Seeing that Yang Shixiang valued him very much, Wang Chenhao had to talk about his opinion.

"Originally, after the Japanese Navy retreated, the Japanese Army, which had no sea control power, would choose to evacuate North Korea, but now the Japanese attack on the Yalu River can only be one reason, that is, to gain some bargaining chips for the negotiating table! However, the Yalu River defense line was broken in three days, which invisibly encouraged the Japanese arrogance. I think unless you give a large amount of money to Japan at the negotiating table, you can either win a battle on land to stop the Japanese offensive, otherwise it will be difficult to stop the Japanese ambition!"

Yang Shixiang nodded, agreed with Wang Chenhao's opinion, and asked: "Chen Hao guessed how the Japanese army will take the next step?"

This is very simple! Wang Chenhao is very clear about the Japanese army's goal!

"The Japanese army will be divided into two groups, crossing the Yalu River and marching into Fengtian, because it is the land of the Qing Dynasty and the current small court. Occupying Fengtian is equivalent to forcing the court to submit and agreeing to their conditions!"

Yang Shixiang nodded, and he coincided with Wang Chenhao's opinions, and asked again: "What about the second way?"

As for the second route, Wang Chenhao was a little hesitant. It was because of the defeat of the Beiyang Navy that the Japanese base camp decided to launch the second route army to attack the Lushun Fortress. Now that the Beiyang Navy wins, will the Japanese Second Army still come?

It’s always good to prepare for the future!

Thinking of this, Wang Chenhao said: "The second route will come from the sea, and the Japanese Second Army will land in Liaodong in Dalian Bay, and its target is Lushun Fortress!"

Yang Shixiang frowned and said, "I agree with Chen Hao's previous view, but the latter one is a bit over-concerned. With my Beiyang Navy and the Yadong No. 1 Fortress, how dare the Japanese invaders come to die?"

Wang Chenhao snorted coldly and said, "The glory of the past has long passed! The warship has not been overhauled for seven years and ammunition is not filled for many years. It is no longer the number one in Asia! Japan has devoted all its efforts to fight and is well prepared. Before the war, it has borrowed 50 million pounds from Britain and 300 million taels of silver, and the ordnance and ammunition are in full; what about us? It is not that the Qing Dynasty and the whole country have participated in the war together, but that Zhongtang and his Beiyang are fighting alone, and without international assistance, and the ordnance and ammunition have been frozen by the great powers on the docks of various countries. Do you have to rely on the two million taels of silver in the bank of Zhongtang Lord?"

Yang Shixiang looked at Wang Chenhao in shock, but he didn't expect that he could see so thoroughly as young as he could.

In fact, what Wang Chenhao said was made public after many years of publication of their declassified files. In the years before and after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, these were military secrets of China and Japan and even other countries, and outsiders did not know them at all.

Especially the case of Britain borrowing 50 million pounds to Japan was also sneaky. It was borrowing to Japan in disguise by purchasing Japanese government bonds. The purpose was to not stimulate Russia. Otherwise, if Russia knew that Britain supported Japan so much, how could it be that the Qing Empire would be defeated?

Of course, Russia finally knew about this, but unfortunately it was already after the Qing Empire's defeat. At that time, the only thing Russia could help the Qing Empire was to unite France and Germany to interfere in the three countries to return Liao, in order to attack Japan and attack Britain in disguise.

Similarly, Wang Chenhao shook out Li Hongzhang's bank's assets without any restraint. At this time, they were all secrets, and very few people knew about it.

As Li Hongzhang's aide, Yang Shixiang only knew that Li Hongzhang had some deposits in the bank. Where did Wang Chenhao say in such a positive tone that Li Hongzhang had deposits of about two million yuan?

"Uh... that... I just talk about it casually, Lord Yang doesn't have to take it to heart!" Wang Chenhao seemed to feel that he had said too much, but he didn't realize that something was wrong.

Yang Shixiang smiled bitterly for a long time, "Brother, do you know that you have already caused trouble!"

Wang Chenhao was confused, but saw Yang Shixiang looking out the door, and turned around and was stunned.

I don’t know when an old man in official uniform was already standing in front of the door.

"Who is this? He actually eavesdropped?" Wang Chenhao thought in his heart, but looking at his official uniform and outfit, he embroidered the square tusks with four pythons, this was the rank of the count. Looking at the old man, although he was over 70 years old, his temples were gray, but his eyes were sharp and vivid, and the person was furry all over his body.

Could it be Li Hongzhang?

When Wang Chenhao was stunned, the old man laughed and walked to the two of them.

"Master Zhongtang!" Yang Shixiang hurriedly stood up and saluted.

Wang Chenhao thought it was indeed Li Hongzhang, and hurriedly followed: "Wang Chenhao has met the Lord Zhongtang!"

It turned out that this was just a play played by Li Hongzhang and Yang Shixiang. The purpose was to let Li Hongzhang observe Wang Chenhao secretly. Unexpectedly, Wang Chenhao's mouth did not stop, and it was beyond the expectations of the two.

"Although the Lian Mansion has repeatedly praised you! I decided to observe it myself. It is indeed a talent, which really opened my eyes!"

Wang Chenhao hurriedly said, "Zhao Kuo and Ma Su are just complaining, but they make the Zhongtang laugh!"

Li Hongzhang nodded and looked at Wang Chenhao up and down. He seemed to want to see through why the ordinary young man in front of him could see the current situation. Some of the things Wang Chenhao knew were not even known as the number one person in the Qing Dynasty.

Li Hongzhang stared at Wang Chenhao and asked: "The British borrowed a large amount of money to Japan. I just learned through the imperial embassy in the UK that all Japanese government bonds were issued for sale in the London Stock Exchange, but the specific number of British people listed as confidential and refused to disclose it. We have no way to know. How did you know?"

Wang Chenhao told himself to be calm at this time, so he said, "There is no airtight wall in the world! I also learned from my friends in the UK! It may not be accurate!"

"Then your friend must be very capable!" Li Hongzhang asked tentatively.

Wang Chenhao nodded, just smiled faintly, neither admitting nor denying it.

Li Hongzhang smiled, and did not ask Wang Chenhao how he knew that he had millions of deposits in the bank. Wang Chenhao would definitely not admit it and it was not convenient to disclose it, so he simply did not ask.

Yang Shixiang hurriedly said: "It is not surprising that Britain and Japan signed a two-year alliance agreement, and it is not surprising that they want to borrow money to Japan. Don't they also want to borrow money to us?"

Li Hongzhang waved his hand and signaled them to sit down and talk.

After Wang Chenhao and Yang Shixiang sat down, Li Hongzhang said: "If you really borrow 50 million pounds, then this war will be difficult to end. Japan only needs a lot of money to pay the interest, and we have to pay the money in the end!"

Li Hongzhang obviously saw a deep problem. Japan borrowed so much money and returned the amount of capital and interest every year, which was not supported by Japan's current fiscal revenue. Therefore, it was necessary to plunder China by launching a war. This shows that the current negotiation conditions cannot satisfy the Japanese's appetite at all, and the Japanese army's raid on the Yalu River defense line was not just accidental but inevitable.

Wang Chenhao replied to Li Hongzhang with affirmative answer, saying: "What Master Zhongtang said is that the Japanese borrow money to fight. Once they win, the indemnity the imperial court must be given to them at least to offset their 50 million pounds of war loan before the war, that is, 300 million taels of silver."

Li Hongzhang nodded. When he was outside the door just now, he had eavesdropped on the conversation between Wang Chenhao and Yang Shixiang, and he was still sure of Wang Chenhao's analysis.

"I have been captured by the yellow jacket and the three-eyed peach feathers. The war in Liaodong is no longer under my control! They took the opportunity to seize power, but this is better, so they can take the blame!"

Yang Shixiang said happily: "That's how Lord Zhongtang handed over the Liaodong military power to the court, but it was a blessing in disguise?"

Li Hongzhang nodded and sneered: "The army is already rotten anyway, so I don't expect them anymore. As long as the Beiyang Navy is here, I can't lose!"

Wang Chenhao knew that this was the result of a power struggle between the Qing court and the Beiyang, and he only sighed that when they did not choose, the country was still fighting in the face of national crisis.

"Has Lord Zhongtang ever thought that the Beiyang Navy might be able to maintain the defeat of the army?" Wang Chenhao couldn't help asking.

"Don't make a mistake!" Yang Shixiang saw that Wang Chenhao was about to speak again, so he hurriedly spoke and reminded him.

"It's okay! Let him continue!" Li Hongzhang suddenly became interested and wanted to hear how much ink there was in this arrogant boy Wang Chenhao's chest. He made an exception for the first time and did not blame him.
Chapter completed!