When Wang Chenhao came out of the negotiation with Charles, the talks between Yi and the Russian side had already been completed.

Yi talked with Wang Chenhao for a while and explained Russia's attitude.

Russia still opposed the Qing Empire's demand for such a large amount of indemnity, and it was acceptable to demand that it be reduced to 10 million pounds. But Wang Chenhao told Yi that there was no need to dump the Russians, and sooner or later they would fight with Russia. Yi asked Wang Chenhao what the Americans meant, and Wang Chenhao told him that the Americans had settled down. Yi was overjoyed, and the Americans changed their minds halfway, and Russia was alone.

Subsequently, the Qing Dynasty renegotiated with the two sides, and the Qing government insisted on the same, but relaxed the repayment time. The United States turned to support the Qing Empire, causing Russia to be alone, and Ben suddenly fell into a state of helplessness. However, Charles also seems to have reached some kind of agreement with Lin Dong, and after promising to give Yue Ben some help, he finally forced Lin Dong to agree to the condition of 20 million pounds in compensation.

Because Wang Chenhao threatened to order the Qing Imperial Navy to take action if he did not conclude a treaty as soon as possible, this made him afraid. Therefore, after the United States agreed to a low-interest loan to pay the necessary compensation, the government agreed to all the conditions put forward by Wang Chenhao.

On June 12, the Qing and the two sides signed the "Treaty of Yenching in Yanjing", which stipulated:

The first paragraph is to abolish all treaties, agreements, declarations and contracts signed between the two countries since June 11, 1897, including the "Yenching Treaty" and the "Keelung Protocol".

Second, it is said that the company withdrew its troops from the Ryukyu Islands and recognized the autonomous reading power of the Ryukyus; It is said that Ben gave up his claim to the suzerainty of the Ryukyus and recognized the Ryukyu Kingdom as a vassal state of the Qing Empire; Paragraph 3: Delimitation of the territorial waters of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Stretching about 1,100 kilometers southwest from the southern island of Kyushu to northeastern Taiwan, it consists of 55 large and small islands, including the Osumi Islands, the Tokara Islands, the Amami Islands (collectively referred to as the "Sanan Islands" and belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture), the Okinawa Islands and the Sakishima Islands (collectively referred to as the "Ryukyu Islands" and belonging to Okinawa Prefecture). It covers a total area of 4,635 square kilometers.

Paragraph 4, [***] in this indemnity, shall be 20 million pounds, which shall be repaid in pounds sterling and US dollars, and shall be repaid in 39 years at an annual interest of 4%, with a total principal and interest of 42.7 million pounds.

Fifth, Nagasaki, Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo are open as commercial ports, and Chinese steamers can sail along inland rivers into the above ports; Paragraph 6 allows the Chinese to set up consulates and factories and to import all kinds of machinery at the treaty ports; Paragraph 7: Single (one-sided) most-favored-nation treatment; Paragraph 8: It is said that personnel serving the squadron shall not be arrested; Paragraph 9: Residents of the Kingdom of the Ryukyus who sell their property and move out of the territory within two years shall be regarded as subjects of the Ryukyus and subjects of the Qing Dynasty; Paragraph 10 allows China to invest in and set up factories in various treaty ports to sell its products to the mainland without being subject to mainland taxes.

Paragraph 11 shall limit the entry into force of this Treaty within nine days of ratification, and the consequences of overdue shall be borne by the Party concerned.

Paragraph 12 The date of the approval of the exchange of this Treaty shall be the cessation of hostilities.

Paragraph 13, since the approval of His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Empire and the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, this treaty is scheduled to be exchanged in Tianjin on May 22, the 23rd year of Guangxu, that is, on June 21, the 30th year of the Meiji era.

To this end, the plenipotentiary ministers of the two countries signed and sealed their names to prove their trust.

After the Treaty of Yanjing was written in two copies, it was immediately given to Emperor Guangxu of Yanjing and Emperor Meiji of Tokyo to be stamped with jade seals.

Because Wang Chenhao stipulated in the treaty that it must be ratified and entered into force within nine days, otherwise it would be used by force, so that the people did not have time to know the contents of the treaty, and the Meiji Emperor stamped the jade seal.

For the Qing Zheng axe, this was the first unequal treaty that was not directed at himself, and Guangxu stamped the jade seal on the same day and announced that the treaty came into force.

On 21 June, representatives of the Qing and Chinese sides exchanged the text of the treaty in Tianjin, announcing the end of the war between the Qing and the two countries.

When the news of the signing of the "Yanjing Treaty" came out, several families were happy and some were sad.

The happiest is the Qing Empire, which has been bullied for more than half a century, and now it is finally a big one. Although the other side is a weak country, not a Western power, for the first time, it is enough to celebrate that it will no longer sign an unequal treaty against itself.

The prestige of the Qing political axe has increased, and the common people no longer scold the Qing political axe as a groveling soft egg, and all parts of the country have played congratulations.

As the greatest contributor to the war and negotiations between the Chinese and the people, Wang Chenhao once again became a great hero in the eyes of the people, and under the "special additional" reports of the domestic and foreign media, Wang Chenhao's personal reputation reached an unprecedented level.

Although Emperor Guangxu was happy to win the battle and signed a winning contract, he had to reward Wang Chenhao, who had a high merit, and he had to be rewarded heavily.

On the day of the contract exchange, Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi rewarded Wang Chenhao, and ordered to be promoted to three levels in a row to canonize Wang Chenhao as a first-class loyal and brave marquis and cloud cavalry captain, hereditary replacement. Canonized Li Youyi as the lady of the super order, equivalent to the marquis.

The title is not a heavy reward if it is promoted to three levels in a row, but it is a heavy reward for hereditary replacement, because it means that Wang Chenhao's descendants have been marquis since birth.

For this reward, Wang Chenhao was generally happy, and it was better to give a title than to give an official position with real power. The happiest is Li Youyi. Although she, the super-grade lady of the command, has no real power, there are not many women in the Great Qing Kingdom who can override her. Unhappy is Rothier, because she has not officially passed the door, and the canonization of the imperial court does not have her share.

Wang Chenhao's wish soon came true. With the restoration of the Ryukyus and the end of the Qing War, Prince Gong resigned from the post of Prime Minister Yamen and Minister of the Navy due to illness, but Guangxu did not approve the post of Minister of Military Aircraft, and still let Yi hang the title.

Yi resigned from the posts of Prime Minister Yamen and Minister of the Navy, in addition to his deteriorating health, he was still angry with Wang Chenhao.

In the Admiralty, Yi is just a nominal name, Wang Chenhao is always arbitrary, ordering the Navy to stir up trouble everywhere, and in the end, the court blames him, and he, the Minister of the Navy, can't get out of it. After experiencing several incidents, Yi was so angry that he resigned from the post of Minister of the Navy and did not give Wang Chenhao the blame.

Originally, Yi deserved to serve as a minister in the Prime Minister's Yamen, but since the Qing-Russian war negotiations and the Qing-Yue war negotiations, Yi found that the great powers actually no longer asked Yi what he meant, but asked Wang Chenhao's attitude. As a political veteran fox for decades, Yi understands that Wang Chenhao will definitely cause trouble in the near future, and he will have something to do with the Americans. His current prime minister, Yamen, has actually become an ornament, and the powers only have Wang Chenhao's attitude in their eyes, and Yi can only be a foil. The more Yi thought about it, the more angry he became, so he fell ill, and the surname Suo resigned and resigned from the post of prime minister and yamen.

Guangxu knew Yi's hardships, and originally wanted other members of the royal family to serve as ministers of the Admiralty, but no one was willing to do it, including Prince Qing Yixuan, who originally wanted to enter the Admiralty the most, he also knew that the Admiralty was what Wang Chenhao said, but he didn't dare to intervene to carry the black cauldron.

As a result, Guangxu had no choice but to appoint Wang Chenhao as the Minister of the Navy to take charge of the affairs of the navy.

As for the candidate for the prime minister Yamen, after Yi left office, Guangxu could only let Yi Liang take over. Although he knew that Yiqiao was a straw bag, the Minister of the Navy had already given it to a person with a foreign surname, and the Prime Minister Yamen categorically could not give it to a person with a foreign surname.

However, as Wang Chenhao's strength grows, Wang Chenhao's attitude towards power is getting stronger and stronger.

The imperial court gave Wang Chenhao the post of Minister of the Admiralty, and the entire navy was already in Wang Chenhao's pocket. However, Wang Chenhao still needed to control the national army, so he repeated his old tricks and asked the imperial court to set up a war department.

Wang Chenhao showed that all countries have war ministries and set up the army department to unify the dispatch of the whole army to facilitate the control of the army by the imperial court.

Of course, Guangxu wanted to control the national army, but he knew that was an unrealistic idea. At the same time, Guangxu understood that Wang Chenhao proposed the establishment of the Ministry of the Army, probably because he wanted to be the Minister of the War himself, because among the commanders of the Qing Imperial Army, no one had Wang Chenhao's influence and strength, and this Minister of War was none other than Wang Chenhao.

"Tie Liang, you have also read Wang Chenhao's recital, you are the secretary of the Ministry of War, what do you think?"

In the imperial study, Guangxu summoned Tieliang, the secretary of the military department, to interrogate, accompanied by Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao. The two of them are everywhere by the side of Emperor Guangxu, worthy of the name of the Son of Heaven.

Tie Liang said: "Your Majesty, what Lord Wang said is true, all countries in Europe and the United States have war ministries and command the national army in a unified manner, and the imperial court really has the need to set up a war department!" ”

Weng Tongyi asked rhetorically: "Lord Tie, don't you know that if the War Department is set up again, then the War Department will be completely hollowed out, and you, the secretary of the War Department, will become an ornament!" ”

Li Hongzao said: "Is that enough, won't Lord Tie be the Minister of War?" ”

Tie Liang smiled bitterly and said, "I can't afford to take on the post of Minister of War, I'm afraid that it will mislead the country and the people." ”

The iron conscience is like a mirror, and the Minister of War is very majestic in commanding the whole army, but the governors in various places have long listened to the propaganda and disobeyed it. Nominally, the imperial court can issue orders to various localities, but once it involves core interests such as military power and financial power, it is absolutely difficult to do so, and the local governors will definitely obey the yang and the yin.

Weng Tongyi understood Tie Liang's thoughts, and knew that Tie Liang did not plan to mix with the army anymore, since Tie Liang was forced away by the generals of the Beiyang Army, Tie Liang saw through the essence of the armies in various parts of the Qing Empire, and it was no longer the army of the imperial court. The current military department has long been an ornament, and he really wishes to set up an army department, so that he can worry about it and eat empty salaries in the military department every day.

"Your Majesty, the establishment of the War Department is of course a good thing, but the question of the selection of the Minister of the War Department is a difficult problem. People who lack prestige are served, and the provincial armies are not satisfied and make a fuss. A person with sufficient prestige will not be able to please him, and who will be willing to return the army to the imperial court? It must be listening to the propaganda or not listening to the tune. ”

Guangxu slapped the table, his forehead suddenly burst into muscles, and several people were suddenly silenced. After a long time, Emperor Guangxu sighed, this situation is not a day or two, since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rebellion, the military power of the imperial court has fallen into the hands of local governors, and it has existed for decades, and it has never been taken back.

"If the War Department is established, it may be possible to take back the military power of the provinces!"

Guangxu still had illusions, he thought there was hope, at least the provincial governors did not dare to openly oppose it, nor did they dare to rebel.

Weng Tongyi asked, "Does the emperor mean to try it first?" ”

Guangxu nodded and said: "Since it was proposed by Wang Chenhao, and Tie Liang is unwilling to serve it, then it is as Wang Chenhao wishes, let him be the Minister of the War Department!" ”

Li Hongzao immediately objected: "The emperor thinks twice! Wang Chenhao is no longer able to lose his tail, and now the entire navy is his, if he is given the Minister of War, then he will really not be able to control him. ”

Weng Tongyi and Tie Liang frowned, as if they were thinking about the meaning of Guangxu's words.

I saw Guangxu smile and said: "Even if he is not given the Minister of War, Wang Chenhao now controls the elite troops of the navy and army of the imperial court, and the troops fighting the war rely on Wang Chenhao's army, and the armies of other provinces cannot be counted on." ”

Weng Tongyi asked: "Even so, Wang Chenhao does not have the title of Minister of the War Department, and he always does not dare to be presumptuous. If he is given this name, he will be well deserved, and he can rightfully control the army. ”

Guangxu said with a smile: "On the surface, in fact, as you just said, the provincial armies even disobey the orders of the imperial court, how can they be willing to obey Wang Chenhao's dispatch?" ”

Tie Liang suddenly realized and said, "The emperor means to let Wang Chenhao be the first bird to try the depth of the water?" Look at the attitude of the governors of the provinces? ”

Guangxu nodded and said: "Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, is now basically watching plays and playing chess at home every day, and the affairs of Zhili are basically taken care of by Wang Chenhao, and the governors of the provinces have been pressed by Li Hongzhang for more than 20 years. ”

Li Hongzao said: "Although the governors of the provinces are holding their breath, they are not going to publicly demolish Li Hongzhang's platform, and even Wang Chenhao rarely offends them publicly. ”

Guangxu said: "That's because they haven't held back their strength yet!" What I have to do is to make them even more jealous of Wang Chenhao and add fuel to the fire! ”

Weng Tongyi suddenly understood, and said: "Emperor Shengming, let Wang Chenhao become the Minister of the War Department, and the imperial court will have an excuse for him to rectify the national army. ”

Guangxu smiled and nodded, noncommittal.

Li Hongzao and Weng Tongyi glanced at each other and laughed. And Tie Liang also echoed and smiled, on the one hand, he was finally relaxed, but there was also a little more loss.

(To be continued)