Master Yuan, start!

You can't run away, where can you run to?

To the west are the Chu clique, to the south and east are the Yuan army, and to the north are the Mongols and Russians.

You can't escape unless you go up to the sky or hide underground.

Or there is another way, that is, Emperor Guangxu comes back to life and personally goes to Yuan Shikai's army to put an end to this war.

But in the end it's just wishful thinking.

Everyone stopped talking. Only Yi D's heavy breathing could be heard in the Grand Council, and the atmosphere fell into an eerie silence again.

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...

"The Tsar, oh no, should I say His Majesty Crown Prince Nicholas, wants to use this war as a gift for his coronation?"

In the Beijing embassy district, Acting Incheon Consul Zhu Erdian looked at the Russian Minister Mikhail sitting next to him.

He also didn't expect that Mikhail would come to the British Consulate. I heard that it was to avoid harassment from the Qing Dynasty's Prince Regent?

Young Zhu Erdian looked at Mikhail who was tasting tea and shook his head slightly in his heart.

"A gift? Perhaps. How could our Far Eastern officials know what's going on in St. Petersburg?"

Mikhail put down the black tea from Assam and said:

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has his own considerations. We, the little diplomats, just need to carry them out."

"I heard that the Qing Dynasty's Prince Regent was willing to exchange Korea for Qi Si/Xiao Shuo. UN: Russia sent troops to Beijing, but I didn't expect that, Mr. Mikhail, you actually didn't agree?"

Zhu Erdan felt a little regretful that the always greedy Russians actually rejected this tempting deal.

"So what if we take over North Korea? This is where General Yuan's power is strongest. Even if we take it, we will still have to face resistance from 1000 million people on the peninsula.

The tide of nationalism has swept across this land."

Mikhail stood up, looked at the falling snow outside the window, then looked at Zhu Erdian beside him and said:

"Besides, I don't think the British Empire will allow us Russians to expand thousands of miles south.

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Nicholas would be satisfied if he could obtain the southern bank of the Amur River."

Mikhail looked at the latest telegrams on the table about the establishment of the "Lingnan Xinghan Grand Military Governor's Office" and the "Sichuan Xinghan Grand Military Governor's Office" and gave Zhu Erdian a look that said something obvious.

"Okay, that's a wise decision." Zhu Erdian smiled embarrassedly when he heard this, picked up the black tea and put it to his mouth, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"The British Empire's decision is also wise." Mikhail turned around and said with a smile:

"The Qing government was willing to give up Shanghai, the largest city in the Far East, but it failed to persuade Britain to stop the war."

"To paraphrase a Chinese proverb, same here."

Seeing that he couldn't get any information, Zhu Erdian sighed and finally gave up the idea of ​​trying to get information.

Mikhail and Zhu Erdian are both officials with many years of experience in diplomatic affairs. They described the current situation in China in just a few sentences.

No matter how much concessions the Qing government made or how much land it ceded, Britain and Russia were unwilling to step into this quagmire.

Especially in China, where nationalism has been activated, the power of 400 million people has made them feel difficult for the first time.

Chapter 296: Anti-Russian Movement

As the news spread, a vigorous "anti-Russian movement" was launched in schools and docks across North Korea.

The students pooled their remaining Northeast Longyin coins and issued a nationwide telegram, vowing to live and die with Heilongjiang.

While sending out telegrams, North Korean students formed their own speech teams and gave speeches at docks and squares in Seoul, Incheon, and Pyongyang, hoping to arouse the people's sense of national humiliation.

The same thing happened in Shanghai Huajie Park.

Under the guidance of members of the local Red Confucian Society, scholars from various schools in Shanghai shouted slogans of "Anti-Manchu and Anti-Russian" and took to the streets holding various red and blue banners.

"Classmates, compatriots!"

Looking at the indignant crowd in front of him, Qi Baishi put on his signature round-frame glasses and stepped onto a newly built wooden platform.

"Even if the government agrees to invite the Russians south, our 400 million citizens will never recognize it, right or wrong?"

Qi Baishi's rhetorical question cleverly placed the Qing court in opposition to the Chinese people.

"Yes!"

The students in the audience had already prepared their answers, and the cheers were deafening.

"If we anger Russia and the war escalates, it will all be Russia's fault and have nothing to do with our country. Is that right or wrong?"

Qi Baishi asked another rhetorical question, attributing all the reasons for the outbreak of the war and its possible future expansion to the Russians.

"Correct!"

The students in the audience shouted in unison again, their voices resounding through the sky, as if they were going to overturn the world.

"Alright! What I have in my hand is a telegram from North Korea. Please allow me to read it to you, my compatriots!"

Qi Baishi picked up the latest issue of Shenbao, which contained a telegram from Korean students.

"We Chinese are the descendants of Yan and Huang. Today, the descendants of China are oppressed by the Manchus at home and plundered by the Russians abroad. For 300 years, we have shed blood and tears. The Han people are mourning all over the country.

7..Now that the Russian disaster is getting more urgent, 6 students outside the Great Wall have telegraphed Yuan Da3 to ask for a fight, organize 4 volunteer teams to fight against the enemy, and hope that fellow countrymen will help.

The Chinese scholars outside the Great Wall are willing to be the fuse of the cannons and awaken the iron-blooded integrity of the nation!

After the telegram was read out, Qi Baishi thought he would receive another response, but he did not expect the audience to be so quiet that there was not a sound at all.

does not work?

Qi Baishi frowned, put down the newspaper, held up his glasses and looked down. When he saw the expressions of the scholars below the stage, he realized that he had been worrying too much.

After hearing the telegram, all the participants were shocked by the words "willing to be the fuse of the artillery fire" and were stunned for a moment.

But soon, they clenched their fists and veins bulged on their faces.

"Anti-Manchu, anti-Russia!"

Everyone was shouting, as if they wanted to pour out all the oppression they had suffered from the Manchus over the past few hundred years, and all the bullying they had suffered from the foreigners over the past few decades.

When the mood reached its climax, a student with a Zhejiang accent stood up, ran up to the podium, pulled up his braid, and shouted to the audience:

"My fellow students, my compatriots!

I, Cai Yuanpei, would rather be a Chinese ghost than a Manchurian slave!

After saying that, he faced everyone's gaze and bit the braid in his hand with his teeth.

I don't know where such a thin scholar got the strength from, but after a moment, he actually bit off the one-inch thick braid.

Qi Baishi, who was standing by, was stunned.

He participated in the "Anti-Russian Movement" this time because, firstly, he was extremely dissatisfied with the Qing court and wanted to expose the crimes of the Qing Dynasty; secondly, he had a mission to accomplish.

After accepting Yuan Shikai's invitation, he joined the Shanghai branch of the Red Confucian Society and specialized in propaganda work.

Today's speech at Huajie Park is a task assigned by the organization.

But Qi Baishi didn't expect that there were people who were more radical than him and even went so far as to bite their braids!

"My fellow students, my fellow countrymen!"

Cai Yuanpei waved the broken braid in his right hand, blood dripping from his mouth, but he still roared loudly.

That was because he used too much force, his teeth pressed against his gums, and blood oozed out.

"I, Cai Yuanpei, am now a proud Chinese!"

After saying this, Cai Yuanpei exerted force with his right hand and swung the broken braid into the air.

"I also want to be a proud Chinese!"

"Me too!"

The people in the audience followed suit, some cutting their braids with knives, some biting them with their mouths, and some even asked their friends to pick up stones, put them on the ground and smash them hard to break their braids.

It can be said that "Shanghai students all cut off their braids, no one wanted to be a Manchu slave"

"If you want to fight against the Manchus and the Russians, cut off your braids and follow me into the army!"

Cai Yuanpei shouted again and walked down from the podium.

Behind him, a group of scholars who had cut off their braids immediately followed.

They lined up and rushed to the Wehrmacht recruitment office, which had not yet been renamed, to request enlistment.

...

The anti-Russian movement will not be limited to the coastal areas.

Hubei, deep inland, also felt the trend sweeping in from the east.

In March, the three towns of Wuhan located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River have shown signs of early spring, and the Yangtze River waterway has become busy again.

The steamer coming from the east went upstream, carrying not only cargo but also some young people dressed as students.

After unloading part of the cargo in Wuchang, it turned north and headed towards the Han River.

This is a 500-ton small steamship built by the Incheon Shipyard on behalf of the "Si Hai Shipping Company" outside the Great Wall in order to seize the Jiangnan shipping market.

The small steam turbine uses a reciprocating double-cylinder steam engine, which is noisy and slow. Its only advantage is that it is easy to imitate and has a low cost.

The 2100-ton river-sea dual-purpose ships built previously were still too large for China's inland waterways.

The 2100-ton ship can sail on the sea or anchor at ports in Incheon, Tianjin, Lushun, Shanghai, and even Jiangning.

But if we go further inland, we will find it difficult to do so.

This type of ship can usually only sail in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. If it goes to the middle reaches, it may be fine during the flood season, but it will face the risk of running aground and hitting rocks if it is not careful during the dry season.

A 500-ton cargo ship is just right, able to reach Wuchang during the dry season and even enter the Han River.

It’s just that the operation of the ship is a little complicated, so whether the owner wants to buy or rent it, he must hire someone to drive the boat.

Older shipowners don't know how to operate new steamships, so most of the people driving the ships are young people in their twenties or thirties.

Most of these people have Shandong and Guanwai accents.

However, in recent days, the ship has also carried many students with accents from various places, including those from Anhui and Jiangsu.

Although they had different accents, most of them were humming a song that sounded quite sad.