King of Beiyang

"In recent years, the Japanese have maintained close ties with the British. It seems that the British have provided the Japanese with considerable financial and technological support."

Li Jingfang's brows furrowed tightly.

As the counselor of the Qing Dynasty's embassy in the Japanese Empire, he also learned some of the details.

In addition, Li Jingyuan's extremely wary attitude towards the Japanese devils also attracted Li Jingfang's attention.

Li Jingyuan nodded: "The British are intentionally supporting the rise of the Japanese to counterbalance the expansion of the Russians in the Far East."

Li Jingfang suddenly realized.

As a diplomat stationed abroad, Li Jingfang is also very knowledgeable about the international situation.

He was also very aware of the British Empire's efforts to contain and suppress the Russians.

It is not incomprehensible that the British would choose to support the Japanese.

"The land of the Japanese is small and resources are scarce. If they want to rise to become a powerful nation, they must expand outwards."

Looking around the entire Far East, apart from the Korean Peninsula, we, being so close by, are a perfect target for the Japanese.

With the help of the Japanese, once the Japanese possessed powerful military force...

Therefore, war is bound to break out.

  

Brother, you must know very well what the Qing Dynasty is like now.

Even though we are much larger than the Japanese, our population is also much larger.

But the entire country was utterly corrupt.

If we don't find a solution soon, we'll likely suffer more defeats than victories once war breaks out.

Li Jingyuan appeared pessimistic about the future of the war.

Li Jingfang nodded repeatedly, although he did not necessarily agree with Li Jingyuan's point of view.

But his intuition as a diplomat made him more wary of the Japanese.

"Third brother, if I am appointed as the Minister in charge of the Eastern Empire, I will definitely pay close attention!" Li Jingfang said.

Seeing this, Li Jingyuan said nothing more.

He had already planned that after returning to China to take up his post, he would send a large number of intelligence personnel into Japan to infiltrate, collect intelligence, and build a comprehensive intelligence system.

At that time, we might need Li Jingfang's cover.

Early the next morning, Li Jingfang left Hamburg and boarded a cruise ship to return to the Qing Empire in preparation for the upcoming imperial examination.

If he fails the imperial examination again, he will have to consider Li Jingyuan's suggestion and seek the position of Minister to the Eastern Empire.

With Li Hongzhang in charge of the Qing Empire's diplomacy, this should not have been too difficult.

Even though Li Jingfang is young, he is quite experienced, having served as a counselor at the Chinese embassy in Japan. It's safe to say he's almost certain to secure this position.

If Li Jingfang could achieve success in this position, and the Beiyang Army could turn the tide in the First Sino-Japanese War, then he could use this opportunity to climb to a higher position.

As the saying goes, "Brothers fight tigers together, and fathers and sons go to war together."

Once the Beiyang clique completely controls the power of the entire country, Li Jingfang will inevitably become the main person in charge of diplomacy.

The new semester started quickly, and Li Jingyuan and his classmate Carl von Hollen continued to slack off.

However, neither of them missed a single class.

However, perhaps due to a lack of effort, his grades were consistently among the lowest in the class.

On the contrary, the elites of Beiyang, after getting used to the teaching at the academy and catching up on their missed lessons, improved greatly in all aspects and achieved top grades.

Compared to these elites, Li Jingyuan felt that he was a complete academic failure.

Fortunately, Li Jingyuan was not here, otherwise he would have been frustrated to death.

As time went by, the patent application for sulfonamides proceeded very smoothly.

By the end of April of the fifteenth year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign, even the patents from the Russian Empire had been granted.

Currently, only the patents from the United States are still in the process of being processed.

This made Li Jingyuan very happy, as his plan could finally be implemented.

On the first weekend of May, Carl von Hollen invited Li Jingyuan to go horseback riding.

But Li Jingyuan formally proposed the collaboration.

"Karl, my dear friend, didn't you want to become a great businessman instead of a soldier? Now, an opportunity has come." Li Jingyuan placed the relevant patent documents on the table.

"My friend, what are these?" Carl asked, puzzled.

However, when he picked up the documents and read them carefully, he was completely shocked.

"My God! My friend, is all of this real? This is incredible!" Carl exclaimed.

"You actually own a patent for a new drug that can target bacterial infections? That's an absolute gold mine! It means countless riches!" Karl looked completely incredulous.

"Yes, my friend. However, I hope you can cooperate with me and run this business together!" Li Jingyuan extended an invitation.

"My friend, are you serious?" Carl's expression also turned serious.

"Of course, I'm not joking. I'm well aware that even if I own the patent, there's still a long way to go before this new drug can be marketed and turned into money, and there will likely be significant obstacles."

Therefore, I need a partner, a very strong partner!

Li Jingyuan looked very serious.

Although Carl didn't want to join the army, his grades were at the bottom of his class.

But he's not stupid.

On the contrary, he is also very intelligent.

He already understood Li Jingyuan's meaning very well.

"My friend, I'd be very happy to work with you. However, I need to go back and consult my family. After all, this is a huge undertaking!" Carl said.

Li Jingyuan nodded, indicating his understanding.

However, he believed that this was a golden opportunity for Karl, and even for the entire Hollen family, like a pie falling from the sky.

They probably won't refuse.

In fact, just as Li Jingyuan had predicted, Karl's father, Georg von Hollen, and mother, Louise, immediately realized that this was an excellent opportunity, an opportunity that could bring enormous wealth to the entire Hollen family.

However, Georg von Hollen was also keenly aware that relying solely on the Hollen family and his father-in-law Albrecht von Stösch was not enough to guarantee a smooth collaboration.

Once those large conglomerates and capitalists learn of this, they will surely swarm in like sharks smelling blood.

Therefore, Georg von Hollen proposed to invite heavyweight figures to invest again.

After learning of this, Li Jingyuan agreed.

Although this means he will have to share a significant portion of the profits, it will ensure the success of the entire plan.

He was even more enthusiastic about it after learning that Georg von Holen had invited Prince Heinrich.

Prince Heinrich had a close personal relationship with Georg von Holen, and more importantly, he was the brother of Emperor Wilhelm II. Wouldn't Prince Heinrich's investment in this project imply the involvement of the German imperial family?

The entire project will no longer encounter any obstacles in the German Empire.

And Li Jingyuan's interests can also be guaranteed.

At the same time, this opportunity could also be used to establish closer relations with the upper echelons of the German Empire.