December 12, 1903, Jingshi, Zhongnanhai Annex.

In the conference hall of the base camp, the imperial ministers sat around the long oak table, the emperor's dragon chair was still empty, and the meeting was presided over by Liu Yun, acting prime minister and minister of national defense—the most common scene in the conference hall in recent months.

Foreign Minister Zhang Zhigao is making a report: "...... A copy of the secret letter submitted by the German minister on the 4th of this month has been transmitted to the British through secret channels, but no special reaction from Britain has been found so far, but it has been found that the message sent by the French minister in the past two days has not been as strong as that of the previous few days, and it no longer contains threatening statements, and the most urgent ultimatum that the statement a week ago will be sent yesterday has not appeared. In addition, the U.S. Minister sent a circular yesterday explaining to our country the reasons for its Pacific Fleet's cruise of the Bass Strait, the purpose of which was to respond to the actions of the French fleet in the Bass Strait and to protect the navigation and trade interests of the United States in East Asia......"

Liu Yun glanced at Zhang Zhigao, who had no respect for the newly elected young president of the People's Party, and did not regard Zhang Zhigao as Wenyi's heir at all, for him, Zhang Zhigao was no different from other human tools. Liu Yun is convinced that as long as he makes a slight statement, Zhang Zhigao will obediently hand over the Chinese People's Party, and as long as he can control the largest party in the country, the throne of the next prime minister will be at his fingertips, and the process of militarization of the empire will also be carried out smoothly, and everything seems to be under control.

Zhang Zhigao glanced up at Liu Yun from time to time, personally, he did not have a bad feeling for Liu Yun, but he was convinced that as long as Liu Yun grasped the power of the country, the empire would fall into a never-ending disaster, and the road of militarism advocated by Liu Yun was a bright meteor-like road of destruction, and under the gorgeous appearance of the rulers was a hell on earth where life was ruined, the country was corrupted, jackals were rampant, and tyranny and abused the people. Zhang Zhigao felt that compared with the war against Russia, the ups and downs of Liu Yunjun's military strength would have a more far-reaching impact on the fate and future of the country.

"It's been a week since I received the secret letter from the German minister, so it doesn't matter if I don't make any reply?"

Zhang Zhigao asked Liu Yun, although he had all kinds of thoughts about Liu Yun, but now he had to fulfill his duties, since the machine had not begun to deviate from the track, he should continue to run as a key cog, such a position is not difficult to understand.

Liu Yun's fingers flicked the feathered marshal's hat on the table, and replied to Zhang Zhigao in a casual tone: "Don't worry about him, before Britain makes a statement, you don't have to respond to any of their suggestions, if they ask, just say that we are considering it, forgive them and don't dare to do anything, Germany wants to sail the fleet to the Far East, and has to ask Britain, France and the United States if they have any opinions." Our immediate policy has not changed, and if we can win over Britain and neutralize France and Germany and the United States, if we can successfully win over Britain, the other powers will have nothing to worry about. ”

Zhang Zhigao nodded and put away the papers.

Liu Yun turned to Finance Minister Han Lang, who is known as the "Han Ma Pole": "How about the sales of treasury bonds issued in Europe and the United States? ”

Han Lang, who was so thin that it was impossible to suspect that he was suspected of corruption, was very excited at the mention of national bonds: "After the news of China's great victory in the Battle of the Onon River and the Battle of the Sea of Japan spread, the sales of short-term treasury bonds issued in Europe and the United States increased significantly, and long-term treasury bonds gradually opened up sales. Gao Qimei, vice president of the Imperial Bank, who is now inspecting the sale of government bonds in London, has sent a telegram to report that he has been introduced to the London Stock Exchange on an exceptional basis and has been warmly welcomed by traders, and that the first batch of 10 million pounds of war bonds has been snapped up, and that he should quickly plan for the issuance of the next batch of government bonds. The observer in New York reported that the market for China's public bonds on the New York Stock Exchange is bullish, with the initial amount of $50 million borrowed amounted to $50 million, but now the subscription amount has reached $85 million, and the interest rate on US loans to China has also dropped from one cent last year to five percent today. Sales of public bonds in Germany and France have not been satisfactory, with the first batch of 120 million francs sold in the French stock exchange and the 40 million marks issued to Germany sold two-thirds of them......"

(Author's note: In 1900, 1 pound = 13.5 rubles = 4.5 dollars = 25 francs = 5.2 Chinese dollars)

"In this way, there is no need to worry about war expenses in the short term."

"Yes, the increased tax revenue has begun to flow into the treasury, the first batch of additional banknotes has also been spent, and the reserves are still far above the danger line, and it is estimated that it will be no problem to hold on until next summer, even if it can be maintained until next autumn, I am afraid it will be a little difficult to drag it until next winter or the beginning of the next year......

Liu Yun smiled slightly: "Don't worry, it won't drag on for so long, if it really drags on, it should be the first thing the Russians can't stand it." ”

In fact, Russia was also trying to finance the war effort, borrowing mainly from its traditional creditors, Germany and France, but Russia's financial credibility was shaken in the financial markets of Berlin and Paris, when the tsarist government already had 4 billion roubles of national debt in the hands of foreigners, of which the French alone held 3 billion. Before the outbreak of the Sino-Russian War, there were only 157 million rubles of gold available in the Russian treasury, and another 200 million rubles of non-convertible gold banknotes were issued, which was only enough to support five months. In the cash-rich United States, however, the Russian government debt was neglected, in part because of the violent and brutal persecution and massacres of Jews in the western provinces of Russia in the last two decades of the 19th century, so many Jewish-controlled American conglomerates at the time preferred to subscribe to Chinese government bonds. In Britain, as news of the defeat of the Russian army came frequently, the public's expectations of Russia's victory became lower and lower, and correspondingly, Russian public bonds were out of market. Germany, on the other hand, was already short of funds, and sometimes had to borrow from France, so it was impossible to lend too much money, and as a last resort, Russia had to turn to France, the traditional big creditor, and the French took the opportunity to offer high interest rates, and in order to carry on the war, Russia had to accept an unprecedented high interest rate of six percent (usually three percent), and borrowed 350 million rubles, which was only enough to last the war for another four to five months. Liu Yun knew all about this information, and he knew very well the close relationship between money and war, so he was very enthusiastic about knowing the financial situation of his own side and the enemy.

In the conference hall of the base camp that day, except for Foreign Minister Chang Zhigao and Finance Minister Han Lang, the rest of the long table was full of servicemen, including General Yang Zhengjin, chief of the General Staff, and various divisions of the General Staff Department, as well as commanders of the army, navy, and reserve forces, plus the emperor's army and navy attendants.

Yang Zhengjin's General Staff began to analyze the progress of the war up to yesterday with great efficiency.

At the cost of more than 11,000 casualties, the Eastern Front under the command of Liu Bailiang captured the forward defense line of the Vladivostok fortress area, killed and captured about 6,000 enemy troops, and was preparing for an attack on the enemy's first main line of defense.

The 2nd Field Army under the command of Xiao Liege in the Eastern Front was still attacking the fortress of Boli, and many attacks were ineffective due to the insufficient supply of troops and ammunition.

The Western Front under the command of Zhong Xiahuo has completed the scheduled deployment and replenishment, and has launched four armies from north to south, including the Praetorian Guard, the First Field Army, the Fourth Field Army, and the First Korean Army, with a total of 630,000 soldiers, but due to bad weather and supply difficulties, it is temporarily impossible to launch a large-scale offensive, and the four Russian army groups on the opposite side are obviously unable to attack because they have been hit hard in the previous Onon River Campaign, and the battle line is showing a state of solidification, and the two sides are facing each other apart from a neutral zone 10 to 15 kilometers wide.

"How bad is the weather?"

Liu Yun asked Yang Zhengjin coldly.

"This ...... According to the Janissaries report, the snow was so deep that cattle and horses often got so caught in the snow that the sleds could not be used, and a large number of people had to be sent to the roads to clear the snow. In addition, because the temperature has dropped to minus 30 or 40 degrees, the troops are unable to move and make life difficult, and air weapons cannot participate in battles, and ordinary weapons cannot be used normally, and it is estimated that this situation may not change until February next year. ”

Liu Yun pondered for a while, nodded and said: "In this case, let's wait, we can afford to wait, just use this time to hoard ammunition and supplies to the railway terminals near the front line, and form more combat reserves, and we must launch a powerful offensive on the Western Front with the greatest strength in the spring of next year to completely defeat the Russian army on the Western Front." However, before that, it is necessary to at least solve the Boli problem and liberate the Second Field Army. Chief of Staff Yang, you organize and arrange, allocate more resources to the Second Army during this time, you can't just ask the cows to produce milk, but don't let the cows eat grass. As for the Vladivostok Fortress, I don't think it will be able to take it for a while, so we must take care of Liu Bailiang and let him organize and plan carefully, so as to achieve a final victory at a relatively small cost, and we must not treat officers and men as meat bullets just for the sake of speed. ”

"Understood."

Liu Yun turned to Admiral Liu Buyun, the commander-in-chief of the Navy, the de facto "dictator of the Navy": "Commander Liu, I take the liberty of asking, the Navy now has only 4 battleships available, if the French Navy initiates an incident at this time, will the Navy be able to continue to blockade Vladivostok on the one hand and defeat the French Far East Fleet on the other?" ”

Liu Buyun pressed the table and nodded: "In fact, the third ship of the Ruizi battleship 'Ruixian' will be officially incorporated into the joint fleet sequence tomorrow, as mentioned earlier, this new ship is equipped with a three-year shooting commander, the main gun shooting accuracy is extremely high, it can shoot at the enemy ship at a distance of more than 10,000 yards, and the three main guns can be commanded in a unified manner and salvo at the same time. In addition, the battleship 'Zuisho' that Yokosuka repaired is now nearing completion, and the ship has also taken the opportunity of the repair to be equipped with a three-year shooting commander, and its combat effectiveness is not inferior to that of the 'Zuisen'; in this way, our army will soon be able to dominate the Far East with a battlefleet of three Swiss and three electric ships, and with a large number of cruisers and mine-striking ships, I believe that neither Britain nor France will dare to easily penetrate into China's coastal waters to challenge. ”

Liu Yun asked again: "What is the movement of the French Far East Fleet?" ”

"Having left the Bass Strait, 2 battleships and 3 armored cruisers were recently spotted in Haiphong Port, and the other 1 battleship and 2 armored cruisers appeared in Cam Ranh Bay."

"What about the movements of the Anglo-American Far East Navy?"

"By the 11th of this month, Britain had assembled two armored cruisers, one protective cruiser, two gunboats and three destroyers in Hong Kong, and two battleships, one armored cruiser, two protective cruisers and six destroyers in Singapore, and a fleet of one battleship and two armored cruisers was rumored to be coming from the west coast of India. A formation of two armored cruisers and two protective cruisers of the United States Navy recently sailed into the Bass Strait, and a formation of one battleship, one armored cruiser, two protective cruisers, three gunboats, and five destroyers is rumored to have sailed from Pearl Harbor to the Philippines. In addition, there were one British and one Italian cruiser and one American gunboat moored in Canton; There were one German, one French, and one British cruiser moored in Shanghai; There was an American cruiser and a German gunboat moored in the Bay of Tonkin; There are one American and one British gunboat moored in the port of Incheon......"

Liu Yun bowed his head and said, "The great powers are all eyeing each other, we can't show our flaws...... By the way, is there any possibility that the strength of the Navy will be further strengthened in the near future? ”

Liu Buyun flipped through the large stack of pieces of paper on the table, and after a while he agreed: "The strength of our navy will not change much by the end of this year, and the Russian armored cruiser Askold captured on Sakhalin Island needs at least three months of overhaul to restore its combat effectiveness; The No. 4 ship of the battleship Ruizi will not be completed in another two months, and it will not be commissioned until at least May or June next year; The No. 3 and No. 4 ships of the Suzhou-class armored cruisers will not be completed until February and July next year, respectively; 2 Sword-class protective cruisers will not be completed until May next year; The construction of mine-striking ships has gone relatively smoothly, with four destroyers and 10 torpedo boats already being replenished since the start of the war, and at least six more destroyers and 12 torpedo boats can be completed by June next year. On the allied side, both Japan and North Korea can independently build mine-strike ships of less than 1,000 tons, and Japan can also build its own protective cruisers and armored cruisers. Since the beginning of the war, the DPRK has completed two new destroyers and four torpedo boats, while Japan has completed one armored cruiser, one protective cruiser, two destroyers, and six torpedo boats, and these new ships will be fully operational by February next year. The DPRK plans to complete two destroyers and six torpedo boats by June next year, while Japan plans to complete one more armored cruiser, one protective cruiser, four destroyers, and four torpedo boats by July next year. ”

"Understood...... Has there been any progress in the intelligence of the Russian Second Pacific Fleet? ”

"The four new Borodino-class battleships of the Russian army have not yet been completed, and they will not set sail until March next year at the earliest, and the Baltic Fleet already has 3 battleships and 3 armored cruisers scheduled to be integrated into the Second Pacific Fleet, and 4 to 6 cruisers and at least 8 destroyers will be incorporated into the ......"

"If the Second Pacific Fleet sets sail in March next year, when will it be able to sail to the Far East at the earliest?"

"Even if the supply goes smoothly, it will take at least three months to sail to reach the waters of the South China Sea."

"Got ......"

Before 11 a.m., the meeting was over, everyone went home for dinner, and the working meals in the canteen downstairs had been cancelled, saving the Imperial Household Agency a lot of expenses.

When he went downstairs, Liu Yun saw the thin figure of Han Lang, the minister of finance, and couldn't help but sigh to the left and right: "Look at our God of Wealth, he is so weak, probably because he is often abused by his wife and has no food." ”

Han Lang's beard curled up on his lips: "Duke Wu Wei is very wrong, the reason why I am so thin is actually the result of your squeezing day and night, and you often ask for tens of millions, as if the treasury is like an inexhaustible sea, headache, headache!" ”

Liu Yun said with a smile: "What is the headache of the God of Wealth, and the treasury is not opened by your family." ”

Han Lang smiled bitterly: "But as the God of Wealth, I have to guard the treasury, just like you, as a soldier, you have to fight the battle in front of you." ”

"So, to you, we're as hateful as the Russians?"

"If you think about it, it's really not much different."

Liu Yun laughed: "Did the God of Wealth ever think about killing us like Russians?" ”

"It's a pity that I don't have the ability, otherwise I would really want to do that."

All the officers laughed with Liu Yun, but Zhang Zhigao didn't laugh, just lowered his head and walked away quickly.

Liu Yun looked at Zhang Zhigao's figure, and his originally hearty smile suddenly seemed a little reluctant.

Dongjiaomin Lane, British Legation.

The British Minister to China, Douglas Douglas, smoked his large pipe, lay on the sofa by the fireplace, and waited leisurely for the servant's morning tea.

The young clerk, Brand, walked in with the folder in his arms, bent over the couch and said, "Sir, a telegram from the Secretary of Foreign Affairs." ”

Dou Nale spit out two small smoke rings, touched the short beard on the side of his mouth, looked up and said, "Bring me the glasses over there." ”

"Yes, sir."

Brand respectfully brought his glasses, and Dou Nale put the pipe on the table, reached for the document that Brand presented, and pinched the glasses to look at them carefully.

“…… So, do you want to come up with a package solution? ”

Listening to Dou Nale talking to himself, Brand asked cautiously beside him, "Sir, is there anything wrong?" ”

Dou Nale shook his head and put his pipe to his mouth again: "It's nothing, it's good, the foreign minister has thrown the bottom line, and on top of this, I can decide for myself how to negotiate with the Chinese side." ”

"The bottom line?"

Dou Nale nodded and put the document on the table: "The so-called bottom line, in fact, is also vague, the domestic meaning is that I don't want to see Germany gain a foothold in the Far East, and I don't want the Franco-Russian alliance to destroy the East Asian alliance, and cultivate a pro-British East Asian alliance, which is conducive to balancing the growing power of other powers in the Far East." ”

At this time, the servant brought refreshments, and Dou Nale greeted Brand: "My gentleman, no matter what happens, afternoon tea cannot be omitted. ”

"Yes, sir, I completely agree with that."

The two sat opposite each other, sipping black tea and snacks with sugar cubes, Brand couldn't bear it, and opened his mouth first: "Sir, do you think that the domestic meaning should be to form a friendship or more relationship with the East Asian alliance led by China?" ”

Dou Nale knocked on his pipe and shrugged: "My gentleman, there is no friendship between countries, only a relationship of mutual use. Come to think of it, the Boer War consumed too many of our resources, and the politicians at home have decided to shrink their forces to Europe in the future, but in this way, the greedy wolves of the United States, Germany, and France will have the opportunity to move on our overseas territories, and at this time, it is necessary to tie down a wild dog at the gate of the pasture. ”

Brand shook the cup of black tea with a little foam, and asked a little uneasily, "Sir, are you sure it's just a wild dog?" ”

Dou Nale nodded firmly: "That's right, a wild dog can restrain a wild wolf, but sometimes it can bite people, but on the other hand, a wild wolf also restrains a wild dog, so a wild dog has little chance to bite." ”

Brand nodded approvingly, took a sip of tea, and suddenly asked as if he had thought of something: "By the way, I heard that in the securities markets of London and New York, China's war bonds are bullish." ”

Dou Nale smiled slightly: "I also bought it, I already sent a telegram back a few days ago and asked my agent to buy a bond with a face value of 30,000 pounds." ”

Brand was taken aback: "So, you were pro-China from the beginning?" ”

Dou Nale waved his hand and smiled: "My gentleman, it's not right to say that, diplomacy is diplomacy, business is business, and now the two kinds of treasury bonds with the highest interest rate are the war bonds of China and Russia, but recently Russia's financial credit is very unsatisfactory, and Russia's total foreign debt has been very considerable, coupled with the Russian army's performance on the battlefield is so bad, it is no longer possible to be optimistic about Russia's final victory, so I have to choose China's national debt, which is just the opposite." ”

Brand let out a long sigh, and his brain immediately turned one hundred and eighty degrees: "So, I also have a sum of money...... Sir, I would like to ask, how much is the interest on China's public bonds? What are the additional conditions? ”

"No problem, in fact, ......"

The topic of the two quickly shifted from the diplomatic events that determined the fate of the country to the issue of bonds that determined the amount of their own wealth.

Two days later, Dou Nale went to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Zhang Zhigao, and at Dou Nale's repeated requests, the meeting was held in a relatively secret small hall, and there was no clerk, and the translation was limited to one person brought by the British side.

As soon as the two were seated, Zhang Zhigao said to Dou Nale in fluent English: "If you feel it is necessary, we can actually talk alone." ”

Dou Nale nodded without hesitation: "This is the best." ”

So the only translator was also dismissed, and only Dou Nale and Zhang Zhigao were left in the small hall, and the two talked directly face to face.

Zhang Zhigao keenly felt that this meeting was extraordinary, and Dou Nale must have some ulterior secret mission, but he remained quiet, he wanted Dou Nale to take the initiative to speak, instead of letting the other party take the other party's words, and it was related to the initiative of the negotiations, if he was too active, he would be looked down upon by the other party, so that the negotiations would fall into passivity.

After a brief exchange of diplomatic rhetoric, Dou Nale got to the point first.

"Recently, there have been some unpleasant misunderstandings between China and the UK, but I don't think this will affect the extensive cooperation between the two countries in various fields."

Zhang Zhigao knew very well that the so-called "little misunderstanding" was an incident in which the British and Indian troops were repelled after they invaded Tibet in September of that year, and the British first took a bite in a fierce manner in an attempt to seize the opportunity to plunder Tibet's rights and interests, but they were sternly refused.

However, just a few months ago, when there was a conflict, and now suddenly they come running over and shouting cooperation?

Zhang Zhigao felt the need to be cautious.

"Mr. Minister, we are ready to cooperate constructively with any country on the basis of equality and reciprocity."

Dou Nale heard the overtones, and the so-called "any country", of course, including countries that posed a challenge to Britain, decided to make it a little more clear.

"My Government is very concerned about the conflict between China and Russia, which has always been committed to the peaceful order in the Far East and does not want the conflict to expand and spread throughout the Far East, but you also know that this danger is always present and has recently become clear, and the unusual activities of the French and American fleets in the Bass Strait are very disturbing to my Government......"

Zhang Zhigao unceremoniously reminded him: "The build-up of your fleet in Hong Kong and Singapore is also very disturbing to our government. ”

Dou Nale looked innocent: "So I said that there are some small misunderstandings between our two countries, as said in the previous note, the assembly of our fleet is mainly in response to the actions of the French fleet, and it must be natural that the French fleet has to retreat due to the might of the British Imperial Navy." ”

Zhang Zhigao bent his voice and responded: "So, my country should thank your country for your selfless help?" ”

Dou Nale cheekily said: "You're welcome, this is also for the need to maintain peace in the Far East, and our country's desire for peace is well known. ”

Zhang Zhigao has been in the diplomatic circles for more than ten years, and he has long had a strong immunity to any shameless and blatant lies, so now he has no hope of vomiting at all, and only replied lightly: "China is also very willing to see a good situation of peaceful development in the Far East, but Russia's various provocations and even invasions have forced us to launch a self-defense counterattack against it, with the aim of destroying several major strongholds on which Russia relies to launch aggression...... We always hope that the war will end and peace will come, but if the other side does not have this desire, we will be powerless but to continue this war of self-defense and counterattack. ”

Dou Nale's eyebrows curled upward—the time had come.

"A protracted conflict between China and Russia will cause turmoil in the Far East, which will seriously affect our interests in the Far East, and our government will not sit idly by."

Zhang Zhigao had probably understood the other party's intention at this time, and the trick of deliberately revealing the German minister's secret letter to the British worked, and the British really couldn't hold back.

"I wonder what your government is planning to do?"

"Out of good intentions for the preservation of peace in the Far East, our country hopes to conclude a cooperation agreement with your country that will be beneficial to both sides."

"Do you mean a treaty?"

Dou Nale looked at the dashing and handsome Chinese man in front of him, who was only thirty-seven or eighteen years old, and felt an extraordinary charm, but he still firmly believed that the other party was absolutely inferior to himself in terms of experience and experience, and there was no need to treat him as an equal opponent at all.

"A cooperation agreement."

Dou Nale emphasized.

"What kind of cooperation do we need to do to maintain peace in the Far East? Military alliances? ”

Zhang Zhigao ripped off all the disguises, and the naked question mark was like a sharp sickle across Dou Nale's throat.

"Ha Lu Ha...... This is not to the point of a military alliance......"

Dou Nale smiled reluctantly, he began to feel that this young foreign minister of the Chinese Empire was either too idiotic or too smart, that big mouth without restraint was either born or deliberate, in short, that guy was extraordinary.

"So how do we work together? Is there a cooperation agreement on combating piracy and smuggling? Such an agreement was signed 10 years ago. ”

Zhang Zhigao's slightly sarcastic tone made Dou Nale feel even more aggressive.

"Well, you'd better take a look at the outline I brought."

Dou Nale didn't want to play anymore, in fact, this kind of game was not fun at all, and its raison d'être was only to satisfy the boring narcissism of some diplomats.

Zhang Zhigao took the document presented by Dou Nale, glanced at it casually, shook his head, and said: "This level of cooperation does not seem to be fundamentally different from the agreement on combating piracy, and I don't think there is a need to waste time between the two sides to discuss." ”

Dou Nale held back his anger and raised his hand to point to the document: "Please read it carefully from beginning to end, this is very important, it is related to the peace of the Far East and the major interests of the two countries, and you must read it carefully." ”

"I do not see that this outline contains an element of a military alliance of mutual assistance, without which such an agreement would be meaningless, and what our country needs now is real and strong support, not illusory cooperation. For the former, we will give the corresponding return, for the latter, we have no interest for the time being. ”

Dou Nale opened his mouth in surprise, he suddenly felt a kind of terrifying courage, not from Zhang Zhigao, but from the empire behind Zhang Zhigao, that is no longer a stagnant and decaying backward agricultural country, no longer a third-rate semi-colonial country that is bullied, oppressed, and coerced, it is a real empire that is rising, is moving towards industrialization and modern civilization, what it needs now is a reciprocal collaborator, not a whipping master, it is not a wild dog that can be tamed, but a young man who may step into the ranks of carving up the earth.

Dou Nale began to feel that it was not as simple as he originally imagined, but since he was entrusted with the task entrusted by his own government, he still cheered up and responded to Zhang Zhigao: "Your Excellency is really in a hurry, on the basis of the cooperation agreement, we can further explore more in-depth issues, before that, please carefully study this outline, and reply as you think necessary, and then we will negotiate and negotiate." ”

"I'll study it carefully, but please remember what I just said. As a matter of fact, since 1840, our country has been invaded many times by European and American powers, including your country, and foreign armies even attacked Beijing at one time, so the issue of security has always been the top priority of our country, and we will do whatever it takes for the sake of our territorial integrity and national security. We don't care about working with any country, as long as they can give us what they want, and of course, we will reciprocate accordingly, and that is the guiding principle of our government in diplomacy. ”

Dou Nale nodded slightly: "I know a lot about this......"

Zhang Zhigao suddenly raised his voice: "However, even without the help of any foreign powers, we can defend our homeland, and the burning of the Old Summer Palace by the British and French forces will never happen again!" Our army is capable of repelling any invaders! But this is something that the great powers, including your country, will not admit it! In order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed and attrition, we want to have a strong military alliance, the purpose of which is to deter aggression with military deterrence, and this is an alliance only against aggression, for example, if your country is invaded, we will support it, and if our territory and vassals are invaded, your country should also support it, and that's all. ”

Dou Nale had no choice but to continue to nod: "I have understood, I will convey your intentions to our government, and I also hope that Your Excellency can reply to the outline I submitted as soon as possible, and please note that the content of today's meeting involves sensitive issues, in order not to put the two governments in a difficult situation, please also pay attention to confidentiality." ”

"I know a lot about it."

Zhang Zhigao picked up half of Dou Nale's sentence.

When the meeting ended, Dou Nale returned to the legation with a heavy heart, and the clerk Bland immediately leaned over and asked, "Sir, is this meeting going well?" ”

Dou Nale sighed, buried himself in the sofa, and snapped his fingers at Brand: "My gentleman, can you pour me a glass of whiskey?" ”

"We're here to help."

Brand opened the bottle, poured half a glass of wine into each of the two crystal glasses, and handed one of the glasses to Dou Nale.

"Thank you."

Dou Nale took two sips of wine, exhaled a few breaths, and motioned for Brand to sit down.

"I still prefer to deal with Zeng Jize, this Zhang Zhigao is really not good, today he simply wants to strip me naked."

"What's wrong? What did Foreign Minister Zhang say? ”

Dou Nale patted his thigh, shook his head and said: "I always thought that he was just Zeng Jize's little follower, because Zeng Jize was ill, he accidentally took the position of foreign minister, but after several meetings, I found that he was really not simple, I didn't notice the Tibet incident before, I just felt that he was just the mouthpiece of the Chinese prime minister, today I can see clearly, his courage is by no means under the current Chinese prime minister, he has a realistic and sober understanding of this country and this world, and he has a self-sacrificing patriotism. and the high enthusiasm for political power that derives from it. I think he should have the ability to compete for the post of prime minister – he was recently elected as the new president of the Chinese People's Party, right? ”

"Yes, but there is news in the tabloids that the top brass of the Chinese People's Party has decided to ask Liu Yun to retire from politics after the war and join the Chinese People's Party to lead the 05 general election."

Dou Nale wore a short beard with a piercing hand on his chin, and a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Perhaps, there will be a good show—but you can't easily believe the boring tabloids, my gentleman, what do you say?"

Brand's eyes widened and he didn't answer immediately.

St. Petersburg, Hermitage.

Heavy snow covered the courtyard of the palace, where the bronze statue of Peter the Great was erected, and in a golden hall of the palace, Tsar Nicholas II scanned his ministers with suspicion.

"Will the Vladivostok fortress really hold out for a year?"

War Minister Vanovsky agreed vaguely, as usual: "From the reports since the beginning of the war, it can be seen that General Stessel's ability is outstanding, the courage and perseverance of the officers and men are impressive, the fortifications are exceptionally strong, and the material reserves are abundant. But the pressure on the fortress is also beyond imagination, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of troops and a huge fleet, the morale of the defenders in the fortress is the key factor that determines whether the fortress can hold on for a long time......"

Hearing this meaningless answer, the Tsar subconsciously clenched his fists, and a thought of kicking Wanovsky to the ground and beating him up jumped out of the fiery waters of reason.

Perhaps he should have kicked this cunning old man out of the post of Minister of War a long time ago, but he did not know who could be more qualified for this position, in fact, there are many high-ranking generals who are more boring, incompetent and shameless than Vanovsky in the current Russian Empire, such as the commander-in-chief of the Far Eastern Armed Forces, General Kuropatkin, is a more vivid example than a lobster fresh out of the water.

Kuropatkin has already sent reports on more than one occasion that he will launch a full-scale attack at a certain time and place, preparing to attack a certain river and a certain mountain, in order to destroy as many enemies as possible and relieve a certain unit and a certain fortress. Such promises, which are weaker than soap bubbles, are often swept away by the news of the opponent's victory before they have even taken off, but Kuropatkin is able to pull his own face thicker than ten donkey skins, and brag about his own defeat as a great heroic and tenacious defensive war with a victory of outnumbering the enemy and defeating the strong with the weak. While the major newspapers and periodicals in Europe and the United States reported the news of the defeat of the Russian army in the Battle of the Onon River, the official Russian newspapers masturbated that they had achieved a "victory rarely seen in history" and that this victory was "successfully resisted by a powerful offensive twice as large as their own." In fact, the Battle of the Onon River began with the Russian army launching an offensive with superior forces, and ended with a 100,000 troops fleeing in disarray. By this time, the tsar had learned the truth of the matter, but he could not find a more suitable person to replace Kuropatkin for a while. The Russian Empire, which had defeated Napoleon's army, had long since lost its military vitality and enterprising spirit, and the old, ignorant, and mediocre generals controlled the army, and the rigid promotion system and corrupt concept of the family made many promising young officers have no way to make progress, and the corrupt and inefficient political system made military technology and art far behind other European and American powers.

"A bunch of rice buckets, rice buckets in the red! They should have been stripped naked and thrown into the zoo! ”

While the Tsar despised his subordinates, he pushed his own holy light above the clouds.

All he could do was despise his subordinates.

Nicholas II turned his gaze, mixed with suspicion and contempt, to Havelan, the Lord of the Admiralty, which made Havelan's face as thick as ten layers of cowhide shudder.

"My Minister of the Admiralty, do you have anything to say about the Pacific Detachment in Vladivostok?"

Havelan resignedly agreed: "Your Majesty, regarding the issue of the Vladivostok detachment, in general, after last month's breakout operation, the fleet has lost three armored ships and most of the cruisers, and the remaining warships have been seriously injured, and the military port has been frozen at this time, and it is impossible to organize a breakout again in the near future......"

Nicholas II interrupted him impatiently: "I already know this, is there nothing more to say?" Say, about the Second Pacific Fleet. ”

"Well, according to General Rozhestvensky's report, the formation of the Second Pacific Fleet is under intense progress, and the construction of new battleships is going very smoothly, but because the Pacific Fleet has suffered serious losses in previous battles, and the ratio of forces between us and the enemy has changed in favor of the other side, Rear Admiral Rozhestvensky believes that we must seek new warships in the international arms market as soon as possible."

"So you've already done it?"

The question was right, and Havelan happened to have the newly sent information in his hand, so he took out two documents, hurriedly glanced at them, and replied: "Yes, Your Majesty, we have already contacted the arms brokers in Petersburg. The two 11,000-ton battleships built for Chile by the British Ells shipyard and Vickers shipyard have been terminated due to the de-escalation in South America and are seeking buyers, with an estimated price of ...... per ship £92 to £980,000. The two 7,600-ton armored cruisers built for Argentina by the Italian shipyard Anzado have also cancelled their contracts for the aforementioned reasons and are being sold at the shipyard at an estimated price of ...... £71 to £750,000. In addition, two fast cruisers in active service in the Chilean Navy and one fast cruiser in active service in the Argentine Navy are interested in sale, and the Admiralty is preparing to form a procurement delegation, which will submit a report to His Majesty and the Ministry of Finance by the day after tomorrow at the latest. ”

The tsar nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, you have to do it quickly, you can't delay, if you let the Chinese get the news, I'm afraid you will buy it first." ”

"Yes, please rest assured."

This time, Havelan finally avoided the fate of his image being beaten by the Tsar's imagination.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the time has come to try to find peace."

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer and current Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Witte, suddenly threw out this sentence.

War Minister Vanovsky immediately came to the spirit: "What? Peace, peace that has nothing to do with victory? ”

Havelan also raised his head: "Your Excellency, Chairman of the Council of Ministers, what you said has nothing to do with the matters that His Majesty the Emperor cares about, please pay attention to this. ”

The tsar also showed an angry face: "Sergei Yulievich, what are you talking about? Now is not the time to seek peace, the whole world is looking at us, the whole of Russia is staring at me, and if I seek peace in this situation, I will surely be ridiculed and despised by all! ”

Witte carefully explained: "Your Majesty, I mean, is trying to seek peace, that is, to take the opportunity of negotiating an armistice with the other side to bring in outside interference and force the East Asian alliance to withdraw from the war. ”

"Seeking the intervention of European and American countries?"

"That's what it means."

The tsar turned to Foreign Secretary Ramsfold: "What do you think?" Can you give it a try? ”

Ramsfold looked at Werther with a helpless face, and then at the Tsar with a sullen face, bowed his head and said: "We can ask France to intervene, but the key problem is that Britain remains neutral, if Britain stands with China, France will not be able to play a role." ”

"Is there a way to keep Britain neutral, then?"

"Now that Britain is maintaining neutrality, the British suffered in the Indo-Tibetan conflict in September, and they should hold a grudge."

What Ramsfold did not mention was that the news related to the Indo-Tibetan conflict did not attract the attention of public opinion due to the deliberate concealment of Britain and China, and even many high-level people on both sides did not know the true situation and specific details of the incident, and the official announcements of the two sides only characterized the incident as "a small-scale border friction caused by a map error and a misunderstanding of language", and Ramsfold only vaguely learned the vague outline of the truth of the incident from the mouth of the German ambassador to Russia.

The Tsar, who thought he was above the clouds, was quite satisfied with Ramseld's answer, and suddenly remembered the matter of the flying machine mentioned not long ago, and went to inquire about the "damned animal"—Vanowsky, with the hope of beating the Minister of War.

Vanovsky did not feel the almost bloodthirsty darkness in the Tsar's heart, and still agreed in his usual tone: "Your Majesty, the Wright company's plant in Ryazan is under construction, and since the enemy planes captured from the Far East battlefield were transported a month ago, the progress of the company's research and development of combat aircraft has been greatly accelerated, and it is estimated that by April and May next year, it will be possible to test fly a combat aircraft that can be equipped with machine guns assembled by our workers themselves, but it is impossible to estimate exactly what the effectiveness will be and when mass production will begin...... As for airships, we have already ordered two large airships and three medium-sized airships from Germany, and have sent personnel to Germany to learn how to drive and maintain them. ”

The tsar finally heard something useful from the mouth of Vanovsky, but his mood was not clear at all: "Do you have to wait so long? It's too slow! The officers and soldiers on the front line can't afford to wait! ”

"Your Majesty, we've done our best!"

"No, you're going to have to double your efforts."

Nicholas II said sternly.

The skeleton of Vanovsky's spirit cracked with a click.

After the meeting, the ministers came to the foyer.

Outside the door, a bronze statue of Peter the Great stands quietly on a high platform, with snow on his head and shoulders, as if wearing a white hat and scarf.

The Winter Palace on the banks of the Neva River has been silently experiencing hundreds of winters, and the bronze statue of Peter the Great in the Winter Palace has been quietly watching the coming and going of future monarchs and subjects in its current appearance countless times.

From a barbarian state despised by the West to a great empire among the great powers of the world, the major turning point in Russian history began with Peter the Great.

Witte suddenly had a strange idea, he thought that maybe one day, a statue of someone would be erected in China's Forbidden City, and this person was also the "Great Emperor" who drove the great turning point of Chinese history.

"That person, maybe already exists."

Witt thought to himself, put on the trench coat handed by the servant, and got into his sleigh.