After the defeat of Pyongyang, the defeat of the Yalu River, the fall of Port Arthur, and the defeat of the Dadonggou naval battle, in just three months, the Qing army suffered successive defeats, losing tens of thousands of troops. Now the war has burned to the land of Longxing, the Qing court.
This frightened Dawei of the Qing Dynasty. As the actual commander of this war, Li Zhongtang was even more overwhelmed. Not to mention that most of his family's fortune was lost and his heart was filled with regret. But there was no turning back after the work started. What should I say now?
They all must be fought down, otherwise he, Li Zhongtang, will be the culprit, so he is currently thinking of a solution that is not a solution.
Borrow foreign soldiers!
Speaking of which, Li Zhongtang also had rich experience in borrowing foreign soldiers. During the Taiping Rebellion, Li Zhongtang borrowed foreign soldiers. When Gordon formed a foreign gun team in Shanghai to defend the concession, he was borrowed by him to deal with Chang Mao.
Later, during the Sino-French war, reinforcements were borrowed from the Italians. Although the Italians came to the door themselves, it didn't matter to Li Zhongtang. Being able to borrow foreign soldiers is a skill. In this world, you can borrow foreign soldiers.
Li Zhongtang's only ability is Li Zhongtang.
Although Li Zhongtang was skilled in the business of borrowing foreign soldiers, this time it was no small matter because the amount he borrowed was a bit too much. At least more than ten thousand. This person was not a relative of Li Zhongtang, so he would have to pay a huge price.
Moreover, this matter was of great importance, so except for a few people, no one else knew about it. As for this meeting with the Italian Minister Jia Liwen, he did not bring anyone else except his confidant Zhou Fu. After all, people talk a lot.
Miscellaneous, if the matter has not been settled yet and the whole city is in turmoil, and he doesn't know what to think about, thinking of this, Weng Tonghe's disgusted face appeared in his mind.
"Yushan, you said that borrowing troops this time can be done?"
Facing Li Zhongtang's questioning, how could he not know what he was thinking as he had been his confidant for many years? Zhongtang had no idea.
"Sir, if this can be done, the Yiren have great interests in our country. Judging from their interactions over the years, they have great goodwill towards us. I think the Yiren have also been involved in fierce battles in Europe in recent years, and their foreign debts are also quite large. If so.
If you pay a certain price, then the habits of others should be the same."
Zhou Fu's words made Li Zhongtang feel at ease. They also knew about the discussion with Italian Minister Jia Liwen about borrowing troops. After learning about Italy's performance in recent years, Li Zhongtang also spoke highly of it; Land War
Although it is not as good as Germany, and although it is not as good as England in naval warfare, it still has eight or nine points of its combat power, which is a strong reinforcement.
Yes, the senior leaders of the Huai Army have a high opinion of Italy. It is not much worse than Germany in land battles, and it is not as strong as Britain in naval battles. It has raised Italy to a level comparable to Britain and Germany. Although it is said that it has good relations with Italy
taste, but it also shows that Italy's successive victories in recent years have greatly improved Italy's international status.
At this time, Li Zhongtang's eldest son Li Jingfang came to report, "Father, the guests have arrived."
"Okay, let's go there right away."
That's right, in order to keep it secret, even the servants' work was done by Li Zhongtang's son.
In a secret room in the Governor's Yamen, Minister Jia put aside his smock and looked at the place. It was a typical Chinese style, with only a few chairs besides a long table.
At this time, Li Zhongtang and Zhou Fu walked in.
"Mr. Jia, I hope you will pay attention to your negligence."
"It doesn't matter, I'm extremely happy to see Master Zhongtang again."
After a brief exchange of greetings, Li Zhongtang said, "The main reason for inviting Minister Jia to come this time is to ask for something."
"Can you please speak frankly, Master Zhongtang?"
"Currently, our country has suffered heavy losses in the war with Japan, especially on naval vessels, so I would like to purchase a batch of off-the-shelf warships from your country. In addition, our country is also quite short of personnel. Can we recruit a group of retired officers and soldiers from your country?
Enrich the purchased warships. Also expensive
The country also knows that our country's current losses on land are not small, so retired army officers and soldiers also need it. Of course, our country also knows that this will make your country embarrassed, so in terms of cost, our country can give these retired army officers and soldiers dues at the price of hiring consultants.
treatment.”
Good guy, Jia Liwen was startled by Li Zhongtang's opening. This was far from hiring a consultant. He was clearly planning to invite Italy to send troops.
"My Lord, you also know that our country is neutral in this war in the Far East. Your country hired our retired officers and soldiers to come to China during the war, which will seriously interfere with our country's neutrality."
As soon as Jia Liwen said this, Li Zhongtang and Zhou Fu looked at each other, it was funny!
Instead of rejecting the offer directly, the target mentioned the difficulties. This was because he was waiting for him to make an offer.
"Our country is willing to pay 20 million taels of silver to your country to purchase a batch of ships and arms. In addition, we are willing to pay a monthly salary ranging from 40 taels to 200 taels for each military consultant who comes to China according to his pre-retirement military rank.
In addition, if there is an accident while we are in China, we are willing to pay 600 taels of resettlement fees for each person who is disabled, and 800 taels for the burial of those who die."
Li Zhongtang gave a lot. You must know that the Huai Army Zhengyong only received 4.2 taels of silver per month. This was given to the Italian Army almost ten times as soon as he opened it. He was really rich.
Li Zhongtang couldn't help it. Each of these powers was more greedy than the other, and they all hoped to set up concessions in the Qing Dynasty and reap benefits. Instead, Yiren who just gave money directly seemed alien among them. Can Li Zhongtang sign any contract for the concession? So?
I can only think of ways to deal with money.
Jia Liwen frowned after listening to the conditions given by Li Zhongtang.
"Li Zhongtang, I would like to ask how many retired officers and soldiers from our country you plan to hire?"
"A few thousand maybe."
Although he didn't understand what Minister Jia meant, Li Zhongtang still told the truth.
After listening to what Li Zhongtang said, Jia Liwen shook his head and said, "Li Zhongtang, with all due respect, your country has hired fewer people."
"ah!"
Jia Liwen's words shocked Li Zhongtang and Zhou Fu, which was not enough.
Seeing the expressions of the two people in front of him, Jia Liwen, who knew that the other party would misunderstand, explained. "Your Excellency, you have misunderstood. This is not what I said, but the estimate of our military. Currently, the Japanese army has a standing army of more than 80,000 people.
It also has a reserve force of nearly 200,000 people. If we want to defeat the Japanese army, it will be difficult for our country without 30,000 to 40,000 people. And considering the current strength of the Japanese navy, our country also needs to send at least 80,000 tons of warships, so it will cost less.
It’s not cheap either.”
With thirty to forty thousand people, we still need 80,000 tons of warships. This requires a lot of money.
At this moment, Li Zhongtang felt a flash of regret in his heart. He needed to borrow so many foreign soldiers. Did the Qing Dynasty have enough money?
Everyone stopped talking for a while, and the room fell into an eerie silence.
Although Jia Liwen didn't know Li Zhongtang's inner thoughts, he could guess some.
"Your Excellency Zhongtang, this is a necessary condition to win the war. If our country provides help, the outcome of this war will also be based on the will of Your Excellency Zhongtang."
Jia Liwen's words were a naked temptation to use the court's money to deal with the Huai army. Now Li Zhongtang was tempted. Originally, he did not intend to fight the Japanese, but was pushed by the court to do so. Now he can invite him
When the foreign soldiers deal with the Japanese, the court still has to pay for it, right?
However, this matter was serious, and Li Zhongtang still needed the support of the court.
Therefore, in the end, the negotiations with Jia Liwen were limited to verbal agreements, and everything had to be decided after Li Zhongtang came to Beijing.
The day after the secret meeting with Minister Yu Jia, Li Zhongtang went to Beijing in person to meet with Cixi and Guangxu. After nearly two days of secret discussions with the Emperor and the Queen Mother, Li Zhongtang finally got the desired result. The Qing government considered the Longxing War in the Northeast.
Concerned about the safety of the land, we had to accept Li Zhongtang's suggestion and recruit 30,000 retired army officers and soldiers and 4,000 retired navy officers and soldiers from Italy. In addition, we also purchased the arms and leased the warships needed by these people from Italy.
Yes, leasing warships is also a pioneer. The Qing Dynasty leased three Italian Turin-class ships, two Venetian-class warships, and some other warships. It leased nearly 80,000 tons in one go, surpassing the Japanese Combined Fleet in one fell swoop. This
The situation at sea immediately reversed.
And as the Qing court announced this news to the world, it immediately caused an uproar in all countries.
