Xiao Letian was both expectant and fearful of the navy, hoping that powerful iron-armored warships would roam the ocean and protect China's maritime power to create a peaceful space for internal political reforms in the mainland.

Xiao Letian once deduced that as long as he can hold on to the safety of China's coast for three or four years, this little time will be enough for domestic political forces to reorganize, and it will be too late to fight a civil war.

Don’t think that war has harm but no benefits. Even students who have studied political economy in later generations know that war is just a continuation of politics and the last and most effective means to resolve conflicts.

Relying on war means to complete the reorganization of internal political structure, redistribution of power, and then reach a relatively balanced state, this is the only way for the Qing Dynasty to reform at present, and it is inevitable that many parties are preparing for it.

The Hunan Army was dormant, and the Ryukyu New Army was on guard against the edge of the mainland. The Qing Dynasty conservative forces in the capital were training troops frantically. Even Xiao Zaichun began to form his own army, not to mention those external forces that were eyeing him. The Russians' hands were directly extended to Xinjiang, and Britain was constantly strengthening the military equipment in Hong Kong and the concessions in various places.

If nothing unexpected happens, the year when Emperor Tongzhi took power at the age of 16 is likely to be the time when all conflicts broke out.

Don’t think that Xiao Letian is careless on the surface and cares nothing. In fact, the pressure in his heart is beyond imagination. He woke up more than once in a nightmare. In his dream, the Forbidden City is burning, the city walls of the 49th city are collapsing, and refugees escape from Beijing like a tide. The gunshots are as dense as rainstorms, and the firelight reflects the sky red.

This is not the most terrifying scene. The most terrifying thing is that when a group of braided troops were fighting, there were countless European troops hidden in the smoke behind them. They were waiting for the Chinese civil war to drain the last drop of blood, and then used a bayonet to kill the soldiers who were both injured, and finally took advantage of the fisherman.

The fisherman is profitable when fighting against the snipe and clam. It is not that Europeans don’t know this idiom, and they are very skillful in playing it.

Xiao Letian, who woke up from a nightmare, was sweating heavily on his chest and back. Unexpectedly, he had a nap and dreamed of falling into his arms. Ping'er, who was fanned beside him, was startled.

After drinking two bowls of ice tea, Xiao Letian's anger finally dissipated a little. He pushed open the door and started walking in the back garden of the Prime Minister's Mansion. People familiar with Xiao Letian knew that he was considering the problem when they saw the Prime Minister's expression. At this time, even his two wives could not disturb him casually.

The Ryukyu Prime Minister's Mansion was expanded on the basis of the original residential land of Riyuan, Huashan. The terrain here is very high, overlooking the entire Naha Bay and Shuri Castle. On the one hand, it was chosen because of its exquisiteness and goodness, and on the other hand, it was because of this condescending terrain that could easily control the entire city.

The highest point of the Prime Minister's Mansion built along the mountain is a very great sea view loft. On this Japanese-style three-story Tianshou Pavilion, Xiao Letian pushed open the wooden door and faced him with a bitter sea breeze blowing from the Pacific Ocean.

Here you can see the Pacific Ocean to the east at a glance. The waves are covered with white marks and rushing towards the beach. There are sporadic sails and merchant ships driving on the blue sea. When you climb up and look at the distance, your mood suddenly becomes clear. The depression brought by the nightmare is swept away.

"China is not afraid of civil war. It closes the door to solve the problem. Even if it is a war, it will be the only way for brothers to separate their property... What China fears most is that there will be external ghosts intervene during civil war. At that time, it is obvious that the family property between brothers will be fought over, and it will become external ghosts who enter the house to take advantage of the chaos to rob wealth."

"If you want to block the external ghost, you must have a strong navy. As long as the sea border can be stabilized, the chaos on the land can be controlled... But can I build such a navy by myself alone? Can I stand the crazy arms race?"

"The design ideas and technology of the Zhiyuan ship have exceeded the current generation gap of at least 20 years for the European powers. This is my golden finger that Xiao Letian opened, but how long can this advantage last?"

"Just the Zhiyuan secretly returned home smoothly, the warships and core equipment and instruments were safe, and there would inevitably be a battle in Vladivostok during the autumn and winter. At that time, the secret of Zhiyuan will naturally be revealed to the world. With the industrial level and technical strength of Britain and France, at most one year, warships with similar performance to Zhiyuan will be launched. After another half a year or a year of commissioning and running-in period, the technological advantages of Zhiyuan will no longer exist in 1870..."

"Hey... this golden finger can only be opened for two and a half years, and I'm so kind..."

"But Prussia was almost ready for battle in 1870. If I had not completely changed the historical process, the French-Prussian War should not have disappeared. That war that shocked the world, the rising German Empire would definitely shock the whole of Europe... It would take at least two or three years for Britain, France and Russia to have the energy to take care of Asia. In this way, the security period of the Ryukyu Navy should be between four and a half years and five years..."

"In 1872...wait." Xiao Letian was stunned, and his mind was calculating desperately, and finally he even started to fight with his hands. "In 1872, wasn't Zaichun 16 years old? History records that Zaichun's wedding was in 1872, and wasn't 1873 the year when he took power."

"Damn." Xiao Letian slapped his forehead. "I thought I could control history. In fact, I was just a small chess piece in the middle of history. In the dark, there was indeed a force gathering us at a point. When everyone walked onto the altar, the karma fire of hell would rush out and burn all of us..."

"Whether to cultivate a three-foot golden body or turn into ashes in the endless void depends on whether the preparations for the last five years have been sufficient. Damn... Why didn't I travel through several years earlier? Damn, really damn..."

"I'm asking my father-in-law, Taishan, and the shopkeeper Fan Jian, and Xiao Hexin, Sima Yun, Wang Huaiyuan, and Luo Huo... They all come over for an emergency meeting."

With a command, several figures below the attic blew in all directions like wind. After a while, teams of war horses began to plan for the Prime Minister's Mansion. Pedestrians on the street quickly avoided it. Everyone knew that the officials of Ryukyu would not be galloping in the downtown without emergency military information.

Everyone walked up to the attic quickly, but found Xiao Letian sitting cross-legged on the wooden floor. The ice bucket was covered with white and crystal ice cubes, with red wine, beer and rum, which were specialized in Ryukyu.

"Close the door, the highest level, today's meeting involves strategic planning for the next five to ten years. I have prepared fine wine and food, so let's solve the problem of eating, drinking, defecation and sensation..."

Looking at the figures and chaos dispersing around, Xiao Letian asked with a gloomy face, "The moment when Zhiyuan returns to China, it is destined to kick off the global naval arms race. I want to know how much money we have." This book was first released from 17K Novel Network, and you can read the genuine content as soon as possible!

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Chapter completed!