Speaking of which, the excerpt inviting Heinrich and Barand to visit Beijing was handed to the Empress Dowager and the Little Emperor by the Prime Minister's Affairs Yamen as early as the beginning of May, and at the end of May, the Germans prepared a detailed apology statement and the contents of the friendship treaty with the Germans and Qings were also sent to Beijing, and the relevant content was also very useful to the Qing court inside and outside the court and the court.

In the apology statement of the Empress Dowager Ci'an of the East Palace, the thoughtfulness of the words was greatly appreciated, even in the Qing Dynasty, the recognized resourceful Empress Dowager Cixi of the West Palace, pondered for a long time with the statement and the treaty, and finally had to admit that the attitude of the Germans who demanded no land and no compensation, and only asked for fair business was indeed the ancestor of the Aixin Jueluo family who appeared and let the sun of the foreigners hit the west.

Prince Gong Yixun and Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang, who specifically handled this matter, kept lamenting the efficiency of the Germans, and often just raised a question to the Germans, and under the efficient communication of Minister Balland's several telegrams, the Germans were able to reply to the Qing State's solution to this problem within two or three days, and even like a clever chess player, they also raised the possible backhand (problem) to Yixun and Li Hongzhang in advance, which made the two adults complain about the Qing State's procrastinating bureaucratic style in addition to emotion.

After Heinrich arrived in Hong Kong in early June, he rushed straight to Beijing in accordance with the instructions of the German royal family and government, and arrived in Beijing in mid-June.

In addition to the various professionals in charge of negotiations, there was also a special naval officer, a military liaison officer specially appointed by Rear Admiral Dietrich, commander of the German Globe Fleet, who carried with him the staff team of Rear Admiral Dietrich's staff team in Hong Kong to urgently draw up the Far East operation plan of the Grand Fleet, which was aimed at the Japanese mainland and the Japanese navy, which was still in a weak state.

This unexpected gift made the already enthusiastic Qing Dynasty court like a scoop of water being poured into a hot oil pot and fried!

"It's so welcoming, the Germans are so welcoming!" In the flower hall of Prince Gong's mansion, in the face of the freshly baked and still hot German naval battle plan, Yixun, Baojun, Jing Lian and Mao Changxi were stunned for a while, and finally said the same sentence in unison.

Through the refrigeration of Bingjian, there was actually no heat in the flower hall of Prince Gong's mansion, but Bao Jun still wiped his forehead, in fact, there was no sweat, and said slightly exaggeratedly, "Lord, seeing that June (lunar calendar) is about to enter summer, in the days of the fire in June, the Germans are forcing a stove to us, do we take it or not?!" ”

Prince Gong just looked at this battle plan over and over again, which was urgently translated by the generals of the Prime Minister's Yamen, and did not answer Baojun's words.

Jing Lian was the first to can't help it, and said, "Lord Wang, Master Bao, I think this plan is like...", Jing Lian saw the mint green glass bottle neatly stacked on the ice cube in front of him in a blink of an eye, and pointed out, "This plan of the Germans is like this Dutch water, it is not a hot potato, but an artifact given by foreigners to the Qing Dynasty to cool off the summer heat!" ”

"Qiuping." Bao Jun tapped the table quietly, and said slowly, "Although this Dutch water is good, it is a foreign thing, and you still have to drink this warm lotus seed soup to escape the summer, after all, this lotus seed soup is from my Qing Dynasty." After taking a sip of the lotus seed soup in front of him, he blinked and seemed to feel a little too hot, and picked up a bottle of Dutch water in his hand again.

Holding the cold glass bottle of Dutch water, Bao Jun continued with a serious face, "After all, there are also considerations for my Qing Dynasty defense and coastal defense, Lord Wanyan is negotiating with the Russians in Berlin, and there are also Germans in it. If Japan still asks the Germans to help in this matter, then wouldn't our Qing Dynasty's coastal defense rely on the Germans' snort? ”

After that, Bao Jun patted his face gently, quite a little heartbroken, and sighed, "Face, face!" ”

Mao Changxi, who was accompanying him in the last seat, lowered his head and pursed his lips vigorously, and said in his heart, "There is a Taixi powerhouse who is willing to help Daqing pull a fight and beat people, such a big good thing is smashed on the head, and he doesn't catch it slipperily, but talks about what face, it's really ......"

"Treasurer." Jing Lian arched his hand and said hurriedly, "In my opinion, the Germans want to conclude a friendship with me in the Qing Dynasty, so they work so hard!" It's not..."

"That is, the Germans value the abundant products of our Daqing Dynasty, want to open mines, want to set up factories, and want to make my Daqing money." Bao Jun shook his hand and interrupted Jing Lian's words.

"Germany is a continental power that has defeated the French, if our Qing Dynasty can have such strong reinforcements abroad, not only Japan does not dare to provoke easily, even if it is bullying by Britain and France, my Qing Dynasty also has the courage." Although he was interrupted by Bao Jun, Jing Lian was not discouraged and continued.

"Judging from the Ili incident alone, what kind of face did the Rakshasa Kingdom have to me in the Qing Dynasty before, and in the end, it is not in the face of the Germans that they are willing to sit down and negotiate with me in the Qing Dynasty? A few days ago, Lord Wanyan wrote to say that the Russians agreed to rush to Berlin for an interview, but no longer insisted that Lord Wanyan must rush to Moscow, which was also the result of the Germans' best efforts to mediate. ”

"In my opinion, today's plan to use troops against Japan is even more unexpected.....

"Qiuping!" Bao Jun pointed to the plan in Prince Gong's hand, and said in a deep voice, "I am very happy about this plan to use troops against Japan, but the Germans also opened their mouths, and the various war expenses were added up, and the price of 10 million taels of official silver was directly opened!" If you really want to make friends with my Qing Dynasty, the Germans should not want a penny or silver! ”

Mao Changxi glanced up at Bao Jun suddenly, then lowered his head again, picked up the teacup in his hand, and vigorously blew the tea leaves floating on the surface of the cup, looking like he couldn't wait to blow the tea leaves to death.

"When Changmao attacked Shanghai, in order to ask the British and French to help send troops to defend Songjiang Road from being broken by Changmao, he was willing to give the British 50 million taels or 50 million taels! This is Lord Baoshi, you brought it up, today the Germans are willing to send troops to help the Qing Dynasty take back the Ryukyus, isn't this incense worth a mere 10 million taels? Jing Lian complained to Baojun with a depressed face.

"This time and that time!" Bao Jun was unmoved.

"Baoshi, the Germans came all the way to seek wealth, if they didn't give out a penny, wouldn't Germany and the Qing Dynasty turn their faces into enemies?!" Prince Gong, who was silent for a while, suddenly spoke, "Besides, when did I treat my friends badly in terms of money in the Qing Dynasty, so I have to mention it again if I don't have money, the key to doing things is to make my friends in Daqing comfortable, only in this way can I really have face in Daqing!" ”

"Without face, how can I walk in the world of the Qing Dynasty! How to be worthy of this body's heroic righteousness! Yi Xun said heavily.

"This is the bone of the golden city! The prince is clever! Clever! Mao Changxi put down the teacup excitedly, knelt on the ground and echoed loudly, "The Qing Dynasty can have a prince, it is really a grand event for me in the Qing Dynasty!" ”

"You have to got, Xu Chu, it's not that you don't know the temper of this king, so you don't come to these Ligereng." Yixun waved his hand, so that Mao Changxi, who was kneeling on the ground, quickly got up, and said with a hesitant face, "What the Rakshasas want, I know very well in my heart, they are staring at the land of the northwest, Mongolia and the northeast, and they can't wait for my surname to be used in the Qing Dynasty." ”

"And the British always like to talk about contracts and treaties, open their mouths and close their mouths to talk about the spirit of fairness, saying that they spend money to lease the land of the Qing Dynasty, and build concessions in our Qing Dynasty piecemeal, but in fact, they are also staking what kind of sphere of influence, which is nothing more than better than the Rakshasas."

"The French, who look polite on the surface, spend their days preaching the faith, preaching the God of the West. Hmph, if that group of priests took off their black robes, they would be fucking naked robbers, and they would be fucking robbers who couldn't tolerate a copper plate in their eyes, scraping the gold leaf from the gold jar at the entrance of the Taihe Palace, this is what this group of French people do! ”

"The most hateful thing is to be in the territory of the Great Qing Dynasty all day long, declaring that all people are born free, all beings are born equal, saying that you don't want an emperor, what kind of mother's republic do you want, and preach these things without a king and father all day long, if there is no emperor in this world, it will not be chaotic! Could it be that they cut off their own emperor's head, damn it, why do they also instigate the Diao people of the Qing Dynasty to do this! Yixun slapped the table next to him and scolded the Frenchman.

After taking a few heavy breaths, Yixun looked at the three henchmen present and said in a low voice, "The Rakshasa people want land, and the most important thing I lack in the Qing Dynasty is land, and I will give it!" After I die, I kneel for the ancestors of the past generations, even if the land is lost, as long as people survive, as long as I don't die. ”

"As for the British, don't they like to engage in lending, if you dare to borrow, I will dare to rent, and there is still a deed left, and it is a big deal to let my children and grandchildren ask for it in the future! If you can ask for it, if you can't ask for it, that's the business of your children and grandchildren! ”

"But the French without a king and a father, if only they were allowed to be here!" Yixun pointed to his head vigorously with his hand, and said viciously, "In the Great Qing Dynasty, this is the poison that can kill my Daqing and my love for the life of the Xinjue Luo family, so we must not be soft on the French!" ”

"On the surface, in the imperial court, I vigorously advocated the friendship between Qing and Germany because the Germans were willing to apologize to the Qing Dynasty, but in fact, I value what you said, the Germans and the French are enemies and mortal enemies! It is precisely because of this that I am willing to follow him and Li Er to promote this Qingde treaty. ”

"It's just..."Yixun's eyes were a little wandering, and finally looked at a bamboo in the flower hall, and said slowly, "It's just that I really don't know what the Germans want me to clear up, I don't want to teach or pass on, and I just want to do business, not to do the tea, porcelain and opium business that the British like the most, but to do the business of mining, steelmaking, road construction, factory opening and munitions..."

"Lord Wang, it's a good thing that Germans love silver, we lack everything in the Qing Dynasty, that is, there is no shortage of silver, if you can use silver to support this one by one, it's a good thing!" Jing Lian looked at Prince Gong with a blank look and said eagerly.

"Qiuping!" Bao Jun snorted softly, "When it comes to this, don't you see that when the prince is worried about the silver, he is not worried about the Han people!" Don't you want to think about it, opening mines, making steel, building roads, opening factories and buying munitions, that is not the favorite thing for the Han governor to do? Now it's the Germans who are getting too close to them! ”

The defense of the Manchu and Han dynasties, the Qing Dynasty, has always been a thorn in the hearts of the men of the Aixin Jueluo family.

"Master Bao, you can't say that, there are still many loyal ministers in Hanchen!" Yi Xun glanced at Mao Changxi, who was sitting in the last seat and bowed his head to drink tea, and said with a smile, "Oh, Xu Chu is my great loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty. When the monk king mentioned Xuchu in front of this king, he also gave a thumbs up! ”

"Yes, yes, yes, the monk king also praised Xuchu many times in front of me back then!" Bao Jun looked at Mao Changxi with a smile, as if he was carefully examining a precious piece of porcelain.

Mao Changxi only knelt on the ground again and swore a curse to the sky before he expressed his loyalty to the Qing Dynasty.

With such an episode, Jing Lian also sorted out his thoughts, and after accompanying Yixun, Baojun and Mao Changxi to sit down, he opened his mouth and said, "Lord Wang, the Germans are friendly with Beiyang, all because of the Beiyang Prime Minister's trade, road construction, mining and factory opening and other matters, businessmen seek profits, and they are naturally cordial with Beiyang. ”

"So the slave thinks that businessmen are profit-seeking by nature, and if the imperial court can also give great benefits to the Germans, the Germans will naturally be able to make a wise choice between the imperial court and the Hanchen governor."

"Qiuping, you just said that the trade matters are in the hands of the Hanchen Governor headed by Beiyang, what else is in the hands of the imperial court?" Bao Jun frowned and said unhappily.

"Master Bao, I recently picked up a strange book in Dashilar in Nancheng, which is said to have been printed by Lin Yuanfu in the second year of Xianfeng, and this book is very interesting." Mao Changxi did not answer Baojun's question directly, but told the story, "I remember that in this book, there is a sentence that Yizhi's long skills are three: one battleship, two firearms, and three methods of raising soldiers and training soldiers. ”

"It is made for the purpose of attacking the razor, for the purpose of destroying the money, and for the master's long skills to control the razing." Prince Gong read two sentences lightly, "This king also has this book of "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" at the bedside. Now the local governor regards this book as a treasure book, and it is said that the same is true of the whole country, so this king specially found someone to find this book, and read it carefully several times, and some of the words Wei Yuan said are still reasonable. Qiuping, don't sell Guanzi, just say whatever you want! ”

Jing Lian straightened up, arched his hand, and said solemnly, "The prince, the soldier, the weapon of the country, all dynasties and dynasties are all the imperial court holding this heavy weapon, and now the local governor and the army are prosperous, and the country is ominous, I am afraid that it is not enough to resist the enemy, and it is more than enough to hold on to self-respect!" ”

"Rites, the country's dryness, and now the local governor often negotiates with the Western countries on his own, as the saying goes, there is no two laws, and there are no two orders, I am afraid that it will be ignored by the grace of the mighty heaven, and the foreign will be self-respecting!"

Jing Lian's two sentences just now can be said to be heart-wrenching, and there was a trace of surprise on the faces of Yixun, Baojun and Mao Changxi.

Since everything was said about this, Jing Lian didn't hide it, and simply said bluntly, "Lord Wang, since you also think that it is right to master Yi's long skills to control the country, then buying warships, buying firearms, raising troops and training soldiers, these three things should be grasped in the hands of the imperial court, rather than the local governors contacting foreigners." ”

"Regarding the purchase of ships, I have promised Beiyang to let them contact the British, if I regret it at this time, I am afraid..."

"Beiyang thinks that the British ship is good, if the center says that the German ship is good, it is to order the German ship, who do you think the Germans will accept?"

"Oh?!" Yixun touched the beard under his chin and rolled his eyes.

"Secondly, the Eight Banners have long been decayed and useless, and you have long intended to set up a new army controlled by the imperial court, and the servants have inquired carefully, and now among the armies of the Taixi countries, the Prussian Army is the strongest, and no one can beat it, if the Prussian method is used to train the army and acquire German arms, who will the Germans accept?"

"The businessman said that although the local governor said that the Germans benefited on the grounds of opening mines, building roads, and setting up factories, they were always not as rich as the interests of arms, and in the end, as long as the imperial court made up its mind, wherever there was a purchase of arms from the Qing Dynasty, the matter would be decided by the center, and the Germans would not worry that the Germans would not want to go to the Qing court."

"Wonderful!" Before Yixun could speak, Bao Jun first gave a conclusion, "Lord Wang, Qiuping's subtlety of planning, first, to lure it to profit, the court smashed it tens of millions of taels of silver, not to worry that the Germans are not willing to my Qing court, second, the way is to virtue, the people of the world always scold us, and will only sign a treaty of land reparation, if we can sign a strong country treaty with Germany to raise and train soldiers, with such a treaty in hand, why should we be afraid of the world's leisurely mouth?" ”

"Third, all of them are courteous, my Qing Dynasty is the Heavenly Empire, and I can't start a conquest lightly, but there are other countries who admire my Qing Dynasty prestige and are willing to act on behalf of the way of conquest, isn't it just that my Great Qing Dynasty is the Heavenly Kingdom? ! It is feasible, Lord Wang, this strategy of Qiuping is feasible! ”

Yixun touched his beard, looked up, was silent for a long time, and finally finally looked at Mao Changxi, and asked with a faint expression, "Xu Chu, what do you think?" ”

"Lord Wang, this is a good strategy for the strong and weak branches, and it is also a clever plan for drawing salaries from the bottom of the kettle!" Mao Changxi's answer was crisp and neat.

"It's good, but you believe that the Germans are only profit-oriented, and you don't have any other thoughts about my Qing Dynasty? It took Ben Wang thirty years to deal with the foreigners, and it was only then that he could understand the tempers of the British, French, and Russians, and know what they wanted from the Qing Dynasty, but—" Yixun shook his head.

"Although this king knows Lao Ba, it has been a long time, and he treats the foreigners of the Qing Dynasty so kindly, as far as he is the first, this king really can't figure out what the Germans want in the Qing Dynasty....."

"Which of you dares to pack a ticket, the Germans only have silver in their eyes, apologize when they apologize, send troops when they say they send troops, is there no other plan in this?!" Prince Gong's eyes were like swords, and after sweeping over the people present, he asked slowly, "In case, it is a smiling tiger, do we have to help it count money until we die?!" ”

No one can answer Prince Gong's question, at least in the Qing court, no one dares to pat their chests and use their lives to vouch for it, and the Germans have no plans for the Qing Dynasty.