"An arms treaty that has not gone through war is only a build-up for the next war or military race." ――

Wellington: Wellington, the "Iron Duke" who defeated Napoleon, said when the world powers and sub-powers signed the "Eleven Nations Agreement on the Limitation of Armaments and the Tonnage of Warships" in 1849.

The arms race between the world's great powers, which began in 1845, was supposed to be triggered by China's first use of ironclad ships and breech-loading rifles on the battlefield. The signing of arms treaties in 1849 and the years that followed, however, somewhat dampened this frenzy. By 1859, the treaty had expired, but the countries had completed it more or less gradually, and there was no race to escalate the armaments.

However, in 1877 this frenzy began to surge again, and this time it was the Chinese Empire that was to blame. In 1877, the first batch of warships were launched and outfitted, 8 Qin-class battleships, 11 Hangzhou-class large cruisers, 10 Shaoxing-class medium cruisers, and 17 Shangyu-class small cruisers, which would replace the main warships of the Wuyang Navy's six fleets in the next five months. According to the calculations of the Admiralty, this means that the six fleets of the Empire's Four Oceans Navy must be retired or sold in the next four to six months, 3 Western Zhou-class, 3 Dongzhou-class, 25 Chengfeng and Wave-breaking classes, and so on (some ships are transferred to the garrison fleet or coastal defense system, and some are entered into local naval museums).

Of course, the Navy will not let these warships retire them, so they can only be sold to other countries (decommissioning means that they will eventually be dismantled, and the Navy officers and sailors still have feelings for these partners).

Sell it to whom? Don't worry about this, the South Pacific War has just ended, and South American countries have less hands on the hard guy. In addition, the Ottoman Sultan was also interested in wanting two Eastern Zhou class. Italy, the loyal younger brother of the Empire, also wanted to have an Eastern Zhou-class, even if their own shipbuilding industry was not weak.

In August 1877, with the support of the Neo-Ottomans, Sultan Abdul Hamid II ascended the throne, and the newly enthroned sultan once again made clear to the Chinese Empire his intention to buy ships, and the sultan was anxious for a reason, because the tenth Russo-Turkish war was imminent. (Historically, on April 24, 1877, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire.) What is different from history in Russia today is that there is a discussion at the top of the Russian hierarchy about whether to go to war or not. Is it time for a war? What is the attitude of Britain and France? These are the reasons for their hesitation, after all, the lessons of the Crimean War are still there, and China has recently become very close to the Ottomans, and the attitude of the Chinese Empire towards Russia at that time is also something that Russia will have to consider now.

"Guys, I want to know what I think of this Ottoman affair? Shall we sell the battleship to them? Li Hongzhang sat on the sofa and threw questions to the cabinet ministers.

For a while, everyone didn't speak, they were all thinking about this problem, this question is not simple, Russia and Turkey have not yet declared war, but the situation is becoming increasingly tense, and no one knows what the result of the empire's sale of ships to the Ottomans at this time will be.

"Bowen, you are mainly concerned about the European side in diplomacy, tell me what you think!" Yang Litong is now the auxiliary minister, and he has been dealing with domestic affairs with Li Hongzhang recently, and he thinks that this fellow who is in charge of European affairs will have some unique ideas of his own.

Mu Bowen knew that this was the teacher creating an opportunity for himself, and he said: "From my understanding of European and Romanian affairs over the years, Russia and Turkey have fought nine Russian-Turkish wars before they are feuding. This time it should be the tenth, but now the Russians are still hesitating, they are worried that our attitude with Britain and France will not be on the side of the Ottomans as in the last war. Recently, news came from the embassies in Europe, and the Russian ambassadors frequently entered and exited the official residences of the British and French governments, obviously inquiring about the views and attitudes of the British and French. As soon as either of Britain and France expressed a clear intention, the war would begin. The Russian ambassador also came to me and wanted to buy our warships, but he meant that the empire would better not help us this time, and they would help us digest the retired warships. ”

"Then who do you think the empire should help this time?" Li Hongzhang asked.

"According to the current diplomatic posture of the Empire, we are currently biased towards the Ottomans, and in order to maintain the balance of the situation on the European continent, we must unswervingly support the Ottoman Empire this time." The conversation was a burst of ear-to-ear exchange.

"Tell me your reasoning?" Wei Yuan, the eldest auxiliary minister, spoke: "Yes sir, first, I think that the Ottomans are the only object that the empire can be allies in Europe. No matter how supportive and firm Italy and Spain are of the Empire, they are still Europeans, and if their government is unable to suppress the people's signs, there are only two outcomes: the consciousness will collapse, and the second is to completely dissociate themselves from us, and I think they will choose the latter. And the Ottomans will not have been the challenger and destroyer of Europe for centuries, both military and religious. After taking a sip of water, he continued, "Second, one of the main reasons for the Russo-Turkish crisis is the ethnic situation in the European territory of the Ottoman Empire, and Russia put pressure on the Ottomans under the banner of "saving the Christians under the oppression of the Turkish Empire" and "protecting the Slavic brothers". We can quite assumed that this was an Ottoman affair and that Russia was interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. Third, Russia has also carried out reforms over the years, although in my opinion it has not had much effect, but its national strength has indeed increased a lot, and even after Russia lost Siberia, it is still the largest country on the European continent, and the Ottomans are the only country that can compete with them, in order to contain Russia, it is imperative to support the Ottomans in order to stabilize Europe. Russia was not the only one with Balkan ambitions, and Austria-Hungary was also peeking into Balkan territory. As long as the Ottomans could keep the Balkan territories he currently controlled, he would be able to contain the two European powers. Gentlemen, these are my opinions. After Mu Bowen finished speaking, he sat down nervously and waited for everyone's comments.

"I think it makes a lot of sense. I suggest that you can consider the idea of a blog post. The first to speak was Mu Bowen's immediate boss, Foreign Minister Guo Songtao.

"I have no problem supporting the Ottomans, but given the current situation in the Balkans, it seems that it will be difficult for the Ottomans to control their vassal states anymore," said Peng Yulin, who was then the chief of staff of the empire.

"What is the opinion of the Imperial Staff?" Li Hongzhang looked at Peng Yulin.

"According to the information obtained by the General Staff and the current situation, the possibility that the Ottoman Empire now wants to continue to control its territory in Europe is very low, and Russia's Crimean War of 1853~1856 has made itself lose face and prestige and influence in the Balkans, and it needs to find an opportunity to return to the Balkans and restore everything that was original, this is definitely a rare opportunity for them. We believe that war is more likely. ”

"Do we need to send troops to help the Ottoman Empire suppress the rebellion? Egypt is very close to there, and if necessary, I can transfer the Egyptian garrison and the Foreign Legion. "Colonial Minister Liu Kunyi asked a very idiotic question. Send troops to Europe? This question has been thought about by the General Staff, but it can easily touch the nerves of Europeans. An Egyptian fleet has made the Mediterranean countries feel uncomfortable, and then send troops to set foot on European soil, and then the whole of Europe will oppose it, and now the "yellow peril theory" in Europe is already spreading, and Lin Hong does not want to stir up the racial sentiment of the whole Europe.

"Nope! We don't need to send troops, we just need to sell the decommissioned warships to the Ottomans, as long as we make our attitude clear, Britain and France have not yet expressed their position that it is better for us to preemptively support the Ottomans, and then the Ottoman vested interests France will definitely follow us, then the attitude of the British will be dispensable, and the Russians will definitely retreat in the end. The war should have been contained, without the Russians intervening in the Balkans, the trouble would not have been so happy, and the Ottomans would still be able to control the Balkans. So what we have to do now is to quickly implement the arms purchase to give the strongest support to the Ottomans. "It was Zheng Qi, a veteran of the Empire, the current Speaker of the Upper House of Parliament, the former Governor of the Empire's East African colonies, and the Count of Mogadishu.

Zheng Qi's words made Li Hongzhang's heart light up, now is indeed the best time, taking advantage of the fact that Britain and France have not yet expressed their preemptive support for the Ottomans, at least not so that the Russians can reap the benefits from the Ottomans again.

"Okay, what the old gentleman said makes a lot of sense, I think that's what I did?" War Minister Zuo Zongtang was the first to support.

"I also think it's good, and besides, the Ottomans' bid for this ship purchase is not low!" This was said by Navy Minister Shen Baozhen.

Seeing that everyone seemed to think this way, Li Hongzhang decided: "Yunxian, immediately send a report to the British and French ambassadors to express our attitude, Bowen contacted the Ottoman ambassador to implement the purchase of ships, and sent a peace warning to Russia to let them be honest." ”

"No problem!" Mu Bowen replied that he felt that his tone was brisk.

"I think so! That's not enough. I suggest that this time it is not a decommissioned ship, has it not been decided? We will decommission the Egyptian fleet closest to the Ottomans first, and then sail to the Ottomans to hand them over, and I think that in order to ensure that these warships can be used well and converted into Ottoman strength, we can help the Ottomans pilot these warships in the form of mercenaries, and then evacuate when the tension is over or the Ottomans have enough naval officers and men to accept our men. This is a suggestion made by Shen Baozhen.

"It's a good idea, I think it's very feasible, and I recommend it. In addition, the army can conduct an exercise in Omsk to deter the Russians," Yang Litong immediately reacted and said.

"Very good, then do it! Don't miss the opportunity. "Li Hongzhang's idea is very timely