No matter how delicious the food and wine were, Ulan Geli felt like chewing wood in his mouth. If his country had not been conquered anymore and demanded peace talks, with his temper, he would have overturned the table and left!
After drinking one glass after another of strong drinks, Ulan Geli said under the influence of wine, "I...I can only promise one thing. If the head of state agrees, the Far East can be bounded by the Waixing'an Mountains according to your wishes!"
"But other things... I really can't do anything. Tsarist Russia will never make any more concessions!"
Cai Bixia smiled and put down the cup, "Really? You just said that you refused to give in, but now you're not giving in?"
"It's better to think about it carefully! Tens of millions of silver coins are actually not much at all. What a huge territory Tsarist Russia has! From the Baltic Sea to the Bering Strait, Alaska was yours back then!"
"Is this money still a problem? France's compensation is gold! The settlement is in the billions. Could it be that Tsarist Russia can't even pay out these tens of millions?"
"Wars cost money. We Chinese are the victors, so we naturally have the right to demand compensation!"
Sixty million silver dollars is indeed not much, and Wulan Geli is embarrassed to say more than a word, but he himself knows very well that the empire's finances are almost collapsing!
The Siberian Railway is being built, and an uncountable amount of money is being spent every day. In order to save costs, the empire uses domestic criminals to build the road!
That is a road paved with almost human lives!
Should the Baltic and Black Sea fleets build new ships? Tsarist Russia has missed the Age of Discovery. Will it still miss the maritime interests of the late Industrial Revolution?
Without sea power, there would be no colonies, no raw material base, and no market for commodity dumping! The end result is still no money!
The jaw-dropping results of the Franco-Prussian War made Tsarist Russia frightened. Only then did they realize that their science and technology had lagged behind this era!
The Tsar began to invest heavily in the research of the new Zhiyuan-class battleship. This was a brand-new battleship style, which completely overturned the past design ideas. Every battleship was built with real money!
There are also new types of artillery and new breech-loading rifles. The financial resources required are mind-boggling just thinking about them. How can there be 60 million to spend at this time?
Ulan Geli shook his head, "Of course we in Tsarist Russia don't care about this little money, but there is no tradition of losing money in the history of our nation!"
"It is humiliating to pay reparations. If I did it, I would be killed as soon as I return home!"
"Huh? Killed?" Cai Bixia didn't expect that Wulan Geli would play a bitter game and use his own tragic end to negotiate. Is this to seek pity by groveling?
Ulan Geli's face was full of sadness: "Maybe His Majesty the Tsar will not order my death, but those fanatical nobles in Moscow will definitely challenge me to a duel, or even shoot me directly on the street!"
"They can do it because I have brought shame to the empire, an unforgivable shame!"
Cai Bixia put away her smile and thought for a moment, "I will convey your words to the head of state intact. As for the effect, I can't guarantee it!"
"But please understand, Mr. Minister, even a child knows that there are people in charge, let alone a huge country! Everyone must be responsible for their own decisions, especially the responsibility for war!"
"It is impossible to escape punishment. If you are willing to delay it any longer, we can accompany you...but I have made it clear. The longer you delay it, the worse it will be for you!"
"You have also seen the speed of development of the Chinese people today. The economy is developing rapidly, military strength is constantly increasing, industrial power is increasing dramatically, and science and technology are constantly climbing to the top!"
"The longer you delay, the greater the gap in national power between our two countries will be... At least in Asia, your Tsarist Russia will never be able to surpass us!"
"When the gap in strength becomes wider and wider...our conditions will only become more stringent and not more relaxed!"
"Send intelligence back to your country. I believe there are many smart people in Moscow!"
Cai Bixia picked up the cup and said, "Come... Ministers, let's drink a toast to peace in East Asia! War is bad, war kills people, long live peace!"
The good wine had turned into bitter wine in the Tsarist Russians' mouths, and Ulan Geli didn't even know how he swallowed it!
Cai Bixia continued to laugh and said, "I really don't know what your Excellency the Minister is thinking. Lake Baikal is just a barren land. You don't have any large cities there at all. It's just a gathering place for some nomads!"
"We can't create any wealth at all, so why bother holding on to it? We Chinese don't want to take away everything. We just want one-third of the water in the south of Lake Baikal..."
"Extending from the Tannu Uliang Sea to the east to Lake Baikal, the total area is only three to four hundred thousand square kilometers. What does this little land mean to Tsarist Russia?"
"It's only about the size of sesame seeds and mung beans. It's a high-latitude grassland. It's cold winter for eight months of the year. Mongolian herders are not willing to go there to graze!"
“Then what’s the point of going to this impoverished land?”
Ulan Geli was about to cry, "It's no use? Why do you insist on robbing it if it's no use? That place is not within the sphere of influence of your Chinese people. Even if we give up, it will be for nothing. What are you trying to do?"
"Ouch... Your Excellency, the Minister, I don't understand. We Chinese love farming! But there are too few water resources in Mobei. Let's get some fresh water resources for irrigation, and plant some potatoes, corn, cold-resistant oats, etc. wait……"
"Hey... we Chinese have so many people! We don't have enough to eat... If you can plant more land, just plant more!"
Ulan Geli was so angry that he almost vomited blood. "You...what's your reason...to go to Lake Baikal to farm? Can you farm in that place? Are you lying?"
Cai Bixia shrugged, "You can't farm, so you can't say that we can't too? The talent for farming is the magical talent of us Chinese people, which no other nation has!"
"What if we succeed in planting? Why should we argue about the wasteland? Let's be more generous!"
Cai Bixia struck while the iron was hot, "In addition, you must all withdraw from the Ili River Basin. That area has been China's inherent territory since the Tang Dynasty. You are the foreign invaders!"
"Don't forget, before the Qianlong Dynasty, the administrative center of Xinjiang was in Yili, not Dihua. Where is the center of our Western Regions!"
"This is an inseparable part of our China! You'd better retreat peacefully. If you don't want to retreat peacefully, we will never hesitate to fight!"
"Ah... Then let's start the war! Let's continue the war... Our Tsarist Russia will never surrender even if we fight to the last soldier!"
"We will never let go of the Ili Valley! That is the land of the great tsar!"
