Master Yuan, start!

A Qinzhou reinforcement tried to explore forward, but before he could cut through the thorns, he heard a burst of gunfire from somewhere, and the Qinzhou reinforcement was shot and fell to the ground.

Ten thousand mountains and millions of trees became the best protective color for the Black Flag Army.

Chapter 411: Sino-British Alliance

Yuan Shikai wanted to cause trouble for the French in order to carry out his future strategy of annexing Vietnam. The British also wanted to cause trouble for the French in order to consolidate their African colonial strategy.

Double five seven six 6$…san$ dead shuttle w=: the parties coincide with each other.

However, what the British hoped for was to cause great trouble to the French without much effort. After all, Britain had too many colonies and did not have the energy to pay attention to the Far East all the time.

So, just after the celebration of Queen Victoria's 60th anniversary of accession to the throne, a telegram from London crossed the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the South China Sea and arrived at the British Consulate in Shanghai.

The British government agreed to raise the current tariff from 5% to 10% and agreed to negotiate with the government of the Republic of China to resolve the issue of consular jurisdiction.

Correspondingly, China must also open more cities and build "bonded areas" to facilitate the storage and sale of British goods.

This is all the content on the surface.

On December 1897, 12, four days before Christmas, the President of the Republic of China and the British Minister to China, Sir Claude MacDonald, signed the Sino-British Agreement on the Improvement of Trade in Jiangning City.

The treaty provides:

1. China and the UK have established a strategic trade partnership and adhere to the principle of free trade. All tariffs levied by China on British goods shall not exceed 10%. The UK may, depending on the circumstances, impose tariffs or implement a free trade policy on Chinese imports.

2. The UK side reiterated its support for China to expand and establish more "bonded areas" and is willing to provide low-interest loan support for this purpose.

3. Regarding the construction of the Tianjin-Zhenjiang and Bianhai-Kaifeng-Lianyungang railways, China has decided to hire British companies to participate in the construction.

4. The two countries follow the principle of friendly trade. Once a war breaks out with a third country, trade between the two sides will proceed normally and will not be affected.

...

Overall, the China-UK Trade Improvement Agreement is a rather general agreement with only three key points.

1. Change tariffs.

Second, establish a bonded area.

3. Borrow money to build railways.

In order to fulfill these conditions, British banks will also provide China with zero financial support. It can even be said that this agreement is actually a loan contract with political clauses attached.

It’s just that the above political conditions do not involve national sovereignty.

At the same time, another agreement under the surface is the top priority of this China-UK signing.

Sino-British Alliance

The treaty stipulates that both parties recognize Vietnam's "autonomy" and that if the interests of both parties in Vietnam are invaded by other countries or damaged by internal unrest, either party may take necessary measures, including but not limited to the use of force.

If one of the contracting parties goes to war with another country, the other party shall remain strictly neutral.

If one Contracting Party is at war with two or more other countries, the other Party shall provide military assistance in addition to directly sending troops to fight, including but not limited to the provision of weapons and maritime escort.

Britain recognized China's protectorate over Vietnam. If Vietnam broke free from French colonization, China would enjoy priority colonial benefits, but would have to share them with Britain.

The two navies communicate regularly to ensure stability in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

China can select no more than 100 naval soldiers each year to go to the British Admiralty and naval ships for internship.

However, the selected naval forces can only be located in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian Oceans, and cannot be located in the Western Pacific.

The Chinese government reiterated its support for Britain's administrative rights in the Ussuri Autonomous Region in the Far East.

China ensures that the UK enjoys special interests in Hong Kong.

Britain ensured that the sovereignty of Taiwan and Xiamen belonged to China.

The alliance agreement between the two sides was very realistic. China supported all of Britain's colonial interests in the Far East, even including Hong Kong.

The reason why the sovereignty of Hong Kong was not discussed was that he had to do so. Yuan Shikai did not want to argue with the British about the Hong Kong issue at this time. He still needed Britain's support, so he could only vaguely use "special interests" to replace sovereignty.

In addition to Hong Kong being a core interest, Britain also gave full support to Yuan Shikai in other aspects.

China and Britain reached a consensus on the expansion in Indochina, that is, the Chinese would provide people and troops, the British would provide money and guns, and everyone would work together to divide the interests of the French Indochina colony.

The signing of the Sino-British Alliance means that the "British-French synchronous strategy" that has always cooperated well in the Far East has become history.

Without British support, the French would have to face pressure from China and the growing resistance in Vietnam alone.

According to the agreement between China and Britain, the British have the right to choose colonies first after winning the war.

In other words, the benefits that the Chinese had fought hard for had to be handed over to the British first.

However, Yuan Xiangcheng didn't mind this at all.

Yuan Shikai heard from the British Minister to Vietnam, Sir Claude MacDonald, that the Germans might send troops to Vietnam, so he chose to be so generous to Britain in Vietnam.

In any case, the Indochina region in the future will eventually become a region where the great powers will compete with each other, and more and more great powers will be introduced.

The more powerful nations there are, the less conspicuous China will be among them.

If there are only two forces, China and Germany, in Indochina in the future, Yuan Shikai finds it hard to imagine that Germany will live in peace and order.

In their eyes, China and Vietnam are no different. At any time, there might be a Vietnam-style accidental shooting incident, which could eventually lead to war.

Vietnam’s territory is certainly good, but China at that time did not have the strength to swallow it all. It was a blessing to be able to get the area near Hanoi.

Further south, the influence of Han culture becomes less and less, while the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism becomes deeper and deeper.

Keeping a low profile is the true meaning of China's development at this moment!

"Weiting, aren't we at a disadvantage in this alliance treaty?" Xu Shichang frowned as he looked at Yuan Xiangcheng's smiling face.

"If the British continue to push their limits and establish forces in Vietnam in the future, how can we counter them?

It’s easy to bring the British in, but it’s hard to get them out!”

Upon hearing this, Yuan Xiangcheng patted Xu Shichang on the shoulder and said calmly, "Brother Juren, don't be blinded by temporary interests.

The National Revolutionary Army was indeed capable of fighting, but it did not yet have the ability to face more than two major powers at the same time.

Whether it was China and France or China and Russia, I always decided to fight with the support of the British.

If the British stood against China, even if the National Revolutionary Army could win, it would be dragged down by Britain's national strength.

What's more, after the Germans come in, they will definitely not work together with the British, and the situation in Vietnam will not be stabilized in the short term.

The future of central and southern Vietnam will be a quagmire. Rather than sinking into it, it would be better to take over northern Vietnam and then stand on the shore and watch the show."

9384509lin! QN: 2

In fact, Xu Shichang was too pessimistic.

If China accepts northern Vietnam, it will be very easy to digest it because this is an area influenced by traditional Chinese culture.

Black hair, yellow skin, registered households, and government offices. Who can say this is not a reflection of Han culture?

In the past, northern Vietnam refused to obey China's rule, but if Vietnam is divided into three parts, who will be able to make decisions for the Vietnamese?

Compared with the Germans, French and British, the Chinese don't seem so hateful.

China was able to accept Vietnam smoothly due to its inherent cultural influence, but it was different for European countries.

Colonizing a region is never a one-off thing. Whether it is Britain or Germany, if they want to accept Vietnam, they will not be able to generate sufficient positive benefits within six or seven years unless the French cooperate.

The Germans may be able to invest money without caring for the sake of the empire's reputation, but will the British?

The British probably occupied a few ports and then announced that this was the end of the matter, just to maintain their influence.

By the time the Germans established their rule, the timeline would most likely have reached the 20th century. By then, conflicts among European powers were frequent, and Europe was facing one crisis today and another crisis tomorrow.

How could Germany have the time to worry about a small Far Eastern colony?

China has a population of 4 million, and Yuan Shikai did not believe that by then, China would still be afraid of any powerful country.

Chapter 412: If You Want Your Name to Remain in the History of the Qing Dynasty

Today is Winter Festival.

After the establishment of the republican government, Yuan Shikai ordered the establishment of four festivals: "Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter" to temporarily serve as holidays for the republican government.

The Spring Festival is the first day of the Lunar New Year, the Summer Festival is the Dragon Boat Festival, the Autumn Festival is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Winter Festival is the Winter Solstice.

Just yesterday, we signed the China-UK Trade Improvement Agreement 8 with 3 British people, and today we ushered in the winter solstice.

On the winter solstice of the second year of the Republic, Jiangning was hit by a biting cold wind. Even so, the city of Jiangning was still very lively, with lights and decorations everywhere.

However, no matter how cold the wind is, it cannot resist the passion in these people's hearts.

After the signing of the Sino-British Trade Improvement Agreement, Yuan Shikai immediately sent a telegram to the whole country to let all the people of the Republic know the news.

The news of the National Revolutionary Army's victory after victory on the front line, coupled with this trade agreement, completely ignited the patriotic enthusiasm of the people of Jiangning.

Ordinary people only knew that the People's Republic of China was about to be unified and that the President had taken back some power from the British, so they happily took to the streets to congratulate each other.

However, businessmen are different, they are much more sensitive.

The tariff was changed from 5% to 10%, which is a doubling of the rate. For industrialists who have set up factories in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it almost means that the sales volume of their products can be increased by several percent.

So today, even though the wind was biting cold, the city of Jiangning was still crowded with people. Whether they were common people, students or businessmen, they all wanted to take a look at the face of the current President of the Republic.

On the street, there are dragon and lion dance performances every few hundred meters.

This performance was not arranged by Yuan Xiangcheng, but was spontaneously invited by some smart private businessmen, who said they wanted to "entertain the president and the people."

In addition, the large banners that have been a must in every parade since the Republic are also indispensable.

Slogans reading "Pioneer of the Republic", "National Hero", and "Light of China" were everywhere.

The person involved, Yuan Xiangcheng, was completely unaware of this.

After signing two treaties, one open and one secret, with Dou Nale, he did not rush to the front line, but planned to deal with some old matters in Jiangning City first.

So, when he walked out of Jiangning Prison and onto the street, he was somewhat surprised to see the huge crowds of people on the road.

Liu Jiukun, who had just been released from prison, looked at the people surrounding Yuan Xiangcheng, then glanced at the neatly dressed National Revolutionary Army next to him, and listened to Yuan Xiangcheng's deeds in recent years with some surprise in his heart.

"I have spent my entire life protecting the country and keeping the people safe, but for decades I have wasted my time, and have done even one-tenth as much as those who are younger than me."

The largest road in Jiangning City was filled with people from Jiangning who had spontaneously rushed to the Governor's Mansion to meet Yuan Shikai.

This was a scene Liu Kunyi had never seen before. He used to be the governor of Jiangnan and the ultimate ruler of this city.

But even so, he had never been so popular with the people. Every time he walked through the streets and alleys, the people turned their backs to his procession and dared not look directly at him.