After nearly a month of sailing, Qingying's cruise ship finally arrived in Tokyo Bay in Japan.

Since Qing Ying's visit was to stabilize the British in the upcoming trip to William Constantinople, he did not want to pull hatred from the Mao country to himself; Therefore, the German government did not make any report on this matter, and it was not until Qing Ying arrived in Santa Ana Harbor in the German Philippines that the news was transmitted to Britain and Japan through the Foreign Office. The Japanese side had already vaguely guessed the meaning of this move of the Germans; In order to get more aid from Germany, the Japanese side complied with the wishes of the Germans and did not hold any celebrations at the docks. After Qingying and his entourage got off the boat, they were led by several Japanese government officials to a secluded and elegant place, surrounded by green trees and spring water, which felt like a paradise.

In 1898, Japan presented a scene of the embryonic stage of capitalism, whether it was scientific, technological, or industrial, it was far from being comparable with the old European powers, but Tokyo, the imperial capital that represented the highest level of civilization in Japan, still bloomed with a bit of prosperity that belonged to the top cities in the world. Since taking control of Korea, Japan's domestic contradictions have been greatly alleviated in the squeezing of Korea. Ordinary people, who suddenly found themselves starving, were brainwashed by the government day after day, and they burst into enthusiasm for the emperor's rule and the expansion of the war, and threw themselves into their work with unprecedented enthusiasm. Countless Japanese people who carried bricks and dung and sweated like rain would gather around a map of East Asia after more than 12 hours of work in a day; They nibble on stiff and sour steamed buns, foaming at the mouth, pointing at the map as if they were already the masters of the empire. While pondering a strategy for the empire to conquer the entire world, their inner emotions were also vented and their pain was gone, replaced by a sense of pride and grandeur like a master.

Although the people at the bottom of this country are still in a state of slavery and oppression, and their taxes are several times that of European countries, the vitality of their human beings has not faded, but has become more and more clear with the development of the whole country. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan's government decrees were clear and unified, and under the brainwashing and propaganda of the ruling class day after day, tens of millions of citizens were able to fight for the great cause of the empire and destroy their families and relieve their difficulties. Its cohesion and tenacity are unmatched by few countries, even in the world. In addition, almost all of Japan's ruling class are domestic elites, and the vast majority of those who have overseas experience are deeply aware of the gap between themselves and the European powers. It has a strong sense of distress and rarely becomes corrupt and degenerate, which further enhances the vitality and vitality of this kingdom.

In comparison, Russia, which is also an imperial system, is much inferior.

Due to historical reasons, the Russian bureaucracy was large and bloated, and this phenomenon has intensified since modern times. In the Russian officialdom, talented and virtuous people are not the objects that the boss likes, and those smart people who are good at drilling camps, slapping horses, and offering rich filial piety year after year are the guys that Russian officials value the most. Relying on speculation and the shadow of their ancestors, a large number of uneducated and unskilled people took up extremely important positions; And in order to dredge up the relationship, keep their black yarn hat, and hope to go further, these people can only find ways to make money. The damage caused to the country by the corrupt bureaucracy of the Russian government can be seen from the construction of the first class dreadnoughts: in order to build the Gangut-class battleships with a standard displacement of 23,000 tons, the Russians spent an average of 29 million rubles each, which is converted to more than 3.03 million pounds, while the British Iron Duke-class battleships with a displacement of 25,000 tons cost less than 2 million pounds each! Even if Russia's industrial base is weak and the prices of industrial products are high, a 23,000-ton battleship will cost no more than 2.2 million pounds at most; But after layers of exploitation by Russian officials, the final cost was 40% higher than the real price!

In addition to the bloated and corrupt bureaucracy, the incompetence of Russian policymakers is also an important factor. Although the last Tsar Nicholas II had a very strong appearance that was far superior to that of George V and Wilhelm II, he ranked last among the three cousins in terms of overall ability. Nicholas was mediocre but liked to be arbitrary, and the supreme imperial power made his ministers dare not disobey his orders, so that the government made a lot of tricks and suffered frequent defeats. At the end of 1904, in the face of the unfavorable war situation in the Far East, Nikolai actually ordered the Baltic Fleet in Europe to go to the Far East to support it; And the British-controlled Suez Canal has long been closed to Russian warships, and the Russian expeditionary fleet must go around the Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost point of Africa, with a total range of more than 16,000 nautical miles! The result of this is also obvious, the Russian fleet, which has been sailing at sea for more than half a year, has long been turned into a fighter in the garbage, and if it is gently flicked by the Japanese, it will be the result of the total annihilation of the whole army! On the other hand, although the Japanese emperor also had almost unlimited power, the Meiji Emperor (who reigned from 1867 to 1912), who led the Meiji Restoration, had the advantage of never acting arbitrarily, but was particularly good at listening to the opinions of his subordinates, perfecting them and promulgating them. Although this would inflate the power of the ministers and undermine the imperial power, and both Ito Hirobumi and Yamaguchi Aritomo had been in power with one hand, the results were obvious. Japan had done almost no wrong, both domestically and diplomatically, before World War I.

Although Qingying still had a faint sense of resistance to Japan in his heart, he clearly understood that the only force that could confront Russia in the Far East was the Japanese Empire ruled by Emperor Meiji. Supporting Japan against Russia was undoubtedly an excellent choice for his plan.

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Since it is impossible for German politicians to have such memories from posterity as Qing Ying, for a long time in history, the German government has always considered Russia in the East not to be its enemy. If you think about it, this notion is not unreasonable. Tsar Nikolai was the younger cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm Nicky, and the two royal families had a very close relationship; Although Russia and the French had signed a treaty of defensive alliance, when the time came for the actual war, Russia still had a high degree of hope that it would side with Germany on the side of Germany due to the consideration of the royal relations between the two sides. Taking a step back, even if Russia did not declare war on France because of Austria-Hungary, then at worst they would declare neutrality and not be an enemy of Germany! The Germans clearly have a big problem in judging friend and foe, they are overly superstitious about historical origins and family ties, and they completely forget that now and 100 years ago are two completely different periods! Today, family marriages can play an extremely limited role, and only common interests are the perfect glue that binds the two families together. Compared with the interests of the country, what is this royal in-law?

Influenced by this erroneous idea, William has always held an attitude of sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight against Russia's eastward advance, and has not taken this opportunity to let Russia relentlessly release blood in the Far East. Since William still had the intention of winning over Russia, he did not want Russia to lose too badly; What he hoped was that Nicky's cousin, after being taught a lesson by Uncle Edward in the Far East, would return to Europe in tears and fight with him, Willy's cousin, against the British. There was nothing wrong with this assumption in itself, but Russia owed France a lot of debt, and a large amount of domestic capital was built on the financing of the French; The Russian government had already opened its bow and had no turning back, and it was impossible to abandon France and stand on the side of Germany.

After all, Britain and Russia have been fighting for almost half a century, and it would be false to say that there is no hatred for each other; If Germany can take advantage of this, it is also very feasible to take this opportunity to improve German-Russian relations. But the good thing is that because Germany has launched an unprecedented challenge to Britain on the basis of trade and sea power, the two foundations of British statehood, Britain and France have reached an understanding to deal exclusively with Germany; And Russia, as an ally that could not give up France, naturally joined the camp of the Triple Entente. William's bamboo basket was empty, and he did not catch a single hair, but wasted the opportunity to use Russia's eastward advance to weaken Russia.

As a time-traveler, Qingying has a strong need to change this historical process. Since Russia would inevitably become Germany's adversary in the Great War in Europe, it would be as cruel as winter to the enemy, and the course of the Russo-Japanese War was an excellent opportunity to deal with Russia.

Russia's direct threat to Germany came from land. If mobilization for war is completed, they can call up more than 6 million troops; With no way to deal with Russia's population of more than 120 million, the only thing Germany could do was to reduce the combat effectiveness of this army as drastically as possible. If Russia can devote a large amount of financial resources to naval construction and Far Eastern affairs, it will inevitably lead to a serious shortage of military spending on the Russian army, resulting in a sharp decline in the overall strength of the Russian army. If this is the case, the pressure on the German Army on the Eastern Front can be greatly reduced; If the main target of the attack could be chosen on the Eastern Front instead of the Western Front from the beginning, it is estimated that by 1916, the Russian Army would be completely defeated!

Previously, Qing Ying took the initiative to sell warships for the Russian Pacific Fleet, out of consideration for weakening the Russian Army's funds in order to clear the way for the future. If Germany chooses to vigorously support Japan against Russia now, it will be tantamount to helping itself and creating a favorable Eastern Front for the future European war!

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