Li Sanjie said: "So I don't know what support the Japanese government needs?"

Komura Shoutaro said: " Although in the first half of 1904, the East China Government was not ready for war, but it also hoped that the East China Government would be able to send part of its army and fleet to assist Japan in the war; the battlefield of this war was mainly in the northeast region of the Qing Dynasty, and the inhabitants here were of the same nationality as the people of your government, so we hoped that during the war period, the East China Government would be able to assist Japan, maintain local law and order, and mobilize local residents to assist Japan in the war against Russia; in addition, we also hoped that the East China Government would provide Japan with the necessary materials and give preferential treatment in terms of prices and payment methods。 ”

Although Japan was ready to fight independently in the early stage of the war, it did not mean that cooperation with the East China Government was not important, and the help that Japan hoped most was that the East China Government could provide Japan with the supply of military supplies. The United States has already obtained sufficient funds for the war by issuing bonds, but after all, Japan is a small island country and has to rely on imports for a large amount of resources, and China is one of Japan's main importers of resources; although the area controlled by the East China government is not large, it is backed by the whole of China, so its conditions in terms of resources are far better than Japan's.

Moreover, it is necessary to start from the nearest port in Japan and transport materials to the Liaodong Peninsula, whether it is directly by sea or by means of the Korean Peninsula, the distance is more than 1,000 kilometers, and from Yantai under the rule of the East China Government, it is only 150 kilometers to reach the Liaodong Peninsula, even if it is less than 500 kilometers by sea from Qingdao, whether it is in terms of time, transportation manpower and material consumption, etc., it is much more economical than Japan. If the East China Government can provide Japan with some supplies, it will not only save Japan a lot of manpower and material resources, but will also be able to concentrate its efforts on producing direct war materials, and of course Japan also hopes that the East China Government will give sufficient preferential conditions in terms of prices and payment methods, so that Japan's chances of victory will naturally increase greatly.

In addition, the main battlefield of this operation was in northeast China, especially the Liaodong Peninsula, although after the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan had been stationing intelligence personnel in the Liaodong region and the locals of Lalong, but after all, they were fighting in a foreign land. If Japan fights on the Liaodong Peninsula this time, the East China government can assist Japan in managing the areas occupied by Japan, and even persuade the local people to support the Japanese army's war, which will undoubtedly add another weight to Japan.

Of course, if the East China Government agrees to this, Japan will also be happy to see it, after all, the combat effectiveness of the People's Army is obvious to all, and it is enough to become a major help to the Japanese army, and only a small number of troops cannot change Japan's dominant position.

Japan's inclusion of the least important, but only tentative demands, in the first article, and the fact that it has placed the most important goal in the last place, seems to be the most inconspicuous, which shows that Japan is also quite wary of the East China Government, and not only cannot fully trust the East China Government, but also does its best to exclude the East China Government from the dominant position.

Of course, Li Sanjie will not easily agree to the conditions put forward by Japan, and Li Sanjie cannot be the master of such a major matter as Bi Jing, so Li Sanjie said that the East China Government can agree to the conditions put forward by Japan in principle, and is also willing to fully cooperate with Japan to confront Russia, but the specific details will need to be discussed in detail by the two sides, and then it is recommended to adjourn the meeting and talk again another day. Of course, Komura Shoutaro also knew that this was for the other party to have time to negotiate, but this was also a very reasonable request, so he also agreed to adjourn the meeting.

In the evening of the same day, the Executive Yuan held an overnight meeting to discuss the conditions put forward by Japan, and after two days of consultations, the East China Government agreed to all three conditions put forward by Japan, but in terms of the specific rules, the East China Government had its own conditions.

First of all, the East China government agreed that once the war broke out in the first half of 1904, it could dispatch 5-7 divisions of troops on the army side and 10-12 warships on the navy side, and guaranteed that a mixed fleet of two 10,000-ton battleships and two 10,000-ton armored cruisers would be formed to fight together with the Japanese army. However, in the western part of the command of the armed forces, the East China Government has put forward two options: First, the two sides will cooperate to form a joint operations command to jointly command the armies of both sides; second, the armies of the two sides will each establish their own headquarters and obey the orders of their respective governments, and the respective governments will negotiate cooperation and coordination on the battlefield.

Second, the East China government suggested that it could form a temporary management committee on the Liaodong Peninsula to manage local civil affairs, and could organize the local people to fully assist the Japanese army in the war, but it demanded that the Japanese side strictly enforce military discipline, prohibit the army from harassing the localities, infringing on the local people, and severely punish soldiers who disobey military discipline.

In the end, the East China government agreed to provide supplies to Japan, but Japan had to place an order two months in advance, and the price was calculated according to the market price at that time, and the payment method was half of the deposit, and the other half was paid after delivery.

After listening to the East China Government's conditions, Komura Shoutaro's face also became quite unnatural, and although the East China Government ostensibly agreed to the three conditions put forward by Japan, the detailed conditions they put forward were all unacceptable to the Japanese Government.

Regardless of whether the two sides form a joint operations command or fight separately, Japan's dominant position in the war will be greatly weakened, and after the war, when the spoils of war are distributed, the East China government will undoubtedly take a large chunk. However, Komura Shoutaro could not find fault with the East China Government, because according to Japan's assumption, the East China Government could dispatch 2-3 divisions and 4-5 warships, and it would be almost impossible to obey the orders of the Japanese army on the battlefield. However, the number of troops promised by the East China Government is quite clever, and the strength of 5 to 7 divisions is about 8 to 100,000, and a fleet consisting of two 10,000-ton battleships and two 10,000-ton armored cruisers as the core must not be underestimated; although it is not enough to dominate the entire course of the war, it has the strength to change the outcome of the battle on the local battlefield, and is fully qualified to form a joint command or fight independently.

However, the East China Government formed a temporary management committee to be responsible for managing local civil affairs, and it was not a place where the Japanese army had worked so hard to defeat and then handed it over to the East China Government, and it also demanded that the Japanese army strictly observe military discipline and not to intrude on the local residents. However, compared with the previous condition, Komura Shoutaro had no reason to refuse, because the Liaodong Peninsula was still the territory of the Qing court in name, and the East China government was also half the master, and the two sides were in a cooperative relationship, so Japan could not brazenly ask for the annexation of the Liaodong Peninsula.

Of course, what is the intention of the conditions put forward by the East China Government, whether it is deliberately hoping that Japan will retreat in the face of difficulties, or whether it is simply putting forward these conditions, after all, from the standpoint of the East China Government, these conditions are not excessive. However, what is the intention of the East China government, Japan needs to be clear, and the current negotiations must be dealt with first, so Komura Shoutaro laughed dryly twice, and said: "I already know the conditions of the East China government, but we need to discuss it at home, and finally find a cooperation model that we can both be satisfied with." ”

Li Sanjie also nodded and said, "Of course." ”

Of course, the rulers of the East China Government know that it is impossible to really deceive Japan into believing that the East China Government is sincerely cooperating with Japan against Russia, and that it is completely impossible to be completely unguarded against the East China Government, because this is an exchange between countries, not a matter of personal relations, not to mention that the current Japanese rulers are indeed a group of elites who are rare in a century, and how can they be so easily fooled into the past, so they can only be true and false, and apply both soft and hard measures, so that Japan cannot find out the details of the East China Government, although it also has some precautions against the East China Government, but it is unwilling to give up the huge interests of cooperation with the East China Government, and this has achieved the goal of the East China Government。

At this time, Komura Shoutaro said again: "But the materials provided by the East China government to us are calculated according to the market price at that time, I'm afraid it's not appropriate, we Japan sent troops to fight against Russia, but also for the interests of the East China government and the Qing Dynasty, not to mention that we are still partners, so the East China government should provide them at cost price, so we can be regarded as fulfilling the obligations of partners." ”

Li Sanjie said with a smile: "Mr. Komura, to tell you the truth, we also have to accumulate all kinds of materials to prepare for war against Russia, so we also need to buy most of the materials from other provinces and even from abroad; Mr. Komura should also know that once the war starts, the price of these materials will definitely rise, and if we buy them at cost price, won't we lose a lot of money? In addition, by providing supplies, we can reduce the distance and time of transportation, and save Japan's manpower and material resources. ”

Komura Shoutaro smiled bitterly, overseas Chinese are really not easy to fool, and the difficulty of negotiating with them is not inferior to that of negotiating with European countries. Therefore, he said: "Okay, the price of the matter for the time being, we think that the payment method is not reasonable, we must cancel the deposit restrictions, and the payment should be postponed for at least 12 months, our Japanese funds are very limited, and to start a war, there are still many places where money is needed, such a payment method, so that Japan can have a certain amount of room for turnover, and it is our common goal to confront Russia, so I hope that the East China government can make some concessions on the payment method." ”