In just a few months, the German, French, and Russian bloc struck one after another, each of which dealt a blow to and threatened British interests in the Far East, and caused Britain's influence in the Far East to plummet.

Russia's acquisition of the port of Pusan opened up the waterway of the Korean Strait, which made the blockade line against Russia and Britain that Britain had painstakingly constructed ineffective, and further weakened the effect of using this to balance Russia, so that Britain turned its attention back to China.

The British side realized that the Qing Empire had the intention of leaning towards the German, French, and Russian blocs, which was very dangerous for the British Empire, so the bigwigs in Downing Street in London immediately discussed countermeasures and demanded that the political axe improve the cold relations with the Qing Empire as soon as possible, otherwise the huge Far East market would no longer have a foothold for the British.

Marquis Treegan, chairman of the British Joint Committee, ended his inspection trip in Australia ahead of schedule and rushed to China on the British [***] ship, following the deterioration of the situation in the Far East.

Prior to this, the British company Dou Nale received instructions from the Marquis of Stringan to contact the feudal officials of the Qing Empire first, paving the way for his trip to China in advance.

If we talk about China's feudal officials, it should be Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang trade.

Dou Nale set out from Yanjing to the Governor's Mansion in Tianjin to meet Li Hongzhang in person, where he exchanged views and views on the current situation in the Far East and the domestic situation in the Qing Empire, and then expounded the position of the British authorities on the issue of Sino-British relations, hoping that Li Hongzhang would intervene to mediate and improve Sino-British relations.

The "flag-pulling incident" of that year had a great impact on Sino-British relations, and Britain withdrew most of its technical personnel in China and closed the door to the training and technology export of military personnel to China, just like the result of the severance of diplomatic relations between China and the Soviet Union in later generations, and dealt a heavy blow to the development of various undertakings of the Qing Empire. The British transferred technology and capital to the capital, and in the period from 1890 to 1894, before the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Empire was regressing, but the capital developed rapidly in the past few years.

Li Hongzhang also hoped to restore Sino-British relations, because the two Fuji-class battleships ordered by the Ben Navy in Britain seriously threatened the Beiyang Naval Division. At the instigation of Wang Chenhao, Li Hongzhang took the opportunity of the great victory of the naval division in the First Sino-Japanese Naval War to apply to the imperial court for funds to purchase new ships, and at this time, Britain was ahead of other powers in the construction of new all-steel warships.

Dou Na was glad to see Li Hongzhang relieved, and of course he was very happy, saying that the Marquis of Strrigan, chairman of the British Joint Committee, was about to arrive in Tianjin, and he was willing to mediate through this.

After having a good atmosphere, Dou Nale asked about the new army in Zhili, and naturally hoped that Wang Chenhao would hire the British as instructors and import weapons and equipment from the British.

In this regard, Li Hongzhang said that Wang Chenhao was solely responsible for everything in the New Army, and he would not interfere.

Dou Nale then visited Wang Chenhao, Wang Chenhao had already selected the German army establishment in his heart, and the ordnance naturally had to be imported from the Germans. However, Wang Chenhao did not reject Dou Nale, saying that he would make a comparison, and the final choice of [***] equipment would depend on the final bidding results.

In order to whet the appetite of the fire merchants, Wang Chenhao deliberately said that once the bidding was successful, the Qing Imperial Army would purchase it on a large scale in the future, which would be a huge arms order worth 50 million taels of silver.

Dou Nale did not know that Wang Chenhao was playing tricks, so he happily called the British Joint Committee on Affairs, asking the British side to appoint arms dealers to participate in the arms procurement competition for the new army in Zhili.

Considering that Beiyang has always been the backbone of the Qing Empire, the British side has always considered that the weapons procurement of the Zhili New Army will affect the willingness of the Qing Imperial Army to purchase weapons in the future, so in order to obtain this huge arms order, the British side assigned Captain Karin, the representative of the Armstrong Company, Britain's largest arms dealer, to rush from Shanghai to Tianjin with the company's latest and most advanced weapons and equipment list.

Li Hongzhang didn't guess the intention of Wang Chenhao's move, and came over to ask.

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "Since we are referring to the establishment and training methods of the German Army, and the foreign teachers we invite are also Germans, then the equipment we use must also be German weapons, so that the Germans can be happy and give full play to the maximum effect of the training of the new army." But there is one thing, the German-made weapons and equipment are so well-equipped that each piece can be called a work of art, so the German armament is notoriously expensive. Beiyang's funds are limited, and it is necessary to spend low prices to buy high-value equipment, and only by allowing Britain, Germany, France, the United States, Russia and other countries to participate in the bidding, so that when there are competitors, the [***] fire dealers will come up with the most advanced weapons and the most preferential prices for us. If we go directly to the Germans to buy weapons, we will be at the mercy of others! ”

Li Hongzhang touched his beard, nodded with satisfaction, and said with a smile: "Chen Hao's trick is good, and it is wonderful." ”

After listening to Wang Chenhao's opinion, Yang Shixiang also smiled in agreement, and immediately said: "Now that the British are in the trap, we have to find a way to get other countries to participate in it, and the more lively it is, the more we will take advantage!" ”

Wang Chenhao looked at Li Hongzhang with a smile at this time and said, "I think it depends on the father-in-law's means!" ”

Li Hongzhang saw that Wang Chenhao's actions seemed to be imaginative and difficult to figure out on the surface, but when he thought about it, it was quite methodical, and there was a hidden strategy in every step, which made him feel very satisfied, so he smiled and nodded, indicating that he would help with the rest.

Li Hongzhang is a big man in front of the great powers of various countries, and it is only appropriate for him to come forward as a nursery.

At this time, Yang Shixiang suddenly thought of something, and asked Wang Chenhao: "Since Chenhao has decided to purchase German equipment, it is inevitable that countries will be a little unwilling after this bidding is over." ”

Wang Chenhao thought for a while and said: "At the moment, we have a tense relationship with the British, but our real enemy is Tsarist Russia from the north. The tripartite clique of Germany, France, and Russia will be advantageous to us for the time being, but it will be unfavorable to us when Russia is ready for war against China. Therefore, we must not leave Britain far behind, because the future naval and army arms purchases will benefit Germany, France, and Britain, and the army will have to import most weapons from Germany and France, and the naval weapons will be imported from the United States and Britain, so as to seize the opportunity to divide the German, French, and Russian alliance, which will not only be able to gain the support and understanding of the British, but will also be able to keep Germany and France neutral in the future war against Russia. ”

Li Hongzhang asked: "Chen Hao started calculating the Russians so early, does Chen Hao think that the Russians may start a war against China in the short term?" ”

Yang Shixiang also had this question, and immediately looked at Wang Chenhao.

Wang Chenhao thought about the original historical process, in 1900 when the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded China, Tsarist Russia dispatched 100,000 troops to occupy the entire territory of the three northeastern provinces and most of Mongolia, and since then the Northeast has fallen until 1904, after the Russo-Russian War, it was divided into two parts: South Manchuria and North Manchuria. At present, it is said that the country's national strength has been frustrated and its ability to contain Tsarist Russia is limited, so the time for Tsarist Russia's invasion of China may be advanced.

"Although Tsarist Russia's Far East Railway has not yet been repaired, but every year Tsarist Russia will transport a batch of materials to the Far East for strategic reserves, and a lot of hoarding over the years, according to my estimates, in less than three or five years, Tsarist Russia's reserves of materials are enough to fight a local war, so we have to take precautions and prepare early!"

Yang Shixiang nodded, looked at Li Hongzhang and said, "What Chen Hao said makes sense, it's not impossible!" ”

Li Hongzhang knew that Wang Chenhao's prediction was very accurate, and it was always a good thing to take precautions. Li Hongzhang then nodded, so that he knew it in his heart.

In the following days, when Li Hongzhang successively talked with the ministers and consuls of Germany, France, Russia, the United States, and other countries, the representatives of various countries expressed their intention to purchase weapons for the Zhili New Army, and Li Hongzhang invited businessmen from various countries to participate in the bidding, saying that the successful party would get the procurement list of the Zhili New Army, and euphemistically expressed his intention to purchase weapons on a large scale in the future.

When the delegates of various countries heard about the huge arms procurement project, their eyes immediately lit up, and they began to make preparations one after another, listing in detail the samples and price lists of the most advanced weapons and equipment of various countries, and submitting them to the new army yamen of Zhili for testing and auditing.