However, Empress Dowager Cixi also knew that it was not the time to replace people. Although the court had stabilized, the new policy had just begun to be implemented, and these old ministers were still needed to take charge of the plan. Moreover, the situation in the Northeast was becoming increasingly serious. If you are not careful, not to mention that the Northeast could not be protected, it would probably attract Russian troops to enter the south of the pass. Therefore, at this time, the old ministers were still reliable.

Although Britain and Japan expressed their support for the Qing court to demand sovereignty from Russia in the Northeast, Li Hongzhang and other ministers also understood that the promises of foreigners were unreliable, and although the threat of war issued by Russia was unlikely to be implemented, they had to be wary of it. Some people in the court had argued that it would be better to renegotiate with Russia. The reason was that anyway, Russia had clearly refused to hold the [Terms of Delivery to the Three East Provinces]. If they didn't talk about it, they would occupy the Three East Provinces and not leave, and they might even go south by force. If the negotiations were reopened, they might be able to reclaim the three East Provinces, even if the part was recovered.

But Li Hongzhang knew very well that Russia was actually determined to occupy the three northeastern provinces and refused to leave. Therefore, even if the negotiations were held again, there would definitely be no good result. On the contrary, it would also cause the legal facts of Russia in the three northeastern provinces. On the contrary, if the Qing court did not negotiate with Russia, according to the current situation, there would be a battle between Japan and Russia. Maybe they would suffer a loss and rely on other countries to mediate, and perhaps there would be a chance to save the three northeastern provinces.

At this moment, news came that overseas Chinese signed the [East China Government-Japanese Government Joint Defense Cooperation Treaty] with Japan. Of course, Li Hongzhang understood that this treaty was aimed at Russia. From this point of view, overseas Chinese could also use a force.

Although overseas Chinese openly signed a treaty with Japan in the name of the East China government, the Qing court now took a ignorant attitude towards all the actions of overseas Chinese, as long as overseas Chinese were still maintaining their subordinate relations with the Qing court on the surface. When the East China government suppressed the Qingzhou Banners, some Beijing Eight Banner nobles had submitted memorials to the court, asking the court to punish overseas Chinese. The next day, the court issued an order to dismiss the Eight Banner nobles who reported the memorials and sent them to the northwest to serve as military force. Therefore, no one in the court dared to mention the matter of overseas Chinese again.

However, overseas Chinese consider themselves to be Chinese, and what they have done since they landed is objectively to maintain the rule of the Qing court. Now, although overseas Chinese have already established separatist and established officials, they still regard themselves as ministers in their famous discussions. Therefore, at this time, the only overseas Chinese could rely on. So Li Hongzhang proposed not to intervene and send people to inquire about the attitude of overseas Chinese before making a decision.

The Ministers of Military Affairs discussed it and thought that Li Hongzhang's suggestion could be tried. After all, it was just a test of the attitude of overseas Chinese. If overseas Chinese were really willing to stand up for the Qing court to fight against Russia, of course it would be good. If they were not willing, they would make other plans. The Military Affairs Office reported this opinion to Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu, which was also recognized by both of them, and asked the Military Affairs Office to determine the candidates to contact overseas Chinese.

Li Hongzhang naturally had the best relationship with overseas Chinese within the Qing court, but Li Hongzhang is too old and has a high position and is in power, so it is not appropriate to come forward to treat overseas Chinese in person. In the Military Affairs Office, Prince Qing and Zhang Zhidong had contact with overseas Chinese, but they did not have a deep relationship. Moreover, their status and status are not much worse than that of Li Hongzhang, and they are not suitable for this task. After all, it was just a test operation. It was Li Hongzhang who proposed that Yuan Shikai be responsible for this matter and sent Li Jingfang to assist.

Yuan Shikai was the official who had the most contact with overseas Chinese in the Qing Dynasty except Li Hongzhang. He had established good personal relationships with some senior officials of overseas Chinese. He was also the governor of Zhili. Although he was not as good as the military minister, he was almost the same and his weight was enough. Li Jingfang also communicated with overseas Chinese many times with Li Hongzhang and knew the situation of overseas Chinese very well. Therefore, it was the most suitable for these two people to come forward. After hearing this, the other military ministers had no objection. After Empress Dowager Cixi learned about the candidate, she was silent for a while before saying, "Let's just do it."

After receiving the order, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but be overjoyed. It seemed that his efforts were not in vain. It turned out that Yuan Shikai was originally a disciple of Li Hongzhang. Later, Li Hongzhang lost power in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and became a traitor who was criticized by thousands of people across the country. Yuan Shikai was also afraid of being implicated, so he alienated Li Hongzhang and took advantage of the Wuxu coup to surrender to Ronglu. However, after the Gengzi Kingdom, Li Hongzhang was restored, and Yuan Shikai hurriedly restored his relationship with Li Hongzhang. Fortunately, Yuan Shikai was only alienated Li Hongzhang, and he criticized Li Hongzhang without taking advantage of the situation, leaving room for meeting again in the future. Now Li Hongzhang recommends Yuan Shikai to take over with overseas Chinese and also sends Li Jingfang to accompany him, indicating that Li Hongzhang has accepted Yuan Shikai, so how can he not make Yuan Shikai happy?

In fact, Li Hongzhang had his own plans to support Yuan Shikai. Although he was now back, most of the old subordinates of the Huai Army had already fallen into pieces and now he urgently needed to cultivate a new team. Moreover, Li Hongzhang was very optimistic about Yuan Shikai's ability, and Yuan Shikai was also considered his old subordinate. Although Yuan Shikai had alienated Li Hongzhang after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, he was indeed unable to protect himself at that time, and it was no wonder that Yuan Shikai still had this kind of mind. Now that Yuan Shikai intends to rely on him, Li Hongzhang is naturally willing to accept it.

So Yuan Shikai met with Li Jingfang in Tianjin and came to Qingdao on a sea boat. On the side of the East China Government, it was decided that Qin Zheng would come forward to receive the two. Because Qin Zheng and the two were familiar with each other and had a certain personal relationship, and although the East China Government is an independent political body, it is still a subordinate of the Qing court in terms of fame. Qin Zheng is still named the governor of Shandong, and it is still acceptable on the big side.

In addition, the East China government has determined the general principles of fighting against Japan and Russia. Although it did not have any expectations for the Qing court, it did not want the Qing court, a teammate, to pull himself back. If the Qing court is under pressure, Japan and Russia signed a treaty to sell the sovereignty of the Northeast, although the East China government will not agree with such a treaty and will not restrict its actions, it is very rebellious after all. Therefore, the East China government also hopes to take this opportunity to tell the Qing court its attitude clearly.

Qin Zheng received Yuan Shikai and Li Jingfang in his office. After everyone met, the host and guests sat down and brought tea. Qin Zheng first said: "It's really not easy for Weishuai and Brother Jingfang to come to Qingdao."

Yuan Shikai hurriedly said, "Where, how dare Yuan be arrogant in front of Brother Qin? Brother Qin is better to call his brothers like the eldest son. Brother Qin wants to be a few years older than Yuan. If he looks down on Yuan, he might as well call him "The Fourth Old"."

Qin Zheng also nodded and smiled, "Okay, since Wei Shuai is so polite, then I'm not polite. The fourth brother and Brother Jingfang visited Qingdao, I don't know what it costs to do!"

Yuan Shikai laughed and said, "Brother Yuan, you are pretending to be confused because you understand. Is it so difficult that you don't know where we are here? You haven't come for the Northeast."

Qin Zheng said: "What does it have to do with the Northeast?"

Li Jingfang smiled and said, "Brother Qin, let's open the skylight and say something. Didn't you sign a defense cooperation treaty with Japan? Isn't this treaty targeting the Northeast region and Russia? So how can it be said that it has nothing to do?"

Qin Zheng also smiled. When Li Jingfang mentioned the treaty just now, he omitted the front line, indicating that the Qing court had adopted a vague approach to the act of time travelers' independent government. Obviously, he did not want to get involved on this topic, so he said: "I heard that Russia asked the court to renegotiate, but I don't know what the court's attitude towards this?"

Yuan Shikai sighed and said, "To be honest with Brother Qin, the court naturally does not want to renegotiate with Russia, because the first renegotiation will definitely not have a good result, but Russia threatens war, how can the court have the ability to go to war with Russia now?"

Li Jingfang also said: "Although Britain and Japan support the court's refusal to negotiate with Russia, the promises of foreigners have never been reliable. Therefore, I sent me and Weiting to ask you for advice. If we deal with Russia, we should."

Qin Zheng nodded and said, "Russia threatens war to the point of being blackmailed. Now there will be a war between Japan and Russia sooner or later, so Russia is unable to avoid the battlefield, so the court can rest assured and directly refuse Russia's request to reopen negotiations."

Yuan Shikai nodded and said, "Since that is the case, I feel relieved. I believe that the lords in the court can also feel at ease. But I don't know what plans will be for the next step. If Japan and Russia really fight, will you join the war?"

Qin Zheng said: "If Japan and Russia really fight, we will certainly participate in the war at the right time. We must protect the Northeast from being occupied by Japan and Russia. In fact, both Japan and Russia have the intention to get involved in our three northeastern provinces. It is just that Russia is strong and Japan is weak now, so Japan has to cooperate with us and arrive in Russia together. We signed a treaty with Japan, one to reject Russia and the other to prevent Japan."

Yuan Shikai nodded repeatedly and said, "That's good, that's good. With your participation, you will definitely be able to protect the three northeastern provinces."

Li Jingfang said: "So once Japan and Russia go to war, what should the court do? Should we also declare war on Russia?"
Chapter completed!