Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 252

"Your Majesty, Feng Xianghua is seeking an audience outside." Wang Shang's words interrupted Guan Xuqing's train of thought.He rubbed his numb temples and said, "Xuan Jin!"

"The minister Feng Xianghua kowtowed to the emperor."

"Pingshen. I brought you here because I want to know how far the war situation in various countries has developed after the Sarajevo incident?"

"As far as I know, at the request of the Austrians, seven divisions of the German army began a tentative attack on the German-Russian border. Although they faced the Russians far outnumbered themselves, none of the Russian divisions seemed to dare to cross the border. This also made the Germans more daring. However, since our country has not taken any action against the Russians, the Germans are not particularly active in their offensive. However, according to the information provided by the Far East Army Intelligence Department, although Russia has not sent a large number of troops , but their scouts have already arrived at the front, secretly observing the German fortifications."

Guan Xuqing hummed. It seemed that both Russia and Germany had scruples and were unwilling to easily throw their troops into war with each other. "How is the situation in other countries?"

"As soon as the war started, the Serbs seemed to be unable to resist. The Austro-Hungarian army quickly occupied the northwestern part of Serbia. Under the fierce offensive, the Serbs seemed unable to survive the day when the Russian reinforcements arrived. They began to abandon the front line and concentrated a large number of troops to Belgrade. They only kept a considerable number of independent combat units in the occupied areas to keep harassing the Austrian army, slow down the advancing speed of the opponent, and leave enough time for Belgrade to deploy and mobilize. Of course, we have to wait for the rapid support of the Allied forces. In addition, the Turks and the Bulgarian army have also begun to go north. The Bulgarian army has occupied a large portion of Serbian territory and given strong support to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If the Allied Powers camp has no more powerful With support, Serbia’s subjugation will not be too far away. Of course, the Allied Powers are not doing nothing, the Greek Navy has begun to attack the ports of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Adriatic Sea, and the naval battle between the two countries is still going on fiercely.” By the emperor’s side After working for many years, Feng Xianghua has developed an excellent memory ability, and he has always followed a principle, that is, when reporting to the emperor, he must be clear, accurate and clear, and try not to add personal judgment, unless the emperor asks for it.

Guan Xuqing casually flipped through the notes on the jade case, and asked casually, "Is there anything unusual on the Sino-Russian border recently?"

"I am here to report this matter."

"Oh? What's the matter?" Guan Xuqing raised his eyes and immediately concentrated his mind. In this extraordinary period, even the slightest change on the border may cause an uproar.

"In recent days, there have been frequent incidents of fishing protection in the Sino-Russian border waters. Russian fishing boats forcibly went fishing in our territorial waters. Our fishing boats went to stop them. They actually sent three warships to protect fishing and bombarded our fishing boats for no reason. Looting fishermen’s belongings. Up to now, 200 of our fishing boats have been sunk or looted, and more than [-] Chinese fishermen have been killed by the Russians. And the Russians don’t seem to give up. Instead, they say they are Chinese fishermen First provoked the incident, and sent two additional warships to protect the fishing.”

"Is there such a thing?" Guan Xuqing knew that this fisherman protection incident seemed to be a civil action, but behind it was the strategic motive of the Russians. "Don't escalate the situation. Let's take diplomatic measures first, send a note to the Russian consulate to negotiate, and ask the relevant Russian parties to compensate the Chinese fishermen for their losses, and apologize to the Chinese fishermen. They should reply within three days."

"twitter."

After Feng Xianghua knelt down, Guan Xuqing felt his head was heavy and went back to Yonghe Palace to see Concubine De and the little elder brother.Looking at the beautiful wife and lovely children, all troubles disappeared in an instant, and my whole body felt much happier.

Today, Concubine De seemed to be very considerate. As soon as Guan Xuqing came in, she changed into plain clothes for him, rubbed his shoulders and beat his back, and cooked a bowl of bird's nest for the emperor himself.Guan Xuqing smiled and said to Concubine De while eating the bird's nest: "What's the matter today, it seems that there is some happy event?"

"It's the duty of a concubine to serve the emperor." Concubine De said while rubbing Guan Xuqing's shoulders.

"Hey, since entering the palace, I haven't seen any improvement in that aspect, but I've learned to slip my tongue."

Concubine De gently pushed Guan Xuqing's shoulder, two red clouds appeared on her face, she said coquettishly: "It's all because the emperor is diligent in political affairs, and he rarely comes here, or else"

"What else?"

"Otherwise, the concubines must serve the emperor comfortably." Concubine De said with a blushing face.

The two chatted and laughed for a while, Guan Xuqing teased the little elder brother for a while, then suddenly turned to Concubine De and said, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Concubine De was stunned for a moment, then quickly shook her hand: "It's all right."

"If it's okay, I have to go to work." After speaking, Guan Xuqing took a conscious step and walked out.

"The emperor's concubine has something to do."

Guan Xuqing pointed to Concubine De's nose, and said with a smile: "I guess you have something to do, let's talk about it."

"Your Majesty, I heard that the concubine is going to use a big stick, is it true?"

"Not bad. You are quite well informed in the palace."

"Everyone in the palace knows about such a big matter. Does the emperor plan to send troops against the Russians?" Concubine De looked at Guan Xuqing cautiously.

"What do you think?"

"My concubine thinks that China and Germany have been in an alliance for a long time, and there is a good thing about marriage. Now that Germany is in trouble, we can't just sit idly by. What's more, the Russians have always been eyeing China, always looking for excuses to provoke all kinds of troubles, even if we If we don't do anything, sooner or later they will use troops against us." Concubine De spoke eloquently, as if she had practiced beforehand.

"You are my beloved concubine. Of course you said this for my own good, and also for your German brother. But I want to tell you clearly that this matter is related to the fate of the empire, and I want to proceed from the overall situation of the country. Think carefully, whether to fight or not to fight, you don't need to know, you just need to fulfill your duties as a wife and a mother." In the end, the tenderness in Guan Xuqing's eyes disappeared, only The majesty of the emperor.

Concubine De lowered her head and didn't dare to say anything, secretly blaming her imperial brother William II in her heart.

Back at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Guan Xuqing felt much more relaxed in his heart, and his mind was clearer than before. At this time, Feng Xianghua, Li Hongzhang, and Wu Tingfang met for an audience.

"Your Majesty, the Russians are simply too arrogant. They don't pay attention to our Chinese Empire at all. I made representations to the Russian Consulate according to your will. The first time I went to their consulate, Erceni was not there. The second time When I went there, I met Ercini, and his attitude was extremely tough, and he repeatedly stated that the fault of the fisherman protection incident lay with the Chinese side, and he did not accept any conditions proposed by the Chinese side at all, and even sent us a letter of protest on behalf of Russia." Wu Tingfang was very angry. , Submit the letter of protest to the emperor.

Guan Xuqing opened the protest letter with a livid face. The general content on it was that Chinese fishermen crossed the border to fish in Russian territorial waters without authorization, killed and injured 48 Russian fishermen, and damaged 13 Russian fishing boats.Therefore, the fisherman protection incident was completely deliberately provoked by the Chinese fishermen. Tsarist Russia demanded that China arrest the culprit and hand it over to the Russian side to deal with it with full authority, punish the Chinese officials who did not do their job effectively, and compensate the Russian fishermen and their losses equivalent to 100 million silver dollars. Yuan, within two days.If it fails to perform its duties within the time limit, the Russian side reserves the right to use any means to protect the rights and interests of the Russian side, and all consequences arising therefrom will be borne by China.The list of Russian so-called fishermen who were killed was attached to the letter of protest.

(End of this chapter)