations, oh, it will be a trouble, but we can instill such an idea in the main battle faction of the Qing State, the indemnity costs money, and it costs money to buy weapons and armaments, since it costs money, why not arm yourself to fight a war, at least 50% chance to win, and if you don't resist, you don't even have a 50% chance." Joey said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Jojo, Empress Eugenie is right, you are such a brazen fellow, you are a fallacious person. You are inciting war and sending people to death. The crown princess reprimanded.

"Oh no, I'm so happy to say it, I forgot that my mother is still here....." Joey felt bitter in her heart, and quickly changed her words and explained, "Mom, I mean, the Qing people are armed to resist the oppression of the enemy country, if they don't resist, they are exploited and oppressed, if they are armed to resist, then there is at least a 50% chance of freedom, Mom, I say so, the ideology is still progressive, right?" ”

"I think you're still duplicitous." The crown princess shook her head with a straight face, then got up and said, "I'm going to see if your two sisters are asleep, Joey, you must remember that war is just a matter of pointing and drawing on the map for big people, but for ordinary people, it is life and death, I have seen too many such scenes, don't provoke a war rashly, understand?" ”

"Yes, mother, I will not provoke a war easily, the life of every German is precious." Joey bowed down and watched her mother leave.

"Jojo. Mom is right, war means too much life and death, don't provoke war rashly. The crown prince patted Joey lightly on the shoulder, "But Dad has another word for you, a man should not be afraid of war, especially not of war imposed on you." ”

"Hah!" When Joey heard his father's words, he laughed silently.

"Okay Joey, there is some truth to what you just said, but I can't just listen to you, after all, you have never been to the far East, I think we still have some time, we can discuss it with some experts carefully, I will send these ideas to Mark, listen to his opinion first." The Crown Prince decided to consult with his old friend Sir Barland, an expert on Asia.

"Dad, I fully agree with your decision, I am only based on speculation at the moment, and I would like to hear the professional opinions of diplomatic experts. Assuming that my assumption about the Qing State is true, I would like to move on to other business opportunities that the Qing Kingdom has raised. After asking his father's permission, Joey continued.

"If Sir Barland's declaration of peace in favor of the Qing Kingdom can make Japan feel Germany's love for peace, and be willing to open its domestic market to Germany as a way of showing goodwill to Germany, then when this goodwill is sufficient, I think it is necessary to push for peace talks, or not to take a special position on the conflict between them."

"Ah, my son, you are prepared for the benefit of both sides....." A cold sweat broke out on the crown prince's forehead.

"Dad, for France, after Germany clearly supports the Qing Dynasty, it can negotiate with the French through diplomatic channels, if you want Germany not to hold a special position in the future Qing-French conflict, then France's colonial markets in East Asia and the Indochina Peninsula must be open to German enterprises, and German enterprises must enjoy the same national treatment as French enterprises, otherwise, Germany will not hesitate to support the just cause of Qing against France."

After a pause, Joy said, "If the French agree, our support for the Qing Kingdom can go underground." In short, to constantly cause trouble and suffering to the French. ”

"And Russia, I agree with the attitude put forward by the Prime Minister, that we should both pull and fight, and support the Qing people in making trouble with the Russians, which will help to reduce the pressure on Germany, and I think we can talk to the special envoy who is about to visit Russia, and we can imply to him that we have a sympathetic position for the Qing in the Qing-Russian conflict. Again, if the Russians want us to give up our support for the Qing people, then come to exchange, take out the domestic market and resources in exchange, otherwise Germany will not give up the Qing country. ”

"Is this a method of intimidation to open the door to the international market for German companies?!" More cold sweat continued to break out on the crown prince's forehead.

"As for my mother's hometown of England, I think it is even more important to visit and show my grandmother's ministers that Germany is safeguarding the peace of the Qing Kingdom and blocking the expansion of the French and Russians in East Asia, in fact, this is safeguarding the interests of Britain in the Qing Kingdom, Germany does not have and will never have any ambition to seek colonies in the Qing Kingdom, and as a consistent and long-term partner of Britain, Germany is willing to join hands with Britain to resist the challenge of Russia and France to the status quo of the Qing Kingdom."

"What Germany is asking for in return is simple: that the British market in the Far East sphere of influence should be opened to German companies, and that German companies should also be treated nationally." Joey said firmly.

"Qiaoqiao, if you do this according to your methods, you will be on the brink of war, and you will accidentally miss the gun!" The crown prince warned.

"Dad, have you forgotten that there is an outstanding prime minister in the Empire, and what the Prime Minister is best at is the art of diplomacy on a tightrope. It is only from what you have said that I have deduced from what is most economically beneficial to the Empire, and how to achieve and achieve this goal requires the help of a diplomat with a high degree of diplomatic art, and the Prime Minister is the first choice. "Joey introduced the Prime Minister for his father.

The crown prince looked at Joey and thought for a moment, and asked, "Jojo, what do you mean, talk about these plans to the Prime Minister, and use diplomatic skills to achieve economic goals?" ”

Joey smiled and nodded silently.

"What was originally a simple act of trade between countries actually allowed you to mobilize diplomatic and military power, and you ..... business Either make a big profit or lose blood! The crown prince shook his head and smiled.

"Hehe, Dad, all this is just a coincidence, it happens that the navy's fleet is in Asia, and it happens that the Qing people let Sir Barand preside over the axioms, if we only regard this purely as a diplomatic incident and do not dig into the economic interests behind it, wouldn't it be irresponsible to the German economy." Joey said with a smile.

"An important characteristic of imperialism is that it instigates war everywhere and then makes war money for itself. If I don't take advantage of the existing conflicts between Qing and Japan, Qing Russia, and Qing and France, I am still embarrassed to say that I live in the era of imperialism? That's what Joey really thinks in his heart.

"Besides, creating world peace is inherently expensive, so you can't take into account the administrative costs for the sake of peace, right? And the administrative costs are fixed regardless of whether the officials do things or not, and since they have to spend anyway, they can't be idle, right? Joey also smiled and grimaced at his father.

Looking at Joey's grimace, the crown prince laughed, and couldn't help but ask a childlike question, "Jojo, Sunday is Easter, are your eggs ready?" Don't be the first to break through the eggshell like last year. ”

Sunday, April 20, 1879, Easter Sunday, the first Sunday after the full equinox every year. Easter is the second most important holiday in Germany after Christmas.

It is a festival of rabbits, eggs, chocolates, lamb, games and fun, a two-day holiday consisting of Easter Sunday and Ostermontag (Ostersonntag and Ostermontag), a spring festival for children and adults to be together.

This year, the entire Hohenzollern family celebrates with the Potsdam Prince's palace south of Berlin, and the day after tomorrow, on Saturday, the Joy family leaves south with the emperor and empress.

Before leaving for the south on Saturday, Joy had one more important thing to do on Friday, which was to send Professor Richthofen and his students south to Africa.

Originally, according to Joey's plan, it was necessary to prepare military personnel, weapons, medicine, and food for Professor Richthofen's African expedition, coordinate the ships of the navy, and more importantly, plan the logistics supply and supply replenishment plan, which in Joey's mind would take at least half a year.

But when Joy told Professor Richthofen about his thoughts, Professor Richthofen laughed and said to Joy, "Exploring Africa is not something that can be done all at once, it is a long-term and gradual process. This time, I am looking for a landing point for the Germans on the African continent, and I am not going to go deep into the interior immediately, so I don't need your logistical supply and replenishment plan this time. Therefore, you can also plan slowly. ”

"In addition, I would like to thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for coming forward and convincing the Navy to send three warships to help, and thank you for your generosity in not only contributing to my African adventure, but also solving the problem of those left behind at the landing site."

One of the two things that Professor Richthofen said was that the crown prince came forward to ask his old friend, Infantry Admiral Albrecht von Storsch, for a warship. (That's right, the rank of the first chief of staff of the German Navy was Admiral of Infantry, and Admiral Stockch was the founder of the Staff of the Imperial German Navy.) ）

Crown Prince Frederick's affectionately called "Sioux" infantry admiral Stockch, is also a comrade-in-arms who fought side by side with the crown prince, and is also a hardcore crown prince, just because of his long-term support for Crown Prince Frederick, so in the 1872 German army reform, he was pushed from the position of commander of the arms to the position of chief of staff of the navy, you must know that before the seventies of the nineteenth century, the German navy was just a coastal defense force subordinate to the army, so the change of General Stockch's position was actually a derogatory.

But General Stockch did not give up, or never gave up the struggle against Chancellor Bismarck, and in 1875, on the occasion of the accidental collision between the USS Kaiser Wilhelm and the SMS Grosser Kurfürst, Admiral Reinhardt von Werner, Prime Minister Bismarck's spokesman in the Navy, was forced to retire from the Navy on the grounds that he was forced to retire from the Navy. He's a tough character.

When he heard that the crown prince wanted the navy to send warships to support the African expedition and win more colonies for Germany, General Stockch keenly felt that this was a good opportunity for the German navy to rise, and did not hesitate to propose three old warships in the best condition, the SMS Arminius, the Prince Adalbert (SMS Prinz Adalbert) and the Crown Prince (SMS Kronprinz), Escort Professor Richthofen's expedition to Africa.

The problem of warships is solved, and the other thing to solve is the personnel, or the personnel who are sent to the colonies off the coast of Africa. In this regard, Joey came up with a good idea that was not conscientious, that is, to find those soldiers and junior officers who were still serving sentences from the army prisons, and send them to the African colonies, which would provide security work for the colonies to serve their sentences in prisons.

For these soldiers and low-ranking officers serving prison sentences, it is a good thing to be able to regain their freedom, even in distant Africa, but for those African natives, these criminals with military skills are really ruthless, but anyone who dares to provoke the natives of the German colonies will end up in slaughter, so that the white left and African supremacists in later generations have severely criticized Joey, the initiator.

At Friday's brief, low-key farewell party for the African expedition, Professor Richthofen said to Joey, who had come to see him off.

"Now, I have a warship escort, military protection, weapons, funds, and more importantly, my students and I go hand in hand, and I am confident that I can find land that belongs to Germany on the African continent for Germany."