"Your Majesty, how do you know about the Japanese shogunate's gold collection?" The ministers of the Manchu Dynasty were sincerely impressed by the emperor's ability to accurately dig out gold from Japan.

"Don't just read the books of sages all day long, wild history and miscellaneous stories can also be read as story books." Guangxu was very happy, because more than 200 tons of gold from Mount Kugang had been sent to the palace basement. Counting the gold sent back from Alaska over the years, there are nearly six hundred tons of gold in the palace basement alone. If it were all paper money, it would be astronomical. But then the topic was heavy.

"However, Your Majesty, our country does not have a garrison on the main island of Japan, but the garrisons of the Western powers have colluded with local big families and landlords in Japan to exploit civilians on a large scale. In the long run, Wechen feared that a civilian uprising would lead to an increase in the number and size of the foreign powers stationed in Japan, and the situation in Japan would continue to deteriorate. And during this period, the Great Powers could prop up their agents in Japan as a bargaining chip for future control of Japan. However, because China does not have troops stationed in Japan, it will lose the first step, and this will not be conducive to China's control of the situation in Japan in the future. ”

"The Saigo Congdo and Kurokawa railways, which are good relations with Japan, are under their actual control and are limited to the areas around Osaka, Wakayama, and Tokyo. The rest of the region was divided among the Great Powers, and various rebel groups emerged in various places, and although they were quickly suppressed, new ones soon appeared. In fact, the situation in Japan has fallen into a vicious circle. ”

"And that's not all. In the early years, in order to cooperate with the imperial court to introduce Japan into the direction of industrial lightweight, private enterprises purchased a large number of silk products in Japan and imported light industrial equipment, which made a lot of profits. Since this year. Most of the factories established on the main island of Japan were destroyed or forced to stop production, and the mulberry fields planted under the guidance of the private sector were completely destroyed, which can be described as heavy losses. A large number of merchants have sold their assets in Japan to foreign merchants. Divestment from Japan. In the long run, this is not conducive to China's layout in Japan, and it is easy for the great powers to reintroduce Japan to heavy industrialization for their own gain. ”

Weichen seconded. Once the interests of the great powers are impacted, they will inevitably import a large number of firearms to Japan and organize the Japanese to become its thugs. The intensification of conflicts between the Japanese government and the people will inevitably lead to the Japanese people's antipathy towards all the great powers, and the incident of the Japanese Independence Army is enough to prove that the Japanese civilians have long had resentment towards other countries. One or two strong figures emerged in Japan. It is easy to stir up the population to revolt. At that time, if China wants to control Japan again, it will be at a nominal disadvantage. ”

"Geographically, it is a Japanese island that runs southwest to northeast. Its strategic radiation energy covers the entire northeast of China from the Yangtze River basin in central China, and it is also the biggest obstacle facing the Pacific Ocean in the northeast of China. Once Japan falls under the control of the enemy, even if China's plan to advance north is successfully implemented in the future, China will need a large number of troops to stay in the northeast region. This is not conducive to China's overall strategic layout. However, as long as China can control Japan, the Japanese archipelago will become a security barrier in China's northeast region, and the Japanese can also be organized to effectively supplement our army's strength as a servant army, and even more can release China's garrison forces in northeast China. And it is enough for our country to maintain a strong naval force. ”

“……”

The courtiers analyzed the impact of the Japanese situation on the Qing Dynasty from political, economic, military and other aspects, and the speeches of each minister made Guangxu nod his head in deep agreement. When Guangxu heard it, the ministers' words were all complaints about his policy of giving up the right to garrison Japan in exchange for the independence of Anui. In their view, Anui, who was under the protection of the Qing Dynasty, was already in a de facto independent position, and there was really no need to give up a real interest for a name. The purpose of the courtiers' collective attitude was to hope that he would change his policy toward Japan and take advantage of the fact that the great powers were temporarily involved in the Japanese rebel organization to station troops on the Japanese island.

But Guangxu doesn't think so. Judging by the known historical trend. With the spread of the idea of democracy and freedom in Western civilization, the independence movements of various nations in the world are bound to sweep the world in the future. With the increasingly fierce ethnic confrontation in places like Luzon and Cuba, this idea of national independence has begun to rear. But. Not every nation can be truly independent, just like the Anuyi, who nominally set up their own state and will have their own defense and military forces in the future. However, due to various factors such as population, economy, science and technology, and even geopolitics, such a small country will inevitably have to rely on the strength of the big country for protection, and at the same time, it will also become a bargaining chip and the front line of the diplomatic power game of the big powers, which is an inevitable problem in any era.

The idea of national independence could no longer be stopped. Therefore, the policy of direct military colonization that is now prevalent in various major powers will inevitably be abandoned in favor of more covert economic colonization. Now that this is already the definite direction. So why not take the highest place first by means of foresight. The independence of the Ryukyus, the autonomy of the Chinese in Nanyang, the autonomy of the Luzon, and the independence of the Anuyi, the reason why the Qing Dynasty wanted to allow these regions and countries to exercise their independent autonomy was precisely to establish the image of the Qing Dynasty as a benevolent and righteous power. And the huge population of the Qing State will inevitably become the largest economy in East Asia, so it will be welcomed to quietly extend its economic colonial hand under the image of a benevolent and righteous power. In the event of a conflict between the Qing state and other major powers, these countries can also become a shield for China. In later generations, China was troubled by the left and right by the United States, wasn't it because there was no external barrier?

For thousands of years, the powerful Central Plains Dynasty has given the countries and nationalities in the surrounding areas a sufficient sense of identity with China, and the thousand-year-old tributary system has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. As long as China can win in foreign wars, and as long as China has enough influence in Asia, then these former Chinese vassal states will inevitably turn their hearts to China as a benevolent and righteous country. Once China has the ability to send troops to these places, it will inevitably be welcomed by the sandwich. Then China can integrate the resources of the whole of Central and East Asia to counter the entire white society of Europe and the United States.

So far, Guangxu's advance has been successful. Annam, Nanzhang, Siam, and Burma in Southeast Asia, Lanfang, Luzon, and Sulu in the South Seas, Gurkha, Jemengxiong, and Bhutan in the southwest, and the Kazakh Khanate, Burut Khanate, Kokand Khanate, Bukhara Khanate, Aiukhan, Badakshan, Qianzhut, and Ladakh in the west, not to mention the Ryukyus, Korea, and Anui, which have been annexed or destroyed by foreign powers. Look at how many representatives of the former vassal states are in the city of Beijing today. Once China is able to confront the European and American powers, these countries will inevitably become China's forerunners and barriers. This is because China's performance so far has been to unconditionally support the restoration of the former vassal state, without any territorial ambitions. This was in stark contrast to the greedy European powers. In this case, why not let the Qing Dynasty stand on the moral plane in advance to regain the hearts of the people?

In all fairness, Guangxu is no better than Yan Fu and Liu Kunyi in governing the country, no better than Wang Shizhen and Wu Deren in leading the army, and no better than Lin Qizhao and Sheng Huaixuan in economic development, not to mention Li Hongzhang. The only ability that Guangxu can come up with is vision, or strategic layout. But these are all based on prophetic foresight. Today's East Asia is completely different from the East Asia in Guangxu's memory, and Guangxu can no longer understand the situation in Japan alone. Guangxu always wanted to take advantage of the contradictions between the great powers to make them fight in Japan and ignore China. But Guangxu was wrong. China's outstretched hand has been beaten back, and it has been branded as a spoiler, and the influence of geopolitical factors has made the great powers maintain sufficient vigilance against this increasingly powerful China.

Guangxu once thought that his treatment of Japan was right, so Guangxu forcibly gave up the right to garrison in exchange for the independence of Anui despite the opposition of his ministers. But today the ministers said so. Guangxu didn't know if his decision was right, at least Wang Shizhen's military strategy analysis was correct, Japan was shielding the forward position in northeast China. But as an emperor, he should be firm at all times, but the opinions of the ministers should not be ignored.

Guangxu frowned and thought for a long time, but still had no idea, so he asked, "What do you think the Qing family should do?" ”

Li Hongzhang and Yan Fu glanced at each other, Yan Fu stood up and said: "I have studied with the Prime Minister, and the biggest problem in Japan at present is still focused on the conflict of interests between big families and civilians. The big family controls more than seventy percent of the land and resources in Japan, so we think. You have to start here. ”

"You mean to go to Japan for land reform?"

"Yes, land reform!" Yan Fu nodded: "Put all the charges on those landlords and the big shogunate families, and take a thorough action within the sphere of influence of our army." As long as the land is returned to the ordinary Japanese people, then their food and clothing can be guaranteed at the most basic, and at least within the scope of our army's garrison, social unrest can be greatly reduced. But such a restructuring cannot be done by the government. At present, most of Japan's private investment on the main island of Japan has been withdrawn, and most of the rest is in the Osaka and Tokyo areas, and it cannot be implemented in these two areas for diplomatic reasons. The island of Shikoku was originally intended to be entered by the French. After France gave up, Britain and the United States were vying for control of the island, and Germany was digesting Kyushu. Therefore, Shikoku Island became the largest investment place for the Qing people in Japan, and now the largest merchant on Shikoku Island is Xi Ligongxi, the current president of Daqing Bank. Let the Xi family carry out land reform on Shikoku Island, and if necessary, China can send a small number of troops to pretend to be the Xi family's family members to enter and assist the Xi family in carrying out land reform. ”

"What about diplomacy? We have given up the right to garrison troops, and will this cause opposition from the Great Powers? ”

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already made an assessment of this." Tang Shaoyi stood up: "The United States, Britain and Germany are fighting a war of words over the island, and France is powerless to look north. As for Russia, we are openly confronting Russia, and Britain and the United States and other countries may still help us. As for other small countries, they can be ignored. ”

Guangxu nodded: "Since you all think about it, let's do it." But the situation must be controllable, and in any case it must not be in conflict with the powers other than Russia. ”

Land reform, MacArthur also used this method in Japan after World War II. In the final analysis, it is to eliminate the old aristocracy and support the new aristocracy. This is actually the same as what Guangxu did in China. Looking at the ministers who came out, aren't these all the upstarts of the Guangxu Dynasty?

The ministers departed, and the eunuchs closed the doors of the temple. Guangxu leaned back in the chair and said lightly: "Why Yan Fu instead of Tang Shaoyi." ”

After all, they are getting older, and these people who work hard for the country are obviously not as good as in previous years. Li Hongzhang, the only one left, coughed lightly: "Tang Shaoyi's strength is external, and what the dynasty needs most now is to feel at ease with domestic development and lay a good foundation for the future." Tang Shaoyi's old ministers will be comforted. ”

"When it comes to governing the country, I am not as good as you. Since you think so, then do what you want. The younger generation will always have to take over the country, and there are some things that you don't have to do yourself, just leave it to the next to do it. You also have to pay attention to taking care of your body, Daqing can't leave you now. ”

In the eyes of Japanese civilians. The Chinese represented by the Xi family will at least not be as wanton as foreigners, and the same yellow people are more emotionally close. Land reform on Shikoku Island is quietly underway, with the fall of the big family. More and more Japanese civilians are starting to cultivate their land with peace of mind after owning their own land. And the Xi family and other new Chinese capitalists also smiled, although most of the land was allocated to local Japanese civilians, there will always be a lot of benefits falling into the pockets of these people. If you dare to do this in the Qing Dynasty, the next day the Ouchi guards will cut off your head with the emperor's will, but this is in Japan - the Chinese capitalists seem to have found a way to get rich quickly.

At this time, the United States was still negotiating with France about the Panama Canal shares, and in order to get rid of the intervention of the Colombian government, it was also actively encouraging the Panamanians to seek independence. Cuba was occupied by the United States nearly two years later than in history. The war with Spain made the United States feel the cruelty of war. The United States, which had a huge expending, also learned from the pain and began to form a regular army throughout the country. A large number of shipyards were built on the east and west coasts and warships were built, and the United States was determined to build a strong army to "defend the country" in order to avoid a recurrence of the New York incident. The United States has finally slowed down the pace of economic development and invested more money in the construction of armaments.

William, the world's first designer of ships? White was now exuding a strong smell of sweat. Messy hair, messy clothes. The frowning brow all indicated his extremely depressed mood right now. The triangle moves back and forth on the drawing board, lines drawn by pencil, and White examines his design with red eyes. Then, after looking at it for a while, he ripped the design off the drawing board like a mad man and tore it to pieces......

Dinghai-class light cruiser, more than 10,000 tons of hull and 23 knots, four triple 152 mm guns...... Exploded a heavy cruiser in five minutes...... This is all what he saw with his own eyes, and White scratched his scalp and couldn't figure out how Qingguo did it.

According to Qing Guo. The Dinghai-class light cruiser has no armor, which is why it has such a fast speed. After careful calculation, if the 10,000-ton hull is not equipped with torpedoes, it can indeed push the warship to a high speed of 23 knots. But White took a closer look at the turret and the bridge. These two positions were armoured, and even if the keel and support structures were strengthened to cope with the recoil of the triple guns, they still solved the problem of not being able to overweight the warship as a whole. Such a warship, even if built, would not be able to cope with a fierce naval battle, because a sharp turn could lead to the capsizing of the warship. But why doesn't Dinghai have this problem? If it is not as practical to increase the weight of the hull as it is to increase the weight of the armor, the speed will not be reached......

White is not without considering the possibility of power, but the world's best ship power equipment is British. He did not think that a country in its infancy could build better power equipment than the British Empire.

William? White couldn't figure it out, though. But he had already admitted in his heart that the Qing Kingdom had gone ahead of the British Empire in terms of ship design concepts. After the test of the British Imperial Navy's scientific research department, the floating bow used by the Dinghai ship can reduce the resistance of seawater to a greater extent than the vertical bow commonly used in all countries in the world. Why is this happening? Is it really as the Qing people say? Is this the crystallization of 5,000 years of Chinese civilization?

The Asama-class cruisers were designed in response to the Sino-Japanese naval battle, and the five twin 152mm guns were sufficient for the fire projection density. He thought that the Asama-class cruisers were the nemesis of all light cruisers and destroyers in the world, but he never thought that his proud work would be shattered by the sudden appearance of the Dinghai-class light cruisers in the Qing Kingdom.

The triple artillery is like a cheat in the Qing Dynasty, and the British Empire has not been able to imitate it to this day. In order to be able to build a cruiser to compete with the Dinghai class, William? White learned from the pain, and on the basis of the shallow stage, he enlarged the design into five twin-mounted 203mm guns, in an attempt to use the power of the guns to level the gap in the number of guns. However, when the hull of the warship had just been built, the Qing Kingdom launched another Chaohai-class heavy cruiser equipped with four twin 203-mm guns, or two at a time. Such artillery power, coupled with the speed advantage, is enough to bombard the old man-star battleships built by the British Empire.

The door was pushed open, and Rear Admiral John Fisher, Third Admiral of the Royal Navy of the British Empire, walked in. As soon as he pushed the door open, he was smoky with the smell of rancidness, and he hurriedly covered his nose with his hand and said, "Oh, White." What happened? Fisher walked cautiously around the scrap of paper on the floor.

In the three years since the Qing Dinghai-class light cruiser was born, Britain built 12 battleships, but not a single cruiser. Three of the six Old Man battleships were sent to the Far Eastern Fleet and the other three to the Indian Ocean Fleet. Coupled with the original two Sovereign-class battleships, it still could not make the commander of the Far East Fleet, Philmante, think that it was enough to maintain an overwhelming advantage over the Qing State, and had to send the Prestige, which had just been commissioned, over. The British Empire urgently needed a heavy cruiser that could suppress the Chaohai class in terms of firepower, and a light cruiser that could overwhelm the Dinghai class in terms of speed. But as the first ship designer of the British Empire, he could not come up with any effective methods.

White grabbed his hands on his head a few times: "John, I can't think of a way to restrain the Qing cruiser, I really can't think of it." Hell, how were Qing warships built? ”

Seeing his friend's appearance as if he was collapsing, Fisher hurriedly reassured: "Don't worry, buddy, there will always be a way." At least in terms of the number of battleships and warships, the British Empire still had an absolute advantage. I think you should go take a shower and relax. ”

"Okay. But tell me, did the British Imperial Naval Armament Department come up with a triple gun? ”

"It's not a problem to triple the artillery. But the problem is ......" Fisher opened the briefcase he was carrying, took out a document and handed it to White: "The Admiralty has tested that the stability of the triple naval guns is too poor, and the shells will interfere with each other during salvo fire, resulting in very serious scattering. The results of the current tests show that the triple six-inch millimeter naval guns scatter more than 500 meters at a distance of 8,000 meters. ”

"Five hundred meters? That's impossible?! White jumped up: "I have seen the shooting of the Qing naval guns with my own eyes, and there is absolutely no such a big error. ”

"But this is the case, our triple naval guns are not mature. As the Qing Emperor also mentioned the problem of interference, perhaps the Qing State has found an unknown solution to this problem. Perhaps they used a new type of hoisting technology to compensate for the accuracy problem by speeding up the firing rate of the guns. ”

White didn't reply, just kept looking through the materials that Fisher had brought. Looking at White, he suddenly shouted, "This can't be. The recoil of a triple eight-inch gun, as we tested, would not have been able to be mounted on an 11,000-ton hull. Because the recoil of the salvo is enough to shatter the deck, and it is even possible to capsize. ”

Scattering, recoiling, like two spells imprisoning the footsteps of the British Royal Navy, White sat down in a decadent re-general. I only heard Fisher continue: "The old man star has been sent to the Far East, and the dreadsome class has all been launched. Eight Duncan-class ships are under construction, and the Navy has also approved the construction plan for four fast-track classes, ready to be put on the slipway early next year. Now I need not new warships, but quantity. ”

"What happened?" Suddenly hearing such a huge warship construction plan, White immediately reacted, something must have happened.

"It's not a big deal. That is, the United States announced that it would build a fleet of at least 20 battleships by 1910, France passed a new naval bill to build a large fleet capable of fighting in the ocean, Russia launched three more battleships this year, Italy and Austria-Hungary both proposed new naval warship construction bills, and the Huludao shipyard of the Qing State was closed again, and no one knew how many Qing countries planned to build several ships, that is, a shipyard with four docks. And that madman, Kaiser Wilhelm II, has just made a speech, asking the German Navy to speed up the construction of warships to the point that five capital ships are launched every year. ”

"Oh,. Is there going to be a world war? (To be continued)

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