Chapter 63: Declaration of War

  "The British may not be reliable..." Li Jingfang retorted, fearing that Li Hongzhang would really mess up his own plan because of Zhang Peilun's few words - with him Li Jingfang around, Beiyang would never be Zhang Peilun's turn!

  As the meeting atmosphere became increasingly tense due to the conflict between Li Jingfang and Zhang Peilun, Tang Shaoyi immediately stepped forward and said: "Britain is the leader of the powers, naturally it has a lot of weight, but we will focus on the Russians. As for the British, they cannot be neglected either, so let's entertain them first and put them aside for now. If the British are really willing to do something, why not give them a share in Korea as well? At this time, all our costs are borne by Korea, so let's set a price and let the British and Russians compete with each other. Whoever does better will benefit more. Whether it is the British or the Russians who enter Korea, Korea will still have to recognize the Qing dynasty as its suzerain state in name."

  Zhou Fu coughed twice and said, "Your Excellency, I also think this is a good idea. As the saying goes, 'a bird in the hand is worth more than a whole forest of birds.' In recent years, you have had dealings with foreigners, but these powerful countries only recognize profit and do not care about morality. If we don't make some concessions, it's likely that we won't be able to move them. What Zong'an said is right, as long as Korea nominally still respects the Qing dynasty as its suzerain state, even if they curse us a few times, it's no big deal; but if we go to war with Japan at the same time, I'm afraid that even with the strength of the Beiyang Fleet, we may not be able to protect Korea, and in the end, we'll lose everything!"

  It should be said that among the people here, the one who had the deepest influence on Li Hongzhang was this 57-year-old Zhou Fu. As early as the first year of Tongzhi, when Li Hongzhang established the Huai Army, 25-year-old Zhou Fu entered Li Hongzhang's government office and followed him for 32 years. This experience is unmatched by anyone else. In the twelfth year of Guangxu, Weng Tonghe had taken action against him, wanting to "dismiss and severely punish" him for "not matching the foreign medicine box", but he was lucky enough to be spared thanks to Li Hongzhang's strong protection. Until the fourteenth year of Guangxu, Li Hongzhang strongly recommended Zhou Fu, who became the governor of Zhili Province, one of the top officials in the country. As a staff member, he became a high-ranking official, which is extremely rare since the Qing dynasty, showing how close the relationship between Li Hongzhang and him was.

  "Has Brother Yu Shan forgotten the regret of Guangxu 7th year?!" Zhang Peilun said lightly, shaking his fan. However, Tan Yanqian had already sensed a bit of malice in his tone, but unfortunately, his understanding of Zhou Fu was limited to this extent, and as for what exactly happened to Zhou Fu in the 7th year of Guangxu, he didn't know.

  After hearing Zhang Peilan's words, Zhou Fu's face expression obviously dimmed down, and he said bitterly: "One thing still feels guilty, but now it is greatly different from the past..."

  Li Hongzhang waved his hand and said, "It's none of your business, Gusun. The matter back then has nothing to do with you. Although it was you who drafted the treaty, there was also the phrase 'Korea is a dependency of China'. Although the Americans couldn't accept it, that was also because the imperial court couldn't insist on it. We are just here to repair the imperial court's broken house, even if we have the heart, but the imperial court has no intention, we would still be in vain..."

  "The current situation is even more critical than in the seventh year of Guangxu. As Zong'an said, Western powers are mainly interested in commerce, but Japan is after territorial concessions. The United States, being one of the weaker powers, is no exception. In comparison, Japan's war to gain a foothold on the continent cannot be avoided by simply signing a commercial treaty. I hope that you, Zhongtang, will make early preparations..." Zhou Fu said with a sigh.

  Li Hongzhang nodded and said: "In the 17th year of Guangxu, I reviewed the naval forces with Wushan and deeply felt that the times were difficult. Once a war broke out, the defense would be worrying. There was once a saying 'The Beiyang Fleet has spent over 10 million yuan on purchasing only a few ships, which is not enough to form a fleet according to foreign naval standards. What can we do if something happens? It's better to take this opportunity to strongly advocate for the expansion of the navy, and that expenses cannot be reduced. The situation is unpredictable, and diplomatic relations with other countries are unreliable. Please instruct the relevant departments to expedite the matter! Major policies must be decided by the imperial court, what can we do? All the words I said back then were spoken by Wushan..."

  Tan Yankai was aware of the "Treaty of Amity and Commerce between China and the United States", and in the past few days, he had also seen relevant documents at the Zhili Governor's Office. Unfortunately, the current strength of the United States is far from being as powerful as it will be a hundred years later, and the United States is just a marginal player without the qualifications to mediate wars. Therefore, Tan Yankai excluded the United States and ultimately chose Russia over Britain. However, he did not expect that this "Treaty of Amity and Commerce between China and the United States" was actually drafted by Zhou Fu. To be fair, Zhou Fu had done his best, and there were no improper clauses in the treaty. It's just that the country was too weak, and as a diplomat, Zhou Fu was powerless to change the situation. However, this treaty also marked the beginning of Korea being pushed into the abyss, and from then on, Korea became a hotspot in the Far Eastern political landscape.

  "What does Zhong Tang think?" asked Zhou Fu.

  "Take Russia and abandon England!" Li Hongzhang said resolutely: "As Zu An said, Britain as the leader of the powers should also be given enough attention, make an offer to let England and Russia compete, whoever suppresses Japan first will get the reward, but still with Russia as the main one!"

  Zhang Peilun's mouth opened slightly, wanting to say something, but ultimately said nothing, only looking at Tan Yanqin with a deep meaning. Li Jingfang won this round by a narrow margin over Zhang Peilun, and couldn't help but glance at Zhang Peilun with a hint of provocation.

  "Bo Xing, this matter is handed over to you and Zu An to handle."

  The Russian Minister Kasin, in his negotiations to mediate the Sino-Japanese War, did not expect that our bottom line was to give the Russians an outlet to the sea, which is a lease! Do you understand?!" Li Hongzhang said.

  Tan Yanqian and Li Jingfang clasped their hands together and said: "Understood, we will follow the orders of Zhong Tang!"

  Li Hongzhang nodded slightly and said, "What's left is how to deal with the big shots in Beijing. Yesterday, the Emperor issued an edict to add Weng Tonghe and Li Hongzao to the Military Council, and Zhang Zhiwan retired due to illness... Hmph! You guess what the Military Council is like now?!"

  Zhang Zhiwan is the paternal uncle of Zhang Zhidong. In his earlier years, he was also a motivated and ambitious person. As he grew older, especially after entering the Grand Council, his desire for advancement weakened significantly. Moreover, his physical health was not very good either. It can be said that whether or not Zhang Zhiwan is in the Grand Council makes no difference now. With his poor health, even if he were to retire, it wouldn't be anything unusual.

  Tan Yanqing heard that Zhang Zhidong had retreated from the military affairs office and thought to himself: "Zhang Zhidong is pretending, he wants to avoid disaster!" In those years when Zhang Zhidong was acting governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, in order to develop foreign affairs and confront France, a large amount of silver was needed. Desperate, Zhang Zhidong accepted the suggestion of his subordinate Zhao Maohang to open a gambling den to make up for the shortfall, but was secretly plotted against by Weng Tonghe. Given the situation at the time, it seemed that Zhang Zhidong would lose his official position, but thanks to Zhang Zhidong's behind-the-scenes manipulation, he managed to escape disaster. Of course, this also had something to do with Zhang Zhidong presenting 300,000 taels of silver to Prince Gong. Such a person who is familiar with the officialdom and has a keen sense of smell must have smelled the danger and thought it wise to leave early.

  Zhang Zhidong left, and Weng Tonghe was added to the military affairs, the Grand Council still had five ministers, but Sun Yudao always had the loudest voice in the Grand Council. Two sworn enemies met together, it's easy to imagine what would happen next.

  "Is it war or peace? It's still hard to say!" Yu Shi Mei said.

  "Hum, except for Zhang Zhidong, the five members of the Military Council, including Wen Xiang and Li Hongzhang, were summoned to a brief meeting in the Western Warm Pavilion. The Emperor's edict was to declare war. Wen Xiang had the upper hand, but Sun Yudao refused to draft the declaration of war..." Li Hongzhang said with a faint cold smile.

  "What about Mr. Shu Ping?" asked Yu Shimai.

  "Weng Shuping naturally didn't want to write it either! Many years ago, Ronglu had offended Shen Guifen by arbitrarily using his power as a military official, and Shen Guifen took advantage of Ronglu's mistake to get Weng Shuping to stab Ronglu in the back. Just yesterday, Ronglu was still basking in the glory of being favored by the Empress Dowager, but now he has ruined his own future prospects. Weng Shuping is also a military official now, but he didn't want to add fuel to the fire with Sun Yudang. He naturally wouldn't write this battle decree, and I reckon the others will try to avoid it if they can, no one will dare to write it!" Zhou Fu said disdainfully.

  —

  "Brother Yu Shan's skill in divination is getting better and better!" Li Hongzhang said with a smile.

  "Is this still worth arguing about? The several from the Military Affairs Department, plus Weng Tonghe and Li Hongzhang, are all more cunning than each other. This battle was fought by us Beiyang, and in the end, didn't they just give themselves away to us for nothing?" Zhou Fu said coldly with a smile.

  At that time, Weng Tonghe had just taken over the Ministry of Revenue and secretly calculated against Zhou Fu. If it weren't for Li Hongzhang's strong protection, Zhou Fu's official career would have been finished. Thinking about it, from a staff member to becoming a governor, how many people in the Qing dynasty had achieved this? How many people could understand the hardships involved?! Li Hongzhang's experience was similar to Zhou Fu's, but he coincided with the Taiping Rebellion and could rely on his military achievements and Zeng Guofan's special care to rise up easily. However, Zhou Fu was not so lucky, and it was almost a waste of Weng Tonghe's 30 years of hard work. Could he not resent it?!

  Li Hongzhang naturally knew how deep Zhou Fu's resentment towards Weng Tonghe was, and patted Zhou Fu's shoulder with a smile: "Wu Shan, don't be angry, Weng Shuping won't live long! This war edict will eventually have to be written, the emperor's mind is already made up. At the military meeting, Weng Tonghe suppressed Sun Yuwen, and even if Sun Yuwen doesn't write the war edict, Weng Tonghe can still find someone else to write it. I estimate it will arrive in two days. Once this war edict arrives, it's our turn to take action..."

  Sun Yuwen was absolutely unwilling to write this battle declaration. He was very clear about the thoughts and intentions of Empress Dowager Cixi and Li Hongzhang regarding this war. Empress Dowager Cixi's current mood is relatively high, but as the grand birthday celebration on October 10 approaches, her mood becomes smaller and smaller, until finally she simply cedes territory and pays compensation; while Li Hongzhang is fundamentally unwilling to fight this battle. Sun Yuwen, like Weng Tonghe, was a civil official who did not understand the navy or warfare. However, after listening to Li Hongzhang's words "the disparity in strength is too great", combined with the result of the Sino-French War ten years ago where they were defeated without being defeated, unless Sun Yuwen had a brain problem, he would absolutely not have made a heavy bet on this war.

  Sun Yuwen didn't write, no problem, Weng Tonghe could naturally find someone willing to write - the red chapter of the Military Machinery Bureau, Gu Lin. Gu Lin was also a man who observed words and expressions, he knew about the feud between Weng Tonghe and Sun Yuwen, but since the emperor had already given the order, in the Military Machinery Bureau, only he, as a chapter official, was willing to write it, while other military ministers were unwilling, this unlucky task fell on his head, making him regretful and wishing he could faint on the spot to escape. After hesitating for half a day, Gu Lin finally picked up his pen to draft the battle decree under Weng Tonghe's urging, but this was already the second day of the military meeting.

  "...wore Li Hong"

  Dispatch all troops to quickly suppress and destroy, gather elite forces, advance in succession, to rescue the Korean people. All generals along the river and coastal areas should supervise and inspect, as well as military officers who are leading troops, and when encountering Japanese ships entering the harbor, immediately launch a fierce attack, annihilate them completely. Do not retreat even slightly, or you will be guilty of dereliction of duty. Make this proclamation known to all...

  On April 18, the declaration of war was delivered to Beiyang, and at this time, more than half a month had passed since the Battle of Yashima. It is ridiculous that during this period, both China and Japan were in a state of domestic turmoil, and neither country had any intention of fighting. However, this was only a superficial phenomenon, as Li Hongzhang had already learned through Wang Fengzao that the Japanese had begun to mobilize their troops for war, with large numbers of land forces gathering, but Japanese warships did not put out to sea during this period because of the sinking of the Seiki.

  Li Hongzhang doesn't care what the Japanese think. The fate of Beiyang hangs in the balance, he wants to negotiate a peace treaty and has made sufficient preparations for it, but he is also very clear that this time the Japanese are playing with their lives, so during this period he dispatched the Beiyang Navy to escort and transport another 3,000 people to Korea, thoroughly controlling the Korean royal family, in order to prevent them from falling into Japanese hands once war breaks out.

  Li Jingfang smiled and said with a laugh: "Changshu is nothing more than this!"

  Li Hongzhang smiled and asked: "What's wrong with Weng Shuping again?"

  "This is also called a declaration of war?!" Li Jingfang said disdainfully: "If it really follows international law, this doesn't even count as a declaration of war, but rather a preparation for war! The order to send the Beiyang Army to suppress the rebels is just an internal military directive... Ha ha. These officials from the Military Affairs Bureau don't even understand the rules for drafting declarations of war in accordance with international law, let alone the old man from Changshu. This declaration was drafted by Gu Yuqi. I really don't know if he's pretending to be stupid or is too clever for his own good?!"

  "It's our turn to take action! Hui Ruo, write the memorial nicely. Issue it in my name to the capital!" Li Hongzhang said coldly.

  He took from Li Hongzhang's hand the list that had been prepared long ago, which included all military procurement materials, plus the cost of repairing the Jiyuan ship, totaling nearly 15 million taels. Of course, this also includes two warships similar to Japan's Yoshino, several torpedo boats, which can be called "water" specifically to disgust Weng Tonghe. However, three thousand rounds of various caliber shells are indeed urgently needed by the Beiyang Navy.

  Weng Tonghe, after becoming the head of the Ministry of Revenue, immediately cut off supplies to the Beiyang Fleet, and eventually even stopped providing them with ammunition. After Li Hongzhang accepted Tan Yankai's suggestion, he would not adopt a gradual approach to squeeze Weng Tonghe dry, but instead used the pretext of war to demand that Old Weng repay all the debts owed to the Beiyang Fleet at once over the past few years. This way, under the banner of "great righteousness", they could force Weng Tonghe into a desperate situation.

  Previously, Weng Tonghe had always occupied the high ground of political morality, and he could manipulate things as he pleased. It wasn't just Li Hongzhang; Zhang Zhidong had also been dealt with by Old Weng. This time, Li Hongzhang wanted to thoroughly vent the resentment he had accumulated over a decade or so. The more fiercely he pressed, the greater the opportunity for Weng Tonghe to take a desperate risk. As long as Weng Tonghe could be made to severely offend Empress Dowager Cixi, everything would be easy to handle.

  "Your Excellency, I have an impertinent request to make, and I hope you will grant it!" Tan Yanqing said as he walked up to Li Hongzhang after the people around them had all dispersed.

  "Whatever the matter is, just speak up and I'll definitely help with it if I can!" Perhaps seeing Weng Tonghe's impending doom, Li Hongzhang was in an exceptionally good mood and said this with great delight.

  "Tan Yanqing said: "I think that Weng Tonghe has already entered the palace, and it is likely that he will also offend the Empress Dowager... I know that Weng Shuping has been in a difficult situation for over ten years. Although Weng Shuping's character is not very good, my father has had dealings with him for many years. I hope that Your Excellency can lend a helping hand to Weng Shuping at this critical moment, on the one hand to repay the kindness between my father and him, and on the other hand to reconcile the grievances between you and him."

  Li Hongzhang thought for a moment and said: "Is Guan An's intention to let me, the old man, take a step back in Changzhou?"

  "Changshu is indeed detestable, but after all, he is the Emperor's teacher. To speak bluntly, Her Majesty and His Majesty, in this matter, His Majesty has taken the initiative... If Your Excellency can lend a helping hand to save Changshu's life, it would be a beautiful story, and also leave a way out for the future..." Tan Yanke said.

  Li Hongzhang smiled and said, "What you say is reasonable, young man. Your broad-mindedness is truly remarkable, and you are indeed a talented individual of your generation. In my opinion, it's not an exaggeration for Old Man Weng to call you 'a rare talent'. If Bo Xing and the others were even half as good as you, I would be more than satisfied!"

  "Bo Xing and You Qiao might have just misunderstood each other. At present, the Beiyang government is in a critical period, personal grudges should be put aside, and all resources of the Beiyang government should be concentrated on uniting against external threats. If we continue to undermine each other internally, what's the difference between us and Wang Chongshi?"

  Li Hongzhang walked around with his hands behind his back and said, "This is not a problem. If the one above has the intention to kill, I will naturally stop him. Of course, if Tongzhi is too much, I am not willing to be controlled by him! However, as Zu An said, it's better to resolve grievances than to create them. In the past, my feud with the Tong family was also for the public interest. After fighting with Tongzhi for so many years, I feel exhausted in body and mind. If we can understand each other, that's enough!"