Li Hongzao saw Wang Chenhao quibbling, so he said: "You are their boss, your subordinates have made mistakes, and you, the boss, are also responsible for lax discipline." ”

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "Lord Li has promoted me again, the big guy was still talking about it just now, I am just a second minister, but the Admiralty is in charge of Prince Gong, the Minister of the Navy!" ”

Well, it was shameless to complete it again, and sent the magic weapon of Prince Gong Yi.

Prince Gong has been quietly staying, watching coldly. Seeing that Wang Chenhao carried him out, he immediately scolded Wang Chenhao in his heart for being shameless, but he had no choice but to come out and say: "Enlighten the emperor, the old minister is incompetent and has failed to take charge of the Navy Department, please ask the emperor to surrender!" ”

Li Hongzao came out to speak, and was immediately stunned, and was immediately half angry.

Guangxu sighed bitterly in his heart, secretly Dao Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao have lived in vain for so many years, and they can't do anything about Wang Chenhao, a young man in his twenties, and he is still being played around by others. Thinking that he himself had been played by Wang Chenhao several times, his heart balanced slightly.

Guangxu looked at Yi, and couldn't help sighing, the real person of the Admiralty is Wang Chenhao, and Yi is just a decoration. But Wang Chenhao used Yi as a shield, which was really shameless.

"I said that I am a thief, so it's good to teach them some lessons. What's more, in the Battle of Toshima back then, it was also said that I was rude first, and now we are doing this to repay the other! ”

Then, Guangxu said: "The navy officers did the right thing in this matter!" The court should be rewarded! ”

The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty immediately shouted to the emperor Shengming, and this matter was exposed.

Subsequently, Guangxu discussed with the civil and military officials about the declaration of war on China and how to respond to the diplomatic offensive launched by Britain and the United States against China.

Wang Chenhao Li Chen said that the declaration of war against China was just to save face, and in fact, the navy did not have the strength to threaten the coastal periphery of the Qing Empire. However, he had already ceded the Korean Peninsula and had no army to land on the coastal perimeter of the Qing Empire, so there was no need to fear a declaration of war on him.

Guangxu and the Manchu ministers of civil and military affairs also agreed with Wang Chenhao's view, but again disagreed on the question of whether to declare war on Yueben.

Some courtiers thought that since Yue Ben had already declared war on the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Empire should in turn declare war on Yue Ben, otherwise they thought they were afraid of Yue himself. However, some courtiers also worried that declaring war was not a good thing, and that once it was at war, the great powers would declare neutrality, and the Qing Empire's overseas arms orders would be frozen.

Tieliang, the secretary of the Ministry of War, came out and said: "Your Majesty, among the several warships ordered by the imperial court in the UK, two battleships are about to return to China. ”

The Minister of War and Aircraft resolutely disagreed with Tie Liang's point of view, and he said: "The current situation is different from that of the First Sino-Japanese Period, and Britain attaches more importance to relations with us than to the original. Therefore, it is unlikely that our warships will be seized out of customs. At the same time, two of his battleships were also being built in England, and it seems that they were completed at about the same time as ours. If our warships are seized, their own warships will also be seized. ”

Tie Liang retorted: "Battleships have the role of deciding naval battles, and the Dengyun-class battleships, as the strongest battleships among the current world's naval powers, will suffer if they are seized. In addition, although the Russians have ended the state of war with us, they say that the relations between Russia are getting closer and closer, and it is not excluded that Russia will form an alliance and unite them. It is said that there is no navy, but the Russians do, and the Russian Far East Fleet has added four new capital warships, and the naval strength is not weaker than ours. Although the Russian Army is far away in Europe and it is inconvenient to come to the Far East, it is said that he has it. It is said that the 19 divisions of the Standing Army, as long as Russia helps, can be sent to Korea to attack the Qing Dynasty. ”

Wang Chenhao looked at Tie Liang with some surprise, and secretly said that this person was not a mediocre person, but still very strategic. It was also a last resort to drive him out of the Beiyang Army in the first place, and if possible, it should be good to subdue this person for my use.

Wang Chenhao thought so in his heart.

Tie Liang's words were supported by many people, but Guangxu didn't have his kind of strategic vision, so he immediately lost his rules, so he looked at Wang Chenhao.

"What does Wang Aiqing think?"

Wang Chenhao said: "There is such a possibility! ”

The civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty were in an uproar, but Wang Chenhao immediately changed his words.

Wang Chenhao continued: "However, this possibility is extremely low! Even if the Russian alliance is called, the economic situation of Israel and Russia cannot be supported at present. In turn, our navy and army are now fully capable of starting a war with Russia at the same time. ”

Yi asked Wang Chenhao and said, "Didn't you say that with our current troops, not a single Russia can be dealt with?" ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said, "That's right!" With our tens of thousands of new troops, we can't compete with the millions of Russian troops, but it's still the same old topic, and the Russians won't have the energy to fight us in a few years. It was said that Ben was no better than Russia, and it was impossible for them to send troops to land on the Korean expedition. However, it may not be the case in three or five years, when both Ben and Russia have recovered from the economic crisis, and Russia has built the Trans-Siberian Railway, transported troops to the Far East, and Ben has completed the goal of rebuilding the combined fleet, and then any of them will be our strong enemies, if they join forces - uh-huh! ”

Wang Chenhao said twice, although he didn't say it further, but his meaning had been expressed, and the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty all gasped.

Guangxu sighed and said, "I'll talk about it later, but now?" Wang Aiqing, what do you think? ”

"Declare war!"

Wang Chenhao was categorical and said confidently: "Within a few months, I will make Yue himself kneel and beg for mercy!" ”

Looking at Wang Chenhao's confident appearance, Guangxu was envious in his heart, and at the same time seemed to have confidence.

"Wang Aiqing seems to have enough strategy against the enemy, so you might as well talk to me and the ministers."

Wang Chenhao received the order, so he said: "It is very simple to deal with Yueben, which is an island country with scarce resources, and after the Meiji Restoration, the export of light industrial products such as textiles is the main source of economy. It is said that this commodity depends on our exports. After the declaration of war, the imperial court abolished all preferential conditions for the country, abolished all treaties with the company, and banned the import of goods and the export of raw materials to the city at all treaty ports. In this way, the economy of this country will be hit hard. At the same time, our navy is now very weak, and our navy has blockaded all important port cities in this province and besieged the import and export trade of this country. At the same time, the navy attacked the important coastal cities of the country and broke the will of the people of the country. With such a two-pronged approach, they will not last for a few months, and they will inevitably beg us for mercy. ”

What Wang Chenhao said made sense, and the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty all understood it, and immediately agreed with Wang Chenhao's words, and changed their words to support the declaration of war against Yue.

Tie Liang no longer insisted, he understood Wang Chenhao's strategic and tactical thinking, this strategy of focusing on economic sanctions and supplemented by means of war was really clever, Tie Liang had to admit that Wang Chenhao in front of him was a transcendent military strategist, and he suddenly felt ashamed.

Guangxu also understood most of it, and asked Tieliang and Yi.

"What do you two Aiqing think?"

Tie Liang and Yi glanced at each other and said in unison: "The minister has no objection!" ”

Then the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty said in unison: "The ministers seconded the proposal!" ”

Seeing that everyone agreed, Guangxu immediately made a decision and said: "The Military Aircraft Department should immediately draft a decree to declare war, and Prime Minister Yamen should also immediately study the rhetoric, send a telegram to the whole country, and obtain the understanding of the embassies and consulates of various countries in China!" ”

Several ministers of the Military Aircraft Department and the Prime Minister's Yamen immediately received the order.

Then, Prince Gong asked again: "Your Majesty, the British and American sides have made solemn representations, but the ministers are incompetent, and they really don't know how to reply to them, please make it clear!" ”

As soon as Guangxu heard this, he was immediately entangled, Yi was a veteran of diplomacy, he didn't know how to reply to the British and the Americans, and Guangxu didn't dare to show ugliness.

Guangxu looked at the ministers and asked to find someone who could speak well, but everyone lowered their heads and didn't want to come out.

A cadre of civil and military ministers bowed their heads and possessed themselves, and Guangxu looked down from above, and couldn't tell who was with whom. However, he can recognize one person, and that is Wang Chenhao.

There is no way, in the entire Jinluan Palace, in addition to the emperor being the most dazzling, it is Wang Chenhao's official hat and uniform that is the most eye-catching. Wang Chenhao's official hat is three-eyed, and the other civil and military ministers are basically one-eyed, this Wang Chenhao can be said to stand out from the crowd.

"What does Wang Aiqing suggest?"

Wang Chenhao thought to himself, this kind of troublesome thing is still not to be troubled, and it is not good. So he replied: "Your Majesty, what advice does Weichen have?" It's all up to the emperor! ”

Wang Chenhao pushed it to Guangxu again, making it clear that he would not interfere and let Guangxu solve it himself.

Guangxu was very depressed, and at this time Yi suddenly said: "Your Majesty, Lord Wang was born overseas since he was a child, and he is familiar with foreign affairs, and he traveled around the world last year, and he was deeply welcomed by the political axes of various countries. The minister thought that it was none other than the king to negotiate a diplomatic dispute with the British and the Americans. ”

Guangxu was immediately happy, and he didn't give Wang Chenhao a chance, and immediately said: "According to Prince Gong's suggestion, I ordered Wang Aiqing to deal with this matter with full authority!" ”

Wang Chenhao rolled his eyes angrily, secretly begging that this Prince Gong was really an old fox, and he took revenge so quickly after suffering a loss just now.

"Your Majesty, Weichen—"

"What? Wang Aiqing wants to resist the decree or not? ”

"Wechen don't dare, Wechen obeys!"

Wang Chenhao was afraid of giving Guangxu an excuse to go crazy, so he immediately received his order.

On June 3, ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※, the Qing Emperor Guangxu issued an edict declaring war on Yue, and the Military Aircraft Department sent a telegram to the governors of all provinces across the country to know about it, but did not ask for a national war mobilization, but only asked the coastal areas to strengthen their vigilance.

The Prime Minister of the Qing Empire, Yamen Minister Yi, issued a circular to the ministers and consuls of various countries stationed in Yanjing: "In order to make the disputes between the Qing Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty reasonably resolved, and to ensure that the relations between the Qing Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty were always harmonious, although various fair and upright means have been used, it is obvious that they have not worked so far. In order to settle this matter, the Minister has the honour to inform you that the Empire and the Nation are now in a state of war. ”

Subsequently, the prime minister of the Qing Empire, Yamen, successively sent notes to the embassies of various countries to protect the merchants and priests of various countries, saying: "At present, the provocateurs in China are only called their own country, and in addition, all other countries have made good relations as usual." ”

Immediately afterwards, Prime Minister Yamen held a press conference to announce to the world the abolition of all unequal treaties, contracts, and contracts in Beneans, the prohibition of the import of any products in Beneans, the prohibition of the export of any materials to Benji, the abolition of the most-favored-nation status with Benji, and the prohibition of expatriates and businessmen from traveling in China, including but not limited to the concessions of the Great Powers.

At the same time, Wang Chenhao also telegraphed the Beiyang Army to enter a state of first-class combat readiness. At the same time, the four divisions of the Volunteer Army in the Ryukyu Kingdom were ordered to step up their rest and make a posture of landing on the city. Ordered the navy to prepare for an attack on the coastal city of Yuben.

On June 4, the clippers departing from Shanghai arrived on Naha Island and Amami Island respectively, and conveyed Wang Chenhao's latest orders to the Volunteer Army Headquarters and the Navy Fleet Headquarters respectively.

After receiving the order, the Naha Volunteer Army immediately marched to Amami Island. After receiving the order, Deng Shichang in Amami Bay immediately ordered the whole fleet to set off for Yuben, and on the way held an operational meeting to formulate a plan for attacking the major cities along the coast.

In accordance with international practice, the representatives of the great powers in China promoted human rights between the two declared warring countries, and demanded that the Qing government protect its citizens in China from abuse. In response to this, on the same day, Premier Yamen replied to the ministers and consuls of various countries and agreed to protect the citizens of China from humiliation. Subsequently, all major countries in Europe and the United States, with the exception of Russia, successively declared their neutrality. Russia said that the outbreak of war again would affect the security of the Russian Far East, so Russia did not express its position for the time being. As a matter of fact, Russia is stepping up consultations with the political axe of the Qing Dynasty to form a Russian-Russian alliance to jointly deal with the Qing Empire. However, he was ambiguous and delayed in responding, because he was worried that once an alliance with Russia was formed, Britain would be completely pushed to the side of the Qing political axe, which would be very unfavorable to his future Asian policy.

Although Britain and the United States chose to be neutral, both Britain and the United States had reservations, and were entangled with the Qing Minister's Prime Minister Yamen over the Qing Imperial Navy's attack on the merchant ships of the two countries. Britain saw that Russia had not chosen to be neutral, and that Russia and Russia had recently come close and had close contacts, and that many British intelligence agencies had detected Russia's attempt to win over Russia to form an alliance, and Britain was very worried about this. The Qing Empire was now strong, and it was an important weight that Britain could use against Russia, so the British authorities demanded that this diplomatic conflict be downplayed as much as possible.

For the United States, the American political axe at this time was precisely the Republican Party with the surname of aggression came to power. The development of the US economy has enabled its state form to enter the era of monopoly imperialism from the era of liberal capitalism, and after half a century of closed development, the domestic economy can resist international shocks, so its economy has begun to turn to exports, which requires the United States to expand its overseas markets. The global market has basically been carved up by the old powers, and there are almost no overseas markets that the United States urgently needs. This requires the United States to expand externally.

At this time, the US political axe and its military were secretly planning foreign expansion, and with the full unfolding of the US big navy plan, the US Navy continued to launch batches of new capital warships, and the United States began to sharpen its knives and move towards soft persimmons. And the Spanish colonies around the United States are the first choice, and China is the second choice.

With the Qing Imperial Navy's attack on American merchant ships, the American political axe was deeply angry, and some people in the United States suggested that this excuse could be used to open up the Chinese market. The huge Chinese market naturally made the United States salivate, but at this time, the Qing Empire was far more powerful than Spain, not to mention the complicated interests of the great powers in China, and the United States rashly intervened in it for fear of causing trouble. The Spanish colonies of Cuba and the Philippines were different, and the great powers of various countries tacitly agreed not to make demands on the Spanish colonies, which gave the United States a relatively relaxed international environment. It was easier to invade the Spanish colonies than to invade China.

However, the United States did not want to give up China's big cake, so the United States decided to invade the Spanish colonies militarily, but at the same time used this incident to force the Qing government to open its market to the United States.

Based on this situation, the United States aimed its knife at Spain, and in order to avoid fighting on two fronts and making enemies on all sides, the United States only exported scare to the Qing Empire, so it also chose to be neutral.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Yanjing East Jiaomin Lane in the middle of the Tai Hospital next to the river, a two-story "work" shaped Western villa, decorated luxuriously and atmospheric. The villa is surrounded by green lawns, and the row of buildings facing the street is the office area, the upper floor is the owner's study, office and living room, and the downstairs is the security and miscellaneous work area. The back row of the building is the rest area, the same upstairs row of rooms is the rest room of the master and the wife, and the lower row of rooms, on the left is the rest area of the slave and maid, and on the right is the rest area of the guards.

In the middle of the "work" type is a long corridor, there are spiral stairs on both sides of the corridor, on the left side of the corridor is a fountain, on the right is a garden, in which various flower clusters are planted, spring, summer, autumn and winter bloom.

The interior and exterior of the villa are magnificently decorated, and the interior furniture and equipment are extremely luxurious. At a cost of up to $1.2 million, looking at China at the end of the 19th century, apart from the emperor, only Wang Chenhao was so extravagant. In Wang Chenhao's era, the top of $1.2 million was $120 million, which can be described as a super mansion.

Of course, Wang Chenhao himself will not enjoy it so much, because Rothier is not used to living in a Chinese-style house, and the windows are covered with paper, so how awkward it looks. Wang Chenhao was not used to it, so he pondered building a modern house. But Li Youyi was not happy about this, thinking that Wang Chenhao was doting on Luo Hill before proposing it.

Wang Chenhao didn't want Li Youyi to be unhappy, so he made an excuse, saying that he had no place to live in Yanjing, and the dignified earl didn't want to live in Li Hongzhang's house, so Li Youyi agreed that Wang Chenhao would buy a house in Yanjing, and Wang Chenhao took the opportunity to spend money to build a Western villa. By the time Li Youyi found out, the house had been repaired.

This time, Wang Chenhao came to Yanjing, and Luo Xier followed, planning to visit Yanjing City. And since Wang Chenhao had more Rothier by his side, Li Youyi saw Wang Chenhao tighter, so she also came to Yanjing with her.

At first, Li Youyi was not used to living in a bungalow, but she found that Wang Chenhao was much happier to live in a bungalow than in a Chinese-style house from afar. Li Youyi had no choice but to accommodate and try to accept the Western way of life. Maybe it's because of Aiwu and Wu, Li Youyi quickly adapted, and at the same time, she gradually developed a common language with Rothschild.

No, next to the fountain, under a big sun umbrella, Li Youyi also wore sunglasses like Rothschild and lay on a bench to bask in the sun. The two don't understand the language, but they have been in contact with each other for most of the year, and they have not spoken a word, and of course, most of the words have to be explained to them by the female translator next to them.

In front of the upstairs glass window, Wang Chenhao looked at the two girls below talking and laughing, and his heart was much more relaxed. If this was placed in his time, it would be too difficult to enjoy the blessings of Qi people.

"My lord, the British Minister Mr. Dou Nale and the American Minister Tian Bei, as well as the new American Minister Charles, are here and are waiting for you in the living room!"

Li Bing came in to report, interrupting Wang Chenhao's thoughts.

Wang Chenhao retracted his thoughts and knew their intentions, so he asked, "Did they come together?" ”

Li Bing nodded, Wang Chenhao smiled and said, "Separate them, and bring Dou Nale to the study to see me first!" ”

(To be continued)