The Tsar was a very face-loving person, and made the reception scene solemn and serious.

Yang Hao brought Gu Weijun and the translator to the gorgeously decorated palace. On the throne of Nicholas II, he was dressed in gorgeous costumes, like a peacock with open-faced clothes, for fear that others would not know that his family was living a good life.

However, no matter how gorgeous his dress is, it cannot conceal the cruel reality of his premature bald head. Especially under the installation of a Chinese crystal chandelier, it looks particularly eye-catching.

Yang Hao raised his head and saw the big man pretending to be arrogant, and almost couldn't help laughing out loud.

Over the years, he has seen two great figures in all kinds of planes, such as Queen Elizabeth of England, the most powerful and great woman in the world, or the arrogant as William II, and the top people in this world who really competed for more than one billion people. Their temperament and demeanor seem very natural, introverted, deep and calm.

Nicholas II, the "little father" of the Russian people, seemed a little uneasy. He showed obvious impatientness in the face of Yang Hao and his group, which was obviously a bit rude in diplomacy.

After finishing the formalities in a straightforward manner, Nicholas II submitted his letter of state in person. He seemed impatient and asked proudly: "Young messenger, what else do you have to do besides bringing greetings from the Grand Head of your country?"

This was asked knowingly. Before the departure of the special envoy of "Yang Ziyan", the Chinese ambassador to Russia had submitted a letter of national security in advance, informing them in advance that a special delegation would come to discuss the "Aihui Treaty" and the demarcation of the two countries.

In addition, Russia nominally established the State Duma, with Prime Minister Storepin, strictly speaking, these major national affairs need to be negotiated. Since the Tsar nominally delegated his rights to the parliament, he cannot preside over everything himself. How tiring!

Yang Hao knew that this boss was as magnanimous as he was, and like the leaders of most powerful countries in this era, he had a strong enthusiasm for external expansion. Moreover, in comparison, the Russians were obviously much more rude and direct, and they didn't have to go around in circles when speaking.

He replied politely: "Dear Tsar, I am here this time on behalf of our government and people, to propose to your government to abolish the unequal treaty signed before. The relevant details are fully described in the letter of state."

Nicholas II glared at his eyes, raised his beards and shouted hard: "There is no such thing as an unequal treaty between us! Since you recognize that the Qing Kingdom exists as a formal and legal regime, you should bear the responsibility for inheritance for the series of treaties they signed!"

Yang Hao had long been aware of the arrogant faces of the great powers and said tepidly: "We will not recognize any treaties signed under force and blackmail! Unless it can truly reflect the wishes of the people of both countries, it will be unilateral and unfair, and it will definitely be overthrown!"

"Fair?!" Nicholas II smiled coldly, poked his body forward with arrogance, "Young man, in this world, whether fair or not depends on whether the judge has the strength! I think all previous treaties are very fair, then, it must be fair."

Without waiting for Yang Hao to argue further, he waved his hand impatiently: "The territory of Russia is not a single inch to discuss, and we don't need to waste time on this issue. If there is no other thing, just do it."

Yang Hao narrowed his eyes slightly, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, he looked at the Tsar deeply, nodded and said, "I have clearly conveyed the opinions of our country's head of state and government. Since the respected Tsar believes that it is necessary to prove with strength to prove whether we have the qualification to demand fairness, then okay, we will give you a response that you can approve!"

Originally, he had another question to say, that was the just-in-committed Hailanpao incident, which was protested in the face of the Tsarist Russian government. But he didn't want to talk at all, so he couldn't make it easier to chase after him and see the other party's cold face.

Anyway, the purpose of coming has been achieved, and the order of rituals and then soldiers has been achieved, so there is no need to waste time.

After calmly following the etiquette, Yang Hao returned to give a brief explanation to the people in the embassy, ​​and then took a special train back. In comparison, they had several more cars, full of various specialties they bought these days.

The Chinese special envoy went so quickly and easily, which was beyond the Tsar's expectations. However, Nicholas II did not take Yang Hao's final threat to heart, at most he regarded it as his unwilling venting.

But Prime Minister Storepin was not so calm. Through his understanding of the latest information in the Far East for a period of time, he always felt uneasy and reminded the Tsar: "Your Majesty, the Chinese have always had a tradition of politeness before the army. I suspect that this time they may not just protest verbally, but really take action."

Nicholas II said indifferently: "Mr. Prime Minister, you are thinking too much. You must know that the order of the world today is not determined in one or two days. Both our country, Britain, France, Germany and Italy, after hundreds of years of war and countless costs, they have the right to speak today. The treaties signed by each of our countries are internationally recognized binding. The Chinese want to deny the Treaty of Aihui to show that they want to veto the treaties and agreements signed with all countries. Do you know what this means? They are trying to challenge the recognized order of the entire world! This is to be angered by the public!"

Storepin also acknowledges this view.

The great powers are the great powers, and treaties are treaties. No matter whether you think they are fair or not, if you want to tear them down unilaterally, you must bear the huge pressure caused by this.

From his perspective, it is obviously very unwise for the Chinese to blatantly raise objections. Even in the past few years, China defeated the attacks of the great powers more than once in various fields, because all countries were restrained by the increasingly tense and fierce competition from the European mainland. If the great powers were really forced into a hurry and put all their strength to siege and suppress them, could China withstand it?

However, one thing is that Storeping, the Tsar, and even the senior executives of all the great powers have misread it, which is China's development and construction over the past decade.

According to general rules, no matter how unprecedentedly intense Yang Hao's career was, or how huge the power of the premise was, it was a limited number. When the resources and resources under preparation were exhausted, they would inevitably give up halfway.

After carefully collecting various information about China's land and industrial defense construction, countries determined that they should complete the national modernization and upgrading according to the comprehensive promotion model. Not to mention the full support of powerful countries such as Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States and Russia, it may not be possible.

The construction of roads, railways, farmland and water conservancy construction, the full bloom of heavy industry and light industry, the construction of communication and power facilities, the establishment of financial and commodity circulation channels, etc., are all big projects that are very exciting. The amount of funds involved is a scale of tens of trillions! The proportion of talents needed is as high as the limit!

In addition to the number of labor, China lacks all conditions to complete the entire ** and industrial construction.

However, Yang Hao insisted on pushing forward, and did not forget to pull North Korea, part Japan, and part Southeast Asia into it. In the buzzword of the 21st century, he must "tug the egg when he is too big"!

Therefore, since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1900, countries have been waiting to watch the fun.

As long as China's reforms are weak and half of them are not up or down, then the small part that has been completed and the majority that has not received benefits will inevitably have differences, which will lead to internal strife and civil war. At that time, if countries push a little more, they will inevitably cause their entire career to fall apart and collapse!

Reality seems to prove that their view is very correct. Since 1900, China has not added even a battleship, nor has it added a heavy cruiser or battle patrol. At best, only destroyers with tonnage ranging from more than one thousand to four thousand tons are continuously launched.

Everyone knows that the decisive victory of battleships is recognized. The size and number of battleships determine the balance of victory or defeat of the war. After just a few years of glory, the Chinese Navy quickly lost its strength.

While being careful, the great powers watched coldly. In 1905, China's first five-year plan was completed, and there was no sign of strengthening military construction - this refers to the navy. In terms of the army, the number of regular troops did not increase much, and field troops were even less than one million.

On the other hand, the construction of all the main artillery battleships in various powers has completed the first wave of sprints, and the second wave of stronger and larger battleships have been on board one after another.

In the UK, after they built six dreadnoughts equipped with 45-diameter 305mm main guns in one go, they immediately completed four levels and twenty battleships with full load displacement of more than 30,000 tons. They jumped directly over the 12-inch 305mm main gun that was difficult to deal with, and all installed 13.5-inch/45-diameter and 343mm body tube main guns, basically finding out the key tasks of this tonnage battleship construction and related power, shooting command system, and tactic formulation.

Afterwards, we began to design and install super battleships with 380mm caliber cannons!

In Germany, thanks to the inclination of Chinese technology, the fanatical William II did not want to be outdone and made every effort to build four Helgolan-class, five Caesar-class, four King-class and other battleships, all of which were equipped with carefully improved and upgraded 12-inch/50-fold main guns from the German Krupp. Although the caliber is much smaller than the British 13.5-inch, in terms of range and armor-piercing power, it is basically not inferior to the counterattack.

With the leak of information about the British developing a 380mm main gun, William II, who was very enthusiastic about the achievements, ordered without hesitation to ask the Navy to immediately start the design and construction of a battleship equipped with this caliber heavy artillery, and required that regardless of displacement, armor thickness and firepower output, they must not be worse than the opponent!

In order to compete for the status of the first military power, the two crazy powerful countries have scrupulously exploited financial power. So in the past two years, the German navy's fiscal budget has accounted for more than half of the country's total tax revenue!

After such a struggle, on the contrary, the total number of battleships of the two countries is almost equivalent to the total of other countries in the world. If the new large-caliber super battleships under construction are added, it can be said to be a comprehensive crushing level. At the same time, the finances of the two countries are also on the verge of collapse, domestic prices soar, and people's quality of life declines. If wars are not launched to transfer pressure to the outside world, they may even collapse!

The pressure in Germany is particularly huge!

The British quietly breathed a sigh of relief when they regained their absolute military advantage. Looking at China's almost all its strength to develop the domestic economy, the navy was always guarding their homes with eight battleships, and it seemed that they had little interest or spare energy to expand externally.

The British know that Chinese culture is deeply enough that the Chinese do not like to run out in their bones. It is not that they are forced to live without a way out, so they will not cross the ocean to make a living. Now the domestic economy is very good, and many Chinese in North America are starting to return, which shows that their stubborn rural complex is beyond help.

Another thing is that the Chinese Navy does not have the confidence to expand. No matter how powerful the warships are, they are a military that requires time to accumulate. A century-old navy is not just a gold-swalking beast. The accumulation of foundation actually requires time to slowly cultivate it. Being anxious and spending money is useless!

There are indeed some problems within China. The traditional literati are too powerful. Once the country is stable and prosperous, these people will quickly start an internal struggle for the right to speak, which greatly consumes the spirit of the emerging forces led by Yang Hao. There is also a big stall of national infrastructure construction that needs to be cleaned up. They can't work hard alone.

Everything shows that China not only lacks pioneering spirit, but also lacks pioneering ability.

Today in 1909, China still showed no sign of starting a new battleship. According to rumors, it had designed a larger caliber main gun and a larger tonnage super battleship, but it only stayed on paper and had no money to build. It is said that the guy's construction cost may reach more than 5 million pounds!

The "Queen Elizabeth-class" that the British are building is only 2.4 million pounds.

Although it is not clear how big the unknown so-called new warship can be built, judging from the cost, it will inevitably be a guy with a terrible combat power!

Compared with their existing battleships, the British believed that if they were single-only, they would at best be tied with the opponent's current "Guangxi-class". The more powerful Elizabeth 380mm main gun is probably similar to the opponent. However, according to the unproven data in the rumors, it seems that the opponent's hull is larger and the armor thickness is higher. This means that the displacement of that kind of battleship is likely to exceed 40,000 tons!

Elizabeth's full platoon is only 33,000 tons.

As a result, all the powerful countries have determined that China is unable to interfere in the internal struggle between them in a short period of time.

The source of information from Tsarist Russia is not in vain, and we can know some of the situation. Although the construction of the Russian navy has been more difficult in recent years, it has barely been put into operation for several "Ganggut"-class battleships, and as soon as it came out, it was completely behind the average level of countries around the world. There are also three "Queen Maria" that have plans, but have been unable to start work because of insufficient funds.

With the four "Ganggut" levels alone, the Russian Navy did not even have the courage to wander around the coast of China.

In the early 20th century, the intelligence work level of countries was quite high. Under the increasingly severe competition, the strength estimates between countries became increasingly transparent.

Compared to his father, Nicholas II seemed to be very ambitious and talented, and the group of high-ranking officials appointed were mostly greedy villains with a lot of hearts. Generally speaking, they were still competent.

However, like most bureaucrats, he has never faced the rapid growth of China's power, and he has no idea what kind of terrible war potential a country that has spent more than ten years madly engaged in industrialization!

Seeing the Prime Minister's expression of deep agreement, Nicholas II couldn't help but feel complacent and said enthusiastically: "I believe that the Chinese must have seen the tension in the European situation. They know that Britain, France and Germany cannot take action to intervene in full, and our country is also seeking further expansion of Europe. So, they thought that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, and they thought of blackmailing a huge land from us without spending the price! Humph, it's a great plan!"

Seeing that he was a little proud again, Stolepin couldn't help but remind: "Be careful that China will take risks! After all, if they really start a war in the Far East, it will seriously restrain our strength. In order to ensure action against Europe, we may make appropriate compromises."

In essence, Prime Minister Storepin also tends to talk to China about peace. If he can seek European expansion, the "yellow Russia" in the Far East will not be that important.

Unexpectedly, Nicholas II suddenly became furious, waved his arms vigorously, and shouted: "That's impossible! We will never compromise with the Chinese! He wants to fight, we give him a war! I will use iron facts to let them know that the dignity of the great Russia cannot be violated! The victory they have won was just an omission under our care! Be serious, they have no chance at all!"

Storepin sighed silently, knowing that no matter how much he persuaded him, it would be useless.

The Tsar shouted so loudly, and then he immediately summoned important officials to start solemnly discussing the most relevant deployments of China's operations. Grand Duke Nicholas was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian army, responsible for the entire foreign war. Kuropatkin was appointed commander-in-chief of the Far East Army, commander-in-chief, and specifically planned the operations of major military regions in the Far East.

A series of appointments and action plans were continuously passed to the Far East, and it seemed to be vigorous and decisive. However, the most critical weapons and equipment, logistics supplies, and medical supplies did not increase at all.

When the commander of the First Army, General Grodjkov, who was at the forefront, called and asked to increase the number of heavy artillery and ammunition and double the equipment of heavy machine guns, Nicholas II refused without hesitation and scolded: "Faced with those short and thin Chinese guys, you only need to exert your bayonet spirit to the fullest!"

There was no choice but to mobilize the long-deployed army on the grounds that "China unilaterally tore up the cooperation agreement" and suddenly launch a full-scale attack on China's northern border!
Chapter completed!