"Common interests? Could it be that the Russians also have to deal with the Queen Mother? Guangxu sneered.

"The emperor's enemies are not only the queen mother, the queen mother and the emperor are fighting for the power of the court, but even if the emperor can take power away from the queen mother, is he really the lord of a country? I have been in the Qing Dynasty for many years. Even if the queen mother hands over power, the emperor's decree will not be directly subordinate. The current Beiyang is not so much a feudal town of our Great Qing Dynasty as an independent kingdom, even more so than the three feudal clans of the past! Does the emperor plan to be a monarch in name only, or a monarch in name only? Yuan Shikai said coldly.

"Yuan Xiangcheng, you still came out of Beiyang, Li Hongzhang has cultivated you for so many years, I didn't expect you to slander him so much." Regarding Yuan Shikai's words, Guangxu was a little confused, and he didn't know whether Yuan Shikai was serious or tentative.

"Yuan did work under Li Zhongtang, but he still took the Qing Dynasty's Yulu and led the army of the Qing Dynasty, and he was dissatisfied with Li Hongzhang's dominance, otherwise he would not have given up the good future of Beiyang to come to Beijing." Yuan Shikai said fearlessly.

"I'm afraid it's because that Xu Jie stole your limelight and made you feel that there is nowhere to stay in Beiyang, so you voted for the emperor, right? If there is no Xu Jie, I am afraid that the heir of Beiyang now is you Yuan Xiangcheng. Weng Tongyi disagreed with Yuan Shikai's words, and sneered in his heart.

"After all, Li Zhongtang is the pillar of the country, don't talk nonsense. But this can be considered with the help of the Russians to accomplish great things, but. This Russian can't ask too much. "To say that Guangxu has no opinion on Li Hongzhang, it is impossible, but at the very moment, Guangxu does not dare to think too much, although there are only three people in this house, but there is no impermeable wall in the world, if it is rumored to go out. But the disaster is coming.

But for the possible help that the Russians could provide, Guangxu could not ignore it, not to mention anything else. A large amount of money and armament was enough for Guangxu to gain a military advantage, and there was another important one, that is, the foreign embassy area in Dongjiaomin Lane was outside the management of the Qing court. If the Russians were able to station an army there or have some armed men base themselves in the embassy. The effect of this strange army is quite large, after all, there are a number of troops in Beijing, and if a certain side can have a few hundred more people, the effect is quite large!

"The demands of the Russians are simple, all they want is the right of way and part of the mining rights in the northeast. At present, the main railways in the Northeast were built by Lord Xu of Beiyang, and Lord Yiketanga was unable to build a large section of the railway due to financial and manpower constraints. This Northeast is the land of Longxing in my Qing Dynasty, and if the transportation lifeline is in the hands of Beiyang, it will be very bad. "Anyone can find a suitable excuse for their claims, and Yuan Shikai is no exception. And what he said is right in the arms of some people, rather with foreigners. Not with domestic slaves, this is the idea of many high-ranking officials in the Qing Kingdom. Of course, among these people is Guangxu. Otherwise, in history, when Li Hongzhang asked for more artillery for Beiyang before the war, Guangxu would not have replied to the five words "the yamen knows the way"! For the North and South Seas. The guardedness of the center is still very deep!

"If that's all there is to it, we can consider cooperating with the Russians, which Beiyang has done lately. I can't rely on Beiyang for everything, and if I can establish a force under my own control, I think the emperor's decree will be issued more smoothly. If necessary, we can even cut the feudal domain. The North and South Seas are already too powerful and pose a serious threat to the center. Weng Tongyi immediately said. No matter when, Weng Tongyi will never forget Li Hongzhang, his sworn enemy! …,

"In this way, the Russians can be used to gain power, and at the same time use Beiyang and the Russians to gain benefits." Guangxu said in his heart. Then he nodded and acquiesced to Yuan Shikai's idea! And that night, when Yuan Shikai's envoy came to the Russian embassy, the Russians finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the opportunity they had been waiting for for a long time finally came.

There was almost no stop, and the Russian minister immediately sent a telegram to St. Petersburg. Begin their long-planned plan.

"General Makanov, it is quite possible that we will use this opportunity to completely solve the threat of the Beiyang Fleet and merge into it, and if we can, I think we will soon have a second ice-free port in the Far East!" Tsar Nicholas II handed a telegram to Makanov.

"This is indeed an opportunity, if civil strife breaks out in the center of the Qing court, Beiyang will not be able to effectively defend against the attack of the empire." While Makanov was looking at the telegram, Russian War Minister Alexei Kuropatkin was talking as he looked at the northeast on the map. There was a greedy glint in his eyes.

"When will you do it?" Makanov asked.

"The emperor of the Qing Dynasty plans to start next year, and we still have a little more than a year to prepare. After all, before that, we need to hand over the weapons to Yuan Shikai in batches to add fuel to their infighting. And this must not be perceived by Beiyang. More importantly, the Far East Railway has not been repaired, and it will be difficult for us to transport a large number of troops to the Heilongjiang line, and since we need to suppress Japan, even after more than a year of preparation, we can only maintain the size of 60,000 troops in the northeast at most. Kuropatkin thought for a moment and said.

"60,000 troops want to defeat the Beiyang Army? This is unrealistic. And even if the war starts next year, the Navy may not be able to complete combat readiness before then! For some unknown purpose, the Beiyang Naval Division had already contacted the Italian side to prepare for the purchase of an additional Dante-class battleship. Makanov shook his head and said.

"It takes at least 3 years for a battleship to be completed from the beginning of laying the keel, and this battleship can be eliminated." Nicholas II said unashamedly.

"This battleship was originally equipped for the Italian Navy, but now, Beiyang has decided to snap up the purchase, probably because it feels that the time to build a new ship is too long, and if the other party finally succeeds in purchasing, our navy will have no chance of winning." Makanov disagreed with this plan to take advantage of the fire.

"Makanov, it is necessary for you to listen to Kuropatkin's words, the outcome of a war is not only determined by the fighting on the battlefield, but also by political, economic and other factors that will affect or even subvert the outcome of the war. Even if we can't use this opportunity to completely deal with the annoying power of the Beiyang, we can at least inflict a heavy blow on them and push our borders a little further south. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we must seize. Tsar Nicholas II clearly did not listen to Makanov's opinion, and he knocked on the table and said. Then he shook his hand and left.

Thank you for the monthly pass support of the book friend Frozen Yelang and wangjun0372~~. I hope you will support the author, after all, it is the first book, and I hope you will bear with me if it is not good. (Your support is my biggest motivation.) )