While holding his breath, Weng Tonghe, who had no sense of existence, suddenly said: "Your Majesty, I think this matter may not necessarily be out of control."

"Oh?" Zai Tian smiled slightly and joked: "What are the insights of the teacher?"

Weng Tonghe was originally Zai Tian's teacher, and the two empress dowagers successively buried the queen. He was even one of the four ministers of the regent. He was powerful all over the world. Moreover, Weng Tonghe was relatively honest because of his good family background. At the beginning, he was deeply trusted and relied on Zai Tian. However, as Weng Tonghe became more and more powerful, his narrow-mindedness and his vengeful bad habits began to emerge.

In the 14th year of the Guangxu period, Weng Tonghe deducted naval expenses due to his personal grudges with Li Hongzhang, which made Zai Tian furious and was later transferred to the Ministry of Works. Moreover, Weng Tonghe knew nothing about the Westernization Affairs Office, but he pretended to be aloof and pointed his fingers, which brought a very adverse negative impact on the construction of railways, postal, telecommunications, water conservancy and other projects of the Ministry of Works. So Zai Tian transferred him from the Minister of Works to the Zongli Yamen again, allowing him to walk.

Weng Tonghe gradually faded out of Zai Tian's sight. Until this time, even Zai Tian didn't know that he would meet this Master Weng in Shanghai.

Weng Tonghe did not care about the emperor's tone: "I think that besides military and diplomatic means, we can also use economic means to restrain the Germans."

Zai Tian was stunned. This old master who only knows the Four Books and Five Classics actually started talking about economics? "Teacher, please come in detail."

"Yes. The emperor should know that my country has huge trade exchanges with Germany every year, and it has exceeded the quota of 50 million taels of silver last year. It should be further increased this year. Therefore, Germany is our second largest trading partner, second only to the UK. But in fact, the trade volume with the UK is not much different. If we do not consider the naval exchanges, Germany can even surpass Britain. Similarly, my country is also Germany's second largest trading country. Moreover, our business with Germany has deep connections in many aspects, including textiles, agriculture, chemicals, medicine, etc. In addition to the military industry, our business has deep connections with Germany's business. If we can put some pressure on these areas and then influence its government through German capitalists in these areas, it is not impossible. After all, although the German emperor was squeezed by the door, it does not mean that the whole of Germany was squeezed by the door."

Weng Tonghe's last sentence amused Zai Tian.

It is said that Emperor William II of Germany did not give birth naturally when he was born, so he was a little unconscious, had an extreme personality, was irritable, and was paranoid. He often said some brain-sucking words and did some weird things.

However, what really surprised Zai Tian was that Weng Tonghe was able to say such words. You must know that in Zai Tian's eyes, Weng Tonghe was completely different in economic terms.

"Scholars should treat each other with admiration for three days after they are separated." Zai Tian sighed.

"I dare not. I also think that even if the German emperor really issued an order to occupy Jiaozhou Bay, its fundamental purpose is not necessarily to fight with our country. Perhaps it is a false tactic of attacking the emperor, and it is an explicit use of this incident to put pressure on me and make territorial demands, which is actually hoping to obtain the interests of Japan."

Huh? It makes sense. The Germans know that they can't beat them by force, so why do they still have to hit them head-on?

"What if they form an alliance with the Russians?" Liu Kunyi still remembers this.

"Yes, what if they form an alliance?" Zai Tian also asked. In fact, Zai Tian had already thought of the answer, but he wanted to hear what Weng Tonghe said.

"It is unlikely to go back to the emperor. It is an alliance. First, although the British were very indignant about the German emperor's words and deeds because of the Devasland incident, in fact, the relationship between Britain and Germany is still good. The British and Russia have a very bad relationship, so it is unlikely that Germany will abandon Britain and lean towards Russia. First, second, Germany's die-hard ally Austria-Hungarian Empire and Russia have a natural conflict in the Balkans, and it is irreconcilable. Unless the Germans are willing to abandon Austria-Hungarian Empire, their alliance with Russia can only be empty talk. Third, France. Russia and France have signed an agreement, and the hatred between France and Germany is completely unsolvable. Therefore, it is difficult for Germany and Russia to join the sky to achieve alliance."

"So, it's completely impossible for them to form an alliance?"

"You can't say that. The emperor, there are also front lines that may form an alliance between the two countries to seize the interests of the Far East, but it depends on the attitude of the British."

"Haha, yes, it depends on the attitude of the British." Zai Tian had already resolved his heart at this time. "I was so stubborn before, and only thought of the idea of ​​solving the problem by force. What I said to the teacher made me realize it."

Why did Weng Tonghe suddenly become so proficient in Westernization? This statement starts five years ago. After sending Weng Tonghe to the Zongli Yamen, Zai Tian stopped the lecture at Yuqing Palace. Then Weng Tonghe began to realize that the emperor was already focused on the Westernization and rejuvenation of the country. If he could not make any achievements in this regard, he would inevitably be increasingly alienated by the emperor and eventually be squeezed out of the center of power. This is absolutely unacceptable to Weng Tonghe.

Learning from the pain, Weng Tonghe began to study Westernization knowledge. In the 22nd year of the Guangxu period, Yi Xin was invited to participate in the coronation ceremony of Russian Emperor Nicholas II. Weng Tonghe believed that this was a great opportunity to contact the West, so he fought for a quota to accompany him and went on missions to the seven countries of Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Britain and the United States with Prince Gong. This time, the mission really broadened Weng Tonghe's horizons. After returning to China at the beginning of the year, he asked the court again for instructions to inspect the domestic industrial and commercial situation in Guangzhou, Shanghai and other places. This is also the reason why Zai Tian met him in Shanghai.

After clarifying his ideas through Weng Tonghe's words, Zai Tian immediately issued an order: "First, order Li Bingheng and Jia Qisheng to launch a bandit suppression operation in Shandong immediately, and be sure to eliminate the disaster. Second, order Weng Tonghe to convene consulates from Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain and other countries in Shanghai, representatives of business people, and reporters, take warships to Shandong to inspect the actions of the German church in Shandong, create public opinion guidance, and put pressure on the German government. Third, order the land and navy to strengthen defense. Deng Shichang was ordered to lead the third fleet to immediately go north to prepare for reinforcements. In addition, the information just now was secretly notified to the Japanese side so that they could make complete preparations."

As the emperor's orders were issued one after another, everyone immediately started to move.

On the 8th, dozens of Chinese and foreign journalists, consuls and industrial and commercial representatives who departed from Shanghai arrived in Qingdao on the destroyer "Wu Qi". Before they could sigh at the strictness of Qingdao's defense projects, these "witnesses" were sent to various parts of Shandong in batches. On the 19th, with the assistance of the Shandong Governor's Office, Jia Qisheng ordered the departments of the First Brigade stationed in Jinan and the Second Brigade stationed in Jining to encircle and suppress illegal organizations in Shandong with battalions and companies. At the same time, he also conducted a forced search of hundreds of churches of the Shandong Holy Word Association.

This time, in addition to cleaning up illegal groups in Yuncheng, Caoxian, Guanxian and other places, Germany's church forces in Shandong were also thoroughly cleaned up. In this process, a large number of cases of oppression by the church people, seizing the assets of villagers, and investigating a large number of illegal church assets. What surprised journalists and representatives from various countries was that during the investigation, many churches also found that during the investigation, many churches had established reactionary armed forces. For example, Wucheng Shierlizhuang, Yucheng Hanzhuang, Pingyin Baiyunyu and other churches all had more than 100 fast guns, and some even privately hid cannons. There are twenty churches in Dongchang Mansion to purchase their own weapons.

The actions of German priests in Shandong attracted unanimous contempt from representatives of other countries. Especially the representatives of France. Because the diocese of Shandong was originally stolen from the French, now seeing what the Germans did, the French immediately realized that the opportunity to avenge was coming. For a time, French newspapers in China, France and even other countries were reporting on the illegal behavior of German priests in Shandong. The British were also beaten the dogs with the French. In 1896, the German emperor, who spoke out loud on the issue of the Devasland Republic, deeply angered the British. This time, he had the opportunity to publicly expose the scars of the Germans, how could these British journalists let them go?

Soon, a war of public opinion began in the two continents of Asia and Europe.

While the Qing government was urgently dealing with the Shandong issue, Germany was also busy preparing for its invasion. And the one who played a role in fueling the fire was An Zhitai.

The German emperor's desire to obtain overseas colonies was unstoppable. As the emperor's loyal slave, An Zhitai knew very well about William II's ambitions. Although he had left China now, he still used the information he had collected in Shandong to advise William II and encouraged him to occupy China. German Emperor William II said: "The Catholic Church in China is always supported by me. Bishop An Zhitai returned to Berlin and was often my guest. He reported to me on various important matters in China."

Just a few months before the Juye Sect Plan, An Zhitai also told the German government that 'occupation of Jiaozhou is an important and key issue, not only about the development of churches in China, but also about the survival of the church'. He also 'rely demanded the government to take a powerful action for the interests of the church'. When he learned that the Juye Sect Plan had occurred, An Zhitai, who was in the Netherlands, immediately returned to Berlin and asked the German emperor to take the opportunity to seize Jiaozhou Bay. He said: "The Juye incident is an opportunity for the German Empire to gain territory in East Asia. We should now take advantage of the opportunity to occupy Jiaozhou. It is the best and most capable stronghold for us in all aspects. Jiaozhou Bay has a greater development prospect than Shanghai."

On the second day after the Qing government organized representatives from all walks of life to Shandong, William secretly ordered Rear Admiral Detrich, who had just replaced Tilpitz as commander of the Far East Fleet in Shanghai: "All fleets immediately head to Jiaozhou, use the greatest possible power, and resolutely obtain the most fulfillment." But at the same time, William II also emphasized in particular: "The purpose of this trip must be kept secret."
Chapter completed!