"Your Majesty, since September 8, when Xu Jingcheng, the Qing minister to Russia and Germany, signed the "Articles of Contract for the Joint Establishment of the Eastern Province Railway Company" with Ramanov and Uhe Tomsky, general manager of the Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank, on behalf of the Qing side, our side began to investigate the railway line of the Eastern Province in the northeast of the Qing Dynasty in accordance with the provisions of this contract and the "Treaty of Defense Alliance." Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info "Sergey. As the finance minister in charge of negotiations with the Qing state, Sergei reported to Tsar Nicholas II seriously,

"According to the provisions of the contract: first, China will establish the 'Qing Eastern Provincial Railway Company' with the Qing Dynasty, and its articles of association will be in accordance with the established regulations of the Chinese railway company; second, the width and narrowness of the rails designed and constructed by the railway will be the same as that of China's railway tracks; third, China has the right to use the Eastern Provincial Railway to transport troops free of charge; fourth, the land needed by the railway company to build, operate, and protect the railway shall be requisitioned free of charge if the official land is used, and the land shall be paid at the current price if the land is private; Fifth, the railway company enjoys exclusive administrative and police powers along the railway line; Construction of the Sixth Eastern Provincial Railway will begin in 1897 after the completion of the survey by both sides, and the construction is expected to take five years, which will be completed in 1903. ”

After hearing this, Nicholas II nodded and said: "Sergey, since the contract has been signed and the Qing side has agreed to the construction of the railway, you will immediately start to implement it, and it can be completed one day earlier, which will play an important role in the complete control of the Far East by our Russian Empire and the transformation of the Far East into Yellow Russia." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty. After the signing of the "Treaty of Defense Alliance" with Mr. Li Hongzhang, Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty, in June, our engineers and technicians have been dispatched to Vladivostok. According to the news from the front, it is expected that construction will start after the end of winter, that is, in March and April. "Sergey. Werther replied.

Nicholas II said: "That's the best! The port of Vladivostok, although the port is excellent, still has a freeze period of up to 110 days in winter, which is completely unfavorable to the use of the Pacific Fleet. According to the news from Kahini, there was an excellent port in the Lushun area in the northeast of the Qing Dynasty, and Lushun was once the anchorage of the Qing Beiyang Fleet. If we can take this port, it will be of great benefit to our Pacific Fleet to control the North Sea. ”

After hearing this, Sergei naturally knew Nicholas II's intentions, so he replied: "The ministers will send someone to Lushun to investigate in detail, but I also ask Your Majesty to send someone to inform General Aliksayev and ask him to send a fleet to investigate, and it is best that we can force the Qing State to lend Lushun to us." ”

"Well, that's a good suggestion, I'll order Aliksayev to send a ship to the northeast of the Qing Kingdom." After Nicholas II finished speaking, he said, "Do you know the details of the recent news from the Caucasus that there is a strong atmosphere of civil war in Turkey? ”

Sergei replied: "The minister has received some information from Turkey, saying that Turkey is preparing to use troops against Greece, and the specific information is not very clear to the minister. ”

"Okay, I know, it seems that this matter still needs to be investigated by Vasya." Nicholas II said.

The official residence of the Prime Minister in Tokyo, Japan, was originally the official residence of the Prime Minister, in 1885 Japan began to formally implement the constitutional monarchy, the last Prime Minister Sanjo Minomi stepped down here, and on December 22, the first Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi made this the official residence of the Prime Minister. The two-storey Western-style wooden building embodies Japanese traditions and proclaims Japan's formal spirit of learning from the West.

At this moment, in a small Japanese-style room on the second floor of the official residence, the new prime minister, Masayoshi Matsukata, is negotiating with important members of the cabinet. Foreign Minister Shigenobu Okuma first said: "According to the news sent back from Germany and the Qing state, Lu (Russia) has signed the "Treaty of Defense Alliance" with the Qing state and reached a consensus on the construction of the Eastern Province Railway, which will undoubtedly do more harm than good to the rise of the Japanese Empire. ”

When the Minister of Colonization and Minister of War Takashima Tonosuke heard this, he said: "Lu Guo is really insatiable, and last time he and Germany and France forced us to abandon Liaodong of the Qing State, so that the land that tens of thousands of my soldiers had fought bloody battles was surrendered back to the Qing State. Now that they have made an agreement with the Qing State, will our Great Japanese Empire not be subject to the Lu Kingdom? How can the rights and interests of the DPRK be guaranteed? When the Trans-Siberian Railway is fully completed, the rise of the Japanese Empire will come to naught? ”

"The Pacific Fleet of the Lu Navy, stationed in Vladivostok, is like a sharp blade hanging over the head of our Empire Japan. Your Excellency Prime Minister, the indemnity payments for the Qing Kingdom have arrived, and I hope that these payments can be used to expand our navy. Admiral Saigo glanced at Takashima Tonosuke and said.

Hearing this, Takashima Tonosuke angrily reprimanded: "You guys are such naval horse manure, do you think that our army is easy to bully?" ”

"Just your group of land horse dung, if there is no cover of our navy, in the battle with the Qing Kingdom, all of them will become sacrifices of fish and shrimp in the sea. Can it still be so rampant? Saigo retorted unceremoniously.

Hearing this, Takashima stood up and shouted angrily, "Yaga! And Saigo also stood up, and the two stood at each other.

"Enough!" Hirobumi Ito, who had been watching from the sidelines, angrily rebuked, "Now that the empire is struggling on the road to revival, can't you unite some?" ”

Faced with Hirobumi Ito's anger, Takashima Tonosuke and Saigo had no choice but to sit down again, but still looking at each other. Prime Minister Masayoshi Matsukata said at this time, "If Japan is to be strong, we need all of us to be united. The empire is an island nation, and the navy is the barrier and sword of the empire whether it is defending or attacking; The Army is the cornerstone of the Empire, and it is necessary to work closely with the Navy at this time of crisis.

According to the plan originally formulated by His Excellency Ito and His Excellency Saionji, the reparations of the Qing Kingdom will be used to expand the infrastructure of the empire, invest in education, and renew the naval vessels, and the army will still need to be subordinated to the overall situation for the time being. The empire is now facing the pressure of the Lu Kingdom, and only when we are strong can we be invincible. ”

As the Earl of the House of Nobles and the current Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, and Culture, Saionji saw that Takashima Tonosuke was still about to speak, so he said, "Takashima-kun, this is a major policy decision of the Empire, and it will never be changed because of one or two people. What you need to do now is to reassure the officers below and make them understand the policies of the Empire, and not to obstruct the normal functioning of the Empire here. ”

"Hey! Takashima understands! "In the face of the Saionji Gongwang, Takashima Tonosuke couldn't think of a suitable objection word, and the reputation of the Saionji Gongwang was there, even Ito Hirobumi, Yamaguchi Yutomo and others didn't dare to offend the Saionji Gongwang easily, let alone him.

Ito Hirobumi and Saionji looked at each other for a moment, and then Foreign Minister Shigenobu Okuma said: "Okuma-kun, I hope to speed up negotiations with England in the future, and the pressing of Lu in the Far East is not something that England wants to see." We must take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen our relations with the English side. There is also a need for Minister Lin Dong to strengthen the relationship with the high-level of the Qing State, and the empire should send high-level officials to the Qing State when necessary, as long as the treaty between the Qing State and the Lu State can be broken, it will be the success of the imperial diplomacy. ”

Okuma Shigenobu stood up and bowed respectfully, "Hi! Okuma will believe that he will not be dishonored. ”

On the shores of Lake Geneva, Witte was now a bit of a happier one, sitting here all day talking to Plekhanov and, of course, the Luxembourg lady. Witte really didn't know what this little girl in her twenties was doing in Geneva. It's just that since the Luxembourg family has no choice but to stay with him, he can only endure the jokes and teasing from Luxembourg non-stop.

On this day, Werther was on Lake Geneva as usual, rowing a small boat to anchor in the center of the lake, and then lying on the boat and soaking up the sun, everything was so harmonious. But suddenly from the lake came a voice shouting: "Vasya, Vasya, urgent telegram from Berlin!" ”

Witte's heart tightened when he heard this, he had been in Geneva for ten days, and before leaving, he had made detailed arrangements for the specific work, and according to the telegrams that had been coming in these days, the first phase of the "Polar Bear" project was progressing quite smoothly. However, Witte never underestimated the German intelligence services, although the intelligence personnel at this time were not comparable to those in the highly developed information period of the 21st century, and even the intelligence personnel during the Second World War were more professional than they are now. But the importance of intelligence to a country's army will be understood by any normal person, let alone Germany, which is the model of the modern army.

Witte quickly rowed the boat back to the shore, and Luxembourg, who was standing on the shore, immediately went up and handed the telegram to Witte and said: "I have just received an urgent telegram from Berlin, and I have come directly to you without translating the message." ”

Werther took the telegram, and glanced at the arrangement of the numbers and knew that it was not only an urgent telegram but also a cipher, and that the codebook of the cipher was still in his hand before he left Berlin, and now that such a telegram had arrived, it was a sign that something very big had happened in Berlin.

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