Chapter 256: A Stick in One Hand and Vodka in the Other

After several discussions, the Tsar decided to deal with China with a stick in one hand and vodka in the other.

On the same day, Russian Finance Minister Witte met with Minister to Russia Xu Jingcheng.

Xu Jingcheng was one of the veteran diplomats of the Qing Dynasty. He had served as envoy to France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Austria. He inspected and accepted the warships such as Dingyuan and Zhenyuan.

Since 1891, the Russian army has entered the Pamir-China border area for the unreasonable and absurd reason of "safari", and since then it has attempted to encroach on the entire Pamir area. Xu Jingcheng was ordered to negotiate, in order to maintain territorial integrity, without any They persisted for three years without giving in. In the end, due to the weakening of China's national power, in 1894, they had to accept Russia's proposal to maintain the status quo and not enter the army.

However, he had long understood the vicious nature of the Russians, and he foresaw that after the Three Kingdoms returned to Liao, the Russians would have their own agenda, and the Germans would have the intention of retribution.

This time, Witte invited him to meet, and Xu Jingcheng probably guessed what was going on.

Xu Jingcheng sat on a chair in the Russian diplomatic office, drinking the bitter coffee on the table, quietly waiting for Werther's arrival.

"Mr. Xu, the Russians urgently invited us to meet. What's the matter?" Seeing that Witte never came, Xu's attendant asked in a low voice.

Xu Jingcheng said with a worried face: "In the past, Russia, France, and Germany forced Japan to return our land in Liaodong. Do you think it was that simple? Although Russia intended to ask the Japanese to withdraw their troops, it also intended to let Japan delay time in an attempt to Our country borrows money from it.”

Although Japan had promised Russia, Germany and France to give up the territory of Liaodong at that time, the three countries never let the Qing government know the specific situation. On the one hand, the Qing government was afraid that the Japanese would be too lazy to leave, and on the other hand, it was afraid that the three countries would take the opportunity to carve up this area.

If China hadn't been clamoring for a war, and the Japanese would have taken advantage of it, notified the Qing government, and left after getting the money, the Russian conspiracy might have succeeded.

China spent 10 million taels of silver to take back these places, which was 20 million taels less than in the original history. Although it was financially strapped, it was still able to make up the money without borrowing.

As for the 80 million taels of compensation from the Shimonoseki Treaty, it can be paid back in several years, which is not so urgent.

In the original history, the Russians used the Japanese army's withdrawal from Liaodong as a threat to explain that if they did not borrow money from them, it was still unclear whether the Japanese could withdraw their troops. In the end, China had to compromise. Anyway, it was a loan, and it didn't matter which country it borrowed from. There's a solution.

The attaché was also worried and said: "Do the Russians still want to talk about borrowing money? Isn't the imperial court already leaning towards German, American, British and other banks?"

Banks in other countries are eager for China to borrow money from them. Not to mention other things, they can earn a lot of money from economic benefits and interest, and the loans also need guarantees. The Qing government usually uses various taxes, such as customs taxes, as guarantees. The great powers can legitimately intervene in China's finances.

Therefore, there was no need to worry about not being able to borrow money. What was worrying was that each country used various means, either coercion or inducement, to get the Qing government to borrow money from it. Russia was trying to force the Qing government to submit through coercion.

Xu Jingcheng shook his head helplessly and said no more. A weak country has no diplomacy. Even if it is a sure thing, if it involves the great powers, things will change.

Xu Jingcheng and others waited for a while before Werther walked in calmly.

"Xu, I kept you waiting for a long time." Werther said calmly. Werther played the role of Vodka when Russia dealt with China. He was a conspirator. He always appeared in front of the Chinese with a charitable face.

Xu Jingcheng said pointedly: "Your minister is busy with affairs, so it is reasonable for him to be late."

Werther sat down without changing his expression.

He first took a slow sip of coffee, and then said calmly: "I heard that your country is now going to build its own railway to connect with our country's Siberian Railway?"

Xu Jingcheng rolled his eyes and replied with a smile: "In 1891, our country had already established the Qing Dynasty Railway Administration. For the convenience of transportation, it had decided to build a railway from Yingkou to Hunchun. Now it is just based on the original It’s just a plan.”

When the Russians built the Siberian Railway, insightful people in the Qing court realized that their intention was to encircle the Northeast, so they proposed a countermeasure, which was to build a railway to strengthen control over the three northeastern provinces.

However, firstly, Hanyang Iron Works has never produced qualified rails, and secondly, Japan invaded eastward not long ago, so this railway is still under planning and has not had time to be built.

Witte also knew that the Qing government built this road to compete with the Siberian Railway, but he could not tell the truth.

He smiled lightly and said: "Your country's idea is good. Building railways is indeed conducive to transportation and promotes economic development. However, our country is acting on behalf of your country. Firstly, your country may not have the funds at present, and secondly, it is not familiar with the project." Please handle the air disaster quickly. Our railway will be able to reach your country’s Heilongjiang border by next year. If your country’s railway construction has not yet been completed, our country’s railway will still not be able to reach Vladivostok, which will be very detrimental to our country.”

Xu Jingcheng was secretly annoyed and said casually: "Why does your country have to go through our country's railway? Your country can just go around and build it in the Khabarovsk area."

Witte pretended to be surprised and said: "Why did Minister Xu say this? If our country's railway can be connected with your country's railway, it will not only save a lot of trouble, but also facilitate the trade between the two countries, which will be beneficial to both parties."

Xu Jingcheng could only say: "Don't worry, our country is fully capable of building a railway on its own."

Witt glanced at Xu Jingcheng and said with a smile: "Your country is borrowing money everywhere now, and I am afraid it is not strong enough. It is better to allow the Russians to raise funds to set up a company to build this road and sign a contract with your country. As long as the charter does not hinder the sovereignty of the country, there will be no other worries in your country. Please ask your envoy to first telegraph the country and allow our department to draft a draft contract and submit it to your country for approval."

Xu Jingcheng was vicious and experienced. He immediately understood the Russians' sinister intentions and thought to himself: "Russian businessmen are definitely not capable of half of this major event. Witt's intention is nominally a business operation. At that time, it must be the Russian government's own doing, with evil intentions. It is also borrowing land to build roads, but it is just a little packaging, just to avoid jealousy and deceive us.

Xu Jingcheng suppressed his annoyance and had to smile and said: "Your minister's statement that the company builds the road is different from our country's statement that it is built by ourselves. There is no need to telegraph to ask for a draft. "

Seeing that Xu Jingcheng was unmoved and firm in his attitude, Witte had to think of another way. All roads lead to Rome. If this road is blocked, there are other ways. So he said nonchalantly: "Since your minister cannot make the decision, I will let the company build this road, and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs will ask our ambassador to China, Cassini, to negotiate this matter in Beijing."

Witt was extremely contemptuous of Xu Jingcheng, but Xu Jingcheng only changed his face slightly, did not say much, and hurriedly left.

After Xu Jingcheng left, a Russian official said: "Xu Jingcheng is a man who doesn't tolerate any water. He is really our strong opponent."

Witt said nonchalantly: "Even if he doesn't tolerate any water, what's the problem? The strength of the Chinese is there, and we can still do whatever we want. "

"Your Excellency, now because of the Japanese instigation, there is a turmoil in the Korean palace, the Korean princess was killed, and the anti-Japanese atmosphere in Korea is strong. The Korean royal family asked us for our protection. If we can obtain the right to build the railway in China, we can extend this railway to Korea and suppress the power of the Japanese. Therefore, if this matter can be accomplished, it will be a great blessing." The Russian official said with a smile.

Witt nodded and said, "Whether it is political conditions or geographical conditions, Korea is part of the territory of the Russian Empire, so the fate has long been decided. If the Japanese want to win Korea from our country, they must be prepared to withstand our anger."

Witt continued, "Now that the railway has not been built, it is not appropriate to mobilize troops. We can first use peaceful means to obtain the highest control of Korea. Your Majesty has discussed this matter with Lobanov and me. The Korean king can be moved from the palace to our embassy, ​​and a financial advisor can be sent to Korea to start building the railway. I have recommended you to this person."

"Thank you for your appreciation, Your Excellency. "The official said with tears of gratitude.

After Xu Jingcheng returned to the embassy, ​​he immediately sent back the meeting with Witte by telegram, and pointed out that the Russians were harboring evil intentions and Russia was not trustworthy.

At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the Russian ambassador to China, Cassini, to go to the Chinese Zongli Yamen to discuss the matter.

In the Zongli Yamen, Guiziliu, Prince Qing Yixin, Weng Tonghe, and Li Hongzhang were all there. After receiving Xu Jingcheng's call, they were very worried.

Guiziliu looked like a dying man, and it was unknown how long he could survive. Guiziliu was not smart in other aspects, but in terms of Russia, he had suffered from the Russians again and again, and he also saw clearly that It is clear that the Russians are really cunning.

When the British and French forces invaded China in the past, the Russians pretended to be saviors, scolded Britain, France and other countries, and said that they could help the Qing Dynasty train soldiers and provide guns and artillery to resist Britain, France and other countries. Who knew that in the end, the Russians benefited the most from the British and French troops. Not only did they cede a large piece of land to the Russians, but the Beijing Treaty signed also included the Russians. It can be seen that the Russians did a lot of things to take advantage of the fire.

Not to mention this, when Zuo Zongtang recovered Xinjiang, the Russians were even more cunning. Their country had just suffered in Europe and was unable to deal with China, so they conspired and colluded with Germany to Bismarck said that he would support the peace faction Li Hongzhang and others to establish themselves in order to strike at the peace faction and maintain the interests of various countries in China. In the end, the Qing court was so scared that it did not even take back Yili.

In short, the Russians' methods are rogue and strong banditry, and they will attack directly when they have the ability, and take advantage of the fire when they don't have the ability. In short, they will not stop until China's territory is completely ceded.

This happened to be after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, and China's national strength was even weaker. If the Russians missed this opportunity, they would not be called Russians. Not to mention that they had openly torn up the agreement and privately divided the Pamirs with the British when the Qing court had no time to look west during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. Even now, it is even more It is to force China to agree to anchor the fleet in Jiaozhou Bay.

Why did the Russians want to anchor the ships in Jiaozhou Bay? It was because of their ulterior motives. Jiaozhou Bay is not a trading port. The trading ports such as Yantai can allow them to anchor for a long time. However, ships from all countries can enter and exit the trading ports at will. Russia cannot achieve the goal of occupying it alone, so it chose Jiaozhou Bay. Now that Lushun has been taken back by the Chinese, Lushun's geographical location is better than Jiaozhou Bay. Therefore, the Russians have set their sights on Lushun again.

If there are no Beiyang ships guarding Lushun Port now, it is estimated that the Russians will use the same trick again, first drive the fleet into the port and act like a rogue and refuse to leave, and then talk to you.