After the end of the Sino-US diplomatic war, this was the first diplomatic defeat for the US political axe, and the other side was still a yellow country that had been bullied by the United States, which immediately made a considerable number of Americans dissatisfied.

In particular, the fact that the Chinese Empire easily took $470 million from the United States, equivalent to the total fiscal revenue of the United States that year, made a considerable part of the American people unhappy. The wealth they had worked so hard to create for the United States was thus taken away by the Chinese Empire, which they thought was nothing short of robbery.

As a result, demonstrations broke out one after another across the United States, and Chicago workers were on strike to protest against the introduction of a ten-hour work day in the United States, so Chicago workers took the opportunity to expand the scale of the protests, forcing the American political axe to order the change of the 10-hour work day to a nine-hour workday.

However, this could not completely divert the attention and anger of the American people, because the opposition party in the United States, the Ming Cook Party, was unwilling to accept defeat, so it attacked the Republican ruling American political axe everywhere, causing a wave of protests in the United States.

As a last resort, US President McKinley went around giving speeches, using his prestige to try to calm the anger of the nation.

At the same time, the American Cooking Party was trying to get in touch with Vice President Roosevelt, and they found that Roosevelt's political leanings were different from those of the Republican Party, and he was more like a Cooking Party. The current Republican political axe is bombarding the Rockefeller consortium on the issue of antitrust laws, and the main figure in it is Roosevelt. McKinley was an indecisive man, and Roosevelt's decisiveness and determination in the Spanish-American War made him a major figure in the strategic decisions of American political axes.

Since job hopping is allowed among political parties in the United States, the Ming Cook Party hopes to bring Roosevelt in order to attack the Republican Party's political performance and reputation, thereby increasing the bargaining chips for the Ming Cook Party to govern.

After a period of contact, Roosevelt clearly opposed the monopoly trust behavior of the Rockefeller consortium, which was in the interests of the Morgan consortium, the backstage of the Ming Cook Party, and the two sides hit it off, and the Ming Cook Party supported Roosevelt to go all out against the Rockefeller Consortium.

The matter was quickly detected by the Rockefeller consortium, and Rockefeller Jr. further threatened McKinley and Roosevelt through the Republican Party to stop the antitrust law sanctions against the Rockefeller consortium, but Roosevelt refused, and McKinley eventually sided with Roosevelt.

As a result, McKinley and Roosevelt became enemies of the Rockefeller consortium, and the shareholders of the Rockefeller consortium decided to find an excuse to bring down McKinley and Roosevelt, and many of them even wanted to kill McKinley.

Again, for the boiled party side. Although McKinley cooperated with the Bencto in the fight against trusts such as the Rockefeller Consortium, as the leader of the Republican Party, it was his mission to fight against rival parties. McKinley then threatened Roosevelt that if he did not draw a line with the Benjamin Party, he would take the matter to the Republican Conference, in which case Roosevelt would be in danger of being ousted. As a result, the members of the Benjamin Party, who were optimistic about Roosevelt, decided to attack McKinley. And several radical members of the Ming Cook Party even planned to kill McKinley, so that Roosevelt, as vice president, would succeed him as president, which would be extremely beneficial to the Ming Cook Party.

On 6 September, McKinley and his entourage took a special plane to visit Niagara Falls, which is located on the border between the United States and Canada, in accordance with the scheduled schedule. Subsequently, he attended a grand reception in the concert hall of the fair.

At the reception, guests from all walks of life gathered. They lined up in long lines, waiting for the opportunity to shake hands with Mr. President, whom they had admired for a long time. In the midst of this enthusiastic crowd lurked a politician. His name is Leon? Mr. Jorgos, 28, was born into a family of Polish immigrants and was never there to shake hands with President McKinley.

Jolgos mingled in the frenzied crowd, getting closer and closer to McKinley. Holding his breath and suppressing his excitement, he quietly pulled the gun out of his pocket, wrapped his right hand in a white bandage-like cloth, and hid the pistol inside. He nervously searched for the traces of the guards, and found that their guards were significantly less numerous, and they were scanning the crowd waiting to shake hands with the president, not noticing his actions at all, and his heart snickered with joy. Jorgos finally walked up to McKinley, and in the face of McKinley's right hand, he held out his left hand. While McKinley was stunned, he quickly pulled McKinley's hand away with his left hand, pulled the trigger with his right hand, and fired two shots at McKinley's abdomen. McKinley's snow-white shirt was quickly soaked in blinding blood.

Originally, these guards were supposed to use their bodies to block bullets for the president, but that day they invariably slowed down for 5 seconds, allowing the assassin to shoot calmly.

Along with the gunshots came the screams of the people. The guards hesitated for a moment before they swarmed up and caught the killer on the spot.

McKinley was immediately taken to the fair's emergency room, which was so poor that it could hardly be called a hospital. In the dim light, unprepared doctors rushed to give the president an emergency life. They removed the bullet from McKinley's chest, but the poor medical conditions prevented them from finding the bullet that had entered the president's abdomen, so they stitched up the president's wound. In the beginning, the president seemed to be past the dangerous period, and the doctors even issued a press bulletin announcing to the press and the anxious people of the country: there were no serious symptoms. However, the second bullet had actually caused ulceration in the body. Doctors later blamed the president for being overweight and sitting in a chair for long periods of time with little exercise, thus greatly reducing the chances of survival.

On the 14th, US President McKinley, as the 25th president, was assassinated while serving as president.

McKinley's death quickly alarmed the entire United States and succeeded in diverting the attention of the American people. After taking office, he adopted a policy of raising tariffs and stabilizing the currency, which, among other measures, led to a great improvement in the American economy, and McKinley gained the reputation of a "prosperous president." Because of McKinley's prestige, his assassination saddened the American people, and the huge protests disappeared in an instant, which really relieved the American political axe.

The assassination of the American president quickly spread around the world, and when Wang Chenhao, the emperor of the Chinese Empire in the Forbidden City of Yanjing, learned about it, he just smiled faintly, and many things did not change because of Wang Chenhao's arrival.

"Your Majesty, the assassin of McKinley said that the reason he killed McKinley was simply because McKinley looked like Napoleon."

Prime Minister Zhang Feng came to see Wang Chenhao with today's newspaper and told Wang Chenhao about this great pleasure by the way.

Wang Chenhao smiled: "Isn't there a big world? ”

Zhang Feng said: "The Assassins were Polish immigrants, and it is said that Napoleon slaughtered many Poles during his attack on Russia. ”

"How can there be a war that does not kill civilians?"

Wang Chenhao snorted coldly, and immediately expressed concern about Napoleon's defeat of Russia.

Zhang Feng seemed to see Wang Chenhao's worries, so he said: "Although the Russians won Napoleon, and thus became one of the world's great powers and became the role of the European gendarme, it was also Napoleon's carelessness. ”

Wang Chenhao said: "Be careful of losing Jingzhou, how many strong people hate the battlefield because of this." ”

Zhang Feng hurriedly said: "Your Majesty is teaching." ”

Wang Chenhao then asked, "How are you preparing?" ”

Zhang Feng didn't have to guess to know that Wang Chenhao was asking about preparations for war against the Tsarist Russian Empire. So he said: "Back to Your Majesty, the military mobilization has been secretly completed, and in addition to the 1.62 million first-line troops in the seven major military regions, 540,000 troops have been recruited from the second-line troops, and the new recruits have been trained for six months and have the ability to fight in reserve. More than half of the work on the reserve of combat materials has been completed, and it is expected to be completed by the end of December. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, the progress was good.

Zhang Feng asked, "Your Majesty, are you planning to raid Russia?" ”

Wang Chenhao saw Zhang Feng's worried look, so he said: "This war cannot be avoided, since we are ready, then don't wait for the Russians to be ready to start a war, we must take the strategic initiative." ”

Zhang Feng sighed: "The minister also knows that this war is inevitable, but the minister still doesn't want it to break out, no matter whether a war is won or lost, it will have an impact on the empire's economy." ”

It is true that war consumes national strength, just like non-renewable resources, and consumes a little less.

"We were also forced to do so. As a country that has been bullied by the great powers for more than half a century, it is impossible to rise peacefully. Because Western European and American countries will not watch the rise of a powerful China, there must be a stepping stone for the rise of the empire, and this stepping stone is Russia, which is relatively weak among the Western powers. ”

Zhang Feng nodded and said: "Although Russia has lost its former style, after all, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. ”

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "Don't worry, although I plan to strike first, I don't want to fight to Moscow, I won't use all my troops and take the road of Napoleon's defeat." ”

Then, Wang Chenhao paused, and said: "Actually, the reason why I changed the battle plan is because my comprehensive defense strategy was inappropriate before, the empire borders Russia, and the border is tens of thousands of miles, and Russia may mobilize millions of troops for this, if you blindly defend passively, it will involve a large number of troops and energy of the empire, and it is impossible to prevent it." In addition, the flames of war may burn into the territory of the empire, wouldn't it make the people of the empire suffer the scourge of war? That's too much loss. ”

Zhang Feng said: "Then Your Majesty means that the empire will take the initiative to attack and burn the flames of war into Russia?" ”

"That's right!"

Wang Chenhao smiled and nodded, and then said: "Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway will be completed next spring, the empire will preemptively burn the flames of war into Russia, take advantage of the opportunity that Russian reinforcements cannot arrive in time, concentrate superior forces to annihilate a group of Russian troops first or surround the Russian army in an isolated place, and then send reinforcements at the encirclement point, little by little to eat away at the Russian troops who rushed to reinforce them." ”

Although Zhang Feng didn't know much about military affairs, he could also feel that Wang Chenhao's strategy was better.

When the two were talking, they suddenly received a report from the guards, Zhang Jian, Minister of Agriculture and Industry and Commerce, and Song Hanzhang, Minister of Finance.

Zhang Jian and Song Hanzhang were originally going to the Prime Minister's Office to find Zhang Feng, but when they learned that Zhang Feng had entered the palace to face the saint, they hurriedly chased after him.

"Minister of Agriculture and Industry and Commerce Zhang Jian, long live my emperor!"

"Minister of Finance, Song Hanzhang, to attend Your Majesty!"

"How many times have I said it, you don't need to give me a big gift when you don't go to court."

Zhang Jian replied: "The minister is guilty, but the etiquette cannot be abolished!" ”

Although Zhang Jian is considered an enlightened person, after all, he is impregnated by feudal etiquette and religion, and he is also a stubborn person who admits death. Of course, this is not Zhang Jian's personal phenomenon, nor is it Song Hanzhang, but the entire empire, after all, not long after Wang Chenhao implemented the New Deal reform, most of the ideological consciousness of the subjects of the empire stayed in the previous era, which could not be completely changed in a few years or decades, and it would take several generations of efforts to eliminate the feudal thinking of two thousand years.

Wang Chenhao didn't really mean to blame, and said, "That's it, it's up to you." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After Zhang Jian and Song Hanzhang finished their salutes, they immediately reported their intentions to Wang Chenhao and Zhang Feng. Since the discussion was in the imperial study, Zhang Feng no longer took the lead, but asked Zhang Jian and Song Hanzhang to report directly to Wang Chenhao, and he assisted from the side.

"Your Majesty, the minister has just learned that the international financial forces are buying and selling imperial dragon coins on a large scale, Beiyang Securities opened at 123.56 points today, and soared to 126.25 points at the close, and the minister thought that this was not a normal phenomenon."

"There is an imbalance in the trading of the dragon coin against the pound and the dollar, the median market price of the dragon coin against the pound has reached 1:0.21, and the median price against the US dollar has reached 1:1.13, and the Imperial Bank has confirmed that most foreign and Chinese banks have increased their holdings of the reserve quota of the pound and the dollar.

For the stock market, since the establishment of the Beiyang Stock Exchange in 1899 by the Chinese Empire to regulate the stock market, the stock market has been rising slowly and steadily from 100 basis points, with a daily growth of 0.00 points, in line with the speed of the empire's economic development. On a year-on-year basis, the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the United States has risen no more.

The stock market has soared by nearly 3 points all of a sudden, which is bound to cause the frenzy of domestic and foreign stockholders, and will lead to the soaring stocks of major listed companies, and it will snowball faster and faster.

Similarly, the ratio of the bound Dragon Coin to the British Pound has always been constant at 5:1, that is, one British pound to five Dragon Coins, which should not fluctuate, but now the Dragon Coin has suddenly appreciated, which is not a trivial matter.

Zhang Jian and Song Hanzhang's report immediately attracted Wang Chenhao's great attention, and Zhang Feng asked the two of them, "Is it a mistake?" ”

The two of them looked affirmative, not mistaken.

Wang Chenhao said: "The sudden surge in the industrial index, as well as the sudden appreciation of the dragon currency in the market, which shows that a large number of international funds poured into China, the large-scale inflow of hot money, and the investment in the Chinese stock market led to an abnormal surge in the industrial index, and the exchange channel of hot money is naturally only the dragon currency, once a large number of exchanges, it will naturally cause the number of dragon coins in circulation to decrease, forcing the dragon currency to appreciate abnormally."

Of course, although the dragon coin is bound to the pound and the dollar, the political axe of China, Britain and the United States forcibly bind the ratio of the currencies of the three countries in the form of national credit to stabilize the economy. But the market is not completely in accordance with the provisions of the political axe, under the market mechanism, it is allowed to fluctuate slightly up and down the ratio of the political axe, but because the pound, the dollar and the dragon currency are all currencies with strong purchasing power, for example, 1 dragon coin can buy 20 catties of rice, its purchasing power is very strong, under normal circumstances, the political axe allows the fluctuation range within 0.005, which is also the agreement reached by the political axe of China, the United States and the United Kingdom, and the fluctuation of 0.01 is multiplied by the circulation of the imperial currency is a huge number, so it cannot be ignored.

Song Hanzhang said: "It can force the appreciation of dragon coins, and at least more than 1 billion dragon coins of hot money will flow into the empire. Coupled with the stock market rising by 3 points, the total amount of hot money this time is not less than 2 billion dragon coins. ”

Wang Chenhao thought for a while and said: "This should be the handiwork of the international financial predators led by the Rothsjeld family, and no one else has this power except them!" ”

Zhang Feng said with doubts: "Maybe it's a ghost from a certain country!" ”

Zhang Jian seconded: "It's possible! Russia was an enemy of the empire, and in order to strike at the empire's economy and finance, it waged a financial war against the empire before the war. ”

Song Hanzhang said at this time: "I am afraid that Russia does not have this strength, but the minister thinks that the Americans did it." His Majesty came back with $470 million from the United States, and the cashing out of gold is bound to cause strong dissatisfaction in the American financial circles, and it cannot be ruled out that they will take revenge on the empire with this. ”

Wang Chenhao waved his hand and said: "It wasn't the Americans who did it, the dragon coin is pegged to the US dollar, and if the dragon coin jumps, the US dollar will also be seriously impacted." The total volume of industry in the United States is much larger than ours, and it is they who suffer the most. ”

Zhang Feng asked: "But the United States can unilaterally cancel the peg!" ”

Wang Chenhao said: "That is war, and it can only be the result of losing both." The Americans are a country that cannot afford to be profitable, and they will not be so stupid. ”

Then, Wang Chenhao said: "Don't forget, all the countries of the world know that the empire and Russia are going to war, and once a war breaks out, it is time for international financiers to make money." They first speculated on dragon coins and imperial stocks, and once the war was unfavorable to the empire, they took the opportunity to withdraw funds and make huge profits. The Rothschilds got their start on this. ”

Zhang Feng asked, "Then Your Majesty, what should we do?" ”

Wang Chenhao thought for a while and said: "These international financial predators are gambling big, they will not only speculate in the empire, but also on the Russian side. ”

Song Hanzhang said: "That means they are betting on the Sino-Russian war, I don't know if they are betting on the victory of the empire or the victory of Russia?" ”

Wang Chenhao said: "They should still be uncertain now, they should bet on both ends." ”

Zhang Feng asked: "Bet on both ends, wouldn't that be a loss or a profit?" ”

Wang Chenhao smiled: "Wrong! It's a win on both sides! It's just a matter of winning more and winning less! ”

Zhang Feng didn't seem to understand, and Song Hanzhang next to him explained: "Speculative finance is different from ordinary gambling, investors sit in the bank, not us. They bet on both the empire and Russia, and if the empire wins, the empire's economy will grow strongly, there will be enough financial resources to cover the war consumption, the stock market will be stable, they will not be able to speculate, and they will earn less in the empire. ”

Zhang Jian then added: "If Russia loses, the huge war consumption will force its finances to be unsustainable, and there is no money left to stabilize the market, then they will fall into the trap and take the opportunity to short the ruble and plunder Russia's wealth." ”

Zhang Jian and Song Hanzhang are both highly industrialized and economical, so they naturally speak the truth, but Zhang Feng has seven tricks and six tricks, and he hasn't understood it yet.

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "This is an abstract philosophy, you don't need to know too much, but too much will be confused, the simple way is to understand in the opposite direction." We just need to know that as long as we can stabilize the market, they won't be able to make money in the empire. ”

Zhang Feng couldn't help but smile bitterly, he was really a little confused, so he said, "Then what does Your Majesty mean?" ”

Wang Chenhao thought for a while and said: "These international financial predators are here for the imperial people's uncertain mentality of the outcome of the war, as long as the imperial political axe makes the people believe that we will win, only if they are confident will not be fooled." ”

Zhang Feng understands this sentence, only by stabilizing the people's hearts and preventing the people from panicking can they get rid of the conspiracy of international financiers.

But how can the people of the empire be convinced of the victory of the empire? This is another question that Zhang Feng, Zhang Jian and Song Hanzhang are anxious to think about.

"Why don't you have a large-scale military exercise?"

Wang Chenhao suddenly looked at Zhang Feng and the three of them with a smile.

"The military exercise is a good way to strengthen the country's prestige and enhance the confidence of the people, and Your Majesty is wise."

Zhang Feng and the three of them suddenly looked happy, and finally had a good way.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ the third autumn season, when the grass is officially full of horse fat. The emperors of all dynasties in China would choose to hold military training at this time combining cavalry or cavalry and infantry, which was for the autumn season.

In the era of the Chinese Empire, the autumn season was divided into annual routine military exercises, as well as a small celebration every five years and a large anniversary exercise for the National Day of the Empire every ten years.

This year is the first year of the Chinese Empire, and the National Day exercise is naturally indispensable.

Originally, in order to keep a low profile and prepare for the war against Russia, the Ministry of Defense did not formulate relevant annual military exercises. After all, a large-scale exercise requires preparations in all aspects, not to mention the considerable cost of simulated equipment and ammunition, the quality of the performance is very strong, and the rehearsal consumes too much of the army's energy and is not suitable for preparing for war.

However, in order to build confidence among the people of the empire and stabilize the empire's financial and stock markets, Wang Chenhao asked the Ministry of Defense to prepare a large-scale military exercise and make it public to the world. Let the powers of various countries be full of confidence in the victory of the Chinese Empire, and at the same time, it is also a pre-war test of the imperial [***] team.

The General Staff Headquarters was ordered to plan the exercise, but this exercise was aimed at the extremely strong surname, Wang Chenhao wanted to establish the determination to defeat Russia to appease the people of the empire and stabilize the finances, so it was clear that the hypothetical enemy was the Tsarist Russian Empire, and the military exercise was distributed according to the actual national strength, military strength and actual strength of the troops that might participate in the war between China and Russia.

On September 18, the Ministry of National Defense listed the background of the military exercise, submitted it to the National Assembly and the Cabinet for review, and submitted it to the Emperor Wang Chenhao for inspection.

According to the intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, in 1900 the total population of Russia reached 112 million, and the total strength of the standing army was officially reported to be about 1.05 million, with 3.75 million reservists, 2.56 million actual army and 4.42 million reservists. Of these, 90 percent of the troops are deployed in the western region, and in the Far East there are only more than 150,000 regular army units (200 guns, 600 machine guns) and 50,000 engineer troops. The Russian Navy has more than 200 warships, of which the Pacific Fleet has more than 60 combat ships (more than 192,000 tons).

The training room of the General Staff is displayed and evaluated on the basis of the information already available:

First against Russia. The General Staff expects that Russia will be able to conscript 1.2 million people throughout the war. In terms of communications, the Russian army is equipped only with wired telegraph and telephones to the corps and group armies. Below the division level can only communicate on foot or on horseback. The Trans-Siberian Railway will not be able to complete the Baikal section in the future, and after the emergency repair, only two or three military vehicles will be driven every day and night, and the journey from Europe to the northeast of our country will take nearly six weeks. Under the conditions of unprecedented rapid-fire firepower, the military thinking dominated by the Russian army is still not to emphasize bayonet white-knuckle warfare, and to advocate the combat methods of Kutuzov and Napoleon about 100 years ago. The Weihaiwei and Nebuchu fortresses, which are of great strategic importance to Russia, are far from being completed, and the 10-year plan for the expansion of the navy has not yet been completed. The Russian admirals only had combat experience in the era of sailing ships, and did not understand the naval tactics of the era of steel-armored warships. The seriousness of the Russian side will inevitably lead to internal contradictions and chaos in the command structure and command system, and will ultimately determine the fate of the Russian army's inevitable defeat.

This was followed by an assessment of the Chinese Empire: the total population of the Chinese Empire was 416.5 million according to the first census. In a full-scale war, more than 1,000,000 reservists can be theoretically mobilized. In the early days of the war, the Chinese Empire relied on a standing army with a total strength of 1.62 million troops (21,600 artillery pieces and 12,960 heavy machine guns), of which 1.14 million could be used for front-line operations. The Imperial Chinese Navy has about 180 warships of various types (with a total tonnage of more than 360,000 tons), most of which are newly built new ships, with good surnames and uniform specifications. The Reichsman Army had a unified operational philosophy, which basically studied the theories of the famous German general Moltke. At its core, the emphasis is on offense. The main style of the offensive was frontal artillery suppression, flank detours, and efforts to avoid hand-to-hand encounters, so as to reduce casualties and give full play to the superiority of imperial equipment. The bayonet white-knuckle combat is not completely excluded, and the individual combat ability of the emperor is not lower than that of the Russian army, but the emperor pays more attention to the play of group strength. More attention was paid to firepower, especially crossfire. Fire preparation is usually carried out before the impact. The basic battle formation of the infantry is a skirmish. On the whole, the population of the imperial state and the number of army and navy were no less than those of Tsarist Russia, and in local wars it would have significantly surpassed Tsarist Russia. In addition, other favorable conditions, such as the proximity to the rear, better training and equipment, and stronger command ability.

To sum up, the General Staff worked out the actual combat background of the large-scale military exercises in Queshan, believing that the Empire's superiority was more obvious and used this as the theoretical basis for the Empire's final victory, and the exercises would also begin against this background.

(To be continued)