(The end of the year is really a good time to catch up on manuscripts and make money. Also, in Call of the King, my name is Sword Forger Letis, welcome to hook up)
On the morning of January 20, 1904, Heranggabo was as full of energy as usual. People on the night shift, carrying their empty lunch boxes and dragging their tired bodies, were waiting for the train to arrive on the tram platform in the factory area.
The ladies selling breakfast pushed their trolleys and used their skills honed over many years to navigate the crowded platform.
In the factory area that was temporarily vacant due to workers changing shifts, technicians were nervously inspecting the equipment.
Everything looks the same as usual.
The moment a train full of shift workers entered the platform, a sharp whistle sounded throughout the city. Everyone stopped and looked up at the sky, wondering what had happened.
After the whistle fell, the whole city fell into silence, and the hustle and bustle a few seconds ago disappeared without a trace.
At this moment, loudspeakers installed throughout the city sounded a sonorous and powerful announcement: "Dear fellow villagers, our army successfully used new weapons in Tibet and won a decisive victory in the Tibet Campaign. To celebrate this great victory,
The Minister of the Navy and General Manager of Lin Kee, Lin Youde, decided to give all Lin Kee employees three days of paid leave. All supply and marketing cooperatives will provide free drinks. Please pay attention to abide by the law during the celebration..."
The next moment, cheers filled every corner of Helang Yabo.
It doesn't matter whether people cheer for holidays and free beer or the first victory of the new Confederation.
**
On April 1, 1904, a gun salute shook the city of Haiphong in French Indochina.
In the offshore anchorage of Haiphong Port, the Pacific Fleet of the Commonwealth of China Navy and the Asiatic Fleet of the British Commonwealth looked at each other affectionately across the French Asiatic Fleet. The Federation's Firebird flag echoed the Union Jack flag of the Empire on which the sun never sets.
On the pier of the port, the honor guard of the federal army and navy and the honor guard of the British Empire lined up, holding their heads high and looking at each other, which made people think, "If these two groups of people were on the battlefield, they would have been killed in darkness."
In the sky, the federal air fleet composed of five cloud boats, headed by Lin Youde's All-Field Annihilation, was also in a state of confrontation with the British flagship Birmingham and its companion ships.
The reason for this situation that makes reporters rush with adrenaline is that on this day, with the mediation of the United States and France, the Federation of China and the United Kingdom will hold a head-of-state meeting in Haiphong City to negotiate and resolve the war in Tibet.
It was said that the war in Tibet was resolved through negotiation, but in fact everyone knew very well that the British had been put in a league, and the tens of thousands of British troops outside Gyantse were no different from the hundreds of goddesses and hostages.
But the actual situation is worse than the international community imagined.
In March, after Lin Youde defeated the British Shen Ji's attempt to break out on an airship, these British troops had completely lost the ability to escape on their own.
At the end of March, Yuan Shikai's army arrived belatedly - seeing that Lin Youde was going to take all the credit, how could he not send troops - the training level of Yuan Shikai's troops was indeed unparalleled, and equipped with Lin Youde's weapons, they could defeat the British in just one encounter.
The last remaining bit of self-confidence was gone, and the British army surrendered.
However, the British government did not admit this, and the Chinese side also tacitly agreed not to say that the British troops had surrendered, but only said that they were still "waiting for help."
Therefore, the purpose of this summit meeting is to allow these British troops to leave Tibet in an honorable manner.
Originally, Lin Youde planned to talk to the British himself, so that he could get some benefits for himself, but the British side said that our Queen would personally come forward, and you would also have to be the head of state, so he had to go to Beijing in person to bring Sun Wen and her
The whole team took over.
This time, Lin Youde felt the pain of not being the boss. When Sun Wen negotiated with Queen Isabella of England, she was obviously not tough enough and cared too much about the British face. She compromised on many things that Lin Youde felt should not be compromised. In
Lin Youde seems to think that if you really want to fight me, I will accompany you. If you can't beat us, we will turn to Germany? But Sun Wen obviously doesn't have the courage like him. As a result, the negotiation that originally had a huge advantage ended up with a balance of power...
In response, Lin Youde cursed more than once in private: "Damn gun gang."
When Sun Wen decided to agree to Britain continuing to retain the right to patrol inland rivers between treaty ports, Lin Youde finally couldn't help it anymore.
"We won! Damn it, we are the victorious nation!" Lin Youde roared at the top federal officials at the hotel where Sun Wen was staying. "If we cannot take back the inland shipping rights and the British concession tomorrow, I will order the fleet to open fire on the British fleet in the port, and
Send out a Gundam to kill the Queen of England, I can do it."
After saying that, Lin Youde pulled out his gun and slapped it on the table, staring fiercely at Chen Shaobai and the others: "And none of you, don't even think about leaving, you all must die to apologize to me."
"Crime?" Chen Qimei must have seen this kind of scene many times in Shanghai, so she was quite calm, "What crime? Mr. Lin, the state has national laws, only the federal court..."
"What crime?" Lin Youde sneered and interrupted Chen Qimei, "Treason! According to the Federal Constitution, the Navy Department has the right to execute you on the spot. If you feel that the Navy Department's judgment is wrong, the Federal Supreme Court can vindicate you.
When the time comes, I will fund the construction of a more elegant tomb for you."
Chen Qimei's lips trembled with anger.
Originally, they were not willing to bid with the British, because if they bid higher, they would inevitably become Lin Youde's propaganda capital. Lin Youde's propaganda ability has been realized for more than a year since the founding of the Federation. People who came from the Revolutionary Party have realized it. According to the current domestic situation,
With the support of the people, Lin Youde wants to elect the president, and no one can stop him. Although the federal presidential election is an indirect voting system, how can those powerful people not consider the voice of the people under their rule when they vote?
Therefore, the plan of Chen Qimei and his gang is to reach a painless agreement with the British and downplay the Tibetan conflict. This coincides with the British's desire to whitewash their failure.
I didn't expect to encounter such a tough opponent as Lin Youde.
"What are you..."
As soon as Chen Qimei opened her mouth, she was interrupted again by Lin Youde.
"Listen, we don't tell secret stories. Propaganda to the masses is one thing, but the truth is another! I didn't have the energy to fight a civil war at the time, so I seized a good opportunity for you, so I agreed to the Republic
.And I personally don’t want the blood of my countrymen to be shed in a civil war, so even though I have recovered and can start a civil war at any time, I still support federalism. But there is a premise for this, that is, you guys just
Bastards who know that internal fighting will not sacrifice our country's international interests. If I feel that you have no intention of safeguarding China's international interests, I will use iron and blood to wipe you out and establish a government that can maintain the prestige of our country."
Lin Youde spoke a lot impassionedly, and his breathing became a little short after he finished speaking.
And those senior officials of the federal government who came from the revolutionary army system are all showing their talents, even Chen Qimei is no exception. They have been keenly aware that if things really come to that point, Lin Youde's propaganda agency will be very quick to take advantage of them.
Pretend to be the righteous party.
Something called patriotism has long taken root in the land of China through a series of events such as the Sino-Russian War and the Sino-Japanese War, and this is the basis of Lin Youde's public opinion.
In stark contrast to the senior officials who came from the revolutionary army, Tang Shaoyi had been sitting on the sidelines.
At this time, he was drinking tea leisurely and muttered Bismarck's famous saying: "The major problems of our time cannot be solved through speeches and resolutions of the majority, but with iron and blood."
Chen Qimei could hear clearly, so they all cast resentful glances at Tang Shaoyi, while the spokesperson of the Ministry of War completely turned a blind eye to this.
Yuan Shikai was a man who was very adaptable to the changing circumstances. When foreigners were strong, he acted like a good old guy in front of foreigners. Now this guy has seen that foreigners, especially the British, are a bit virtuous.
So his attitude immediately became high. When Lin Youde annihilated the first batch of supply teams, Yuan Shikai decisively ordered the Army Ministry to send troops and traveled across mountains and rivers to Tibet to participate in the war. When Zhu Erdian came to persuade him, he was perfunctory and did not take it seriously at all...
Seeing that the Ministry of War had no hope of supporting him, Chen Qimei could only shake his head and turned his attention to Sun Wen, who had been silent.
Sun Wen finally stopped stirring the coffee, put down the spoon, and looked up at Lin Youde.
She was smiling at Lin Youde.
"Thank you, Mr. Lin."
Lin Youde was a little surprised by this sudden thank you.
"Uh...you're welcome." He could only reply.
"These days, I have always wanted to be tough, but... Shaobai and the others have advised me not to continue to irritate Britain. To be honest, I am also very hesitant. With your words, I can make up my mind.
So tough. But I want to know, if China and Britain go to war, what are our chances of winning?"
"50-50." Lin Youde replied without hesitation, "If we decisively form an alliance with Germany and recruit the United States to fight against Britain, we can open 30-70."
Lin Youde didn't know how much moisture there was in his words, so he blew them with his eyes closed before speaking.
"Understood. Then starting tomorrow, I will continue to negotiate with Her Majesty Isabella without risking a fight."
After saying that, Sun Wen smiled at Lin Youde again.
Chapter completed!