The sun was setting, the sunset was like blood, and the dark red and purple clouds piled up in the far western sky, like a surging and rolling flame. In the eastern sky, a faint crescent moon has gradually emerged from the blue, and the luster is faint, presenting a magnificent scene of the sun and the moon shining together.

"Father, why did we choose the Qing Kingdom as the destination for plundering the port?" Qing Ying slowly spoke, and there was an incomprehensible meaning in his words, "Although the Qing Kingdom was defeated in the war one year ago, their naval strength has not suffered much loss; If we're going to do anything about them, it's going to take a lot of effort to get there. In addition, at present, the imperial goods have opened the market of the Qing State, they are training a new army, and they also need to import a large number of weapons and equipment from the empire, and now that the two countries are at the peak of trade, do you need to think carefully about doing something to them? ”

William said with some dissatisfaction: "Think about it carefully? You mean, I, the emperor, do things casually? Ettel, you have to remember that in international relations, there can never be any real friends. As long as there are enough interests as a driving force, even a close friend who was like a brother one second can become an undying enemy in the next second. Since they are mortal enemies, they can do anything. That's right, now German goods have indeed opened the market of the Qing Kingdom, and they are also working hard to help us empty those backward arms stocks; But compared to these, getting a base in the Far East is obviously more tempting! After obtaining this base, we can more easily dump goods and sell arms to the Qing State; And after the Qing Kingdom was forcibly occupied by our Germany, they could only swallow their anger, they would not and would not dare to turn against our German Empire because of this matter! ”

Qing Ying's thin lips moved, and then said: "But what about the Beiyang fleet of the Qing Kingdom?" They had 1 1st class ironclad and 2 2nd class ironclads, as well as several fast cruisers, although they were some backward ships, but their strength should not be underestimated. If Germany were to forcibly lease the ports of the Qing Kingdom, it would inevitably be the enemy of this fleet. If a naval war breaks out between the two countries because of this, it will not be of any benefit to our Germany! ”

William glared at Qingying and said angrily, "Are you embarrassed to say it?" Our Brandenburg was sold to the Qing Kingdom by this guy of yours; In addition to recovering the cost price, the Qing State made some painless concessions to us on trade. Fortunately, now that the Qing people have this ship, it has in turn become a major obstacle to our German plundering of their ports! If we don't have this ship, we just need to send a few warships to stop at the door of the Qing people's house, and they still have the courage not to cede the land to us? ”

Qingying's heart was slightly confused. The previous incident was due to the fact that he had traveled to this world not long ago, and he was still thinking about the problem from the identity of his previous life, so he did this thing that was beneficial to China and did not let Germany gain much benefit. However, Qingying knows very well that when the teacher teaches the truant teenagers, he must not return the favor, maybe even the labor education will be saved later; Therefore, in the face of William's reprimand, he just lowered his head, made a look of grievance, sadness, and weeping on his face, and quietly waited for William's anger to be fully vented.

I have to say that Qingying's acting skills are still quite good, William vented for a while, his anger gradually subsided, and when he saw Qingying still sitting in place with an aggrieved face, he suddenly felt a little unhappy in his heart. In all fairness, although this guy has done a little inauthentic in this matter, he has made great contributions to the country in other aspects, and he cannot be blamed for his lack of things. He glanced at the young man, sighed slightly, and said, "Forget it, since this incident has happened, it is useless for me to blame you again." What's more, the empire still gained certain economic benefits through this transaction, which can be regarded as beneficial. However, although the Qing navy has been strengthened to a certain extent, it is still as simple as trampling an ant to defeat them. ”

"At present, the main force of the Qing Navy is nothing more than our original Brandenburg, plus two second-class ironclad ships that were commissioned 15 years ago. However, our German Empire has 3 10,000-ton battleships and more than 10 ironclad ships, no matter from which point of view, the Qing people have no chance of winning. William patted Qingying's head and said warmly in a slightly comforting tone, "What's more, our new battleship with turret main guns is about to be launched, and it will be put into active service in another year; The combat power of these 1 ships is equivalent to the power of 3 Brandenburg. Therefore, as soon as the main force of our German navy arrives, if the Qing State does not want the naval fleet they have painstakingly managed to be completely annihilated, it can only agree to the path of our German appeal. ”

"And what about the attitude of Britain, France, etc.? At present, although the Qing State is decadent and backward, and has signed a series of unequal treaties with European powers that have humiliated the country, so far it has only allowed them to open treaty ports on the issue of coastal ports, and there is no precedent for any country to forcibly occupy a certain port. If Germany had taken the lead in doing this, would it have aroused opposition from other countries? Qingying tried hard.

William smiled faintly and said, "You don't have to worry about this at all. In so many great powers, except for the fact that Britain had many overseas ports and there was no need to plunder the ports of the Qing State again, other countries had long wanted to attack their coastal ports; The Russians, in particular, dreamed of a harbor in the Pacific Ocean that would not freeze in winter! The reason why they have not used force before is not only because the time is not ripe, but also because they are afraid of the strength of the Beiyang army and navy of the Qing State. And now for my German Empire, neither of these concerns exists! I can assert that as long as Germany sets the precedent of this forcible seizure of ports, France and Russia will not only not protest, but will follow our German lead and implement the same strategy against other ports of the Qing Kingdom! As for the British, it is possible to object, but as long as we support their affairs in Egypt and South Africa in return, there will be no problem. ”

Looking at William's confident face, Qingying knew that her cheap father had made up his mind, and there was almost no room for return. If it were something else, he might have been able to find some reason to stop it, but on this issue, he could hardly have played a crucial role. There was really no disadvantage to Germany in this matter: whether it was to obtain a forward base in the Far East or to colonize and plunder for Europe, it would enhance Germany's internal strength and external reputation. Before this, he had already favored Mites Qing once, if he blindly spoke out at this time, not only would he not be able to stop William's action, but he would also be more likely to erase the magnificent saint that he had built up with great difficulty!

Qing Ying let out a long sigh in her heart, and then spoke: "Father is far-sighted, Etel admires it incomparably, and on the issue of Qing Guo, my father's decision is indeed the best choice. However, the cost of capturing another port in the Far East would be much smaller than the amount of troops required to plunder the Qing port. Therefore, I felt that while seizing the Qing port, we should also include this region in the territory of Germany. ”

"Huh?" William was slightly startled, and his face showed a look of disbelief. The reason why he chose Mites Qing as the object of Germany's forced lease of ports was not because of his deep hatred for Mites, but because the surrounding boundaries were all mastered lands, and only Mite Qing was left with a chance for Germany. In order to get a beautiful military port in the Far East, William also had to directly face the Beiyang Naval Division that still had combat strength in Mites. In Wilhelm's plan, the main force of the German navy would use the Suez Canal to make a large-scale eastward crusade to ensure the smooth implementation of this military blackmail operation. Originally, this was already the most cost-effective path he chose after weighing the pros and cons; How could he not be surprised when he heard Qingying say that there was still a place that cost far less to capture than to plunder the port from Mite Qing?

"Ettel, apart from the Qing Kingdom, I really didn't think that there was any other place in the Far East for me to occupy by Germany?" William asked.

"At present, there are mainly four forces in the Far East: Britain, Russia, Japan, and the Qing Dynasty, and the Far Eastern affairs that Germany can get involved in are also in the eastern and northern regions of the Qing Kingdom, where the struggle between the four parties is the most intense. Therefore, the frontier base that we are about to seize in the Far East not only needs to be a good port in itself, but also a good geographical location; Only in this way can the strength of our Germany directly join the multi-party game and obtain benefits for our Germany. Qing Ying sorted out some scattered thoughts in her head, and then said, "However, since Qing Guo maintains a fleet of a certain size, it will be a certain amount of trouble to forcibly lease a port from them; And the place I am talking about, although a little far away from Japan and Russia, could not be easier to occupy if it were to be occupied! With that, Qingying opened William's drawer and slowly spread out a folded map of the Far East; Then, in William's puzzled eyes, he pointed a slender finger on it.

"The Philippines is tropical, and some of the islands are close to the equator, so it's a bit of a distance from the storm centers in the Far East. However, the Philippines has more than 17,000 kilometers of maritime territory and countless high-quality ports, and we can choose a deep-water harbor on Luzon, the northernmost island of the Philippines, as our forward base. Bordering the temperate zone, and only half a day's flight from the British-occupied Hong Kong and Kowloon, we can also have direct access to East Asian affairs if we use this as our base. Crucially, Spain, the owner of this land, has negligible naval power in the Pacific; As long as we send a few ships to stop at the target port, the Spaniards will have no room for resistance! Qingying said.