There are no absolute enemies or absolute friends between nations.

In the end, the Chinese Empire and Britain did not sign a treaty of alliance because of various interest disputes, but because of the decline of Russia and the rise of the Chinese Empire, Britain felt that its world maritime hegemony was seriously impacted and threatened.

In particular, after the victory of the Chinese Empire over Russia, with the prestige of a great victory, it advanced step by step on the Hong Kong Island issue, causing a sharp decline in Sino-British relations. However, the British colonial authorities in India and Burma encroached on the territory of the Chinese Empire in Tibet Province and Yunnan Province step by step, and the Chinese Imperial people became extremely angry.

In May of the 3rd year of Guanghua, more than 30,000 teachers and students of Peiyang University jointly wrote to the emperor, asking the emperor Wang Chenhao to issue an order to recover the lost territory of Hong Kong Island, Tibet Province and the border of Yunnan.

On the 8th, Cai Yuanpei, Minister of the Imperial Ministry of Education, together with a group of highly educated officials within the Imperial Beiyang Group, formally established the Chinese Imperial Mingzhuo Party in the auditorium of Beiyang University, and Cai Yuanpei served as the chairman of the Mingzhuo Party. Subsequently, the Mingzhuo Party quickly took advantage of the surging anti-British tide in the country, mainly advanced intellectuals such as teachers and students, and took the defense of the sovereignty and national dignity of the Chinese Empire as the party platform and slogan, and quickly recruited hundreds of thousands of party members.

On April 3, in the election of the Zhili Provincial Assembly of the Chinese Empire, the Ming Cook Party led by Cai Yuanpei won 63% of the seats in one fell swoop, and Cai Yuanpei then participated in the election of the governor of Zhili Province.

This move immediately stimulated the nerves of officials from all walks of life in the Beiyang Group, and Zhang Feng, the prime minister of the imperial cabinet, saw that Cai Yuanpei was elected governor of Zhili Province, and if he was not stopped, he would not be his opponent in the parliamentary election next year, so Cai Yuanpei was very likely to be elected prime minister of the imperial cabinet at that time.

Out of the struggle for power, Zhang Feng immediately entered the palace to face the saint and made a statement to the emperor Wang Chenhao, saying that Cai Yuanpei intended to seize power and despise His Majesty the emperor.

Wang Chenhao originally thought that after he had only been studying for a few decades, he would consider forming a party to take turns in power, delegating all powers, and being an emperor who enjoyed Qing happiness from now on. He didn't expect that with the rapid development of education in the empire, the people's wisdom brought about by the popularization of primary and secondary schools would open up so quickly, so he had to ask Cai Yuanpei's true purpose.

Wang Chenhao immediately summoned Cai Yuanpei, at this time Cai Yuanpei had learned that Zhang Feng had slandered in front of Wang Chenhao, Cai Yuanpei immediately said that he formed the Ming Cook Party only to participate in the cabinet election, and the first article of its party program clearly stipulated that he supported the political axe of the Chinese Empire and was loyal to the Emperor of the Chinese Empire. At the same time, Cai Yuanpei said that at present, there are thousands of large and small parties and organizations in China, and they are all recruiting party members from all over the country, and many parties are already capable of attacking the bureaucratic dominance of the Beiyang clique. At present, there are many internal parties in the Beiyang Group headed by Wang Chenhao, and if a large party is not established as soon as possible, I am afraid that it will lead to infighting and chaos.

Wang Chenhao still attaches great importance to Cai Yuanpei, and he also knows that if the Beiyang Group does not have a clear program of struggle, it will be a plate of scattered sand, and it is very likely to be swallowed up by other parties in the future.

Cai Yuanpei pointed out that a group of people headed by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao formed the Rejuvenation Party, and Sun Wen, a revolutionary in the former dynasty, formed the Republican Party.

After listening to Cai Yuanpei's explanation, Wang Chenhao did not rebuke the matter of forming a party, but expressed his appreciation.

As a result, Cai Yuanpei and his Mingzhuo Party were recognized by the emperor, and a group of officials within the Beiyang Group quickly joined the Mingzhuo Party, and for a time the Mingzhuo Party became the largest party in the empire and controlled the power of many provinces.

Zhang Feng saw that Wang Chenhao did not stop Cai Yuanpei, so in order not to be robbed of his status as prime minister, after asking Wang Chenhao for instructions, he also established the Minsheng Party within the Beiyang Group, and the party platform was based on the premise of supporting the political axe of the Chinese Empire and being loyal to the emperor of the Chinese Empire, and listed that the task of the Minsheng Party was to maintain the living space of the people of the Chinese Empire as the primary goal.

Because Zhang Feng was the prime minister of the empire, and the officials who had a good relationship with him accounted for the majority of the imperial bureaucracy, the Minsheng Party suddenly surpassed the Ming Cook Party and became the largest party in the empire. Because Zhang Feng received Wang Chenhao's guidance and took economic development and people's livelihood as the slogan, this move was immediately praised by the people of the whole country, and the Minsheng Party defended its position as the largest party in China.

The members of the Minsheng Party control most of the administrative power of the empire, and Cai Yuanpei is only a minister of education and does not have much influence, so the strength of the Mingzhu Party is too weak.

Wang Chenhao then decided to let Tang Shaoyi form the Civil Rights Party and take away some of the party members and rights of the Minsheng Party, so that the Minsheng Party would be appropriately weakened and would not suppress the Mingzhuo Party too much.

As a result, Wang Chenhao's Beiyang Group was divided into three major parties from within, the first of which was the Minsheng Party, which occupied 52% of the seats in parliament, and Zhang Feng was re-elected as prime minister. The Civil Rights Party won 33 percent of the seats in parliament, making it the second largest party. The Ming Cook Party won 14% of the seats in parliament, making it the third largest party in the empire.

According to Wang Chenhao's idea, the three political parties take turns to govern, and the three-legged situation is more in line with the core idea of the separation of powers.

The premise of the program of the three parties is to use the emperor of the Chinese Empire, so that Wang Chenhao has delegated the right to make his subordinates happy, and at the same time has preserved the continuation of the constitutional monarchy, even if his descendants have no rights in the future, at least there is an emperor name, and Wang Chenhao's personal property is enough for future generations to live without worry.

While other parties, such as the Xingguo Party and the Republican Party, won only 1% of the seats, Kang Youwei and Sun Wen and other party leaders believed after research that the imperial people had incomparable respect and love for the emperor, and that support for the emperor of the Chinese empire must be written into the party program, otherwise it would be difficult to open up the situation. As a result, they included support for the Emperor of China in Article 1 of the Party Program, so that their party was later expanded.

As a result, the political situation of the Chinese Empire combined the advantages of the three mainstream forms of government: the constitutional monarchy from Britain, the separation of powers from the United States, and the multi-party system from France, which allowed the Chinese Empire to continue for a long time.

As for the small parties such as the Kuomintang Party and the Republican Party, because their starting point is too low, they have not been able to compete with the Minsheng Party, the Ming Cooking Party, and the Civil Rights Party, so that they have always been opposition parties and can only exercise the right of supervision. But Wang Chenhao also thought of them and did not let them be idle. Since the power of supervision is exercised, the Imperial Commission Against Corruption and other departments do not allow the ruling party to hold official positions, and it is just for these opposition parties to take care of them, because they want the ruling party to step down, and the supervision of the officials of the ruling party must be extremely strict, which is extremely beneficial to preventing the occurrence of the phenomenon of state officials, and will be a great contribution to the empire.

Zhang Feng was re-elected, but this also created a sense of crisis for him, and he and his officials from the People's Livelihood Party had to do a decent job or risk being overtaken by either the Ming Cook Party or the Civil Rights Party next time. With a sense of crisis, Zhang Feng and his officials of the People's Livelihood Party worked harder to serve the imperial government and the people.

Before the newly inaugurated People's Livelihood Party (PSP) could sit firmly, there was even greater anti-British sentiment in the country, and calls for the recovery of Hong Kong Island were rising one after another, and the people demanded that the imperial government take action.

Zhang Feng had to be tough on the British, and immediately ordered the Imperial Foreign Office to send a note to the British political axe, demanding that the British political axe must come up with a timetable, and this timetable should not exceed three months, and Britain must make a choice to return Hong Kong Island, Tibetan Province, and the territory invaded by Yunnan Province to China.

British Prime Minister Arthur? Balfour immediately convened a meeting to discuss its policy toward China, and some people advocated that the dignity of the British Empire must be defended and that no concessions should be made, and that if Hong Kong Island was returned, it would not only blow Britain's international prestige, but also deprive Britain of an excellent foothold in the Far East. Other officials believed that if they did not agree, they could break out into a military conflict with the Chinese Empire or even turn into a full-scale war, and whether Britain could defeat China as it did in 1840 became crucial.

The British side had to admit that judging from the strong combat effectiveness and huge army of the Imperial Chinese Army, the British Army had no chance of winning the ground battle. However, the British Imperial Navy was confident that it would defeat the Imperial Chinese Navy, and if the Chinese Empire recaptured Hong Kong, then they would seize the overseas colonies of the Chinese Empire, and the Panama Canal was about to be opened, and its huge economic and strategic interests were coveted by the British authorities.

Subsequently, the British Navy submitted a report on the military strength of the Imperial Chinese Navy, saying that although the total tonnage of the Imperial Chinese Navy became the second in the world overnight, second only to the British Navy. But only the Pacific Fleet can compete with the British Royal Navy, because their warships are advanced. And the warships of the First Fleet of the Chinese Empire were either obsolete old ships before the First Sino-Japanese War, or they were warships that captured the Russian Navy, and the warships of the Russian Navy were no match for the British warships, so the British Navy was far stronger than the Chinese Imperial Navy. If only islands such as Puerto Rico and Guam were to be captured, the British Navy would be sure.

Arthur? Balfour believed that the navy's view was correct, and if the Chinese Empire dared to attack Hong Kong Island, then the British Navy would attack Puerto Rico and Guam, and even occupy all the overseas territories of the Chinese Empire. He believed that the overseas territories of the Chinese Empire were enough to recoup the loss of Hong Kong Island, which was also the best solution, and Britain would not lose face.

So, Arthur? Balfour ordered the British ambassador to China, Douglas, to delay as long as he could, and if he could not delay it, he told them that Britain would never give up Hong Kong Island, and that he would threaten them appropriately.

So Dou Nale began to delay, and after the three-month deadline, Dou Nale refused the request of the Chinese Empire for political axes.

After Britain refused, the people of the Chinese Empire were immediately agitated and threw eggs and stones at the British Embassy in China and in front of various consulates, and Sino-British relations suddenly turned cold.

On 15 July, Zhang Feng met with Emperor Wang Chenhao, and said that the issue of Hong Kong Island could not be resolved through peaceful means, and Britain seemed to have nothing to fear.

"They should want to trade the Empire's overseas colonies for Hong Kong Island." Wang Chenhao immediately judged Britain's strategic intentions.

Zhang Feng said: "If this is the only case, it is a good result, I am afraid that the British will have a snooping heart for the Panama Canal, and the value of a Panama Canal is far greater than the value of Puerto Rico, Guam and Hong Kong Island." Your Majesty will see how valuable the Panama Canal is when you look at the British revenues on the Suez Canal, which can amount to one-third of the Empire's fiscal revenues every year. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said, "This time, your People's Livelihood Party came to power, if you don't handle this matter well, then the next election in four years will definitely not have your share." ”

Zhang Feng hurriedly nodded and said, "Your Majesty declares that Weichen also thinks so. ”

Wang Chenhao thought for a while and said: "In terms of ground war, the British can't beat us at all, and we are probably not the opponent of Britain in a sea war, maybe a fight can solve a lot of problems." ”

Zhang Feng asked worriedly: "But after all, this is five or five numbers, Wechen is worried that it is not easy to build the Imperial Navy, if it is accidentally broken all of a sudden, Wechen will be a sinner for the ages." ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said, "The navy will definitely not be able to fight the British, but we can outwit it!" ”

Zhang Fengqi said: "What does Your Majesty mean?" ”

Wang Chenhao thought for a while, and then said: "We launched an offensive from the land, using the strong combat power of the Imperial Army to defeat the British Army, and at sea we implemented a defensive strategy, and the surface ship and submarine forces of the Navy are enough to guard the sea frontier." ”

Zhang Feng said suddenly: "Your Majesty, if we vigorously develop a submarine force, will we effectively curb the invasion of the British Navy?" ”

Wang Chenhao smiled and nodded, "Of course!" Our submarines can not only defend near the sea, so that the British Navy does not dare to approach, but also our submarines already have the ability to fight in the ocean, if the British force us, then we will play a little ruthless for them. ”

Zhang Feng asked, "What does Your Majesty mean?" ”

Wang Chenhao snorted coldly and said: "What Britain depends on for survival is the sea supply line, and our submarines are deployed to the Atlantic Ocean to attack British ships and fight a broken war, and the British will collapse and sue for peace in less than half a year." ”

Zhang Feng suddenly said excitedly: "Your Majesty's words are serious? ”

Wang Chenhao was dissatisfied: "Which of my words is not true? ”

Zhang Feng immediately confessed and said: "Your Majesty forgives the sin, what Weichen means is that Weichen will dare to argue with the British!" ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said, "You can just let it go!" ”

Zhang Feng suddenly said happily: "Weichen obeys the order!" ”

Zhang Feng left beautifully, and Wang Chenhao immediately called the Ministry of National Defense and asked Wang Shizhen to come over for discussion.

Soon, Wang Shizhen rushed to the imperial study.

Wang Chenhao immediately told Wang Shizhen about the things he mentioned to Zhang Feng before, and Wang Shizhen immediately said: "Your Majesty, rest assured, the soldiers of the three armies of the empire have long seen the arrogance of the British and are about to teach them a lesson." ”

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "We just got the benefits of the British, and in a blink of an eye, we turned our faces and didn't recognize people!" ”

Wang Shizhen also smiled: "Your Majesty said yes! But one yard is one yard, the British helped us, and they also wanted to use us to deal with the Russians, and now that the Russians have been defeated, we can also be regarded as repaying them the favor of the British, and we don't owe each other. Since the British don't give us Hong Kong Island, then we will take it back ourselves. The British army was only a few thousand people on Hong Kong Island, and the Guangzhou Military Region was enough to take it within three days. ”

Wang Chenhao said: "The British are shameless, I am afraid that they will attack Guam, Puerto Rico, or the Panama Canal. ”

Wang Shizhen said: "Guam and Puerto Rico are heavily defended by the Empire, and the naval, land and air bases have been built, and with the capabilities of the British Army, they cannot defeat them." Only the Panama Canal, and now there is still a 49% stake of the French in it, and the British did not dare to do it lightly. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, this is true.

"It's just that the British Navy is strong, and although the Imperial Navy has been on the battlefield for a long time, the number of advanced warships is not as good as the British Navy.

Wang Shizhen said: "If we can build a large-scale Shenbow-class battleship, we can win with quality in a short period of time." ”

Wang Chenhao said: "It's not a problem for the Divine Bow Ship to fight in two, the problem is that the construction period is at least two years or more, you see that the people of the empire are now excited, Zhang Feng is like sitting on pins and needles, this battle will have to start soon." ”

Wang Shizhen asked, "Then what does Your Majesty mean?" ”

Wang Chenhao said: "The navy is mainly strategic defense, the army captures Hong Kong Island, and sends troops to Burma, Laos and India, and it only takes a few decent battles for the British to submit. ”

Wang Shizhen nodded and said: "There should be no big problem with naval defense, our submarine is enough to defend the country." The British Army performed very poorly in the Boer War, far from being the opponent of the Imperial Army, and fighting a quick local war should be the best solution. But what if the British can't put down their minds and keep spending time with the empire? ”

Wang Chenhao snorted coldly and said, "I also have a way to deal with them!" Build more ocean-going submarines and send them to the Atlantic to disrupt British shipping. ”

Wang Shizhen nodded and said: "Your Majesty, as far as Wei Chen knows, Britain is all supported by imported materials from overseas colonies, and it will definitely be immediate to attack his supply lines and break the war." ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said, "So, you are now immediately urging the Admiralty Shipyards to hurry up and build ocean-going attack submarines." At the same time, the sea trials of the Divine Bow ship are almost over, and if there are no problems, start building a batch in batches, just in case. ”

Wang Shizhen said: "It shouldn't be a problem to build a magic bow ship, but the Congress has cut the navy's spending!" ”

Wang Chenhao said: "Now that the war is imminent, there is an excuse, and I will find a way to get them to pass the appropriation bill." ”

Since Wang Chenhao spoke, Wang Shizhen did not doubt it, and immediately received the order.

(To be continued)