Master Yuan, start!

In fact, Oswald was able to be promoted to Foreign Minister only because the former Prime Minister Hohenlohe was suddenly dismissed and the former Foreign Minister von Bülow was promoted to Prime Minister, which allowed him to be promoted from a director to a minister in a natural way.

But the real diplomatic power still lies in the hands of Prime Minister von Bülow.

In order to further concentrate power, William II also set up a "Foreign Affairs Committee" with the Prime Minister as chairman.

Therefore, although Oswald held the title of Minister of Foreign Affairs, he was actually more of an executor responsible for specific affairs rather than a decision-maker.

...0

After the reception, Yuan Xiangcheng was quickly arranged to stay at the "Caesar Hotel", the most luxurious hotel in Berlin. In the original time and space, Li Hongzhang also stayed here when he visited Germany.

The moment he stepped into the hotel lobby, Yuan Xiangcheng felt a sense of luxury. From the moment he checked in, he enjoyed the meticulous service of the hotel staff.

Obviously, the German side had already made preparations in advance.

The dinner was even more unique. In order to make Yuan Xiangcheng feel at home, the hotel actually prepared a staple dish of rice.

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This surprised Yuan Xiangcheng, who had been eating bread since London.

You know, Germany is not a major rice producing area, and Yuan Xiangcheng was really curious about where the rice came from.

However, when Yuan Xiangcheng picked up the bowl and took a closer look, he found that the rice was half-cooked and the grains were distinct. It was obvious that the chef was not good at cooking oriental food.

At the same time, the table was filled with exquisite Western dishes: golden and crispy German pork knuckle, tender and juicy pork chops, and fragrant sausages.

Yuan Xiangcheng was a little amused and helpless.

He can eat Chinese food and can also accept Western food.

The only thing is that this dinner, which is neither Chinese nor Western, is a bit hard to swallow.

He put down his chopsticks, sighed softly, and his eyes showed a bit of helplessness.

Yuan Xiangcheng vaguely remembered that in the original time and space, the Germans had inquired about Li Hongzhang's hobbies in advance and prepared exclusive cigars for him.

However, I don't smoke cigars, so I just made a "rice"

Although this arrangement was obviously well-intentioned, the result was somewhat ridiculous. However, Yuan Xiangcheng did not express any dissatisfaction, but silently accepted this unique hospitality.

After all, for him, the purpose of this trip is more than just a dinner.

"Mr. Minister," Yuan Xiangcheng put down the iron chopsticks in his hand and looked directly at Oswald: "Tomorrow, you will be able to see His Majesty William."

Chapter 524: The Bond of Sino-German Friendship

The next morning, German Foreign Minister Oswald was waiting outside the top floor room on the 7th floor of Yuan Xiangcheng's Caesar Hotel.

Except for special days, William II generally did not live in the German Imperial Palace in Berlin, but chose to live in the palace in Potsdam, a small town in the southern suburbs of Berlin.

Therefore, Yuan Xiangcheng had to go to the palace in Potsdam with Oswald.

Unlike the UK, Germany has more "modern technology".

After finishing his meal last night, Yuan Xiangcheng took the elevator upstairs. Although this elevator was an early version, that is, a doorless circular elevator, it was not the later elevator with doors opening on each floor.

But this is enough to show that the Germans are much more receptive to new things.

The same is true for their choice of transportation.

For example, at this moment, Yuan Xiangcheng was sitting in a bumpy gasoline car produced by the Daimler factory, slowly driving towards Potsdam.

In 1899, internal combustion engine cars had not yet entered ordinary households, but this did not prevent William II from experiencing these new gadgets.

In order to fully enjoy the fun of driving a car, he also specially prepared auxiliary facilities and paved a cement road from Berlin to Potsdam.

At that time, there was no "Mercedes-Benz" car. It is true that Karl Benz invented the first car, but he used a gas engine.

The real four-wheeled internal combustion engine car was manufactured by Daimler.

It has small front tires and large rear tires, an open-top structure, and a small internal combustion engine installed under the passenger seat. Rather than looking like a car in later generations, it looks more like a tractor or a rickshaw of this era.

The difference is that the long handlebar in front of the rickshaw has been removed and replaced with a round steering wheel. Apart from that, there is almost no difference.

But to be honest, even so, Yuan Xiangcheng's experience sitting in this most outstanding car of the 19th century was definitely not a good one.

Although there is a thick cushion under the buttocks to absorb shock, it cannot change the uncomfortable situation.

The riding experience is far inferior to that of a horse-drawn carriage in the UK.

As if noticing Yuan Xiangcheng's discomfort as he twisted back and forth, Foreign Minister Oswald tried to divert his attention:

"Your Majesty is in Potsdam, awaiting the arrival of the President, the Prime Minister, the Chief of the General Staff, and other important military and political figures. Please wait a moment, they will be here soon."

Hearing this, Yuan Xiangcheng nodded helplessly.

Just as Yuan Xiangba and his group were on their way, William II was talking with his Imperial Prime Minister von Bülow and the German Chief of Staff Schlieffen in the palace of Potsdam Palace.

William II leaned on the table, his right side slightly forward, his left hand suffering from polio covered by his chest, making it impossible to tell that he was a disabled person.

"How is the construction of the colony in central Indochina going?"

He flipped through the documents on the table, and after a moment, he raised his head, stared at the Prime Minister on the right side of the table and asked a question.

"Your Majesty, the French didn't leave many good things behind. They destroyed everything they could before leaving, so Saigon is still under repair." Having said this, von Bülow glanced at Schlieffen beside him and continued:

"However, restoration is always much faster than rebuilding from scratch. We have recruited a lot of Chinese labor in the north. If nothing unexpected happens, Saigon will become the empire's central city in the Far East before the 20th century!

It has far more prospects than the small territory we previously occupied in the southern part of the East Asian continent!"

"It seems that abandoning those two small islands is the right decision." William II nodded, seeming very proud of his decision.

What William II mentioned was an incident between Germany and the Republic of China under the leadership of Yuan Shikai after the end of the Indochina War.

After the war with France, Germany and Republican China no longer had territorial disputes.

In this time and space, during the Qing Dynasty, Germany took advantage of the Qing Dynasty's defeat in the French War and ceded Xiamen and Taiwan to France. They took the opportunity to rush to the coast of Xiangshan Prefecture in Guangdong and occupied the "Big and Small Hengqin Islands" that belonged to Zhuhai in the future.

In the process of colonizing East Asia, both Britain and France have successively occupied territories, but that was all achieved through wars and treaty agreements.

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Germany's move was the first of its kind at the time and was quite eye-catching.

At that time, the relationship between Britain and France was still quite good.

Therefore, facing the pressure from Britain and France, the Germans, in order to avoid retaliating from the two countries, started to build three "unarmed land-based commercial trade points" on Hengqin Island.

However, Hengqin Island at the end of the 19th century was indeed an island.

There are only a few small beaches along the edge of the island, with an average width of only a few hundred meters.

In the 19th century, the soil and water conservation of the Pearl River was good. Located at the mouth of the Pearl River, it had not yet formed a large alluvial plain like that of the 21st century. The Germans wanted to open a business and serve as a transshipment port, but there was no land available for construction.

Moreover, even if the Germans managed to build a small port, they could not compete with Hong Kong across the sea, nor with Guangzhou further north.

Except for the war period, when we cooperated with Yuan Shikai to secretly transport some artillery and other things, there was almost no other cargo exchange.

In other words, this land became a losing business in the hands of the Germans.

In the war against France, the Germans were dragged into the war by Yuan Shikai and sent a fleet on an armed patrol.

They watched the Beiyang Fleet defeat the French support fleet that came from afar. After that, they simply rescued the soldiers who fell into the water and sailed the fleet to the Indochina port, and they took over half of southern Vietnam.

Such an outcome is an outstanding achievement that Germany has never achieved in its overseas colonization in the past 10 years.

Prime Minister von Bülow saw clearly that the key lay in the new government of Republican China.

It happened that William II was also very happy about this, so Prime Minister von Bülow took the opportunity to propose that the Hengqin Islands be returned to the "central government" of the Republic of China.

Von Bülow said that the land that was previously occupied was from the Qing government, and now that a new national regime has been established, Germany should return it.

And proposed to conduct a wider range of "free trade" with the Republic of China

After receiving the news, Yuan Shikai naturally reciprocated by stating that in the future the Hengqin Islands would be merged into an independent political jurisdiction, and all citizens of the German Empire would be able to enter this jurisdiction freely without a visa.

This move transformed the former "quasi-colony" on the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary into an "exclusive port for trade with Germany."

There were no territorial disputes, no colonial disputes, and no intention of an arms race, and the French in the Far East were taught a lesson.

China-Germany cooperation began to move on the right track.

Who wouldn't want a market of 4 million people? The US needs it, the UK needs it, and Germany needs it too.

After asking Prime Minister von Bülow about economic issues, William II, holding a document submitted by the General Staff in his hand, frowned slightly and turned his gaze to the German Chief of General Staff Alfred von Schlieffen on his left.

There was a hint of worry and tentativeness in his tone: "Alfred, even after receiving the reminder from President Yuan from the Far East, do you still think your battle plan is feasible?

The situation now is different from that time. The French and Russians have clearly joined forces and may even have signed a secret treaty."

"A reminder from the President of the Far East?" When Prime Minister von Bülow, who was sitting next to him, heard these words, his brows involuntarily frowned, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes. How could he not know about this at all?

However, William II did not notice the change in the Prime Minister's expression. His thoughts seemed to be occupied by the news of the Franco-Russian joint military exercises that came a few days ago. His voice was low and full of worry:

"Once Germany launches an offensive, it's very likely... no, I think we'll definitely be attacked from both sides.

Compared to the weak French, the Russian army seems to be a greater threat. Shouldn't we focus on the Eastern Front?"

The "plan" mentioned by William II is the famous "Schlieffen Plan"

This combat plan proposed by Schlieffen in the late 19th century was aimed at dealing with Germany's enemies on the east and west sides, France and Russia.

The core idea was that the German army concentrated 8% of its forces on the Western Front to launch a fierce attack on France, and used only 2% of its forces to contain the Russian army on the Eastern Front.

By bypassing the strong fortifications on the Franco-German border, they broke into the heart of France from the direction of Belgium and took Paris directly, forcing France to surrender quickly;

At the same time, the troops on the Eastern Front relied on the assistance of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to delay time as much as possible and wait for victory on the Western Front before transferring troops back to defend.

However, Schlieffen's successor Moltke did not faithfully implement this plan and reduced the troops on the right wing. As a result, although the German army advanced rapidly in the early stages, it was unable to win quickly due to insufficient strength and eventually fell into the quagmire of a protracted war.

This was also one of the reasons why Germany lost the First World War.

At this moment, facing William II's questioning, Schlieffen raised his head without hesitation, met the emperor's gaze with a firm gaze, and answered in a sonorous and powerful voice:

"Your Majesty, it is precisely because of President Yuan's intelligence that we must stick to our original plan." His tone revealed unquestionable confidence.

"Why?" William II raised his eyebrows, turned his head and glanced at Prime Minister von Bülow IV who had remained silent, and asked again.

Hearing this, Schlieffen stood up and pointed to the document in William II's hand that had been studied by the General Staff. He said in a firm tone: "Your Majesty, the General Staff's research is very clear.

How could the backward Boer peasants, with only a few hundred thousand people, stop the invasion of an equal or even larger number of British troops?

This question plunged Wilhelm II into a moment of reflection, while von Bülow, standing beside him, quickly weighed possible answers in his mind: Was it the British Army's incompetence? Or the Boers' excessive tenacity? Or perhaps factors like climate and terrain played a role? But he quickly shook his head; none of these explanations seemed comprehensive enough.

Some time ago, media outlets like the Berlin daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported extensively on the British's setback in South Africa, but no one could pinpoint the specific reasons. How the Boers, despite being outnumbered, successfully stopped the British advance remains a mystery.

"Your Majesty, I need to remind you that this war is not between soldiers and soldiers, but between the people and the soldiers. It is not on the same level at all."