Berlin, Germany.

The Qing Legation is a rented typical German-style building with a dark and quaint façade.

The Qing envoy to Germany was a man named Zeng Dawei, who studied in Germany in his early years and was very familiar with German culture and language. After Li Hongzhang's promotion, he was appointed as the German minister. At this moment he hurriedly walked out of the minister, his face full of excitement. He had just received a notice from the German Foreign Office that Lieutenant General Wadsey, the director of German needs and deputy chief of the general staff of the German team, was finally free to see him.

Wadsey is the successor personally selected by the German marshal Moltke Sr., and he is given full authority to handle all the affairs of the chief of the general staff, so Wadsey has actually mastered the chief of the general staff of the German ** team.

During the Sino-French war for nearly a year, Zeng Dawei repeatedly asked to see Wadsey, in order to let Germany release the four large warships that had been built, "Dingyuan", "Zhenyuan", "Jiyuan", and "Weiyuan", of which "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" had a displacement of 7,400 tons. And now I finally meet myself.

After getting on the carriage, Zeng Dawei had completely calmed down, which was the basic quality of a good diplomat, and he had already learned the news of the great victory of the Great Shimizu Division in the South China Sea, because he could probably guess the reason why Wadsey asked to see him.

The contradictions between France and Germany have never been resolved, and the Germans are naturally willing to do what they want to do to weaken the French without paying for themselves, but how to convince the Germans to send warships back to their homeland, otherwise the four ironclad ships will not be able to pass through the Mediterranean, which is heavily defended by the French. It all depends on himself, Zeng Dawei suddenly felt that the burden on his body was not light.

When Zeng Dawei saw Wadsey, he was waiting for him at the door of the office, which made Zeng Dawei a little flattered, usually these foreigners always held their heads high when they saw themselves as if they didn't see themselves, and now they actually stood at the door to greet him, Zeng Dawei quickly felt the reason.

"Mr. Ambassador, I'm really sorry, I was too busy a while ago, and I haven't been able to meet you all the time, this time we want to have a good chat." Wadsey said with a smile on his face.

Zeng Dawei replied respectfully: "Your Excellency, please don't say I'm sorry, I feel very honored to meet you. ”

Zeng Dawei's polite attitude made a very good impression on Wadsey, and soon they got into the subject.

"I am very angry to hear that your vassal country, Vietnam, has been invaded by the French, and those Gauls are always so greedy, but my country is unable to provide assistance to your country because of its neutrality, and I am very sorry to arrive at it, but fortunately your country has won successive victories, and I am glad for your country."

"Your Excellency the Superintendent doesn't need to appreciate it, it's just that although my country has won several victories, it has also suffered a lot of losses, and it urgently needs to be replenished with new warships.

"Haha, of course that's fine. Tomorrow you can send someone to receive those four warships. ”

"No, no, no," Zeng Dawei shook his hand again and again: "Your Excellency, you also know how tight the French blockade in the Mediterranean Sea is, and it is impossible for our warships to pass through there. Therefore, we hope that your country will send seafarers to return these four ironclad ships to our country as merchant ships. ”

"That's right......," Wadsey muttered, grimacing, and did not speak.

Zeng Dawei took the hot railway: "Your Excellency, you also know the hatred of the French towards your country, and our country is fighting against the French, there is an old saying in our country, the enemy of the enemy is your friend, as long as your country can send these four ironclad ships back to our country, our country can drive the French forces out of the Far East, France has invested tens of thousands of troops and dozens of warships in the Far East, once they fail, it is enough to make them greatly injured, I believe this is good news for your country." ”

Wadsey continued to think, still not speaking.

Zeng Dawei continued: "Our emperor is also willing to form a military ally with your country, with our country's rich resources and your country's advanced technology. There will certainly be great prospects for development, and for this reason our emperor is willing to lease a port for the use of your country's Far East Navy and park warships. It is even possible to sign a unilateral military agreement with your country, and in the event that your territory is invaded by a third country, China is willing to send troops to help. ”

This time, Wadsey was really tempted, a unilateral military agreement, that is, Germany was violated, and the Qing Dynasty had to send troops. And the Qing Dynasty was violated, and Germany could not send troops.

The Germans believed that there would be a war with France and Russia after all, and even advocated a preemptive attack on Russia or one of France, so they began to cooperate with Austria.

Although the Qing Dynasty is not strong enough to cooperate with Germany on an equal footing, if the Qing Dynasty contains France and Russia in the Far East, it will definitely be good news for Germany.

"Mr. Ambassador, according to me, the power of the Emperor of your country is supreme. With all due respect, have you done all this you have just said? ”

"Your Excellency, please rest assured, all this is a telegram from the emperor of our country ordering me to bring a message."

Wadsey was completely moved, slapped the table and said, "Okay, tomorrow I will send the crew to send four ironclad ships back to your country." In addition, the French cruiser "Dole" in the Far East is super fast, your country may not be able to catch up with its warships, our country has recently manufactured two cruisers similar to "Dole", the same 5,700 tons of displacement, 17 knots speed, more than 30 guns on the ship. You can give one to replenish your country's naval power. It's just that the price is a little expensive, but it can be cheaper to show that we are willing to cooperate with your country. ”

This time it was Zeng Dawei's turn to be excited, "Really? Thank you so much, Your Excellency. I'll go back and send a telegram to our emperor, and ask Your Excellency to make a price, so I can go back and report it. ”

"Hmm...... Just give it according to the cost. Two hundred million marks. ”

"Two hundred million marks, equivalent to ten million taels of silver. At this price, you can buy two medium-sized ironclads! Zeng Dawei was surprised.

"This is already the cost of construction, and it is difficult to achieve such a large warship with such a fast speed. And I'm sure that only my country can buy such advanced warships from me, because no country wants to leak this kind of shipbuilding technology. ”

When the news came back to the capital, Guan Xuqing was extremely excited. It can be said that this news is no less joyful than the victory in the Battle of the Yellow Sea.

Before the formal signing of the alliance agreement, Guan Xuqing specifically instructed Zeng Dawei to add a few more cooperation clauses such as Germany's assistance to the Qing Dynasty in training army generals.

After much revision, deliberation, and deliberation, a military alliance agreement with Germany was finally signed on the fifth day.

And four ironclad ships, one cruiser, also carrying the German flag, sailed from Germany to Daqing on the first day after the signing of the agreement......