"What does that mean?" No matter how smart Li Hongzhang is, he can't figure out why he can't buy a new ship to win, but after buying a new ship, he will be in danger of defeat

I saw Li Hui smile slightly, "The reason is very simple, we are not the only ones who have the money to buy new ships, the Japanese can also buy new ships, and they have much more money in their hands than us." Although the losses in the previous Toshima fiasco were not small, the Japanese were likely to be proud of the enemy and thought that they had won the victory, and in this case, even if the Japanese Navy added new ships, its strength and investment would inevitably be limited. But if we buy new ships, the Japanese Navy will have reason to ask the cabinet for more appropriations, and we can strengthen our strength by buying new ships, but if the Japanese buy more and better warships, especially ironclad giant ships, it will be difficult to predict the future war situation."

"What a 'show of weakness'!" , Li Hongzhang praised after hearing this, he is now more and more appreciative of the young man in front of him, even if he doesn't care about those professional knowledge, just his insight and overall situation are enough to take on a big responsibility, why is he not the material for being an official?

Li Hui did not know what Li Hongzhang was thinking at this time, and he continued to add, "Of course, if the Japanese government finally buys new ships and invests enough to reverse the balance of power between the two sides, then we will have to buy ships." But even so, it is more advantageous to buy later than to buy first, you must know that there is also a situation of mutual restraint between different types of ships, if the Japanese buy first, we can choose the most suitable type of ship when we buy a ship, and we can receive twice the result with half the effort."

"It's not that easy, since the imperial court declared war on Japan, the powers of Europa have refused to sell weapons to me on the grounds of neutrality, and if I hadn't listened to your advice to stop buying torpedo boats, then I am afraid that there are still a few torpedo boats that will be detained by them for the same reason. Now Beiyang can only turn to a few countries for help to buy ships, and it would be good to be able to buy good ships without any problems, where can you pick and choose the right type of ship! Li Hongzhang shook his head and sighed helplessly.

"You can buy from the 'venture capital company', they also have warships for sale there, and all types of ships are available", Li Hui's face changed as soon as he spoke, because Li Hongzhang's gaze suddenly became extremely sharp, and he sneered at him in a gloomy tone that he had never heard before, "Hehe, a 'company' that even has warships to sell, it is really an eye-opener for the old man, tell me, what other commodities do they have?" Dongyang, what is your relationship with them? ”

"Oops, Lao Li really doubted it!" , Li Hui was suddenly shocked into a cold sweat, he knew very well that if his answer could not withstand scrutiny, it was estimated that Lao Li would drop the cup and take himself down. However, Li Hui immediately thought that Lao Li would not be able to kill himself on the spot no matter what, and he had the two killer skills of the system and the biochemical army, even if he was imprisoned, it would not be difficult to get out, so he quickly regained his composure and replied calmly, "I just have some personal relations with Fan Ming, he is a very snobbish person, and he basically broke off contact after he developed, if it weren't for my blue eyes in Zhongtang, he might not have contacted me again." If it's what you think, I wouldn't have been so depressed since I was in the first place."

Li Hongzhang thought about it, if Li Hui and the venture capital company really had the kind of connection he was worried about, he would not have been so depressed that it would be a problem to eat, even if the contact was cut off for a while, Li Hui's situation should improve quickly after he entered the Tianjin Machinery Bureau, and there was no need to wait until the enlightenment attracted the attention of the above. However, although he was a little at ease, Li Hongzhang still couldn't let go of the vast magic power of venture capital companies, "What kind of company is this, how can it even have warships, and there are all kinds of ships?" At first, the old man thought that they were just a powerful but low-key foreign company, selling arms just as an intermediary, but now it doesn't seem to be like it! ”

"It seems that if you don't give a reasonable explanation, Lao Li's suspicions will be difficult to dispel, but fortunately, I was prepared." , Li Hui replied after a few words in his heart, "When I met Fan Ming, he hadn't entered this company yet, so I don't know the details very well, but they almost sold arms to me at cost price Beiyang, this is definitely not a normal business activity, there must be Taixi powers behind them, and there may be more than one."

Li Hongzhang suddenly frowned, as long as it involved the Western powers, he couldn't be cautious, and after a while, he spoke again, and asked Li Hui, who had obviously not finished speaking, "What does Dongyang mean?" ”

"Today is the hegemony of the United Kingdom, but the emerging United States and Germany are rising rapidly, but given the overwhelming strength of the United Kingdom, especially the powerful Royal Navy, they do not dare to openly oppose Britain for the time being, but even so, as long as there is an opportunity to make Britain suffer a dark loss, the two countries will not let go. Long before the Sino-Japanese War really started, the great powers had already predicted this, since Britain had chosen to support Japan", Li Hui was only halfway through his words, and was rudely interrupted by Li Hongzhang, who was shocked.

"It can't be! How could the British Empire support Japan? Hurd assured me that the British government would try to mediate," Li Hongzhang exclaimed, almost hysterically, and he gave almost every reason he could think of, and in his mouth Britain was as great, bright, and just as a legendary saint

Li Hongzhang is not a three-year-old child, how can he be so naïve? For Li Hongzhang, who is extremely afraid of the Western powers, especially the world hegemon Britain, Britain supports Japan's war against China, how can this battle be fought?

Li Hongzhang, who didn't dare to imagine such a terrible situation, could only act as an ostrich and deceive himself into finding various reasons to comfort himself

Seeing Li Hongzhang's ugly state, Li Hui couldn't help but sigh deeply in his heart, in fact, even during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, China was still full of talents, but because of the fiasco in foreign wars again and again, except for the more stupid "ignorant and fearless", other Chinese people generally lost their self-confidence in front of foreigners.

It is not an isolated case like Li Hongzhang, who can call the wind and rain at home, but is frequently fooled by foreigners like he has been hit by the halo of the mentally handicapped, but it is almost the general situation of the Chinese elite at this time, and if history has not changed, this situation will continue for nearly half a century, and even into the 21st century