As people know, Secretary of State John . Sherman had a cold and cruel brother who was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Southern civilians during the Civil War. General Sherman had no scruples in leading his corps in the organized and systematic destruction of the South; But Mr. Secretary of State seems to be in character...... Or that there is a degree of difference in the way things are handled from his brother, and therefore he is suspicious of sending troops to interfere in the coup d'état in China. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Mr. Qin, we all know that you are very good at predicting the future, so can you tell Mr. President and I whether the interference may trigger resistance and armed resistance among Chinese officials, military and civilians?" The secretary of state made a gesture, "If our military were to get involved in a war with the Chinese army and militia, it would mean a serious political defeat." ”

Qin Lang understood what he meant. The purpose of intervening in the coup d'état was to preserve the political position of the Guangxu Emperor and then reap the political and economic rewards, while the war would reduce or eliminate the expected gains, and eventually leave a almost untidy mess for the poor and stupid young man - but that was not possible.

"Your concerns are unwarranted and unwarranted, Mr. Secretary." He replied.

"Can you tell me your reasons, Mr. Qin?" Sherman was obviously not satisfied with Qin Lang's answer, which was too brief and lacked practical significance; His tone became stiff and he immediately defended himself, "At least my staff think that my fears have a good chance of becoming a reality." ”

"Mr. Secretary, may I ask who among your staff has ever been to China?" Qin Lang asked rhetorically.

The answer is clear. "Nope."

"So they're less likely to know about China, aren't they?" He smiled, "My personal opinion, if you want to figure out the China problem, you should find a Chinese as a staff member, Mr. Secretary of State." ”

"I'll remember that, Mr. Qin." Sherman nodded perfunctorily. Of course, how could he possibly have a Chinese as a staff member? And in the United States, it is undoubtedly very difficult to find a Chinese who can serve as a staff member, and perhaps the only option is Qin Lang - if he is really a China expert as others have mentioned many times.

The secretary wants to personally confirm the rumors he heard: "Now can you answer my question?" ”

"Of course." Qin Lang smiled more obviously, "The answer is simple, China is ruled by a feudal regime established by ethnic minorities, so it is more afraid of the civilian population at home to take over military power than the threat from Europe and the United States. ”

"You mean, if there is a militia in China, the Chinese government will eliminate it first?"

"Yes."

"Your opinion is clearly incorrect." "As we all know, in southern China, many militia forces have appeared, and they have not been wiped out by the Chinese army," Sherman stressed. ”

"That's true." "But that's the south, Mr. Secretary, and now we're talking about the north near the Chinese capital, right within the Emperor's sight, and a strong civilian military force will keep him awake all night." And if the emperor has insomnia, the ministers will have insomnia, and the local bureaucrats will also have insomnia. If they can't clean up this military force in time, they don't have to go on. ”

"And as far as I know, in the sixties, the then rebels ...... the 'Taiping Heavenly Kingdom', and one of its troops advanced to the vicinity of Tianjin, and then another rebel appeared in Shandong. Therefore, I believe Mr. Qin's statement that it is absolutely impossible for the Chinese government to have a new civilian military force in northern China. Roosevelt suddenly interjected and made a supplement to Qin Lang's speech.

Glancing at him gratefully, Qin Lang continued: "Not only that, but civilian military forces with official colors are also strictly prohibited. In the sixties, the Chinese government was forced to allow its ministers to train and command their own troops to fight against the rebels, and these ministers and their subordinates formed a group of warlords who controlled many provinces and further extended their influence to the central government. Her Majesty the Queen Mother and the noble ministers had spent many years cleaning up these warlord forces, and they would never want to see their efforts come to naught. ”

"So, my worries are really unwarranted and unnecessary?" Sherman asked reluctantly.

"That's true, Mr. Secretary." Qin Lang announced affirmatively.

Of course, he did not mention the Boxers, because there was no need. The Boxer Rebellion's activities lacked scale and aggression - according to secondary school history textbooks, its first attack on a church was in October 1898; But more importantly, there was no impetus for the Qing government to recruit the Boxers against Britain and the United States—there was not enough time to generate such a push.

In that period of history, which has become a parallel world history, almost two years passed between the imprisonment of Guangxu and the Qing government's decision to recruit the Boxers. This was enough time for the Manchu nobles, who were qualified, or whose sons were qualified, to become the new emperors to have irrepressible thoughts under the temptation of great power. For example, Duanjun Wang Zaiyi, he hopes that his son will replace Guangxu; And this hope was so strong that when the West opposed the idea, he became resentful and wanted to find a force to take revenge and push his son to the throne.

The strength he found was the Boxers.

But now the situation is completely different. The coup d'état had just taken place, and there was not enough time for anyone to come up with the idea of replacing Guangxu; Even if someone had already had such a thought, it would not be so strong as to push him to be desperate.

Therefore, the situation was still ideal, and when the intervention army landed in Tianjin, Cixi could only send a new army that had not yet completed its training to intercept it, but Yuan Shikai was not stupid enough to carry out such a crazy order; And in fact, without the instigation of the foolish ministers and the Boxer Rebellion, which seemed to be powerful, how could this old woman have the courage to declare war on the nations?

Whether she wants it or not, she can only unconditionally accept the conditions of Britain and the United States and release Guangxu.

Then, the first step in his plan was completed - yes, just the first step, and his whole plan was not so simple.

Qin Lang smiled and said at the same time: "Of course, if the government wants to encounter further resistance to the interference, I suggest that the State Department immediately ask the minister in China to protect the reformist officials who have escaped arrest, and let them ask the US government and the British government to intervene in the coup d'état in the name of the Chinese emperor." ”

"In the name of the Emperor of China?" Neither the president nor his officials could understand, "How?" ”

"Forged an order issued by the Emperor of China." Qin Lang said as a matter of course.

"Forgery?"

"China has a tradition of forging the emperor's orders, especially when the emperor is in trouble." He shrugged, "As long as the intervention is successful, no one cares if it's real or not." ”

Sherman thought for a moment. "So, if we protect a reformist official and have him forge such an order, will Chinese officials and the population accept our joint intervention with the British?"

Qin Lang was not ready to answer this question, because as soon as the Secretary of State's voice fell, Roosevelt preemptively answered: "Even if they don't accept it, what else can they do?" ”

But the secretary of state still looked at him seriously. Before Qin Lang arrived, the people in the office had already discussed this issue, and the opinion of the Deputy Minister of the Navy at that time was like this, but Sherman needed a better answer. The coup d'état in China was an important political action, not a deal with striking railroad workers, and the methods that Mr. Roosevelt had always emphasized would not work.

He needed an expert who knew China to give him another answer.

Qin Lang fulfilled his wish: "They will accept it." ”

Yes, they will accept, as Roosevelt said, and even if they don't, what else can they do? Sherman wanted to intervene successfully, but he wanted to ensure that the United States received all the expected benefits, presumably with minimal investment and to preserve America's international image, but as Lincoln said, "freedom is not without a price," and the same is true for reaping benefits, and no one can benefit from nothing.

Sherman's worries were unwarranted and unnecessary.

However, in Qin Lang's face and eyes, there was no change at all. He still just kept smiling, waiting for the next question to be answered.

This time it was Roosevelt. "I have a question, Qin. If...... I mean, 'if', when the situation requires your soldiers to fire at the Chinese army or civilians, will they carry out the order? Nothing else, except that I heard that many of your soldiers are Chinese. ”

The question was very scathing, but Qin Lang didn't think so. "They're mercenaries."

"That doesn't seem to be an answer."

"Actually, it is, Mr. Roosevelt. Mercenaries fight for money, not for anything else: faith, nation, nation, or world peace. If they refuse to carry out the order, it's because you didn't pay enough, that's all. After thinking about it, Qin Lang still didn't put Yuri. Orlov's famous quote - to the US president and government officials, "only arms dealers who sell weapons to attack their own country are truly international arms dealers"? The wrong place, the wrong person, the wrong speech, terrible.

Although this passage is really interesting.

Qin Lang didn't want to enter Washington's blacklist, and he didn't want the business that had been planned for a long time to fail at a critical moment, it was almost successful......

It has worked.

"Mr. Qin, now let's talk about the specific issue of the interference operation." William. McKinley announced the results. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )