Miyamoto Naoto said: " Sir was able to calculate that Britain and France would inevitably send troops to intervene, and that there were many talented people among the overseas Chinese, and how could they not have imagined that, so they must also be prepared, not to mention that Britain and France still had four taboos when they sent troops to intervene: first, Britain and France were located in Europe, not far from China, and such an expedition would be disadvantageous to the army; this time the Russian fleet came from afar, and even if the overseas Chinese did not make a move, they would be completely annihilated by our combined fleet; second, although the relations between Britain and France were relaxed, after all, they had not yet formed an alliance, and they would not only have to face the pressure of Germany, but also have to guard against each other, and it was impossible to do their best to deal with the East China Government; third, Britain and France had to go far into the ocean, and they would inevitably have the navy as the mainstay, supplemented by the armyFourth, the East China Chinese mainland Government is not comparable to the Qing Dynasty, and not only has won the hearts of the people, but also the navy and the army are not weak, and many overseas Chinese are good at scheming and capable of fighting, and they are also familiar with the terrain and environment, and the British and French have traveled far and wide across the ocean, not only have to work hard and waste money and food, but also live on both people and land, and are not accustomed to water and soil, which are all taboos for soldiers, so I believe that Britain and France will not be opponents of the East China Government when they send troops. ”

Ito Hirobumi listened to this, but he was quite unimpressed, thinking that these theories said by Miyamoto Naoto were a bit far-fetched, and some exaggerated the disadvantages of Britain and France. There are no colonies in the Pacific, so the fleet cannot be repaired during the voyage, and Britain and France have many colonies, and they have their own ports where they go, which can be fully repaired, and although Britain and France are far away from China, Britain has a colony of India, and France also has India, although it is not close, but it also greatly shortens the supply line between the two countries.

However, Ito Hirofumi didn't say these words, because these situations that Miyamoto Naoto said did exist objectively, and it was only a matter of the size of the impact, but this is a difficult situation to quantify, and it can only be judged after the incident happens, and there is no result for it. In addition, Miyamoto Naoto has also mentioned overseas Chinese many times in the past, and has always believed that they are Japan's henchmen, but Ito Hirobumi has always put the threat of overseas Chinese after Russia, and now it seems that it is indeed as Miyamoto Naoto said.

In addition, Ito Hirobumi is very appreciative of Miyamoto's proposal to negotiate peace with the East China government, as a national strategy, before starting a war, we must consider how to end the war, as a politician, we must consider how to better make the war serve the country's politics, rather than let the country's politics be kidnapped by the war, in the whole of Japan, there are really not many people with such a sober mind.

As far as the current situation is concerned, Ito Hirobumi also thinks that it is possible to consider negotiating with the East China government, but now is not the best time to negotiate, it is best to withdraw the Japanese army from Liaoyang, the People's Army is caught in a bitter battle with the Russian army, and Britain and France are putting strong pressure on the East China government, which is the best time, but Ito Hirobumi also knows that this most ideal time may not appear, but the most appropriate moment should also be chosen, but obviously not now, so Ito Hirobumi does not want to argue with Miyamoto Naoto, and said: " Miyamoto-kun reminded me that I would facilitate negotiations with the East China government at an appropriate time. ”

Miyamoto Naoto sighed secretly, because he could hear Ito Hirobumi's perfunctory meaning, but Miyamoto Naoto also knew what he said for these reasons, especially Britain and France are not opponents of the East China government, and they are indeed a little untenable, but this is also a matter of no choice, I can't tell Ito Hirobumi that overseas Chinese are traversers from the future, bringing advanced warships from the future world, which can kill all warships in this era in seconds, so I have to find some far-fetched reasons, no wonder Ito Hirobumi will not believe it, so I have to say: "Then there's Mr. Law. ”

At this time, Ito Hirobumi said, "Miyamoto-kun, what military rank are you now?"

Miyamoto Naoto said: "Lieutenant Colonel, I'm about to be promoted to colonel." Although Miyamoto Naoto planned and organized the Shanghai attack did not play a role in preventing the East China government from entering the war, it did cause heavy losses to the Shanghai New Area, and the East China government had already participated in the war, and dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army, so it was necessary to establish an image of resisting the East China government, so Miyamoto Naoto became a benchmark and was promoted.

Ito Hirobumi nodded and said, "Soon!"

Although colonel is not a high rank, Miyamoto Naoto has only served for more than 4 years, and he is not yet 40 years old, and he is not from a feudal family.

Ito Hirofumi said: "However, with your knowledge and talent, it is useless to do intelligence work, and the rank of colonel is obviously not enough, but for a person from a civilian background like you, it is almost your limit to be promoted to the rank of colonel in the army, unless you can directly achieve important combat achievements on the battlefield, it will take at least 10 years to be promoted to the rank of general, or even longer." ”

Miyamoto Naoto was stunned for a moment, and didn't understand why Ito Hirobumi would say this topic to himself, but Ito Hirobumi's words did make Miyamoto Naoto quite impressed, he has been in this era for nearly 6 years, although he has advanced knowledge and experience, but Japan in this era, the degree of hierarchy is much harsher than the era he has traveled through.

Since it is in the Japanese Army, although it has fully accepted the establishment, operation, and training of the modern army, it still has very strong feudal remnants, and almost all the middle and high-level officers are feudal lords, The fact that he was able to be promoted to colonel is that he is indeed capable, and the intelligence he has collected and his judgment on the future are very accurate, and his promotion is justified; second, officers at the colonel level can only be regarded as middle-level, and the army's top brass can also open up to a small number of capable civilians, but if they want to go further, it will be difficult to be promoted to the rank of general, and even if they are promoted to lieutenant colonel, they have already been squeezed out by many officers from the clan of feudal lords, and if they are transferred back to China at this time, they will actually be idle, if it were not for the army's need to set a model for resisting overseas Chinese, it is absolutely impossible to be promoted to colonel.

Of course, the biggest value of being promoted to colonel for Miyamoto Naoto is only that the salary is one level higher, and there is basically no change in the rest, and he is still idle, Ito Hirofumi said that he will need at least 10 years to be promoted to the rank of general, in fact, he is already optimistic, Miyamoto Naoto believes that he is likely to be idle all the time, and he can only be promoted for the last time before he is discharged from the army, unless he joins the combat unit and establishes his exploits on the battlefield.

However, Miyamoto Naoto knew that in Japan in this era, it was quite difficult to rely on military merit to be promoted, because of the emergence of the East China government, Japan imagined that it was basically impossible for Japan to imagine a situation in which military operations had been smooth sailing before the attack on Pearl Harbor like another time and space, so it was not only difficult to be promoted to a combat unit, but also extremely dangerous.

At this time, Ito Hirobumi said: "I hope you can join the Political Friendship Association, I can guarantee that as long as you join the Political Friendship Association, I can appoint you as an officer, and within 1 0 years, I dare not say that I will become prime minister, but there is a great possibility of joining the cabinet." ”

When Miyamoto Naoto heard this, he couldn't help but be moved, the full name of the Constitution Political Friends Association, was a bourgeois political organization founded by Ito Hirobumi in 1900. It is also the predecessor of later Japan*, although the political friends association only existed for 40 years in the old time and space, but in these 40 years, it has always been a pivotal force in Japanese politics, and has formed a cabinet 7 times, accumulating 22 years of government.

The Political Friends Association shall have 1 president, several members of the General Affairs Committee, 1 secretary general and a number of officers, the implementation of the president autocracy, other positions and the number of candidates are decided by the president, the current president is naturally Ito Hirobumi, so if you join the political friendship association, you can get the position of officer, and it is also considered a middle-level personnel, although there will be a certain seniority in the political friendship association, but compared with the army, it is definitely much weaker, so if you join the political friendship association, there is no doubt that you will get a lot of political resources, with your own talent, and with the support of Ito Hirobumi, it is completely possible to enter the cabinet within 10 years。 Bi Jing has been in this era for 6 years, and Miyamoto Naoto also feels the pain of not having a backer.

However, Miyamoto Naoto also has his own scruples, one is that he knows that in the old time and space, Ito Hirobumi was assassinated in Harbin on October 26, 1909 by the North Korean An Chonggen and died, only more than 4 years from now, although history has undergone great changes, but whether Ito Hirobumi can escape this catastrophe, Miyamoto Naoto has no bottom in his heart, if Ito Hirobumi can not escape this difficulty, then his help to himself will be extremely limited; second, Miyamoto Naoto also knows that until the end of World War II, Japan's power has always been controlled by the military, even if the political friends association has been in power for a long time, but compared with the military, it has always been in a weak positionThere are two prime ministers who were assassinated by militants in the military, so it may not be safe to mix in the political friends' association.

Ito Hirobumi added: "The greatest wish of my court in my life is to implement a constitutional system in Japan and govern the country with civil affairs, and I hope that someone like you will help me." ”

Miyamoto Naoto's heart couldn't help but move again, he is from modern society, of course, he agrees with Ito Hirobumi's political philosophy, in later generations of Japan when reflecting on history, there is a school of scholars who believe that if Ito Hirobumi did not die in 1909, but continued to implement his constitutional system, with the concept of governing the country with letters, Japan's history may be rewritten. Because Ito Hirobumi was the only civilian official in this era who could compete with the military, after his death, although the Politics Friendship Association still existed for more than 30 years and produced five prime ministers, he was never able to implement constitutional government in Japan, and in the process of playing with the military, he was always in a disadvantaged position, and finally he was unable to control the military's rampage.

Of course, even if Ito Hirobumi is alive, Japan will not change its act of aggression against other countries, and even Ito Hirobumi himself also advocates Japan's external expansion, but if Ito Hirobumi's constitutional system and the concept of governing the country with culture can be implemented in Japan, it is indeed possible to control the military's independence and allow Japan to carry out a rational expansion without going crazy.

Miyamoto pondered for a while before he said, "Mr. Ito, let me think about it." ”