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On January 8, after a few days of drying Cassini, Wu Tingfang finally met him. After receiving the news that Wu Tingfang had made an appointment to meet him, Cassini rushed from the embassy to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs without saying a word. In the past few days, Cassini has not seen Wu Tingfang, and the country has been constantly urging him, which makes him very anxious.

"Your Excellency, I'm sorry, the Emperor has explained things to be done in the past few days, so I haven't had time to see you!" Wu Tingfang said with a sincere face.

"It's okay, what your majesty has explained is more important!" Cassini had no choice but to reply. He is also an old fox, so he naturally knows that Wu Tingfang deliberately shirked it. There is no way, now Russia has a request from others, so it can only let the other party pretend to be an uncle.

"Your Excellency, I have already consulted His Majesty the Emperor about the redemption of those prisoners of war in your country. However, things are a little tricky! The Cabinet of Ministers has drawn up plans for the development of Siberia, and these prisoners of war will become the main workers of our construction in Siberia. If the prisoners of war are redeemed by you, it will have a serious impact on our country's plans. Therefore, His Majesty the Emperor rejected your country's request to redeem the prisoners of war! Wu Tingfang said with a look of embarrassment.

"Huh? What the? How so? Cassini was shocked. The Chinese actually did not agree with Russia to redeem the prisoners of war, so how could he explain it to the country? If the situation in the country deteriorates further, then he will be dead. The furious Tsar will definitely not let him go. In addition, the Chinese actually want to develop Siberia on a large scale, isn't this a clear intention to forcibly occupy Siberia all the time? This is for Russia. Not good news. He knew that Tsar Nicholas II had always wanted to regain the territories occupied by China.

"Your Excellency Foreign Minister, Russia is very sincere in redeeming these prisoners of war. These prisoners of war were all Russian people, and Russia could not bear to see them in exile and suffering! Cassini said hurriedly.

"Your Excellency, I said the same thing to His Majesty the Emperor. Eventually, His Majesty agreed to let your country redeem the prisoners of war. However, the ransom will go up a bit, but I don't know if your country will accept it! Wu Tingfang said.

Cassini understood it all. The reason why Wu Tingfang hung him for a few days and found so many excuses was to raise the ransom of the prisoners of war and take the opportunity to blackmail Russia. This made him very angry, these Chinese. A hundred times more abominable than the most odious profiteers.

"Your Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I wonder how much we have to pay to ransom these prisoners of war?" Cassini asked directly.

"The last time we negotiated, we offered a price of £100 per prisoner of war. However, your country refused. This time, we have prepared the use of these prisoners of war, and your country is going to redeem them. This has caused a lot of trouble for our construction plan. Therefore, His Majesty the Emperor of our country has instructed that if your country must redeem these prisoners of war. Well, each prisoner of war needs to pay a price of two hundred pounds. A total of more than a million prisoners of war, even if it is a million prisoners of war, a total of 200 million pounds! Wu Tingfang said without changing his face.

Cassini listened to Wu Tingfang's request. The whole person was completely stunned, he didn't expect it at all. China's appetite will be so big! 200 million pounds! Chinese really dare to speak!

"Your Excellency, this is blackmail, this is blackmail against Russia! Russia will not accede to your requests! Cassini said angrily.

"Anyway, my country doesn't matter! If the Russians did not redeem the prisoners of war, they would have been working as coolies in Siberia until they died. By the way, I'll give you a free news, I heard that those rebels in southern Russia are preparing to march to the central part of Russia, and they have already gathered millions of troops, and I don't know if it's true or not! Wu Tingfang said with a smile, and then looked at Cassini playfully.

Suddenly, Cassini was like falling into an ice cellar, and Wu Tingfang's words made him feel a biting chill. Obviously, China already knows Russia's current predicament, so the Chinese can unscrupulously prescribe such harsh conditions. In any case, China has an absolute advantage, and if it drags on, it will only be more disadvantageous to Russia. Cassini looked at the smile on Wu Tingfang's face and wanted to slap him hard. But he didn't have anything to do.

"Your Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs, we cannot agree to the price proposed by your country!" Cassini said coldly.

"I'm sorry about that! We can't help it, this is the request of His Majesty the Emperor, and I can only do it! Wu Tingfang said. Move Wang Yuze out as a shield, no one can do anything. After all, everyone knows that Wang Yuze is the ruler of this powerful empire. Everyone has known Wang Yuze's greed for a long time.

Seeing that the negotiations broke down, Cassini had no choice but to leave. Wu Tingfang sent Cassini away with a smile on his face. He believed that the Russians would definitely bow their heads. Immediately after leaving the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cassini sent the Chinese side back to St. Petersburg for Tsar Nicholas II to decide.

Russian Foreign Minister Izvorsky was also stunned when he received the telegram from Cassini, he did not expect such an outcome at all. China is so shameless, taking advantage of the fire to rob and offer such a price! Two hundred pounds each, one million prisoners of war, that's two hundred million pounds! Izvorsky didn't have to think about it to know what would make Nicholas II angry after this price was shown to him.

Early the next morning, Russian Foreign Minister Izvorsky rushed to the Winter Palace, and at the same time, he was informed about Prime Minister Sergei Vet, as well as Interior Minister Vyacheslav Plevy, War Minister Alexei Nikolayevich Kuropatkin and others.

Tsar Nicholas II had just eaten breakfast when he learned from Izvorsky about the conditions proposed by the Chinese side, and suddenly his face turned cloudy, and the original good mood disappeared cleanly.

"How can the Chinese prescribe such conditions? These greedy guys? Do they think that great Russia will bow to them? Nicholas II said furiously, like an angry lion.

Several important ministers of the Russian government buried their heads low, allowing Tsar Nicholas II to vent his anger. They all knew that it would only calm down after Nicholas II had vented his anger. At that time, it's time to get down to business.

Sure enough, Tsar Nicholas II roared for half an hour before he calmed down. Nicholas II, who had calmed down, looked at his ministers with red eyes. He felt more and more that these ministers were all rice buckets, and they were useless. But now, he can only rely on these rice buckets. "When the situation is stable, these guys must be replaced!" Nicholas II thought secretly.

"So, what should we do now?" Tsar Nicholas II asked.

"Your Majesty, the Chinese have seen the predicament we are facing now, so the lion opened his mouth!" Prime Minister Sergei Witt said.

"So, do you mean that we don't have to pay attention to the Chinese and give up redeeming the prisoners of war?" Tsar Nicholas II asked.

"Your Majesty, the situation at the front is getting worse and worse. The rebels, led by the Democratic Labor Party, are trying to attack north, shouting slogans to enter Moscow and destroy Russia. The army needs more elite troops to stabilize the current situation! "This was stated by War Minister Alexei Nikolayevich Kuropatkin.

"Can we just let the Chinese blackmail?" Tsar Nicholas II roared. Obviously, he did not want to be the wronged leader anymore and consume the wealth accumulated by the Russian royal family.

"Your Majesty, we have no choice now. It is precisely because the Chinese see this that they blackmail us. If we can't exterminate these rebels, the losses we will inflict will be even more severe! Interior Minister Vyacheslav Plevy also said. If Russia is destroyed by the rebels, it will not only be the money, but also the Russian nobles, who will probably be wiped out by those rebels at that time.

Tsar Nicholas II was silent, although he was very painful about being blackmailed by China, but he also knew the severity of the matter. If Russia were to be destroyed by the rebels, he would probably have to go into exile in other countries, which he did not want to see in any way.

"However, the Chinese's asking price is too high! Two hundred pounds for a prisoner of war, a million prisoners of war, two hundred million pounds! Tsar Nicholas II said. That's almost half of what he has left.

"Your Majesty, we may have other options. What we need now is time, our army needs to be trained, and the arms ordered in other countries, it also takes time to produce. If we can get 500,000 prisoners of war from China, we can stop the rebels from advancing northward. By the time our millions of troops are trained, we'll be able to wipe out these rebels in one fell swoop! "This was stated by War Minister Alexei Nikolayevich Kuropatkin.

"You promise to wipe out the rebels?" Tsar Nicholas II asked with some disbelieving. If it was only to redeem half a million prisoners of war and pay 100 million pounds, that would be acceptable.

"This ....... The minister assured that only 500,000 prisoners of war were needed to stabilize the front. However, the Chinese must be allowed to release the captured generals. Such as Grand Duke Nicholas and others! Alexei Nikolayevich Kuropatkin said.

"Alright! Then redeem half a million prisoners of war. Izvorsky, let Cassini continue to talk with the Chinese, be sure to redeem half a million prisoners of war at the minimum cost, and rescue those captured generals! "Tsar Nicholas II has finally made up his mind!