After hearing Qin Zheng's words, Yuan Shikai and Li Jingfang were a little surprised, because this suggestion was quite beneficial to the Qing court, which was equivalent to putting themselves invincible and watching the Russian, Japanese, and East China governments fight each other, and all the risks were borne by the East China government. Even if the three northeastern provinces were eventually lost, they could completely put the responsibility on the heads of overseas Chinese, just like pushing the responsibility of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 to Li Hongzhang. Therefore, Yuan Shikai and Li Jingfang's understanding of the court and Empress Dowager Cixi would definitely accept this suggestion from overseas Chinese.

Of course, time travelers would not do anything to take risks to the Qing court. Not to mention that once they defeated Russia and Japan and preserved the Northeast, the East China government would certainly not return it to the Qing court again. This is a huge benefit, and in this suggestion, there is a big pit buried in the Qing court.

In the old time and space, although the Russo-Japanese War took place on China's territory, the Qing court maintained a neutral position in this war and divided the war zones for Russia and Japan. To be fair, with the national strength of the Qing court at that time, this was indeed a helpless move, because neither Japan nor Russia could compete with the Qing court. And from the final result, although the Qing court gave Japan a lot of interests in the Northeast, it still retained its sovereignty over the Northeast region. In the Qing court at that time, this was indeed a significant diplomatic victory. In this sense, the Qing court was also one of the beneficiaries of the Russo-Japanese War.

However, allowing other countries to fight on their own territory has caused great disasters in the people of Northeast China and suffered unprecedented catastrophes. As the ruling class of the country, the Qing court not only could not control it, but also set up a war zone for others. It was a brutal trampling on China's territory and sovereignty, and caused the people of Northeast China to suffer huge losses and personal casualties in the war. It also further shook the authority of the Qing court. The revolutionary party's uprising activities were precisely after the Russo-Japanese War. Therefore, this has also become an important evidence of later generations' evaluation of the corruption and incompetence of the Qing court.

If in this time and space, the Qing court still stood by and maintained neutrality in the Russo-Japanese War, it would be even more obvious that the war zone was still set up, while the East China government was striving to resist aggression, safeguarding territory and sovereignty. In this way, the Qing court's weakness, inaction, and dared not to maintain the incompetence of the country, is in a very sharp contrast with the East China government's strong, responsible, dared to fight aggression, and safeguarding national interests, which won the support of the people across the country and further weakened the legitimacy of the Qing court's rule.

In fact, Yuan Shikai and Li Jingfang are both very smart people, and their knowledge and experience are not bad. However, after all, they were cultivated by Chinese traditional culture, so they cannot see the people's hearts and the influence of public opinion on the country is far from comparable to that of feudal dynasties in the past. Although they also know that the great changes that have not been encountered in three thousand years, they still cannot escape the inertia of traditional thinking in their thoughts. The concept of imperial power and the world of furniture influence their judgments, making them unable to see the big pit under their feet.

At this time, Qin Zheng said again: "But I guess once the war begins, both Japan and Russia will force the court to negotiate and ask the court to transfer the interests of the Northeast. Therefore, before the situation is clear, the court must not be intimidated by them and must not negotiate with either of them."

Yuan Shikai felt a little nervous and said, "Okay, Yuan will report to the court truthfully for your suggestions and advise the court to obey your suggestions."

Qin Zheng said to Li Jingfang again: "Brother Jingfang, this matter is of great importance. I hope Brother Jingfang can tell Zhongtang that Zhongtang should deal with it more in the court. We are very grateful."

Li Jingfang hurriedly said, "Yes, I will tell my father."

Speaking of this step, Yuan Shikai and Li Jingfang's tasks have been basically completed, and the two were correspondingly satisfied with the result. Yuan Shikai would inevitably be commended by the court after returning to Beijing. Now Yuan Shikai is planning to write a memorial to the court to establish the Beiyang Military and Political Department in Baoding to be in charge of the new army training in Zhili Province, and also wrote his own military training method into the "Simplified Army Training Charter" to promote it nationwide. It is recommended that the court use this as a model, set up a training office, and organize a unified inspection of the training of the new army nationwide. In this way, once a war breaks out, it will be convenient for the court to effectively unified command and cooperate in combat.

On the surface, Yuan Shikai was all thinking about the training of the court, and there was no word mentioned to himself. However, if the Beiyang Military and Political Department was established, Yuan Shikai would definitely be the supervisor himself. After all, the Beiyang New Army was built by Yuan Shikai. If the Qing court established a military training office and trained in the manner of the Beiyang New Army, then Yuan Shikai would definitely dominate the military training office, which would mean that Yuan Shikai had the power of the whole country.

However, Yuan Shikai also knew that although his plan was good, the old lady in the palace was smarter than her. She would definitely be able to see her plan, so it would be hard to say whether she would approve it. Even if it was accurate, she would probably not let her dominate the training. But now the battle between Japan and Russia is about to break out, and she can use this opportunity to convince the court.

At this time, Qin Zheng said again: "Boths are rare to come to Qingdao. Why not stay in Qingdao for a few more days and see the scenery of Qingdao. And the day after tomorrow, the two warships we built ourselves will be officially launched. We will also hold a launch ceremony. Don't you both want to come and see?" After a pause, he said: "And a business delegation has been established in Shanghai to visit Qingdao and examine the investment environment here. We will arrive in Qingdao tomorrow. Many of them are old friends of the two. Why not meet in Qingdao and tell the old."

Yuan Shikai and Li Jingfang were both quite interested in warships. Li Jingfang had personally experienced the preparations of the Beiyang Navy, forming an army, flourishing and destroying. It can be said that he knew very well about the performance of each warship of the Beiyang Navy. He was considered half a naval expert. Of course, he knew how difficult it was to build a warship. The Qing court could only build warships by itself after more than 20 years of the Westernization Movement. Now, overseas Chinese have only been able to build warships by themselves for a few days in Shandong, and it is about to be launched. Li Jingfang naturally wanted to see with his own eyes what the warships of overseas Chinese looked like. Anyway, he did not have a formal official position now, and there was no time limit for coming to Qingdao, so it didn't matter if he stayed for a few days.

Yuan Shikai was born in the army. Although he was an army, he was all a soldier after all. He was quite interested in warships. He also wanted to see what overseas Chinese said about the industrial and commercial delegation that Qin Zheng said. Yuan Shikai also had some ideas. In fact, among the wealthy businessmen in Shanghai, Yuan Shikai did not know much, and now Yuan Shikai is quite ambitious and wants to do something big, but if he wants to do something, it is not enough to have money. It is far from enough to rely on the court to withdraw money. Not to mention how difficult it is to ask for money from the court, even if the court approved the money, there is still the Ministry of Revenue's clearance, as long as the Ministry of Revenue says "no money", he will also be able to pass the Ministry of Revenue.

He could only stare at me without cursing. Even if the Ministry of Revenue pulled out the money, it would have to be exploited layer by layer. In the end, half of the money could be obtained, so he had to have a reliable source of wealth. When Zuo Zongtang recovered Xinjiang, Hu Xueyan raised military funds for him, and Li Hongzhang also had Sheng Xuanhuai, a treasure pot. If he wanted to accomplish great things, he had to find his own Hu Xueyan and Sheng Xuanhuai. Now it is a good opportunity to make friends with some merchants and find his own collaborators. From this point of view, it is completely necessary to stay in Qingdao.

After the ship-receiving working group arrived in Germany, the East China government slowed down the news from Germany, knew about the situation of the two warships built in Germany, and understood that the two warships performed very well in the trial voyage. Therefore, Qingdao Shipyard was also deeply encouraged and more motivated. The construction progress of these two warships was almost the same. Now the entire hull, the main superstructure structures, and the internal equipment such as steam engines, boilers, generator sets have been installed. Although some superstructures and all ship-based weapons have not been installed, they have met the conditions for launching the water, and the rest of the work can be carried out in the installation process after launching the water.

Moreover, since this is the first large and medium-sized warship built by the East China government after its establishment, although most of the materials, equipment and weapons are imported from Germany and strictly speaking, they can only be regarded as self-assembly, this is an important step toward self-built warships. Not only has great symbolic significance, but their practical significance cannot be underestimated. After all, it has experienced the entire construction process and technology of the warship, and also trained a group of shipbuilding managers and technical workers. This is a huge wealth. Therefore, the East China government also decided to launch two warships at the same time and hold a major launch ceremony.

It is also a practice for all countries to hold a launch ceremony for important warships. It can not only shape the cultural traditions of the navy, but also improve the morale of the army, enhance the people's self-confidence, increase the military's power and the government's prestige.

At this time, the East China government had received a report from the ship pick-up working group, knowing that the two warships were about to set off from Germany and return to Qingdao, and the return time was about 30-40 days. After the two warships built on Jingdao were launched, it would take about one month to install the sea trial. Therefore, when the two warships built in Germany returned to Qingdao, they might participate in the sea trial activities of the warships built in Qingdao and provide some useful experience for the sea trial.
Chapter completed!