PS: I used up the leave slip carelessly.

The tsar was a very face-loving person, and made the reception scene grand and serious.

Yang Hao took Gu Weijun and the translator to the richly decorated palace. On the throne of Nicholas II, he was dressed in a gorgeous costume, like a peacock with an open screen, for fear that others would not know that his family had a very prosperous life.

But no matter how gorgeous he dressed, he couldn't hide the cruel reality of his premature head glittering. Especially under the illumination of the installation of Chinese crystal chandeliers, it is particularly eye-catching.

Yang Hao raised his head and saw this big man's pretending to be arrogant, and he almost couldn't hold back his laughter.

Over the years, he has seen two great people of all kinds, such as Queen Elizabeth of England, the most powerful woman in the world, or arrogant like William II, and those in this world who really compete from more than a billion people. The temperament and bearing of any of them seem very natural, introverted and deep.

Nicholas II, the "little father" of the Russian people, seemed a little uncomposed. In the face of Yang Hao and his entourage, they showed obvious impatience, which was obviously a bit rude diplomatically.

After going through the motions and presenting the credentials in person, Nicholas II seemed to be impatient and proudly asked: "Young envoy, what else do you have to do besides bringing the greetings of Your Excellency, the Great Head of State?" ”

This is knowingly asked. Before the departure of the "Yang Ziyan" special delegation, the Chinese ambassador plenipotentiary to Russia had already presented his credentials in advance, informing them in advance that a special delegation would come to discuss the "Aihun Treaty" and the issue of demarcation between the two countries.

In addition to this, nominally Russia established the State Duma. There is Prime Minister Stolypin there. Strictly speaking, these national events. It is up to them to negotiate. Since the tsar nominally delegated power to the parliament, he could not personally preside over everything, how tiring it was!

Yang Hao knew that this boss was as happy as his Lao Tzu, and he was also the same as the leaders of most powerful countries in this era, and he had a strong enthusiasm for foreign expansion. And, in comparison, Maozi is obviously much more rude and direct, and there is no need to go around in circles when he speaks.

He politely replied: "Honorable Tsar." On behalf of my Government and people, I have come to propose to your Government the cancellation of the unequal treaties that have been signed before. The relevant details are fully described in the national letter. ”

Nicholas II's eyes widened, his beard cocked, and he shouted stiffly: "There is no such thing as an unequal treaty between us!" Since you recognize the existence of the Qing as a formal and legitimate regime, you should be responsible for the succession of the series of treaties they signed! ”

Yang Hao had long seen the arrogant faces of the great powers, and said tepidly: "We will not recognize all treaties signed under force and blackmail!" Unless it truly reflects the will of the peoples of both countries. Otherwise. It is unilateral, unfair, and bound to be overthrown! ”

"Fair?!" Nicholas II smiled coldly. Leaned forward half of his body, his face full of arrogance, "Young man, in this world, whether it is fair or not depends on whether the person who makes the judgment has the strength!" I think all the previous treaties are very fair, so it must be fair. ”

Without waiting for Yang Hao to argue further, he waved his hand impatiently: "There is not an inch of Russian territory that can be discussed, and there is no need for us to waste time on this issue." If nothing else, so be it. ”

Yang Hao's eyes narrowed slightly, a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, he glanced at the tsar deeply, nodded and said: "I have clearly conveyed the opinions of our head of state and government, since the respected tsar thinks that it is necessary to use strength to prove whether we have the qualifications to be fair, then okay, we will give you a response that you can recognize!" ”

Originally, he still had a question to say, that is, the Hailan Bubble incident that had just happened, and he protested against the Tsarist government. But people don't want to talk about it at all, and he can't afford to chase after each other to see each other's cold faces.

Anyway, the purpose of coming has been achieved, and the order of salute first and then soldier has been achieved, so there is no need to waste time.

Calmly following the etiquette to say goodbye, Yang Hao went back to explain a little to the people in the embassy, and then took a special train back. Compared to the time, they hung several more wagons, which were full of all kinds of specialties they had bought these days.

The Chinese envoy went so neatly and neatly that it was beyond the Tsar's expectations. However, Nicholas II did not take Yang Hao's last threat to heart, at most it was just an unwilling vent.

However, Prime Minister Stolypin was not so calm, and after a period of understanding and analyzing the latest intelligence in the Far East, he always felt unsteady in his heart, so he reminded the Tsar: "Your Majesty, the Chinese have always had a tradition of saluting first and then soldiering. I suspect that this time they may not just protest verbally, but actually take action. ”

Nicholas II said nonchalantly: "Mr. Prime Minister, you are thinking too much. You know, the order of today's world is not determined in a day or two. Whether it is our country or Britain, France, Germany and Italy, it is after hundreds of years of war and countless costs that we have the right to speak today. The treaties signed by each of our countries are internationally recognized and binding. If the Chinese want to reject the "Aihun Treaty", they are showing that they want to veto treaties and agreements signed with all countries. Do you know what that means? They are trying to challenge the accepted order of the whole world! This is the wrath of the people! ”

Stolypin also acknowledges this view.

A great power is a great power, a treaty is a treaty, whether you think it is fair or unfair, if you want to tear it up unilaterally, you must bear the huge pressure that will arise from it.

From his point of view, it is obviously very unwise for the Chinese to blatantly raise objections. Even in the past few years, China has thwarted the attacks of foreign powers in various fields more than once, it is because most of the energy has been held back by the increasingly tense and fierce competition in Europe. If it really forces the great powers to rush and use all its strength to besiege and kill, will China be able to withstand it?

There's one thing, though. Stolypin and the Tsar. Even the top brass of all the great powers were wrong. It is China's development and construction in the past ten years.

According to the general law, no matter how unprecedentedly fierce the revolutionary cause set off by Yang Hao at the beginning, and how huge the force invested in the premise is, it is a finite number in the end. When the resources and funds under that enthusiasm and preparation are exhausted, they will inevitably give up halfway.

After carefully collecting all kinds of information on China's agrarian revolution and industrial and national defense construction, various countries decided to complete the modernization and upgrading of the whole country in accordance with the model of all-round advancement, not to mention relying on their own funds and markets, even with the full support of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the United States, Russia and other powerful countries. It may not be possible.

The construction of roads and railways, the construction of farmland and water conservancy, the full flowering of heavy and light industry, the construction of telecommunications and electric power facilities, the establishment of financial and commodity circulation channels, and so on are all big projects that make people's heads explode. The amount of funds involved is in the hundreds of billions! The proportion of talents needed is almost invisible!

In addition to the number of laborers, China lacked everything to complete the entire revolution and industrial construction.

Yang Hao insisted on pushing hard, and did not forget to draw North Korea, part of Japan, and part of Southeast Asia into it. To use the buzzword of the 21st century, it is definitely necessary to "take too big a step and pull the egg"!

So. Since the founding of the country in 1900, countries have been waiting to see the excitement.

As long as China's reforms are weak. If half of it is not up to the bottom, then the small part that has been completed, and the large part that has not benefited will inevitably have differences, and then lead to internal strife and civil war. When the time comes, if the countries push a little more, their entire cause will inevitably fall apart and collapse with a bang!

Reality seems to prove that they are right. Beginning in 1900, China did not add a single battleship, nor did it add a single heavy cruiser or battle cruiser, at best, only destroyers with a tonnage of more than 1,000 to 4,000 tons were constantly launched.

Everyone knows that the decisive victory of battleships is recognized, and the size and number of battleships determine the balance of victory and defeat in a war. After a few years of glory, the Chinese Navy quickly failed to succeed.

The Great Powers watched from the sidelines while being on the lookout. In 1905, China's first five-year plan was completed, and there was no sign of an increase in military build-up – that was the navy. On the land side, the number of regular troops has not increased much, and the field troops are not even a million.

On the other hand, the construction of battleships with full main guns has completed the first wave of sprints, and the second wave of stronger and larger battleships have been put on the slipway.

In Britain, they built six dreadnoughts with 45 times diameter 305mm guns in one go, followed by two dozen battleships of four classes with a full load displacement of more than 30,000 tons. Directly skipping the 12-inch 305mm main gun, which is unfavorable to the rope, and installing the 13.5-inch/45 times the diameter, 343mm barrel main gun, basically figured out the key work such as the construction of this tonnage battleship and related power, shooting command system, and tactical formulation.

After that, the design of a super battleship with a cannon of 380mm caliber began!

In Germany, thanks to the tilt of Chinese technology, the fanatical Wilhelm II was not to be outdone and built four Helgoland-class, five Caesar-class, four King-class and other battleships, all of which were equipped with German Krupp's carefully improved and upgraded 12-inch/50-fold barrel main guns. Although it is much smaller than the British's 13.5 inches in caliber, in terms of range and armor-piercing power, it will basically not fall behind in a counter-bombardment.

With the leakage of information about the development of the 380mm main gun by the British, Wilhelm II, who was overjoyed, did not hesitate to order the Navy to immediately start the design and construction of battleships equipped with heavy guns of this caliber, and demanded that no matter the displacement, armor thickness and firepower output, it must not be worse than the other party!

In order to compete for the position of the first military power, two crazy powers have no regard for squeezing financial power. So much so that in the last two years, the budget of the German Navy has accounted for more than half of the total national tax revenue!

In this way, on the bright side, the total number of battleships of the two countries is almost equal to that of the rest of the world combined. If you add the new large-caliber super battleship under construction, it can be called a comprehensive crushing class. At the same time, the finances of both countries are on the verge of collapse, with domestic prices soaring and the quality of life of the people declining. If they don't start a war to divert pressure from the outside world, they will collapse if they don't do it!

The pressure on Germany is especially great!

Regain absolute military superiority. The British quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at China, almost all of its efforts are concentrated on developing its domestic economy. The navy went back and forth, and it was always the eight battleships that were desperately guarding the door. It seems that there is basically no interest or spare energy for foreign expansion.

For the study of Chinese culture is deep enough, the British know that Chinese do not like to run out in their bones. It's not that they are forced to have no way to live, so they won't cross the ocean to make a living. Now that the domestic economy is doing well, many Chinese in North America have begun to return, which shows their stubborn local complex, which is hopeless.

Again, the Chinese Navy does not have the confidence to expand. No matter how powerful the battleship is built. After all, this is a class that takes time to build. The hundred-year-old navy is not just as simple as a gold-swallowing beast, the accumulation of heritage, it really takes time to cultivate slowly, in a hurry, throwing money, it's useless!

There are indeed some problems within China. The power of the traditional literati is too great, and once the country is stable and prosperous, these people quickly start an internal struggle for the right to speak, which greatly consumes the spirit of the revolutionary emerging forces led by Yang Hao, and there is a big mess of national infrastructure construction that needs to be cleaned up. They can't do it alone.

Everything is shown. China lacks not only a pioneering spirit, but also a lack of pioneering ability.

Today, in 1909, there was still no sign of construction of new battleships in China. It is rumored that it once designed a super battleship with a larger caliber main gun and a larger tonnage, but it only stayed on paper and had no money to build it. It is said that the guy could have cost more than five million pounds!

The "Queen Elizabeth class" that the British are building is only 2.4 million pounds.

Although it is not clear how big the unknown so-called new warship can be, judging from the cost, it must be a terrifying guy with strong combat effectiveness!

Compared with their own existing battleships, the British thought that if they were one-on-one, they would at best be tied with the opponent's current "Guangxi-class". The more powerful Elizabeth 380mm main gun is estimated to be about the same as the other side. But according to the rumored unconfirmed data, it seems that the opposing side has a larger hull and a higher thickness of armor. This means that the displacement of such a battleship will most likely exceed forty thousand tons!

Elizabeth's full row was only 33,000 tons.

As a result, the great powers decided that China would not be able to get involved in the infighting between them in the short term.

Tsarist Russia's intelligence sources are not blind in vain, and they can know some of the situation. Although compared with China, the construction of the Russian Navy has been more difficult in recent years,—— it has barely held back a few "Gangut" class battleships, and as soon as they came out, they were already completely outdated to the average level of all countries in the world. In addition, there are three "Queen Maria" who have plans, but they have not been able to start work because of the lack of funds.

With the four Gangut classes alone, the Russian Navy does not even have the courage to go around the coastal waters of China.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the level of intelligence work was quite high. In the face of increasingly severe competition, it is the more transparent estimation of strength between countries.

Compared with his father, Nicholas II seemed to be ambitious and talented, and most of the high-ranking officials he appointed were greedy villains with fat brains, but in general, he was quite competent.

It's just that, like most bureaucrats, he has never faced up to China's rapidly growing power, and he has no idea what kind of terrible war potential a country that has spent more than a decade frantically engaged in industrialization!

Seeing His Excellency the Prime Minister's deeply approving expression, Nicholas II couldn't help but be complacent and said with great interest: "I believe that the Chinese must have also seen the tension in Europe, and they know that Britain, France and Germany cannot spare their hands to fully intervene in it, and our country is also seeking further expansion in Europe." So, I thought that there was an opportunity, and I thought that I would blackmail a huge land from us at no cost! Hmph, I can't help but plan too well! ”

Stolypin saw that he was a little carried away again, and couldn't help but remind: "You still have to be careful of China's reckless moves!" After all, if they really start a war in the Far East, it will seriously tie down our forces. In order to ensure the actions of the European side, perhaps we will make appropriate compromises. ”

In his heart, Prime Minister Stolypin is also inclined to negotiate peace with China. If European expansion could succeed, the "Yellow Russia" in the Far East would not be so important.

Unexpectedly, Nicholas II suddenly became furious, waved his arms vigorously, and shouted categorically: "That is absolutely impossible! We will never compromise with the Chinese! He wants war, we give him war! I will let them know with ironclad facts that the dignity of Great Russia is inviolable! Their victories were nothing more than negligence on our part! Seriously, they don't stand a chance at all! ”

Stolypin sighed silently, knowing that no matter how much he tried to persuade him, it was useless.

The Tsar shouted so loudly that he immediately summoned his important ministers and began to solemnly discuss the relevant arrangements for the most Chinese war. Grand Duke Nikolai was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian army, responsible for the overall control of foreign operations. Kuropatkin was appointed commander-in-chief and commander-in-chief of the Far Eastern Army, specifically planning operations in the major military districts of the Far East.

A series of appointments and action plans were constantly being passed on to the Far East, and it seemed that they were going on vigorously. However, the most critical weapons and equipment, logistical supplies, and medical supplies have not increased in the slightest.

When the commander of the 1st Army, Colonel-General Grodekov, who was at the forefront, called to increase the number of heavy artillery and ammunition and to double the armament of heavy machine guns, Nicholas II unceremoniously refused and reprimanded: "In the face of those short and thin Chinese Yankees, you just need to use the spirit of the bayonet to the fullest!" ”

In desperation, the Russian army in the Far East had no choice but to mobilize all the long-deployed land forces on the grounds of "China's unilateral tearing up of the cooperation agreement" and suddenly launch a full-scale attack on China's northern border! (To be continued......)