Yi Shui walked into Edwin. H. Conger's beautiful little parlor when he saw Mahan, Claude. MacDonald[note] and Edward. Hobart. Seymour was there—the British minister and the fleet commander were whispering with Conger and the admiral about the minor troubles of the present encounter: the hesitant and uncooperative young emperor, the stubborn and overly power-loving queen mother, the timid aristocratic ministers, the reformist ministers who could not help anything, and the Germans, Russians, and Japanese who had suddenly jumped out to stir up trouble—and then they stopped abruptly. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

"What's the matter, Lieutenant Colonel?" Conger asked.

"I have a plan for all the troubles we're having right now." Yi Shui replied.

The American minister thought for a moment and nodded. "Very well, Lieutenant Colonel, let's get started."

Conger's answer surprised Yi Shui - he didn't even know what the plan was! "Let's do it", what a light and hasty answer, Yi Shui didn't know if Conger had confidence in him, or if he didn't care about what he thought at all - he couldn't succeed anyway. Perhaps that's what Mr. Minister thinks.

But in fact, Conger just knows Qin Lang's relationship with Washington and Wall Street too well, and at the same time, he understands the relationship between Yi Shui and Qin Lang. Easy Water Plans...... Perhaps it was not a plan of the Marine Corps lieutenant colonel at all, but Qin Lang's instructions, a decision of Washington and Wall Street. It certainly involves a very high level, belonging to a secret that only a few people are qualified to know, and cannot be talked about casually.

But MacDonald and Seymour are here.

Conger did not want the British minister and fleet commander to hear about Washington's secret plans, even though Great Britain was a partner of the United States; However, he could not separate MacDonald and Seymour without scruples, because Great Britain was a partner of the United States.

He secretly complained that the lieutenant colonel of the Marine Corps did not pay any attention to the inappropriate actions of the timing and occasion, and at the same time came up with a remedy in the shortest possible time: without asking anything, he just let Yi Shui carry it out.

Anyway, when the timing is right, he can still understand everything.

"Just do what you planned, Lieutenant Colonel." Conger added, "You are the finest Marine officer, and I have full confidence in you. ”

"It's weird." Yi Shui grunted in his stomach and shrugged his shoulders secretly. On the surface, of course, he did not react, but only gave a military salute to the two ministers and the commander of the fleet, and then turned and left.

Outside the Minister's residence, Thomas and Wendesi waited patiently. Seeing Yi Shui go in and out, they immediately gathered around him.

"Sir?" The squad commander asked.

"Inform Mr. Claude that he is ready to go." Yi Shui gave the order in a low voice, "Then cut off the telegraph line between Beijing and Tianjin." ”

"As you wish, sir."

Beijing.

“…… Do you all remember what you have to say? In a carriage, Claude, Hartmann, and Wang Zhen were making final preparations. Yesterday, they spent an evening discussing the plan, identifying each step and choosing what to say and what not to say. Everything was in place, but even so, Claude was not reassured.

He couldn't fully trust Hartman. Mr. Hartmann had a terrible record at the Viper Arms Company, with poor sales and frequent troubles, the only thing worth mentioning was that he maintained a fairly good relationship with Li Hongzhang, his family, and important subordinates, because Mr. Hartmann offered to provide security services when Li Hongzhang was assassinated in Japan.

Although the special service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was very dissatisfied with this - the guards he sent were all special services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, not ordinary mercenaries, and did not accept the command of him or Wang Zhen.

But it was only a minor flaw, so it was quickly ignored, no one noticed, no one brought it up again, and almost no one even knew about it.

But Claude knew, so he could still have a little faith in Hartman, otherwise the arms salesman's poor record would have made Claude kick him aside.

"But beware, Mr. Hartman, don't let me down."

"I won't let you down, Mr. Claude." Hartman solemnly assured. He was afraid of Claude, not just because he was the representative of Qin Lang and Yi Shui. In the Grand Viper Weapons Company, "Jack-of-all-trades" Claude is a well-known figure, graduated from the Annapolis Naval School, served in the Marine Corps, later worked as an engineer at the Navy Shipyard in Philadelphia, was fired and then worked as a military consultant at Umbrella, and finally was transferred to the Grand Viper to continue developing mortars...... His experience had made Hartman highly vigilant, and perhaps Mr. Claude was a hot gunman who preferred to solve problems with bullets rather than words, so it was undoubtedly extremely unwise to make him angry.

"I won't let you down, Mr. Claude." He was assured with the solemnity of a pastor serving his God.

Claude didn't warn anything more. He looked at Hartmann, then at Wang Zhen, and finally said to them: "Very good, one last confirmation, Mr. Morrison and I will go to the palace to meet the emperor, and Mr. Hartmann will go to the palace of His Royal Highness Prince Gong, and the king will be responsible for visiting Her Royal Highness the eldest princess." Are there any questions? ”

"Nope." The two answered together.

"Proceed, then, gentlemen, and good luck to you."

"Good luck." Hartman and Wang Zhen said, getting out of the carriage and boarding the other two carriages next to them, and then they set off separately.

The first target to meet him was Hartman. Not surprisingly, Prince Gong was obviously easier to contact than the Emperor or Princess Rongshou Gulun, but the conversation would be very brief—even though he was only sixty-four, His Royal Highness was too old and in poor health to have a long conversation with him, even if he wanted to.

Fortunately, there is no need for them to have a long talk.

Hartmann's mission is simply to deliver a message to Yixun. "Your Royal Highness, I have received a notification from Washington that Germany, Russia, and Japan have decided to send troops to China."

Yi Xun did not speak, he knew that the "American envoy" in front of him who had just offended the emperor because of his nonsense had not finished speaking, at least one point, what Germany, Russia and Japan were sending troops to China for, he did not say; But since he came to deliver the news, he must know what the purpose of those three countries is...... Or, know what the U.S. government thinks they are for.

But even with Yixun's political wisdom, it is impossible to guess that Hartman does not represent the US government, but Yi Shui. Therefore, what he was about to hear was also what Yi Shui was going to tell him.

"This is the latest news from a top-secret channel, Your Highness." Hartman went on to say, "The State Department believes that the purpose of sending troops is to take advantage of the current political tensions in China to take advantage of the situation and grab huge profits." And our spies have confirmed that the Russian Army stationed in Vladivostok is massing, and the target is likely to be ......" he thought about it, the word was a little unfamiliar, but finally remembered. "Sheng Jing."

"Oh." Yixun raised his eyebrows.

A nonchalant reaction. "What does His Royal Highness think?"

"The king has no opinion." Slowly, very calmly, "but it suddenly occurred to the king that Mr. Hartmann seemed to have done business." ”

"Yes, Your Royal Highness, I have been selling arms in China for the past three years. But in fact, I am a person with many identities, and the arms dealer is just one of them. Hartman smiled. Last night, Claude concocted a new identity for him, a spy for the State Department.

Mr. "Panacea" was confident that he could fool the past - there was no way for him to ask Washington for confirmation, and Washington would not give him an accurate answer, and in the end, he would not believe Washington's answer.

As long as Yixin believed that he was a spy, things would be easy, and he did. If you think about Mr. Hartman's sales performance, he could not have been an ordinary businessman, and every Western country has a tradition of using merchants and missionaries to gather intelligence.

He just didn't understand why Hartmann was making his identity public.

"Emergency, Your Highness." The arms salesman explained, "The government of the United States has always been committed to safeguarding China's territorial and sovereign integrity and protecting China's legitimate interests...... and he began to say some nonsense that even he himself would not believe, but Yixin just listened quietly, did not interrupt him, patiently waited for him to finish himself, and made his true purpose public: "...... The Government of the United States believes that the only way to stop Germany, Russia, and Japan is to end the present tensions as soon as possible and restore normal order in the country and society. ”

To put it simply, what the U.S. government wants to achieve is to reach an agreement with the emperor to force the Empress Dowager to surrender power before Germany, Russia, and Japan send troops, and then declare the crisis over, so that the three countries lose the reason to send troops and share the high rewards with Britain.

Perhaps this is also the hope of the British government.

But they were reluctant to come forward themselves, so they asked Hartmann to bring information, hoping that I would come forward to persuade the emperor to accept their offer - cunning foreign devils. Yixun sneered and told Hartman with his eyes that he had seen through the purpose of Washington and London.

Hartman gave Yixun a calm look in return. Of course, he has seen through it, but what's the point? The Russians are ready to occupy Shengjing, and as long as he believes the news, or half-believes, he will have to play the role of lobbyist and have no choice. Wang Zhen explained the reason, Prince Gong could never afford to lose Shengjing, and no Manchu nobleman could bear such a responsibility, not even the emperor. He had to convince the emperor, and at the same time the emperor had to compromise.

And Mr. "Jack-of-all-trades" also prepared a suitable step for him.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, on behalf of the Government of the United States of America, I have the honour to express my gratitude to Easter. Hartman's most sincere apologies for the unhappiness and anger he has caused you. As he spoke, Claude bent his waist to ninety degrees, bowed deeply to Emperor Guangxu on his seat, and cursed the Japanese indignantly: "How can these monkeys invent such an exaggerated and extremely difficult etiquette?" ”

Bending down and bowing 90 degrees, he might as well choose to kneel down in terms of the difficulty of the movement alone—of course, a citizen of the free world cannot bow so lowly.

Claude straightened up and waited for the Emperor to speak.

"Mr. Claude, I think that your government should send a well-educated gentleman as a plenipotentiary envoy, like you, instead of a rude and impudent businessman." Guangxu looked serious, still looking a little annoyed. But in fact, he is just used to putting on such a face, but deep down he is very happy.

To the best of his knowledge, no country had ever sent an emissary to formally apologize for another emissary's offending behavior since the Daoguang Dynasty, and Claude's gesture satisfied the young emperor's vanity slightly, though the Americans still did not kneel before him.

Guangxu let himself be comfortably happy for a moment, and then announced, "I accept your sincere apology on behalf of your government, Mr. Claude. But," he paused, then asked, "Did your government send you to China just to apologize to me?" ”

"As you might expect, it is not, Your Majesty." Claude bowed again, of course, not at ninety degrees this time, otherwise he would have screamed in frustration. "Another task I have on my shoulders is to explain to His Majesty matters relating to the two railways."

"Explain?" At the mention of railways, a little smile on Guangxu's face immediately disappeared - although it had not reached the point of deep hatred, he did not want to hear them either. "I don't understand, Mr. Claude, what else is worth explaining about that matter."

"Your Majesty, judging from your attitude, I do need to explain. Apparently, Mr. Morrison and Hartmann did not make things clear. Claude said, turning a blind eye to the embarrassed and angry expressions of the British journalists around him.

The Emperor did not see it either. "How?"

"At the outset I must clarify that my Government and the Government of Great Britain have no intention of forcing His Majesty to surrender the right to build railways unconditionally, but that our primary purpose is to build two railroads for commercial operation......"

Claude felt that he was a genius, and that Qin Lang and Yi Shui had given him only a few bits and pieces, but he was able to combine them into a tempting lie: the U.S. and British governments didn't want to occupy the two railroads – but demanded the right of way – they just wanted to unite the Chinese government and French commercial agencies to build a commercial railroad operated by four countries, make a profit together, and then divide the profits according to their respective share of the railroad companies......

In other words, China only needs to pay a small amount of sovereignty to enjoy huge returns for decades to come.

Or business.

But for Guangxu, Claude's explanation was more acceptable than Hartman's, at least without damaging his glory and face, and it also allowed him to see a key point that neither Hartmann nor Morrison showed him: money.

He was able to make a lot of profit on this deal...... Fund. This is what he urgently needs, the reform movement needs countless funds, and the unpredictable high investment, otherwise Tan Sitong would not have come up with that crazy idea. But now, the United States and Britain have solved his problem.

Guangxu was happy, but he still had to pretend. "Let me think about it."

Claude didn't rush him, and it wouldn't be long before he agreed. Judging from the time, Hartmann has conveyed that "secret" to His Royal Highness Prince Gong, but this is not all, Wang Zhen should also complete his job......

It's actually a little bit close.

"Are you a comprador? Working in a foreign company? Princess Rongshou Gulun carefully examined the gift that Wang Zhenjin had given her, and at the same time looked at the young man who claimed to be a comprador in a foreign company out of the corner of her eye. She had heard of this person, as the eldest daughter of Prince Gong Yixun, and was blessed by the Empress Dowager, she had her own sources, and Wang Zhen had some dealings with Li Hongzhang and his cronies, so she knew him.

Therefore, Wang Zhen was able to ask to see her, and he was able to open the joints in a very short time - of course, at this point, money is always more important than face.

It's the company's money anyway.

Putting away his smugness a little, Wang Zhen replied, "Yes, Your Highness." ”

"You have something important to ask me to tell the emperor?"

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"What's the matter?" Not caring at all why he didn't look for anyone else, but deliberately found herself, and she asked the most critical question straightforwardly.

"The villain has just returned from Tokyo, Japan, with a very urgent message." Wang Zhen said cautiously, partly camouflage, but partly true, "Japan is gathering troops, and some of them have already boarded ships, and the destination is said to be Weihaiwei." ”

"Orientals?" Her Royal Highness the Celestial Princess seemed taken aback by the news, "What do they want to do?" ”

"According to the news inquired by the villain in Japan, the Japanese are ready to take advantage of the current conflict between the emperor and the queen mother, and station troops in Weihaiwei, waiting for the opportunity to capture Liaodong."

Just like her father, Princess Rongshou Gulun couldn't sit still.

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Note: Claude. MacDonald, that is, Sir Dou Nale, British Minister (to be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )