In the Yinluan Hall of Prince Gong's Mansion, Wang Chenhao, Yi, Yixuan and Yun Tong gathered around a table, and the sound of washing mahjong was rattling.

The four of them won and lost, but Wang Chenhao lost the most. It's not that he's not good at poker, it's just to keep them happy.

The four of them were playing mahjong and chatting at the same time.

"I heard that the British are moving again at the junction of Yunnan and Burma?"

"Yes! As soon as the Russians were driven out, the British came to make trouble again. ”

"This Englishman has done the court a great favor, so he has to ask for some interest!"

…… Since the end of the Qing-Russian War, the British side has not been very satisfied, mainly because Wang Chenhao did not choose to continue to attack Russia, and maintaining the hostile balance between Britain and Russia in the Far East is in line with China's core interests.

But the British were not reconciled, and they had to get the benefits from the Qing political axe.

On the third day of the first month of the 23rd year of Guangxu (1897), the British Minister Dou Nale sent a note to the Qing Dynasty Prime Minister Yamen, proposing to revise the Sino-British Yunnan-Burma Boundary and Trade Treaty, that is, the Sino-British Treaty of Renewal of Burma, also known as the Xijiang Trade Treaty and the Special Article of the Yunnan-Burma Redemarcation Treaty.

The British political axe gave a lot of help to the Qing Empire in the Qing-Russian War, and asked for the opening of Yunnan Tengyue, Simao, and Guangxi Wuzhou for trade. At the same time, without agreement with the British, the Qing government was not allowed to cede the Jianghong region and Menglian to other countries.

Prime Minister Yamen was negotiating with British Minister Dou Nale on this matter these days, and at the same time reported to Guangxu and the courtiers for discussion.

However, among the courtiers, some people believed that the Qing Empire's army and navy were strong at this time and that they should never compromise with the British, while others believed that the British were too strong to be touched. There are also some people who have an unclear attitude and belong to the trend and so on.

As the prime minister and the minister of Yamen, in the face of the rude demands of the British, he, the "foreign minister", seemed very helpless. On the one hand, he did not dare to offend the British, and on the other hand, he faced great pressure from the diehards of the imperial court.

Wang Chenhao drew cards and asked, "How does the sixth prince plan to deal with this matter?" ”

Yi looked at the mahjong tiles in his hand, sighed, and asked, "Is Lord Wang sure to win against the British?" ”

Wang Chenhao smiled: "What do you mean by the sixth prince?" ”

Before Yi could answer, Yun Tong next to him smiled and said to Wang Chenhao: "This is not simple? At present, everyone in the country thinks that Lord Wang is the backbone, and the navy and army in your hands are the only elite troops that the imperial court can take to the surface. As long as Lord Wang is sure to win against the British, the court will naturally be tough, otherwise it will have to grovel. ”

Wang Chenhao secretly said that this little girl's mouth is so powerful, it should have been a headache for the Prime Minister's Yamen, but after she said this, the key to this matter was attributed to Wang Chenhao is head.

"The motto is heavy, and the backbone of the heart is not daring. I think I am obeying the arrangement of the court, if the court wants to fight, then I will be the shroud of horse leather and serve the court. If you want to make peace, I don't have anything to say. ”

Wang Chenhao replied skillfully, which made Yun Tong, Yi, and Yi Xuan secretly praise the good answer.

Yun Tong smiled lightly, played a card and continued: "Listening to Lord Wang's meaning, it seems that he is not sure that he will defeat Britain militarily. ”

Wang Chenhao replied while stacking his cards: "The strength of Britain lies in their strong industrial capacity and strong naval power. At the moment I can only guarantee that we will not be afraid of Britain in land operations, and as for sea operations, we are no match for the British Navy at all. ”

Yi said happily: "That's good! The Yunnan-Burma negotiations involved territorial cession, and the king feared that if he did not agree, the British colonial forces in Burma might forcibly occupy areas such as the Savage Mountains. Since Lord Wang can guarantee that the British Army can be defeated in land battles, then we are not afraid. ”

Wang Chenhao shook his head and said, "The sixth prince doesn't have to think so, this is not the best policy. In the event of a military conflict with Britain, the consequences are incalculable. Let's put aside the international pattern and talk about the pros and cons between China and the UK alone. Even if we win the war on land, we will definitely be defeated by the British at sea, and in terms of losses, we will definitely have much greater losses. In addition to the international factor, if we are to make enemies with Britain, it will be very disadvantageous to us that the Russians and themselves will be happy. Therefore, the prince must not negotiate with the British with this mentality, war to solve the problem is always the next policy. ”

At this time, Yixuan asked, "Didn't Lord Wang just defeat the Russians?" Are you still afraid that the Russians will not succeed? ”

Wang Chenhao smiled bitterly and said: "With our current military strength, there is too much difference between it and Russia's [***] strength, if it were not for the fact that the Russians' Siberian Railway was not repaired, millions of army forces would not be able to be sent to the Far East to participate in the war, if it were not for the hostility between Russia and Britain, and we did not dare to easily mobilize the navy on a large scale to participate in the war in the Far East, it would be difficult for us to win, and even if we win, it would be a miserable victory, and the gains outweigh the losses." It was a fluke that we were able to win this time, and Russia's large-scale military retaliation was still to come, so we had better not waste our energy. ”

Yun Tong asked, "Listening to Lord Wang's meaning, it seems that you have to fight a war with the Russians?" ”

Wang Chenhao replied affirmatively: "Yes, it will be!" Russia's Asia plans will not stop until we can really convince the Russians. ”

Yi fell into deep thought, and Yi Xuan said: "It's understandable that Lord Wang is modest, but it's a bit serious, right?" ”

Yun Tong seemed to understand and asked, "Then according to Lord Wang's meaning, we must have to fight the Russians?" ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said, "That's right!" Xu Jingcheng, the minister stationed in Russia, telegraphed and said that the Russians are now busy carrying out the reform of the gold standard, but their navy and army are not idle and are actively making preparations. The Russians have accelerated the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and I think that once this railway is completed, it will be the time for China and Russia to go to war again, and then it will be a great war, and it will not stop until the men and women are decided. ”

Yi seemed to have figured it out and asked, "Then Lord Wang has a way to deal with it?" ”

Wang Chenhao thought for a while and said: "The education of the Russians is more advanced and older than ours, and their reserve forces can mobilize millions of troops to fight, while although we have a population of 40,000 and can mobilize tens of millions of people to fight, these people have not been trained by the new army and do not meet the needs of future wars. Now we can use it to fight only the eight towns of Beiyang, and the new army of 28 towns in each province is barely enough, less than 300,000 people. What we need to do now is to expand the scale of training as much as possible and improve the fighting quality and number of our reservists, but this will take time. ”

Yi seemed to have figured it out and said, "This king understands!" Since the Sino-Russian war is inevitable and will come quickly. Then now we can't turn the other cheek with the British, and we have to count on the British to help. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said: "Don't worry, what we lack now is time, and when our military strength is enough to defend our family and country, we don't have to endure it any longer!" ”

Yi sighed: "This king understands! We have taken detours in the past few decades, and we have only returned to the right path from Lord Wang, but we have just returned to the right road, which means that we have just started, and we have to endure it. ”

Yun Tong saw that the atmosphere was dull, so he changed the topic and said, "Who should play the cards?" ”

......※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ after Wang Chenhao left Prince Gong's mansion, Yi immediately went to the military aircraft office, and then went to the imperial study.

In the imperial study, Yi stated the current international and domestic situation to Guangxu, and actually changed what Wang Chenhao told him and told Guangxu again.

"So, did the sixth prince agree to the conditions of the British?"

Yi hurriedly said yes, and vigorously stated the current situation between China and Russia, as well as the important surnames of the British to contain Russia.

When Guangxu heard Yi say that a shocking war would break out between China and Russia, he was immediately surprised.

"This is what Wang Chenhao said?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, Wang Chenhao analyzed it like this!"

Guangxu snorted coldly and said, "According to me, this is just Wang Chenhao's trick. He just wanted to keep control of the army, and he exaggerated the threat of the Russians in order to get the imperial court to give him greater power to expand the army. ”

Yi said: "Your Majesty, please listen to the old minister's words. Wang Chenhao certainly has this kind of purpose, but what Wang Chenhao said and analyzed is not unreasonable. ”

Then, Yi presented Xu Jingcheng's recital to Guangxu, and he said from the side: "Your Majesty, this is a telegram from Minister Xu Jingcheng in Russia. As mentioned above, all the officials and generals in Russia from Tsar Nicholas II down have the intention of revenge, and many of them openly express their hatred of us. The Russian army has been completely equipped with new weapons, the navy has accelerated the pace of building ships, and the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway has also been accelerated. Your Majesty, the Russians have not been able to send troops to our side on a large scale for hundreds of years, mainly because they are thousands of miles away, and it is very unfavorable for military operations to work far away, and once the railway is built, the millions of Russian troops can be continuously sent to Yadong along the railway. ”

Looking at Xu Jingcheng's report and listening to Yi's analysis, Guangxu couldn't help but gasp. Russia's war machine was far more powerful than that of the Qing Empire, and if it weren't far away, it would have been overwhelmed by a large number of troops. As the analysis says, once the Trans-Siberian Railway is completed, it will be a great war.

"If this starts again, will I be able to stop it?"

Yi then told him Wang Chenhao's thoughts again and proposed to expand the army.

Guangxu frowned and said: "This Wang Chenhao has already controlled the elite of the Beiyang Eight Towns Army, wouldn't it be more difficult to control the army if he expands the army?" ”

Yi sighed: "Your Majesty, the old minister also knows the emperor's concerns. It's just that since Xianfeng, the military power has long fallen into the hands of local Hanchen. The Eight Banners and the Green Camp are unbearable, and the banners are put in Nanshan, and it is difficult to produce the talents of generals, so they have to rely on Wang Chenhao. ”

Guangxu sighed and said, "Okay!" I know what to expect! I'll let him go for the time being, but if he has the slightest objection, I will never tolerate it. ”

Yi hurriedly said: "The emperor is shengming! According to Weichen's judgment, this Wang Chenhao is just young and vigorous now, a little arrogant and arrogant, and he can't talk about anti-will! ”

Guangxu nodded, and sighed again: "Ambition will swell day by day!" Just because you don't have it now doesn't mean you won't have it in the future! ”

Yi hurriedly said yes, and then said: "Your Majesty, Wang Chenhao submitted last year's Admiralty expenditure account. Last year, the various departments of the Admiralty and the Royal Navy spent a total of 36.55 million taels of silver, and the imperial court allocated 4.22 million taels of silver, owing 32.33 million taels. ”

Guangxu frowned and said, "I owe so much?" ”

Yi said: "Wang Chenhao kept asking the court for this money, but the old minister just gave him an IOU, but he didn't seem to be happy, saying that the court owed him as much as 10,000 taels of silver, and complained that this made the cattle have to eat grass for the cows to work, right?" ”

Guangxu snorted and asked, "Say, what does he want?" If it's too much, I won't agree! ”

Yi then said: "Wang Chenhao does have requirements, but the old minister thinks that he is not harsh, and he can accept it!" ”

Seeing Guangxu nodded, Yi continued: "Wang Chenhao hopes that the imperial court will exempt those foreign companies of his from all kinds of taxes!" ”

Guangxu sneered: "He thinks it's beautiful!" ”

Yi explained: "Your Majesty, at present, the foreigners' factories in China are protected by the treaty, and the customs are in the hands of the foreigners, and our Chinese companies and factories cannot compete with the foreigners' companies. In the long run, the people will be poor, and our economy will be controlled by foreigners. ”

Guangxu sighed and said, "Why don't I know? It's just that I am planning to carry out financial reform, and the imperial court does not pay much taxes, plus Wang Chenhao's hundreds of foreign affairs companies are the main taxpayers, and after this tax exemption, the imperial court will lose tens of millions of taels of income. ”

Yi said: "However, if Wang Chenhao no longer pays in advance, the imperial court will have a deficit of more than 10,000 taels every year, and the navy and army are no better than others. ”

Guangxu gritted his teeth and said: "This Wang Chenhao is using this to compete with the imperial court." I shouldn't have listened to his nonsense in the first place, saying that increasing the army's military spending by several times can improve combat effectiveness is all nonsense, I think it was Wang Chenhao's deliberate trick for the court. ”

Yi also sighed bitterly in his heart, who could have guessed that Wang Chenhao would have such a scheming? Who would have guessed that Wang Chenhao would be able to develop so fast? It's unbelievably fast.

"Since the emperor wants to carry out financial reform, he must be in urgent need of funds, so the old minister rejected Wang Chenhao."

"Wait!"

Guangxu was very unhappy, but thought that he had to count on Wang Chenhao to defend himself against a strong Russian enemy, and he had to use Wang Chenhao to maintain the military strength of the Qing Empire, so he had to give in.

"Let the cows work, of course you have to feed the cows! Although the foreign affairs companies exempted from Wang Chenhao will reduce the tax of tens of millions of taels of silver to the imperial court, but if you calculate carefully, Wang Chenhao has to pay tens of thousands of taels of silver to the imperial court every year to support the army, so the imperial court still takes advantage. Forget it, since it was his request, I believe that the sixth prince will be able to do his tax exemption this time! ”

Yi hurriedly said: "The emperor is shengming! ”

Guangxu sighed, this is also a helpless move.

He continued: "As for the terms of the British, we can agree to him. But you can't promise them right away, that will give them an inch. ”

Yi nodded and said, "Lao Chen understands!" The old minister will try to delay with them as much as possible, and then agree when he really can't avoid it in the end. ”

Guangxu nodded in agreement, Yi completed the mission, and the order was retired.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Tianjin, Zhongyong Bofu.

Since Wang Chenhao knew that Li Youyi didn't mind Wang Chenhao's marriage to Luo Xier too much, Wang Chenhao was relieved, and immediately took Luo Xier, who was in the Shanghai official residence, back to live in Tianjin.

When the two daughters met, Wang Chenhao was also worried.

However, fortunately, Li Youyi's aesthetics are very discriminatory against white women, and when she saw Rothiel's blonde hair and blue eyes, she immediately gave her surname as an ugly girl. In addition, Li Youyi knew that Wang Chenhao's marriage to Rothier was just a political marriage, and she did not have a deep relationship with Wang Chenhao, so she was not very jealous.

And for Rothier, she already knew about Li Youyi, the two girls Shishu and Si Qi did not instill in Rothier the concepts of Chinese women's three virtues, four virtues, three outlines and five constants, etc., and the two girls were towards Li Youyi in their hearts, so it was indispensable to scare her and tell her that Li Youyi was the wife of the main house, and Rothschild had to listen to her.

Rothschild is a newcomer, unfamiliar with life, and very honest. In this way, she and Li Youyi can be regarded as getting along well.

However, although they get along well, it does not mean that they can sleep on the same bed and let Wang Chenhao enjoy the treatment of one dragon and two phoenixes.

Although Wang Chenhao kept blowing the wind to the second daughter and coaxing them to serve him together, it always didn't work. This made Wang Chenhao very disappointed, especially at night, always wandering between the second daughter's bedroom, not knowing whose room to enter, worried that if he entered this room, the other one was unhappy, and when he entered another room, he was unhappy.

So much so that sometimes Wang Chenhao has to sleep in the study by himself, and the blessing of Qi people is not so easy to enjoy.

Between the east and west bedrooms, there is a garden.

Whenever a maidservant passed by and footsteps sounded, the windows of the east and west bedrooms would open a crack, revealing two pairs of sparkling eyes, looking for someone.

On this day, Wang Chenhao came out of the study and was about to go back to the room to rest, and when he arrived at the garden outside the bedroom, he was thinking about whose room he should go to spend the night today.

Yesterday I spent the night in Li Youyi's room, and today it's time to go to Rothschild's room.

Wang Chenhao was about to turn around to his bedroom in the west of Rothiel, when the door of Li Youyi's bedroom in the east opened.

"Husband, you must be very tired when you're done, right? The concubine has prepared a refreshing ginseng soup, come and drink a bowl! ”

Li Youyi walked out of the room under the service of hugging the qin and the picturesque left and right.

"Okay!"

Wang Chenhao secretly begged that the eldest wife was considerate and knew how to make up for her husband's body.

When he was about to go to Li Youyi's room, the door of the west bedroom also opened, and Luo Hill walked out wearing a nightgown, followed by Si Qi and the second maid who came out with a coat and hurriedly put it on Luo Hill.

"Honey, it must be very tiring to sit in the office for a long time, let me help you massage it!"

Rothier's massage technique is very comfortable, and when Wang Chenhao is tired from work, she will give him a massage, which is very relieving.

"It's good!"

Wang Chenhao immediately agreed, and at this time, Li Youyi had already come to his side, shook his arm and said delicately: "Husband, drink the ginseng soup first, right?" ”

"Okay!"

"Honey, let's massage it first, right?"

Luo Hill also took the lead, shook Wang Chenhao's other arm on the other side, and said in the same coquettish voice.

"It's good!"

Wang Chenhao was dragged by the two daughters, one left and one right, his heart was full of wry smiles, and he didn't know what to do for a while.

At this critical juncture, a servant girl hurriedly came and helped Wang Chenhao relieve the siege.

"Master, Lord Wang Shizhen is back, the housekeeper is leading him to the study to wait, and the housekeeper asks the slave to inform you to come over!"

Wang Chenhao hurriedly said: "The two ladies will rest first, I still have important things to do." ”

After speaking, Wang Chenhao hurriedly slipped away, until he left the garden, and Li Youyi and Luo Hill were still ringing in his ears.

"I'll wait for you!"

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ "Humble Wang Shizhen see my lord!" ”

As soon as Wang Chenhao entered the study, Wang Shizhen hurriedly saluted.

"Excuse me!"

Wang Chenhao hurriedly helped Wang Shizhen up, looked him up and down, and said happily: "I haven't seen you for a year, Shizhen is fine." ”

Wang Shizhen was also full of joy, and said: "Lord Xie is worried, thanks to the blessing of the adult, everything is fine Shizhen!" It's an adult who went abroad this time, and he became more and more wise and martial! ”

Wang Chenhao smiled and motioned for Wang Shizhen to sit down and speak.

The two sat down separately and did not see each other for a year, so they had to say some comfort.

Wang Shizhen has not returned from the northeast until now because he has to arrange the defense lines of the Heilongjiang and Ussuri rivers, as well as deal with the aftermath left over from the Qing-Russian war.

"This battle with the Russian army in the northeast region, thanks to Shizhen's good coordination, our Beiyang Army has achieved brilliant results, and Shizhen has made great contributions."

Wang Shizhen hurriedly said: "My lord has won the prize!" The Beiyang Army was trained by adults, and to achieve such brilliant results, the great talent is the greatest hero! ”

Wang Chenhao laughed a few times, and then said, "Okay! Stop touting each other! Let's get down to business, what's going on in the Northeast, are the officers and soldiers in all towns okay? ”

After Wang Shizhen laughed, Zhengse said: "At present, everything is going according to plan, and it is going well." The first and second towns of the Beiyang Army suffered the greatest casualties, and they currently retreated to Fengtian to rest, and then withdrew to Tianjin according to the orders of the adults. The third and fourth towns went north to take over the defense of the first and second towns and build fortifications along the river. The third town guards the Heilongjiang defense line, and the fourth town guards the Ussuri River defense line. The fifth and sixth towns were stationed in Nenjiang Province to control the defense lines of the Songhua River and the Nenjiang River. The 7th and 8th towns were stationed in Phoenix and alerted the Russian army in the direction of the Yalu River. The Heilongjiang, Ussuri and Yalu rivers are currently vigorously building fortifications, and the more than 40,000 Russian prisoners of war are just used to build fortifications, and the top 100,000 people are forced to do without spending money. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said: "It will take several months for the state of alert to be lifted, and after the arrival of the Russian reinforcement fleet, if the Russian army does not make any moves, then the combat readiness alert can be truly lifted." ”

Wang Shizhen asked: "My lord, I think the Russians have no strength to provoke in a short period of time!" ”

Wang Chenhao agreed: "That's right! However, our people cannot be easily withdrawn from the Northeast! ”

Wang Shizhen asked, "What do you mean?" ”

Wang Chenhao said: "On the one hand, there will be a war in the Northeast in the next three to five years, and we will have to go to war with the Russians, and it will be a big war. Therefore, our people must have a comprehensive understanding and adaptation to the astronomy, geography, people and people in the Northeast in case of emergency. On the other hand, there are huge strategic resources under the Northeast Mine, and in the future, after our Beijing-Tianjin-Tang Industrial Base is formed, I am also ready to open up an industrial base in the Northeast, so the three provinces in the Northeast will be under our control. ”

Wang Shizhen was pleasantly surprised: "Hearing what the adults said, I know what to do!" ”

Then, Wang Shizhen said: "My lord, in this war, our side suffered a great loss in the defense of the river. The three northeastern provinces bordering Russia are all wide rivers, such as the Heilongjiang, Songhua, Ussuri and Yalu rivers, and we suffered great losses in the war because of the lack of a river defense fleet. Although the Russian Amur Inland Fleet was wiped out by us this time, the Russians will not be fooled next time. ”

Wang Chenhao asked, "Do you have any suggestions?" ”

Wang Shizhen said: "I think that we should also have a river defense fleet!" ”

Wang Chenhao smiled bitterly and said, "I want to!" But the court can't come up with the money, so I guess we have to pay for it ourselves! ”

Wang Shizhen said with a smile: "A river defense fleet doesn't cost much, but it has huge strategic and tactical benefits, I don't think adults can't take it, right?" ”

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "A river defense fleet is nothing, I can still afford this money." However, once we have a river defense fleet, it means that friction and conflict may break out between us and the Russian river defense fleet at any time, and it is easy to escalate. At the same time, if we have a river defense fleet, it will inevitably lead to an arms race with the Russian river defense fleet. ”

Wang Shizhen asked, "What do you mean?" ”

Wang Chenhao thought for a while and said: "The river defense fleet still has to be formed, and we are not afraid of friction with the Russians." However, in order to prevent unnecessary attrition of the arms race, we have to do it in a planned way! We can let the arms race drag down the Russians, but not the other way around. ”

Wang Shizhen said: "The Russian Amur River Fleet has been completely wiped out, and it is estimated that a number of river gunboats, gunboats and torpedo boats will be built in Russia one after another. ”

(To be continued)