Chapter 295 Yuan Shikai is looking for a way out

In the door of the temporary office in Penghu, Jigot looked at Ji Rushan sitting opposite. His eyes were spitting fire, and his teeth were almost broken. In order to find an excuse, this guy was so shameless that he wanted to fight with himself, and he used a battleship against an armored cruiser!

Unfortunately, after discussion, the Minister of the Navy and the President believed that France was not ready to fight a large-scale sea battle in the Far East, and the current situation in Europe did not allow the fleet to come out. What's more, France's main interests were still in Africa, so it had to accept mediation to allow Taiwan and Penghu autonomy.

This yellow-skinned infidels made France lose the opportunity to enter Taiwan, and also made him miss the opportunity to become a French hero! God, I originally wanted to take a photo when I planted the French flag in Taiwan's governor's mansion, because after returning to China, there must be many noble women and girls willing to climb into their beds.

But now!

In the face of the angry Jigot, Ji Rushan was comfortable and even a little sleepy. Even the fierce quarrels around him seemed to be excited, because he knew very well that his task had been completed. In the case that neither Britain and Germany wanted France to occupy Taipeng, it was impossible for the French to do it at all.

As for how to deal with the rest of the matter, it is what the State Council needs to consider. The young master does this better than any other country. Soldiers are soldiers. They carry guns and fight to protect the country. They should not interfere too much in political matters, so his mind has already flown to the shipyard.

In Ryukyu, four Duke-class battleships have been named. In another two months, a new battleship will join the fleet, and four Jinghai-class light patrols will be delivered one after another in the next two years. In addition, the equipment department has begun to design new destroyers, which is said to be more than twice as large as the current use, and And the maximum speed can exceed 30 knots.

But this is not what he cares most about. He was surprised and surprised that the No. 6 dock of the Ryukyu Shipyard began to be rebuilt on the day of his departure. According to the workers, the dock will be converted into a closed dock similar to that in Honolulu.

This made him look forward to it. You should know that the Ryukyu Shipyard was originally more closed than Honolulu due to its location. After the establishment of the strict access management policy and the Lushun base camp, all the envoys of various countries flocked there, so now there are much less eyes in Ryukyu.

In the case that Honolulu has four closed docks, it takes time and effort to close a large dock, which makes him very moved, especially the Jinghai class after the last closed dock, so what will happen this time?!

However, no matter how he inquires, he doesn't know why the dock should be closed and what the use of the dock after it is closed. You should know that in his current identity, he can already understand anything within the army, including several confidential research and development projects, but this time he can't find any information. There are only two possibilities, one is true. No one knows what to build. The other is that it belongs to a high-secret project similar to the Jinghai level, which was announced to senior officers after half of the construction!

What kind of warship is worth taking this kind of high-secret protection again!

Ji Rushan was fascinated, and the negotiations in the office also entered the most **. After consultation of all parties, it was impossible to start a war. Li Mo also said that he would not garrison and would not interfere in Taiwan's autonomy. Germany was eager to digest Kyushu Island and had no energy to come to the southeast coast to confront Britain and France. In the end, everyone promised to let To ensure the balance of the southeast coast, it will not interfere with Taiwan's autonomy.

Negotiations on Taiwan-Peng autonomy were smooth, but at the same time, Master Li's posture of marching to the southeast on the Taiwan issue made Britain and France very worried. When the German representative left, he immediately stopped Tang Shaoyi, who pretended to leave.

After the threat of the Pacific Fleet gradually and the technical fresh posture, Britain and France realized that if they did not face the reality of a strong man in the Far East, it would undoubtedly drag the two countries into an endless competition and consumption, and even a war would break out.

So both families hope to take this opportunity to limit Li Mo and his army from allowing him to expand indefinitely, otherwise the southeast coast will be embezzled by him.

After learning about the attitude of the two countries, Tang Shaoyi was very "angry" and believed that it was a deliberate suppression of her own side. She was extremely dissatisfied and expressed that she could not accept such a problem. If necessary, she would even appeal by force. This statement obviously made the two countries very dissatisfied.

Unless there is a full-scale war, it is difficult to really contain Li Mo, but the domestic political and international situation does not allow them to fight, especially when this guy hooks up with Germany is extremely tricky, and the negotiations suddenly fell into an impasse.

On September 3, two Jinghai-class light patrols suddenly appeared in the South China Sea and arrived in the waters near Hainan Island. After confronting a French cruiser, this contradiction became even more prominent. Britain and France realized that if they played hide-and-seek with the Pacific Fleet endlessly, they would not be able to gain stability in the Far East. Set the interests.

At this time, after soliciting Li Mo's opinion, Tang Shaoyi gave a compromise plan, that is, the Pacific Fleet will not enter the southeast coastal waters of Taiwan. At the same time, as long as the businessmen of the two countries abide by the laws within his jurisdiction, they will be able to ensure that the merchant ships of the two countries are on the southeast coast. And any waters within his jurisdiction are free to pass.

This proposal immediately received a response from Britain. Bur's situation is becoming more and more serious. The intricate competition in African colonies has gradually emerged, and Britain has to temporarily shrink its forces and reduce its attention to the Far East.

Although France is very angry about the loss of Taiwan, there was a call to fight against Li Mo in China, but there is indeed no way to start a war immediately. What's more, now Li Mo's wings have been formed. It has not only created the world's Fourth Fleet in just a few years, but also passed the test of actual combat. In addition, it is also their home field, saying The long-distance attack of the two Russian families has proved that once the main fleet enters the enemy's waters, it will be very dangerous, so they can only reluctantly agree to this condition.

But on the second issue, there was a big dispute between the two sides, that is, Li Mo proposed that while the Pacific Fleet did not enter the southeast coastal waters, the two countries should also ensure that the merchants within his jurisdiction had the right to enter and exit the southeastern coast and the overseas colonies of the two countries, and could not be interfered by any administrative and military means. It is equivalent to saying that everyone needs to rely on commercial means to compete in these places in the future, and what causes the dispute is Li Mo's request to enter the mining power on Hainan Island.

It's okay for their merchants to enter and exit overseas colonies. Anyway, everyone is doing business, and the two countries don't want to be in a stalemate with Li Mo because of some small things. However, entering Hainan to open a mine has aroused strong dissatisfaction from France. Although France has not officially occupied Hainan Island, it is too close to the Beibu Gulf. However, Li Mo's Wherever he reaches, God knows if he will attack Vietnam and Cam Ranan Bay, especially the ability of the Pacific Fleet to drill into the mines-stretched harbor, which makes me feel cold to think about it.

Seeing that the two sides were deadlocked and the negotiations were about to collapse, Britain was unwilling to give up this opportunity to restrict Li Mo to make peace. Finally, when Li Mo threw a killer mace and did not interfere with the two countries continuing to occupy the colonies on the southeast coast, France agreed to Li conditionally. Silent request.

Naturally, the French did not know that Master Li had played tricks. The Shilu Iron Mine and Tiandu Iron Mine in Hainan are his coveted treasures for a long time, and they are currently in the process of earth mining. The poor output is small, and they have not attracted the attention of the outside world.

Especially in the Shilu mining area, if it is made public, I'm afraid that Britain and France will be jealous, and there will even be a war. Fortunately, it is located in the living area of the Li people, and it is difficult to mine in inconvenient transportation. France obviously does not know that there are enough treasures buried there to cause war. As for the Tian Du iron ore next to Sanya, the French have tried to mine it, but they did not see the ore seedlings, so they also gave up. Although the reserves of millions of tons there are not much, it is rich iron ore, and it is easy to mine. When they arrive, they can be put into production quickly to alleviate the expanding demand for steel.

The fooled French finally nodded and agreed to Li Mo's request, but also made strict restrictions on mining areas, and did not allow warships to enter Hainan waters again, and even made strict restrictions on the number of soldiers in the mine.

After more than ten days of negotiations, the three parties finally signed the Colonial Exchange Agreement, which was also a major diplomatic breakthrough in the Xinhua State Council led by Li Mo. When Tang Shaoyi returned to Lushun with this secret agreement, everyone clenched their fists excitedly, not because of mineral deposits or Taiwan. Autonomy, but because the power division of the boundary of the Yangtze River and the agreement on the access of their respective colonies represent that the Chinese got the ticket to the club for the first time! ——

On the busy Tianjin wharf, the shouts of the porters came one after another. The cargo owners watched the connecting boats shuttle back and forth, and from time to time, they always looked at the two long berth wharves extending from the port area to the deep-water area in the distance.

The new wharf, built entirely of ash, pierced the sea like two sharp swords. Four huge ocean-going ships occupied all the berths. The four high cranes built with thick logs on the dock kept rocking arms.

This scene makes other people's eyes hot. You should know that the water in Tianjin Port is not deep enough. Large ships need to be connected by small boats to load and unload goods. It is not only laborious, but also increases the cost in vain. It takes a 3,000-ton cargo ship, and it takes at least one day and one night to unload all the goods. What about them? Go straight to the dock, and with the help of that kind of crane, it was all done in the morning.

It's so fast that it naturally attracted hot eyes, but no one dared to have any ideas. Even those princes Baylor did not dare to make an idea. It was very simple, because it was the industry of the shopkeeper Zhao.

Who is Manager Zhao?

Nowadays, this problem is almost well known to the children in Zhili, Tianjin. Everyone knows that the shopkeeper Zhao and his Sihai business are the property of the one in the north. Not to mention the ordinary Qingpi hooligans, even Ronglu, the governor of Zhili, are closed his eyes and unwilling to ask.

In addition to the expensive and convenient gray wharf, what is more eye-catching is the trading of merchants from all over the world. From mink ginseng in the northeast, to the white sugar tobacco leaves in Nanyang, to pancreas and nail matches, almost all of them are eye-catching big deals. White sugar alone can be described as Jindoujin, because Pang Almost all the large sugarcane planting land has been taken into their arms. In addition, it has been supported by Master Li, who has been known as the king of the north. At present, almost all the white sugar sold in the Qing Dynasty is printed with the label of the medium sweet sugar industry. Even foreigners who want to unload goods in the deep-water berth of Zhao's shopkeeper now have to say hello in advance.

Especially those bottom-level footmen. Who has ever seen foreigners nod and begging Chinese to do things in their lives, that is, on their new docks, foreigners dare not even fart. If they use the dock, they have to pay honestly, otherwise I'm afraid they can't even get out of Bohai Bay. They sent a big ship to block it.

And what makes them more jealous is that after the last time the dock was built, they recruited hundreds of footmen and hard workers, and half of the special dock loading and unloading companies. Now those companions not only no longer have to worry about eating last meal, but take the money that makes everyone jealous every month, which makes those who hesitate at the beginning regret. Half dead.

In this kind of unconsciousness, the sky seems to have slowly changed. In the past, Tianjin was a place where foreigners and nobles were rampant. Now the young master Li occupied Lushun and the three provinces of Northeast China. After playing in Bohai Bay, even the status of these hard laborers and footmen has improved a lot, and foreigners dare not beat and scold at will. It's too late to hide from those palace nobles.

Next to

, under a crooked neck tree near the new wharf, there was an unmarked carriage. The thick curtain made people unable to see the situation inside. More than a dozen riders stood around, scaring passers-by and footmen to take a detour.

These cavalrymen were all dressed in soap-colored military uniforms and carrying foreign guns, and their sharp eyes kept looking around, showing that they were different from other soldiers in the Qing Dynasty.

In the carriage, Yuan Shikai stared at the four huge ships and looked at the piles of goods constantly unloading from the ship. He was both envious and hateful.

I envy the other party for saying that he has entered the gold, mastered such a huge wealth, and established a huge sailor and power that many foreigners are amazed. At the same time, he also hates that the other party has put his hand into the heart of the Qing Dynasty and threatened himself not to help the Weixin Party!

Yuan Shikai sighed, put down the curtain to cover the slit, and then knocked on the wall of the car. The driver immediately waved the whip, and the cavalry around him quickly lined up on both sides to protect it.

On both sides of the road, all kinds of small foreign-style houses in gardens are constantly passing through the cars and windows. Many years of foreign affairs movement, coupled with this is the earliest commercial port in the north, so walking in the streets and alleys of Tianjin, Western-style buildings and asset buyers dressed in long braids can be seen everywhere.

Yuan Shikai squinted at the soldiers who followed left and right outside the window. Then he withdrew his eyes and looked at Wang Yingkai sitting opposite. He frowned and asked, "Shaochen, what do you think we should do now?"

Wang Yingkai was originally from Haicheng, Fengtianfu. Since he met Yuan Shikai, he found that this person was ambitious and had a wide range of means. He was far from a generalist. Moreover, his family background was prominent and he also had a friendship with Duke Li, so he had been following him and became his confidant.

After the Pacific Army occupied Lushun, he knew that the loss of the three northeastern provinces was inevitable, especially the rapid expansion and penetration of the other party in the three provinces in the past two years, which made him feel throbbing and uneasy. He could almost imagine that a few years later, the needles could not penetrate and the water could not splash in.

Originally, I thought that Japan and North Korea could still drag each other's footsteps, but I didn't expect that Japan didn't survive for a year, so the national strength was exhausted. In particular, the sailors built by the whole country's debt were also completely destroyed, which surprised everyone.

Now Li Mo has stabilized in the three northeastern provinces. If he is willing, his army can enter Zhili and enter Yanjing in the blink of an eye. As for the foreign backers that the court thinks, he has also seen through that those foreigners are basically only about interests, and there are villains who run faster than anyone else!

Hearing Yuan Shikai's words, Wang Yingkai didn't know his mind and got 20,000 urgently needed guns, but also exposed the purpose of his side. Li Mo's words were equivalent to putting them and the whole Beiyang New Army on the fire, which also made him have to praise the hatred of Master Li. He said with a wry smile, "Marshal, we don't seem to have a second way."

Yuan Shikai nodded. This time, he relied on foreigners to secretly buy 20,000 guns from Li Mo. He originally had an idea to help the reform party support the emperor, because at that time, in order to recover the imperial power, he had to continue to rely on him. As long as he cleaned up the Xiang army of the Huai army, he would be the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, even if he supported him again. It's easy for an emperor, but now!

The young master Li, with a seemingly rude and unreasonable word, let his preparation go to nothing, but did he give up like this? Yuan Shikai is not a person who is willing to fail, and he can judge the situation more than anyone else, so he immediately said, "Shao Chen, do you think we should walk around with Li Mo?"

"Walking around? What do you mean, marshal?

"Shao Chen, you and I have been friends for many years, and I don't hide it from you. Yesterday, I got a line report. Li Hongzhang took 5,000 Huai troops and 5,000 Guangyong. After arriving in Guangdong, he immediately joined hands with the French to start to suppress the revolutionary party. At present, he has reached the city of Guangzhou, and he can completely control Guangzhou in half a month at most.

With this great achievement and the support of the empress dowager, it is logical for him to take over as the governor of Liangguang. Once he takes office as Liangguang, with his friendship with Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi, Sheng Huaixuan is involved in it. It is imperative for them to unite, and the southeast will be an iron plate. Even if we will be in the future, it will only be a chicken tail. !

What's more, now the Weixin Party and the Empress Dowager in Yanjing City are incompatible. The conflict is only a matter of time. If it had been before, I would have failed when the situation was waiting for me, but now. Speaking of this, Yuan Shikai smiled bitterly: "Whether we choose the emperor or the empress dowager, I'm afraid we can't intervene, so it's time to think about the future for us and tens of thousands of brothers."

Wang Yingkai understood what Yuan Shikai meant and asked, "So what are you going to do, Marshal?"

"Recently, all parts of Shandong have been making trouble with the White Lotus Church. I think we might as well take this opportunity to temporarily transfer our new army to Shandong. We have established ourselves in the name of suppressing bandits. If it really can't work, we can go to Shanxi, Henan. Regardless of this matter, as long as we have tens of thousands of guns in our hands, no matter who gets the world in the future, we must give us a few It's a shame!" When Yuan Shikai said this, his eyes flashed away.

"But the general, the meaning of Li Mo's words is."

Before Wang Yingkai finished speaking, Yuan Shikai raised his hand and interrupted him: "This is no problem. The Reunification Party has no power. As long as I don't leave and pass the news at the last moment, they can't make a big deal, so we might as well take the opportunity that they need me at this time to get more benefits, and then find a way out.

Now we can no longer get involved in this mess. The reason why Li Mo dares to talk about the New Party is that he must be ready to enter Zhili at a critical moment! Moreover, Lushun has been lost. His army set out from Lushun and it only takes one day to reach Tianjin. What's more, at this moment, his naval division is majestic, and all parts of the coast can't fight against him at all, so we must not continue to consume here, otherwise I'm afraid it's not enough for his bombardment!"

"The commander-in-chief is right, but how should we start?"

"This is very simple. The emperor needs me recently. I believe it will not make it difficult for us to transfer troops, so I'm going to take this opportunity to get the military power of Henan and Shanxi. Both places are far away from the coast. Li Mo's sailors can't give full play to their advantages. With the tens of thousands of troops in his hand, I have to deal with the Russians. I'm afraid I won't have time for several years. "Let's talk!"

"The marshal is right. Li Mo's biggest advantage is the sailor. Once he leaves the sailor, his army is not a three-eyed fairy." Wang Yingkai said.

Yuan Shikai continued, "In addition, you immediately send those two days to Li Mo. These two people can't stay in their hands."

For Li Mo? Wang Yingkai frowned and said with a pity, "Marshal, that Mingshi Yuan Erlang is a good talent. Isn't it a pity to give it to Li Mo?"

"It's a pity!" Yuan Shikai's eyes chilled: "It's just two homeless dogs that have broken the country. If it instinctively restrains Li Mo, it will be useful, but at this moment it is in our hands. In case it is leaked, it will offend Li Mo. It's better to leave a personal way out."

"As for talents." Yuan Shikai turned his head and looked at Wang Yingkai and suddenly smiled and said, "Ha ha, what I play is the rest of our ancestors who have played for thousands of years, they! Well, if you want this kind of person who has learned four different things, it's better to ask a few more Shao Chens!"

"Ha ha, Marshal Miao praised it."

"All's it, it's settled at this time!" Yuan Shikai waved his hand, as if he was in a bad mood, and he didn't want to talk about it again. He said, "In a few days, you can go to Beijing for me and give Mr. Li a little gift for me. In other words, the Pacific Army has won again, so I also hope to expand some people and see if I can choose some people from Tianjin Wubei School to assist the new. Jun, in addition, you can talk to Mr. Li if you can find an opportunity to talk to the old Buddha and give me the 20,000 people in Shanhaiguan to practice together to prepare for the recovery of the northeast in the future.

In the sound of kicking horses' hoofs, Wang Yingkai understood what Yuan Shikai meant. He knew that he was no longer optimistic about the Qing Dynasty and began to arrange the back road for himself. His eyes couldn't help twisting to his hometown on the other side of the sea, and sighed in the bottom of his heart

(to be continued)