"It's really interesting! The United States and Japan are coming to visit us. It seems that our popularity has increased very quickly after winning the Far East War!"

"It is understandable that Japan is coming to visit. After all, our fleet has been driven to their gates. I guess this is a rhythm of seeking a lucky pace from us! But what does the United States mean? It is reasonable to strengthen economic and trade cooperation, but what kind of fleet visits are mentioned? Our relationship with the United States is not good enough to send a fleet to visit each other. Is this about showing off our military power like us?"

"Haha! Lao Xiao, you are right. This is like showing off our military power. This should be the famous Great White Fleet in the old time and space sailing around the world. After the Russo-Japanese War, the conflict between the United States and Japan began to intensify, so the United States used this Great White Fleet to put pressure on Japan, dispatching a total of 16 battleships, which made Japan honest for at least 20 years. Now we are the winners of the Far East War, so we used it for us."

"Aren't it just 16 battleships? We defeated the combined fleet of Britain, France, Russia and the Netherlands, but there are 22 battleships. What are the mere 16 battleships?"

"We can't say that. We know the best of how much we have. We can win the battle because we have five modern warships, but the modern warships are almost all killed. 16 battleships are enough for us to drink a pot. Now our navy has only 8 battleships."

"The US fleet is here to visit, not to fight. If it really starts, 16 battleships will not be able to do anything. The United States is too far away from us. As long as the logistics line is cut off, even 26 battleships will not be scary."

"I want to say that the United States is not very worried. It is a little careful about Japan. It is soft on the surface, but it must be unhappy. Maybe it is planning some conspiracy in secret!"

At this time, Xia Bohai knocked on the table and said, "Okay, okay, now is the time to discuss the main business, don't be off-topic. Even if the United States wants to send a fleet to visit us and show off its military power, are you planning to be enemies with us?"

I received two consecutive visit requests, and the trip to Germany that was confirmed in the first half of the year is about to set off, because I was originally scheduled to visit Germany at the end of the year, but now it is October. It is still nearly two months away from East China to Germany. It is almost time to set off. It can be said that the foreign affairs activities in East China during this period are quite frequent, but whether it is the visit requests from the United States and Japan, or the trip to Germany, are very important foreign affairs activities for East China. Therefore, the Qingdao Executive Yuan has also held meetings to negotiate and respond.

At this time, Wang Yunpeng said: "I don't think it's true. If we are enemies with us, why do we need to strengthen economic and trade cooperation? Moreover, according to the returns of our personnel in the United States, the situation in the United States is not very good now. A serious economic crisis has occurred. In this case, the United States still wants to be enemies with us. Isn't this a very unwise move?"

Qin Zheng said: "It's still Roosevelt's method of carrots and sticks, which is needed for economic cooperation, but force is indispensable. In addition, although the United States has an economic crisis now, according to the records of old time and space, the harm of this economic crisis is not great, because this economic crisis is mainly caused by the lack of supervision of the financial market and the out-of-control. The United States itself has strong economic strength, and at the same time, there is a large number of real economy in China, which will not be easily hit. As long as the domestic capital in the United States is organized and the financial market is stabilized, the economic crisis can be ended. According to the history of old time and space, next month, John Pierpont, the founder of the Morgan Consortium,

Morgan) will come forward and organize a group of bankers to inject funds into major U.S. banks, stabilize banks, and stabilize the U.S. financial market. Therefore, by the end of the year, the U.S. stopped its economic downturn and began to enter the Silk Economic Recovery Period. By 1909, it will basically return to the level before the economic crisis. Judging from the current situation, there should not be too much deviation in this period of history."

Wang Yunpeng said: "It took only more than a year to recover from the economic crisis. This is rare. The general cycle of economic crisis is 3 years."

Qin Zheng said again: "We can talk about a little bit. Although the danger of this economic crisis is not great, it is quite famous in history. Before World War II, it was second only to the Great Depression in 1929. Because this economic crisis brought an important consequence, it gave birth to the birth of the Federal Reserve, that is, the central bank of the United States, and enhanced the risk resistance of the US financial market. Of course, the final establishment of the Federal Reserve will have to wait for 1914."

Xu Jichao laughed and said, "It seems that we have witnessed history again. I'm afraid no one will think about how important the Federal Reserve's position in the world economic system will be more than 100 years later."

Wang Yunpeng said: "That may not be possible. In our era, the importance of the Federal Reserve is based on the strong national strength and dollar hegemony of the United States. It is hard to say whether the United States can still become the super power in the old time and space in this era."

Xia Bohai said: "Okay, don't go deeper into this topic, just prove it with actions. I think the requirements for this visit to the United States are acceptable. Let's see what they say? Developing economic and trade relations is also good for us, but we must adhere to the principles that should be adhered to. As for the visit of the American fleet, let them come. If the American fleet is not allowed to visit, we will seem afraid of them. However, we must show our strength and momentum at that time and we must never lose to the American fleet."

Xiao Jianjun frowned and said, "Now we only have 8 battleships. Except for Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, the other six are captured. The US fleet has 16 battleships. The number gap is too big, and the number is also a kind of momentum. And they are all brand new warships."

Qin Zheng said: "Aren't we still fighting ships? The visit of the US fleet will be at least one year later. In this year, we can repair a few more battleships. Although we can't get 16, we can still reach more than 10, so that we will not be too far away. If we use an armored cruiser to support one, we can also take out 16 ships, and even more warships will not lose to the US fleet in terms of number."

Xia Bohai nodded and said, "Yes, even if the number of battleships is small, so what if we defeated the combined fleet of Britain, France, Russia and the Netherlands, the number was smaller than that of them! As for our warships, we were all captured, I think this is better. Being able to capture the enemy's warships for my use is the glory of our navy. And I think there is no need to deliberately make new things for the damaged and repaired warships, so that people can see the traces of repairs. This shows that our warships have experienced the grinding of the battlefield. After the baptism of blood and fire, the number of American fleets is more than us, and they are all new ships, but they have never been on the battlefield. How can we compare with us?"

Xiao Jianjun also nodded and said, "Okay, let's take this idea and prepare to welcome the visit of the US fleet."

At this time, Li Sanjie said again: "So how do you deal with Japan's visit requirements?"

Xia Bohai smiled and said, "Since Japan wants to visit and admits that this crisis is Japan's responsibility, let them come and see what they plan to say. Our principle is to come and talk about it. We welcome it at any time, but what we want to talk about cannot be decided by them. Our own interests must not be given up. If we want to confront us, we will never be afraid. This is true for the United States and Japan."

Qin Zheng said: "I think there is a high possibility of compromise when visiting Japan this time. After all, we are in a strong position now, Japan is weak, and Japan now has no ability to fight against us, so compromise is also beneficial to Japan."

Xia Bohai said: "In fact, if Japan is really willing to compromise, it is also a good thing for us. Although we will have a battle with Japan sooner or later, it will be more than one battle. If we don't completely defeat Japan on the battlefield, Japan will not be honest, but this is not what we need to do now. Now our main energy is still in China. After we settle down, we will deal with Japan."

Li Sanjie said: "Since this is the case, it's enough to let Japan admit its mistake this time. The compensation is like giving some leniency. After all, we actually did not suffer any losses this time, and we did not miss the little money that Japan had compensated."

Wang Yunpeng smiled and said, "In fact, it is not easy to make Japan admit a mistake. Japanese people are the most disgusted with admitting mistakes. They usually hope to pay more money."

Xia Bohai said again: "Old Xu, how are you preparing for visiting Germany?"

Xu Jichao said: "I have sorted out the report and will be sent to you later. As long as the Executive Yuan has no objection to this report, you can set out in three days."

Visiting Germany is the first official foreign visit activity after the establishment of East China **. Moreover, the relationship between Germany and East China ** is very close and almost elevated to a strategic cooperative relationship. Therefore, this visit is of course very important, and the level cannot be low. Even if it is led by the Foreign Affairs Commission, it is a little worse. Originally, Qin Zheng was the most suitable candidate, but this time he went to Germany, it took at least 5 or 6 months. Now East China ** cannot be as long as Qin Zheng, although it is far away. During the Eastern War, Qin Zheng was in charge of the Northeast and presided over the overall situation for more than half a year. But after all, it was in China. Qin Zheng had to rush back to Qingdao from the Northeast, which was 2 or 3 days, and it was easy to contact him if he had something to do. During the war, Qin Zheng returned to Qingdao twice, but if he went to Germany, he would basically not be able to take care of domestic affairs, which denied that Qin Zheng led the team to Germany. In the end, Xu Jichao, one of the five giants, and Li Sanjie, the foreign affairs committee member, led the team to Germany.

At this time, Xia Bohai said again: "What else is there?"

Wang Yunpeng said: "Shanghai reported that Yuan Shikai had arrived in Nanjing and wanted to negotiate with us on the security and management of the Yangtze River Basin."
Chapter completed!