On April 27, Ding Yuntong officially promulgated a holy decree, announcing the abolition of the national name of "Great Qing" and changing its name to "Great China Empire", referred to as "China".

But on the other hand, Ding Yuntong himself still retains the name of "Guangxu the Great". There is a very important reason for this, for a long time, all students, workers, peasants, including those guards, have been instilled to swear allegiance to the "Guangxu Emperor", if this name is changed, it will subconsciously affect the people's sense of belonging, greatly weakening the effect of brainwashing.

Imagine that everyone shouted "Mao. Long live the chairman! Hair. Long live the chairman! ＂

Suddenly, it was changed to "Long live President Mao!" Isn't it awkward to shout, the person is still the same person, and the official is also the biggest official, but the sense of sacredness is gone.

After the first thing is done to change the country's name, the second thing is to think about dealing with the eager "Chow Yun-fat" in the south.

In fact, during the talks in Beijing, the Ministry of the Interior reported that the Minister of Siam had entered the Japanese mission, and from that time on, Ding Yuntong was thinking about how to effectively attack Siam. The blow is not the goal, the purpose is to get Laos and Khmer (Cambodia).

In the history of previous lives, both places were taken by France and became part of French Indochina. But this life is very different, after France was frustrated in the Sino-French War, it completely lost its ambition to expand in the Indochina Peninsula, so these lands became Ding Yuntong's ambitions.

Laos is very rich in mineral resources, especially gold reserves, but they have not been effectively explored and mined. Laotians call the place where their ancestors lived "the land of gold", and people gamble and fight cocks with gold bars. Ancient Indians also believed that this land was rich in gold, and the old name of Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of Laos, was Xiangtong, which means "golden city".

As for Khmer (Cambodia), it not only has a large number of teak, ironwood, rosewood and other precious timber, but also is a land of fish and rice, with a wide area of rice cultivation, suitable climate, sufficient water, and excellent rice seeds, which can be harvested three times a year.

These two places, one is Jinshan and the other is a rice warehouse, which makes Ding Yuntong really salivate. Only the complete destruction of Siam's will to resist can lay the foundation for the future capture of two treasured lands.

To this end, Ding Yuntong specially formulated "Lushan Jihua".

The so-called "Lushan Jihua" refers to the fact that when the main force of Siam attacked the three northern states of Laos, China used a powerful inland river fleet to start from China's Lancang River, go downstream, cross the Mekong River, and go straight to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, isolating Laos from Siam proper, thus cutting off the main rear route of the Siamese army. Ding Yuntong felt that this artistic conception of going down the river for thousands of miles was very much in line with Li Bai's poem "Flying down three thousand feet", so he named it "Lushan Jihua".

In the Sino-French War, the French river fleet once made the Chinese army change its style, leaving a deep impression on Ding Yuntong, and in the previous life, the French also sent this fleet to Bangkok Bay to deter Siam.

Therefore, before the Sino-French war ended, Ding Yuntong began to plan and build an inland river fleet to control the Mekong River. The Mekong River flows through Myanmar, Laos, Siam, Khmer and Vietnam, with the Mixc, the capital of Laos, and Phnom Penh, the capital of the Khmer, both on the banks of the Mekong River.

So, whoever controls the Mekong River controls Indochina.

Moreover, the focus of China's military struggle is on the Korean Peninsula, and it is impossible to gather too much Liliang in the south, so this river fleet is even more critical.

From the first day of this plan, Ding Yuntong was worried about one thing, that is, when China wanted to use the river fleet in the future, Britain or France would also send river gunboats to contain it. Therefore, it is necessary to give China's river fleet a killer weapon to deter Britain and France.

He couldn't help but think of the Beiyang Naval Division's offshore defense ironclad ship "Pingyuan" in his previous life, "Pingyuan" completely imitated the French "Huangquan" class ironclad ship, and the "Huangquan" class design was directly copied on the German "Wespe" class armored gunboat.

This kind of warship has small guns and large armor, low speed, small tonnage, and a coal tank capacity of less than 100 tons, which shows that it is completely unsuitable for ocean-going operations.

But even so, the Pingyuan in the previous life performed well in the First Sino-Japanese War, not only damaged the Japanese Matsushima, but also returned to China alive, and its protection and survivability can be seen in general.

Ding Yuntong believes that the "Pingyuan" may not be anything if it is placed on the vast sea. But such a mini ironclad ship, with 260mm caliber Krupp heavy guns, and the armor of the whole ship, its waterline armor is as thick as 9.4 inches, if it is put on an inland river, it is definitely a terrifying monster, and the maximum draft is only 4.4 meters, so there is no need to worry about running aground. The logic is:

You can't get in if you're stronger than me, and you're not as strong as me.

Therefore, as soon as the Sino-French War ended, Ding Yuntong ordered the Jiangnan Shipyard to directly copy the German "Wespey" class, because at this time the French "Huangquan" class had not yet begun to be built, and as for the name of the warship, it still used the old name of "Pingyuan" in the previous life "Longwei".

Now that the "Longwei" has been built, it is ready to participate in actual combat. At present, this warship can be said to be the peak of China's shipbuilding industry. With this pocket ironclad ship, as the flagship of China's river fleet, in the future Sino-Siamese war, the difficulty of intervention by third countries will be greatly increased.

All that remains is to send the fleet into the Mekong.

Ding Yuntong began to think that this was not a difficult thing. Because the Lancang River in the upper reaches of the Mekong River is located in China's Yunnan Province, and the rivers of the Chinese water system extend in all directions, it is only necessary to refit some small-tonnage gunboats in the navy, drive them to the Lancang River, and then go downstream.

But a closer look reveals that it is simply impossible. There are two rivers next to the Lancang River, the Nu River on the left, and the Jinsha River in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River on the right. But it is almost impossible to dig canals and connect them. Because the middle is the Hengduan Mountains, the altitude is high, the terrain is dangerous, the drop is huge, the difficulty of jishu, the huge cost, the previous life of the Celestial Empire was so good and happy, hollowing out the heart to engage in the project, but it can only be discouraged.

Therefore, it is impossible to try to send a fleet into the Lancang River from the interior. The only way to do this is to transport it from the outside to the inside. It is to let the fleet drive from the South China Sea to the mouth of the Mekong River, and then go upstream, reverse through the Mekong River, Zuihou to the Lancang River.

But the question arises, the Mekong estuary is located in French Cochinchina, and can France tolerate such a swaggering entry of the Chinese fleet and then cross the entire Cochinchina?

Moreover, the fleet went north along the river, all the way across Siam and Laos, and that didn't make a sensation in the whole of Siam? This is very detrimental to future operations.

After careful study by Peng Yulin and others, Xu Shichang, the new vice minister of military affairs, proposed a plan of "dressing up in disguise and secretly crossing Chen Cang", which was finally adopted by Ding Yuntong.

The plan was to disguise a number of warships as civilian vessels, dismantle all weapons such as artillery, change their liveries, change their crews, and enter the Mekong River in batches in a few months.

Of course, every ship was also full of goods, tea, salt, ceramics, cotton cloth, etc., which were completely in the form of normal trade, and Zuihou entered the Lancang River in China one after another.

By the end of April, the flagship pocket ironclad ship Longwei, as well as 12 warships, including Wan Nianqing, Meiyun, Anlan, Zhenhai, Chaowu, Ji'an, Feiyun, Fuxing, Zhenwei, Fubo, and Yixin, as well as three transport ships, including Yongbao, Chenhang, and Daya, arrived at Jinghong Port in Yunnan Province, and then reinstalled the original weapon configuration.

In this way, the Chinese naval fleet was divided into four parts, a formation of twelve cruise-gunboats; the main fleet of thirteen ships; twelve river flotilla; And then there is the "Portuguese fleet" hidden behind the scenes. The four parts of liliang are bright and dark, and the division of labor is clear.

The so-called knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent, Ding Yuntong was preparing to arm Liliang, and at the same time learned about Siam's combat readiness through various channels.

According to the latest information, Siam has set up a new military region, the "Northern Military Region", in the area of Nong Khai and Morken province on the south bank of the Mekong River and opposite the Mixc. And the main force of the army is gathered here, with a total strength of about 30,000 people, and its core Liliang is a new army of more than 6,000 people, "Rama Division". This division was built entirely with Japanese funds and equipment, and even some of the senior officers in the army were Japanese.

Ding Yuntong believes that a smart person like Chulalongkorn, once China and Japan officially start a war, Chulalongkorn will take advantage of the fire to loot and go all out to fight for the three northern states.

However, China and Japan have not started a war now, and although they have signed a military alliance with Japan, no matter how much the Japanese side instigates them, Chulalongkorn will not have a stalemate with China.

Even if China makes more territorial claims, I believe Chulalongkorn will have to compromise and forbear, because he understands the disparity in strength between the two sides. Therefore, Siam will concentrate its troops south of the Mekong River, mainly to avoid provoking China and to wait for a good opportunity.

That being the case, what if Weishenme does not further irritate Siam?

Simply let Siam hand over the remaining three Bang Bo Jiao, Hua Phan and Luang Nam Pagoda in Shanglao, as well as the Sichuan Khouang State and Vientiane region in Zhongliao, so that China can get the entire northern part of Laos without bloodshed.

Anyway, Ding Yuntong had already seen that Chulalongkorn would inevitably compromise.

What if he won't compromise? That's better, just take advantage of the fact that China and Japan are not at war, and solve the problem of Siam first.

In short, for Siam, whether it agrees or not, there is no good result, and China can benefit from everything.

After thinking about it, Ding Yuntong began to make further arrangements.

Militarily, the Second Division of the Guards Army was divided into three, leaving a brigade under the command of Major General Su Yuanchun to continue to garrison North China. Lieutenant General Zuo Guigui commanded a brigade, including a heavy artillery battalion, which went to Laos as a frontal strike force.

At the same time, Major General Ma Jinxu commanded an infantry regiment and a cavalry battalion as a surprise force to Jinghong Port in Yunnan Province to join the river fleet. Once the main Siamese force crossed the Mekong, the river fleet would be able to escort the Makinsu army to Vientiane and cut off the return route of the Siamese army. Since the front of Vientiane City is a large Vientiane Plain, Ding Yuntong also specially equipped Ma Jinxu with a cavalry battalion.

Zuo Guigui is tenacious and durable, steady and composed, which is suitable for commanding the overall situation, and Ma Jinxu is fierce and brave, and is also suitable for flank raids.

After arranging these, Ding Yuntong ordered Tang Jingxiang, the new ambassador to Siam, to formally make new territorial claims to Siam.

Now, it's up to Chulalongkorn to dare to stand up for a fight.