Master Yuan, start!

In this time and space, since Li Hongzhang resigned as the Governor-General of Zhili ahead of time, the Beiyang Fleet, which was reincarnated as the South China Sea Fleet, had no chance to dock in Nagasaki, so this incident was naturally avoided.

Yuan Shikai defeated the two major Japanese garrisons in the Korean battlefield. Although this incident was regarded as a shame by some Japanese, it was far less influential than the "Nagasaki Incident".

Therefore, although the people were outraged when Korea was defeated, and many people called for "punishment of the violent Qing Dynasty", the Japanese government saw it clearly, so it just followed public opinion and decided to vigorously develop the navy, and the focus was still on domestic affairs.

It was during this opportunity that Ito Hirobumi was able to promulgate the Constitution of the Empire of Japan, establishing the constitutional system in Japan that he had longed for.

Emperor Meiji also successfully left a backdoor in the constitution to establish his supreme authority.

This is also why the Japanese government was able to send two new cruisers, because they did not have a strong desire to fight.

If things continue to develop in this way, after China is divided into north and south, the Japanese navy will have been established and may still choose to invade the weaker side to complete their continental vision.

However, the performance of Yuan Xiangcheng, Liu Kunyi, and Li Hongzhang made the Japanese government hesitate as to who to attack in order to avoid "stealing a chicken but losing the rice".

Just when the Japanese government was hesitating, something happened that made them decide to temporarily abandon the goal of invading China and instead seek cooperation with Yuan Shikai.

The last straw that broke the camel's back was the Russians' unusual behavior.

At the end of 1893, local fishermen from the Hokkaido Prefecture reported that they saw Russian warships cruising near Defu Island and that they had witnessed people landing on the island.

The Japanese government was naturally shocked when it received this report. Although Defu Island had been occupied by the Russians since 1855, the two countries had also had diplomatic disputes over this place.

However, in 1875, Japanese envoys signed the Treaty of Exchange of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands with Russia in St. Petersburg, stipulating that the sovereignty of Sakhalin belonged to Russia, while the sovereignty of the entire Kuril Islands belonged to Japan.

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The above-mentioned islands are currently all under the actual control of Russia

In other words, since 1875, the sovereignty of Defu Island has belonged to Japan and there has been no dispute.

What was the Russians' intention in landing on the island again nearly 20 years after the treaty was signed?

The Japanese government thought that after sending the two warships, the Russians would stop.

But in the world at the end of the 19th century, countries were still in the social Darwin stage, and bullying the weak and fearing the strong was a basic principle.

Japan's move undoubtedly encouraged the Russians' desire to blackmail. Since you can compensate me with two warships for the injury of the crown prince, it is not a bad idea to compensate me with an island. How about even a winter-free port in the Pacific Ocean?

Of course, Yuan Xiangcheng's assists are also particularly important.

After learning that the Japanese had asked Nicholas for forgiveness in exchange for two warships, Yuan Shikai was not happy to see Japan-Russia reconciliation.

He knew that the greedy Russians would not give up, but they would not cause trouble for Japan in the short term.

So in the past few years, he tried his best to curry favor with the Amur Governor-General Korf, and provided Yuan Shikai with as much wheat, cloth, spirits and brandy as the Russians asked for.

Such a huge amount of cargo exchange also made the border trading company jointly run by the two of them earn a lot of money.

With a lot of money coming in, the Amur Governor-General Sikorlov naturally praised Yuan Xiangcheng, the fifth minister of the Qing Dynasty, and never said a bad word about Yuan Xiangcheng in his reports to St. Petersburg. He also called the "minor frictions" with Yuan Xiangcheng in Korea a few years ago "beautiful misunderstandings".

Russia's Far East and Heilongjiang Province are enjoying rare days of peace.

With money as a foundation, the relationship between the two quickly heated up. Korf had nothing to do in the Governor's Mansion on the Amur River, so in order to take care of his business, he simply moved to Vladivostok to work.

After Yuan Shikai learned about this, he immediately rushed to Korea and invited Korf to the Tumen River, where the two of them drank together on the Sino-Russian border.

When he was drunk, Yuan Xiangcheng looked at the merchant ships traveling north and south at the mouth of the Tumen River and couldn't help but sigh to Korff:

“Every year after the harvest season, Vladivostok and places further north freeze over. It’s a shame that we can’t enjoy delicious brandy or eat fresh wheat bread.

In winter, the price of these things can increase by more than ten times. The damn freezing period has caused the company to lose a lot of profits in vain."

Korff thought Yuan Xiangcheng was really trying to make money, so he burped and suggested:

"Yuan, you can transport more brandy and wheat into Vladivostok before it freezes over."

"No, no matter how much we transport, we won't make any money in the winter. We'll always lose some of our profits!" Yuan Xiangcheng muttered as he staggered, "If only we had an ice-free port."

After saying this, Yuan Xiangcheng collapsed on the table and got drunk. When he woke up the next day, he refused to talk about what happened the night before.

Korff took the incident to heart and later proposed to St. Petersburg to seek an ice-free port in the Far East, and it should be close to "the ice-free port in the coastal area of ​​Russia's Far East".

Jiao Liuba 0738045

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded that it had considered it and asked Korf to give his opinion on Busan and Sapporo, two ice-free ports in the Far East close to Vladivostok.

Korf was doing business with Yuan Shikai, so he would not be stupid enough to suggest that St. Petersburg choose Busan in Korea.

Of course, he also had to come up with a plausible reason.

So 9 called back and said that Yuan Shikai had deployed more than troops in the three northeastern provinces and Korea, and that they were all soldiers trained using Western methods and should not be underestimated.

In addition, the Trans-Siberian Railway had not yet been completed, and Russia could not afford a land battle involving tens of thousands of people with a supply line of thousands of miles, so it was recommended to abandon Busan.

Therefore, he suggested that Sapporo in Hokkaido, Japan be chosen as the first choice for an ice-free port.

After receiving this telegram, the diplomats in St. Petersburg were not foolish enough to immediately order an attack on Sapporo.

Although Japan's defeat in Korea led the Russians to believe that Japan was far weaker than the Qing Dynasty, a rash attack on Hokkaido, a country with a population of one million, was still an extremely risky act.

In addition, the Trans-Siberian Railway had not yet been completed, so Russian diplomats shelved the matter.

After drinking that night, Yuan Shikai saw that the Russians had not taken any action and knew that the firewood he added had failed to start, so he decided to try harder.

Old 97*Bus 7*424

He offered to help build the Trans-Siberian Railway, which had already begun running from Vladivostok to the north. The Trans-Siberian Railway was originally designed to go around the Chinese border, not across the Northeast.

After more than three years of construction, the Trans-Siberian Railway from Vladivostok to the north has crossed Lake Khanka and is heading step by step towards Khabarovsk on the border between China and Russia.

By this time, if nothing unexpected happened, the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway was just around the corner, and finding an ice-free port in the Far East became a very urgent strategic task for Russia in the late 19th century.

At this time, the diplomats in St. Petersburg once again remembered the proposal of Amur Governor Korf and took it out for careful discussion and study.

Taking Busan Port would mean facing resistance from the Qing Dynasty on land, and it was uncertain whether the Qing Dynasty's naval forces in the south would come to help.

After all, Russia only has Vladivostok, a seasonal fulcrum in the Far East. If it fights a protracted war with the Qing Dynasty, it is hard to guarantee that it will not affect the stability of the Far East region.

However, a direct attack on Vladivostok Port did not seem to be a good option. As long as Japan blocked the Korean Strait, the fleet in Vladivostok Port would be completely isolated from the outside world.

Just when the diplomats didn't know how to make a decision, the "quasi-tsar" Nicholas in the Winter Palace made the final decision.

Nicholas, why did he change from "Crown Prince" to "quasi-Tsar"?

All this is thanks to the two warships given by the Japanese.

After leaving Greece and returning to St. Petersburg, Nicholas continued to conduct "diplomacy of detente" in Eastern Europe on the orders of his father, Emperor Alexander III.

Although during the Bulgarian Crisis of 1887, the Bulgarian Parliament, with the support of Britain and the United States, elected a pro-Austro-Hungarian and pro-German Archduke, which caused a severe setback for Russia's layout in the Balkans.

But with the help of Japan's two warships, the relationship between Russia and Greece quickly warmed up. Russia made up for the face it lost in Bulgaria and gradually began to rebuild its voice in the southern Balkans.

Kaiser Wilhelm II, who had dismissed Bismarck, was eager to demonstrate his "diplomatic skills", so he took the initiative to extend an olive branch to Russia after the Bulgarian crisis.

William II decided to lower import tariffs on some Russian agricultural products.

At the end of the 19th century, Russia and Germany became hostile to each other. In addition to the Balkan dispute, the more fatal conflict was the conflict of interests over agricultural products.

During the Bismarck era, in order to protect the interests of the Junker landlords, Germany imposed high tariffs on Russian agricultural products. This is why even after signing the reinsurance treaty, the relationship between Germany and Russia remained poor.

However, during the Second Industrial Revolution, due to the rapid development of science and technology, the feudal manors on which the Junker landlords depended for their survival were gradually disintegrated.

Most Junkers began to become bourgeoisie, shifting from being solely interested in agriculture to developing both industry and agriculture, and began to enter industries such as coal mining, metallurgy, and electricity.

Since agriculture no longer held an absolute dominant position within the Junkers, William II considered it appropriate to lift tariffs on some Russian agricultural products and ease relations with Russia.

Of course, this premise is that Russia abandons its unrealistic "fantasy" about Bulgaria, and the rapprochement between Greece and Russia just fits William II's judgment.

William II not only abolished some of Russia's agricultural tariffs, but also sent a gold medal to Crown Prince Nicholas and the Greek royal family respectively, claiming that it was to commemorate the friendship between Russia and Greece.

The relationship between Germany and Russia, which had gradually deteriorated in the original time and space, did not become antagonistic in this time and space under the influence of Yuan Shikai's butterfly wings.

After the "Great Reconciliation of the Century" between Germany and Russia, Nicholas' prestige within the court rose rapidly, and he was regarded as a "quasi-tsar" rather than a mere regent crown prince.

After all, that is Greece, the homeland of the Eastern Roman Empire, and it is only a stone's throw away from Constantinople. If relations with Greece are further improved, can troops be stationed there?

If we go one step further, can we take advantage of the opportunity to capture Constantinople and restore the glory of the Third Rome?

The picture is so beautiful that the Russians dare not imagine it.

Tsar Alexander III, who learned the news, was willing to give his son more opportunities to develop his abilities, so he released more power to him.

So, in order to demonstrate his power, Crown Prince Nicholas decided to choose a country in the world as a symbol of his restoration of Russia's greatness.

Nicholas also noticed the proposal for an ice-free port in the Far East, which had been discussed for a long time by St. Petersburg diplomats.

Feilujun

He decided to teach the Japanese who had hurt him a severe lesson!

Chapter 200: New Era: Small Fights Enter, Big Fights Exit

The Russians were warlike, but not foolish. After consulting with diplomats in St. Petersburg in detail, Nicholas decided to use Defu Island first to test the reaction of the Japanese government.

Defu Island belonged to Russia before 1875 and was once a winter supply base for fishermen and hunters from the Far East.

Although the island was handed over to Japan after the signing of the treaty, the Far East Survey Team was very familiar with the local hydrological environment and sent people to the island again to look for a landing site.

Nicholas planned to occupy Defu Island first to relieve the Russian Far East Navy from being trapped in the Sea of ​​Japan and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk.

As long as Fudao is in hand, the Black Sea Fleet will not have to risk passing through the Korean-Tsushima Strait, but can instead enter Sakhalin Island from the vast North Pacific for supplies, and then calmly rush to Vladivostok to participate in the battle.

Nicholas didn't know that this decision he made prevented the Russian Navy from repeating the tragedy of the parallel world.

In the late 19th century, due to changes in the international situation, Russia's expansion in Europe was frustrated, so it turned its attention to the Far East, intending to seek a year-round ice-free port.

After searching for a long time, their first target was the Busan Port in North Korea.

But what is different from this time and space is that at that time Japan had already expanded its military through the indemnity of the Treaty of Shimonoseki and regarded Korea as its own sphere of influence. Therefore, the Russians were a little cautious and worried that occupying Busan Port would cause dissatisfaction among the Japanese.

The Russians believed that once negotiations with Japan broke down, the Japanese navy would blockade the Tsushima Strait in Korea. At that time, Russia would either have to watch the Japanese bombard Vladivostok or force its way through the strait.

But if that were done, the Russian fleet would be trapped in the Sea of ​​Japan.

The Russians did not think they would lose a naval battle, but it would be better if they could find a more secure way.

Therefore, in order to avoid this situation, the Russians finally set their sights on the Qing Dynasty. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Germans' forced lease of "Jiaozhou Bay" in 1897, they sent troops to forcibly occupy Lushun and Dalian Bay.

But in the end, to the Russians' surprise, seven years after occupying Port Arthur, in 7, Japan's influence continued to expand from Korea to the Liaodong region.

Moreover, after the signing of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the Japanese, with the support of Britain, launched a surprise attack on Port Arthur.

The Russians were naturally furious at being forced into an undeclared war.

Nicholas II, who had become the Tsar at that time, immediately decided to dispatch Russia's Black Sea and Baltic Fleets to Asia to participate in the war and severely punish the Japanese who had hurt him.

Practice has proved that the Tsarist government’s judgment seven years ago was completely correct.