The Qing court was destined to be done.

As long as you are a knowledgeable person, you can actually see this, and even it includes many rulers of the Qing court, such as Cixi, such as Beile Yikuang, etc. Otherwise, with Cixi's intelligence, wouldn't she know that spending a lot of money to enjoy and to cultivate the Summer Palace to celebrate the birthday of herself is very immoral, and it is also very inconsistent with the national interests and her own rule? This money should be spent on the blade, spent on the navy, and spent on the army? But she didn't do this, and threw a lot of money into her birthday. And Yikuang, this guy is a slander. In this regard, he is not a person with low intelligence. After all, he can understand

Those who have to observe their appearance and favor him will not be a fool. What's more, he is one of the most powerful and capable women in Chinese history? But he used Cixi's favor to him to embezzle and bribe him. Now he has just entered the Prime Minister's affairs office. After that, he became Cixi's most trustworthy person, and would directly open a "Lao Qingji Company" with his son and sell official positions and titles... He didn't know whether this was not good? He didn't know that this was digging the corner of the feudalism of the Qing Dynasty? But he did it. Why? His family was going to be defeated, and he would quickly sell his "family property" and wait for the cold and hungry in the future?

There are countless such examples as Cixi and Yikuang in the Qing Dynasty.

And the more this happens, the more the defeat of the Qing Dynasty will accelerate.

Can't you see this?

You can see that Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, Prince Gong Yixin... Those smart people must have seen that the court they offer to serve has reached the last moment, and Yuan Shikai must have also been in this series of people.

Guo Jinzhang firmly believes in this.

He also firmly believed that although Li Hongzhang worked hard to build the Beiyang Navy and wanted to consolidate the coastal defense, the old man must have known that his efforts had no hope for protecting the Qing Dynasty. Because the cause of the destruction of the Qing Dynasty was not external, nor the invasion of the great powers, but also the internal problems of the country. The so-called foreign enemies were at most some inducements, which would expose or erupt faster. What the old man could do. At the same time, what he hoped to do was probably to prevent the country from enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens.

In this regard, Guo Jinzhang believes that Li Hongzhang's historical status should be higher than Sun Yat-sen, and far higher than that! Although this old man was an important official of the Qing Dynasty and had signed many treaties that had lost power and humiliated, he also did a lot of practical things for this country, and until his death, he was still making contributions to this country...

To endure humiliation is far more difficult than being passionate. That old man is countless times stronger than those so-called revolutionaries who are only passionate but have never done a practical thing.

...

"There are too many people in our country who only say but don't like to do it, and can only say they can't do it. So, I don't need you to say it, nor do you do it. I just need you to wait quietly, watch the situation develop, and then push it gently..."

Yuan Shikai agreed.

Everyone is smart. There is no need to do too much work on the surface... and Yuan Shikai also feels that he should "cooperate" with Guo Jinzhang. Because, he believes. Apart from him, no one knows Guo Jinzhang's sinister plans. He must "go deep into the tiger's den" to find out the other party's true intentions, and figure out the other party's hidden means so that he can turn the tide at the last moment and support the Qing Dynasty... Of course, this is just a reason for Yuan Shikai to secretly stay and continue to negotiate with Guo Jinzhang, a reason for self-exemption and ostrich. A method that Chinese people like to use. This may be self-deception, but it is indeed very practical.

"Just a light push?"

"That's right." Guo Jinzhang seemed very complacent, "Just need a light push."

"Then you haven't told me yet how do you plan to let the army sent by the court become your subordinates." Is it really that simple to destroy the Qing Dynasty? Just a gentle push?... Yuan Shikai secretly warned himself that Guo Jinzhang's bewitching, because that is impossible. That is the Qing Dynasty. It has been more than three hundred years, and the name of the world's righteousness has been imprinted in the hearts of the people. How could it be knocked down with a slight push? However, compared to his loyalty to the court, he cared more about the army of hundreds of thousands. How could the imperial army easily become the bargaining chips in Guo Jinzhang's hand?

"How could your court's army become my subordinate?" Guo Jinzhang glanced at him softly, "What I said is that you will be the leader of this army. Since you are the leader, you are naturally the one who keeps your word. Do you understand?"

"You..." Are you fake? Yuan Shikai didn't believe it. Who would easily give up hundreds of thousands of troops? That's hundreds of thousands of troops. And it's very likely to become the elite of all other troops of the Qing Dynasty, and be equipped with all foreign guns and cannons... Such an army, even if there are only ten thousand people, is enough to sweep the Qing Dynasty, let alone hundreds of thousands? Whoever controls such an army will become the actual ruler of the Qing Dynasty. The power of the Qing Dynasty may be more than Li Hongzhang today. If there are really means to do this, Guo Jinzhang will give up? Take control of a country.

"There is nothing you, you, me, and mine. What we want is to win together." Guo Jinzhang still smiled, "Because, only win together can cooperation continue and make this cooperation more stable and firm. Moreover, although our roots are still in China, the stems and leaves have reached Tangzhou, and we cannot give up this foundation and go back. This also destined that we can only be a spectator or promoter of the changing situation in China, and will not become the leader."

"Really?" Yuan Shikai still didn't believe it.

"It's up to you to believe it or not. Anyway, you will know when the time comes." Guo Jinzhang said with a smile. Yuan Shikai's reaction was all his expectations. After all, when you were still a commander alone, someone suddenly came over and told you to send you a large army, and you would be confused... Not everyone can be like Sun Yat-sen. When he saw someone bringing the army to surrender to him, he thought that person was really the one he could trust the most. That might be a manifestation of open-mindedness, but more often he was careless.

******************************************

Japan.

Tokyo.

Surant was fiddling with his legs in discomfort. After finally putting them up, he saw Yamamoto Honbuki pulling the door and walking in. Suddenly, a helpless smile appeared on his face.

"You Westerners' legs can't bend. Jaborjun, you'd better not get up." Yamamoto's Honbuki was not too particular. Seeing Surante's appearance, he smiled, and then sat opposite him without waiting for the other party to get up.

"It seems that Mr. Yamamoto, you are in a good mood today. That 'so what the minister' has read all your information?" Seeing that Yamamoto Honbuki didn't care, Surante pretended to be relieved and asked with a smile.

"Jabor, I hope that when you call Master Saigo Congdao again in the future, don't call him 'so like this minister', otherwise I will turn against you." Yamamoto Honbuki said solemnly.

"Oh?" Surant was obviously stunned. "This request is not difficult. But... you have to give me a reason, right? You know, this title was taught to me."

"I apologize to you for my mistakes." Yamamoto Honbuki bowed to him. "As for Master Saigo Congdao, although he does not understand the navy, he is indeed an extremely amazing and trustworthy minister of the navy."

"Can you tell me?" Surant asked with interest. After staying in Japan for two years, he naturally knew who Saigo Congdo was. He was the younger brother of Saigo Congdo, one of the three masters of the Meiji Restoration. He was very active in the anti-scene movement. He once served in the Saijo vassal as a vassal, participated in the "Saying War" of the Saijo vassal by the Saijo vassal by the Saijo vassal by the Saijo vassal by the Saijo vassal by the self-improvement of the barbarians, and the Battle of Toba Fushimi in the Hokage War that overthrew the Tokugawa Shogdoor. During the Meiji Restoration period, the social structure was reorganized, and many gentry (old samurai) were unemployed. This caused great social problems.

In the seventh year of Meiji (1874), the Saga Rebellion occurred in Kyushu Island. Although it was quelled in just over ten days, the Japanese government specially appointed Satsuma gentry with the strongest sense of resistance and Takamori, who lived in seclusion in Sago, so it specially appointed Sago Congdao as the governor of the Taiwan Venetian Affairs Bureau. It bought two merchant ships and installed cannons to pretend to be warships for transportation. It led more than 3,000 troops to southern Taiwan to attack the indigenous tribes and attempted to establish a colony. The Japanese side is known in history as "Taiwan's dispatch of troops" (called the Chinese side's Mudan Society Incident).

When Saigo Congdao and his troops were on standby at Nagasaki Port, Western countries led by Britain and the United States expressed opposition to Japan's military operations and prohibited their countries from renting ships to Japan. Because they hope that Japan could invade North Korea and allow Japan to go to the mainland policy of invading China and governing Russia. However, Saigo Congdao invaded Taiwan in the south would only threaten the maritime interests of Britain and France and other powerful powers. Therefore, the great powers forced Japan to issue unemployment insurance and ordered Saigo Congdao to temporarily postpone the dispatch of troops. However, Saigo Congdao insisted on his own opinion and said: "Delaying the dispatch of troops will damage morale. If the government forcibly stops it, I am willing to return the emperor's full-powered appointment letter and directly attack Shengfan's nest as a thief, and will definitely not affect the country!

"Okuma Shigetsu, who was also in Nagasaki, failed to persuade him, so he had to telegraph the central government: "The morale is strong and the situation is hard to stop." Saigo Congdao immediately ordered the troops to set out one after another, and his actions were later recognized by the central government. This move was called "Sigo's tyrants", and became the prototype of Japanese militarism in the future, that is, military advancement and political recognition. Saigo Congdao's action also sounded the alarm for the Qing Dynasty opposite the sea. Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang discovered the danger of his neighbor and decided to establish the Beiyang Navy... In other words, the consequence of Saigo Congdao's act of sending troops to Taiwan was that the Qing and Japan had entered the era of expanding naval armaments at the same time.

After this dispatch of troops, Saigo Congdao also felt the need to enrich the naval military. He transferred from a lieutenant general to a lieutenant general, and persuaded the government to raise the naval budget to half of the army. In 1875, he spent 90% of the naval budget that year, and ordered three warships, "Fusang", "Kingang" and "Biya" from Britain, and put into service in 1878. These three warships were less than 4,000 tons. According to the warship standards of European countries at that time, they could not be considered warships, so the Japanese later regarded these warships as "coastal defense ships".

In the tenth year of Meiji (1877), Saigo Congdao's brother Takamori Saigo was defeated and died in the Southwest War. Saigo Congdao became the leader of the Satsuma clan. He served as a senator, Minister of Fumiya, Minister of Army, Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, and two Ministers of Army. In the 17th year of Meiji (1884), he was named Earl for his contribution to the Meiji Restoration. After Hirofumi Ito became Prime Minister, he served as Minister of Navy.

Saigo was born in the army and came to the navy as a minister. He really didn't understand it. But what was annoying was that Saigo never intended to understand it. The self-righteous sailors were very dissatisfied and looked down on him, so he helped Saigo Congdao nickname "So that's the minister". Because Saigo Congdao didn't know the navy very well, he often had a sudden realization when he heard people introduce the situation to him: "So that's the case."

Surant was ordered to come to Japan to participate in the Hokkaido development led by the current Satsuma clan, Kiyotaka Kuroda, as a guise. He used various means to contact Japan's real power figures. A year ago, by chance, he met Yamamoto's captain Hokkiyo Yamamoto's captain... Originally, he did not intend to deal with this small Nakasa. After all, Nakasa himself was not a big shot. But he didn't know that when his information was sent back, someone above found that the name Yamamoto's Hokkiyo seemed a little familiar, so he ordered him to deal with the other party more through channels. He also strived for deep friendship...

...He originally thought there was something wrong with the above, but now he had to admit that the big shots were indeed amazing. Because, shortly after he became friends with Yamamoto Honami, the other party was transferred to the Japanese Navy Department and became a "intelligent officer" who could meet Navy Minister Saigo Congdao at any time. A few months ago, he was ordered by Saigo Congdao to prepare a document on the current situation of the Japanese Navy. This is not a task that ordinary characters can undertake. It is not something that people with a deep understanding of the Japanese Navy cannot do. It is obvious that in Saigo Congdao's eyes, Yamamoto Honami is such a person.

"Today I went to ask Master Saigo, and he had finished reading the information I prepared..." Yamamoto Honbuki naturally didn't know the origin of Surante, he only knew. This was a small French businessman who had an investment in Hokkaido. He did whatever he made money, and even worked part-time to start a business for the British iron ore company in India. Japan has no resources and is in great demand for these, so although Surante is not worthy of the attention of many big names, it is enough to communicate with him. When he learned that Surante had been a navy, both sides had a more common language. At least, this guy is a good listener.

"Hahaha, you spent several months preparing the information. Unless he kept going day and night, how could he finish reading it?" Sulante laughed immediately when he heard the words of Yamamoto Honbuki.

"Yes, he really didn't finish reading it. But after I asked him, he actually said he had finished reading it." Yamamoto Honbuki laughed. "I broke out on the spot. I told him: 'It's impossible. It took me 7 months to prepare this information. How could you finish it in five days, Minister Saigo? You didn't read it at all.'"

"Hi, dear Mr. Yamamoto, are you talking to your immediate boss. Are you the highest commander of your navy? You actually question him?"

"Yes, I'm just questioning him." The astonishment on Surant's face made Yamamoto's Honbuki very satisfied. He couldn't help but feel a little proud: "As long as you do something wrong, no matter who it is, unless he is His Majesty the Emperor himself, we are qualified to question him."

"What did that Saigo Minister say?" Surant asked curiously again.

"The Minister of Saigo just laughed and said to me: 'You are quite smart, I really didn't see it'. I was furious and continued to question him: 'As a minister, how can you be so irresponsible? You are disdainful of your subordinates' hard work?'" Yamamoto Kobee said seriously.

"He... didn't hit you?" Surant poured him a glass of sake and continued to ask.

"No. Minister Saigo just waved to me and asked me to lean closer to him, and then lowered his voice and said to me: 'I'm from the army. I can't understand it anyway, why bother to read it? I'm the chief, I don't need to read it, just read it with you. I'm just asking for money and power for you. Isn't this good?'" Yamamoto Honbukie said in a deep voice.

"I see……"

"That's right. Jaborjun, you reacted the same way as me. I was also shouting 'So that's it!" Yamamoto Kobeya laughed.

"It is precisely because of this that this Minister Saigo, who was once looked down upon by you, has you been repositioned, right?" Surant said with a smile again.

"Yes. This is a truly qualified naval minister, and it is equally respectable." Yamamoto Honbuki took a deep breath, "It is precisely because of these truly insightful and willing to listen to our opinions that our Japanese Empire can realize our strong dream."

"Haha, I believe it too. However, your navy seems... still a little short." Surant stretched out his finger and gestured, with a hint of sarcasm. He knew that the Japanese were extremely afraid of the Beiyang Navy of the Qing court. Especially after easily defeating the Philippine squadron of Spain, in order to retaliate against Japan's previous invasion of Taiwan and annex Ryukyu, Li Hongzhang also specially ordered Liu Buchan to lead the victorious army to "visit"

"Japan... As a result, the Chinese successfully made the Japanese feel scared. The super main guns on the two battleships of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan made Japanese citizens, from Hirobuki Ito to ordinary people, feel an extremely terrifying pressure... When the Qing court and the US government finally reached an agreement to send 100,000 to 200,000 troops to the Americas to "assist the war", even the Japanese army could not calm down. Now, the whole of Japan is clamoring for a "China threat theory"!

"Yes, our navy does not look as powerful as the Chinese fleet, but as long as it is a fleet, it will have weaknesses. Unfortunately, the Chinese do not understand this, and their Beiyang ministers do not know how to deal with naval affairs as our navy ministers. Therefore, we will definitely gain the right to control the sea in East Asia!" Yamamoto Honbuki felt Surante's contempt, but he did not get angry, but just gently put the wine glass on the table and said calmly.

"Then should I wish you success in advance?" Surant asked with a smile after pouring him a glass of wine.

"No, Jaborjun, you should wish us success!" Yamamoto Kobemoto smiled.

"Yes, I wish you success." Surant smiled and nodded, picked up the wine glass and toasted Yamamoto. However, while smiling, a trace of extremely secret mockery flashed deep in his pupils...


Chapter completed!