Chapter Eighteen: Compromise

  Affected by the demonstration, Frederick III did not approve the plan to expand the army by 500,000, but only symbolically increased it by 100,000.

  This matter was also the direct cause of Marshal Mao's resignation.

  Frederick III did not retain Moltke, citing his poor health, and immediately approved the request for resignation, appointing Waldersee as Chief of the General Staff.

  This was tantamount to issuing a warning to Bismarck.

  The result was that, when the annual budget was being debated, Bismarck made significant concessions, not only approving a naval expenditure of one billion Imperial Marks but also, at Frederick III's behest, reducing the army expenditure to one billion Imperial Marks rather than the 1.2 billion requested by Moltke.

  Taking advantage of the opportunity, Crown Prince Wilhelm formally proposed to Frederick III the expansion of the Kiel Canal.

  Frederick III was very interested in this matter because it was a basic infrastructure construction project related to the country, but where did the money come from?

  Apart from money, there is another problem that cannot be ignored, which is labor force.

  Unlike Britain, an old imperial power, the German Second Empire was a new industrial nation with a chronic shortage of labor.

  Of course, the most active was not Frederick III, but Feng Chongqian.

  The expansion of the Kiel Canal benefited not only the imperial capitalists but also the Imperial Navy.

  However, funding and labor must be resolved.

  As for the funding, Frederick III left it to Bismarck, who mainly relied on bank financing and allowed imperial capitalists to participate in the construction of the canal.

  The labor force problem, Feng Chengqian took the initiative to find Frederick III.

  "Import labor?"

  "Your Majesty, the most pressing matter at present is to obtain sufficient labor force, rather than worrying about where to get it from." Feng Chengqian had long had this idea, but had not found an opportunity to express it. "We are not Britain, and we do not have colonies like India, so it is impossible to expect to obtain labor force from colonies. However, there are remedies, the Qing Dynasty has a lot of surplus labor force."

  Frederick III smiled, seemingly having anticipated what Feng Chengqian would say.

  "Your Majesty may think I have ulterior motives, but is there a better choice?"

  "I don't suspect you, it's just those people from the Qing dynasty..."

  "As long as they are human beings, they are labor forces; what is lacking is proper training." Feng Chengqian paused for a moment, "And someone has already tried it before."

  "Want to try?"

  "When the United States built the Pacific Railway, it employed a large number of laborers from the Qing Dynasty; otherwise, this railway spanning the Rocky Mountains would not have been completed in just six years."

  Frederick III nodded thoughtfully, indicating he understood Feng Chengqian's meaning.

  "Like the railways, only the most basic labor is required. The Empire lacks labor, why not hire workers from Qing? Besides, the wages required by Qing's laborers are much lower than those of Imperial workers, which can greatly reduce the cost of expanding the canal."

  "If it's just hiring, I'm afraid it will be difficult to meet the demand."

  "Then we have to think of another way."

  "Do you have a way?"

  "The Qing Dynasty has already ordered two warships from the Empire, why not take this opportunity to propose to the Qing that it can use exported labor to offset the payment for the warships?"

  "This..."

  "Of course, this is a disguised payment and requires the bank to come forward." Feng Chengqian smiled and said, "In recent years, the Qing dynasty has been vigorously promoting the Westernization Movement and will definitely purchase more weapons and equipment. If we can seize this opportunity, it will also bring substantial income to the empire's military industry."

  "This is indeed a win-win solution."

  "In fact, this is also the only solution at present."

  Frederick III smiled and said, "I will consider it seriously and also discuss it with the Prime Minister. If this matter is successful, next year's naval military expenses will definitely not disappoint you."

  "Your Majesty is worrying too much, everything I have done is for the sake of the Empire."

  "The question is, can those recruited Qing laborers be used?"

  "What does Your Majesty mean..."

  "I also have some understanding of the Qing Dynasty, although it is vast and rich, but extremely backward, and the people are ignorant to the extreme. I worry that the recruited laborers will not be able to handle the work of expanding the canal."

  "This is indeed a problem."

  "Do you have any good ideas?"

  "We can just pay more attention during recruitment and try to choose younger people. If necessary, we can provide them with labor skills training."

  Frederick III nodded thoughtfully.

  "Of course, these still have to wait until after recruiting workers to make a decision."

  "Alright, you're fluent in Chinese, so you'll be in charge of this matter."

  "Your Majesty..."

  "It can't be that everything is handed over to me, the prime minister has a million things to deal with and not much energy to spare for these trivial matters." Frederick III smiled and said, "Besides, expanding the canal will also benefit the navy, you should take on some responsibilities."

  "I will certainly not betray Your Majesty's trust."

  With this matter settled, Feng Chengqian could finally rest easy for a while.

  However, expanding the Kiel Canal was by no means a simple internal affair of the Empire.

  As soon as the news came out, it immediately attracted high attention from Britain. In early October, British Prime Minister Salisbury personally telegraphed Bismarck to inquire about the intention of expanding the Kiel Canal. Although Bismarck promised that the expansion of the Kiel Canal was only for the extension of inland water transportation within the empire and belonged to basic engineering in the economic category, Salisbury still expressed extreme concern, because this canal could also be used by the military.

  British intervention put an end to the canal expansion project.

  Because he still did not dare offend Britain, Bismarck was extremely cautious in this matter.

  The key lies in the canal's navigability.

  In this era, a 10,000-ton giant ship was still extremely rare, and inland transport ships were generally only a few hundred tons, with the largest being around a thousand tons. The Empire planned to increase the navigable capacity of the Kiel Canal to 30,000 tons, and some even suggested that it should be increased to 50,000 tons, otherwise it would have to be expanded again in twenty years.

  Supported the increase to 50,000 tons, it was Feng Chengqian.

  Although others were unaware, Feng Chengqian was very clear that twenty years later, the tonnage of battleships would reach 30,000 tons, and some main force ships even exceeded 40,000 tons. Only by increasing the navigation capacity of the canal to 50,000 tons can it be ensured that during a major war, the main force ships of the Imperial Navy can travel back and forth between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea through the canal without having to circumnavigate the Danish Peninsula, and the canal will have sufficient military value.

  The question is, if this is really the case, then the purpose of expanding the canal will be crystal clear.

  It goes without saying that the Anglo-German relationship will deteriorate drastically, and France and Russia will take this opportunity to win over Britain. Russia may even propose rebuilding the Siberian Railway again.

  After several months of negotiation and bargaining, Bismarck finally made concessions.

  At the end of the year, Britain and Germany signed a secret agreement. Britain provided a loan of 15 million pounds to expand the Kiel Canal, participated in the design and planning work of the canal, and after the expansion, ships with a tonnage of less than 30,000 tons, a draft of not more than 7 meters, and a width of not more than 28 meters can pass through.

  Britain provided loans, not as a favor, but in order to participate and supervise the entire canal expansion project.

  Politically speaking, this was a necessary concession made by the Second German Empire to maintain friendly relations with Britain or to gain more time.

  No compromise, no harmony.

  The empire had no choice but to swallow this bitter fruit, and Feng Chengqian also had no choice but to accept reality.

  What Feng Chengqian did not expect was that after the publication of the Kiel Canal Expansion Agreement, a public opinion storm broke out in both Britain and within the Empire.

  In Britain, critics dubbed Salisbury a traitor for helping the German Empire expand the strategically vital Kiel Canal, which they saw as digging his own grave and courting endless trouble. Although politicians knew that Salisbury had secured as many advantages as possible for Britain, there were still many uninformed people who were stirred up, and Salisbury faced his first vote of confidence after his second term in office.

  In the Empire, no one abused Bismarck because under the influence of public opinion propaganda, everyone regarded Bismarck as a victim.

  The imperial masses resent not the weak premier, but Britain which took advantage of its power to impose these humiliating conditions on the empire, it is Britain that interferes with the internal affairs of the empire in a barbaric manner, and it is Britain that tries every means to prevent the empire from growing stronger.

  Hatred formed among the people is the hardest to eradicate.

  By then, contradictions between Britain and Germany had also surfaced.

  Prior to this, the majority of the imperial population had regarded Britain as an ally, because during the unification wars of the Second German Empire, Britain consistently supported Prussia and provided great assistance for the unification of North Germany. After this, the imperial population's view of Britain will definitely change.

  Many people attribute the root cause of World War I to the expansionist ambitions of the German Empire, but how many realize that it was Britain's constant pressure and obstruction that forced the empire onto the path of war, making it almost single-handedly confront all European powers in the Great War, and yet, despite being far inferior in overall national strength, it managed to hold on for four years.

  A nation that has formed a consensus on national security is invincible.

  Under the influence of public opinion and popular sentiment, the bankers of the Empire acted with great energy, and by the end of the year they had collected 2.5 billion Imperial Marks.

  The problem of funds has been basically solved, and what's left is labor.

  On December 8th, Bismarck summoned Qing's Minister to Germany Chen Jitong to the Chancellery and inquired about the situation of the two warships "Dingyuan" and "Jingyuan".

  It is called inquiry but actually a hint that the Empire can build better warships for Qing at a lower cost.

  For the Qing Dynasty which is actively planning its navy, this is absolutely a pie that has fallen from the sky.

  It is worth noting that when the "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" were first purchased, a total of 3.4 million taels of silver was spent, almost emptying Li Hongzhang's pockets. Bismarck offered to offset the cost of purchasing the warships through labor exports, which was naturally welcomed by Li Hongzhang.

  Two days later, Chen Jitong went to the Prime Minister's mansion again.

  This time, Bismarck informed Feng Chengqian and let him meet with the envoy from the Qing Dynasty.