Shen Ke laughed, patted Sgunde's shoulder a few times, and then gave a thumbs up and said, "You guessed it right!" ”

Hannagan's heart tightened, and he asked tentatively, "Is this war inevitable?" I really don't want to see my two hometowns go to war with each other! ”

Sgund patted Hannagan on the shoulder to show comfort, and Shen Ke restrained his smile and patted Hannagan on the shoulder and said, "It is undeniable that I have been in China for a long time, and it would be a lie to say that I have no feelings for this country!" It's just—"

"No need to say it!" Hannagan interrupted what Shenke was about to say, "I understand! I get it! ”

Shen Ke nodded, understood Hannagan's mood, and said, "Don't worry! Judging from the current situation in Northeast Asia, it is said that he has controlled the Korean Peninsula and is a great obstacle to the Russians' plan for Northeast Asia! Before the war against China, the Russians had to settle themselves first. And this army is not so easy to deal with, so we will not make any moves against China in a short period of time! ”

Sgund chimed in: "Your Excellency the Minister is right! Now the weakest thing in Northeast Asia is not China but Yueben, according to the rule of 'picking up soft persimmons and pinching', in the short term, the guns of the great powers of various countries will be aimed at Yueben! ”

Hannagan had to accept the reality and said lightly.

Shen Ke suddenly remembered something and asked Hannagan: "You are Li Hongzhang's adjutant and the instructor of the Beiyang Naval Division, how much do you know about Wang Chenhao?" ”

Hannagan looked up at Shen Ke and asked a little puzzled, "What is Your Excellency the Minister asking for?" ”

Shenke said: "Berlin has used all its resources to thoroughly investigate Wang Chenhao, but nothing has been found. Therefore, Berlin has asked us to collect all the information about him in China, and not to leave any clues! ”

Hannagan replied, "I have met him a few times, and I don't know more than your Excellency." As far as my personal feeling is concerned, Wang Chenhao, a young man, is an excellent strategist, and his grasp of the global situation is like a prophet, which is not something we can understand! His identity is very mysterious, and the news from all channels seems to be finally grouped into one place, which he released himself, and no one knows whether he is lying or not! He is like the mighty Monkey King in the Chinese mythology of Journey to the West, as if he jumped out of a stone! ”

Shen Ke and Sgunde glanced at each other, and they both felt the same way.

Hannagan looked at Shenko and asked, "Why is Berlin so concerned about him?" ”

Shen Ke then explained: "According to a friend in Berlin, Berlin used all the agents to collect information about Wang Chenhao, although nothing was found, but it was found that Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Austria and other countries have used a lot of resources to investigate him, which shows that the powers of various countries attach great importance to him, so Berlin has to pay attention to him!" ”

Sgunde asked at this time, "But we haven't found any signs of people from other countries approaching Wang Chenhao during this time?" ”

Shen Ke smiled: "All countries have their own interests in China, and they are very careful every step they take!" Now all countries are not taking the initiative to approach Wang Chenhao, because everyone still can't control Wang Chenhao's pulse, so they all plan to observe him secretly! ”

At this time, Hannagan suddenly said: "I hope that Your Excellency the Minister will pay attention! After Wang Chenhao's wedding, Li Hongzhang took him to contact the entire Beiyang system. These people are all important members of the Qing Empire and the backbone elites of Beiyang, and several of Li Hongzhang's main aides Zhou Fu, Yang Shixiang and Zhang Peilun are secretly guiding him. According to the habits of the Chinese, there are general signs that Li Hongzhang intends to cultivate Wang Chenhao to succeed Beiyang! ”

Shen Ke suddenly realized, figured out a lot of joints that he hadn't figured out before, and blurted out: "No wonder all countries are vigorously investigating Wang Chenhao, if he really takes over Beiyang, not only will the Qing Empire have to be reshuffled, but it will also directly affect the interests of the great powers in China!" ”

Sgund couldn't help but sigh: "It seems that Berlin already knows this, and it is a step ahead of us!" ”

Shen Ke smiled bitterly and quipped, "Of course! Otherwise, we can join the cabinet and become prime ministers! ”

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Germany, France, and Russia intervened to return the capital to China, and as the parties concerned, the party concerned can be described as a three-in-one mentality of anger, grievance, and helplessness.

Originally, I thought that the war with China would be a big bargain for the Liaodong Peninsula and North Korea as compensation, but unfortunately the dream of Huangliang was shattered after a month.

In order to prepare for this war against China, the Meiji political axe of the book was prepared for 30 years, and finally tightened his belt and formed a combined fleet, surpassing the Beiyang Naval Division to become the first navy in Asia, but in the end the whole army was wiped out, and the development of the navy in the past 30 years was destroyed and severely damaged.

In particular, the depreciation and sale of the 50 million pounds war treasury bond and the collapse of the stock market caused economic turmoil in the army brought the economic results of the Meiji Restoration back to the "pre-Meiji" situation overnight.

For this reason, he repeatedly met with the British minister to discuss the debt issue, and the minister to Britain also ran to Downing Street to ask the British cabinet to rescue the economy.

The two parties in the British cabinet have different attitudes towards this, and the ruling Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theearlof Rosebery, believes that he should continue to bail out the Japanese and borrow money from the Japanese to maintain the Japanese economy, with the aim of using the Japanese to control Korea to resist the pace of Russia's southward expansion.

However, in the Far East, Germany, France, and Russia intervened in order to return the country to China, but secretly attacked Britain. In this Anglo-Russian game in the Far East, Britain lost to Russia, and Britain lost the alliance to Germany, France, and Russia, which caused Britain's influence in the Far East to decline seriously, greatly reduced its influence on China, and Britain's strong image in Europe was also tarnished.

Under these circumstances, the British opposition Conservative Party began to carry out a political attack on the ruling party, saying that it was a foolish act for the ruling party to support the war against China, and that not only was it not easy for Britain to recover the huge loan it had given to him, but it had offended China. The intervention of Germany, France, and Russia in returning Liao can only make China grateful to them, which is tantamount to Britain forcing China to the side of Russia and seriously affecting British interests in China.

Conservative leader Themarquess of Salisbury, who was touring the country to canvass for votes for the 51st Cabinet election, took the opportunity to slam the incompetence of the ruling Liberal Party, and the result was a bumper election and a general election victory.

The Liberal Party suffered a crushing defeat in the 51st Sector election, and Roseberry's hopes of re-election were dashed. At such a time, the ruling party's request for economic relief from Britain was "shelved" by the ruling party.

He then sought to borrow money from other European countries, but the other powers were also cautious, and Germany, France, and Russia were grouped together in the Far East against him, and they did not dare to borrow money easily, so they waited and watched.

Soon, he sought help from the United States.

American politicians on the American continent are also thinking of meddling in the affairs of the Far East and expanding American interests abroad. It is a pity that the domestic financial crisis in the United States has led to the depression of the American economy, but Cleveland, the president of the Ming Cooking Party, is a man who loves literature and alikes martial arts, he refuses to expand foreign expansion, and advocates expanding the domestic market of the United States to solve the financial crisis.

Because the financial crisis has caused the American people to cash out a large amount of gold to preserve its value, which has caused the US gold reserves to plummet, and the political axe is in urgent need of funds to save the financial market, so it is unable to lend to foreign countries.

Seeing that it could not raise borrowings in a short period of time, he could only reduce fiscal expenditures to save himself. Fortunately, the British political axe still had two years of alliance with the capital, and the book was still very important to Britain as a bridgehead to counterbalance Russia, so the Rosebury cabinet approved an extension of the repayment time of the debt and cut the interest on the loan.

In this way, the government will not have to repay the huge amount of usury in the short term, and the economic pressure will drop sharply. Despite this, the construction of a number of advanced warships, including the Fuji-class battleships, was forced to halt the construction of a number of advanced warships, including the Fuji-class battleships, by accelerating the increase in control and colonial plunder of Korea, and on the other hand, by cutting fiscal expenditures and suspending follow-up funds for the purchase of warships.

In the same way, the government has also intensified the exploitation of its own people, and has imposed various taxes to pay off debts.

Prime Minister Kiyotaka Kuroda formulated a five-year economic recovery plan for this purpose, and the military revised its defense guidelines as a result of a two-thirds cut in military spending, shifting its focus from external expansion to strategic defense.

At a press conference, Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu pitifully said that the empire would not be able to join the club of the great powers for the next five years, but he insisted that the empire would not fall right now.

In response to the foreign minister's answer, the Qing Empire's "Zhibao" jokingly said that the book was sluggish and retracted, which caused the Chinese people to burst into laughter.

The construction of the two Fuji-class battleships was suspended, which made the officers and men of the Beiyang Naval Division breathe a sigh of relief. If the Navy's acquisition of Fuji-class battleships was to be obtained, then the Dingzhen 2nd Ship of the Beiyang Naval Division would not be their opponent at all.

While the Chinese people laughed at the navy, not only enlightened people asked when the Qing Empire would add ships and artillery to the Beiyang Naval Division.