The outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War filled the Far East with gunsmoke, and the first to bear the brunt was the headquarters of Nie Shicheng and Ye Zhichao in Asan, near Seoul.

On July 25, this Qing army in southern Korea was attacked by the main force of more than 4,000 people led by Major General Yoshimasa Oshima, the 9th Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army, from Seoul. At that time, the Qing army stationed in Asan had increased to more than 3,800 people, including 2,800 soldiers led by Nie Shicheng, the chief soldier of Taiyuan Town, and Jiang Zikang, the registered commander, who were stationed in Chenghuanyi, and Ye Zhichao, the commander of Zhili, led 1 battalion of 500 people to Gongzhou, and left 1 battalion in Asan.

After a day of fighting between the two armies, in view of the fact that the Japanese army was strong in South Korea and its own reinforcements were still in the Pyongyang area of North Korea, the Qing army had to transfer more than 500 people, and the Japanese army lost 88 people.

After the Japanese army drove out the two Qing troops, it stepped up the transportation of troops from the country. The 5th Division, the 10th Mixed Brigade and other units also landed in Korea during this period.

In Japan, divisions are being mobilized to reinforce Korea next.

In the face of Japan's sword-sharpening moves, the Qing side is also making preparations. Li Zhongtang was also making preparations, and continued to draw the Sheng Army and the Feng Army from China to train troops to fight in Korea.

Of course, Li Zhongtang did not only make this move, but it was not at Li Zhongtang's kind invitation that the Italian minister to the Qing Dynasty, Jia Liwen, walked into the busy Tianjin Governor's Palace.

"Minister Jia, the main reason for inviting Your Excellency here this time is that my country needs your country's help."

As soon as Li Zhongtang opened, he explained the intention of inviting Jia Liwen this time.

"Due to Japan's despicable and shameless sneak attack, our country is not fully prepared now, so I want to buy a batch of weapons and ammunition from your country to equip our soldiers."

Zhou Fu, who is a confidant and right-hand man, opened his mouth to tell Minister Jia Liwen about the intention of inviting the other party this time.

That's right, although Italy reminded him many times, Li Zhongtang didn't pay too much attention to it, so he waited until the war to find that the armaments were still not fully prepared.

At this time, Li Zhongtang remembered Italy, not only could he invite Minister Jia to Tianjin to negotiate, and Zhou Fu's talk was much better than his own talk, at least it was to save his face.

Minister Jia had guessed before he came, so he was not surprised by Zhou Fu's words.

But it was not easy for him to agree to Li Zhongtang's request on behalf of Italy, only to see Jia Liwen speak. "Lord Zhou's words make it difficult for me. Your country believes and knows the principle of diplomatic neutrality, and it is not easy for Rome to let our country break its neutrality and participate in it. ”

Yes, after the outbreak of war between China and Japan, although Italy has not yet declared neutrality, it is simply impossible for Italy to take the lead in violating the principle of neutrality without paying some price.

Because he knew that since Qianli Zhaozhao invited him to come this time, a small amount of weapons and ammunition would definitely not be so solemn. Of course, it's not easy, this means that the price is small, and Li Zhongtang, as a human spirit of the Qing Dynasty, will he not understand what Jia Liwen means?

Sure enough, as Jia Liwen's words fell, I saw Zhou Fu speak directly. "We will remember Italy's kindness, and of course we will not suffer from our friends, this is our need."

As he spoke, he was handed a list of weapons purchases to Jia Liwen.

Minister Jia took the list and looked at it carefully.

15,000 M88 Carcano rifles, 30,000 Vitryy M1870 rifles, 48 Maxim heavy machine guns, 68 57mm mountain guns, 32 75mm field guns, 16 85mm field guns, 6 150mm coastal defense guns, and 2 240mm coastal defense guns. As well as fifteen million rounds of ammunition of all kinds, 80,000 rounds of shells of all kinds, with a total value of more than 15 million lire.

The list of these weapons is quite normal, and Jia Liwen thinks that he can nod his head and agree. After all, Rome had already given instructions to guarantee Italian interests in the Far East. And Italy's interests in the Far East are basically concentrated in the Qing Dynasty, so the meaning of this statement is self-evident.

As for why you don't agree easily, it's not simple, if it's easy to obtain, then you won't know how to be grateful.

However, Jia Liwen now doesn't care about the items in the front part of the list, because there are still some contents in the back of the list.

"Your country not only wants to buy our warships, but also wants to hire our retired officers and soldiers to operate the warships, this matter is too sensitive, and it is difficult for my country to agree."

That's right, compared to the sale of weapons that violated the principle of neutrality, Jia Liwen felt that this Li Zhongtang felt too good about himself, and actually wanted the Italian army to fight for him. That's right, what to hire retired officers and soldiers is to cover people's eyes and ears.

It may be that in the Sino-French War ten years ago, Italy's actions gave this old man an illusion, and Jia Liwen felt the need to dispel this Li Zhongtang's illusion.

In the face of Jia Liwen's rebuttal, Li Zhongtang was not angry, after all, he had tasted the sweetness before, so in the spirit of having dates and not playing two poles, he tried one or two.

"Minister Jia, don't be angry, as far as I know, this kind of thing is not uncommon in Europa, so my country's request is nothing."

Obviously, Li Zhongtang has done his homework here and knows some of the situation in Europe.

Hearing Li Zhongtang's words, Minister Jia felt the need to give this popular science a lesson.

"That's been the case for hundreds of years, and it's hardly seen in Europe today. In addition, your country was at war with France, and at that time our country would send retired officers and soldiers, which was a very poor relationship between our country and France. ”

It is obvious that Jia Liwen wants to tell Li Zhongtang that the situation is different now, and if he wants Italy to play, it is impossible without enough price. With these millions of taels of purchase orders, it is impossible to satisfy Italy.

Li Zhongtang also understood the meaning of Minister Jia Liwen, at this time Li Zhongtang's power still existed, and it was not very urgent to invite Italy to help him, so he immediately changed the topic.

"It's me Meng Lang, so let's talk about weapons procurement."

After inviting Italy to help, the two sides were finally able to negotiate the purchase of weapons.

And Li Zhongtang also knew that with the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, it was difficult to buy weapons at present, so he did not insist too much on the price this time.

For the sake of the interests of the Far East, Italy did not ask for too high a price, so this batch of arms was finally sold at a price of 22 million.

Don't think that Italy is taking advantage of the fire, in fact, Li Zhongtang took advantage.

You must know that at present, due to the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war, the price of arms has risen by half like a rocket.

And it's not like you can buy it if you have the money, let alone such a large batch of arms.

Moreover, Li Zhongtang's requirements were still high, and this batch of arms must be transported to Tianjin within two months. In terms of shipping time, this means that this batch of munitions must be taken from army warehouses.

It can be said that Italy has already sat half of its ass on the side of China.

Next, it depends on how Li Zhongtang plays, Italy has already given a lot of support.