Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 57 The Sino-German Alliance
Berlin, Germany.

The Legation of the Qing Dynasty is a rented typical German-style building, with a dark and gray exterior wall that is deep and simple.

The envoy of the Qing Dynasty to Germany was a man named Zeng Dawei. He studied in Germany in his early years and was very familiar with German culture and language.After Li Hongzhang's recommendation, he served as the German Minister.At this moment, he hurried out from the envoy with a look of excitement on his face.He has just received a notification from the German Foreign Ministry that Lieutenant General Waldsee, the German quartermaster and deputy chief of staff of the German army, is finally free to see him.

Vardesi is the successor personally selected by the famous German marshal Moltke, and he is granted full authority to handle all the affairs of the chief of staff, so Vadesi has actually mastered the chief of staff of the German army.

It has been nearly a year since the war between China and France. Zeng Dawei asked to see Vadsee many times in order to let Germany release the four large warships "Dingyuan", "Zhenyuan", "Jiyuan" and "Weiyuan" that had been built. Among them, "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" have a displacement of 7400 tons. With the addition of these big guys, the French navy has to be a little bit afraid, but until today, Zeng Dawei has never been able to enter.And now I finally meet myself.

After getting into the carriage, Zeng Dawei has completely calmed down. This is the basic quality of an excellent diplomat. He has already heard the news of the great victory of the Qingshui Division in the South China Sea, because he can probably guess that Waldsey asked See him for a reason.

The conflict between France and Germany has never been resolved. The Germans are naturally willing to do things that weaken the French without paying anything themselves. It is just how to persuade the Germans to send their warships back to the country in a unified way. Otherwise, the four Ironclad ships simply cannot pass through the Mediterranean, which is heavily defended by the French.All this depends on himself, Zeng Dawei suddenly felt that the burden on him was not light.

When Zeng Dawei saw Wa Dexi, he was waiting for him at the door of the office, which made Zeng Dawei a little flattered. Usually, when these foreigners see him, they always hold their heads up as if they didn't see him, but now they are standing at the door. Greeting himself, Zeng Dawei quickly felt the reason.

"Mr. Ambassador, I'm really sorry. I was too busy a while ago, so I haven't seen you. This time we want to have a good chat." Vadsi said with a smile on his face.

Zeng Dawei replied respectfully: "Your Excellency Director, please don't say sorry, I am very honored to meet you."

Zeng Dawei's polite attitude left a very good impression on Vaderxi, and soon they got into the topic.

"I heard that Vietnam, your country's vassal, was invaded by the French. I was also very angry. Those Gauls are always so greedy. However, due to our neutral status, we cannot provide assistance to your country. I rushed to very Sorry, but fortunately, your country has won consecutive victories, and I am very happy for your country."

"Your Excellency Director, you don't need to appreciate it. It's just that although our country has won a few victories, it has also lost a lot. It urgently needs to be replenished with new warships. The four ironclad ships ordered by our country a while ago, can we allow them to return to China as soon as possible?"

"Haha, of course there is no problem. Tomorrow you can send people to take over those four warships."

"No, no, no." Zeng Dawei waved his hands again and again: "Your Excellency, you also know how tight the French blockade is in the Mediterranean Sea. It is impossible for our warships to pass there. So we hope that your country can send sailors." Send these four ironclad ships back to our country as merchant ships."

"Is that so?" Vadsi pondered, with a look of embarrassment on his face, and did not speak.

Zeng Dawei took the heat to hit the railway: "Your Excellency, you also know that the French hate your country, and our country is fighting against the French. There is an old saying in our country that the enemy's enemy is your friend. As long as your country can get these four ships If the armored ship is sent back to our country, our country will be able to drive the French out of the Far East. France has invested tens of thousands of troops and dozens of warships in the Far East. Once they fail, it will be enough to make them lose their vitality. I believe this will be a disaster for your country. Good news."

Vadsi continued to think, but still did not speak.

Zeng Dawei continued: "Our emperor is willing to form a military ally with your country. With our rich resources and your country's advanced technology, there must be great development prospects. For this reason, our emperor is willing to lease a port for your country's Far East Navy. Park warships. You can even sign a unilateral military agreement with your country. Once your country’s territory is invaded by a third country, our country is willing to send troops to help.”

This time, Vadsee was really tempted. The unilateral military agreement meant that Germany was invaded and the Qing Dynasty had to send troops.But the Qing Dynasty was violated, and Germany could not send troops.

The Germans believed that there would eventually be a war with France and Russia, and even advocated a pre-emptive attack on Russia or one of France, so they started to cooperate with Austria. Now that the Qing Dynasty has come to ask for cooperation, can Waldsee be tempted?

Although the current strength of the Qing Dynasty is not enough to cooperate with Germany on an equal footing, if the Qing Dynasty restrains France and Russia in the Far East, this is definitely good news for Germany.

"Mr. Ambassador, according to what I say, the power of the emperor of your country is supreme. Excuse me for asking, are you in control of what you just said?"

"Your Excellency, please rest assured, all of this is a telegram from our emperor who asked me to bring a message."

Vadsi was completely tempted, he patted the table and said: "Okay, tomorrow I will send the crew to send four ironclad ships back to your country. In addition, the French cruiser "Dour" in the Far East is super fast, and your country may not have To catch up with its warships, our country has recently produced two cruisers similar to the "Tour", which also have a displacement of 5700 tons, a speed of 17 knots, and more than 30 artillery pieces on the ship. You can give up one to supplement your country Naval power. It’s just a little expensive, but it can be cheaper to show that our country is willing to cooperate with your country.”

Now it was Zeng Dawei's turn to get excited, "Really? Thank you so much, Your Excellency Director. I'll go back and send a power call to our emperor, and please give me a price, so I can go back and report."

"Well, let's give it according to the cost. Two hundred million marks."

"1000 million marks, equivalent to [-] million taels of silver. At this price, you can buy two medium-sized ironclad ships!" Zeng Dawei said in surprise.

"This is already the cost. It is very difficult to achieve such a fast speed for such a large warship. And I am sure that your country can only buy such an advanced warship from me, because no one with this shipbuilding technology The country doesn't want to leak it."

When the news came back to the capital, Guan Xuqing was extremely excited.It can be said that this news is no less joyful than the victory of the Yellow Sea War brought him.

Before officially signing the alliance agreement, Guan Xuqing specifically asked Zeng Dawei to add a few more cooperation clauses including Germany helping the Qing Dynasty train army generals.

After repeated revisions, deliberation, and finally signed a military alliance agreement with Germany on the fifth day after.

And four ironclad ships and one cruiser also flew the flag of Germany and sailed from Germany to the Qing Dynasty on the first day after the signing of the agreement.

(End of this chapter)