Of course you want to support!

This was the attitude of Li Zhangtong, who was in charge of the Imperial Court, and when the question of the Spanish throne arose, Li Zhangtong saw it as an opportunity.

Li Zhangtong received the news a few days earlier than the newspaper, and he got the news through the Inca king.

The Inca king wanted to adjust the border, and at the beginning of the establishment of the Inca Kingdom, he hoped to use the Eastern Cordillera as the boundary, but because of the mediation of the United States, in the end, the eastern Cordillera and the middle of the Central Cordillera could only be used as the border, which made the Inca kingdom lose half of the Magdalena valley, which was extremely valuable.

If it can be adjusted to the eastern branch of the Eastern Cordillera Mountains in the eastern section of Lake Maracaibo, not only the Inca Kingdom will get a complete Magdalena Valley, but also the entire Lake Maracaibo region surrounded by the two branches of the Eastern Cordillera Mountains, Mount Perrija and Mount Merida.

This huge lake, which has not yet found rich oil reserves, and the northern coast is arid, the south is humid and rainy, the drought prevented the earliest developers from landing, the humidity and rain have created dense rainforests, only a few settlements such as Maracaibo, most of the area is still inhabited by relatively primitive Indians, and the main industry is coffee export.

But because there is a huge lake in this area, it can go deep inland from the sea for nearly 200 kilometers, which means that the extension of the coastline can be regarded as a harbor with natural protection, but the water is shallow, but it can be navigated inland by dredging the channel.

The Inca king informed Li Zhangtong that the king of Mexico was willing to agree to the proposed conditions, in addition to proposing that important cities on the other side of the watershed, such as Santa Fe and Bogotá, should be included in Spanish territory, and that the basic territory could be redivided according to the eastern section of the Cordillera Oriental, on the condition that China would support him in inheriting the Spanish throne.

Li Zhangtong saw this as a huge opportunity to support Leopold on this condition.

But Li Zhangtong had to get the support of the crown prince, the emperor ran to the mountains to be a god, and the political affairs were entrusted to the crown prince, which was Li Zhangtong's biggest challenge, because compared to the emperor, the crown prince was a tougher figure.

The chief of the army staff was Huang Qiuhui, who followed the crown prince during the American period, and he had several ups and downs, and he followed the crown prince wherever he went, and it was a monolithic princeling.

Zhou Guanhai, the speaker of parliament, who is most willing to accept political solutions, is an arrogant economic party who does not have the ambition of Huang Qiuhuan and the crown prince to rule the world, but always thinks that China's trade with the West is a huge loss for China, hoping to get more benefits and pay less price.

Li Zhangtong is a diplomat who attaches great importance to political interests and is willing to use economic interests to win over allies.

He was out of step with the princelings because he was an official promoted by the emperor.

Talking directly to the crown prince, Li Zhangtong felt that there was a great possibility of failure, taking advantage of this political change in the West, the prince was more willing to expand the territory, which was only a partial territorial interest of the Inca Kingdom, and the crown prince would definitely not be satisfied, and he would put forward a condition that was difficult for the Germans to accept.

So Li Zhangtong talked to Zhou Guanhai first.

"I wonder what Speaker Zhou's opinion is?"

After briefly explaining the situation to Zhou Guanhai, Li Zhangtong said tentatively.

Zhou Guanhai sighed: "The tree wants to be quiet and the wind does not stop!" Such a piece of fat is placed on the table, I am afraid that it will cause bloody rain again. What is Master Lee's opinion? ”

Zhou Guanhai lifted the ball to Li Zhangtong.

Li Zhangtong secretly sighed at the old fox, he could only express his position first: "The lower officials think that they should support Germany." ”

Zhou Guanhai sneered: "For the so-called isolation of Britain? ”

Li Zhangtong knew that Zhou Guanhai was not interested in such political means as isolating Britain, he was not very interested in the war itself, and he had even been opposed to investing huge sums of money in an arms race with Britain.

Li Zhangtong sighed: "Of course, there are even greater economic interests in it. The Spanish colonies were in the hands of the Spanish government and were never developed. The Germans' ability to develop is obvious to all, but the Germans have always been ugly, and when they entered Mexico, they pursued policies that were too biased towards Germany. Although Mexico's trade with us continued to expand because of its strong development, the lion's share was taken away by Germany. ”

Zhou Guanhai nodded: "You mean to make Germany make economic concessions, to what extent can Germany go?" ”

Li Zhangtong said: "At least let China and Germany enjoy the same economic power in these colonies." ”

Zhou Guanhai said: "In this case, it is also worth considering." But to what extent are you prepared to support Germany? ”

Li Zhangtong said: "Suppress Britain and accept the German prince to inherit the Spanish throne." In this way, the colonies of Mexico and New Granada will be developed by the Germans, and we will have the same economic power as Germany, and the gains will be enormous. ”

Zhou Guanhai frowned: "But the price paid should not be too large, in case of war, the gains outweigh the losses!" ”

Li Zhangtong said: "If we support Germany, war may not happen, even if war breaks out, Germany can suppress France on land, we will be able to attack Britain alone for the first time in history, and the chance of victory is more than eighty percent!" ”

Zhou Guanhai said: "I am against war. I support you, but you have to remember that in the end the parliament will not approve the war budget! ”

Li Zhangtong said: "Thank you for your support, the crown prince, and you have to dredge more." ”

Zhou Guanhai nodded.

After convincing Zhou Guanhai, Li Zhangtong had a simple communication with Huang Qiuhuan.

"Once the Germans are supported to inherit the Spanish throne, Europe as a whole will be divided into two blocs, and if Britain and France stand together against Germany, we can form an alliance with Germany against Britain and France. Germany can crush France on land, and we can take advantage of the situation to crush Britain on the sea and solve Britain's problems once and for all. After that, there will be no more power in the world to compete with my Great Zhou! ”

Lobbying Huang Qiu is much simpler, just tell him that this is an opportunity to dominate the world.

Huang Qiu was really interested, but he asked a question.

"Is the war confined to the sea, or is it a simultaneous outbreak on land and sea?"

Li Zhangtong replied truthfully: "It should be an outbreak on land and sea at the same time, and on land, we will completely conquer India and British North America, and Britain will become a pure island country." There will be a full-scale war with the British Navy at sea, even if it cannot destroy the British Navy and deprive the British of its colonies, it will completely deprive Britain of the economic ability to rebuild its navy! ”

Huang Qiu was silent for a moment: "No." We have defeated the British twice, but we have not succeeded in seizing the British colony, so that we still have trouble raising tigers. Let me see, the British are still fundamentally in the British Isles, and once the war starts, I think our goal is to directly attack the British mainland, and the colonies will fall second! ”

Li Zhangtong took a deep breath, Huang Qiuhuan's ambition was too great, and he was unwilling to count his main military exploits on the head of the navy. The occupation of the colonies was of little merit, and he intended to destroy the British in one fell swoop.

But in this way, the scale of the war will be unprecedented, the British will definitely fight to expand the navy, both sides are industrial powers with developed steel industries, and then it will be a head-on duel of hundreds of ironclad ships, China wants to capture the British mainland, the most convenient way is through the Mediterranean, and gradually advance to the British mainland.

But if he did not support Huang Qiu's proposal, Li Zhangtong would not be able to convince the crown prince through Huang Qiuhuan. If the crown prince was obsessed with territorial expansion, such as the expansion of the Inca kingdom to the Orinoco River, this might make the Germans themselves back down, because the benefits were greatly reduced, but they would have to face a joint attack by Britain and France.

Only by suppressing the crown prince's ambitions for territorial expansion could Germany choose to confront Britain and France in the face of an inseparable interest. in order to become a chess piece of China in Europe.

As for Huang Qiu's war, Li Zhangtong believed that as long as it was properly operated, there was great hope that the war could be avoided, and he believed that Bismarck was capable of controlling the situation. As long as there is no war and the German power can easily get the vast overseas colonies, the German impetus to expand the navy will not be suppressed, and then Germany's huge industrial resources will be tilted towards the sea, and the British will inevitably shrink in order to prevent Germany's maritime expansion. The German Navy had ten ironclad ships, and the British were bound to keep corresponding, if not more, ironclads on their home turf for self-defense. As long as the German navy can reach half of Britain's, the British will inevitably shrink in an all-round way, and Britain's contraction will be a good opportunity for China's expansion.

Since the severance of the alliance with China, France has lost the qualification to compete for hegemony in Europe, and now Germany has this qualification, but Bismarck suppresses the desire to compete for hegemony, and overseas colonies are the biggest bait to stimulate Germany to break through the shackles of hegemony.

So Li Zhangtong said to Huang Qiu: "The most direct way to solve the British problem once and for all is of course to land in the UK. It's just that the crown prince still needs a lot of dredging from Lord Huang. ”

Huang Qiu also said: "The prince's ambition is far better than that of previous kings, and he will definitely support it." ”

In Huang Qiu, the crown prince is more courageous than the emperor.

After lobbying the two henchmen of the crown prince, Li Zhangtong met with the crown prince, and after informing the crown prince of the situation, he asked the crown prince's opinion.

The prince asked the question: "Can the neutrality of France be maintained?" ”

Li Zhangtong shook his head: "There is absolutely no possibility of neutrality for France. The establishment of German rule in Spain posed the greatest threat to France, and England was likely to remain neutral, but France was not. ”

The crown prince sighed: "France has 80 ironclad ships, they join forces with the British, and there is not much difference between them and our fleet, and they have the geographical advantage of the Mediterranean, I am afraid that the sea victory is not big." ”

Li Zhangtong said with a smile: "France has its own Germany to solve it, we can let the German Army control the French coast, the navy without a port, it is a beast without minions, it can be easily controlled!" ”

The crown prince nodded: "There is still no need to rely on others, we can solve the problems we can solve by ourselves." If you want to fight, you can fight him, I don't believe that we have more ironclads, why can't we destroy the British Navy! ”

Li Zhangtong immediately flattered: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is wise!" ”

It was so easy to persuade the prince, I don't know if it was because he persuaded the prince's henchmen first, but Li Zhangtong's goal was achieved.

He replied to Leopold through the Inca king, saying that China would have the power to support him in inheriting the Spanish throne.

It's just that Li Zhangtong has a concern, or a doubt, he wonders why things have developed so far, and Germany, one of the countries concerned, has not made any official statement.

What Li Zhangtong didn't know was that a huge contradiction had erupted in the German top leadership because of the issue of the succession to the Spanish throne.