Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 67 Ambition

Everything went smoothly, and Li Hongzhang finally completed a successful signing.All previous agreements between the Qing Dynasty and foreign powers were unequal agreements, and of course this time it was also unequal.But this time it was not our Qing Dynasty who was wronged. Li Hongzhang walked out of the cabin and looked at the blue sky and white clouds and took a deep breath.I cursed secretly in my heart: When did I, Daqing, and Li Hongzhang feel so elated.

The news that China and France abolished the Old Testament and made reparations to the Qing Dynasty came back to China, and the whole country suddenly boiled.The Sino-French battle has twists and turns.This seriously ill country gathered all the outstanding talents, gathered all the resources that could be concentrated, and took advantage of the delicate international situation to finally defeat a country that they seemed invincible.

"Daqing Daily" published a photo of the French expeditionary force surrendering to the Qing army and handing over its equipment. In the photo, Lieutenant General Gu Ba handed over his command sword with a livid face.

Most of the officials of the Westernization Movement of the imperial court and the governors of various places were also relieved. This one-day battle will cost tens of thousands of taels of silver. If this continues, the foundation accumulated since the Westernization Movement will be defeated It's all gone, and now the gun bureaus in various provinces don't even have wages to start work. If the workers were surprisingly quiet this time, the sky would have been turned upside down long ago.So this time is an unprecedented sound of praise.

And this Sino-French battle also shocked the whole world. If the French army was weakened because of the Franco-Prussian War, then what about his world's second largest navy, the Great Qingshui Division, defeated the French fleet again and again , which has to impress people from other countries.Especially the people of color in Asia, Africa and other countries, they think that no matter how brave they are, no matter how fearless they are, they will not be able to defeat the Europeans, but the Chinese have set an example for them.

The number of prisoners in the French army is large, with a total of nearly 5 people in the navy and army.Their great republic spent a full 200 ​​million taels of silver to redeem them, plus 500 million taels of war indemnities, and the return of a total of 800 million taels of indemnities in the Sino-French Beijing Treaty during the Second Opium War.

So in this Sino-French war, the Qing Dynasty got 1500 million taels of silver from the French.Although this is not a lot, it was a timely help for the Qing Dynasty at that time.After more than a year of war, the treasury has already bottomed out.Guan Xuqing continued to encourage the public to donate money and food through the "Daqing Daily", and the workers in the arsenal did not pay their wages and so on.Even Guan Xuqing reduced the expenditure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs again and again. Without such frugality, how could 20 artillery battalions bombard Hucheng Fortress continuously for several days? ?The shells that were just destroyed in those few days had to be manufactured in China for several months.

After the war ended, Guan Xuqing began to worry about this piece of land in Vietnam.At the beginning, we only sent troops to fight against France to help Vietnam, but now that the French army has been defeated, we have to withdraw from Vietnam according to normal logic.

At that time, people liked to describe Vietnam as "two baskets of rice on a pole". "One pole" refers to the narrow strip in central Vietnam, and the "two baskets of rice" it provokes refer to the two famous "granaries" of the Red River Plain in the north and the Mekong River Plain in the south.

Historically, before World War II, Vietnam produced 650 million tons of rice every year, one-third of which was exported, accounting for one-quarter of the world's total rice exports.At that time, Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) was one of the three major rice markets in the world, as famous as Yangon and Bangkok.However, after the 40s, due to successive years of wars, agricultural production was greatly affected. Now in my own hands, this place will surely become China's "granary", which can just make up for the lack of arable land in the Qing Dynasty.There is a deep land plot in the hearts of Chinese people.But now China's cultivated land is basically saturated. Except for the fertile black soil in the Northeast, other lands with good irrigation conditions and high yields have basically been reclaimed. If we don't expand outwards and the population increases, we can only reclaim those barren lands. land, which is a great loss to the efficiency of labor use.

Reminiscent of the Qing Dynasty’s efforts to increase the area of ​​arable land by surrounding lakes to build fields, cutting down trees on mountains to build terraced fields, and turning good pastures into low-yield farmland, Guan Xuqing often lamented that these Vietnamese were reckless.Now that this fertile land has fallen into the hands of the Qing Dynasty, it can finally realize its value.

So he decisively left the Black Banner Army in Vietnam, and Liu Mingchuan's troops went north from Vietnam to Guangxi, and continued to guard the three provinces of Yun, Gui, and Guangdong.Dong Liang's troops returned directly to Zhili with the troop carrier escorted by the warship.Lu Yiwei's department took a train from Guangdong to station in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and replaced Chen Heng's department, which was originally stationed here, to Sichuan.

"Your Majesty, all the prisoners of the French army have gone back. The French indemnity has also been paid in place. Hurry up and resume the normal expenditure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I see that you have lost weight this year. My heart is distressed!" Prince Jin said to his son again. Distressed and admired.

"My lord is too worried. Now the money has to be paid to the soldiers who are fighting. I have promised them two years' salary to pay for the dead martyrs. I can't break my promise. In addition, the workers of the gun bureaus in the provinces also pay It must be sent to them as soon as possible. Without their continuous work, what will the soldiers in front use to fight the French? The reconstruction of Mawei Port, the renovation of Lushun Military Port, the reconstruction of Tianjin Dagu Fort, the three cruisers of Germany and the United Kingdom, our money I haven't paid yet. Sigh," Guan Xuqing's head hurt as he spoke.

"Your Majesty, take care of the dragon's body. Ni, ni, ni!" Prince Chun also coughed.

"My lord, pay attention to your body." Guan Xuqing still respected and cared about this "father" very much.

Seeing Guan Xuqing's eyes filled with tears, Prince Jin blurted out: "Your Majesty, my wife misses you very much and hopes to see him."

Guan Xuqing was originally a person who traveled from later generations, and he no longer had any impression of this "mother" who hadn't seen each other for several years.Prince Jing Chun's heart was shocked when he said this, and the past suddenly came to his mind.Back then, in order to prevent her son from entering the palace, the arbitrariness was really a bit like that of Cixi.

"Oh, let's bring Fujin into the palace to live for a while, I miss her too."

Just as Prince Jin was about to say something, the eunuch Wang Shang hurried over.

"Your Majesty, North Korean telegram."

After Guan Xuqing took the telegram and read it carefully, he smiled from the bottom of his heart.Handing the telegram to Prince Jin casually, he murmured: "People have withdrawn their troops in North Korea, and the Koreans who helped them have been wiped out by Liu San and the others. The result of the Sino-French war may have shocked the whole world. Now the Japanese pirates dare not follow us. The Qing Dynasty is the enemy."

"It's a small country, the emperor only needs to send a navy and an army to crush them." Prince Jin said loudly.

Guan Xuqing watched the birth of this military general, and the courageous "unrelated" smiled and shook his head without answering.

In the emperor's palace, the emperor is also discussing the development of the North Korean situation with the ministers.

"So we have failed?" Emperor Meiji said expressionlessly.

Inoue Xin stood up and said: "Your Majesty, this matter is due to my lack of thoughtfulness and underestimation of China's power in North Korea. Your Majesty, please punish me."

Emperor Meiji waved his hand and said: "Forget it, the Chinese have already defeated France. Even if there is no such thing, we will retreat."

Ito Hirobumi, who was sitting cross-legged next to him, said: "We could have quickly increased our troops in Koryo. It created a fait accompli and forced the Qing people to compromise! I didn't expect that the old empire of China, which has become so decayed, can still defeat the French. "

Shanxian Youpeng said unwillingly: "Now the empire's new army has seven towns, and the Qing army is still far away in Vietnam. As long as we put all our troops into it, we can quickly occupy North Korea. Your Majesty will ask more about the withdrawal of troops." consider."

Emperor Meiji did not speak, and the Minister of the Navy, Kawayama Suki, said: "Originally, the empire has maritime superiority. We can rely on new ships such as 'Fuso' to ensure the safety of the empire's landing troops, deter China's Beijing and Tianjin regions, and also threaten China's maritime forces. transportation routes. But now the situation has changed, we have lost the sea superiority over the Qing. Although the Qing navy was severely damaged in the Mawei naval battle, the results of the subsequent naval battle showed that the Chinese had been able to give full play to the combat effectiveness of capturing the French warships, and the After the capture of the Honghe Naval Port, new French warships were captured by China. I believe that the Chinese have repaired these ships and are ready to go into battle at any time. If we start a war with China at this time, even if we quickly occupy North Korea, the Qing Dynasty can also Relying on their naval superiority to calmly mobilize the army, and even use the navy to cut off our supply lines! We only have four battleships 'Fuso', 'King Kong', 'Hiei', and 'Chikushi', and they cannot stop the Qing people at all. I heard that they recently Another five giant warships were bought from Germany. The situation is even less optimistic."

Emperor Meiji thought a little after listening to Kawayama Suiki's words: "So the strength of the Chinese navy has far surpassed ours?"

"I'm afraid so, Your Majesty." Huashan Ziji bowed his head.

At this time, Emperor Meiji was staring ahead, and the beard on his face showed his power even more.

"I deeply feel that a strong army is the foundation of a rich country, and a strong army is first of all a navy. Only by displaying the emperor's prestige at sea can it survive and develop. Without a navy, there would be nothing. Have you read the book of conquering the Qing Dynasty?"

"Yes." All the officials bowed their heads together.

"This plan is to make preparations for attacking the Qing Dynasty within five years. I will discuss with the Minister of the Navy and the General Staff to increase the navy's military expenditure. Within five years, the number of warships and firepower will surpass China, and we must surpass them. Emperor Meiji slammed his fist on the table, as if to strengthen his own resolve.

(End of this chapter)