In the port of Manila, the white Royal Princess slowly put away the iron cat, the world-famous royal cruise ship that stayed in Manila for a full month, finally began to set foot on the return journey. ※※※※※ I ※ I ※ ※

This is a month that people cannot forget, and later historians even called this month a great turning point for the Chinese nation, because it was the departure of this ship that heralded that the Chinese nation finally embarked on a broad road.

As the Navy Victory Parade attracted violent repercussions in various places along the coast, some things that had been lost for thousands of years began to be slowly recovered in the hearts of the people, standing on the upper deck, looking at the farther and farther Luzon Island, Li Mo gently held Luo Sanniang's hand, looked at her with a smile, and breathed a long sigh of relief.

The deck was silent, except for two figures that were getting closer.

Holding Li Mo's arm and looking at the face close at hand, a layer of mist rose in Luo Sanniang's beautiful eyes for no reason, maybe only the four sisters in this world know how much effort he has put into this country.

The world only saw another victory for the navy, and saw the brilliance and glory, but they did not see him lying on the map and began to study the great battle a few years ago, did not see him drawing drawings with red eyes, and did not see him lighting a cigarette alone on the night before the fleet set out, and his hands trembled slightly.

As Chen Ping said, this difficult day has finally passed, just like a person who is holding his breath and desperately swimming forward in the water, suddenly sticks his head out of the water and sucks hard.

After following him for a long time, she changed from ignorance to understanding, so she knew that this was just a breath halfway, and then the country would continue to dive forward.

On 8 May, Li Mo and Luo Sanniang returned to Beijing, accompanied by representatives of Britain, France, the United States, and Germany, and even Salisbury temporarily postponed his visit to Japan, hoping to hold a second meeting with Li Mo.

At the same time that Li Mo set foot on the port of Tianjin, the news of St. Petersburg also arrived at the same time, just like the annihilation of the Russian expeditionary fleet by China, this news also made all countries unable to sleep, "because everyone knows that if Nicholas II cannot control the domestic situation completely, let alone retake the east of the Yenisei River, I am afraid that he will have to worry about the safety of the entire Ural Mountains, including Yekaterinburg."

This is unacceptable to Europe!

Although the newspapers and parliaments of France and Britain have condemned the atrocities of Nicholas II, the governments of all countries also know that they need Nicholas II at this moment, and they need a Russia that can keep the Chinese people in Asia.

In addition to worrying, "the world also feels incredible about Li Mo's luck, if there is no civil strife in Russia, then let alone a year, with the character of Nicholas II, it will be fought for ten years!"

Although Europe has temporarily lost the good opportunity to contain China, from the perspective of Britain, especially France, in fact, if Russia really loses its huge Siberian territory, "it is not a big bad thing, after all, a poor living environment, perennial frozen soil, the number of immigrants who have spent a hundred years is only about two million, and Siberia, which has no output at all, is not a big burden for Russia." So the loss of that land will not really weaken Russia much, but will allow the Russians to focus their attention on Europe.

Germany was no longer satisfied with its position, and Limer's experience of fighting a way through navy and naval artillery undoubtedly inspired Germany and Wilhelm II, plus a huge naval shipbuilding program was already being prepared, and the economic leaps and bounds gave Wilhelm II the basis for adventure, plus the formidable army power "If it is not contained, it will be a disaster for Europe." ※※※※※ I ※ I ※ ※

So Salisbury went to Beijing to meet with Li Enfu half a month ago, "Judging from the posture of his hurried departure, Hua's rise has touched something deep in the hearts of some people" Although the enthusiasm of the people is being aroused, Li Mo is very clear that the more this time, the more he needs to remain calm.

Once again, the eyes of the world are focused on Beijing, especially when Witte made an urgent trip to Europe on behalf of Nicholas II.

On 10 May, Li Enfu accepted the British first Salisbury's suggestion and announced a one-month truce on the Western Front with Tomsk as the center, waiting for the attitude of Russia.

In the face of Beijing's signals, Nicholas II, although reluctant, was forced to set fire to a temporary ceasefire due to the domestic unrest that threatened to ignite the prairies.

On the same day of the ceasefire, Tang Shaoyi departed for New York on behalf of the Chinese government, where he would meet with the foreign ministers of various countries and the plenipotentiary of Nicholas II, Witte.

A negotiation that had been filled with the smell of gunpowder was about to begin, and at this time, the delegation in Beijing, led by Salisbury, began to put pressure on Li Mo to give a reasonable explanation for Lefei's order to shell Banda Aceh.

The military's attitude towards this matter was very clear, and that was because the Dutch took the lead in violating the Neutrality Act, and allowed Russia to add coal, which eventually caused the death of hundreds of heroic Chinese naval officers, and the navy only took a retaliatory action.

However, Britain and France and other countries believed that the Netherlands was forced to be helpless, and the Russian fleet at that time was far superior to the Netherlands, and if the port was not opened, it would lead to war, so the Dutch governor had no choice but to do it, and the scope of retaliation taken by the Chinese Navy was obviously too large, causing tens of thousands of deaths and injuries, including more than 2,000 white Europeans, so the murderers must be severely punished.

Although the "Navy Fury" operation was not ordered by Li Mo, it did come out of his instructions, this is not that he wants to attack Sumatra, but in this way he wants to destroy the foundation of Dutch rule in Southeast Asia, after the loss of Borneo, in fact, the foundation of Dutch rule has begun to loosen, Banda Aceh is to accelerate this process, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Intelligence, within a month after the shelling, the number of injuries to the Dutch colonists on the island of Sumatra increased by two percent, as long as the flames continue to be fanned, Then sooner or later the Netherlands will have to withdraw from Asia.

In fact, this old sea coachman never really took control of the East Indies, and while they took advantage of the ethnic contradictions to create killings, they also destroyed their own ruling base, including Sumatra and Java, where there have always been resistance forces, just because their strength is too weak, and Hua's repeated attacks are "drowned out of sight."

In addition to expelling the Dutch from Southeast Asia, Lee also hoped to take this opportunity to de jure annex the island of Dutch Guinea, after all, military occupation and de jure recognition are two different things.

To put it bluntly, it's just that you yin me, I'll punch you, and then set up a table to "drink", I apologize to you, and you have to come up with something substantial to compensate me.

Just when the two sides were entangled in the Banda Aceh incident, a news quietly came out of Huā Garden, that the imperial concubine Qiaoxi Niangniang would take the imperial princess and some noble brothers who were rewarded after the founding of the People's Republic of China to Thailand to worship the Buddha.

"Going to Thailand to worship the Buddha? There are so many famous temples in the country, why go to Thailand? ”

After receiving the news, the Thai ambassador to China was simply overwhelmed with excitement, and China's repeated actions in the South China Sea and the annihilation of the Russian navy had already aroused Thailand's worries, and it was feared that China would annex the entire southeastern peninsula, especially when the Chinese navy fleet was actually threatening in the name of a victory march in Korea and Japan, and if relations with China were properly handled, the ambassador would have a headache.

But now the mother and the queen are going to Thailand to pay homage to the Buddha, which is undoubtedly a friendly signal, so the Thai ambassador sent a telegram home at the speed of the telegram and personally accompanied the trip.

The king of Thailand who got the news was also overjoyed, personally arranged a grand welcome ceremony, when the small group took the train from Beijing to Shanghai first, and boarded the ship there, arrived in Bangkok under the protection of a Jinghai-class light patrol, received a grand reception, in the three-day visit to the Buddha, the visiting delegation headed by the concubine Niangniang and the imperial lady showed the demeanor of the royal family of a great country, "also visited the local poor in the name of the royal family of the Chinese Empire, and presented Thailand with a million blue coins worth of "medicine" to help Thailand improve the medical environment.

The day after the visit, Qiao Xi Niangniang expressed for the first time her personal dream of Sino-Thai friendship "and called on the people of Southeast Asia to unite, forget the previous war, and build a united and friendly Greater Nanyang."

On 25 May, in order to express friendship and respond to the initiative of the concubine, the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire sold two captured Russian 2,200-ton protective cruisers USS Vestrana and USS Diamond to the Thai government at a low price of 300,000 blue coins, about 40,000 pounds.

In Huā Garden, Long Guozhang touched Hu and patted his ass and said: "Your Majesty" Guifei Niangniang Niang Niang Buddha's trick is really amazing! ”

Li Mo glared at this guy angrily, and said: "Okay, my naval commander, the ability to fight a war has not increased much, but the kung fu of patting sycophants has increased, and women's diplomacy has been called concubine diplomacy by you, okay!" ”

"Yes, Lao Long, didn't you murmur that the concubine Niangniang abducted your mouth and daughter, and now you have to eat cold rice and cold dishes when you go home." Chen Ping squeezed his eyes and teased.

"Nonsense! Your Majesty, Yuanshou is a rumor! Long Guozhang hurriedly waved his hand: "I think of my imperial count, how can I eat cold rice!" ”

"Well, you won't eat cold rice, it's a fact that you get into a cold quilt! Ha ha. After Yan Fu finished speaking, he also laughed.

The three pillars of the military farted there, Li Enfu also shook his head with laughter, and he also admired Li Mo's move very much, this is simply a holy bottom salary, first stabilize Thailand, and then promote peace in the Great Nanyang, which is equivalent to telling everyone that Hua has no intention of continuing to expand in Nanyang, which can not only stabilize the hearts of the people in the southeast, but also lay a good foundation for the entangled Banda Aceh.

Crucially, this would certainly encourage anti-colonizers in places like Sumatra and accelerate the colonial disintegration of the Great Powers in Southeast Asia.

Now around China, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United States all have military bases, and the first three are all in Nanyang, but the ethnic groups there are complex and need attention, so we have to consider speeding up the expulsion of them.

Although Germany occupied the island of Kyushu, the strength of the German navy was not good, but the United States has been dominating the port of Yokohama recently, but Yokosuka is in its own hands, coupled with the garrison of Shikoku Island, it is difficult for the Americans to make waves here, so Hua can be regarded as ushering in a good opportunity to work hard.

But before that, there's one tricky thing to do, and that's to cut the Navy!

Since the Russian Navy was basically wiped out, the Chinese Navy with a total tonnage of 590,000 tons took its place and soared to the third in the world.

Now as long as he doesn't compete with Britain for the first place in the world, it doesn't matter how many people rank first, the problem is that the increase in total tonnage will inevitably lead to greater expenses, so disposing of all the captured Russian ships and reducing naval spending have become the top priority.

Li Enfu squinted at Long Guozhang, who was joking with Chen Ping, and asked with a smile: "Old Dragon, what are you going to do with those Russian ** ships?" ”

This time, Long Guozhang didn't jump up, and now he can't look down on Russian things, and he can't wait to exchange money to come back and build a few more battleships, so he immediately patted his chest and invited credit: "My Prime Minister, this time you can rest assured, I have already asked people to contact the envoys of various countries in China, and I am preparing to sell these warships to save money for the country." ”

"Well, that's good. This time, you're looking at the big picture. Li Mo snatched the words, nodded with a smile, nodded and continued: "In addition, you make preparations, the Polaris will be handed over to the Naval Academy immediately, and in the future, it will be used as a collection of the Naval Museum together with the Dingyuan, and the other two Polaris will also be sold, and the technology of the triple naval guns on the Vladivostok class cannot be leaked, so it will be directly retired and sold to the steel mill for recuperation." ”

"What!"

Long Guozhang, who had just been proud, jumped up like a rabbit that had been stepped on his tail, if it wasn't Li Mo who spoke, it was estimated that he would have gone up with a mouthful of spit.

The Vladivostok class is better to say, it was originally converted from old Russian warships, and its seaworthiness and tactical capabilities have been degraded to meet the requirements, but how many years are the three Polaris? It's going to be sold!

Isn't this a loser?

Long Guozhang's biting appearance made Li Enfu and the other three secretly amused, and Li Mo didn't seem to see it, so he took care of himself. Tea ceremony: "Within half a year, except for the six dukes, all the remaining coal-fired warships must be eliminated, and the total tonnage must be reduced to less than 500,000 tons." ”

Without waiting for the four of them to react, he suddenly got up and waved his hand, and glanced at Long Guozhang: "I have to go to see Salisbury in a while, so I don't have time to listen to your words now." ”

"I'll give you half a year to rest and recuperate, and after half a year, prepare for the naval expedition."

"Repentance, Naval Expedition!"

Not to mention Long Guozhang now, even Li Enyan and the others stared at each other.

Expedition! Where to go?

I'm going on an expedition, interested friends can guess, and the page survey has changed, I hope you can choose it, and the hippopotamus can refer to it!