Chapter 331 China’s Two Foreign Enemies

"Why am I in trouble?"

The future of others is still within Yuan Shikai's expectations.

Ronglu was a nobleman from the Qing Dynasty and was also a close confidant of Empress Dowager Cixi. In the battle between the United States and the West, the Qing army performed well, and even to a certain extent better than the US army, which made the Qing court extremely satisfied. The Qing rulers represented by Cixi were extremely afraid of the Han landlords represented by Li Hongzhang, but their own people were not successful, so they had to rely on Li Hongzhang and others in a large number of affairs. Although they were trustworthy on the surface, they were always a little prepared. Now, a Ronglu finally came out and the Qing army defeated the Spanish army of the great powers. Of course, they had to seize the opportunity to train their own lineage, and it became a natural arrangement to keep Ronglu in Beijing.

Since Ding Ruchang was Li Hongzhang's confidant, he made this contribution and was sent to reorganize the Huai Army, which had gradually lost its combat effectiveness, and it was naturally a responsibility to release new vitality. After all, although Li Hongzhang was loyal to the Qing court, he also knew what his foundation was for his survival. If the Ronglu Army was formed, but the Huai Army was still the same, I am afraid that Li Zhongtang would not even know how to die at that time. He became a spirit, and Li Hongzhang was even more a spirit among the spirits. Of course, he would not watch others dig his grave for him.

As for Liu Yongfu, his father was not close to him and his mother didn't love him. He was born a rebel, and the court was upset at the court; during the Sino-French War, he supported the fight against France and fought several victories. Li Hongzhang looked at Li Hongzhang... He couldn't find a backer in the entire Qing Dynasty, but he made great contributions... In normal times, it was a state where life was hanging and not far from death. But he didn't expect that the Americans encountered trouble in the Philippines again. The local indigenous rebel army did not sell the face of the new owner at all, and hid in the deep mountains and forests.

She kept asking for trouble. However, Sheft in the Philippines was almost alone. Without the support of the navy, the domestic support was intermittent, especially in terms of military strength. So, in order to solve this situation, the cheap and combat-capable Qing army became the first choice for the Americans... Liu Yongfu was the most basic of the four major mercenaries of the Qing army, and had the experience of fighting in the Vietnamese jungle, so he naturally became the Qing court's money-making tool.

However, no matter whether it is close or alienated, whether it is deep or shallow, Ronglu and the other two have a way out. Why is it his turn Yuan Shikai "trouble"?

"It's really troublesome." Guo Jinzhang grinned, "Because, you're going to the Northeast."

"Northeast?" Yuan Shikai was stunned, and then he was puzzled to a deeper degree. Isn't Northeast good? Guo Jinzhang just made a calculation for them. Once it was fully developed, the grain alone could be used for 20 million burdens... That's a treasure land.

"Don't be confused by what I just said. The Northeast I mentioned is a situation where the political and military situations are very stable and fully developed." Guo Jinzhang naturally understood Yuan Shikai's doubts, "But, in the current Northeast, do you think it may be stable?"

"This... I know, Tsarist Russia seems to have some ambitions for the Northeast." Ronglu looked at Yuan Shikai with some concern. During this period of time, he still had some good feelings for Yuan Shikai. Although this man was young and energetic, he was not ignorant, and he knew his master and servant, not as rebellious as Liu Yongfu. In addition, Yuan Shikai was also brave and good at fighting. In the battle of Puerto Rico, he commanded 20,000 Qing troops and occupied the entire island without abandoning one soldier. For the sake of face, the US military followed him forced the Qing army to withdraw from the final battle... Before that, in Cuba, Yuan Shikai and Ding Ruchang were also in charge of this battle...

Liu Yongfu conquered a local important town together and fought bravely... Originally, his idea was to take Yuan Shikai to his own side as his subordinate, because although this young man was Li Hongzhang's man, his relationship was not very close. Otherwise, Li Hongzhang would not have watched Yuan Shikai impeached for his domineering performance in North Korea, but he only sent him to Cuba to "take risks" in the end. But he did not expect that before they returned to China, their whereabouts had been set in China. It seemed that Liu Yongfu was the least popular, but Yuan Shikai's treatment seemed not very good.

"Why is Tsarist Russia just ambition for the Northeast?" Guo Jinzhang smiled softly, "It was a polar bear that never felt enough for the land. For hundreds of years, they expanded their territory from Europe to the western Pacific coast and to Alaska. But that was not enough. During the Kangxi period, they invaded Nebchu and Yaquesa, and finally completely annexed the Baikal area that originally belonged to us... Now, according to our news, their goal is the entire Northeast. Starting from the north and going south to Lushun are their goals."

"What a big appetite." Yuan Shikai couldn't help but snorted coldly. At this time, he was still very young and extremely energetic. When he was in North Korea, he called the Korean monarch and ministers a slave, and tried his best to prevent the Japanese from reaching into North Korea. Now when he heard Guo Jinzhang say that Russia actually wanted to swallow the entire Northeast, he naturally couldn't help but the anger in his heart.

"Haha, what's this appetite?" Guo Jinzhang shook his head and smiled: "I just said that Tsarist Russia is a polar bear that never knows how to fill it. Why just want to occupy the entire northeast? In the northwest Xinjiang, if it weren't for Zuo Zongtang's life, it would have been theirs... This is not counting, they still have a lot of jealousy towards Mongolia. If it weren't for the lack of chance yet, they would definitely swallow the entire Mongolian land, and at least they would instigate the Mongolians to become independent, just like they instigated Agubo to establish the country..."

"My Qing Dynasty and Mongolian tribes have a great relationship, and they have been in-laws for hundreds of years. If Tsarist Russia really had this idea, it would be just a delusion at most." Rong Lu said.

"Really?" Guo Jinzhang asked back.

"When..." Rong Lu frowned, and he wanted to answer directly "of course", but Guo Jinzhang's serious look made him unable to give such a certain answer. In-laws? What is in-laws? What is a good relationship? If it really reaches that point, my mother will not work.

"If Tsarist Russia had such ambitions, how could Britain, France and other countries do what he wanted? Besides, didn't Tangzhou also get the right to build the South Manchurian Railway? Tsarist Russia went south and the first to bear the brunt of Tangzhou." Yuan Shikai said.

"We can compete with the American politics, not because the American politics cannot control us, but because they are unwilling to pay such a price. Why? Because they are a 'democratic' country. Using people's power has caused a large number of casualties, which will make the people dissatisfied. But Tsarist Russia is different. It is a feudal country like the Qing Dynasty. In the eyes of their Tsarist and nobles, what are the lives of soldiers? As long as there is a need, they can take out dozens or millions of soldiers at any time and let them die. This may be just their appetizer... So, without the support of the American politics, we cannot compete with Tsarist Russia at all, and there is no possibility of a slightest." Guo Jinzhang smiled bitterly.

"Then, the Americans should support you, right? After all, the Queen Mother has issued an order to allow American merchants to do business, start mining, and set up factories in the Northeast..." Rong Lu asked hesitantly.

"If it's just a quarrel, the Americans will definitely not hesitate, but if war needs to start, hehe... they will definitely run faster than rabbits." Guo Jinzhang sneered, "Don't forget, they don't even want to pay too much price to deal with us. Can they bear that consequence?"

"This... maybe things are not that bad?" Yuan Shikai smacked his lips. Indeed, the Americans were undecided to deal with Tangzhou, and as a result, Tangzhou found an opportunity to grow and grow. If they were asked to take greater risks to deal with the Russians, it would naturally be even more impossible.

"You forgot to mention the classes I taught you when I mentioned it? When did those great powers retreat in front of the weak?" Guo Jinzhang snorted coldly.

"I, the Qing Dynasty, is not a weak person." Ronglu said with a serious expression. The Qing Dynasty is not a weak person... This is the conclusion he came to after the battle with the Spanish in Cuba. Spain was once known as "the sun never set" and is now one of the great powers. Although it is just a second-rate product, it is also qualified to fight with first-class powers such as Britain, France, Germany and the United States. But such a country, the army of such a country has been defeated in front of the Qing army... Obviously, the great powers are just like this! Compared with such great powers, even though the Qing Dynasty cannot be first-rate, it is definitely a second-rate top, and cannot be bullied by anyone at will. It is precisely because of this that Ronglu understood why Zuo Zongtang always dared to yell to fight with the great powers... The old man obviously saw the reality of the great powers clearly and knew that the great powers had no surface.

So powerful. Think about it carefully, since the Opium War, every battle between the Qing Dynasty and the great powers was actually not a great battle with all its national strength. Even the time when the British and French coalition forces entered Beijing was because the main force of the Qing Dynasty was still entangled with Changmao, which made foreigners take advantage of loopholes... Of course, there is another reason, the Qing army at that time was not equipped with many foreign guns and cannons, and the gap in firepower was too big. But now it is different. Not to mention, in participating in the Spanish-American War, although the 70,000 Qing army suffered thousands of casualties, they also received a large number of artillery and muskets, and received modern military training and their combat effectiveness increased greatly. Ronglu was confident that as long as they returned to their country and trained the new army in the same way, the Qing Dynasty would definitely be stronger. At that time, he even felt that he might have the courage to sort out the tiger beards of first-class powers such as Britain and France.

"Whether the weak is not talking about it, nor is it relying on the guns and cannons in his hands, but it depends on whether you have a heart to fight." Guo Jinzhang naturally understood why Ronglu said that. With guns, cannons, and armies baptized by modern wars, he felt that he had entered the house, but if that was all possible, why did the Spanish fail? This Manchu minister, who had a very important position in the late Qing Dynasty, obviously had not yet captured the real root of the Qing Dynasty.

"My Qingshui Division first fought against the Spanish fleet in the Philippines, and the army fought against it in Cuba, winning consecutive victories... Who dares to say that I dare not fight?" Rong Lu said annoyed.

"It's just a few games on two islands. What's this? Do you dare to fight in Spain?" Guo Jinzhang asked back.

“…local?”

"That's right. Spain is native!" Guo Jinzhang looked at the three of them, "Do you dare?"

"This..." Rong Lu and the other two were all confused. The Spanish local... This name is a bit far away for them, and they even didn't know the specific location of the land that year. But when Guo Jinzhang's tone, this Spanish local area seemed to be... not that easy to play.

"Russia's national strength is several times that of Spain, or even more than ten times. Therefore, even though it is behind, even if its power is far weaker than Britain and France in many aspects, it dares to compete with Britain and France in many aspects." Guo Jinzhang glanced at the three of them again and finally set his sight on Yuan Shikai: "Brother Weiting, you know the most about Napoleon. You should know that Napoleon's continentality is invincible, but what's the end? The war with the Russians was actually a turning point in his decline from prosperity. The Russians dragged him to death at the peak of the French Empire, which made Britain find an opportunity to defeat him in unison with other countries, thus ending its legendary life."

"But if we are in the Northeast, we will have the advantage..." Yuan Shikai said.

"I don't deny this. The Russians have always wanted to build a large Siberian railway, but they have not started construction until now. This has put a considerable constraint on their expansion in the Far East because they cannot guarantee logistics. But even so, they can still gather more than 100,000 troops in the Far East, or even hundreds of thousands! You can imagine that the Qing Dynasty felt difficult when facing thousands of French soldiers a few years ago, and eventually failed. What would it be if it were facing Tsarist Russia? You must know that no matter how far the logistics of this country is, it is still a neighboring country bordering us." Guo Jinzhang said again.

"Manchuria is the place where the dragons in the Qing Dynasty are flourishing, and there is no need to be any loss. If there is really one day, even if we put all the strength of the whole country, we will compete with them for the best." Ronglu shouted.

"That may not be." Liu Yongfu snorted suddenly.

"What did you say?" Ronglu was furious.

"Will those big men in the court be willing to throw out a lot of money? They don't think they spend it themselves." Liu Yongfu remained calm. He was sent to the Philippines to help fight the Americans anyway. He probably might not have the chance to return to China in the next few years, and even if he returns to China, he would probably not be favored. Since that is the case, he naturally would not sell anyone's face. Moreover, after he surrendered to the Qing court, how much losses he suffered due to money and other issues? He was very clear about the virtues of the officials in the court, and what he said was true.

"Don't quarrel." Guo Jinzhang shook his head. In addition to a large number of conservative officials who had never seen the world and did not know the changes and rules of the world, the Qing court also had extremely serious internal infighting and fighting. Even knowledgeable people like Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang would have severely cracked down on each other due to different political views. In order to preserve their own strength, they would have done many things that were not in line with the interests of the country. Just like the original Sino-Japanese War, if it were not for Li Hongzhang, in order to preserve the strength of Beiyang, he would have forcibly locked it into Weihai by relying on the Beiyang Navy to ensure his right to speak in the government affairs.

Even if the Beiyang Navy was finally defeated, it would probably not be defeated so miserably and speechless. In addition, during the Sino-French War, in order to ensure his own strength and keep his confidants, Li Hongzhang also opened up the line to the generals of the Huai Army who fled in Guangxi and instead attributed the blame to the generals of Zuo Zongtang's faction who were in charge of the war. His methods were extremely despicable. However, in this way, he was still far-sighted and thoughtful officials, and the performance of other officials was even worse... How could such politics be able to concentrate the national strength to resist foreign aggression and develop the country?

"I know what you are thinking. But do you think it's only necessary to deal with Tsarist Russia in the Northeast? Hum?" Guo Jinzhang snorted coldly, "When I first came, did I tell you that if you want to do big things, you must see the broadest view... Is this broad just to let you see the scenery?"

"Isn't it just to deal with Tsarist Russia, do you still have to deal with you?" Liu Yongfu looked at him dissatisfiedly, "Or, you still have to deal with the Americans? That's right. This American is good at taking advantage of it, and it seems that he can easily betray his faith. He should be careful so that they won't even find his pants."

"Hey, the court allowed Americans to open mining and set up factories in the Northeast and operate business, which was indeed a mistake." Rong Lu sighed. The longer he stayed outside, the more he could sense the backwardness of the Qing Dynasty... The United States had only more than 30 million people; Britain had only more than 30 million people, and Northern Ireland had only less than 50 million; France had more than 50 million; Italy had the most 50 million; Germany had the most 80 million... But even Germany had the most population, compared to the Qing Dynasty, its population was only equivalent to two or three provinces. But such a group of countries, such a small population, had to crush the rest of the world's population countless times. He once

He lamented privately that if the Eight Banners were still there when the Qing Dynasty was founded, it might not be inferior to these European and American foreigners, but that was just a sigh. He knew that the Eight Banners could no longer restore the glory of their ancestors and could never be restored. Because, while these European and American powers were working hard to develop, their Eight Banners were still gnawing on the merit books of their ancestors and bowing to the ancestral family membrane. But that's a use? And now, the Americans are going to put their hands into the Northeast. Industry and Commerce are the foundation for the European and American powers to rely on for their strength. Now they have to be ahead in these industries on the land of the Qing Dynasty. What other opportunities can the Qing Dynasty have?

"Allowing Americans to open mining and set up factories and do business in the Northeast is our private means." Guo Jinzhang glanced at Ronglu, and he was increasingly disappointed with this person. "Why do this? In order to let the Americans stand in front of the Russians and let Tsarist Russia not encroach on the Northeast so unscrupulously. Because that country is the most unreasonable and barbaric country in the world. As long as its power is strong, it will definitely bully people. The more neighboring the country is, the more ruthless it will bully people. This has become its tradition. But with the power of your Qing court and Tangzhou, you can't stop this country at all. Therefore, you can only bring the United States in... Besides, we don't just need to deal with a Tsarist Russia, because there is another wolf lamb staring at the Northeast and being eager to try!"

"Japan!?" Yuan Shikai asked in a deep voice.

"That's right, it's Japan, one of the two major foreign enemies that China needs to be wary of!"

...
Chapter completed!