Port of Hamburg, Kingdom of Prussia. On the docks, countless rejoicing Prussians gathered. They waved signs in their hands to welcome the Istanbul Peace Conference delegations home. Even King Wilhelm I of Prussia personally came to meet him on the pier. With a smile on his face, the signing of the Istanbul Peace Treaty marked the formal establishment of the Kingdom of Prussia's achievements in the war.

"Whew!" A long whistle sounded on the sea, and a cruise ship, escorted by several warships, slowly sailed into the port. On the foredeck of the cruise ship, Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia. William, Prime Minister Otto. Feng. Bismarck, Foreign Minister Albrech. Feng. Count Ron and Count Moltke, deputy chief of the General Staff, and others were already standing on it. For them, it was undoubtedly a great honor for His Majesty the King to personally come to the port to greet them. The cheers of the people made them feel as if they had become heroes of the Kingdom of Prussia.

William I's eyes were not on the cruise ship, but on the warship escorting the cruise ship. Those warships are all small warships, and they don't even have the ability to fight in the ocean, and they are only capable of coastal defense. During the last military exercise of the Chinese Navy off the coast of the Kingdom of Prussia, these warships could only huddle in the harbor and shiver, and they did not have the courage to go out to sea to meet the huge warships of the Chinese.

"The navy of the Kingdom of Prussia is too weak, but fortunately, we have won the war, and we still have enough time to develop our navy!" Wilhelm I muttered that the design of the first class battleship of the Prussian Navy, the 'Brandenburg-class' battleship, had been completed. Soon. You can start building. This would herald a fast track for the Prussian Navy from then on.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Navy of the Kingdom of Prussia. In the future, it will definitely be the same as the army, which will make all countries in the world fearful! Those England. After learning that the Chinese had divided Britain at the Istanbul Peace Conference, they worked even harder. This is undoubtedly a good thing for us! The Chief of the Prussian General Staff, Colonel-General Reihel, said with a smile. The navy has always been the shortcoming of the Kingdom of Prussia. However, with the help of the British, this shortcoming has been compensated. Moreover, because of the British hatred of the Chinese, the British set their goal on helping the Kingdom of Prussia develop its navy, so that they could take revenge on the Chinese Empire through the Prussian navy. This allowed the Kingdom of Prussia to further drain the value of these Englishmen. This enabled the Prussian Navy to have the strength to challenge the Chinese Navy in a short period of time.

William I nodded. In fact, the Kingdom of Prussia and the British simply used each other. The Kingdom of Prussia used the British to fulfill their naval dreams of funding, and the British used the Prussians to satisfy their own desire for revenge. After all, there was no other country in the world other than the Kingdom of Prussia that could no longer pose a threat to the Chinese Empire. The Kingdom of Prussia had become the last hope of the British.

"Knock on Your Majesty, the ministers have successfully completed the task, this is the original of the Istanbul Peace Treaty!" Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia Otto. Feng. Chancellor Bismarck handed over the treaty to Wilhelm I.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you have worked hard. Thank you for what you have done for the Kingdom of Prussia. William I said loudly.

"Hooray! Long live the Kingdom of Prussia! Long live His Majesty the King! The Prussians, who were gathered around the dock, shouted. The entire marina and the Port of Hamburg became a sea of joy. The Prussians celebrated their victory, and from now on the Kingdom of Prussia would become a world-class power. And their future life will get better and better. All these will be the best way to heal the wounds of war.

At a time when the Prussian population was celebrating the victory. Wilhelm I and his returning delegation boarded a special train from the port of Hamburg to Berlin. On special trains. Otto. Feng. Chancellor Bismarck and others began to give Wilhelm I a detailed account of the situation at the conference. Although Wilhelm I had been telegraphing Guò to learn about the progress of the peace conference, there were some specific circumstances. It's not that understood.

"Your Majesty, at this peace conference, our greatest achievement is the annexation of Austria-Hungary. After the annexation of Austria-Hungary, our strength has been expanded like never before. However, this also led us and the Chinese Empire to completely tear their faces, so that on the issue of the final distribution of colonies, the attitude of the Chinese is very tough! "Otto. Feng. Prime Minister Bismarck said.

"Between us and the Chinese, sooner or later we will tear our faces. The world is too big, but at the same time too small to fit two superpowers. In order to defend their world hegemony, the Chinese will inevitably suppress us. If the Kingdom of Prussia is willing to be a second-rate power, it may be able to maintain our relations with the Chinese Empire. However, the blood nature of the Prussians doomed us not to be willing to be the little brother of the Chinese. Therefore, we can only fight! Wilhelm I saw this very clearly.

"Your Majesty, although our strength is now slightly weaker than that of the Chinese, as long as we develop patiently for a few years and digest the results obtained in this war, we can develop even stronger. Even compared with the Chinese, there is still a gap, but the gap is not large. We won't be without the power to fight back! Count Moltke said.

Wilhelm I nodded, annexing the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and with the territories now occupied by the Kingdom of Prussia, the total population of the Kingdom of Prussia had exceeded 100 million people. In this war, war reparations and other benefits were obtained, so that the Kingdom of Prussia was not short of funds, which could enable the Kingdom of Prussia to enter the fast lane of development. Coupled with the already strong industrial base of the Kingdom of Prussia, in just a few years, the Kingdom of Prussia could become a powerful industrial country.

"Your Majesty, at this stage, we still try to avoid war with the Chinese. The development of the past few years has been very important to us. As for the overseas market, we don't need it for the time being. The domestic market of hundreds of millions of people alone can meet the needs of our industrial development. When our industry is strong enough to really need overseas markets, we will also have the ability to challenge the Chinese. "Otto. Feng. Prime Minister Bismarck said. His meaning is very obvious, that is, in the first few years, the Kingdom of Prussia needs to be willing to be lonely, develop behind closed doors, and practice hard internal skills, only in this way can it accumulate enough strength to compete with the Chinese Empire for world hegemony in the future.

"Hmmm! The development of the Kingdom of Prussia in the coming years should be at home. If you want to challenge the world hegemony of the Chinese, it is impossible to rely on the current Kingdom of Prussia alone. We have gained a lot in this war. However, the gains of the Chinese are no small. Even, much more than us. It's just that China's development is extremely uneven, and it will take a long time for them to develop in an all-round way. And that's what gives us the opportunity. William I said.

Although the Chinese Empire seized vast territories, these territories were basically backward regions. It is okay to use it to develop agriculture, but if you want to develop industry, it is not so easy to develop industry on the basis of being poor and white.

William I and others did not know that in the future development plan of the Chinese Empire, the local area was the focus on the development of industry. With the help of the already established industrial base of the country, as well as the large amount of money obtained from this war, the development of industry can be further stimulated. And the vast overseas territory will become the main producer of the empire's agricultural products, as well as a market for industrial goods. Overseas industries are mainly engaged in the development of resource extraction and rough processing. In this way, the technical investment is not too high, which can save a lot of money and time.

"The Chinese have already begun to suppress us at this peace conference. In the coming years, this repression will continue to exist and will become more and more severe. We need to unite more people and form a broad alliance so that we can confront the Chinese! "Foreign Secretary Albrech. Feng. Earl Ron said.

"Well, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is trying to find a way to continue to woo the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and in addition to that, those defeated countries can also be wooed. They were defeated in this war, and they must have a great hatred for the Chinese Empire. And this is our chance to win them over. William I nodded.

"Father, I think we should do our best to form an empire. The Kingdom of Prussia not only unified Germany, but also expanded its territory several times, and now the establishment of an empire is exactly what the people want! "Frederick. Crown Prince William said.

"Yes, Your Majesty. It's time for the German Reich to be founded! "Otto. Feng. Prime Minister Bismarck also said.

Foreign Secretary Albrech. Feng. Ron and Count Moltke also agreed with this suggestion.

"Well, we'll talk about it when we get back to Berlin!" William I said. In fact, he was also very excited, and the transformation from the king of the Kingdom of Prussia to the emperor of the German Empire was also a great progress for him.

Upon his return to Berlin, Wilhelm I rewarded the delegation to Istanbul. At the same time, meritorious generals in the Prussian Army were also rewarded.

On January 9, 1856, King Wilhelm I of Prussia was officially crowned in Berlin and became Emperor of the German Empire. And the German Empire, from the moment it was founded, became the hegemon of the European continent. (To be continued......)

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