Under the sun, two huge chimneys stand tall, and looking down the chimneys, there are two wide factories, connected by a narrow passage between the plants, and a railway track extends outward from the factory area to the newly built coal terminal.

A small coal train with only five bodies rumbled into the factory, and workers began to unload the coal from the front of the locomotive, and then pushed the coal to the other side of the building, and soon black smoke rose from the two large chimneys.

As the black smoke rose, seven or eight cars suddenly appeared outside the gate of the factory, and the security guards who had already received the news had not had time to open the door, and saw that hundreds of big men and soldiers had rushed through the factory gate and spread around.

These uninvited guests, not only did not make the security guards nervous, but made each of them puff out their chests, and as the convoy got closer and closer, their eyes became brighter and brighter.

Soon, the convoy stopped at the gate of the first factory, and Li Mo took the lead in getting out of the car, and immediately the workers cheered in welcome. With a smile, Chen Ping and others also got out of the car, and even Xiao Xiao and Yue'er, who rarely appeared in front of everyone, also walked out of the last car, accompanied by Du Dazhuang, pointing and pointing and seeming to be very curious about everything around him.

After Tang Shaoyi and Liang Dunyan got off the car hand in hand, they were soon attracted by the neat and new factory in front of them, both of them are also well-informed, not only went to the United States to study for many years, but also built a lot of factories in the mainland of the Qing Dynasty over the years, but they have never seen such a neat factory, and it looks like it has been very carefully planned before construction.

Seeing the two big chimneys, the hearts of the two couldn't help but be a little hot, during this time in the Ryukyus, they saw a lot of all kinds of factories, from fishery processing, to shipbuilding and steelmaking, there are no less than hundred, but no matter which one, in their opinion, it is not as important as the factory in front of them!

Because of the operation of this plant, it represents an era that will be opened, because this is the power plant!

When you enter the factory, you will be greeted by the clean and tidy interior, and although you can't see the generator or boiler, the console covered with red cloth still makes you breathe fast.

In everyone's gaze, Li Mo walked to the front, and several engineers from the Ministry of Science and Technology immediately introduced the working principle of the power plant, and at the same time opened the red silk cloth first.

Under the gaze of everyone, Li Mo pressed the button hard, and several sharp steam hiss through the pipe immediately jumped into everyone's ears, followed by a sound like the rotation of the propeller impeller of a ship, as the rotation sound became more and more urgent, until it turned into one, the lights in the factory area suddenly turned on.

Tang Shaoyi was the first to rush to the window and look out, only to see that all the street lamps that had been installed on the road in the distance were all lit up, and the harbor and major factories in the distance were all bright, and the whole world seemed to be becoming transparent in his eyes.

Ryukyu, a large island isolated beyond the Yellow Sea and connected to the Pacific Ocean, has entered the electric age for the second time after Honolulu!

As everyone scattered and looked around under the guidance of the Engineer, Long Guozhang walked towards the core generator, because there was the future power heart of the fleet, the steam turbine.

"I said Yuanshou, what is Long Guozhang doing? I haven't seen him close his mouth today! Li Mo glanced at Long Guozhang, who was grinning and laughing with the engineer, and frowned.

Chen Ping smiled, and his face was also full of helplessness: "Needless to say, this is not the finalization of the steam turbine, and I heard from the young master that the steam turbine is more efficient than the current steam engine, he is not tinkering, he is going to give the fleet a makeover, and install it all." By the way, I heard that even those captured warships were not spared. ”

"What, all installed?" Young Master Li's hands trembled, how many steam turbines are needed, and if you want to play the role of steam turbines, you must also be equipped with a new type of boiler, if it is really all replaced, it is almost equivalent to purchasing a few more warships!

And he didn't seem to have promised him to leave all the captured Russian ships!

You must know that in the core issue of the staff at this moment, the fleet that returned home with a great victory has been ranked second, and the first place is still how to solve the remaining Russian troops as soon as possible.

"This guy is really good at finding trouble." Li Mo scolded with a smile, turned his head to look at Chen Ping, and raised his eyebrows: "Do you also think that all the Russian ships should be left?" ”

"Of course not!"

Chen Ping hurriedly shook his head, his face gradually calmed down from the excitement of the generator factory's operation, looked at Long Guozhang's back, and whispered: "Mr. Li has already set off from Honolulu three days ago, and he has already told me before he came, saying that only four captured Russian ships can be left, and I have already promised him." ”

Li Mo blinked, when did his chief of staff speak so well?

Seeing that the young master was looking at him in a daze, Chen Ping's face immediately turned serious: "Young master, the Russians will definitely not be able to fight, and Fengtian City may have to plant our flag in a few moments, so I think we should now adjust our goal from war to post-war summary and control." ”

Li Mo nodded, Chen Ping was indeed right, the Russians were no longer able to fight, Li Enfu's departure indicated that the war had come to an end, and the next contest would be at the negotiation table, and the solution by force would become deterrence by force.

Chen Ping continued: "Ji Weishan's shelling of Yuanshan, in addition to taking the opportunity to severely defeat Yu himself, is actually reminding us that the troops must switch from the existing offensive to clearing and defending as soon as possible, ensure the safety along the Yalu River, and prevent Yu himself from taking the opportunity to fish in troubled waters. ”

"In addition, compared with Honolulu and Ryukyu, the three northeastern provinces are too big, and with the scale of our current army, not to mention the stationing, even the defense is also very tight, so I communicated with Mr. Li by telegram to give up most of the captured Russian ships in exchange for his approval to continue to expand the army."

Listening to Chen Ping's eloquent talk, Li Mo sighed in his heart, in fact, he had been thinking about expanding the army for a long time, after all, the three northeastern provinces were too big, even if the three divisions plus the 35,000 men of the Marine Regiment were all scattered, there would be no waves, so he had been thinking about how to expand the army these days, and at the same time, it must not affect the future development.

With a large base, the weakness of population and resources has gradually been bridged, but this does not mean that it can support a huge navy and army at the same time, especially the three eastern provinces are still in poverty and chaos, and the funds spent on the follow-up development plan will be astronomical, so he has to make careful calculations.

The navy has made a great contribution this time, and the following have long been clamoring to intercept all the captured Russian ships and take the opportunity to salvage and expand their strength, but if all these Russian ships are left behind, not to mention maintenance, the annual expenditure of these old guys alone will double the expenditure of the navy.

Fortunately, Chen Ping finally stepped from the Beiyang officers and soldiers on the periphery to the position of truly commanding the overall situation, and saw the current sea and land disputes, so he would take the first step to discuss with the Government Council how to deal with it.

Looking out of the brightly lit window, Li Mo asked, "Do you have a plan for your staff?" ”

"I've drawn up a preliminary plan." The corners of Chen Ping's mouth brought a hint of cunning, and he hurriedly said: "The General Staff Department considers changing the five army divisions from two regiments to four regiments on the existing basis, and at the same time forming a new Marine Corps. ”

"Double!" Young Master Li is about to get sick, and his feelings are darker than himself, so he hurriedly shook his head: "It's too big, I can't afford it, and Li Enfu will never agree." ”

Chen Ping seemed to have guessed that Li Mo would behave like this, and immediately scratched his head and smiled: "Isn't this a preliminary plan, the most important thing is for you to negotiate with Mr. Li." ”

Seeing the cunning at the corner of Chen Ping's mouth, Li Mo suddenly understood that this guy was deliberately drastically reducing the captured Russian ships, and first gave Li Enfu and himself a sweet date, making people feel that he was really thinking about himself and the Government Council, but in fact, he had secretly prepared a plan for expansion.

It's too deceitful!

Young Master Li was just about to despise the chief of staff when a sound of footsteps broke the middle finger that was almost erected.

"It is reported that the four ships of the Antarctic Star have completed their shelling and returned to the port of Andong, and in addition, the Russian army in Mukden has laid down its arms and announced its surrender three hours ago." Zhang Zuolin brought the latest battle report, and at the same time, he also brought a new piece of information.

"I have formally protested to us, and at the same time, I am ready to send an additional 20,000 troops to the DPRK again."

Hearing this news, Li Mo and Chen Ping jumped out of a place name that had just become famous in the Far East in their minds at the same time.

"Tsushima Strait!" ――

West Garden.

This is the name of this villa built in the middle of the garden by Feng Qi's accidental rise, but I didn't expect it to be recognized by everyone, so that now the West Garden is used in telegrams to replace the name of the Hawaiian Mansion in Daqing.

Sitting in the living room, Feng Qi squinted his eyes and looked at the few people sitting in front of him, a smile on the corner of his mouth and a little surprised at the same time, because he didn't expect that this Russian ambassador would actually invite the representative of the Qing Zheng Axe to come together!

But in a blink of an eye, he figured out that the Russians had lost to the fullest, even the port of Wonsan had been lost, and Mukden had been surrounded to death, and maybe the news of surrender would come in a few minutes.

The Russian troops stationed in Mukden had surrendered two hours earlier, and with the troops killed by himself and the fleet at the port of Wonsan and Vladivostok, the Russians had lost most of the troops they had spent a year in the Far East, and if the young master really wanted to continue fighting, it would be a question of whether they could hold the whole of Eastern Siberia.

Therefore, this ambassador Cassini has resorted to the old trick of uniting with the Qing Dynasty to suppress the book. It's just that they seem to have forgotten that without the fleet, the army is only left with less than 10,000 troops scattered in Jilin and Heilongjiang, what else can they use to negotiate? Even if the Russians had transferred troops from the Baltic today, it would have been three months before they arrived here!

Three months, a lot can happen.

"Mr. Feng, in my capacity as the Imperial Ambassador and Earl, I request that your country immediately stop its military operations in the three northeastern provinces, otherwise all the consequences will be borne by your country!" Cassini had red eyes, glared at Feng Qi, and said angrily! In the past, the gentle and elegant aristocratic style on him had long since disappeared from the clouds with one urgent report after another.

"All the consequences will be borne by your country." Hearing this, the smile on the corner of Feng Qi's mouth became even stronger, this is too familiar! The Russian ambassador was also too lazy and directly plagiarized the words of his own declaration of war, without any creativity.

"Dear Mr. Ambassador, have you forgotten that your request cannot be fulfilled? Our two countries are already at war, and now everything can only be left to the military to speak. Feng Qi picked up the teacup, and the wind was light.

Cassini was choked at once, but for the nearly 15,000 army soldiers captured in Motianling and the Liaodong Peninsula, he still stubbornly shouted: "No, this is a sneak attack, a despicable act, and this uncivilized behavior must be stopped immediately." ”

"Sneak attack?" Feng Qi sneered: "Mr. Ambassador, may I ask when your country attacked the Beiyang Naval Division and shelled Lushun?" Is there any advance notice? After speaking, he looked at Sun Yuwen and Xu Yongyi, who came with Casini, and said with a smile: "Do you two say that I am right?" ”

The corners of Sun Yuwen's mouth twitched twice, as a concurring soldier, he promoted the Minister of Military Aircraft who joined forces with Russia, and now that Russia suddenly sent troops to attack the Northeast and Lushun, he has been attacked by the Qing School, and he and Li Hongzhang are both classified as the culprits who led the wolf into the house!

But he never expected that this would be a few days? Hawaii actually declared war on Russia, and not only defeated the Russian naval division with more than a dozen large ships, but also landed in Liaodong with it, and defeated the other army.

As a result, all the previous preparations for negotiations with Russia have come to naught, and the main opponent has suddenly changed from Russia to Hawaii, and how to make the withdrawal of the Pacific Army become the biggest dispute in these courts.

So after Cassini came to visit, he immediately agreed to come with him, and also pulled Xu Yongyi, but he didn't expect that he had just entered the door and had such a dismount!

Say right? That's impossible, and once you talk like that, you're not collaborating with the enemy! It doesn't work to say that you don't know, and the imperial court is still counting on taking the opportunity of the Russians to ask for an armistice to force the Hawaiian army to withdraw from Liaodong!

So for a while he didn't know how to speak.

Xu Yongyi next to him also sighed in his heart, he was unwilling to come to this errand, but now that the Pacific Army is powerful, even the British are unwilling to come forward. If the imperial court sat down with them alone to discuss, there might be more, but now that Sun Yuwen actually brought Russia along, isn't it uncomfortable to find it!

But since he came, he couldn't do nothing, so he thought about it before saying, "Lord Feng, it seems that there is no need to pursue the past, now we just want to know, what is your army going to do in the northeast?" ”

"Don't talk about the past!" Feng Qi snorted: "So thousands of Beiyang soldiers died in vain? ”

"This is our own business, and we don't need Ambassador Feng to worry about it." Sun Yuwen couldn't get used to Feng Qi for a long time, and suddenly snorted coldly.

"yes, it looks like I'm really in vain." Feng Qi pursed her lips and put down the teacup, but she had already scolded Sun Yuwen in her heart. The young master stood up for you, but only got a sentence of "Don't work hard!" "I really don't know how the officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Naval Division, who are still in the Ryukyus at this moment, will feel when they hear this!

Therefore, he also turned his head and ignored the two ministers of military aircraft, and said to Cassini: "Mr. Ambassador, please forgive me for saying that if your country is willing to negotiate, we are very welcome. ”

As soon as Feng Qi finished saying this, Cassini immediately breathed a sigh of relief, he was afraid that Hawaii would continue to fight now, not to mention that the three northeastern provinces would not be able to eat, and even Beria would probably be finished!

But before he could speak, Feng Qi had already raised three fingers and proposed a ceasefire condition.

"First of all, the current Russian troops in Liaodong must immediately lay down their arms and surrender to our Pacific Army nearby."

"Second, we should hold open high-level negotiations and invite Britain, France, and Germany to sit in on the talks."

"In addition, your country must pay Honolulu £20 million for damages."

The first two are fine, but the third is really too deceitful, if it is returned like this, will His Majesty Nikolai immediately send someone to kill him? What's more, the Far Eastern Fleet is gone, and it is on your own side that suffers!

And Sun Yuwen on the side was even more depressed, he seemed to have become a redundant person in this living room, because Feng Qi's words did not mention how to deal with the three northeastern provinces, could it be that the northeast is gone? Unwilling, he immediately interjected: "Lord Feng, is it true that after the negotiation between your country and Russia is reached, your army will withdraw from Liaodong?" ”

"Lord Sun, to tell you the truth, my Duke is ready to lease the three northeastern provinces for arable land at a price of one million taels of silver to supplement my country's grain consumption." Feng Qi gave an idiot look back: "As for the earth realm, how about taking Fengtian as the boundary?" ”

"Lend! Take Mukden as the boundary! Why don't you just say that you want to cede the three northeastern provinces! Sun Yuwen's face turned green, such a request is simply too deceitful.

Xu Yongyi sighed quietly again, and sure enough, what he guessed was right, that Young Master Li was eyeing the fat in the Northeast! Now the question is, if the imperial court does not agree, will that Young Master Li directly choose to go to war and march into Tianjin and Yanjing?

At present, the imperial court has accumulated deep evils, and the governors of various places have withheld taxes without authorization, and the private soldiers are brave, once those Pacific troops enter Tianjin, I am afraid that the entire Qing Dynasty will be in danger!

Cassini, who was next to him, was even more reluctant to see the Pacific Army swallowing the Northeast like this, and shouted: "No, this is impossible!" Don't forget, Your Excellency, that in Mukden, in Jilin and Heilongjiang, there are still more than 15,000 heroic Slavic warriors in our country! ”

"And ......." Cassini looked at the two Qing court military ministers beside him, and the corners of his mouth quizzled: "As far as I know, His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing State has mobilized 50,000 troops, I don't think you want to see us join forces." ”

"Scare me?"

Feng Qi laughed, took out a telegram from the table and handed it to Cassini: "Mr. Ambassador, I feel it is necessary to tell you the news first, the 3,000 army and 2,000 cavalry of your country stationed in Mukden have laid down their weapons in the early hours of this morning. ”

"In addition, our army has surrounded Changchun!"

"What!" ……

(To be continued)