[Today's second update]

Tsarist Russia's blatant provocation immediately aroused strong protests from the Chinese political axe and people.

When Wang Chenhao, prime minister of the cabinet, who was inspecting maritime affairs at the Gaochang Temple in Shanghai, learned of this, he sent a telegram to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make solemn representations to Russia to test the details of Russia's affairs. At the same time, he lodged a strong protest against Tsarist Russia to the Hague International, and asked the Hague International to exert pressure on Tsarist Russia to make Russia give up its interference in China's internal affairs. The move was an attempt to occupy the moral high ground and now win support in international public opinion.

On the other hand, Wang Chenhao sent a telegram to the Ministry of National Defense, asking the Ministry of National Defense to draw up a set of plans, and if efforts to do so through diplomatic means failed, it would proceed with the use of force. The General Staff began to develop a detailed operational plan. The Military Command Department issued a war mobilization order, calling on the people of the whole country to enthusiastically sign up to join the army, and the reserve forces were quickly rebuilt. The garrisons throughout the country were upgraded from peacetime towns to armies, and the three major military regions gathered the armies under their jurisdiction to form group armies or group army groups. The General Logistics Department seized the time to prepare war materials and sent supplies to the strategic material reserve centers of the three major military regions, including grain, guns and equipment, ammunition, oil, medicine, military uniforms, and other materials.

On 3 February, The Hague International accepted a request from China's Beiyang political axe, and Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, and the Netherlands formed a joint mediation delegation to set up an international tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands, to accept the dispute between China and Russia over the Outer Mongolia issue.

Although China occupies the moral high ground and has an advantage over Tsarist Russia on the issue of Outer Mongolia, the European and American powers all hope that China and Russia will fight, so on the issue of interference in China's internal affairs by Tsarist Russia, the International Tribunal favors Tsarist Russia and has no intention of mediating at all, but deliberately provokes China and forces China to go to war against Russia.

Wang Chenhao knew that these European and American powers did not want China to become strong, especially Britain, and the British political axe no longer instigated China and Russia to go to war all the time, but this time they seized the opportunity and did not have any intention of mediation, but encouraged China to prepare for war against Russia.

Seeing that Britain had no intention of mediating, the other European and American powers chose to take sides, betting on one side to win.

Tsarist Russia's arrogance made it have only one friend in Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, the Netherlands, and other European countries all sided with Russia, supported Russia's interference in China's internal affairs, and gambled that Russia would win the Sino-Russian war.

The main reason for this result was caused by the British, and the Anglo-Russian contradiction made Britain support China against Russia, but now that the Anglo-Boer war was in full swing, Britain intended to dominate South Africa's gold and diamonds, and European countries were jealous. In particular, Germany's enormous influence on the European continent, coupled with the agitation and lobbying of the Netherlands, led European countries to form a political group that united to isolate Britain. So Britain supported China, and other European countries supported Russia.

Similarly, the United States had a very unpleasant quarrel with China over the Panama Canal issue, and also hoped to take this opportunity to knock China up, so the United States chose neutrality in this matter, but this is tantamount to helping Russia.

Of course, the European and American powers deliberately made a fuss about this matter, and their real purpose was to prevent the rise of China, because they knew that China has a population of more than 400 million, an economy second only to the United States, and that China is modernizing and has made surprising achievements, and if the rise of China is not stopped, China will be the second United States in the future and become a huge threat to European countries.

Now that the United States has broken through the blockade of Europe, these European countries can no longer prevent the rise of the United States, so they have to retreat to the next best thing to stop the rise of China.

Obviously, the best way to stop China's rise is to encourage China's immediate neighbor to start a war against Tsarist Russia. And the United States does not want a country that is likely to be equal to or even surpass him in the future, so the United States and European countries have the same position on this issue. Of course, Britain also has this position, but before Britain contains China, Britain hopes to use China to contain Russia.

These European and American powers are not well-intentioned, Wang Chenhao knows this best. Wang Chenhao knew that China's influence on Europe was far less than that of Russia, and he did not expect The Hague International to be able to help and submit the matter to The Hague International for arbitration, just to delay as much time as possible, because it took time for Wang Chenhao's army to assemble, it took time for supplies to be sent to the three major war zones, and it took time for the expedition to the Mongolian desert.

In the same way, the Tsarist political axe also knew that these European and American countries were not at ease with their support for him, and they all wanted to use Russia's strength to attack China, consuming China's national strength and consuming Russia's national strength, which was a strategic strategy to kill two birds with one stone.

Although the Tsarist political axe was clear about the true purpose of the great powers, as time went by, it seemed that the political axe of Tsarist Russia could no longer come to power. The death of Nicholas II made Russia determined to fight China, and all these years of war preparations were aimed at China.

The Russian political axe believes that war is inevitable and is only a matter of time. But the Russian government also knew that it would be difficult for Tsarist Russia to achieve a decisive victory in the Far East without waiting for the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway. But at the moment, the Trans-Siberian Railway is only two-thirds completed, and the Tsarist military is not ready for war, and it will take time.

In this way, Tsarist Russia hopes to avoid a military conflict with China on the Mongolian issue as much as possible, and supports [***] Independence, and Russia's annexation of Mongolia in the future is the ultimate strategic goal of the Tsarist Foreign Ministry, and maintaining the status quo between Mongolia and Beiyang is the current strategic goal of Tsarist Russian diplomats. And the arbitration through The Hague International is only to create trouble for China.

Of course, the political axe of Tsarist Russia was not without strong military support on the Mongolian issue. With more than 300,000 troops stationed in Central Asia, Tsarist Russia was not far from the Kulen region of Mongolia, and military operations could be carried out without the support of the Trans-Siberian Railway. On the other hand, although China's Beiyang political axe is abundant, the transportation is not developed, and it is difficult for the supply materials from the Central Plains to be quickly delivered to Outer Mongolia. China is prioritizing the construction of a strategic railway to Kulen in the Mongolian desert, and in this regard, China seems to be in the same situation as Russia is building the Trans-Siberian Railway.

China has a strategic advantage in the northeast, and Russia has a strategic advantage in the northwest. It was precisely because of the support of the Central Asian Corps that Russia dared to openly argue with the Beiyang political axe on the Mongolian issue.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Moscow, Kremlin.

Nicholas II, having consolidated his dominance over Tsarist Russia, remained in Moscow most of the time and no longer in St. Petersburg.

In the Kremlin hall, the new Minister of War of Tsarist Russia, General Sukhomlinov, is presenting his battle plan to Tsar Nicholas II.

"Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that we do not have to wait until the Siberian Railway is completed to teach the Chinese. A few years ago, China gave the Chinese an advantage because of the poor transportation problems in the Far East, but now a new opportunity has emerged, the princes and nobles of Outer Mongolia are dissatisfied with Wang Chenhao's rule and demand autonomy and seek imperial help, while China's center of gravity is in the Central Plains and the eastern coastal regions, and the control of Mongolia is as weak as the control of the empire in the Far East. This is a good opportunity for us, and Wechen proposes to mobilize the 300,000 troops of the Central Asian Corps to send troops to Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang provinces in China, and the empire can now recapture from northwest China after the loss of the empire in northeast China. ”

Nicholas II nodded, Sukhomlinov's proposal was very convincing, Nicholas II had always been haunted by the defeat of Russia by China last time, and now Sukhomlinov's words gave him the idea of immediate revenge.

"The plan looks good! Uncle Huang, what do you think? ”

Nicholas II looked at Nicholas next to him and asked for his opinion.

As the imperial uncle of Nicholas II, he served as the commander of the Tsarist War Department and the cavalry general of Tsarist Russia, and had a unique and strategic vision in combat.

Nicholas said: "Your Majesty, I think that the proposal of the Minister of War is indeed feasible, the Empire has a standing army of 300,000 in Central Asia, capable of launching an offensive against China, Mongolia and the northwestern provinces of Xinjiang and Tibet, and as far as the Minister knows, the Chinese garrison in these regions is no more than a few tens of thousands, and we have an absolute advantage in military strength. ”

Nicholas II asked, "Do you approve of this, Uncle Emperor?" ”

Nicholas smiled, changed his words, and said: "However, the climate in Xinjiang and Tibet provinces in the northwest of China is harsh, and there are no targets worth capturing. Of course, Mongolia can be occupied, but in this way it is bound to introduce the Chinese [***] team into the Mongol battle, you must know that one-third of the length of the empire's Trans-Siberian Railway is close to the Mongolian region, and once the Chinese [***] team destroys our railway, our losses can be much greater than the benefits of getting a Mongol. At the same time, if war breaks out now, it will affect the entire Asian plans of the empire, prematurely deplete the funds and reserves of strategic materials, and when war breaks out in the Far East, we will again fall into passivity. ”

Nicholas had always opposed the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway close to the Mongolian border, fearing that it would be sabotaged by the Chinese Squadron, a costly Trans-Siberian Railway that would cost a lot of money, far more than the last Sino-Russian war.

Nicholas II nodded, also feeling that what Nicholas said made sense.

"But we have already built a railway on the Mongolian border, and it has been built for a long time, and if we can't get [***] to stand, then the railway will be threatened by the [***] team, wouldn't it be even worse?"

Nicholas said: "The minister has always disapproved of the construction of a railroad there!" ”

Nicholas II frowned suddenly, he didn't like to hear this sentence. After all, the person who approved the plan was Nicholas II, who chose to build a railway close to Mongolia, firstly, because Nicholas II wanted to open up the strategic passage from Moscow to Vladivostok as soon as possible, and said that the war against China would be a shame earlier. The second was to choose to build a railway close to the Mongolian border, and the second purpose was to facilitate the build-up of Tsarist troops to the Mongolian border, because Russia's Asian plan also included the occupation of Mongolia.

"The railroad has been repaired, and it can't be changed now."

Nicholas also knew that the wood was already in the boat, after all, the Trans-Siberian Railway was very expensive, and it had already hollowed out the Russian treasury, and if it was changed again, it would be even more difficult to lose.

"Since it can't be changed, Nachen thinks it's better not to start a war with China for the time being. Your Majesty, you also know that the Trans-Siberian Railway has emptied the finances of the Reich for many years, and now the Reich is in debt and has to repay a large amount of loans and interest to France and Germany every year. If the Empire wants to win the war, it will have to fight a quick war, and if it reaches a stalemate, the Empire's finances will be crushed. The Chinese will not sit idly by and watch the territory be occupied, they will always spend it with us. And now that the empire's finances were spent on the Trans-Siberian Railway and the reform of the domestic gold standard, the treasury had no money to pay for the war against China, not even a local war. ”

Nicholas II was full of surprise, he thought that Russia would have a lot of money after the reforms, so he had not paid attention to the state of Russia's finances for a long time.

"Call Witt in!"

Nicholas II hung up a phone and went out, and soon Witte hurried to arrive.

"Werther, how are the Empire's finances lately? Will there be a surplus this year? ”

Witte glanced at Nicholas and Sukhomlinov, and guessed in his heart why Nicholas II had asked this.

"Your Majesty, the reforms of the empire are progressing smoothly, last year's fiscal deficit was 172 million rubles, this year's budget is 280 million rubles, and the deficit is expected to fall and will not exceed 125 million rubles."

Nicholas II was dumbfounded, listening to what Witte said, it was clear that not only did he not have a surplus this year, but he still owed 125 million rubles.

"Didn't you say that significant progress has been made in reform? Why do you still owe so much money? ”

The corners of Werther's mouth twitched, and he secretly complained to Nicholas II, all of this is not your fault.

Of course, Witte did not dare to contradict Nicholas II, so he said: "Your Majesty is angry, the Sino-Russian war has caused the empire to owe a debt of 200 million rubles, the international silver crisis has caused the empire to lose 300 million rubles, the gold standard reform borrowed 400 million rubles from France, the budget of 1.5 billion rubles for the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and the second expansion of the Far East and the navy, the Ministry of Finance has overdrawn the budget by 1.2 billion rubles......"

"That's it! I know! ”

Nicholas II suddenly interrupted Werther's words with a wave of his hand, usually he didn't care, how do you know that little things add up.

"When will we pay these debts?"

Witte said: "The preliminary estimate is fifteen years! However, the French loan stipulates that it cannot be repaid in one go within 25 years! ”

Nicholas II asked the Minister of War Sukhomlinov: "Sukhomlinov, do you predict how much money you will need for your plan?" ”

Sukhomlinov thought for a while and said: "To defeat the Central [***] team within a month, the Central Asian Corps only needs 40 million rubles as military expenses." It would cost 180 million rubles to defeat the Chinese army in three months, 360 million rubles for half a year, and ...... for a year."

When Sukhomlinov saw Nicholas II glaring at him, he immediately stopped and said: "The slowest half a year will definitely defeat the [***] team and end the war." ”

Nicholas II looked at Witte and asked, "Do you hear that there is a problem with the finances?" ”

Witte said: "Your Majesty, although the Ministry of Finance is short of funds, if Sukhomlinov can guarantee to end the war within three months, the Ministry of Finance can first embezzle the funds of the Trans-Siberian Railway and make up 200 million rubles." ”

Nicholas snorted coldly: "Three months to end the war? That's impossible! Besides, once the war starts, can you guarantee that the [***] squadron will not start a war against the Amur Region in the northeast? ”

Sukhomlinov naturally did not dare to guarantee it, if he wanted to brag about it, he would not dare to issue a military order. Because if you don't do it, you're going to lose your head.

When Nicholas II saw Sukhomlinov's expression, he knew that this guy was bragging, and he was immediately displeased.

Sukhomlinov said: "But Mongolia has asked us to send troops to help and support their reading power, what does Your Majesty plan to do?" ”

Nicholas II said: "Now there is no money for war, so I can only verbally promise them first." Let's see if we can scare China if China insists on sending troops to pacify Mongolia...... Let's talk about it then. ”

Sukhomlinov, Nicholas, and Witte all listened nervously, waiting for Nicholas II to make a decision, but Nicholas II did not say anything in the middle of the conversation, so that several people could not guess his thoughts and did not know what he planned to do with the Mongol question.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Tokyo, Parliament Building. Prime Minister Kazuma Matsushima came to the Prime Minister's office with a check.

"Your Excellency, this is a cheque for reparations to be given to China this year."

Masayoshi Matsukata put down the official document in his hand, took the check and looked at it, which said 1.25 million pounds.

"This year, with 1.25 million pounds of interest, do you really want to give it to the Chinese?"

Matsukata Masayoshi looked at Matsushima Kazuma and sighed: "The treaty is stipulated to be paid off in 39 years, do you want me to tear up the treaty now?" Isn't that waiting to give the Chinese the truth, so that they will come and fight us again, and think that the reparations of the empire are not enough? ”

Kazuma Matsushima said, "Prime Minister, I didn't mean that. I just didn't want to, 1.25 million pounds, which is one-tenth of the imperial finances, and the imperial subjects saved the money they had saved and praised, and it was given to the Chinese in vain. ”

Matsukata Masayoshi patted Matsushima Kazuma on the shoulder and said with the same feeling: "Why am I willing to give this money to the Chinese, knowing that this 1.25 million pounds can buy us an advanced battleship, and giving it to the Chinese can only make the Chinese stronger." But we are not strong enough to compete with China, and we have to be patient. But I can tell you that one day, everything that is owed to us will have to be paid back with interest. ”

Matsushima Kazuma nodded and said, "I believe in your words, Prime Minister, that you have made great achievements in various reforms, and I believe that it will not be long before we will stand up again and defeat China." ”

Matsukata smiled and motioned for Matsushima Kazuma to sit down.

"The good news for you is that the US political axe has once again approved a loan of $100 million to us at an interest rate of only two dollars. With this $100 million, we can reform the gold standard, and we will come out of the shadow of the international banking crisis. ”

Matsushima Kazuma suddenly rejoiced: "Great! By getting out of the silver crisis, we can also reduce millions of dollars in losses. It's just that China has been preventing Americans from lending us money, so why is it willing to lend us so many low-interest loans this time? ”

Matsukata smiled: "Now there is a contradiction in the relationship between the United States and China, China is expanding everywhere, and not long ago it even interfered in the Panama Canal. Putting a hand on the ass of the Americans, the Americans will clearly not be happy. ”

Matsushima Kazuma said: "I have also heard that the Chinese are really good at picking up cheap, and I heard that the Panama Canal will be built next year, and the money invested by China will soon bear fruit." ”

Masayoshi Matsukata suddenly looked envious and jealous, and said: "Once the Panama Canal is opened, its status is equivalent to that of the Suez Canal, China has invested 20 million US dollars, and it will not take long to earn it back, and the profits in the future will increase exponentially." The annual profit of a Panama Canal is almost higher than our annual revenue. ”

Matsushima Kazuma couldn't help sighing, why didn't they have this opportunity in the first place?

"Prime Minister, China's national strength is much stronger than ours, and now it is like a giant dragon about to wake up, once the dragon wakes up and takes off, can we still get rid of them?"

Masayoshi Matsukata also sighed: "Yes! The dragon that has been sleeping for hundreds of years is about to wake up, and the first thing to do when he wakes up is to eat, and we are under the dragon's nose, and if we don't plan ahead, we will be eaten as food sooner or later. ”

"We're not going to be eaten!"

A voice interrupted Masayoshi Matsukata and Kazuma Matsushima's thoughts, and the two turned their heads to look, but it was Foreign Minister Lin Dong walking in.

"Sorry for eavesdropping on your conversation."

"It's okay, the Foreign Minister seems to be very happy, I don't know what happy events have been brought to us?"

Lin Dong walked over to the chair next to Matsukata and Matsushima Kazuma and sat down, and handed over a telegram.

"Check it out! I think we may have a chance to turn over this empire! ”

Masayoshi Matsukata and Kazukuma Matsushima hurriedly took the telegram and read it carefully.

"Is this true? The Russians are ready for war against China? ”

Lin Dong nodded and said, "The telegram was sent by the Imperial Consulate in Moscow, so there should be nothing wrong." I went to the General Staff Headquarters before coming here, and the Special Branch confirmed the real surname of the news. ”

Masayoshi Matsukata asked with a little doubt: "But the Russians' Trans-Siberian Railway will take two years to be completed, and without the support of the railway, will the Russians dare to go to war with China?" ”

Lin Dong said: "That's right! The Russians will suffer a great loss if they start a war with China before they finish the railway. But that was an East Asian war, but this time the Russians put the battlefield in Mongolia and the great northwest of China, and the opposite was true. Mongolia and the Great Northwest are far away from China's center of gravity, and it is no less difficult for China to supply Mongolia and the Great Northwest than it is for Russia to supply the Far East. Russia, on the other hand, has a 300,000-strong Central Asian Corps in the Kazakh region of Central Asia, which can quickly attack Mongolia and the Tibetan and Xinjiang provinces in the northwest. Therefore, the Russians have a great chance of winning. ”

Masayoshi Matsukata asked, "Then the Russians won't reveal information to us in vain, right?" ”

Lin Dong nodded and said, "Yes!" There's no free lunch! The Russians want to form a military alliance with us, and the Russians fear that after they start a war in the northwest, the Chinese will fight back in the northeast. The Trans-Siberian Railway has not been connected, and the Russians have difficulty supplying in the northeast, so the Russians are ready to pull us together to contain China in the northeast. ”

Masayoshi Matsukata suddenly frowned and said, "You must know that if we form a military alliance with the Russians, it will mean that we are completely hostile to the British. The empire is a long and narrow island country surrounded by the sea, and although the naval power has been rebuilt, we cannot withstand the blockade and attack of the British. ”

Lin Dong said: "I have also considered this, so I didn't dare to give the Russians any attitude, but I came to ask the Prime Minister your opinion." ”

Masayoshi Matsukata thought about it, so he said, "Leave it to the cabinet meeting to propose it!" ”

(To be continued)