On this day, the whole of St. Petersburg was draped in a black veil, and St. Petersburg was immersed in unprecedented grief, whether it was a well-dressed nobleman or an ordinary person, all went to the summer palace to lay a flower or a bouquet of chrysanthemums in front of the iron fence in front of the palace, and in front of the fence two pictures of Crown Prince Nicholas and Grand Duke George were filled with candles.

Almost everyone's face was full of sadness, and people came to the church to pray for their Tsar Alexander III, and at the same time as the blessing was prayed, in St. Petersburg and all corners of Russia, there was a sadness but also anger, an unprecedented anger burning on the Russian land, and in the army and navy barracks, noble officers constantly read the words of the newspaper to the soldiers.

“…… After the gunshots rang out, Crown Prince Nikolai collapsed in a pool of blood, and Archduke George, who tried to rescue the crown prince, was tragically killed by the Japanese police, but the assassin was killed by his peers, and all the blame seemed to be placed on the Japanese policeman...... The despicable Japanese monkey, after sending the so-called apology telegram, brazenly opened fire on the ship of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, which was a long-planned assassination, and the despicable Japanese monkey tried to humiliate the great Russian Empire with the so-called apology......"

When the officers' words rang out in the barracks, the indignant soldiers immediately cried out for revenge -- revenge, and only revenge could preserve the dignity of Russia, and only by completely occupying Japan could the anger of the Russian people be quelled.

While the angry Russian people were demonstrating and shouting in front of the Japanese Legation in Russia, they were on the Don River. In those Cossack communes that were loyal to the tsar for generations. Angry feelings are also gathering. Although they had not yet received the Tsar's call, the Cossacks, who were enveloped by anger and humiliation, took up arms, jumped on their horses, and began to assemble at the assembly area, and the Cossack leaders went to St. Petersburg with an appeal from millions of Cossack soldiers to show the Tsar their determination. And even more agitated Cossacks jumped on their horses and began to go east. Towards Asia.

When the land of Russia was enveloped in unprecedented anger, letters of apology from the Japanese people poured into St. Petersburg, expressing their condolences to the Tsar who had lost his two sons, and sincerely begging for forgiveness. At the same time, the people in Russia and even the people in Europe poured telegrams of condolence to Alexander III, the poor father who lost two sons on the same day.

The Tsar was still in a state of grief, and he simply raised his head and turned his gaze to Witte, the Chancellor of the Exchequer whom he trusted the most, and then to Foreign Minister Lobanov.

"Did the Japanese accept our ultimatum?"

Ultimatum!

That was after receiving a secret telegram from the Minister in Japan. The ministers agreed on a plan in their grief, and the grief-stricken Alexander III did not take the opportunity to turn his attention to the East. And if he refused, even in his opinion, even if Japan accepted the ultimatum, it would not be able to compensate for his grief over the loss of his son.

"陛xià! There has been no official reply from the Japanese side yet, but Japan is trying to mediate through the British, and the British minister to Japan has privately mediated and proposed that the emperor personally go to our country to apologize and delete the crime, so I personally think that those arrogant and despicable Japanese monkeys will definitely reject the ultimatum! ”

There are a total of ten "ultimatums" in Lobanov's mouth, and the most critical four of them are that the Japanese emperor personally went to St. Petersburg to apologize, and Japan ceded Kyushu Island and Hokkaido; The indemnity of 50 million yen and Japan's permission for the Russian army to garrison Otsu, as for the other banning anti-Russian organizations, destroying anti-Russian books, etc., are not worth mentioning at all, and based on his understanding of the eastern island country, Lobanov believes that they will definitely reject these points.

"Your Majesty, according to the information we have obtained from the German side, Japan has purchased 100,000 rifles and hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition from Germany, and in order to raise funds, they have sold naval equipment ordered from the British!"

In the Winter Palace, the general made another timely mention to Tsar Alexander III.

"Moreover, the German legation also privately revealed that the Japanese army has begun to mobilize, and it will form 6 to 12 new divisions!"

The words of the general undoubtedly added fuel to the fire, and it was clear that the Japanese did not have the sincerity to apologize, still less the will to accept the ultimatum, and they would go their own way to the end -- to challenge the Russian Empire and disrespect the dignity of the Russian Empire.

"Nothing will change!

The grief-stricken Alexander III roared, and his grief-stricken eyes were filled with rage.

"Sue those Japanese monkeys, either accept the ultimatum, or Russia will occupy all of Japan!"

Despite these words, Alexander III clearly knew that the strength of Russia was far from enough to send hundreds of thousands of troops to Japan, so he looked at Werther and asked softly,

"Can we prepare enough military spending now?"

Over the past 24 hours, the generals of the General Staff Headquarters have come up with a plan, according to which an expedition to Japan would require an investment of 250 million rubles, which is really a huge amount of money for Russia.

"Your Majesty, we are now negotiating with French bankers, who, based on past cooperation, should be able to provide a loan of 200 million rubles, and in the next six months the Ministry of Finance will be able to prepare no less than 50 million rubles......"

Despite the lack of funds and the need to rely on loans, Werther was confident that bankers in Europe, especially in France, would support Russia, and that the bonds issued would be sought after by the European publics – and that they would support the Russian expedition if they felt the same way. He even felt that perhaps he should take advantage of the outbreak of war to increase the issuance of bonds, and as for the repayment is not a problem at all, according to the Ministry of Finance, Japan's fiscal revenue last year exceeded 7,000 yen, that is, close to 100 million rubles, and Japan is undoubtedly a cow to Russia. After the occupation of Japan, it was natural that it could be repaid with the wealth extracted from Japan.

After the Crimean War, when the ambitions of westward expansion were cut off by Britain and France, the only option for the Russian Empire was to expand eastward, and although in the depths of his heart he was more eager to expand to the Qing state, but now, Japan's atrocities made it the best option for Russia. Now that the whole of Russia is in a hurry to retaliate, there is no better time.

The Eastward Expansion faction has also been promoting the "Yellow Russia" plan, and they hope to seize this opportunity to realize this wish, for the navy, they need not only to wash away the shame of the assassination of the crown prince through the guò war, but also to get the Japanese ice-free harbor so that the fleet can enter the Pacific.

Although he knew that the Russian military and political circles were trying to achieve their goals by attacking Japan, Witte chose to support them, and he also longed for the expansion of the Russian Empire to the east.

As for His Majesty the Tsar, in the past few years the Tsar has also begun to adjust and ease relations between Russia and the Western powers, and in addition to implementing the policy of "joint law", he has also adopted a series of measures aimed at easing the conflicts with the countries in the Near East and the Balkans, and turning his attention to the East.

Expansion to the East, this was a unanimous decision of the entire Russian Empire. And now the only change is that the Japanese themselves have given excuses and justifications to Russia.

"If we carry out our plan to attack Japan, will we meet with British opposition?"

Although he was in favor of expansion in the East, for Alexander III, he had to take into account the British threat to Russia, especially the British vigilance against Russian expansion in the East, and in the past half century, it was Britain that shattered Russia's dream of recovering Constantinople again and again, and it was also its desire to destroy Russia's westward expansion to save the Balkan Slavic peoples, and when Russia turned its attention to the East, Britain had always been very wary of Russia. And what kind of reaction will they make?

"Your Majesty, there is now a great deal of debate in Britain over the question of Japan, and many politicians are in favor of retaliation, after all, one of their warships was shelled by the Japanese, which is a shame that Britain has not suffered since Napoleon, and in the eyes of the British, it is naturally unforgivable!"

Lobanov's words made the anger in the heart of Alexander III even stronger, so what about me? What about me, who lost my two sons? The British are simply shelled on warships, it is unforgivable, so what about Russia? The Russian Empire has lost its own crown prince, is it going to forgive the Japanese?

"There are also some British politicians who believe that if we occupy Japan, even if we cede Japanese territory, it may upset the balance of East Asia and cause a very unfavorable situation for Britain, so they hope that the government will actively intervene, and it is for this reason that Prime Minister Robert has not yet made a decision......

As soon as Robert made the decision to support Japan, he would have to face the anger of Russia, and even the dissatisfaction of Europe as a whole, and even the British royal family might be dissatisfied with it, and Lobanov naturally knew the reason for his hesitation in Britain.

"Lobanov!"

Alexander III, after pondering for a moment, looked at Lobanov and said.

"We need not only the acquiescence of the British, but even their support, we need to transport hundreds of thousands of troops to Asia, and our fleet needs to go to Asia, which means that we must get help from the British, tell the British, we can make certain concessions on the Balkans, and even on the Chinese issue!"

(The fate of modern China has been torn between the invasion of Russia and Japan, and the fate of China is dictated by these two countries.) At the time of writing this book, Speechless had a purpose - let others shed tears, and this dog-eat-dog war will change the whole of East Asia! Ask for a commuter pass! The Empire's Sunrise Reader Exchange Group: 150536833 welcome to join) (to be continued......)