"£10 million?"

"That's right, £10 million..."

In the building of Yichang County's political axe, Yan Guangzheng was holding a teacup and said an amazing number with a relaxed expression...

The German minister Marzan, who sat to his right, and Riddle, the manager of the Lihe Foreign Company, who came with him, were shocked by this number. £10 million? You must know that the total amount of Yuan Shikai's loans to foreign banks in various countries is only 25 million pounds.

However, Marzan has no doubts about whether Yan Guang can pay this huge amount, because just like the British Minister Juerdian, Marzan also knows very well how much money Yan Guang can get every year in the oil fields of Tampico...

£10 million? It does seem like a lot, but for Yan Guang, it's less than a year's income...

"But with a £10 million order in exchange for Jiaozhou Bay......... This Chinese is really unexpected..."

Thinking of this, Malzan looked at Yan Guang again.

"Originally, I came to Yichang this time, just because of Riddle's request and my curiosity about this Chinese, but I didn't expect that he was really capable of doing so well..."

About half a month ago, Yan Guang sent an invitation to the German minister Marzan through Riddle, the manager of Lihe & Co., hoping that he could come to Yichang to meet with him to discuss the issue of Germany's return of the leased land in Jiaozhou Bay―――――――――― which naturally included the Qingdao Fortress.

When he learned from Riddle that Yan Guang wanted to discuss the ownership of Jiaozhou Bay with him, Malzan felt that this Chinese was absolutely crazy. You must know that at present, the territory of this Chinese is only Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, and so far it has only barely stepped into Hubei, not to mention how far away it is from Shandong, just Beiyang, which is currently confronting him, may defeat him at any time―――――― and want to discuss the problem of Jiaozhou Bay with him? Anyway, we have to wait until the Beiyang Army is repulsed, right?

However, when Malzan learned that Yan Guang was ready to exchange an order of up to 10 million pounds, Malzan, who was already ready to refuse, hesitated, and then coupled with his curiosity about this Chinese, finally Malzan also stepped on a passenger ferry to Yichang...

However, just when Malzan and his entourage, Riddle and others boarded the passenger ship, the news of the unfavorable war of the Beiyang Army came from the port, which also made Malzan, who had just boarded the ship not long ago, think about the problem of Jiaozhou Bay again...

"Jiaozhou Bay..."

Because a major war may break out in Europe at any time, Germany has begun to propose that the leased land in Jiaozhou Bay be returned to the Chinese political axe free of charge―――――― of course, this Chinese political axe refers to Yuan Shikai's Beiyang political axe, not a miscellaneous political axe...

And looking at Malzan, Yan Guang's face was also smiling.

He said that he seized Qingdao as a later person, of course, he knew very well, and it was precisely because of this that he had the idea of returning Jiaozhou Bay to China free of charge in exchange for an order of 10 million pounds in exchange for the Germans.

"10 million pounds of machinery and equipment can fully help China's heavy industry construction, and it can also have a perfect excuse when dealing with myself..."

That's right, deal with myself.

Yan Guang is very clear that his peep into Jiaozhou Bay and the Shandong Peninsula can be said to be second only to their desire for the three eastern provinces. So even if Yan Guang reached an agreement with the Germans, he would definitely not give up...

First, the army is not as perverted as later generations, and second, the gap between the army and the Chinese army is not so big, and the standing army of the original army was only 150,000 in the early days of the European war, and only 500,000 after the general mobilization. The only trouble is the Yamaben Navy, and if there is no strong enough fortress to support it, it is a very troublesome thing to deal with the Yamaben Army with the support of the Navy..."

This is why Yan Guang wanted to take back Jiaozhou Bay, especially Qingdao Fortress.

Because he knew very well that even if he reached an agreement with the Germans and took back the Jiaozhou Bay and Qingdao fortresses very peacefully, he would never give up (the German political axe had privately negotiated with the Chinese political axe to "return the leased land in Jiaozhou Bay to China", but China would compensate him in the future.) However, he issued an ultimatum, demanding that the German political axe hand over Jiaozhou Bay to Yuben by September 15, and then "return it to China in the future." After receiving the ultimatum, German Minister Marzan said: "Germany can return Qingdao to China, but it should have returned Taiwan to China." At the same time, Marzan approached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China's political axe, saying that Jiaozhou Bay could be returned directly to China. But because of Yueben's opposition, Yuan Shikai did not dare to accept it. Later, Yuan Shikai suggested that Germany first hand over Jiaozhou Bay to the United States, and then from the United States to China, but the United States refused. At the same time, Yuan Shikai also expressed his sincere friendship and gratitude to the German ultimatum to uphold justice and express his friendship and friendship for the "future handover of Jiaozhou Bay to China" mentioned in the ultimatum to Germany. ）

If after the outbreak of the European war, it should be said that the book will definitely send troops to Qingdao, and at that time, China, which has taken back Qingdao in advance, will be able to stand on its feet in the truth, and second, it will be easier to deal with the navy with the Qingdao fortress as a support point, as for the excuse for the city to send troops to Qingdao? ―――――― excuse this kind of thing, if you want to find it, you can always find it.

And as an ally of the Ben, Britain will definitely stand on the side of the Ben at that time, even if the excuse that the Ben came up with at that time is really trivial, for the victory of the European War, Britain and France will agree with this excuse...

――――――――――

"Mr. Yan, if we reach an agreement on the Jiaozhou Bay issue, I wonder how long you are going to arrive in Shandong?"

Just as Yan Guang was sitting there thinking about Qingdao and himself, after thinking for a while, Malzan asked.

This is a very important issue, if Yan Guang only hit Qingdao after the outbreak of the European war, then even if the two really reached an agreement on Jiaozhou Bay, it would be meaningless.

Fortunately, Yan Guangzhi was very confident in this aspect, so after hearing Malzan's question, Yan Guang replied directly.

"I'm ready to unify the country in less than 1 year..."

"1 year?"

Marzan still knew very well how big China was, so he was obviously taken aback after hearing about the time of one year, but after a little thought, he understood that Yan Guang was not lying in vain.

Since the Kuomintang leaders Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing fled to Yuben due to the Second Revolution, Yan Guang's only rival in China today is Yuan Shikai. And now more than half of Yuan Shikai's main force in Beiyang is concentrated in Qianjiang, if Yan Guang can defeat Yuan Shikai's main force in Beiyang in Qianjiang, then Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Anhui will all fall into Yan Guang's hands. And without these main forces of Beiyang, Yuan Shikai will have no capital to compete with Yan Guang, and it is naturally a matter of time before he wants to recover North China, which has no danger to defend...

As long as the Beiyang Army gathered in Hubei can be defeated in a short time, it will definitely be able to unify China in less than 1 year...

And...

"According to the latest news from the Military Intelligence Bureau, Yuan Shikai's health has not been very good recently, and he will die of illness in a few years in history, if he can defeat the Beiyang Army in Qianjiang in a short period of time, maybe Yuan Shikai will die because of the stimulation of this incident, then Northern China will naturally be able to recover peacefully..."

Of course, even if Yuan Shikai doesn't have a life, Yan Guang is not afraid, after all, the north is different from the south, and in many places the north is a flat river, if the Beiyang Army in Hubei is defeated, even if Yuan Shikai wants to defend it, there is no danger to defend, and at that time, Yan Guang's Guoshe Army only needs to drive straight in...

But just when Yan Guang was thinking so, Malzan spoke.

"Mr. Yan, I have a question I've been wanting to ask you."

"Mr. Minister, if you have any questions, please ask..."

Nodding, Malzan raised the question in his mind.

"Well, I've always wondered why Mr. Yan thinks we're going to give Jiaozhou Bay back to China. Even if it's in exchange for a £10 million order...", that's the question Marzan has always wanted to raise.

After hearing Malzan's question, Yan Guang pointed his finger at his head.

"Mr. Marzan, I also have my own intelligence sources, that's right, now your country's political axe has not yet determined that Jiaozhou Bay must be returned to China, but there are already people in your country's political axe who have proposed this, in this case, why don't I talk to you directly?" As he spoke, Yan Guang pointed in the direction of the book. "It's better to talk early than late, you know, there's a bad neighbor there who has been eyeing Qingdao..."

Hearing Yan Guang say this, Marzan also nodded in agreement.

In the past, the British said that the alliance may have existed to counterbalance Russia, but now it has become an existence against Germany, and the Germans are naturally well aware of this.

"I'm curious what your intelligence source is, but I can tell you that such an offer has indeed arisen within our political axe. But at the moment this is only a proposal, and I have no right to decide anything, so I would like to send a telegram to Berlin for instructions..."

"Of course there is no problem, if necessary, we have a special wireless telegraph here..."

After hearing Yan Guang's words, Marzan nodded in gratitude.

Not long after, after receiving Malzan's telegram, the German side was also arguing over the Jiaozhou Bay matter, but in the process of the dispute, it was the overwhelming majority who agreed to return Jiaozhou Bay to China. First, the order of 10 million pounds is indeed tempting, and second, even if they do not return it, when the war breaks out in Europe, will the German officers and soldiers and expatriates in the Qingdao fortress wait for the British and himself to come to the door?

So within a few days, Marzan, who was staying in Yichang, received a telegram authorizing negotiations...

However, the Germans marked one point, that is, Jiaozhou Bay could only be returned after the outbreak of the European war.

(To be continued)