The smoke of the cigar filled the smoking room, and several people in the smoking room were still discussing how to solve the current political problems.

Robert as Prime Minister? Cecil's brow was furrowed, and in the past three days, as Britain's prime minister and foreign secretary, he had taken on too much pressure and had too many interests to consider.

"Now all of Europe is watching us and waiting for us to make a decision!"

Robert looked at Arthur? Befort, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is also his nephew, said in a very helpless tone, not only Europe, but even with Her Majesty the Empress also expressed concern, although the Empress has the reputation of "the grandmother of the European royal family", but there is no direct or indirect blood relationship with Crown Prince Nicholas, but the upper echelons know very well that the Empress had a sweet first love with the visiting Majesty Alexander II, that is, Crown Prince Nicholas, when she was young, Victoria, who was agitated at the time, once unabashedly expressed her love for the affectionate and handsome Russian crown prince in her diary. But with national interests and politics in mind, Victoria finally decided to marry Albert.

Although this did not prevent the war between Britain and Russia many years later, after the improvement of relations between the two countries, especially after Alexander III adjusted the direction of Russian diplomacy, Crown Prince Nicholas, who visited Britain many times, was also welcomed by the empress, and the empress even called him "my little Nicholas", and now "Little Nicholas" was brutally killed by the Japanese, how can the empress not be angry.

Although the Empress did her duty and did not interfere in the affairs of the country, Robert, who knew what she was thinking, also understood. Now for both the Empress and the European royal families. Japan must pay the price for its atrocities.

But on the other hand. It was not in the interests of Britain to condone or even support the Russian occupation of Japan, and Britain's Far East policy made it necessary to limit Russian expansion in Northeast Asia.

"But the problem now is that if we support Japan, it will inevitably arouse the whole of Europe against Britain, and this will also deal a heavy blow to Britain's interests in Europe!"

Arthur? Befort was straightforward about his uncle's concerns, the interests of the Far East on the one hand, and the interests of Europe on the other. For the UK, there is no such thing as the best of both worlds.

"Your Excellency, our stronghold in the Far East is only Hong Kong, and if we allow the Russians to occupy Japan, then Russia's influence will never before extend into North China, north of the Yangtze River,"

Secretary of the Navy George? Lord Hamilton spoke directly to the Naval Council, which in fact was Britain's concern, but as a European he was equally outraged by the brutal murder of Crown Prince Nicholas by a lowly man of color. In addition, British warships were also attacked, and in his opinion, Britain also needed to retaliate.

"But. If we can get a colony or a lease like Hong Kong in Northeast Asia, I think the British navy will still be able to keep the Andrei flag in the north, and thus curb Russia's expansion to the south, as for the Pacific ......"

Hamilton paused, then whispered.

"Leave it to the Americans to worry about!"

Britain doesn't have much interest in the Pacific, British interests in India, in Southeast Asia, and in China.

"But it is impossible for the Qing to give us colonies or lease ports to us, and as for the Russians, they may need our help, but they will never agree to our involvement in Japan!"

This was the problem at the moment, and deep down Robert even hated the Japanese monkeys who were in trouble - they had always refused to allow the Emperor to go to Russia to apologize, and were unwilling to make any concessions on the matter, which made the British good offices come to naught.

If Japan agrees......

"Qing Guo doesn't agree, then we'll find a way to get them to agree,"

Arthur? Befort said as he looked at his uncle.

"Now that Russia is willing to make concessions on the Balkans and the Qing issue, this means that for Russia, they can make more concessions, and perhaps, we can help the Russians from another aspect, after all, they need not only our help, but also the help of the Qing people."

"Arthur, what do you mean ......"

Robert looked at Arthur in surprise? Befort seemed to be a little puzzled, could it be that he united with Russia to exert pressure on the Qing State? Will the Qing Dynasty succumb to this pressure? A few years ago, during the Juwen Island incident, wasn't the Qing Kingdom on the side of the Russians?

"Your Excellency, now, under the premise of the assassination of the crown prince, no one can stop the Russians from moving in the East, if Japan perishes, then the Qing State is undoubtedly the last target of its expansion, if the Qing people are aware of this, they should realize that Britain will be their only support, and in the same way, the Qing Kingdom is also our only choice to stop the Russians from going south, my idea is ......"

Again, Keisuke Otori took a carriage to the Beiyang Yamen, came to meet the Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang, although as the minister to the Qing State, he did not go directly to the Prime Minister's Yamen, but came to Tianjin, and his understanding of the Qing State made him very clear that the Prime Minister's Yamen's diplomacy in China is an ornament, and the real decision lies in the Beiyang Yamen.

"Trouble Lord Zhang, please also ask Lord Zhang to inform Lord Zhongtang on your behalf, be sure to meet you today today!"

Keisuke Otori's words were begging, and his face was even more pitiful, since three days ago, he had received direct instructions from Tokyo, telling him to win the support of the Qing State, and it was best to invite the Beiyang Navy to visit Japan, and now for Japan, Japan urgently needs the help of the Qing State, even if it is only superficial help.

But to his surprise, the gate of the Beiyang Yamen was closed to him, and every time he came to visit the guards outside the gate, he would block him, or say that the adult was not there, or that the adult was not available to meet, in a word, that is, not to meet him, early this morning, after receiving another urgent call from Tokyo, he went directly to Zhang Shiyan's house, visited the nephew of the Zhongtang Lord, and stuffed a red envelope of five thousand taels, the other party finally agreed to bring him to the mansion, this mansion is in, but the problem is to see Li Hongzhang. But he still has to get Li Hongzhang's consent. Even Zhang Shiyan did not dare to assert himself.

But as soon as Zhang Shiyan entered his uncle's study. But in the study, he saw someone he didn't expect - Tang Haoran, why did he come to Tianjin from North Korea? When did it come?

"Shi Yan has seen Ziran!"

Seeing his nephew coming, Li Hongzhang gave an intimate order.

"Brother, brother, you are not authentic when you come to Tianjin without saying hello!"

was polite, but Zhang Shiyan had countless questions in his heart, but the biggest question was that he Tang Haoran was here, why was there no news here?

"I've seen Brother Chu Bao, it's not that the younger brother doesn't say hello. In fact, Lord Zhongtang directly sent a warship to pick up the younger brother, and the younger brother couldn't notify him if he wanted to, no, it was less than an hour since he arrived at the Yamen! ”

Although he is in the position of the commander of North Korea, Tang Haoran still maintains his politeness, after all, the person in front of him, who can control the largest arsenal in East Asia in this era, the Beiyang Ordnance Bureau, may come to Tianjin this time, and he will have to find something from him to return to North Korea, and the situation is tense.

"Alright. You're welcome, Shiyan. I invited Ziran over to hear his opinion, and you are also listening! ”

Li Hongzhang's words made Zhang Shiyan suddenly dispel the idea of inviting his uncle to see Keisuke Otori, at least not now, and invited him Tang Ziran to come, obviously for the sake of Oriental affairs, and now Beijing and Tianjin are all disturbed by this matter.

"Ziran, you go on, tell me, why can't we interfere!"

Before Zhang Shiyan sat down, Li Hongzhang looked straight at Tang Haoran, and almost at the same time as he received a secret report from the minister stationed in Japan about the "Otsu incident," he received a telegram from Tang Haoran, in which in addition to analyzing the consequences of the incident one by one, he strongly advocated that he would refuse to be mediated by Japan or used by Japan, and it was precisely because of this that he refused to see him for various reasons.

As the consequences of the incident became more and more severe, Li Hongzhang was grateful in his heart for the urgency of Tang Haoran's call, but Tang Haoran was obstructed at the beginning, and the situation continued to develop like this, maybe the Qing Dynasty would not only hold a grudge against Russia, but even did not know how much chaos it would cause, seeing that the Russians had mobilized more than 100,000 troops in the Far East, he immediately sent a secret telegram to Tang Haoran, summoning him to Beijing to discuss matters, and even sent a warship of the Beiyang Naval Division to pick him up. And the two talked for a long time, but Tang Haoran still said the same thing - not to interfere.

"Lord Zhongtang, it's not that you don't interfere!"

Tang Haoran shook his head, looked at Li Hongzhang and continued:

"It's about not medling, all we have to do now is wait!"

Wait!

He Tang Haoran needs to wait, and he also needs to wait here, he doesn't want to be like in history, Li Hongzhang was slapped by the Japanese, and then sent the Beiyang Navy Division to visit Japan, and Japan is making a big "East Asia hand in hand" and "Qing Guo's prestige" momentum, using the Beiyang Navy Division to prestige. As a result, the Russians not only did not hate Japan, but instead hated the Qing Dynasty for Japan, and the diplomatic office of "my Great Qing Dynasty" not only failed to profit from it, but left behind a legacy of later troubles.

Li Hongzhang's brows furrowed slightly, he could wait, but could the imperial court wait? How to deal with this matter, the court is waiting for him to reply.

"Dare to ask Lord Nakado, if Russia uses this as an excuse to attack Japan, who will win this war?"

"Russia, of course!"

Zhang Shiyan hurriedly said on the side, then Japan is just a country of projectiles, how can it be Russia's opponent? At this point, he seemed to realize what kind of hot yam he had made with his five thousand taels.

"Then the lower official has another question!"

Raising his head, Tang Haoran's tone changed:

"How can we be alone from this in our country's position?"

Alone?

Needless to say, there is no possibility at all for this alone, and he ignores the Japanese, even if it is the Russians, they have already negotiated with the Beiyang Yamen many times, and China has never been involved in the Russo-Japanese war.

"Ziran, then tell me, in this case, how should my country deal with it?"

Nominally, China's diplomacy is the responsibility of Prime Minister Yamen, but everyone knows that this transfer is still up to the Minister of Beiyang in the roots, and as for the King of Qingjun, he is just a master who does not ask about anything.

"Lord Zhongtang, the opinion of the following officials ......"

After a pause, Tang Haoran looked at Li Hongzhang and said,

"First, China needs to inform all countries that China will remain neutral in this war and make all countries endorse it as a ......."

Just like in another time and space, Tang Haoran came up with the simplest method, of course, this "neutrality" is just a diplomatic promise to ensure that he will not be burned.

"This is natural, if Japan and Russia declare war, then for our country, there is only one way to go through neutrality......

Inadvertently, Li Hongzhang was completely swayed by Tang Haoran's words, and seeing that his mind was disturbed, Tang Haoran continued,

"If the Japanese ask for help, they can deal with it "outside neutrality", so that they can live out of the matter, although they cannot be alone, but they can avoid many troubles, and as for the future ......."

Looking up at Li Hongzhang, Tang Haoran said slowly.

"Russia's seeker is nothing more than a request that does not harm the overall situation, and after neutrality, he can negotiate with Britain and France and other countries to ensure the scope of assistance to Russia......"

As long as it is not China's interests that are sacrificed, Tang Haoran will naturally not look at it, and as for the fate of Japan, who will care, in a war, the wisest choice is to be with the victor, and the winner of this war is naturally only one country -- Russia.

"Ziran, do you mean that we are going to help the Russians attack Japan?"

Zhang Shiyan hurriedly asked on the side.

"It is not to help the Russians attack Japan, but not to help, in the eyes of the younger brother, if the Russians attack Japan this time, it will inevitably be acquiesced by the British, so that if our country strictly adheres to neutrality, it will naturally lead to Russia's dissatisfaction, and it will cause trouble in the future, and today's situation in East Asia, our country needs to deal with it carefully, otherwise he will ...... day by day."

The words sank slightly, and Tang Haoran sighed helplessly.

"If Russia occupies Japan, its ambitions are bound to swell again, and our country's worries will be far prosperous today, Lord Zhongtang, the lower officials don't know whether to say it or not!"

Li Hongzhang silently picked up the teacup and answered:

"Ziran, you can speak as bluntly!"

"Lord Zhongtang, with the current situation, not only do you need to quickly repair the railways inside and outside the Guan, but this Beiyang Naval and Land Division must also be strengthened, otherwise it will ......."

"Hey......"

Tang Haoran's words made Li Hongzhang nod thoughtfully, and his eyes looked out of the door a little helplessly.

"How can the official not know about this matter, it's just a ...... of the imperial court"

Before he finished speaking, Li Hongzhang fell into deep thought, and he had relied on his worries to solve the road money to Beiyang, and now he ...... There is a lesson from the Russian invasion of Japan, if you rely on this to play the imperial court, and then exaggerate the worries of the Russians by a few points, maybe you can ask for a navy construction fee from the imperial court, but can the imperial court allocate money?

Silver...... You can borrow!

After thinking about it, after Tang Haoran reminded him like this, Li Hongzhang immediately realized that this matter was an extremely rare opportunity in Beiyang, and as for other issues, he didn't care much about it. Thinking about it, Li Hongzhang looked at Tang Haoran in front of him and said slowly.

"How can this worry be in the northeast, Ziran, North Korea is also at the forefront, and it can't be guaranteed unless it is a military training!" (To be continued......)