The overwhelming flames of war in the Far East not only burned the Qing Dynasty, Korea and Japan, but also the whole world.

Britain, the world's number one power, found itself somewhat insignificant in the sudden Far East War. Supporting Japan against Russia in order to limit Russian expansion in the Far East was the basic policy of the British Empire in the Far East. However, in this war in the Far East, Japan acted as an accomplice of Russia, dragging down the strength of two reorganized divisions of the Qing State on the Korean battlefield, and causing the war situation in the northeast of the Qing State to deteriorate to the point of almost losing Mukden, the strategic core city in the northeast. Allowing Britain to talk about it, Japan's attack on the Qing State still did not stop, and it also tried to forcibly launch the Battle of the Yalu River when the Russian army was defeated, hoping to break through the Yalu River to attract the Qing army from Mukden to return for reinforcements to reduce the pressure on the Russian army.

British Prime Minister Salisbury even threatened the Japanese envoy to Britain that if Japan did not stop its military action against the Qing Dynasty, Britain would detain the warships ordered by Japan in Britain, and even said in a threatening tone that it would resell the warships ordered by Japan to the Qing Dynasty, but this could not prevent Japan from fighting the Qing army on the Yalu River. Fortunately, the main force in the south of the Qing State rushed to Mukden and completely annihilated the Russian army in just 60 hours. Coupled with the Russian navy, which had been wiped out by the Qing Dynasty, Russia not only had no offensive power in the Far East, but even its defense capability was shaky. The British Prime Minister and the British Minister to China had begun to encourage the Qing to launch a counterattack into the Far East to recover the territories ceded by the Qing army in the early years.

"Mr. Prime Minister, although we would also like to regain our territory. But you also know that our country is very poor, and the national strength is not enough to support our army to carry out long-distance offensive operations in the bitter cold. Of course, if your country is willing to pay £100 million. I believe that His Majesty will take advantage of the situation to pursue him. Gong Zhaoyi, the minister to the United Kingdom, responded very tactfully to Salisbury's suggestion, and his heartfelt smile was a reflection of the confidence of the Qing Dynasty in defeating Russia and Japan at the same time.

Is Gong Zhaoyu talking about the Qing Kingdom or is there an attempt to advance north? Salisbury thought that if the Qing could take advantage of the great victory over Russia. Taking advantage of the situation to go north and occupy the Far East is the real way to get Russia out of the Far East. If it was only a loan of 10 million pounds, Salisbury thought that he could fight for it in Parliament, but 100 million pounds would not be possible. Salisbury, who could not say that Gong Zhaoyi, sent a telegram to Ogner, trying to achieve the British Empire's strategy of containing Russia in the Far East through his personal relationship with the Qing Emperor.

Ogena did not go to Fengtian to meet Guangxu in person, but he talked with Li Hongzhang in the capital. Years as a minister to China gave him too much understanding of the dictatorship of the Qing Dynasty. Because of this sudden war, the Empress Dowager Cixi, who had re-disciplined the government, could no longer stop His Majesty the Emperor's pro-government. And the pro-government emperor will inevitably take necessary actions to consolidate his power in order to avoid being overturned by the empress dowager again. And so it goes. Now the officials in the imperial court will lose their rights in the Qing government. In Mukden, Guangxu, who was as young as him, had a deeper hatred for Japan, and what they hoped more was to clean up Japan and shame it.

Ogner was very annoyed that the current British government was very, and that the warships that Japan had purchased from the world could be launched and delivered next year, because everyone knew that Japan bought warships to deal with China. When all the Japanese warships are assembled, the strength of the Japanese navy will far outweigh that of the Qing State, and the most important thing for the Qing State is to deal with a possible Japanese attack next year. At this time, let the Qing state attack the Russian Far East. That means that the Qing State will be attacked from both the east and the west next year. With Guangxu's long-standing vision, Ogna believed that the Qing Emperor would not accept such an absurd opinion. But the government's directives still have to be implemented, so Ogner chose to open a breakthrough from Li Hongzhang. He did not ask the Qing to launch any large-scale attack on the Far East, as long as he could occupy Vladivostok. For this reason, Ogna decided to give certain benefits to the Qing State. For example, a loan of five million pounds, by the way, to fight for more benefits for the British Empire.

"Mr. Minister, I'm sorry I can't answer any of your questions. I believe that Mr. Minister should also know that Mr. Casini, the Russian Minister of Russia, has arrived in Mukden to consult with our Emperor. As a courtier, it is better to listen to the emperor's will. Li Hongzhang smiled slightly: "As for the five million pounds that your country is willing to provide. I think we can talk about it in detail. ”

Ogna opened his mouth, but couldn't get the words out. Qian Ming has made it very clear that the reason why he will give Qing Guo five million pounds on behalf of the money. That was based on the occupation of Vladivostok by the Qing Dynasty. Here you refuse to attack Vladivostok, and you have to take out a loan. I've seen shamelessness, but I've never seen such shamelessness.

Shameless? At least Guangxu doesn't think so. If Lao Li really wants to get back the five million pounds, Guangxu is willing to take out three points as a shameless reward for Lao Li. Guangxu told Li Hongzhang so clearly, the court has no money, and you, the prime minister, are responsible. You must know that the current civil and military generals of the small court in Fengtian are now gathered together, but they are quarreling in front of the emperor for money.

The use of mortars and grenades in the Fourth Division of the Battle of Mukden allowed the generals of the army to discover a new way of warfare, especially the Battle of Tieling after the arrival of the ** Artillery Division, the long-range attack of heavy artillery, the medium-range attack of mortars and the close attack of grenades, this land combat method has far exceeded the current rifle combat of the Western powers. Twenty years ago, when the Qing Dynasty was in Pingyanghong Rebellion, bows, sabers and arrows were still the main weapons in the war, who would have thought that only twenty years later, the Qing Dynasty had already skipped the rifle and entered the era of artillery warfare in terms of combat methods. All the generals are aware of this problem, and artillery will become the main mode of combat in future wars. The army generals, who had already surpassed the operational concepts of the Western powers, believed that the Qing were sure to defeat the same number of Western armies. Fortunately, not everyone is so blind, and the General Staff Headquarters raised concerns - the road.

Wang Shizhen, chief of staff, believes that with the official installation of 152-mm howitzers, the General Staff Headquarters believes that there will be more and more heavy artillery in the army in the future. But the larger the artillery, the heavier it was, and the existing roads of the Qing Dynasty could not carry the rapid maneuvering of heavy artillery. The participation of a large number of heavy artillery is the key to the reason why the Battle of Siping was able to force the Russian army to surrender so quickly. But the Army should also take note. The rapid maneuvering of artillery throughout the campaign was entirely dependent on the construction corps led by Nozu Michikani composed of Japanese surrenderers and Nanyang slaves. It was laid out with shovels and planks. This time, in order to achieve the purpose of rapid artillery maneuvering, the death toll of Nanyang slaves was as high as 20%.

Wang Shizhen is right, it may be a problem now, but will it still be in the future? Ouyang Zhenhua despised Wang Shizhen fiercely, there was no road repair, and I heard that many cement factories in Liangjiang couldn't sell it because they produced too much cement. As soon as these words came out, even the people in the staff headquarters nodded yes one after another. Zuo Guigui, who had not yet recovered from his injuries, knelt down on the spot and begged the emperor to ask for the rebuilding of the Fifth Division and the expansion of the Royal Army into ten divisions according to the weapon configuration of the first four divisions, and Ouyang Zhenhua was even more bold in proposing it. In the future, it will be necessary to build eight to ten ** artillery divisions in order to barely meet the defense needs of the Qing Dynasty, which has a vast territory. Wang Shizhen suggested that at least mortars and grenades must be supplied first, because they were the best weapons for the two mountain regiments of Liu Yongfu and Zhao Erfeng, far south.

When the generals of the Qing Imperial Army were looking forward to their growing strength, a discordant voice appeared. "Nope." Lin Qizhao, who is the president of Daqing Bank, categorically refused, and the reason was only one word - money.

"If the Russian Maozi wants to gather 500,000 troops to conquer our Qing Dynasty, shouldn't he form a few more armies? Our Qing Dynasty borders with Russia for nearly 10,000 miles, and there are 100,000 army divisions plus two artillery divisions, which is 150,000 people when they are fully armed. There are only fifteen people in one mile. Without enough weapon superiority, can this hold? The Ministry of War just wants more weapons and equipment to go north to resist Russia, what is the reason for you to obstruct it? Ouyang Zhenhua pointed at Lin Qizhao and shouted: "Could it be that you want me to use my Daqing Erlang to hit the Russian Maozi with spit?" ”

"I don't understand the military, I don't ask. But the Daqing Bank is in charge of the entire Daqing family, and I know very well how many people in the Daqing Dynasty should be the president. The current Qing Dynasty could not afford to support ten main divisions and two artillery divisions. ”

As soon as Lin Qizhao's words came out, he was shocked, the millions of troops of the Qing Dynasty have been raised, and they can't afford to raise more than 150,000 people? The generals were not happy. They all accused Lin Qizhao, a miser, of putting the safety of the Qing Dynasty in danger in order to guard the few taels of silver in his pocket. He even threatened Daolin Qizhao that he would not come out with the money again, and the military department and the general staff headquarters would jointly impeach him.

"Money, money, money, you know how to ask for money. Artillery was bombarded in front, mortars were blown up in the middle, and grenades were thrown in the back. Machine gun bullets are fired as if they didn't cost money. Do you know that you're not shooting ammunition? It's all white flowers. Lin Qizhao was furious. Who said that the civilian officials would not be angry, and the civilian officials could scare the military attache to death if they started a fire: "It's cool, obviously ten minutes of artillery bombardment is enough, and you guys have been fighting for half an hour." You don't have to buy the extra twenty minutes of shells for money. Do you know how much money has been spent on the entire Northeast Battlefield from the time the army was assembled to the present? I tell you, it has cost more than a thousand taels. This war is not over yet, the Northeast still has to march, and North Korea has to attack. It is estimated that by the end of the war, the total military expenditure alone will be as high as 2,000 taels. Combined with the subsequent pensions, army reconstruction, and replacement of worn equipment, 30 million taels may not be enough. Last year, the annual income of the entire Qing Dynasty was just over 10,000 taels, and your five main divisions would use up the income of the entire Qing Dynasty for three months in one month. ”

A family is bankrupt is a homeless, a family sleeps on the street and drinks the northwest wind, what does it look like for the country to go bankrupt? The whole country is gone? The generals were shocked, they really didn't know that they could spend so much money. The generals who looked at each other did not forgive: "If you don't give money or equipment, what should you do if the Russian Maozi comes?" Tell you, as soon as the 500,000 troops of the Russian Maozi arrive, the first one will kidnap you to the front line and send you to the death squad to charge. ”

Lin Qizhao's face turned white with anger, and he shook his head fiercely and never looked at this group of ignorant Qiu Ba again. Wang Shizhen not only understands this truth, he is also aware of the country's financial difficulties, but the pressure on him from Japan and Russia is too great. So he also approved the request for army expansion.

Weichen seconded. Tang Shaoyi stood up: "It is naturally gratifying that we are victorious over Russia in the north and Japan in the east, but we can't just fight and ignore people's livelihood. The secretariat estimates that the reconstruction of the northeast will cost at least nearly 3 million taels, plus the aid to the DPRK, the pacification of the Shandong area, and the compensation for the dead foreign missionaries, which will also cost about 10 million taels of silver. "Anyway, let's just say it's serious.

No way, really no way. This war was fought too badly, and Russia was not Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War. Wanting Russian war reparations unless you hit St. Petersburg, but that's unrealistic. Therefore, in order to make up for the war losses, everyone invariably focused on Japan. If you want to fight Japan, you have to rely on the navy, so everyone looked at Wu Deren, who had not spoken.

As the same military lineage, this kind of thing naturally cannot be left behind. Wu Deren spoke: "The surname is Lin, don't scare Lao Tzu with the name of the president, you are the first account of the Qing Dynasty." Less nonsense, hurry up and get the money out. Lao Tzu's warships are all parked in Lushun and waiting for Qian Xiu. ”

Facing Lin Qizhao, who asked for money and didn't have a life, Wu Deren scolded. even grabbed Lin Qizhao's collar and lifted him up directly. The main Japanese fleet will come back next year, and now Lao Tzu wants money to repair ships, and you dare not give it.

"T mother dt mother d, he is only t mother d. This is a prelude to the king, right, you can't be civilized. Lin Qizhao, who was caught in mid-air, suddenly changed his words: "Here, I'll allocate the funds, and I will allocate the funds immediately." ”

It turns out that it was so easy to ask for money from Scrooge? The generals are starting to roll up their sleeves.

"But let me be clear first." Lin Qizhao, who fell in mid-air, continued: "The money given to you to repair the ship was originally used to pay for the construction of warships in Britain, Germany and the United States. ”

It turned out that the warships ordered from Britain, Germany, and the United States last year had been launched and outfitted, and the second payment for the construction of the warships was supposed to be paid, because the Qing Dynasty war broke out, and the countries agreed to pay after the war. If this money is really used to repair the ship, the countries that cannot receive the second payment will inevitably seize the warship according to the contract. As a result, not only did the warships ordered by the Qing Dynasty disappear, but the first payment was also lost. This is not good, Wu Deren put Lin Qizhao down, but unexpectedly helped him tidy up his clothes and begged Lin Qizhao in a low voice: Give me a little.

No backbone. Wang Shizhen looked at Wu Renren with contempt, but fortunately he just stared at Lin Qizhao's neck, and he was not ashamed.

"Don't even make any noise." Guangxu couldn't stand it anymore, and the dignified commander of the Qing Navy did the same as a pug for a few taels of silver: "The General Staff Headquarters will discuss a streamlined plan with the navy and the army, and then the Daqing Bank will allocate funds after I decide." "The civil and military struggle is what Guangxu is happy to see, and the military and administrative are also the direction and goal of the future. Mutual restraint can also make the throne more stable, so for Guangxu, this kind of dispute is a good thing. Guangxu repeatedly stressed: In order to rejuvenate China, it is necessary for everyone to work hard in one place. Don't turn the court into a vegetable market for a few taels of silver, discuss everything carefully. then fiercely criticized Wu Deren's open-mouthed temperament.

Coming out of the conference room, Wu Deren said with a big grin: "Lao Cheng, Lao Tzu participated in the later things." You are the Chief of the General Staff of the Navy, and you must think about the Navy. Lao Tzu will take the fleet to Japan. If the Russian Maozi does not pay the indemnity, it is the incompetence of the army, and Lao Tzu does not believe that little Japan dares not to give it. You remember to fight for the navy to get back more, because the army spends all the money the navy takes. ”

Wu Deren, who didn't care about the face of the army, shouted: "Lao Tzu is going to the little Japanese." ”

Looking at Wu Deren, who was screaming away, Guangxu shook his head, and the criticism just now was in vain.

"Your Majesty, there's a call from the capital." Kou Liancai stepped forward and said: "Now that the ministers of Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Italy and other countries have gathered at the Prime Minister's Office, Premier Li asks the emperor whether he can return to Beijing in advance." (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to m.qidian to read. )

ps: Every festive season, Peng Yu wishes everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival! 9