Inviting Russia to send troops to Turkey is an established plan for northwest expansion, and Yi Zhixin is not at all worried about whether Russia will send troops, and the intermittent Russian-Turkish war of 200 years is enough to show that as long as there is an opportunity, Russia will not miss the annexation of Turkey.

For Russia, expansion and aggression have gone deep into the bone marrow, and in the case of hopeless expansion to the east and west, expansion to the south has become Russia's only choice, and as long as there is an opportunity, Russia cannot miss it!

Inviting Russia to send troops to Turkey was not only to avoid the Qing Dynasty becoming a public enemy of Europe, but also to indirectly show that the Qing Dynasty had no intention of getting involved in Turkey and had no intention of continuing to expand into Europe.

This attitude is very important, before no one knows that the Persian Gulf contains more than half of the world's oil reserves, the Persian Gulf is only a trade route connecting the Middle East and Asia, and does not have any economic and strategic value.

In fact, for Turkey, Yi Zhicontent really has no interest, at least not at present, Turkey as a place of battle for the world's geography, has always attracted the attention of European countries, if the Qing Dynasty is the idea of fighting Turkey, it will inevitably become the public enemy of Europe, with the current national strength of the Qing Dynasty, it is completely impossible to compete, and it is the wisest choice to throw it to Russia, for Russia, even if it knows that it is a pit, you have to pinch your nose and jump down!

Yevgeny Karlovich Butzer quickly calmed down and pondered: "Your Highness is planning to join forces with our country to annex Ottoman Turkey?" ”

"I'm not interested in Turkey." Yi Zhizhi said without hurry: "Our country's goal is the Persian Gulf, to be precise, to further curb the expansion of the British in Asia, in order to ensure the stability of our northwest China. ”

"The Persian Gulf is the sphere of influence of the British." Bützer stared at him for a moment, "Your Highness is not worried about the outbreak of war with the British?" Your navy is growing rapidly, but it may not be able to compete with the British navy. ”

Yi Zhi said confidently: "Your country does not need to worry about this, we are confident!" ”

After a slight hesitation, Butzer said tentatively: "Your Highness should be aware of the situation in our country, and a large number of troops will be sent to Ottoman Turkey, which will require a lot of military expenditure....... ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "Yuan Qi can provide a loan of 50 million silver dollars to your country. ”

Hearing this, Bu Ce couldn't help but be overjoyed, he was just a test, after all, the Qing Dynasty's western expedition also needed huge military expenditures, but he didn't expect that the other party's mouth was 50 million silver dollars, with this 50 million loan, sending troops to Turkey would not encounter any pressure, and at the same time, he was more convinced that cooperating with Yuan Qixi's expedition to Turkey was an extremely rare opportunity for Russia!

"As His Highness said, this is an extremely rare opportunity, and I think His Majesty the Emperor of our country should be very happy to cooperate with your country and send troops to the south." Butzer said with a smile on his face: "However, in addition to providing a large loan, can Your Highness provide some more of the latest rifles and metal bullets?" ”

That's a lot of inches! Yi Zhixiang was not annoyed, but felt a little funny, "Your Excellency is sure that you need our country to support a large number of arms?" Your country's Bodan I, and Bodan II, rear-loading rifled rifles have been finalized and mass-produced, and their performance is comparable to that of China's Baoshan rifles, but the difference is only that the caliber is slightly different. ”

Hearing this, Butzer was shocked in his heart, the Bordan I, the Model and the Bodan II, the rear-loading guns have indeed been finalized and mass-produced, but there is no large-scale equipment for the troops, how can the other party know so clearly?

Yi Zhizhi continued: "If your country needs a large amount of arms from our country, I am very happy, and I would prefer to use arms to offset the loan. ”

Bu Ce hurriedly said: "I will truthfully report His Highness's intentions to His Majesty the Emperor of our country." ”

Yi Zhishu nodded, "I need an answer as soon as possible." ”

As soon as Bu Ce was sent away, Zhao Liewen and Yi Zhengxing quickly walked into the courtyard, and when they arrived, Zhao Liewen asked, "The Russian Tsar has called back?" Will Russia agree to send troops? ”

"Definitely. For two hundred years, Russia has never given up any opportunity to annex Turkey. Yi Zhishu said and slowly paced back to the room, and after entering the room, he asked casually, "Are the articles all good?" ”

Zhao Liewen hurriedly took out a stack of drafts, "Take a look at the big shopkeeper, if there is nothing wrong, send it to the newspaper office." ”

After taking the draft, Yi Zhizhi put it directly on the desk and said: "I will prepare a telegram to Hu Xueyan, and he will arrange for people to go to Egypt to buy shares in the Suez Canal, the more the ......better." ”

Acquisition of a stake in the Suez Canal? Zhao Liewen was stunned for a moment before he said: "Didn't the big shopkeeper say that England is bound to win the Suez Canal?" ”

"It was bought from the British." Yi Zhizhi said slowly: "In addition, tell Hu Xueyan to let him contact French dignitaries, and once the Franco-Prussian War breaks out, provide France with a large amount of loans in time." ”

Which one is this singing? Zhao Liewen was a little confused for a while, and Yi Zheng said straightforwardly: "Didn't my father say that France would be defeated?" Why give loans to France? ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at the two of them, stretched out his hand and pressed it, motioning for the two to sit down, and then said slowly: "With the strength of our country, it is not difficult to take advantage of the weakness to occupy the Persian Gulf, but it is extremely difficult to gain a foothold in the Persian Gulf, or even completely incorporate the Persian Gulf into the territory of the Qing Dynasty, after all, there is still a big gap between my country's national strength and England, and there is also a big gap in naval strength."

In the end, we need to negotiate a solution to the Persian Gulf dispute, to lend money to France to keep France silent on this issue, and to buy a stake in the Suez Canal as a bargaining chip with the British. ”

This hasn't started the westward expedition yet, but it's thinking so long-term? Zhao Liewen hesitated for a moment before saying, "Is this price too great?" ”

"What can it cost?" Yi Zhizhi said disapprerovingly: "France is only defeated, not a dead country, the loan to France is a sure profit, as for the Suez Canal shares, we just change hands and toss, there is no loss." ”

Tianjin, Sancha River, Qinchayuanmen.

When the day was exposed, the heavy gate slowly opened, and a team of prisoners with shackles and handcuffs rushed out, and the prisoners who had been languishing all night in the cage cheered up one by one, and finally it was time to change shifts.

In order to prevent the prisoners in the cage from dying because of the long time of detention, Wu Changqing ordered the prisoners to be divided into two shifts, rotating day and night, and the cage outside the gate was never empty.

In the eyes of the gentry in Tianjin, these criminals who dared to kill foreigners, burn churches and rob foreign companies were all heroes, and they expressed their dissatisfaction with the government in this way and put pressure on the government in disguise.

Just after seven o'clock, the streets and alleys inside and outside Tianjin resounded with the crisp sound of the newsboy selling newspapers, "Sell newspapers, sell newspapers!" Look at the disclosure of the Tianjin teaching case! "Sell newspapers, sell newspapers! Look at the truth behind the Tianjin lesson plan! ”

In the past few days, with the reports of newspapers of all sizes across the country, the Tianjin teaching case has attracted the attention of the government and the opposition, but it can be said that the people who are most concerned about the progress of this case are the people of Tianjin.

In the excerpt, Wu Changqing clearly and unequivocally pointed out that the abduction and trafficking of babies is indeed a case, but it has nothing to do with the church, and the church gives rewards to those who bring the baby to the nursery, which indirectly encourages the trend of abducting babies, but it cannot be determined that the church abducts babies.

The reason for the frequent deaths of babies adopted in the church-run nursery is that most of the adopted babies are abandoned babies, and most of the babies are already extremely weak and dying at the time of adoption.

As for all kinds of rumors, such as abducted babies as medicine, abducted young children take out their brains and cut out their eyes and hearts for the purpose of dispensing medicine, and use their eyeballs to refine silver, etc., they are purely out of thin air and nonsense!

Originally, public opinion was one-sided to accuse the church of abducting babies and killing infants, and foreigners were arrogant and domineering, and they had no eyes on the court, trespassed into the official offices, shot and intimidated the court officials, and injured the officials' families, but now Wu Changqing openly excused the church.

You must know that the Tianjin teaching case was caused by the abduction and mutilation of babies in the church nursery hall, and denying this is tantamount to admitting that the fault lies with the people of Tianjin, and the foreigners are innocent.

This huge contrast in public opinion made it difficult for many people to accept, and for a time all kinds of accusations poured in, accusing Wu Changqing of abolishing the public for personal gain, betraying the country to seek glory, flattering foreigners, reversing black and white, some sending telegrams, some writing letters, and even newspapers issuing public crusades.

Although the people of Tianjin were excited, there was no situation of besieging the Qincha Xingyuan and the official government office; first, the Tianjin Hui Party was wiped out and no one took the lead in organizing it, and secondly, the officers and men of the Beiyang Naval Division were stationed outside the city and were eyeing it, and the people who were black and suppressed a large number of flail outside the county government and the long station cage outside the Qinchayuan Gate were undoubtedly an extremely powerful deterrent.

Tianjin, Zizhulin, British Consulate.

In his early fifties, somewhat bald, with a hooked nose and blue eyes, this China expert who has been in China for nearly three decades and knows China better than most Chinese, but after reading the newspaper, he frowned, even if Wu Changqing wanted to deal with this lesson case impartially, it seemed that he could not make such a big fuss.

His instincts told him there was something wrong with this! He thought of a word, first suppressed and then raised, Yuan Qi often used this trick when guiding public opinion!

A soft knock on the door sounded, and Wittoma looked up, "Please come in." ”

As soon as the door opened, Li Weihai led the French chargé d'affaires Luo Shuya in, and as soon as he entered, Luo Shuya said, "Your Excellency, should we go and see that Lord Qincha again?" ”

"You may be seated." Wei Tuma said and crossed Erlang's legs, "Do you think that Lord Wu will change his attitude?" ”

"Isn't it?"

"I don't think so." "On the contrary, I have a very bad feeling, and I suggest waiting and seeing." ”

"What else do you have to wait for?" Luo Shuya was puzzled and said: "Now that it has been determined that there are no abducted babies in the church, and there is no killing of infants, we should confidently ask for compensation from the Qing court, and let the Qing court give us a satisfactory explanation!" ”

After a slight sigh, Wittoma said, "Your Excellency can go and try it." ”

Luo Shuya really didn't believe in evil, and invited diplomats from several countries to rush to the Qincha Xingyuan at the mouth of the Sancha River, but it was a closed door, and Wu Changqing didn't even let them in the gate, and replied quite simply, "No!" ”

After learning of this situation, Wei Tuoma confirmed his conjecture even more, and faintly felt a little uneasy, he couldn't guess what Wu Changqing wanted to do? Such a tough attitude shows that the other party has no fear!

The next day, the newspapers of the northern provinces and some tabloids in the southeastern provinces attacked Wu Changqing almost one-sidedly, and even Yuan Qi was also attacked, and even directly called on the imperial court to remove the Qin Cha and re-investigate the Tianjin teaching case.

Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

Zhao Liewen and Yi Zhengxing walked into the study with a stack of newspapers, and saw Yi Zhishu looking through the accounts as if he was nothing, Zhao Liewen couldn't help but smile bitterly and said: "The big shopkeeper is calm, the entire Qing Dynasty is about to make a fuss, and now the spearhead has been pointed at Yuan Qi." ”

Putting down the account book, Yi Zhishu glanced at the newspaper in the hands of the two of them, and said with a smile: "I'm also diligent, what are you doing here?" Is it possible to read them one by one? ”

"Many of these articles are from local Confucians and officials." Yi Zhengxing explained: "Mr. said that it must be all excerpted ....... ”

"Are you still planning to settle accounts after the fall?" Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "No, freedom of speech cannot say one thing and do another." ”

"When is Dad going to fight back?" Yi Zhengxing said: "Can't you always let them attack and smear Yuan Qi and Wu Shibo like this? ”

"There's no hurry." Yi Zhizhi said: "Indulge first and test their reactions." ”

"Who? Foreigner or Imperial Court? ”

"Naturally, it's the imperial court." Yi Zhizhi said: "For the imperial court, this is a rare opportunity to manipulate public opinion and public sentiment to attack Yuan Qi, I want to see how far the situation will develop?" ”

Yi Zhengxing's reaction was not slow, and he understood that this was to use this incident to test the attitude of the Empress Dowager Ci'an and the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, Prince Gong, towards Yuan Qi, and he groaned slightly, and then he asked: "Don't you need to consider the reactions of Western countries?" The Tianjin lesson plan can be described as a major diplomatic event. ”

"Not necessarily." Yi Zhizu glanced at Zhao Liewen and said with a smile: "We have a killer weapon in our hands." ”

Yi Zhengxing looked at the two of them, "Killer feature? ”

Zhao Liewen poured a cup of herbal tea, and then said with a smile: "It is indeed a killer feature, which is enough to make Western countries shut up about this lesson plan!" ”