As quickly as possible, Germany replied to the northwest with their request, requesting an order for at least 32 15-inch naval guns and a maximum of 108 barrels for use on the Bavaria-class under construction to increase the attack power of the Bavaria-class.

In World War I, the German Navy was at an absolute disadvantage, both in terms of the total number of warships and the power of artillery, which was very different from Britain, and increasing his strength represented the weakening of Britain, especially when World War I might break out in advance, the difference between Germany and Britain was even greater.

On the German side, the more anxious attitude made Yang Yuanzhao see an opportunity, it has been 5 years since he came to this era, Yang Yuanzhao knows very well that in the past few decades, China has been humiliated, and the entire coastal area, most of China has been reduced to semi-colonial, reduced to the sphere of influence of the great powers, in order to accumulate strength, in order to increase the base, Yang Yuanzhao did not choose to provoke the powers, did not forcibly take back the colonies, for these colonies, concessions and spheres of influence, etc., turn a blind eye, but now, the opportunity is in front of him, I'm not going to go on like this.

Yang Yuanzhao convened his staff and held an afternoon-long closed-door meeting, mainly to consider the possibility of recovering Shandong and Qingdao, and after an afternoon of discussion, a unified plan was finally reached, and the northwest could use the way of redemption to recover Qingdao and Jiaozhou Bay, and this price could be at a premium on the basis of the total investment in Germany, and as for the German-funded enterprises currently in Shandong, they could also be protected by the law, as long as they obeyed the laws of the northwest. In the area of the Northwest Circle, it is taxable as usual. Yes, it can be supported, but the privileges and extrajudicial rights of the past. It's completely gone.

Since 1897, after the Germans entered Jiaozhou Bay, in order to operate Jiaozhou Bay, the Germans have indeed made a lot of efforts, and even built a modern Qingdao, the structure of Qingdao, until more than 100 years later, there is not much change. In this way, it does not mean that Germany did not acquire from Jiaozhou Bay. In order to maintain stability, not to excessively irritate the Germans, and to maintain certain relations and contacts, the Northwest did not mention this aspect in the mention of the Shandong question, but only considered the current value. Buy with money.

The general direction was determined, and almost overnight, a program was formed, and then in the name of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. By telegram, he instructed the Northwest Consul General in Germany, asking them to consult with Germany on the Shandong issue. Under a certain amount of dù, it is possible to make slight concessions. Strive to recover Jiaozhou Bay and the whole of Shandong.

Shandong, which began to be occupied by Germany in 1897. First of all, it was only Jiaozhou Bay, and then occupied the entire Shandong Peninsula, so to speak, Germany poured a lot of effort into Shandong, unlike other colonies, here Germany built factories, built seaports and fortresses, and also built railways, so that Jiaozhou Bay, which itself is relatively backward, has become developed, take Qingdao as an example, with a variety of factories, large machine equipment, more than 1,000 units, with a basic industrial production capacity and the maintenance capacity of large ships. Out of close relations with Germany, he did not want to make enemies with Germany, otherwise, with the strength of the Northwest Army, Germany could be directly driven into the sea, and it could independently fight against the Russian army four times, Jiaozhou Bay was only a few German garrisons, plus the Germans in their prime, it would not exceed 3,000 people, even if the Qingdao fortress was strong and 100,000 regiments were besieged, how could it be taken.

Now that the outbreak of World War I is imminent, if we don't discuss it at this time, when to discuss it, if Japan declares war on Germany and attacks Qingdao Port, they will be caught between Japan and the Germans, and if they can't recover Qingdao, they will pay a greater price.

The Northwest is to realize China's reunification and rise, not to make a mess of China as later generations did, and ultimately miss the best period for its rise; the international situation in the 20 th century is changing, and it is the era with the greatest opportunities.

In the past few hundred years, because of the existence of a certain race, China has lagged behind the mainstream of the world in all aspects, even if it has an all-in-one machine and Yang Yuanzhao such a traverser, it is only in terms of productivity and economy, turned over, and the real brilliance is still to rely on the First World War, only by weakening the entire powers, so that their control in Asia is greatly reduced, the northwest can really gain benefits.

Got the order of the northwest, the current consul general of the northwest in Berlin, Zhang Ze, did not have any doubts at all, directly in accordance with the order of the northwest, made an appointment with the German foreign minister, and informed the other party of the northwest request, the foreign minister was stunned for a moment, but did not directly refuse, although in his eyes, Jiaozhou Bay is already the land that belongs to Germany, which is tantamount to letting Germany cede territory, which makes him a little angry that he maintains a hawkish posture diplomatically, and the northwest is a clear violation of Germany's interests, which is absolutely intolerable.

But he didn't say much, the northwest now has a brilliant record of defeating Russia, has a strong production capacity, almost a quarter of Germany's arms purchases are purchased from China, and now it also involves 15-inch naval guns, which I heard was ordered by Tirpitz himself, and he got it at any cost.

Tirpitz's position in Wilhelm II's heart is far greater than that of the Foreign Secretary, he is the same as the Prime Minister and the Chief of Staff of the Army, he is an important minister next to Wilhelm II, even if he is angry in his heart, he still suppresses it, calmly follows the rules, accepts the request of the northwest, tidies it up a little, and hands it over to Wilhelm II to deal with.

At this time, Tirpitz did not know that the Northwest had made such a request, he was waiting calmly, according to his understanding of the Northwest, according to the relationship between Germany and the Northwest in recent years, the Northwest had no reason to refuse, and the purchase plan he gave was the price of the mainstream naval guns, and the other party had enough reasons to complete this cooperation compared to his understanding of the Northwest.

Tirpitz did not usher in the telegram of the Northwest's consent, but ushered in the Kaiser's inquiry, what is the matter with the order of 15-inch naval guns, and why the Navy wants to buy naval guns from the Northwest. What happened, the confused Tirpitz, according to the request of Wilhelm II, quickly rushed to the German palace, at this time in front of the imperial not only including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Commerce, the Minister of Industry, but also several advisers, the Chief of the Army General Staff Moltke Jr. was also among them, including several German generals.

From Wilhelm II, he knew the purpose of the Northwest, and at the moment of this deal, the Northwest raised the Shandong question, that is, to reach this deal, the only demand of the Northwest was Shandong, and demanded that Shandong be recovered at a price, and was willing to redeem it.

A simple deal, even if it was the guns of a battleship, involved the issue of sovereignty, Tirpitz was extremely depressed, in his opinion, the Northwest is a good partner, why would it be extraneous at this moment.

Seeing Tirpitz's arrival, the foreign secretary, who came early, shouted with a little excitement that this was a territory belonging to Germany and could not be handed over to China, but the prime minister and the personnel of the army staff frowned, obviously, although they did not approve of the northwest's robbery, nor did they think that they would tear their faces with the northwest, such a price was not something Germany could bear.

When the foreign secretary's words gradually stopped, Tirpitz frowned, carefully considered, whether there are pros and cons, Jiaozhou Bay as one of the few German colonies, plus Qingdao Port such a military port, as a navy, there is no reason to give up, but the attitude of the northwest is extremely clear, as a witness of Prussia to become strong, a strong country, must have the status of a strong country, Prussia also won the Franco-Prussian War, only after it really became a power on the European continent.

The Northwest is not bad, he won the war with Russia, although he did not sign a treaty and obtain benefits, but the rise of the Northwest has been unstoppable, with the rise of the Northwest, the rise of the national character, it is unlikely to let the land be occupied, but I did not expect that it would be so soon, outside the Northwest control zhì sphere of influence, almost an enclave, put forward such a request, this is completely unreasonable.

Of course, the Northwest seems to have taken into account the face of the German side, and did not directly ask for restitution, but made a very euphemistic way of redemption, which was much more gentle, and it was not so difficult to accept if you think about it carefully.

When the foreign minister stopped talking, an army general suddenly said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, ministers, although some words sound bad, can we bear the price of losing this ally in the northwest!" ”

It was Army General Alexander who spoke? Heinrich? Rudolph? Feng? Crook, currently serving as the chief inspector of the Seventh Military Region, a cutting-edge figure in the army, and also the highest-ranking general in the military liaison with Harpy, after Zhang Ze submitted the request to the German Foreign Office, for the sake of insurance, he also used some of Harpy's connections in Germany, Crook is one of them, Zhang Ze not only gave a gift, but also handed over some information to him, he also read it carefully, and felt that he could show his face in front of Wilhelm II, so he interjected to ask.

"Why can't we, we are the German Empire, who else is our opponent besides Britain!" The stubbornness of the foreign secretary made Tirpitz shake his head again and again, and was about to say something, this incident was caused by him, and because of the Bavarian-level relationship, maybe he could mediate and let this matter be put on hold for the time being, before Tirpitz could speak, Crook next to him glanced at the foreign minister coldly, and said again: "Yes, except for Britain, no one is our opponent, but once we start a war with Britain, Qingdao is destined to be undefended, for a place that is destined to be undefended, Is it the choice of the wise to offend the allies who want to give us great support? (To be continued......)