The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 584 Yuan Xiangcheng's Neutrality

"Marshal!" Xu Shichang said with some concern.

Although in terms of title and status, Xu Shichang, the acting governor-general of the three northeastern provinces, was higher than Yang Shixiang, the governor-general of two provinces, but in Teng Yuzhao's place, Xu Shichang still had to sit below Yang Shixiang.

Regarding this ranking, except for Ye Zugui and Sa Zhenbing who were a little surprised, not only Xu Shichang had no complaints, but everyone else also thought it was normal.

Everyone could see clearly that Yang Shixiang was not only the earliest and most authentic Hanlin who followed Teng Yuzao, but also Teng Yuzao's closest confidant.

"Taking back the Russian concession will definitely give the Russians a reason to stay outside the Great Wall, so this matter must be reported to the Qing court. Otherwise, people may say that the Marshal has his own army and does not take the court seriously, which may lead to war."

Xu Shichang asked, "Also, once the war starts, are we ready?"

Feeling a little dizzy, Teng Yuzhao picked up the beer glass again and took a big sip of beer. Then he sighed and said to Xu Shichang with a wry smile.

"Juren is right. I will now inform you why I was urgently summoned back to Beijing from the frontier."

As the court hurriedly recalled Teng Yuzhao from outside the Great Wall to the capital, everyone in the meeting room was eager to know what it was all about.
The people now in the conference room are all core figures in the Beiyang faction. They can even vaguely guess that Teng Yuzao was urgently summoned back to Beijing, which should be related to Russia's occupation of the three northeastern provinces and its refusal to withdraw its troops.

And if it is related to the three northeastern provinces, then war is likely to break out.

Regarding the war with the Russians, the people in the conference room were almost instantly divided into two factions. Among the military generals including Ye Zugui and Sa Zhenbing, except for Li Yulin whose face became serious, everyone else looked happy.

Liu Shijiu even had his mouth wide open, smiling silently in his seat.

The expressions of the civil servants suddenly became solemn, even Yang Shixiang and Xu Shichang, who had witnessed Teng Yuzao's battle with the foreign powers and eventually forced the Eight-Nation Alliance to the negotiating table, had the same look on their faces.

After all, war is a dangerous place, and the situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. Even if you win a hundred games, you may fall into an irretrievable situation if you lose once.

Who can guarantee that the invincible Teng Yuzao will continue his glory outside the Great Wall? There will definitely be no missteps!

Although the civil and military officials had completely different mentalities, they all pricked up their ears and waited carefully for what Teng Yuzhao was going to report.

When Teng Yuzhao saw everyone's expressions, he felt happy and relieved.

What made him happy and relieved was not only the eagerness of his direct troops and naval generals to fight!
Only when an army dares to fight and is willing to fight can it have the foundation to defeat the enemy.

Teng Yuzhao was also satisfied with the cautious attitude of the civil servants. War is a dangerous time and being cautious is the most important thing to advocate.

Teng Yuzhao took a deep breath and tried to think more clearly.

"You should all remember that after the second phase of the withdrawal expired, the Russians refused to continue with the withdrawal plan and even proposed seven new conditions for withdrawal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in April last year."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established in the 27th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu. The Zongli Yamen was changed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was ranked first among the six ministries.

Yixin still served as the Prince of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Wang Wenshao, the Grand Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, was the Co-Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Later, the Minister of Works Qu Hongji was transferred to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and was appointed as the Co-Minister. The current Co-Minister is Na Tong.

Although Yikuang was once dismissed by Cixi, the position of Prince of the Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs remained vacant until the beginning of last year, when Yikuang was assigned back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had a very wide scope of jurisdiction and was responsible for all foreign affairs. In addition to signing treaties, demarcating borders, and dispatching envoys, it was also responsible for matters related to trade, coastal defense, roads and mines, tariffs, post and telecommunications, Chinese workers, missionary work, and overseas travel, almost completely bypassing the Grand Council.

These people were naturally aware of what Teng Yuzhao was talking about. The Russian conditions for withdrawal were extremely rude and arrogant. They included clauses such as "the forces of the great powers are not allowed to enter Manchuria" and "Russia participates in the administrative management of northern Manchuria", which were disguised forms of aggression against China's Northeast.

The Russians even sent troops to reoccupy Fengtian.

On the second day after receiving the "Seven New Conditions for Withdrawal", Yikuang, at the instigation of the British Minister, revealed the contents of Russia's "Seven New Conditions for Withdrawal" to the Japanese Minister to Qing Dynasty, Uchida Yasuya.

After Uchida Yasuya sent the Russians' "Seven New Conditions for Withdrawal" back to Japan via telegram, it immediately caused an uproar in Japan. For a time, not only the top Japanese army officers were furious, but even the navy, which was at odds with the army, was also furious.

In such an atmosphere, one can imagine the final attitude and reaction of the Japanese.

Japan quickly negotiated with Russia, demanding that the Russian army must fulfill the withdrawal conditions and withdraw on schedule, but was rejected by the Russian side.

Thus, the two sides began months of repeated negotiations.

Teng Yuzao continued angrily, "During their negotiations, although the Japanese made concessions step by step, they still used our three northeastern provinces and North Korea as bargaining chips, wanting the Russians to give up their interests in North Korea. At the same time, they wanted the two countries to share our interests in Northeast China. In fact, they wanted to divide our three northeastern provinces with the Russians."

"Damn it! They are rebelling! They are even planning to divide up our land!"

Liu Jiu slammed the table and said fiercely, "Marshal, just give the order. I will reach the city of Fengtian within three days and cut the old Russians in Fengtian into pieces."

Teng Yuzao never had any complaints about Liu Shijiu, who hated evil, because he knew very well that Liu Shijiu was not only a man of temperament, but also his loyal supporter.

Even if he wanted Liu Shijiu to lead his troops to attack the capital city immediately, Liu Shijiu would not hesitate at all.

Teng Yuzao smiled bitterly and said, "Brother, please listen to me."

Teng Yuzao stopped Liu Shijiu and continued.

"But the Japanese didn't expect that the Russians were not willing to share our three northeastern provinces with them, but wanted to monopolize them. In the end, their negotiations broke down completely before the end of last year."

The inside information these people obtained was through the private letters sent by Prince Duan Zai Yi to Teng Yuzhao. As early as the end of the year, Teng Yuzhao was already on his way to inspect the various units of the Zhi army.

Therefore, the information about Teng Yuzao and Zai Yi was cut off, and these people were naturally unaware of the breakdown of the negotiations.

Teng Yuzao frowned and said, "According to the news sent back by our two ministers to Japan, Cai Jun and Yang Shu, the Japanese have been tightening their belts and expanding their army since they withdrew from Zhili. After learning in April last year that the Russians refused to withdraw their troops, they became even more aggressive."

"Currently, the Japanese have expanded their army to 28 divisions, and their total army strength exceeds 700,000."

Teng Yuzao continued, "The British naturally do not want to see the three northeastern provinces being monopolized by the Russians. They are even more unwilling to see the Russians gain access to the sea in the Far East, thus threatening their interests in the Far East."

"So, the British not only encouraged the Japanese and the Russians to go to war, but also secretly lent a large sum of money to the financially strapped Japanese." "As far as I know, the British have promised to lend the Japanese a total of 200 million pounds to support the Japanese and the Russians in the war in Northeast China."

What Teng Yuzhao said naturally came from his memory. Li Yaoting's security department's intelligence network could not reach overseas for the time being.

As far as Teng Yuzao remembers, the British lent Japan $410 million during the Russo-Japanese War.

Teng Yuzhao's words surprised everyone. Two hundred million pounds is more than ten billion silver dollars!

"Damn, this English guy is really fucking rich! He can actually come up with such a large sum of money."

Liu Shijiu was surprised and said, "Isn't he afraid that this little devil will lose the battle and won't be able to pay him back in the end?"

Teng Yuzao sneered again and said, "It's not just the British who are supporting the Japanese. The Americans, who also don't want to see the Russians have an outlet to the sea in the Far East, are also lending them money."

"To put it bluntly, neither the British nor the Americans want to see Russian fleets in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans. This time, it is actually the British and American powers that are playing a game with the Russians, and the Japanese are just pawns of the British and American chess."

"The Japanese also don't want the Russians to gain a foothold in Northeast China and block their way to invade the East Asian continent again."

"They also don't want to see the Russians have an ice-free port like Lushun, so after receiving financial and weapon support from Britain and the United States, they have become murderous and are eager to go to war with the Russians."

"The reason why the imperial court called me back this time is because the Japanese just secretly notified the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they want to go to war with the Russians and help the imperial court drive them out of the Northeast."

"The Japanese want the court to agree to send troops together with them and declare war on the Russians together."

Teng Yuzao sighed heavily. "The imperial court did not agree to join the war, but it did not object to the Japanese and the Russians fighting somewhere in the Northeast, and even promised to remain neutral when the two sides went to war."

"In order to prevent my opposition, the imperial court has already signed an agreement with the Japanese devils under the guarantee of the British and Americans."

"Even the Empress Dowager summoned me and told me that except for Lord Zhou's Liangjiang, and our two provinces of Zhili and Shandong, the governors of other provinces, including Zhang Xiangtao, all agreed that the court would remain neutral. If a war broke out, they would publish statements in the newspapers to support the court's decision."

"Among them, Yuan Xiangcheng and Zhang Xiangtao were the most supportive. Yuan Xiangcheng firmly agreed with the so-called neutrality, while Zhang Xiangtao also advocated an alliance with Japan to resist Russia."

"The Queen Mother is using these provincial governors to put pressure on me. She wants me not only to not raise any objections when the Russo-Japanese War breaks out, but also to restrain the Zhi army and not intervene."

Teng Yuzhao sighed helplessly, poured the last half of the beer in the bottle into the glass, and then drank it all in one gulp.

"What kind of logic is this? Starting a war on our land and not allowing our own army to intervene!"

Liu Shijiu was so angry that his face turned red and his neck became thick, and he slammed the conference table heavily.

Today's conference tables no longer need to be pieced together. This conference table is made of the finest wood and is very sturdy. Otherwise, the tea cups on the table would have jumped around when Liu Shijiu slapped them.

Teng Yuzao waved his hand, signaling Liu Shijiu to be patient, and then spoke.

"Tell me, what do you think about this matter?"

Seeing that Liu Jiujiu was about to speak, Li Xianze on the side hurriedly reached out and pulled his collar, indicating that he should listen to what others said first. Liu Jiujiu then exhaled and stopped talking.

Yang Shixiang smiled bitterly and said, "General, in the past two years, Yuan Xiangcheng has not only frequently submitted memorials to propose reforms, but has also vigorously promoted new policies in Henan Province, especially in running schools. Under his leadership, the economy and people's livelihood in Henan Province have improved to some extent. Now someone has praised him in the newspapers."

"Yuan Xiangcheng's reforms were steady and orderly, far better than the Marshal's aggressive promotion of Westernization in Zhili and Shandong provinces. Under the promotion of some people, he is now about to overshadow the Marshal."

Yang Shixiang said with emotion, "In my opinion, Yuan Xiangcheng advocates neutrality because he is worried that if we join the war, his Henan Army will not be able to escape unscathed, and the six strong towns he just raised will suffer losses. He also has another meaning. I'm afraid he is worried that the Marshal will repeat his successive victories and rise to prominence again!"

Tang Shaoyi asked in confusion, "Marshal, when the agreement was signed, didn't the powers jointly guarantee that the Russians would withdraw their troops on time?"

"Don't they care now?"

"Also, if the British and Americans wanted to drive the Russians away, why didn't they support us, but supported the Japanese instead?"

Teng Yuzao smiled bitterly and said to Tang Shaoyi, "Shaochuan, when you are handling diplomacy in the future, always remember one sentence. This sentence was said by the British Benjamin Disraeli. There are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. This sentence is absolutely a wise saying when applied to diplomacy."

"That is the case today. Now the British and Americans are only interested in curbing Russian expansion in the Far East for their own benefit."

"For their own benefit, they don't want to see us become stronger, which is not in line with their interests in seizing our country, so they are more willing to support the Japanese who have always harbored evil intentions towards us."

"In this way, if we drive away the Russians, we and the Japanese will still be hostile parties in the Far East. We both have an enemy, and neither of us is very strong, so no one has the power to challenge their interests in the Far East."

Seeing that Tang Shaoyi seemed to want to refute him, Teng Yuzao said with a smile.

"At least at sea, Minister Ye and Commander Sa do not believe that our navy is capable of challenging the United Kingdom and the United States."

Teng Yuzhao's words made Tang Shaoyi stunned for a moment, and then he couldn't help but reveal a bitter smile.

"Commander."

Xu Shichang frowned and said, "We can't just watch the Russians and the Japanese fighting on our land and do nothing, can we?"

Teng Yuzao sneered and said, "The court does mean this, and strictly orders our Zhi army not to participate in the war, but the three northeastern provinces are our territory, and I, Teng Yuzao, will never watch this happen."

Seeing that Teng Yuzhao seemed to be interested in joining the war, Xu Shichang hurriedly spoke again.

"General, please think twice. After all, the imperial court has issued a strict order not to participate in the war. Moreover, once the two countries start fighting, those governors and governors will express their support. If you insist on joining the war, I am afraid that it will give others an excuse."

"If we win, it will be fine. But if we lose, with foreign powers eyeing us covetously and political enemies fanning the flames, domestic public opinion will probably be in an uproar and turn to the court. Not only will the good situation in Zhili and Shandong be overturned, but the Marshal's future may also end!"

"Why not, Marshal, contact Germany and France and see what they say first!"

(End of this chapter)