At this time, among all forces, only the East China government seemed the most calm. Facing Russia, Japan's frequent goodwill, exchanges, and negotiations, the East China government's attitude is open to negotiation and tries to strive for more benefits for itself, but never signs any agreements and treaties unless the other party makes substantial concessions. In the plan of the East China government, Russia and Japan are listed as their enemies, so all preparations are formulated for this goal.

Gaining a foothold in western Liaoning was an unexpected surprise for the East China government. However, the East China government also quickly formulated a relative plan to maximize the use of this unexpected surprise. On the one hand, it was to add an offensive starting point when participating in the war in the future. On the other hand, it attracted Japan's attention before the war began, thereby covering the real strategic intention of the East China government.

Therefore, the East China government used the Battle of Fengtian to send troops to western Liaoning and expand to Liaodong. On the other hand, it also invested a lot of manpower and material resources to build a dock road and railway in western Liaoning. This was not only to prepare for the future attack from western Liaoning, but also to deliberately create momentum to create an impression that the East China government will use western Liaoning as its base to intervene in the battlefield.

It should be said that all preparations have been made very successful so far. After the Battle of Fengtian, Japan immediately arranged troops to garrison by the Liao River, which shows that the arrangement of the East China government in western Liaoning has indeed attracted Japan's attention. The reconnaissance fleet's reconnaissance of Vladivostok was also very smooth. Not only did it complete the reconnaissance mission successfully, but it also established good relations with the local tribes, so it can also be regarded as an excess completion of the mission.

In addition, the East China government's bonds have also made new progress. Since the East China government occupied the strategic location of Liaoxi and Japan won the Battle of Fengtian, a small number of bonds have also appeared in the East China government's bond sales. In the United States, more than 3 million pounds of bonds were sold, and the total value of bonds issued reached more than 13 million pounds; while all bonds issued in Germany worth 15 million pounds have been sold out.

According to the agreement between the East China government and the United States and Germany, the two countries can also issue bonds worth 15 million pounds in each country. However, the East China government decided that it would not be too late to issue the second bonds after joining the war. After all, the funds raised so far and the East China government’s own war preparations can maintain the war process for about 10 months, which is completely enough at the beginning of the war. Moreover, the interest rate for the first batch of bonds is very high, and a considerable portion of the bonds are sold at a discount, which also puts certain pressure on the finances of the East China government. If the East China government participates in the war and achieves major results in the beginning of the war, it will not only stimulate the sales of bonds, but also give the East China government room to adjust the interest rate on the bonds, which can dilute the high interest rate on the first batch of bonds.

It can be said that the East China government has completed almost all the preparations for the war, and the unfinished parts are also completed in steps, waiting for the Russian Second Pacific Fleet to reach the Far East before officially joining the war.

According to the old process of time and space, the Battle of Tsuma occurred on May 27, 1905, and it will take about two months to go. Judging from the current itinerary of the Second Pacific Fleet, this time will not be too far apart.

At this time, the East China government received two news. The first one was that Li Hongzhang was seriously ill and had been bedridden. Zhang Peilun and Li Jingchun, who were in the Qingdao cuisine industry, had already rushed to Beijing to visit the hospital. However, according to the situation mastered by the East China government, Li Hongzhang's condition was not optimistic this time, and it was probably the end of the day.

Compared with the old time and space, Li Hongzhang lived for more than 4 years and is now 82 years old. In this era, he can be regarded as a long-lived person. Therefore, even if he dies, it is not surprising. Moreover, due to the arrival of time travelers, the Qing court avoided signing the [Xin Chou Treaty], which allowed Li Hongzhang to preserve some face, and thus officially entered the military aircraft and became the veritable Li Zhongtang, which could be considered as a death.

However, Li Hongzhang's death can be regarded as bad news for the East China government, so from then on, there was no one who could deal with the East China government and the Qing court. Now the East China government and the Qing court are actually in a state of power, but they still maintain an unbreakable relationship and have not completely broken up. Li Hongzhang played a significant role in this. The Manchu powerful people have repeatedly asked the Qing court to list the East China government as hostile, and even some people even suggested joining forces to deal with the East China government, but they were not successful because of Li Hongzhang's opposition.

Of course, the East China government will not be afraid of being enemies with the Qing court. The little tricks of the Manchu powerful are completely overestimating themselves, but if they are really hostile to the Qing court now, it will greatly involve the energy of the East China government. Therefore, maintaining the current state of being enemy-free is actually the most beneficial to the East China government. According to the East China government's plan, it is to turn around to deal with the Qing court after the battle between Japan and Russia.

Of course, Li Hongzhang's purpose of doing this was not entirely for the East China government, but also for the Qing court, because Li Hongzhang knew very well that the Qing court was by no means a rival to the East China government and would be destroyed by the East China government sooner or later. Therefore, he arranged for his son-in-law and daughter to buy property in Qingdao to leave a way out for his descendants. However, Li Hongzhang himself was still loyal to the Qing court and hoped to try his best to slow down the time of the Qing court's demise, at least not to be destroyed in his lifetime.

After the People's Army entered Jinzhou and controlled western Liaoning, Britain, Japan and other countries all encouraged the Qing court to oppose the East China government's actions, and said that once the two sides tore their faces apart, they would fully support the Qing court. So the Manchu powerful men suddenly felt hot and had a small * to punish overseas Chinese, and they demanded that the court send troops to western Liaoning immediately to expel overseas Chinese. However, Li Hongzhang still insisted that the Qing court must not easily become enemies with overseas Chinese at this time. In addition, Zhang Zhidong also supported Li Hongzhang's opinions, so it still failed to implement them.

It was not entirely Li Hongzhang's contribution to maintaining such a situation. A large part of the reason was that Empress Dowager Cixi, the actual ruler of the Qing court, was still very clear-headed. She knew that the Qing court could not be an opponent of the East China government, and foreigners were not reliable. She rashly torn apart with overseas Chinese. The Qing court was the most dangerous. However, the status of the Manchu powerful and noble people was different, and Cixi could not just suppress it toughly, so she took Li Hongzhang's suggestion to stop the risky actions of the Manchu powerful and noble people. In fact, Cixi's mentality was the same as Li Hongzhang, and she knew that she would not live for a few years. Therefore, as long as there was not much trouble, she could delay it every day. When she was closed, she would be fine as long as the Qing Dynasty did not perish in her hands.

Of course, the Manchus did not dare to accuse Cixi, so they immediately pointed the finger at Li Hongzhang, accusing Li Hongzhang of colluding with overseas Chinese and planning to rebel, and found out the old stakes of Li Hongzhang during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. Someone posted a notice at the door of Li Hongzhang's mansion to curse people. Li Hongzhang's fall from illness this time also had a certain relationship with this.

In fact, the Manchus' powerful people were not drunk, but they were not interested in drinking. They were openly opposed to overseas Chinese, but in fact they hoped to take this opportunity to overthrow several Han ministers, so as to take all the power of the court into their own hands, so that the Qing court could return to the era dominated by the Manchus.

However, the Manchu powerful people used the famous arguments against overseas Chinese. Therefore, if Li Hongzhang died, the Qing court would have lost one important minister who could stop them. Due to his own position, Cixi could not treat Manchu powerful people strongly, and would probably be threatened by Manchu powerful people. The change of the Gengzi country five years ago was to a certain extent, Cixi could also be regarded as being threatened by Manchu powerful people and embarked on the wrong path. When Cixi understood, the situation had reached an uncontrollable point.

Although Zhang Zhidong is still there in the Military Affairs Office, Zhang Zhidong's prestige and connections are quite different from Li Hongzhang. The most important thing is that Zhang Zhidong lacks the courage to take responsibility and is too cautious about his own feathers. Of course, to put it bluntly, he does not have the determination to take the blame for the court. Therefore, if the situation really reaches a critical moment, Zhang Zhidong often chooses to protect himself rather than stand up and turn the tide.

Because of now, the situation in the Far East has reached the moment of Guanzhong, and the East China government is about to participate in the war. If the Qing court makes trouble for the East China government at this time, it will be a headache. However, the East China government did not place the hope of letting the Qing court settle down on Li Hongzhang alone, and made preparations early, that is, the establishment of the river and lake base.

The establishment of river and lake bases was not only an act of the East China government to expand its power, but also a preparation for a complete rebellion with the Qing court in the future. The General Staff had already made plans. Once the East China government joined the war, the Qing court would come to make trouble, then it could use the river and lake bases to restrain the Qing court, so that the bases could quickly expand to Hebei Province, forcing the Qing court to devote all its strength to deal with the river and lake bases, so that the East China government could not be disturbed and fully respond to the war situation in the Northeast.

After nearly three years of development, the current areas of river and lake bases are not limited to Henan and Hubei provinces, but have expanded to Hebei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanxi and other places, and three branches have been established, with a total of more than 60,000 square kilometers of core areas, while the actual controlled area has a total of 180,000 square kilometers and a population of nearly 15 million. The base area has an armed force of more than 70,000 people, with a total of 3 divisions and 8 regiments, and a large number of militia units, which can be expanded to 120,000 troops in a short period of time. This is not counted in the military force within the organization of the People's Army. Although the assembly is poor, the gun ownership rate is only more than 70%, and the artillery is extremely rare, it is still an armed force that cannot be ignored.

The current river and lake base areas have expanded their control to Zhengding Prefecture, which is the area around Shijiazhuang City, which is only more than 120 kilometers away from Beijing. Of course, it is still mainly active in rural areas and has not occupied the county town. However, as long as the East China government gives an order, it can ensure that all prefectures, prefectures, counties and towns in the controlled area can be taken down within three days, which will jeopardize Beijing's safety.
Chapter completed!