"The British political axe planned to issue 40 million pounds of war bonds to support the British expeditionary force from its overseas colonies to fight in South Africa. Russia proposed to France and Germany to form a joint intervention group to prevent Britain from continuing the Boer War. British Foreign Secretary Kimberley made an urgent visit to the United States and announced that he would make concessions on the issue of the opening and operation of the Panama Canal in exchange for US support for Britain on the Boer issue. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the French Panama Canal Company was facing financial pressure from the United States and political pressure from the radicals in France after the Panama [***] case, and the company's president Yu Dan expressed his desire to jointly build the Panama Canal through the French Embassy in China, hoping that China's abundant funds and manpower could fill the gap caused by the British withdrawal. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce asked for instructions, whether to invest in the Panama Canal? ”

After Li Youyi finished reading, when she looked at Wang Chenhao, she saw Wang Chenhao's face full of joy.

"What do you think? Look at what makes you happy. ”

Wang Chenhao said very happily: "Do you know what is the ratio of investment and return of the Panama Canal? ”

Li Youyi shook her head, and Wang Chenhao said: "Investing in the Panama Canal will earn at least 20 million a year after it is completed, and it will increase exponentially with the expansion of trade, and it will increase by a hundred times after ten or twenty years." ”

Li Youyi suddenly asked happily: "How much do you plan to invest, husband?" ”

Wang Chenhao replied: "If I am not mistaken, the assets of the French company are about 20 million US dollars, and we can get at least half of the shares, then we have to invest 20 million dragon coins." ”

Li Youyi was surprised: "Want so much money? Is it comparable to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal? ”

Wang Chenhao smiled: "Almost, right? ”

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ "This is ......"

In the secretary's room of the Prime Minister's Office, Ruan Zhongshu, Zhang Peilun, and Yang Shixiang couldn't help but look at each other when they looked at the ticks and crosses on the official documents and the delicate small characters marked on the side.

"When did the Prime Minister's handwriting become so good-looking?"

"It's certainly not the Prime Minister's handwriting, his handwriting is like oracle bones."

"It feels like the first lady's handwriting."

Zhang Peilun saw Li Youyi's handwriting and quickly judged that it was written by Li Youyi.

Ruan Zhongshu and Yang Shixiang glanced at each other, which meant whether they issued orders in accordance with the instructions above.

Zhang Peilun saw the expressions of the two of them, so he smiled and said: "Although it is the handwriting of the first lady, the tone is completely that of the Prime Minister, so I will do it."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Ruan Zhongshu and Yang Shixiang were ghostly, and it was clear that they had already seen that it was the official document Wang Chenhao who reviewed Li Youyi's ghostwriting, and Zhang Peilun was angry and funny when he heard it.

The secretary's office quickly issued the prime minister's order for the day in accordance with Wang Chenhao's instructions.

After receiving Wang Chenhao's instructions, Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi immediately sent a note to the ambassadors of Britain, France, the United States, and Germany to China, putting forward China's proposal on the issue of dividing up Polynesian interests.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Beiyang Zheng Ax ordered the Chinese ambassadors to Britain, France, the United States, and Germany to propose to the four countries Zheng Axe the so-called "open door" and equal trade opportunities in Polynesia.

The note clearly stated the definition of China's Beiyang political axe's open-door policy: that is, China demanded "equal interests" on the premise of recognizing the "sphere of influence" and privileges already obtained by the four powers of Great Britain in Polynesia. Its main contents are: no interference with any treaty, port or any vested interest; The goods of the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Germany and China are all subject to tariffs at the current rate of 3.5% of the Polynesian political axe; The Five Powers upheld the territorial and sovereign integrity of the Kingdom of Tonga, the only remaining power in Polynesia. The islands of Polynesia are based on the Berlin Proclamation, i.e. the sworn sovereignty and privileges over the region can only be made after actual military occupation; The Kingdom of Tonga is open to the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Germany, and China, and the five countries are not allowed to levy higher fees on the freight of ships and goods of other countries within their respective "spheres of influence".

The open-door policy proposed by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet been extended to the world, and is limited to the five countries of the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Germany, and China. Britain, France, the United States, and Germany objected to the Chinese Marines' seizure of the Cook Islands and their declaration of sovereignty, but the four countries refused to make concessions to Polynesia, so much so that the negotiations for 17 months were deadlocked. The four countries have checked and balanced each other, so much so that they have chosen to acquiesce in China's actual occupation of the Cook Islands. With China's open-door policy in Polynesia, Britain, France, the United States, and Germany found that only this solution could solve the deadlocked problem of dividing interests.

The open-door policy obviously gives China an advantage, but for Britain, France, the United States, and Germany, this policy can well resolve the differences and contradictions between them, otherwise if the stalemate continues, I am afraid that the four [***] teams will break out in the Polynesian region of military conflict or even war. After weighing the pros and cons, the four political axes of Britain, France, the United States, and Germany believed that the open door policy proposed by China was more beneficial than a loss for them, so they successively replied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China's Beiyang Political Axe, saying that they accepted the open door policy.

As a result, under the mediation of China's Beiyang political axe, Britain, France, the United States, and Germany respectively sent representatives to sign the "Nuku'alo Law Convention" in Yanjing, which was jointly divided by Britain, France, the United States, Germany, and China. Nuku'alofa is the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga, but the treaty was signed in Yanjing, and the fate of the Kingdom of Tonga was decided by the political axe of the Five Kingdoms, but the Kingdom of Tonga did not have any representatives to attend the signing ceremony, so that the treaty became the most hated unequal treaty by Polynesians, and laid the hidden danger of war for Polynesians to rise up against the colonial rule of the Five Nations in the future.

The Nukualo Law Convention, also known as the Five Central Pacific Pact, or the Open Doors Pact, for the first time stipulated that all islands in the Central Pacific region would be ruled by the British, French, American, German, and Chinese powers.

Among them, the Niue, Tokelau, Tuvalu and Pitcairn Islands are part of the British territory, with an area of 5,600 square kilometers, collectively referred to as British Polynesia.

The Society Islands, the Tubuai Islands, the Tuamotu Islands, the Marquesas Islands, the Gambier Islands, the Knife Tilly Islands and the Lapa Islands are part of French territory, covering an area of 4,000 square kilometers and are collectively referred to as French Polynesia.

Eastern Samoa was placed under the United States Mandate, Western Samoa was given to Germany, and Germany owned German New Guinea.

The Cook Islands are part of China's overseas territory, and the archipelago is located to the east of the Samoa archipelago, which is also divided into two parts: the south and the north. The total land area is 240 square kilometers. It is rich in citrus, copra, tomatoes and pearl oysters, bananas, coffee, cassava, pineapples, etc.

The Cook Islands are very close to the Caroline Islands in China, and China has set up a coal filling station and trading post in the most populous port of Avarua, to manage the two islands together.

In addition, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and the Marshall Islands, which were previously occupied by China, also belong to the general scope of Polynesia, so the five-nation convention also clearly stipulates that these islands are collectively referred to as Central Polynesia, which is also the first time that Britain, France, the United States and Germany have recognized China's sovereignty over overseas colonies in a formal convention.

The convention legally established the division of interests between Britain, France, the United States, and Germany in the entire Central Pacific Polynesia, and the five countries recognized each other's territories, thus avoiding territorial disputes between the five countries in the future. As for the only remaining Kingdom of Tonga, Britain originally wanted to include the Kingdom of Tonga in the British protectorate, but China intervened, so that the British plan went bankrupt and Tonga became a common protectorate of the five countries.

It is precisely because China has disrupted Britain's plan for hegemony over Tonga that Germany, France and the United States feel that it is beneficial for them to join China in their partition, so that the so-called open door policy proposed by China can be successfully implemented.

After the conclusion of the Nuku'alo Law Convention, the entire Pacific island colony was declared to be divided.

China has successfully implemented the open-door policy, and for the first time has joined the multinational power struggle for hegemony, and has played a huge role. Britain, France, the United States, and Germany affirmed China's tremendous role in mediating and avoiding the intensification of contradictions among the four countries, making China's international influence affirmed by a major power for the first time and greatly enhancing China's international prestige. Under the international strategy of opening the door, China has since begun to participate in international affairs on a large scale and continuously enhance its image as a major country.

On January 5, 1900, Guangxu and Cixi, who had been holding on for more than a year, finally began to take substantive action, proposing to return to Fengtian on the 15th of this month to worship their ancestors.

At the same time, in the office of the Prime Minister's Office, Wang Chenhao was in a daze with five pieces of information about Cixi and Guangxu in his hand, because none of these five pieces of information were the same.

"The information sent from five channels turned out to be five different statements, and I really opened my eyes today."

Wang Chenhao threw the six pieces of information on the table, Li Guodong and Li Bing hurriedly stepped forward, picked up the information and looked at it, and suddenly a cold sweat broke out on their necks.

Among the six pieces of intelligence, in addition to two reports from the Department of Homeland Security and the Central Intelligence Agency, the other four pieces of intelligence came from Li Lianying, Yun Tong, and the National Police Agency.

Li Lianying's report on the atonement of merit submitted to Wang Chenhao alone said that Cixi's summoning of the ministers to try to subvert the Beiyang political axe was just a pretense, and the real killer was Guangxu, who was pretending to be a faint monarch in the palace. Guangxu trained more than 70 killer teams composed of eunuchs and palace ladies in the palace, intending to invite Wang Chenhao into the palace to enjoy the lanterns on the day of the Lantern Festival, and take the opportunity to kill the killers.

The information from Ning Xiang Gege Yuntong was that her aunt, Princess Rongshou, revealed that Cixi's henchman Ronglu's son Balon married Yun Tong only to provoke Wang Chenhao and intend to lure Wang Chenhao into the game. Baron will kidnap Yun Tong on the day of the Lantern Festival, force Wang Chenhao to go to Ronglu Mansion to make trouble, and ambush killers in Ronglu Mansion to assassinate Wang Chenhao.

According to a report from the National Police Agency, the Mukden Police Department seized a batch of smuggled weapons smuggled into Mukden from the Jilin Military Factory, and the consignee was the former Fengtian general Yiktanga. The Fengtian Police Department thought that Iktanga was suspected of rebellion, so they sent undercover agents to enter Iktanga's mansion and found that Iktanga frequently gathered his original subordinates to prepare to secretly start an incident on the day of the Lantern Festival and break into Yanjing City.

Next is the report of Li Bing of the Homeland Security Agency, in which Li Bing said that a number of Mongolian princes and ministers conspired to take advantage of the chaos in Yanjing City to lead 30,000 cavalry to raid Yanjing. At that time, there will be an inner should open the gate of Yanjing City to welcome the Mongolian army into the city.

However, the CIA's Li Guodong report said that the Russian and Yuben spy organizations planned to assassinate Wang Chenhao on the day of the Lantern Festival, taking the opportunity to blame Guangxu and Cixi.

When Li Bing and Li Guodong were checking other information, Wang Chenhao asked Wang Shizhen and Ruan Zhongshu on the other side.

"What do you guys think?"

Wang Shizhen replied: "I think Li Lianying's report is more credible. ”

Ruan Zhongshu said: "Ning Xianggege's information doesn't seem to be fake, it's completely possible. ”

Wang Shizhen retorted: "Ning Xianggege is a royal person after all, and he may not be credible in this kind of knot!" ”

Ruan Zhongshu replied affirmatively: "I insist on my opinion, Ning Xiang Gege is credible!" ”

Wang Shizhen has been in charge of the Ministry of National Defense, and he knows far less about Wang Chenhao's private life than Ruan Zhongshu, and he doesn't know that the relationship between Yun Tong and Wang Chenhao has escalated. But Ruan Zhongshu knew, so he thought that Ning Xianggege's words were more real than Li Lianying's.

Both of them have their own opinions, which makes it even more difficult for Wang Chenhao. Wang Chenhao hoped that Yun Tong didn't lie to him, but after all, she was a royal person, and it could not be ruled out that the situation of sacrificing the small self to complete the big self would occur. And Li Lianying has reported to Wang Chenhao many times, and there has been no mistake, Wang Chenhao also believes Li Lianying, but Li Lianying is Cixi's slave in the final analysis, and it cannot be ruled out that he is facing his master at the last moment.

At this time, Wang Chenhao looked at Li Bing and Li Guodong, who had already read the information of the other three parties.

"What about you? There is also a big discrepancy between the two of you! ”

When Wang Chenhao asked this, Li Bing and Li Guodong suddenly looked embarrassed to each other. Although they are all Wang Chenhao's most trusted chief of guards, and although they are all entrusted by Wang Chenhao with important responsibilities and are the supreme commanders of the intelligence department, they still shout at each other, and they all want to be rewarded in front of Wang Chenhao alone.

"Li Bing, you say it first!"

Wang Chenhao named him, and Li Bing had no choice but to say it first.

"A few days ago, Prime Minister Qiyu, his lowly subordinates intercepted a number of secret letters written by Guangxu to the Mongol Jebtsundamba Hutuktu, Prince Handa Dorji, Grand Lama Chelin Zimit and others, which clearly asked the Mongol tribes to lead troops to restore the rule of the Manchu emperor. He thought that the only thing Guangxu could rely on was the Mongol army, and the bannermen and military police in the three northeastern provinces were not enough to succeed. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and looked at Li Guodong, who hurriedly said: "I think that the Eight Banners of Mongolia and the Eight Banners of Manchuria are mediocre, and there are six towns of elite troops in the three northeastern provinces to defend them, and if Yiketanga, Changshun and others have a slight objection, the elite of these six towns can destroy them immediately." Although Mongolia only has two towns of troops stationed, but it is stationed in Kulun, the heart of Outer Mongolia, and Guisui, the heart of Inner Mongolia. ”

Wang Chenhao asked, "Then what do you mean?" ”

Li Guodong said: "I think that Cixi and Guangxu do not have much chance of success in doing this. But if they insist on doing so, they must have the support of foreign powers, such as Russia and Ben. We have previously smashed a number of secret spy agencies in China from Russia and Japan, and there is evidence that Russia and Japan have also been involved. ”

Wang Chenhao thought for a while, turned to Wang Shizhen and Ruan Zhongshu, and asked, "What do you think?" ”

Wang Shizhen said: "After receiving economic aid and loans from the United States, Germany, and France, Ben has developed rapidly recently, and its military strength is also growing rapidly. Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway is also progressing relatively quickly, and is now more than half completed, and some areas can be opened to traffic. The Russian army can go half the way and do half the train to the Far East. At the same time, the General Staff believes that Russia may not only wage war in the northeast, but that they can wage war against China in the direction of Mongolia and the Tibetan province of Xinjiang, where there are Russian military bases in Central Asia, and there is no problem of supply difficulties. ”

Ruan Zhongshu also chimed in: "I also think that it is impossible for Ben and Russia to be idle, they are afraid that China will not be chaotic, and it is rare to have such an opportunity, and it is a good time for them to take the opportunity to disturb China." If they send an assassination organization, once they succeed in assassinating you, Prime Minister, I am afraid that the Beiyang political axe will be quite chaotic, because there is no one to take your place, and the others will inevitably disagree with each other, so that this great foundation that has just been established will be ruined. ”

Wang Chenhao is no longer only representing his personal and family interests at this time, but has become the backbone of the entire huge Beiyang Group, tens of millions of people directly or indirectly rely on Wang Chenhao to feed, once Wang Chenhao has an accident, it can be imagined that it must be the arrival of the era of warlord melee.

At this moment, Wang Chenhao couldn't help but pay more attention to his own safety.

"Is there a way to deal with it?"

Everyone looked at each other, and it took a long time for Ruan Zhongshu to say: "Respond to all changes with the same, as long as you sit in the Prime Minister's Mansion and don't go out, even if Guangxu and Cixi have any plans, they will fail." ”

Wang Chenhao couldn't help but smile helplessly, this plan is very solid, and there is absolutely no problem in safety.

"Then I'm not going to be a turtle with a shrunken head, it's safe to hide in a turtle's shell."

Li Bing said suddenly: "You don't have to stay in Yanjing and go to other places to inspect, so Cixi and Guangxu won't be able to invite you to the banquet, and their assassination will come to naught." ”

Wang Shizhen immediately chimed in: "This is a good idea!" Prime Minister, you stay away from the center of the storm, look at everything in Yanjing from the outside, and make arrangements from the overall situation, even if Cixi and Guangxu are Sun Monkeys, they can't turn over the palm of your hand. ”

Li Guodong also said: "Yes! As long as you are not in Yanjing City, we don't have any worries, if Cixi and Guangxu make a fuss, we accidentally kill them, you also have a set of rhetoric, don't you? ”

Wang Chenhao smiled, this Li Guodong deserved to be his confidant, thinking about how to kill Cixi and Guangxu for Wang Chenhao all day long.

If it was before, Wang Chenhao would definitely say two words about Li Guodong, but this time it was different, Guangxu and Cixi wanted to put him to death, so Wang Chenhao would not be accommodating them.

"It's good! Shanghai Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd. is about to test the Daji battleship, this battleship is my heart's work, I have to go and see it. As for the matter on Yanjing's side, the four of you will discuss and deal with it, but remember to prepare public opinion in advance and don't leave people with pigtails. ”

"Understood!"

The four of them immediately received the order, and at the same time breathed a sigh of relief. Because as long as Wang Chenhao is not in Yanjing, then they can let go and do things without any scruples.

(To be continued)