Wang Chenhao wasted all his efforts, and finally stabilized the dragon coin, and also ensured the smooth progress of China's monetary and financial reform. During this time, Wang Chenhao encountered unprecedented difficulties, but he finally overcame these difficulties, and when everything was on the right track, Wang Chenhao couldn't help but sigh that the results of all the hardships were still very sweet.

Wang Chenhao presided over the reform of the gold standard in the Qing Empire, and the reform of the dragon currency was implemented throughout the country, which made the imperial court both happy and worried. Happily, the Qing Empire no longer had to suffer from the impact of the international silver crisis, and it also ended the malpractice of chaotic circulation of currencies in China, and also ended the situation in which the provinces minted coins privately and indiscriminately issued numbers, causing the people to complain.

After the unification of the currency system, the state finance was able to grow, from the original 90 million dragon coins to 170 million dragon coins, and the source of the increase was naturally the court taxes that were lost by the provincial governors who minted coins privately and issued paper money indiscriminately. The monetary chaos that had plagued the imperial court for half a century was broken by the fact that there had been no growth in fiscal revenue for thirty years.

But what the court is worried about is that the entire national finance is in the hands of Wang Chenhao, Wang Chenhao through the control of the Imperial Bank, in fact, control the imperial court's finances, tax power, this is the situation that Guangxu is most unhappy to see, he thought that this time he would be ruthless Wang Chenhao, but it turned out that he once again lost his wife and soldiers.

Wang Chenhao through the issuance of dragon coins, the gold and silver hard currency throughout the country was returned to the Imperial Bank, the country's 2,375 tons of gold was transferred to the Bank of America's vault, as a gold reserve for the issuance of dragon currency banknotes, and 60,288 tons of silver hard currency was also used by the Bank of America to mint dragon coins and silver dollars.

Wang Chenhao through the issuance of Imperial Bank stocks, with the national credit as a cover, so that he did not spend a penny to get a windfall of more than 200 million dragon coins, and with the continuous appreciation of the stock of the Imperial Bank, the future of this money is an astronomical amount, Wang Chenhao is happy to sleep with a hara, this way of collecting money with official wealth really makes him feel happy.

After solving the problem of monetary and financial reform, Wang Chenhao controlled the financial lifeline of the Qing political axe, plus he controlled the naval and army power of the Qing Empire, in fact, Wang Chenhao has become the person who controls the Qing Empire.

To this end, Wang Chenhao's long-planned third large-scale army expansion began. Since Wang Chenhao has another agreement with the United States to jointly bully Spain, Wang Chenhao needs to expand his army.

The four divisions of the Ryukyu Volunteer Army never returned to China, because Wang Chenhao wanted a strong army to be stationed overseas in order to prevent the Qing Empire from jumping over the wall in a hurry, as a weight to threaten the Qing Empire not to act rashly against Wang Chenhao.

After the restoration of the Ryukyus, the Ryukyu King Shotai resumed his residence in the Shuri Palace, and according to the conditions promised by the King of the Ryukyus, the Liensheng Peninsula east of Shuri Castle was granted a permanent concession to the Qing Empire, and the Jinmu Bay in the north of the Liensheng Peninsula was opened as a commercial port, and the Liensheng Bay in the south was opened up as a naval base.

In Wang's time, the island of Okinawa, located in the middle of the Ryukyu Islands, had been under the control of the U.S. military since the Battle of Okinawa in World War II. The Kaorien Peninsula on the east side of the central part of the island divides the port of Jinmu Zhongcheng into two, with Jinmu Bay in the north and Zhongcheng Bay in the south. At the top of the site, on the side of Midtown Bay, is one of the main bases of the U.S. Marine Corps overseas - White Beach Base, with a total area of 1.56 million square meters, named after a white sand beach in the southwest of the base.

The geographical location of Okinawa Island is very important, it is the only springboard for the United States to conduct amphibious operations in the Far East, and it is also the gateway to Okinawa (the surrender of the Second World War is directly related to the loss of the island), and Baitan can be used as a base for the US Marine Corps, in addition to Okinawa as a base for the US Marine Corps, in addition to the geographical factors of Okinawa itself, it is mainly due to the hydrological conditions, dock facilities, and geographical environment near the base, which is more suitable for the assembly of amphibious forces.

Wang Chenhao built a naval base here as a frontier fortress to protect China's eastern gate. The naval base has a total investment of 5 million dragon coins, which will be carried out in three installments, and will be paid in installments by the indemnity of the capital.

The base faces Zhongcheng Bay, the water area is open, the water depth is appropriate (20-48 meters), the flow speed is large (the speed of the ebb and fall tide is less than 1 knot), and it can provide anchorage for a large fleet after completion, and can berth 50 10,000-ton warships, or 220 warships of other sizes. And in the northern Shenglian Bay, there is a natural seaplane (water depth of 10-19 meters), Wang Chenhao spent a small amount of money here to build a seaplane, of course, the seaplane project is still under development, but Wang Chenhao takes precautions, always ahead of others.

The base has a large open space that can temporarily accommodate people and vehicles, which is an ideal place for the assembly of amphibious forces, and can prepare for the landing of 50,000 people after completion, which is an important factor in protecting the naval base.

What is particularly important is that the base has two trestle piers called the Navy Trestle and the Army Trestle, which are about 250 meters and 200 meters long respectively, with a water depth of 9 meters and 11 meters, which can dock large amphibious assault ships with a full load displacement of 40,000 tons and aircraft carriers of 100,000 tons.

At present, the naval base is also built according to the large fortress defense system, equipped with 10 rail fortress guns with a maximum caliber of 280 mm, 20 240 mm German Krupp rapid-fire guns, 30 150 mm rapid-fire guns, and 30 105-mm rapid-fire guns, which are fortress defense artillery, and the base is also equipped with the defense force of an integrated division. In peacetime, the army is stationed, and in wartime it is replaced by a garrison force.

The four volunteer divisions in the Ryukyus were drawn from the eight towns of the Beiyang Army, and at that time they were expelled from the army. Wang Chenhao then used the excuse that the eight towns of the Beiyang Army were insufficient, so he recruited 60,000 troops to supplement the eight towns. These 60,000 people were recruited and trained before the war, when they were under the banner of the Huai Army, and now they are directly charged into the Beiyang Army.

At the same time, the governors of Shandong, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan provinces were all Li Hongzhang's old troops, and under Wang Chenhao's combination of soft and hard measures, the new armies of the four provinces were laid off by the War Department because they were not qualified. Wang Chenhao assigned officers of the Beiyang Army to take over the training and recruit local young men as recruits. Among them, Shandong was organized into the ninth town of the Beiyang Army, Henan was organized into the tenth town of the Beiyang Army, Shaanxi was organized into the eleventh town of the Beiyang Army, and Shanxi was organized into the twelfth town of the Beiyang Army.

In the Heilongjiang General's Mansion, the Jilin General's Mansion and the Shengjing General's Mansion, Wang Chenhao arrived in the Far East under the pretext that the Russian army in the Far East had increased by 100,000 troops, so the three generals' mansions in the northeast also had to expand their troops. However, the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners and the training army of the three generals' mansions in the northeast was too poor, and the battle loss ratio in the Qing-Russian War was as high as 12 to 1, so Wang Chenhao established the Four Towns New Army in the three northeastern provinces as the minister of war. The Heilongjiang General's Mansion was organized into the thirteenth and fourteenth towns of the Beiyang Army to defend against the Russian troops of Nebuchu and Boli. The Jilin General's Mansion was organized into the 15th Town of the Beiyang Army to defend against the Russian army in the Amur District. General Shengjing's Mansion was organized into the 16th Town of the Beiyang Army to defend against the Korean Russian army.

In this way, the Beiyang Army expanded from the original eight towns to sixteen towns, and the strength increased to 240,000 people, plus 60,000 in the Ryukyu Islands, bringing the total strength to 300,000.

Qing Zhengaxe blatantly expanded Wang Chenhao's army and strength, but this time he couldn't stop it. First of all, Wang Chenhao is the Minister of War, he has the right to expand the army, and his excuse is that Russia has increased its troops in the Far East, so there is no reason for the imperial court to refuse. In addition, Wang Chenhao transferred all the gold and silver reserves of the Qing Empire to the vault of the Bank of America, and the Qing Empire was financially subject to Wang Chenhao, and the expenses of the governors of the provinces were also indirectly subject to Wang Chenhao. In the center of the court, more than half of the courtiers stood on Wang Chenhao's side, eating Wang Chenhao's, holding Wang Chenhao's, and could only say good things to Wang Chenhao.

In August ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※, two battleships of the Morimoto Navy, Fuji and Yashima, returned to the port of Yokosuka, and the Tsumoto Navy finally gained some confidence. However, the Qing Empire did not dare to provoke the Qing Empire's navy, because they knew that the Qing Empire also had two battleships already in service.

Burdened with huge debts, the Sasebo Naval Base was originally used as the base camp of the Combined Fleet to facilitate the attack on Korea and China.

Now that Korea belongs to Russia, China is even more afraid to provoke it, so in order to curry favor with China and Russia, the Sasebo Navy took the initiative to abandon the Sasebo Naval Base and move the Samoto Navy to the Kure Naval Base in the Seto Inland Sea and the Yokosuka Naval Base in Tokyo Bay. In this way, he hid far away, so that the Qing political axe and the tsarist political axe could rest assured.

The two battleships of the Qing Imperial Navy, Dengyun and Tayun, did not return to China, and the two ships rushed to the United States according to Wang Chenhao's order and docked at the base of the US Atlantic Fleet Navy to prepare to cooperate with the US Navy in launching a war against Spain.

There are two reasons for this. The first is because the U.S. Navy originally planned to launch a war against Spain in the spring of 1898, because the construction of some warships of the U.S. Navy was completed in early 1898, and the U.S. Navy was preparing for foreign expansion for the first time, so it needed to be well prepared. But because the Qing Empire joined and prepared to attack Spain together, the U.S. Navy had foreign aid, that is, the Qing Empire Navy. The two Dengyun-class battleships newly built by the Qing Imperial Navy are currently the most powerful battleships in the world, and the US Navy believes that if these two battleships participate in the war against Spain, there is no need to wait for the completion of other battleships under construction in the United States before starting it, and it can start in advance.

The second reason was that the United States agreed to cede Puerto Rico and Guam to Wang Chenhao, but the United States asked Wang Chenhao to settle the Spanish defenders of Puerto Rico and Guam on his own. Therefore, Wang Chenhao had no choice but to send the two ships Dengyun and Tayun to fight in the Americas, and at the same time transferred 20,000 people from the four volunteer divisions of the Ryukyus to form a reading reorganization division, renamed the American Expeditionary Force, and prepared to participate in the military occupation of Puerto Rico.

At present, the expeditionary force is still training in Naha, and Wang Chenhao ordered the Beiyang Ordnance Heavy Industry to step up the production of weapons and ammunition for the expeditionary force, while the Shanghai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry is working overtime for the expeditionary force to produce rapid landing ships.

Wang Chenhao's secret treaty with Charles stipulated that the United States and the Qing Empire would jointly attack Spain, the United States would acquire Cuba and the Philippines, and the Qing Empire would acquire Puerto Rico and Guam, as well as some small Spanish islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Wang Chenhao knew that the Americans had to take the lion's share, so Wang Chenhao was not greedy, as long as there were two strategic islands and some islands in the Pacific Ocean that did not have much economic value. The Americans also chose to cooperate with Wang Chenhao because Wang Chenhao was not too greedy, otherwise the Americans would definitely not cooperate with Wang Chenhao.

However, Wang Chenhao was unwilling to let the Americans occupy the Philippines, so he still had to make some small moves.

At this time in the Philippines, the local Turkish Revolutionary Army was rebelling against Spanish colonial rule on a large scale, and Wang Chenhao knew that the reason why the United States was able to easily occupy the Philippines was because the Philippine rebel army contained the main force of the Spanish colonial army, and the United States used this to quickly force Spain to surrender.

But now, since Wang Chenhao can't get the Philippines, then he won't let the Americans get the Philippines easily. Historically, the Spanish-American War ended in just a few months, but the subsequent American-Philippine War lasted three years. Wang Chenhao felt that he should make a fuss about this issue, so he had his strategic plan.

Because Wang Chenhao had long been eyeing the Philippines, the main reason was that the Philippines was the source of rubber raw materials, and that a large population of the Philippines could be used as a dumping ground for commodities, so after deciding to jointly attack Spain with the United States, he secretly sent Wang Shizhen to the Philippines and entered the Philippine Islands to contact the revolutionary army guerrillas on various islands.

Wang Chenhao planned to use the Philippine guerrillas and the US expeditionary force to attack the Philippines for a long time to drag down the energy of the United States, so that he could make profits from it.

With Wang Chenhao's sincerity, Wang Shizhen went deep into the rebel armies in the Philippines, contacted their generals, and supported all pro-China forces in the Philippines. At the same time, in order to prevent the Philippine guerrillas from being easily killed by the US [***] team, Wang Chenhao allowed Wang Shizhen to promise to provide them with weapons and equipment. Of course, when Wang Chenhao went, he had already brought a shipload of munitions, which were ready to be supplied to the pro-China guerrillas.

However, Wang Chenhao asked Wang Shizhen to persuade the Philippine guerrillas and tell them to recharge their batteries and not to fight with the Spanish colonial army now. Wang Chenhao hoped that the Spanish colonies would have the strength to fight with the US [***] team and consume the US [***] team. When they are almost consumed, let the Philippine guerrillas fight with the United States, consume the American [***] team, if they can fight a ten-year or eight-year war of resistance and drag the Americans to death, then Wang Chenhao will definitely be happy.

Therefore, in the name of providing arms and funds, Wang Shizhen persuaded the pro-China guerrillas to recruit soldiers, train soldiers first, and not participate in the war.

And these pro-Chinese guerrillas were also at odds with some other guerrillas, so Wang Shizhen proposed that they go to the Spanish colonial army first, and the result was approved.

At the same time, Wang Shizhen also successively visited the overseas Chinese forces in the Philippine archipelago, organized an army among the overseas Chinese in the Philippines, and called it a local security force to the outside world, so that they could have the ability to protect themselves and the province suffered from the war. At the same time, Wang Shizhen also selected a group of trustworthy people among them, and formed a secret organization with hundreds of elite officers and soldiers brought by Wang Shizhen, codenamed Wolf Tooth. The Wolf Tooth is not only an intelligence organization, but also an assassination organization, which wantonly infiltrates, bribes, and bribes various forces in the Philippines, cultivates pro-China forces, and finds ways to kill them if they are really stubborn.

In August 1896, Poni Fa Xiu launched an uprising in Tawak, Bahrain, and various localities responded by attacking the colonial army and establishing political power. In early 1897, there was a split in Catipunan, Emilio Aguinado became president of the New Axe, Boni was executed, and Catipunan collapsed. The revolutionary forces were greatly damaged by the separatist vitality and retreated one after another under the counterattack of the colonial army. This gave the wolf tooth organization an opportunity, and these Filipino natives who were close to primitive people fell to Wang Chenhao under the temptation of money. Aguinaldo, who had no hope of revolution, was ready to agree to the request of the Spanish governor Rivera, end the war, surrender to the Spanish political axe, and after receiving 800,000 pesos for himself, he went into exile in Hong Kong. However, he was collectively opposed by his subordinates. Among them, the rebel general Macabulos and others, with the covert support of the Wolf Tooth Organization, led the army to counterattack and liberate the vast area of central Luzon Island in the Philippines.

Among those who came into contact with Aguinaldo, in addition to Wang Shizhen, there were also Americans. Since the Americans have been planning for a long time, it is obvious that they will use the power of the rebel army.

Aguinaldo believes that Wang Chenhao's strength in Asia is much higher than that of the United States, and at the same time, most of his partners have fallen to Wang Chenhao's side, and compared with white people, Aguinaldo still feels that the Chinese who are also yellow are more reliable, after all, the power of the Chinese in the Philippines is second only to the Spaniards.

So Aguinaldo made further contact with Wang Shizhen, and signed a secret agreement under the justice of Chen Kangnian, president of the Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce, which stipulated that Wang Chenhao would guarantee the reading power of the Philippines. And Aguinaldo admitted that the new Philippine Deal Axe will accept Wang Chenhao's protection.

However, Aguinaldo is not kind, he signed an agreement with Wang Shizhen on the one hand, and signed an agreement with the Americans on the other hand, the content is basically the same, the main thing is that Aguinaldo does not want to hang himself from a tree, one more country has one more choice.

On October 3, Charles the U.S. Minister to China went to Tianjin to visit Wang Chenhao again.

This time, Charles brought a concrete battle plan.

"Lord Wang, the American political axe is ready to act after Christmas at the end of the year!"

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "I suggest that you launch an attack on Christmas Day, because China has a military art, and if you are not prepared to attack it, you will be taken by surprise." Christmas is the most solemn festival for you Westerners, and the Spaniards will certainly have a slack of defense on that day, and it will have unexpected effects. ”

Charles smiled and said, "That's right! However, we American soldiers are certainly not happy to start a war that day, nor are we happy to start a war and shed blood that day, so we can only choose to attack on December 26! ”

Wang Chenhao smiled and said, "It's understandable! Although it is not an attack on Christmas Eve, you Westerners have a week's worth of Christmas, and an attack on the 26th will have an effect. ”

Charles said: "Thank you for your understanding, but I have a reluctant request!" ”

Wang Chenhao smiled: "Let me guess, didn't your country plan to let us attack first that night, right?" ”

Charles glanced at Wang Chenhao in surprise, and said with a smile: "Lord Wang is worthy of a clever calculation, that's right, my country's political axe does have this plan." It's just that we don't force Lord Wang. ”

Wang Chenhao thought for a while and said, "Yes, I agree!" ”

Charles glanced at Wang Chenhao, smiled bitterly, and asked: "Lord Wang agreed so happily, I think Lord Wang agreed to launch an attack on Christmas Eve, I'm afraid it will attack Guam or Puerto Rico first, right?" ”

This time surprised Wang Chenhao, it seems that Charles was not given for nothing, and his brain is also very smart. So he smiled: "This has been guessed by Mr. Charles, are you worthy of a clever calculation!" ”

The two looked at each other and laughed a few times, knowing each other's thoughts, so they would not force each other.

"The time was set, and we declared war on Spain at the same time during Christmas. However, before that, in the past few months, we need to create some excuses to start a war, and at the same time, we must first stabilize the great powers of various countries and not let them interfere. ”

Wang Chenhao immediately thought of the excuse used by the Americans to launch the Spanish-American War, which was nothing more than a provocation and an incident. However, the Americans were more ruthless and directly sank the battleship Maine.

Thinking of this, Wang Chenhao was just envious, rich people are different.

"Under the pretext of "helping the Cuban revolution" and protecting its own nationals, your country can send warships to Cuba to put pressure on Spain, and if the Spaniards do not agree to the conditions, then create an incident and kill a few Americans. ”

Charles shook his head and said, "The Americans in Cuba are all very powerful, either big farmers or big businessmen, I'm afraid it won't work to kill a few Americans." ”

Wang Chenhao smiled helplessly, so he said: "You Americans' lives are expensive, I think you might as well blow up and sink the warship you sent, right?" When the time comes, it was the Spaniards who did the falsehood! ”

Charles suddenly rejoiced: "That's a good suggestion! During the day our warships stirred up trouble and were sunk at night, so that everyone would think that the Spaniards were retaliating. Lord Wang is really tall. ”

Then Charles asked, "Then what excuse does Lord Wang have for war against Spain?" ”

Wang Chenhao smiled: "We have too many excuses. The Qing Empire was weak, and overseas Chinese were killed and persecuted by foreigners almost every day. Especially in Nanyang, the Spaniards in the Philippines and some local natives persecute and bully the Chinese every day. We have enough excuses to protect the diaspora. There is no way, the country is weak and bullied, to be honest, I envy you Americans, the whole world goes sideways. ”

Charles said modestly: "Lord Wang has won the award, in fact, China now has you, I believe that in the near future, the Chinese in your country will no longer be bullied, and like us Americans, they will have the safety of their lives overseas." ”

Wang Chenhao smiled and said, "I borrow your auspicious words, I hope that day will come soon!" ”

Next, Wang Chenhao and Charles discussed some detailed rules, mainly how to deploy the two [***] teams, the issue of command, and how the two countries can unite to put pressure on the great powers of various countries to force them not to interfere in the war against Spain.

Regarding the deployment of troops, Wang Chenhao said: "In the Caribbean, the strength of the Spanish Navy there is not strong. Once war is declared, Spain will mobilize warships from its homeland to the Caribbean. Until then, your navy will not face any threat. As a result, our Navy will cover the landing of our Army in Puerto Rico. By the time the Spanish Navy arrived in the Caribbean, two of our battleships were incorporated into your Atlantic Fleet and placed under your command. What do you think? ”

Charles nodded and said, "Good!" I agree with this blending scheme! And what about the Asian theater of operations? Our country will mobilize the Asian fleet to attack the Spanish Philippine colonial fleet, and according to my investigation, the Spanish colonial fleet is still very strong, and I hope that your navy will be able to participate in the war together. ”

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "Mr. Charles, I think you, as a naval officer, should be very aware of the strength of the Spanish colonial fleet. True, they have more warships than your country's Asian fleet, but they are all old warships and gunboats, and it is not an exaggeration to call them antiques, and they are not at all opponents of your country's fleet. ”

Charles smiled: "Makes you laugh!" Actually, I think the same way, but the US Navy does not have the combat experience of the era of steam warships. We are not afraid of equipment, but Spain is an old naval power, and their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated. And your navy is currently the only force in the world to win a decisive battle at sea in the era of steam warships, and your navy has a lot of experience in this area, so-"

Wang Chenhao secretly criticized the Americans for their first foreign expansion, and the perennial navy was abolished, but now it has just been formed and has no experience in naval warfare, which is also the main factor why the United States is only called an economic power rather than a military power.

"Yes! We'll help you deal with the Spanish and Philippine colonial fleets, but I ask your army to ensure the safety of Chinese lives and property when attacking the Philippines. ”

Charles immediately nodded and said, "There is no problem with this. Since we are fighting together, how can we attack the Chinese? Don't worry! ”

"That's good!"

Wang Chenhao was most worried that the war in the Philippines would affect the Chinese, and after getting Charles's assurance, Wang Chenhao was relieved.

At this time, Charles said: "In addition, we hope that the intelligence of our two armies can be shared, and I hope that Lord Wang can call on the Chinese in the Philippines to help the US military!" ”

"No problem!" Wang Chenhao nodded in agreement.

After solving the problem of military linkage and cooperation, the two exchanged views on the current international situation, mainly considering what kind of international impact it would bring if China and the United States jointly went to war against Spain. What will be the attitude of the great powers, whether they will interfere or not, etc.

(To be continued)