Qin Lang didn't explain to Yi Shui why and how blind patriots would lead the country to a dead end—it would take too much time and energy, and they were exactly what he lacked right now. The situation www.biquge.info was not entirely under his control, and the expected coup d'état broke out suddenly—the day after he spoke with Yi Shui, news came from Beijing that the Empress Dowager Cixi, who had the support of diehard nobles and boxers led by Duanjun Wang Zaiyi, had put the Guangxu Emperor under house arrest, and at the same time arrested some of the reformist ministers and wanted the remaining ones nationwide.

Of course, these are relatively early news, at least seven days late. Frustratingly, it was impossible for the latest news to reach Canton Bay in time: the news that arrived at the same time as the outdated news that was easily overlooked by ordinary people was that the boxers in the Zhili area were wantonly sabotaging the telegraph line, causing the message to not be delivered properly.

"The destruction of telegraph lines and the severance of communications prevented the Reformers from keeping abreast of the situation in the capital and therefore unable to take the right action against the coup. It has to be said that this is a very clever tactic. Chen Tianhua commented. Everyone can see that although he doesn't like the fighters, he likes their strategy.

Zhang Shaozeng, Wu Luzhen and Lan Tianwei shouted in agreement.

"You're overestimating those boxers," Yi Shui sighed, "and they didn't sabotage the telegraph lines because they knew tactics, but because they hated everything in the Western world - of course, although it wasn't their intention, the actions of the boxers did achieve what you thought was a tactical goal. ”

"Is that so?" Several people were surprised.

"I know a little bit about boxers." Yi Shui replied, but did not explain in depth - because it could not be explained. According to Qin Lang's instructions earlier, the company's military advisers in the Beiyang New Army had collected a lot of information about the Boxers, but it was best not to let others know about this kind of thing.

Especially a few of them in the office. Their identities are too sensitive, and although some of the company's secret operations will still end up being decrypted from them, or they may discover it themselves, for now, these secrets must be kept strictly guarded and not leaked a little. Otherwise, Qin Lang would have to re-select a group of worthy of cultivation as new agents.

There is no doubt that Yishui does not want that to happen.

He could only say nothing. Fortunately, no one asked, Zhang Shaozeng, Wu Luzhen and Lan Tianwei were soldiers, and their minds were full of military issues; And Chen Tianhua is too young to think sharply enough. Only Zhang Binglin and Bi Yongnian were able to detect the problem, but both of them remained silent.

Yi Shui didn't fully know what Zhang Binglin was thinking. This well-known nationalist scholar is already quite good at hiding his thoughts, and it is difficult for others to see through them, and Yi Shui can only feel that he gloates a little. In contrast, Bi Yongnian's emotions are easy to see on his face: anger, frustration, and disappointment.

Bi Yongnian was an important member of the Restoration, and even though he was gradually turning away from his past comrades and causes, what was happening still seriously hurt his feelings.

Yi Shui understood him, but only that. After all, it wasn't just the die-hard feudal aristocracy and the old-fashioned bureaucracy that the reformers came up with to provoke anger, he was also so angry that he almost wanted to shoot them. It was for this reason that he never opposed Qin Lang's plan to eradicate the reformers.

Thinking of this, Yi Shui turned his gaze to Qin Lang. He was perusing an urgent telegram from Washington, which had just been delivered to his office. What made Yi Shui feel confused and incomprehensible was that Qin Lang's face was full of distorted and strange smiles. It was also the first time it appeared on his face.

"What's going on?" Yi Shui asked.

"The State Department has asked us to immediately send a force to Beijing." Qin Lang focused his gaze on a certain text on the telegram, and read it loudly and slightly mockingly: "One hundred thousand urgent, immediately send troops to Beijing, even if there is only one battalion." ”

"What's going on?" Or the question, "What the hell is going on that the State Department is so desperate for us to send troops to Beijing?" ”

"Would you believe me if I told you that the President and the State Department were very desperate to save His Majesty the Guangxu Emperor from disaster?" Qin Lang asked rhetorically, as if he was joking, but as if he wasn't.

Yi Shui hesitated for a moment. "Nope."

"Of course, I wouldn't believe it either." Qin Lang shrugged, threw the telegram aside, and then changed to a more comfortable position in his chair before finally formally answering Yi Shui's question: "The reason why Washington is so anxious is because Vice Admiral Seymour of the Royal Navy has already led three thousand soldiers to Beijing, and at the same time, London is discussing with Tokyo about forming a coalition army, and Germany, France, and Russia are also gathering troops. ”

"You're kidding!" Yi Shui almost screamed. Bad news one after another, the British army, the Anglo-Japanese coalition, more Western armies...... Zaiyi and those conservative aristocratic ministers, as well as the boxers they relied on, really stabbed the hornet's nest...... However, how can Western countries be so active?

"I don't understand, when did His Majesty the Emperor become so popular?" He wanted to know.

The same goes for several others.

Qin Lang shook his head slowly. "It's not His Majesty's problem, he's just a suitable excuse." As if noticing the bewilderment of several other members of the audience, he explained: "Boxers and troops have surrounded the embassy district in Beijing, and there is information that some Western diplomats and civilians have been attacked......

"Is this true?" Yi Shui intended him. The news made him nervous, and if Western diplomats and civilians were killed by boxers or even Qing soldiers, then the problem would not be as simple as stabbing a hornet's nest - it would turn into a formal war between Western countries and China.

And Japan......

"Most can't be confirmed. Only the first secretary of the Japanese embassy was able to determine the death, and he was chopped into several pieces at the train station. ”

"Hitoshi Kuroshima?" It was just out of instinct that Yi Shui came up with the name.

"I wish it was him. Regrettably, however, the deceased is said to have the surname Sugiyama. Qin Lang shrugged. Some seem destined to die in an event, such as Sugiyama Bin - Qin Lang is almost certain that he was the first secretary of the Japanese embassy who died - in another history, he died at the hands of boxers; This time, he still died at the hands of boxers, and nearly two years earlier. He should have given up his chance to Ren Kuroshima.

However, since he had gone to God...... Oh, it's Amaterasu, so Qin Lang had no choice but to put the unlucky Mr. Sugiyama aside and focus his energy on more realistic aspects.

For example, the new problem of easy water. "How could the British unite with the Japanese?"

"Yi Shui, haven't you noticed that the U.S. influence in China is expanding too rapidly?" Of course, this is his credit. Qin Lang smiled, "Coupled with the Russians that the British have already noticed, London will do everything in its power to prevent Washington and St. Petersburg from continuing to expand in the East and affect its own interests, and in the whole game, Japan is the best choice to attack the opponent." ”

"Because, if Japan intends to expand, the United States and Russia are the enemies it must address first?"

"Correct. By the way, Britain could also take advantage of Japan's confrontation with the United States and Russia to weaken and control this ambitious henchman, so that it would eventually be incapable of challenging Great Britain's interests in the Far East. ”

Of course, history did not develop exactly as British politicians expected, but who could see what would happen in the future when they made the decision to form an alliance with Japan? Even at that time, Britain had illusions about Germany, wishing to unite the country against the alliance between France and Russia - but World War I was a war between Great Britain, France, and Russia against Germany and Austria-Hungary, while Italy, another member of the Central Powers, joined the Entente.

London's strategy is very good, unfortunately, it doesn't know where the world is going, but Qin Lang knows it very well. In the new round of the game, he still has the initiative.

His fingers began to tap rhythmically on the tabletop.

Yi Shui furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you happy about? The situation seems bad, and your plan to weaken Japan's economic capacity by controlling cotton sales may fail. ”

"Not really, easy water." Qin Lang said with a smile, "Britain's alliance with Japan will only accelerate Japan's decline." And Washington is already on the alert. ”

"How?"

"When I traveled east last year to discuss the railroad plan with Morgan, I warned Washington." Of course, this is a secret -- so secret that only a very small number of people know about it, and even Harriman and Bush have not been informed of it. Qin Lang continued to knock on the table, "Otherwise, how could Washington get the news of the British and Japanese plans to form an alliance so quickly?" ”

"You ......" Yi Shui didn't know how to comment. Accusing Qin Lang of concealing his activities? I'm afraid no one has the qualifications to do this yet. After thinking about it, he felt that it would be more appropriate to continue discussing the situation in Beijing. "Well, Britain has sent three thousand soldiers and is forming an alliance with Japan, so Washington asks us to immediately send troops to Beijing to resolve the crisis between what the British and the Japanese have done?"

"Basically, that's right." Qin Lang nodded, and continued, "But there is still a mission, our troops need to search for and rescue Vice Admiral Seymour. ”

"What?"

"He became the 'gone' general."

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Note: Seymour's surname is Seymour, when the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded China, due to his slow action, Hurd gave him the nickname see.no.more (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.) )