Chapter 213 End is equal to restart

On the bank of the Huangpu River, a touch of morning light was sprinkled into the room through the thick curtains. Roosevelt's face was gloomy and terrible. He extinguished the pungent kerosene lamp, and then slowly took off his glasses and put them on the incomprehensible telegram that he had been reading for several days.

Next to him, George Dewey, dressed in a white navy uniform, sighed slightly and opened the curtains.

Two British cruisers are quietly moored on the shore, next to the Baltimore he took when he came. The flags of Britain and the United States are intertwined, just like the relationship between the two countries.

They are both opposites and need each other.

For more than half a month, the intermittent Far East negotiations are finally coming to an end. Although this negotiation will not endanger the vital interests of the United States, it has been a complete failure for Roosevelt, who had carefully prepared and hoped to find an opportunity to contain his opponent.

George Dewey looked at Roosevelt's tired back and didn't understand why President Cleveland changed his mind less than two months after they left and succumbed to the huge purchase orders thrown by the Hawaiians.

He doesn't understand, where did the little Hawaii get so much money? Do they really sell white sugar at the price of gold?

As Japan retreated, Germany changed its point of view. Honolulu once again took the lead. Although he did not know how the Duke of Hawaii persuaded Germany, he seized Tsushima and Jeju Island, blocked Tokyo Bay, deterbed Japan, bombarded the mountain customs, and scared the Qing army to retreat for dozens of kilometers and went to the United States to use it. The change of policies by the President of the United States and members of Congress shows that his means of playing politics are no worse than the fleet in his hand!

Russia's maritime forces in the Far East have been swept away, and the army entering the northeast has all laid down its weapons. It can be said that this huge polar bear has lost its claws and teeth in a short time, and it has been impossible to recover in a few years.

Therefore, there is only a matter of time left for Russia's compromise. If Russia no longer insists, France will certainly not stick to it. After all, France cares more about Vietnam than the Northeast.

As for the Qing Dynasty, their own territorial problems need to rely on outsiders, which can be relied on at all. The small-scale shelling of Shanhaiguan a few days ago scared them.

Can the United States still stop the expansion of Honolulu?

George Dewey shook his head affirmatively. The loss of Hawaii has long determined that the United States has lost its initiative in the Pacific Ocean. Even with the containment of Midway Island, it will not cause trouble for Honolulu. After all, Midway Island lacks the most important freshwater resources and cannot station fleets and soldiers on a large scale!

At this moment, he understood why Roosevelt was so angry when he heard that Hawaii was occupied and encouraged Congress to go to war! It was only when the legislators paid more attention to Cuba that they finally gave Li Mo a chance.

In fact, George Dewey did not consider forcibly fighting Hawaii, but the intelligence in front of him made him a little prickly. According to observation, the large-caliber coastal defense guns arranged by Li Mo on Oahu and Cute Island have exceeded 500. Coupled with all kinds of small-caliber artillery, the total number may be nearly 1,000!

And he has been customizing small torpedo boats. Although there are not many countries that can build ships for him now, there are almost no restrictions on torpedo boats. Britain alone has built 20 for Honolulu, plus his own shipyard, and now there are more than 50 100-ton torpedo boats in Hawaii!

Coupled with the unique geographical environment, such a dense defense, not to mention the Pacific Brigade, even if several battleships on the West Coast are transferred, I'm afraid there will be no result!

Such a person was originally only confined to a few islands and lacked the necessary strategic resources, but with his own defeat and the merger of Ryukyu, Honolulu's hand has reached to the Far East. Now they control the huge and vast three northeastern provinces. Once the resources there are activated, what will he bring to the world? What about the change?

The only thing to be happy is that after Honolulu entered the Far East, they could not understand the chaos in less than ten years, so the contraction in the Pacific Ocean has become a foresighted, and the threat to the United States has been minimized.

But vigilance still can't be put down, because from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, it needs to go around the whole of South America, which is not only costly, but also amazing! At that time, I suffered a loss and didn't arrive in Hawaii in time.

Looking at the rising sun, Roosevelt seemed to regain some anger and gritted his teeth and asked, "How's the negotiation with the French?" After many years of partner, how could George Dewey not know what he was asking? He shook his head with a wry smile: "This is the second time that the French have refused to sell the right to dig the Panama Canal."

"Damn French!" Roosevelt scolded from the bottom of his heart. He could imagine how ugly the British looked today when Germany and his own representatives of the United States took the lead in supporting Hawaii's lease of the three northeastern provinces.

Perhaps this will be the biggest victory of this negotiation, and the British's right to speak in the Far East is becoming weaker and weaker with the strong intervention of Honolulu.

Roosevelt frowned. He still didn't understand why Li Mo was so lucky to take advantage of the opportunity of war between Japan and Russia to seize these two once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

"Let's go."

He picked up his clothes from the hanger. As soon as he was about to go with George Dewey to the upcoming final negotiations, suddenly there was a sound of footsteps, and the door was immediately knocked open.

The U.S. ambassador to China collided with two people with a solemn look: "You two, we are in trouble. There was a big riot in Cuba five days ago!" -

In Yanjing's military aircraft, incense was swaying. Several left-behind military aircraft ministers sat on the chairs and looked at the two folds on the table. Everyone looked extremely bad.

Prince Gong coughed a few times, breaking the silence of the room. He even said that running around has made his body worse. As long as the cool breeze blows, he must be coughing continuously, but there is nothing he can do. For the sake of the emperor and the sake of the Qing Dynasty, he has to come here early in the morning to discuss.

"Let's talk about it, what should we do now?"

After saying that, Weng Tongsu looked at Yi, who was getting old. At the same time, he sighed gently, but there was also some kind of expectation in his heart. If Prince Gong, one of the empress's party, really couldn't stand it, he might stimulate the emperor to step up the new step.

But he can't say this now, so he glanced at it and immediately turned to look at the others.

Because Sun Yuwen and Xu Yongyi went to Shanghai, in addition to Li Hongzao, who had just returned from Shanhaiguan, there were only Wang Wenshao, the minister of the Ministry of War, and Wang Wenshao in addition to another Prince of Qing who had just entered the military aircraft office.

Prince Qing Yi Qian only recently entered the military aircraft, mainly because Prince Gong was old and weak and in poor health. The empress dowager and the old Buddha opened his mouth to ask Prince Qing to return to the military aircraft. However, this person is shallow in wisdom and loyal to the empress dowager faction, so the emperor has been pressing until recently. Prince Gong really couldn't take charge of the government for a long time, so he had to compromise and use him.

Weng Tongsu's words attracted more sighs. The negotiations in Shanghai had been a failure, and those present did not expect that the foreigners would collectively fall to Hawaii and admit the fact that the Pacific Army controlled the three northeastern provinces with Fengtian as the boundary.

Coupled with the shelling that Li Hongzao saw with his own eyes in Shanhaiguan, everyone knows that the recovery of the three northeastern provinces is already a moon in the mirror, and it may also catch Yantai and Lushun. It is about to go to the court, but who will reveal the truth to the emperor has become the most difficult problem.

"Lord Weng, you are the emperor. I think it's better for you to tell the emperor. It's not that I don't work hard, but I don't wait for me!" Gang Yi swallowed his saliva, looked at the hot fold, and said.

"Yes, Lord Weng, you said it was the most suitable." Prince Qing also quickly echoed.

Seeing that these people said that they would submit it, Weng Tongsu immediately scolded in his heart. Obviously, it was a thunderous thing. Maybe it would be the end of dismissal as soon as it was submitted. How could he do such a thing?

So he hurriedly looked at Prince Gong, who had not yet made a statement. At this time, there was a sound of footsteps outside the corridor. Everyone looked at it quickly. Ronglu rubbed his hands and walked into the military aircraft and immediately said, "Your lords, the old Buddha is relieved!"

This sentence suddenly made a sound of relief in the military aircraft. Since the old Buddha has let go, I'm afraid the emperor can only change his course. The old Buddha's hand said that Nie Shicheng colluded with foreign enemies. If he didn't fight hard, he should be sentenced to death!" Before everyone could speak, Ronglu had taken out a fold from the cuff.

This sentence made everyone here suddenly thump again. They all agreed to rent it, but at this time, killing Nie Shicheng, who has a lot to do with the Pacific Army, is foreshadowing something? ——

In the evening, seeing that today's negotiations were coming to an end, a telegram from Yanjing completely changed the atmosphere in the Shanghai Club on the Bund No. 3.

On September 2, 1896, the armistice negotiations between Hawaii and Russia, which were intermittently maintained for a month, and the status negotiations between the three northeastern provinces finally reached a final agreement late at night.

First of all, Russia, the foreign minister, the plenipotentiary for Far Eastern affairs, Robanov, under the sudden change of attitude of various countries, finally had to lower the arrogant head of the Slavs he called.

Russia agreed to pay one million pounds to redeem all the army soldiers, but all weapons and horses were handed over to the Pacific Army, which meant that even the elite Cossack cavalry had to leave the three northeastern provinces with their feet.

Although the two sides still disagreed greatly in terms of key compensation and the tonnage of Russia's entry and exit of the Far East at the beginning, in the end, with the intervention of various countries, Li Enfu deliberately bought a face and promised not to pursue compensation of 20 million pounds for the time being, but the total tonnage of Russia's navy entering and leaving the Far East should not exceed 30,000 tons!

As long as he doesn't spend money, Robanov can only agree with his teeth. As for the total tonnage of no more than 30,000, it's okay. Anyway, Russia can't draw more warships to the Far East now.

Finally, it is about the release of the captured warships and sailors of the Russian Far East Fleet. In this regard, Li Enfu obviously adheres to the tradition that the young master must not leave an experienced sailor to the other party, and agreed to unconditionally release the commander of the Russian Far East Fleet Witheft, but other personnel Because it is a naval loot, the ransom must be paid according to the tradition of the navy, 10,000 pounds per person, and 100,000 pounds per destroyer, 500,000 pounds for cruisers, and 1 million pounds for battleships!

A discerning person knows at a glance that this is a deliberate embarrassment. Redeeming all the sailors alone will cost tens of millions of pounds! Naturally, no one can accept such conditions, but Li Enfu also said that if Russia is unable to redeem them, these soldiers can return home by themselves as long as they have served in Honolulu for five years, and Russia is also allowed to send people to visit once a year to understand their physical condition!

Pay the ransom!

Ropanov didn't even think about it. There are many Russian soldiers! So after hearing that he could visit, he immediately made a decision to temporarily give up the idea of saving the officers and soldiers of the Far East Fleet, and he did not know how much he would pay for today's idea in a few years.

When a detailed rule and a text were repeatedly chewed, the armistice agreement between Honolulu and the Russian Empire was finally finalized. Although both sides were ambiguous during the specific armistice period, both the Russians, Honolulu, or other countries know that the Russians could not insert it again in five years. Hands in the Far East.

With the conclusion of the armistice agreement between the two countries, the negotiations on the status of the Northeast also began. Under the circumstances of internal and external pressure, Qing Zhengxu finally had to agree to take Fengtian as the boundary and lease the three northeastern provinces.

In Tongshang Port, although he agreed to Qingdao and Yantai, he asked Britain to also participate in the management. Li Mo, who had originally put forward the requirements of the two places just for fear of German occupation, immediately agreed to the other party and agreed that Yingxia would jointly manage the two places, and the number of troops stationed in each place should not exceed 500.

In addition, in order to compensate for the loss of the Pacific Army expelling the Russian army, Qing Zheng Axe promised to lease 200,000 mu of land in Jinzhou Bay, including Huludao, to Honolulu for construction.

When the last bell came to midnight on the third day, everything was finally settled. Li Mo immediately became a wolf thief among all the people in the Qing Dynasty, rebelled against foreign pirates, and Li Enfu and others were officially promoted to the overseas anniper clan.

In this years of deception and intriguous post-war negotiations, the only thing that was disappointed was Britain. Because of the mistake of judgment, Britain got almost nothing in this battle for interests. Yantai and Qingdao were afraid that the Pacific Army would continue to be big, so they deliberately dragged them in.

The only thing that comforted Ogner was that the Pacific Army had agreed that it would not change the current rule of the Qing Dynasty, which relieved Britain, which had huge interests in the Far East.

On September 9, 1896, on the sixth day after the signing of the Shanghai agreement, the British political axe officially announced that it would return the purchase of the two battleships of the Pacific Army, and the two unfinished battleships would also be reworked and sold to Japan.

Unexpectedly, the German political axe announced that it would continue to fulfill the procurement agreement of the Pacific Army and speed up the delivery of the two battleships, which made Chen Pingren, who had been worried about being detained, relieved, and wondered why Germany still made such a strange choice after getting the contract.

In the face of the rising Pacific Army, the completely different choices between Britain and Germany immediately made everyone confused and guess what kind of deal was made under the negotiation table of the Shanghai Club.

But at the same time, everyone understands that with these two declarations, the next war in the Far East will be getting closer and closer. How will the rising Pacific Army face the new Japanese navy?

(to be continued)