[Today's second update, ask for recommendation votes]

"Where did you come from? Change the soup without changing the medicine! It is better to cede Liaodong than to cede Taiwan! Li Hongzhang was obviously very dissatisfied, but he didn't stop Wang Chenhao from talking, he wanted to hear the following.

Wang Chenhao continued: "The Liaodong Peninsula is connected to North Korea, which makes the whole of the book connected; The Liaodong Peninsula was one of the gateways of the Qing Empire, and its strategic location was extremely important, and if Ben had learned that we were willing to cede it, he would have agreed to give up the demand for reparations and the cession of Taiwan. ”

Li Hongzhang glared at Wang Chenhao angrily and said, "Of course!" This is more cost-effective than paying reparations and ceding Taiwan, and of course Ben will choose to pick up the big benefits! ”

Wang Chenhao snorted coldly and said, "That's why I will take the bait!" But will they get what they want? Will the Russians sit idly by and watch the Liaodong Peninsula and North Korea go? ”

Li Hongzhang frowned and said, "You mean that if we sell the Liaodong Peninsula, the Russians will definitely intervene?" ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, in order to convince Li Hongzhang, he had to give him an analysis of the current core interests and strategic situation of Tsarist Russia.

Wang Chenhao believes that it can be seen from Russia's global strategic layout that Russia's main external purpose is territorial expansion.

Tsarist Russia's expansion in Europe was blocked by the Central Powers, and it fought with the Turkish Empire in West and Central Asia for centuries without being able to enter the Mediterranean Sea as expected, and could only be trapped in the Black Sea; And after a few hundred years of expansion in East Asia, Tsarist Russia found that their policy had been continued, acquiring East and West Beria and Vladivostok, the outlet to the sea, from the Qing Empire.

However, due to the fact that the center of gravity of Tsarist Russia was in Europe, and it was 20,000 miles away from the Far East, although it had always wanted to expand its aggression against the Qing Empire, because of the long front and the difficulty of supply, and the influence of the Russo-Turkish war, the Tsarist government was unable to implement the "1856 Asia Plan" to launch a full-scale war against China.

However, Tsarist Russia has been preparing, and since the Treaty of Yenching in 1860 to occupy Vladivostok, Tsarist Russia began to build a Far Eastern naval base and a Far Eastern fleet in Vladivostok. In 1862, the Russian political axe changed the name of Vladivostok to "Vladivostok", which means to control the east, which shows the ambition of Tsarist Russia. In 1887, the Vladivostok naval base was officially completed, and in 1890, Russia established the fleet of the Siberian region and the fleet of the Amur region, and officially stationed there.

However, at this time, the Qing Empire and the Yueben Empire had already built up a powerful navy in Asia, and the Tsarist Russian Navy was at a disadvantage because of the supply problem of the Vladivostok base, so it did not dare to start a war rashly.

Tsarist Russia, at a disadvantage, decided to build the Trans-Siberian Railway to connect St. Petersburg with Vladivostok. In 1891, the construction of the 9,288-kilometer-long Trans-Siberian Railway began, and once the railway was completed, it would not only solve the problem of supplying the Tsarist Far East Navy, but also the army could also be transported, and that was when the Tsarist Russia resumed its full-scale invasion of China.

Wang Chenhao's understanding of Russia's Asian policy surprised Li Hongzhang, so he said: "What you said can only show that Russia has the intention of killing us, but you also said that the Russians have difficulty in supply, and if you want to kill us, we have to wait until the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway. ”

Wang Chenhao saw that Li Hongzhang listened to it a little and felt that it was effective, so he continued: "Although Russia does not have the strength to launch a large-scale war in the Far East now, they have been preparing. The construction of the Vladivostok base, the formation of the Far Eastern Fleet, and the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway are all preparations for a future war. ”

Wang Chenhao came to the wall map, showed it to Li Hongzhang, and continued to explain: "Korea and the Liaodong Peninsula are also the targets of the Russians, because the Russians have long planned to annex our three northeastern provinces. They first encircled Heilongjiang through the Treaty of Aihui, and then went south to encircle Jilin through the Treaty of Yanjing, and their plan should have been to force us to cede Korea and the Liaodong Peninsula through another treaty. It's a pity that the Russians haven't had time to do it yet, and they can't help but do it first. If the Liaodong Peninsula falls into the hands of the Lord, and the DPRK is also Own, then Russia's plan to encircle our northeast will be broken! ”

Li Hongzhang followed Wang Chenhao's direction and discovered the problem for the first time from the overall situation. At this time, Russia had formed a semi-encirclement of the northeastern region of the Qing Empire. Russia's Amur Military District and Primorsky Military District have already encircled Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, and Korea and the Liaodong Peninsula are the next targets to encircle Shengjing.

Li Hongzhang looked at Wang Chenhao in surprise again, and said: "I didn't expect Chenhao to have such a penetrating view of the overall situation, which really opened the old man's eyes and benefited him a lot!" ”

"Nakado-sama has won the prize!" Wang Chenhao struck while the iron was hot and continued: "The Russians want to monopolize our northeast, saying that their own domestic resources are scarce, and they also want to occupy our northeast. One is a slow-moving black bear, the other is a hungry jackal, and we are now a sick dragon who can't get up, and in order to survive, we have to chop off the dragon's claws and throw them at them. Neither the bear nor the jackal can swallow the entire dragon in one bite, so they choose to eat the dragon's claws first. And there is only one claw, so the bear and the jackal will definitely fight for food. ”

Wang Chenhao's analogy made Li Hongzhang feel ashamed, but it has to be said that it is very appropriate, it is the current embarrassment of the Qing Empire.

"If we throw out the bait of ceding Liaodong, will the Russians really be able to interfere forcefully?" Li Hongzhang already believed Wang Chenhao's words a little at this moment.

Wang Chenhao felt that now he could only be a dead horse as a live horse doctor, after all, the intervention of the three countries in history was a real event, and he believed that the Russians would definitely intervene, so he replied affirmatively: "The Russians will definitely interfere!" In addition to strategic needs, the Russians need to build naval bases in the Far East, and both Korea and Liaodong have ice-free ports that the Russians need, so they will not sit idly by! ”

Li Hongzhang is obviously struggling in his heart, if it is really as Wang Chenhao said, this can be regarded as the last way to deter the ambition of the wolf to end the war; But if the Russians do not intervene, then Li Hongzhang will have to bear the notoriety of a traitor who betrayed the Liaodong Peninsula, and the stakes are so deep that he has to be cautious.

"Chenhao! Do you know that once this matter fails, not to mention the name of a traitor on my back Li Hongzhang, everyone in the Li family will not be able to lift him up, and will become a street rat that everyone shouts and beats! ”

Wang Chenhao naturally understands that the common people will never understand the hardships of the country's leaders, they only look at the final result of the matter.

Chen Hao's words come from the bottom of my heart! Lord Zhongtang should have heard that Chen Hao has admired Miss Youyi for a long time, and regards her as Chen Hao's future wife, you are her father, and I can't go to pit you! ”

Only then did Li Hongzhang remember that Wang Chenhao still had this matter, he naturally had eyes and ears and knew what was going on between Wang Chenhao and Li Youyi. Now that Wang Chenhao has put it forward bluntly, Li Hongzhang is also a lot more relieved.

"That's it! The old man will listen to your gamble again! If it is as you expect, the old man will make the decision to marry Youyi to you! ”

"Thank you, Lord Nakado!" Wang Chenhao was suddenly very happy.

"It should be called father-in-law!"

Outside the door, Zhou Fu and Yang Shixiang stepped in, followed by the staff who had just discussed the matter.

It turned out that they didn't leave immediately, and when they saw Li Hongzhang leaving Wang Chenhao alone, they ran over to listen to the corner.

At this time, Zhou Fu, Yang Shixiang and others had already heard Wang Chenhao's strategy, from the shock at the beginning to the admiration at the moment, it was all on their faces.

"What do you think of Wushan and Lianfu?" Li Hongzhang was not surprised, obviously he had already found out, but it was a pity that Wang Chenhao may have been too involved and failed to notice it.

"Naturally, congratulations to Lord Zhongtang for adding another son-in-law!" Zhou Fu nodded at Wang Chenhao and replied to Li Hongzhang with a smile.

"Congratulations to Lord Zhongtang for adding another son-in-law!" Everyone congratulated in unison.

"So everyone agrees with Chen Hao's plan!" Li Hongzhang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, it seemed that this plan had been approved by everyone, and it was worth betting.

"Don't call your father-in-law yet!" Yang Shixiang pulled Wang Chenhao over and kicked him in the ankle, Wang Chenhao suddenly knelt down in pain.

Wang Chenhao hurriedly shouted out to his father-in-law, Li Hongzhang laughed a few times, obviously very useful, and hurriedly helped him up.

The hall was bursting with cheers, and everyone stepped forward to say goodbye.