The newly appointed French Foreign Minister of the Cabinet of Thyme Ménglen can be described as a headache, his "Since" alliance after the fall of the Jouferi cabinet finally became the backbone of the French parliament's coalition ruling party, did not expect to encounter such a bad situation as soon as he came to power, although this is a historical legacy of the Jouferi cabinet, but if it is not handled properly, it is undoubtedly fatal for the new cabinet, and he does not want to become the third French cabinet to fall because of the Vietnam issue.

He immediately instructed the envoy to the Qing Dynasty, Tlêgu, to understand the dispute in northern Vietnam, and not to let the interests of France in Cochinchina be harmed, but the footnote of the cup was that the French parliament had already rejected a plan to increase troops and military spending in northern Vietnam, and the plan to increase troops in northern Vietnam would need to be ...... next summer at the earliest And more than a whole year!

Of course, in order to restore the control of the north of Vietnam, by one ironclad ship, two armored cruisers,

The Far East Fleet, consisting of three wooden-hulled cruisers, has set sail from Morocco to escort the supply of supplies to Cochinchina in the Far East.

Even when North Vietnam was defeated, with the mediation of Britain, Germany, and other five countries, plus the negotiator's opponent, the old man of China, Mr. Li, who was very easy to bully, the situation at that time was ten times more optimistic than now.

And the current situation, the biggest pressure faced, is not from the bleak situation in northern Vietnam, but the terrifying opponent who is about to face the Great Qing State Qincha, the minister of Nanyang, and the governor of Liangguang, Qin Kai "It is because of the appearance of the light general this year that the situation of the empire in northern Vietnam has been completely overturned, and it is such a cup."

The total annihilation of the powerful Far East Fleet turned out to be just the beginning of the cup, and then tens of thousands of elite soldiers of the army were almost completely wiped out, and this Lord Qin seemed to be born to be a butcher's horn.

Now that the Qing Kingdom has sent him to mediate the military conflict between France and Vietnam, isn't this a lunch with jackals, maybe he will become a delicacy on the table! However, with the urgent call from China, he has no way out at all! Now for a little hope" turned out to be pinning hopes on France's old rivals, the British, France's sworn enemies, the Germans, and fortunately, there was also a French ally, the Russians.

The Bund in Shanghai, which is the deep imprint left by the British powers in this Oriental Pearl, is one of the symbols of the British Empire in the Far East, this is a British classical building, 3 floors of brick and wood structure, the exterior wall is inlaid with red bricks, Shanghai in this era is definitely a symbol of power and dignity of the high-end place.

On May 15, 1883, "a large number of British Marines appeared outside the Royal General Assembly to make a general tour of the perimeter of the Royal General Assembly, and today is the day when Britain, Germany, and Tsarist Russia agreed to mediate on the question of Vietnam."

In the luxurious chamber on the third floor of the Royal General Society, the host of the mediation, the British Minister to China, Sir Wittoma, was discussing the situation in the Far East with the German Minister to China.

The war in the Far East has upset the delicate balance in Europe.

After the Franco-Prussian War, the French Republic, which had been greatly injured after nearly ten years of licking wounds, coupled with the great harvest of foreign colonial wars, originally seemed to have recovered its vitality, and it seemed that the powerful French Navy, with 460,000 tons of warships, was second only to the 85 of the empire

million of the total tonnage of the battleship.

However, in the Far East war, more than 70,000 warships were lost before and after, close to one-sixth of the total tonnage of the French Navy, and what is even worse is that out of the importance of the interests of the Far East, one-third of the battleships built by France after 1870 and the three Palop-class armored cruisers that were built just last year were all lost in this seemingly disparity of strength.

Such a fiasco has caused a huge sensation in Europe, and the Qing fleet destroyed the confidence of the French army in the form of guerrilla warfare, thus achieving a "Nelson"-style complete victory in the final decisive battle" This undoubtedly marked the rise of this ancient oriental country in the navy, and obviously, it also marked a huge defeat in the strategic and tactical aspects of the French navy.

And the latest news has come that the newly established naval affairs yamen of the Qing State "announced a substantial expansion of the navy, and the German Volkeng shipyard is also about to deliver two 7,500-ton ironclad warships", which means that the Qing navy can maintain its super strength in the Far East for at least 10 years. ,

When it comes to the ironclad ships customized by the German Empire for the Qing Dynasty, Consul Schleier is obviously very interested, and the quality of the German warships has been fully displayed in the naval battles of the Far East.

In fact, this is not news for a long time, but in this matter, but Germany and the Qing Nanyang Naval Division have never made any positive response, and the achievements of the 501 ship in actual combat obviously mark the great achievements of German shipbuilding technology, which is not a good thing for the warship export country and the British Empire.

Since the outbreak of the Boer War in Africa two years ago, the British overseas colonies have begun to show some unusual movements, and for the first time the colonies have shown signs of independence, which is undoubtedly a bad sign for the colonial empire, and other signs of the Boer War have undoubtedly intensified the British Empire's anxiety about war.

What's more, in the First Boer War, which lasted only three months, the British Empire had absolute naval superiority, but its achievements in land warfare were really good, and in the three months of the war, the well-armed British ground forces suffered 100 times as many casualties as the Boers. This is undoubtedly a huge irony.

What's even worse is that in just three months of war, the British Empire paid a huge expenditure of up to 20 million British dollars, which is completely unbearable for the British Empire, which has just entered the thirteenth economic crisis, and Germany's participation in the competition in the military shipbuilding industry is undoubtedly bad news for the British Empire, whose shipbuilding industry fell by 6% last year.

Sir Wittuma immediately tactfully expressed to Sir Schleier that he wished to establish a relationship of mutual trust, especially in the Far East, and that Britain would support the expansion of Germany's sphere of influence in the Far East...... In fact, these are all empty promises, and for the Far East, which has been carved up completely, it is impossible for Germany to get a small island that can become a port!

The two sides repeatedly tested each other's intentions and bottom line, and after the last economic crisis, the German Empire and the United States began to show a trend of surpassing the old British Empire economically, which also made the British very uneasy" and the "Three Emperors Alliance" just signed, established a fragile balance in Europe, but gave the British Empire a chance to breathe.

At present, Sir Wittoma is well aware that the British cabinet is obviously unwilling to intervene in any dispute that has no interest, and that there is an important plan in the secret Far East that Britain is currently making1 is advancing, but this time it is affected by the Sino-French war, and there is a possibility of a stalemate, which is one of the reasons why he actively participates in mediation" He hopes to know some of the movements of the Qing government.

While the two ministers were talking, a third guest soon arrived: "The Minister of the Russian Empire to China, Bo Baifu, a haughty, strong middle-aged Slavic man, it stands to reason that the Russians were not enthusiastic about access to mediation in the past, but after the defeat of the French, they had already reaped the political benefits, which made the greedy Russian old man very tempted."

At present, Russia and the Qing government are negotiating on the ownership of the Irtysh River and the Zaisangbo region, and it is obvious that Lao Maozi wants to take the opportunity of this mediation to probe the attitude of the Qing side, so as to exert pressure in the subsequent negotiations, or to make a big mouth to get a vote.

Both John Bull and the Russian Bear are carrying out comprehensive expansion in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, which obviously has had a comprehensive impact on the development of the "British-dominated world balance of power" empire, and the current Russian Empire's encroachment on the northern part of the Qing Dynasty and its plan to establish ice-free ports in the northern territories of China have directly violated the interests of the British Empire in the Far East.

However, at present, the Russian Pacific Fleet has only two non-protected cruisers,

Two offshore gunboats and eight torpedo boats were not enough for the British Empire's Far East Fleet, so Sir Wittoma only had to pay close attention to the expansion of Russia's ambitions.

When the Imperial Russian Minister to China, Bo Baifu, walked into the chamber, greeted him with a few polite greetings, and immediately sat down opposite the two ministers with his attaché and interpreter, and joined them in their conversation, and the Slavs made it clear that he would be more than willing to cooperate with the two ministers as long as the interests of the Russian Empire were ensured.

On the basis of a common language, the three ministers communicated very harmoniously, and soon the French minister Delligu and the consul Frouno walked into the council hall with a stern expression, "Tlougou immediately pulled Sir Wittoma and Sir Schleier to the side to discuss, and Consul Frouno pulled his ally Bo Baifu to communicate." ,

The bell of the council hall slowly moved towards 9 o'clock, "It seems that the appointed time for negotiation will soon come, but the representative of the Qing Kingdom has not appeared for a long time, and the Slav Bo Baifu is obviously a little impatient, and asks Sir Wittoma, who convened this mediation meeting: "Mr. Minister, don't Qing pigs have a sense of time?" It won't be forgetting today's meeting! ”

After listening to the interpretation of the entourage, Wei Tuma made a helpless gesture and did not answer his question, but the German Minister Schleier next to him interjected, smiled, and said, "Minister Bo Bai Fu, this minister of the Qing Dynasty, Qin Kai, as far as I know, is not ......what you say."

Bo Baifu was obviously surprised that the German minister actually spoke for the yellow pig, and was about to open his mouth to refute two sentences, but he heard the sound of high-fives at the door, and a loud voice came: "Minister Bo Baifu, remember that the land under your feet is the country of China, but you speak ill of the master in the master's house, this is an extremely bad quality, as the master, I want to tell you very unceremoniously, the neighbor who is a thief steals the things of the master's house, and we will have to get it back sooner or later!" ”

The Slavs turned their heads and saw a young man in a Qing official uniform walking in at the door, behind him several young soldiers followed closely, and a half-old man in a strange official uniform just followed, who was walking slowly into the council hall at this moment, swaggering past in front of him, and did not even greet himself Such an arrogant Qing official, he had encountered it for the first time!

It made him feel insulted......

Naturally, it was Qin Kai who came, for this time the mediation of the three countries, he felt that the opportunity was good, and he did his best to deal with the affairs of the North of Vietnam, which was also what he wanted, and he had already got the news that Bōlo got from Paris, and the new policy formulated by the new French cabinet was to deal with the economic crisis that was intensifying, and the military bill for the colonial war, which required a lot of money, had been completely shot.

The new French Minister of the Navy is Théofère Auber, who is also a well-known figure, a well-known representative of the French "New School" ideology, "The growing economic crisis and the failure of the Far East strategy have made the budget of the French Navy constantly limited and squeezed."

After learning that the admiralty minister came to power, the system immediately realized that the French navy, known as the second in the world, had completely fallen into the disadvantage in the struggle with the empire on which the sun never set, and began to enter the so-called passive defense strategy.

If it weren't for the idiot middle-aged woman in the palace who ordered the signing of that idiot agreement, Qin Kai thought that within half a year to a year, taking the entire southern Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos regions would be a completely achievable goal.

But...... South Vietnam is not of much significance to itself at present, it is a plain rich in natural products, and the agricultural output value is good, but if the French ** team over there is defeated, I am afraid that the British will be eager to intervene, at that time, the Vietnamese government, which relies on puppets, is obviously unable to fight against it, take your time!

Qin Kai spoke fluent English and French and greeted the two ministers, as for his German, he was not fluent, but Schleier was an old acquaintance, and there was no problem in communicating, and at the end, he smiled and said to the Slavs: "OHCKONBKOCIIH3!" ”

At that time, Bo Baifu's face was blue, Minister Schleyer's Chinese was not bad, Russian was completely incomprehensible, and he hurriedly asked the Russian interpreter next to him, and the interpreter twisted for a while before turning this passage into a German translation for him: "Dare to love this great Qing Qincha to return to the Slavs that the Slavs are from thieves, you stole my family's silver" Another day let you recruit a broken son and grandson!"

Suddenly the Slavs almost showed signs of going violent, and several other ministers also had black lines on their faces, this Lord Qin really held a grudge, the Slavs scolded him for being a yellow-skinned pig, and he cursed people to cut off their children and grandchildren......

Sir Wei Shouma hurriedly signaled for the mediation meeting to begin, and pulled the Slavs into their seats, which resolved the "limb" movement that was about to erupt, but the scene was indeed extremely hot, the arrogant Slavs stared at this Qing official viciously, and Qin Kai also greeted him with his eyes without showing weakness, and stared at the goods until he turned his head! ,

Lao Maozi,, how much land has we gotten to you, Lao Tzu has crossed back, then there is revenge, this is a national revenge! Qin Kai sneered, thinking secretly in his heart!

With Sir Wittoma's opening remarks, the mediation meeting finally began!

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to settle the military conflict between Vietnam and France in the Ha Tinh area, the representative of the French side is the Minister to China, Mr. Tregu, and the representative of the Vietnamese side is the University Scholar Nguyen Thanh Van Von, and we hope that the two of us can negotiate amicably and restore the peaceful environment in the Far East!"

As soon as the words fell, Nguyen Thanh Van Vong, the designated plenipotentiary representative of the King of Vietnam sitting next to Qin Kai, had already taken out an official document, "Sir Wittoma, His Majesty the King of Vietnam has decided to annul the unequal treaty with France, and at the same time demand the recovery of the lands of the four provinces of South Vietnam that have been forcibly occupied by France. ”

Not to be outdone, the French consul Frunore immediately threw out a plan, demanding that the Vietnamese side fully implement the contents of the two Saigon treaties, restore the French concession in Haiphong and Hanoi, and at the same time allow French merchants to trade in North Vietnam, and must immediately withdraw from the Ha Tinh area.

However, due to the provisions of the "Sino-French New Treaty" just signed, neither China nor France is allowed to take the lead in sending troops to Vietnam, at this moment Frun also scolded from the bottom of his heart, when the treaty was formulated, why did he not expect that Vietnam Erwuzai would rise up against these Vietnamese Erwuzai, whether it is North Vietnam, or the natives of South Vietnam, they used to be obedient like Sun Tzu!

The treaty negotiated by the two sides and the expectations of the two sides were obviously too far apart, and the gap was too great, and after the dispute, Sir Wittuma adjourned the meeting for the time being.

Germany, Russia, and the Qing Dynasty made a sī suspension to reduce the conditions for negotiations between the two sides and obtain the possibility of reaching an agreement......

So Qin Kai was very depressed and bored to participate in the four-party talks, and there was a-for-tat old Maozi among them, but ...... We don't bother to pay attention to you, Schleier will be biased towards himself in most cases, of course, on the premise that it does not involve the interests of Germany, and as the only two major empires of this era, the British Empire and the Russian Empire, the British must be in opposition to the Slavs, so he doesn't care at all about getting angry with the Russian bear again......

At the test gun site of the Mawei Artillery Bureau, a giant cannon mounted on a retractable gun carriage is being test-fired, and more than a dozen artillerymen are from the navy, but the test guns in the gun factory are not like the steam-powered bomb machine on the warship, the 290 kg shell needs to be pushed over by a trolley, and then loaded with a special loading machine at the test gun field.

Nearly 600 pounds of test shells, is definitely a super big guy, after loading into the thick barrel, and then filled with the full amount of propellant, after closing the bolt, several artillery immediately hid far away into the underground bunker more than 30 meters away, only to pull the gun rope, only to hear the earth-shattering, "boom" a cannon sound! @。