Rebirth of the Northern Giants

Wade had no choice but to smooth things over, persuading him, "Everyone here is in their seventies and eighties, so don't be so angry. Why don't we talk about our respective demands for a truce?"

After he finished speaking, he took advantage of the fact that everyone was not paying attention, and quietly winked coquettishly at Li Hongzhang.

Li Hongzhang shuddered from nausea, so he could only grunt and say, "There is nothing to say. As the defeated party, you must abolish the Aigun Treaty, the Beijing Treaty, and return to the boundary line between China and Russia during the Nerchinsk Treaty."

Robatkin looked out of the window and said with a smile: "It's not dark yet, why did Mr. Li start dreaming? Our country is willing to make compensation for the losses suffered by your country, but your country's army must return what it occupied after the war." Our territory."

"I'm not dreaming. You are daydreaming. These territories originally belonged to China. Compensation is necessary. The territory should be returned to China. If you don't want to, do another fight. We will continue to use our own Our army will take back these territories." Li Hongzhang said in a loud voice.

"Do it again, do it again, are our Russian warriors afraid of you?" Robatkin jumped up, looked directly at Li Hongzhang, slapped the table and shouted condescendingly.

Song Pinglan couldn't sit still anymore, she also stood up and replied, "That's fine, let's do it now."

Robanov coughed heavily, and said: "If you want to do it, you can do it later. It is not good for both sides to delay it now. Mr. Li, we have come here with sincerity. I hope you can take the overall situation as a priority." Let’s end this negotiation as soon as possible.”

Li Hongzhang glanced at him lightly, and said disapprovingly: "In that case, please come up with an opinion that both parties can accept."

Robanov picked up a pencil and drew a long line along the Heilongjiang-Ergun River, excluding Sakhalin Island and Nerchinsk.

Then he said seriously: "This is the biggest concession our government can make."

Seeing that Li Hongzhang was silent, Wang Fengzao curled his lips and said, "You are too good at joking. Now our army occupies more territory than that. Besides, as a victorious country, we can certainly claim more territory."

Robatkin sneered and replied: "Your country's army is lucky and won a few battles, which does not mean that your country is a victorious country. Besides, your country's army has already occupied this place. Our government gave you these places unconditionally. You You should be grateful."

He was referring to the large no-man's land in Binhai Prefecture. Although the Chinese army did not actually send troops to occupy there, occupying cities such as Vladivostok and Shuangchengzi was equivalent to controlling those places.

Robanov ignored the others, just stared straight at Li Hongzhang, and said slowly: "Your Excellency, let's also draw a dividing line. Let's see where the gap is, and then we can talk about it."

Li Hongzhang began to draw as he said, and Song Pinglan watched with wide eyes, seeing that Li Hongzhang had included Sakhalin Island and Nerchinsk Region, and could not help but secretly nodded.

From this point of view, the two sides almost have a problem with Nerchinsk, and the Russians in Sakhalin Island do not take it very seriously.

After thinking for a while, Robanov said: "We can surrender Sakhalin Island to your country, but Nerchinsk must be returned to us."

Wu Tingfang rubbed his chin and said with a sneer, "Sakhalin Island is just a small, uninhabited island. Except for some savages, there are only some birds and beasts. Can it be compared with Nerchinsk?"

The Russian representative wanted to say more, when suddenly there was a deafening cannonade outside.

The atmosphere was condensed, and everyone was stunned. Soon the Russians came to their senses, and Robanov shouted angrily: "It must be you Chinese who are shooting guns. You are going too far. If you want to threaten us by force, we will not give in. Negotiations will be discussed tomorrow."

Before Robanov could finish his sentence, soldiers came to report: "Sirs, the Chinese army appeared outside the city and opened fire on the city wall. Unfortunately, three soldiers were shot and died."

Humph, the representatives of Russia turned cold-faced one by one, shook their sleeves and left.

Song Pinglan smiled awkwardly, and explained: "Maybe Hua Fu was so angry that he sent people to protest against the Russians."

Li Hongzhang smiled lightly, and replied: "It's okay, you go down first to persuade Hua Fu to stop firing, and continue the negotiation tomorrow."

It's good to put some pressure on the Russians, and get some news from Wade tonight, Li Hongzhang thought in his heart. .

Volume Two, The Wind and Cloud of the Capital, Chapter [-], Naval Awards

September 1895, 9 was a big day for the Chinese navy, because on this day, the unification of the northern and southern navies of China was finally completed.

Long before, the military government had already released rumors that the Nanyang, Beiyang, Fujian, and Guangdong navies would be reorganized and no longer be under the jurisdiction of the local government, but directly under the unified jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Navy under the Supreme Command.

The military government took advantage of the opportunity of several navies working together to fight against the British army, and renamed the Beiyang Navy the Beihai Fleet.

The Nanyang Fleet was renamed the East China Sea Fleet, responsible for defending the safety of the East China Sea waters, with Shanghai and Nanjing bases under its jurisdiction, and Guo Baochang as the commander of the East China Sea Fleet;

The Guangdong Navy and the Fujian Navy were merged into the South China Sea Fleet, with Fuzhou, Guangzhou and other bases under its jurisdiction. Yang Ruishan was the commander of the South China Sea Fleet.

Among them, Deng Shichang was appointed

As the Secretary of the Navy of the Ministry of the Navy, Guo Baochang and Yang Ruishan were appointed as Deputy Ministers.

On September 9, the appointment was issued directly from the Supreme Command. Ye Zhikui, the head of the military government, would personally hand over the Great Seal of the Fleet Command to Deng Shichang and Guo Baochang. As for Yang Ruishan, the Supreme Command would directly send personnel to appoint him.

From then on, the local government will no longer have jurisdiction over the navy, except for some water police.

In the early morning of that day, Ye Zhikui woke up very early. The day before yesterday when he arrived at Weihaiwei from Lushun, he looked very energetic. Deng Shichang and Guo Baochang walked to the former Beiyang Navy Yamen and now the Beihai Fleet Command.

At this time, all the generals of the Beihai Fleet and the East China Sea Fleet gathered together, and they had long been waiting for Ye Zhikui's arrival in the hall of the command headquarters.

Looking around, although the generals of the two fleets did not stand clearly, they also opened a distance intentionally or unintentionally, and divided them into two circles.

The generals of the North Sea Fleet were vaguely headed by Lin Taizeng, surrounded by Liu Buchan, Qiu Baoren, Lin Yongsheng, Ye Zugui, Fang Boqian, Sa Zhenbing and others.

"Old Lin, it seems that you can't escape as a lieutenant general." Fang Boqian said to Lin Taizeng with some envy.

"Yitang, don't make wild guesses. I, the client, haven't got any definite information yet. How did you know?" Lin Taizeng quickly waved his hands and shook his head in response.

Liu Buchan snorted and said with a smile: "I said, Lao Lin, you should not be modest. Based on your performance in Vladivostok, the title of lieutenant general is the meat on the chopping board. It is for sure. Alas, we are so miserable, I am afraid that even one The rank of major general is also in jeopardy."

"Pretend to be a grandson, who doesn't know our Beiyang, wrong, Beihai, there is Liu Zixiang, and in addition to the performance of you commanding the Dingyuan to sink two British ships in the Sino-British naval battle, if you won't even get the rank of major general , don’t I even have the title of Colonel?” Ye Zugui said pretending to be indignant.

"Everyone, everyone, who do you think can get the rank of lieutenant general in the East China Sea Fleet? I have received the exact gossip." Fang Boqian triumphantly brought up the topic of gossip again.

Everyone looked at him seriously with their ears upright, but Fang Boqian played a guessing game, "Who do you think it would be?"

Lin Tai once pondered for a while, then smiled and replied: "I am afraid that no one else can get it except Yuan Jiugao. I heard that during this naval battle to lure the enemy, a single ship prevented the entire Nanyang army from being wiped out. Hou Fu, it is not easy to get it in exchange for your life."

Everyone nodded in agreement, perhaps thinking of the brothers who died in the naval battle, they all lowered their heads and fell silent.

Fang Boqian couldn't see that the atmosphere was getting colder, so he changed the subject: "Yuan Jiugao's ship sank. I'm afraid the Admiralty will choose one of the captured British ships for him this time. If I had known this, Fang would have sunk his own ship as well. Wouldn't it be nice to have a big one?"

Sa Zhenbing joked: "How about exchanging my practice ship with your old one? My ship is still brand new, and it looks much better than your tattered Jiyuan."

"The news is not well-informed. After the overhaul, my Jiyuan ship looks like a newly married bride. It is waiting for me to go to the bridal chamber." Fang Boqian shrugged and replied mischievously.

The generals of the North Sea Fleet talked happily.

Over there, the East China Sea Fleet is headed by Yuan Jiugao. The number of generals cannot be compared with that of the North Sea Fleet, but they have a good conversation, and it seems that they can compete with the North Sea Fleet.

The generals in the two circles had acquaintances, and when they saw it, they greeted each other beamingly.

Following the sound of the guard at the door, the Generalissimo arrived, and everyone quickly stood up in order according to their positions. The noisy hall suddenly became solemn and quiet, and everyone focused their eyes on the door.

A few minutes later, Ye Zhikui led Deng Shichang and others in with a smile on his face.

Ye Zhikui looked around and saw a group of dark blue navy uniforms. His black general's uniform fell into it, which was really eye-catching.

Ye Zhikui bowed and greeted, and walked towards the high position in the front, while Deng Shichang and Guo Baochang stood in the middle of the naval ranks.

Under everyone's expectant eyes, Ye Zhikui spoke slowly.

"Everyone, I, Ye Zhikui, on behalf of all the officials of the military government, express my gratitude to the navy for its remarkable achievements." Ye Zhikui bowed deeply first. At this moment, all the officials of the military government were represented.