Super Dictator

The news that the Beiyang Fleet was almost completely destroyed made the Qing court feel as if someone had poured cold water on it. The court that had originally mustered up some courage immediately withered, and various arguments for peace were immediately released in a high-profile manner.

The capital was shaken, and the whole country was shocked.

The great powers were in an uproar.

After Ding Ruchang led the remaining few remaining ships back to Dagokou, he felt that he was too shameless to see anyone, and finally ended his life in the cheapest way - committing suicide by swallowing opium, leaving a mess to Liu Buchan.

After learning the news, Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang, locked himself in his study and did not go out all afternoon.

According to a servant in the Governor's Mansion, Li Hongzhang had been chanting in the room: "Zijie mistook me, Zijie mistook me!"

Li Hongzhang believed that it was because he followed Wei Jichen's breakout suggestion that the Beiyang Fleet was destroyed.

If we didn't break out and defended Liugong Island Harbor, reinforcements might have arrived at the last moment. Maybe the Japanese fleet couldn't attack again and again, and finally gave up?

People always have a sense of luck. Li Hongzhang is in this mood now. He cannot accept the complete destruction of the Beiyang Fleet. It is not surprising that he has all kinds of ideas. The hard work of more than 20 years has been ruined in one go. No matter who it is, Everyone will be sad.

In the entire Qing Dynasty, Wei Jichen was probably the only one from later generations who knew the fate of the original Beiyang Fleet. He was sad and a little happy at the same time - at least he still retained some firepower for the Chinese Navy and sunk a few Japanese ships. You must know that in the original history, The Japanese did not lose a single ship, but gained many ships in vain.

Of course, his thoughts cannot be discussed with others.

February 9th is the Lantern Festival. In the Summer Palace, Lafayette had already invited a group of actors and a group of acrobats, and lanterns were hung all over the palace.

However, the festival celebrations that were supposed to be joyous came to a sudden halt.

The opera singers and acrobats waited for a long time but did not wait for the arrival of Lafayette. Under the leadership of the palace eunuch, they withdrew from the Summer Palace without knowing why.

And he didn't even get the reward. You know, at this time in the past, Lafayette was the most generous.

In the Hall of Cultivation of the Heart, Cixi was lying weakly on a chair, with two little palace ladies beside her helping to relieve the acupuncture points.

Several military ministers, headed by Prince Gong Guiziliu, knelt on the ground with a decadent look on their faces. Even the always well-behaved Li Lianying lowered her head and didn't know what to do.

Cixi sighed softly, waved her hands feebly, and said with all her tiredness: "The Ai family is tired. Let's go to Beijing with Li Hongzhang and talk to the Japanese as soon as possible."

At this moment, no one understands Cixi's mood, whether it is regret, disappointment, or despair. In short, this time, she has decided to negotiate peace no matter what, even if Guangxu objects again, it is useless.

Prince Gong and others did not dare to stay any longer and stood up tremblingly. The atmosphere in the palace was so depressing that one could hardly stand upright.

The destruction of the Beiyang Fleet was the straw that broke the camel's back. The Qing Dynasty had completely lost the confidence to continue fighting.

In the Forbidden City, Guangxu sat on the dragon chair in despair, staring blankly ahead.

"I, I." Guangxu said two words in a row, but he didn't know what to say next.

After a long time, Guangxu's dull eyes finally relaxed a little, and he asked aloud: "What is the Queen Mother's purpose?"

Guangxu had always lived in the shadow of Cixi, who respected, feared and hated Cixi. At critical moments, whenever he had no idea, the first thing he thought of was his biological father, who always seemed to be unfazed.

Li Hongzao was exhausted mentally and physically, so he steeled himself and replied: "Lafayette has sent Li Hongzhang to Beijing as soon as possible to discuss peace talks."

"What's going on over there in Liaodong?" Guangxu asked expectantly.

Li Hongzao quickly said: "The situation in Liaodong is not optimistic either. The Japanese have massively increased their troops in Liaodong. After Li Guangjiu and others regained Ximu City, they suffered heavy losses and were unable to move forward. Song Qing led the army to attack Fuzhou. Now the enemy and we are still It’s a stalemate.”

Guangxu suddenly lost all hope and could no longer get the slightest interest.

There had long been rumors that Li Hongzhang would go to Japan for negotiations. Therefore, as soon as Cixi's edict arrived, Li Hongzhang wrote to the American Minister in China, Tian Bei, asking him to tell the Japanese government that he had obtained full responsibility for the peace talks and asked the Japanese about the peace talks. Place and time.

In order to be fully prepared for the peace talks, Li Hongzhang even immediately formed his own peace negotiation team and hired foreigners with large sums of money, including former U.S. Department of Foreign Affairs lawyer Costa, former U.S. Vice Consul Bidegg, and Dr. Cibazis, a doctor at the French Embassy in China. Waiting for 33 people.

Li Hongzhang did not know that on the issue of China, Russia is the most greedy, Japan is the most vicious, and the United States is the most insidious. The United States, which lacks strength, is good at watching the fire from the other side, taking advantage of the situation, hiding behind the scenes to encourage other countries to invade China, and appearing as a friendly third party. , plotting against China.

Take the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War as an example. There was also the shadow of the United States behind it. The United States had previously sent warships to invade North Korea, but North Korea repelled them in one fell swoop. It became angry and unwilling, and the US government encouraged Japan to invade the mainland and then gain access to it. benefit.

The backing of the United States was also the reason why Japan was determined to provoke the war. Unexpectedly, the Qing government was too inexperienced, and Japan's ambitions also expanded rapidly. After winning Korea, they wanted to win China. If the country was no longer strong enough to support the war, Maybe the war will continue to expand.

In addition, the British also supported Japan's invasion of China because they felt it would be helpful to curb Russia's development in the Far East.

Li Hongzhang spent a lot of money to hire American consultants, which was tantamount to attracting a traitor.

The news that the Chinese navy was destroyed and that the Qing government was eager for peace talks spread to the great powers, and the responses of various countries were also extremely rapid.

Russia, Gatchina Palace.

After learning the news, Tsar Nicholas II held an emergency meeting that night to discuss the situation in the Far East and comprehensively elaborate on Russia's strategy in the East.

Russian Foreign Minister Robanov warned at the meeting: "Sino-Japanese peace talks are imminent. The news coming back from Japan is that they want China to cede the Liaodong Peninsula and Taiwan. Japan's war is the consequence of us starting to build the Siberian Railway. European powers The Japanese are probably aware that China will be partitioned in the near future. If Japan occupies South Manchuria, it will be a threat to us. Therefore, we cannot allow Japan to occupy South Manchuria. If war is necessary, we will act resolutely. This way we will act decisively. If we become China’s savior, China will respect our service and agree to change our borders in a peaceful way.”

Vice Admiral Teltov, the Russian Navy Minister, said resonantly: "Your Majesty, the Far East Fleet is ready and ready to join the war at any time."

The Sino-Japanese War made the Russians see through China's weakness. On the one hand, they envied the Japanese army for being able to capture cities and territories. On the other hand, the Russians had long regarded Northeast China as theirs. Japan actually wanted to get involved. This was their fault. Intolerable.

Nicholas II had just ascended the throne last year and was very ambitious. He tried his best to implement his Great Russia plan.

In the plan, not only China, but also North Korea and Japan would also become his colonies. The Russians were even more ambitious than the Japanese.

When Nicholas II heard that several ministers recognized Robanov's words, he couldn't help but nodded and said: "Let the minister to China and the minister to Japan keep abreast of the progress of Sino-Japanese negotiations. Once something unfavorable to our country occurs, we will jointly Other countries put pressure on Japan."

In the eyes of these powers, although Japan won the victory, the fruits of victory were not something that a small country like Japan could swallow.

Conspiracies are also going on in the German Royal Palace. Wilhelm II of Germany is also ambitious. He is actively promoting his own world policy and wants to find "a place in the sun" for Germany around the world.

But when he picked up the globe and looked for it, he sadly found that the flags of the British Empire were everywhere.

The Sino-Japanese War made him feel like he saw a sweet spring in the desert. It turned out that the East was still far from being developed. The Qing Dynasty, this huge and decadent dynasty, could not even defeat the Japanese?

With abundant resources, cheap labor, and a vast market, can we give up? cannot.

Wilhelm II is sitting on the throne, with German Prime Minister Hollen Roche, Foreign Minister Machal and Navy Minister Helmut Helmun prominently among them.

Foreign Minister Machar first described the situation in the Far East, and then concluded: "China has suffered successive defeats, and even the Beiyang Fleet has been completely destroyed. The empire must intervene."

Regarding the destruction of the Beiyang Fleet, Helmen sighed with emotion, because the battleships of the Beiyang Fleet were all purchased from Germany.

As for how to intervene specifically, since the Sino-Japanese peace talks have not yet begun, he only has one general direction, which is to help China and then get something in return from China: a place or a port as a bridgehead for developing power in the Far East.

William II was very interested in this. If he could get huge rewards just by pretending, why not do it.

William II's left arm was atrophied due to illness, so he held a pair of gloves in his left hand. This made his left arm look a little longer to others. At this time, he was so excited that he put the gloves on his left hand to the table. He was so excited. asked: "Will the Chinese agree?"

"The Chinese have a saying called repaying a favor. If the empire helps them and then makes this request, most Chinese people will not be able to refuse." Foreign Minister Machar said unhurriedly.

"So, should we send a huge fleet to the Far East to deter Japan?" William II asked Prime Minister He Lunluo Xi.

He Lun Luoxi shook his head and said disdainfully: "Your Majesty, as long as one battleship is enough to deal with the Japanese, I believe they will not dare to go to war with the empire. After all, the war with China has exhausted them."

German Foreign Minister Machar echoed: "We are just making a statement. What's more, compared to our country, I believe the Russians are more unwilling to see Japan acquire the land of Liaodong. Therefore, we can unite with Russia and mediate together." Let the Japanese end this war as soon as possible.”

William II suffered from a brain disease, which made him impulsive, reckless, and arrogant.

He Lun Luoxi said that only one warship would be sent, but that only meant that he did not take the Japanese to heart, and did not really suggest that only one warship be sent.

At this time, William II didn't even think about it, and said to the Minister of the Navy, Helman, with a fanatical look: "Deploy an armored ship from the Imperial Fleet to the Far East."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Seeing the strange expressions on the Prime Minister's and Foreign Minister's faces, Helmen had no choice but to agree.

"Is there any problem?" William II saw that the two people looked wrong and asked in confusion.

While He Lun Luoxi replied that there was no problem, he was thinking in his mind that after a while, he would ask He Lun to add two more warships.