After learning that the negotiating delegation in Washington had failed to get the results he wanted, Lin Zhe sighed, and then held several top-secret strategic meetings to discuss the pros and cons of fighting against Spain alone, and to analyze how sure the imperial side would be of defeating the intervention forces of Britain and France in the event of the intervention of Britain and France.

As a result, the army said that there was no big problem, and that as long as the army was given enough military spending, the army could mobilize more than two million people at any time, and it would not be a problem to seize Malacca, Burma, or even India.

The question is whether the navy can guarantee the safety of the army's troop transportation and logistical material transportation!

In the face of the army's questioning, although the Minister of the Navy, Shen Tongdeng, was no longer in his heart, he had to admit that even if the empire could protect the security of the empire's coastal areas, it would have a greater chance of defeating the British East India fleet of the current scale.

However, if the British Royal Navy once reinforced the East India Fleet, the pressure on the Imperial Navy would be very great, and the decisive battle would only be won or lost.

As for whether the army and Lin Zhe are most concerned about whether they can protect the sea transportation lines, Shen Tongdeng said pessimistically that even if they can defeat the British Royal Navy's East India Fleet in a decisive battle, with the size of the British navy and many naval bases, they still have the ability to destroy the Empire's sea transportation lines, and the possibility of the Empire's transport ships reaching Myanmar or India safely and smoothly is very low.

Of course, in the end, Shen Tongdeng also said that if the British did not interfere, the navy would have absolute confidence in ensuring the safety of the sea transportation line.

Several other people were speechless about this!

If it weren't for the possibility that the British might interfere, why would they still be sitting here discussing what to do, wouldn't it be enough to declare war directly on Spain!

In addition to the military council, Lin Zhe consulted several ministers in the cabinet and asked how much damage would be caused to the empire if the empire's trade routes to Europe were cut off.

In the face of Lin Zhe's problem, Guo Longyun did not think too much about it, and directly said: "If the European market is lost, more than 70 percent of Shanghai's machine silk reeling factories will go bankrupt, at least one million silkworm households will have no food and clothing, and it will directly lead to the bankruptcy of more than 50 banks, investment funds and other financial institutions, and at least hundreds or even more import-and-export-related enterprises will collapse and go bankrupt, and there will be at least more than 100,000 unemployed workers in Shanghai alone."

Hearing Guo Longyun's answer, Lin Zhe took a deep breath, and then completely left behind the idea of declaring war on Spain alone!

Even though expanding the territory was what Lin Zhe was looking forward to, it was all based on being able to win and not lose too much.

Once the war has a greater risk, and the consequences of this risk are unbearable for the empire, Lin Zhe still knows how to give up.

Historically, the Americans fought Spain, and the British did not interfere, which had many complex reasons, including the fact that Britain faced many problems around the world after 1898, such as the Boer War, Britain's serious contradictions with Germany and France on the European continent, and the naval arms race at that time had begun, and the former dreadnought battleships of various countries were launched continuously.

This, combined with a number of other reasons, led to the UK's inaction.

However, in 1881, the situation of the British was completely different from that of 1898, and although the possibility of interference was not large, there was a possibility of two or three percent of it.

Although this possibility is not very large, but if you are not afraid of 10,000, you are afraid of what if, in case the British really want to play a balanced policy, in order to curb the development of the empire, maintain the power of the traditional colonial countries, and then pull a large number of European countries to intervene by force, then the empire will not be able to come to power.

After thinking about it for a long time, Lin Zhe still gave up his plan to use force against Spain in a short period of time, so let's grab a few small islands first, the war has not yet come.

However, Lin Zhe is reluctant to let the empire get involved in war now, but most of the time, it doesn't mean that you can keep the peace if you don't want war.

On Chinese New Year's Eve in 1882, Lin Zhe suddenly received news that there was a rebellion in Kokand Province, and the local rebel forces sought the so-called independent Kokand State, and had occupied several small towns in the southwest of Kokand Province, according to the local garrison, these rebels were not large at first, only a few hundred, but they were greatly welcomed by the local indigenous people, and a large number of people began to join the rebels, which swelled to more than 3,000 in just one week, and there were also British and Russians.

The rapid growth of the rebels made the local garrison anxious, at first they thought it was just ordinary small-scale riots, and they had become accustomed to it, and in the newly occupied areas such as Kokand and Siberia, local indigenous riots were relatively common.

The local garrison in Kokand Province at first thought it was just an ordinary riot, and soon sent troops to suppress it, but after a week, they found that the size of the rebel army had exceeded 3,000 men, and they really had a lot of weapons in their hands, all of them were quick shots, and even artillery.

The rebels of this scale were no longer simple small-scale riots, and the front-line troops did not dare to hide it at all, and soon reported it directly to the Supreme Command, and finally sent it to Lin Zhe.

Looking at the report, the words British and Russian in the report were extremely conspicuous, and after a while, Lin Zhe directly kneaded the report into a ball!

"It seems that the great powers will not die if they die in my heart!" Lin Zhe was a little depressed, he had just stopped starting a war against Spain, and the British and Russians were looking for trouble for themselves.

Well, he will see what kind of audacity the Russians and British have to cross Afghanistan and attack directly at Kokand, which is the territory of the Empire!

Something had to be done, otherwise, they would still think that the empire was the weak and deceitful Manchu dynasty of more than twenty years ago!

Immediately, he called in a few senior army generals who had been waiting outside for a long time, and this time, he didn't hold any formal strategic meeting, this time Lin Zhe said directly: "You guys remember it!" ”

"Let the Seventh Army control the situation as soon as possible, put down the rebellion in Hao Province as soon as possible, and the garrison troops in Xinjiang and Kokand provinces must be on strict guard, vigilant against the spread of the situation, and take flexible measures when necessary!"

"In addition, the army troops in the Yunnan-Guizhou direction are ready for war and send someone to contact Li Haotong and tell me that as long as he cooperates with the empire's actions, the empire will support him to take Qinbang."

"Naval direction, prepare for combat in order to deal with the situation!"

"Then there is the logistical ......"

Lin Zhe held strategic meetings most of the time to decide on the military, but today he changed the norm and directly issued military orders, and the more the senior generals of the army and navy heard it, the more frightened they became, Your Majesty is going to wage war against Russia and Britain at the same time? And is it still a total war?

Otherwise, how could Your Majesty let the whole army enter a state of war readiness, and also let the army mobilize!

What these subordinates think, Lin Zhe naturally doesn't care, although he has maintained the so-called emperor majesty for many years and does not make decisions easily, but he Lin Zhe is still Lin Zhe, he does not make decisions easily, but once he makes a decision, he will not tolerate anyone's opposition.

Of course, Lin Zhe didn't know that these subordinates were already guessing whether they were going to start a full-scale war, but in fact, of course this was not the case, although Lin Zhe's orders were many, and they looked scary, but in fact they had nothing to do with all-out war.

If he wants to start a full-scale war, he needs to prepare at least half a year or even more in advance, and the era of fighting is long gone.

What he wanted to do was to demonstrate imperial force and remind the British of the Battle of Shanghai in 1858 and the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary and Hong Kong in 1866.

Reminds the Russians of the Siberian War of 1877!

Lest they always want to make trouble for the Empire!

There are also those aborigines in Central Asia, who are a group of unfamiliar wolves, and this time they took the opportunity to simply ask for land and no people, and then immigrated from the provinces of the Central Plains to completely solve the so-called national problem.

If all the alien races are wiped out physically, there will naturally be no so-called national problems! (To be continued.) )