Naoto Miyamoto sighed secretly, Ito Hirobumi's attitude was obviously not to take his words to heart, Bi Jing had not experienced the crazy era of populism, and only from the current point of view, inciting populism is still very beneficial, so even a wise person like Ito Hirobumi cannot understand the serious consequences of inciting excessive populism.

Although Japan has always been vague and desperately denied historical issues in the old time and space, it has also carried out very profound and profound reflections on history in private, and although this reflection is completely from the standpoint of Japan, and does not in the slightest believe that the war launched by Japan in the old time and space is unjust, there are still some reflections that are still in place. Among them, there is excessive populism, so that populism can influence the decision-making of the Japanese government, resulting in some policies of the Japanese government cannot be completely based on Japan's national interests, but have to cater to the needs of populism. Therefore, as a modern person, Miyamoto Naoto knows very well that populism is a double-edged sword, and it is okay to do it occasionally, but if you think that inciting populism is a clever way to transfer the social crisis and divert the attention of the people, then sooner or later, it will be swallowed up by populism. What's more, the current Japan, whether it is national strength or geopolitical environment, is far from being compared with the old time and space, and no matter how much it excessively agitates populism and tries to use populism to transfer the social crisis, Japan may end up worse than the old time and space.

Thinking of this, Miyamoto Naoto only felt a burst of sadness, but seeing that Ito Hirobumi was still looking at him with enthusiasm, obviously hoping to get a way to save himself from this, so Miyamoto Naoto had to avoid cheering up and said: "Sir, Prime Minister Yamamoto has submitted his resignation to the emperor, and the next prime minister can obviously only be appointed by the army department, if there is no major accident, it should be Terauchi Masashi as the prime minister to form a cabinet." ”

Hirobumi Ito nodded and said, "The Army Department has a conservative ideology, but its style has always been radical, and once it comes to power, I am afraid that it will start a war against foreign countries, which is exactly where my worries lie." ”

Miyamoto Naoto said: "Regarding this, in fact, I am not worried, although the style of the army department is radical, but now Japan's national strength is really limited, even if the army wants to start another war, I am afraid that it is not enough." Moreover, Japan is an island country, and if we want to wage war against a foreign country, we must first build a powerful navy, but when the army department comes to power, it will inevitably suppress the navy and prolong the recovery time of the navy.

After listening to this, Ito Hirobumi also nodded again and again, and said, "Miyamoto-kun, what you said is very good, why didn't I think of this?"

Miyamoto Naoto said: "At least in the next 5 years, the main goal of the East China Government is still in the country, that is, to overthrow the Qing court and unify the whole country, so although it has bad relations with us, in a short period of time, there will be no military conflict with us, of course, the premise is that we do not take the initiative to provoke the East China Government, and even if the East China Government ** It will take at least another 3-5 years, or even longer, for Japan to control the whole of China, so Japan still has a long period of external stability, and I personally estimate that it should be about 10 years. ”

Hirobumi Ito said, "If Japan could be given 10 years to recover, that would be enough. ”

Miyamoto Naoto shook his head again and said, "Sir, you are too optimistic. First of all, we have completely bad relations with the East China government, so there is a great possibility that the trade agreement we negotiated with the East China government will be canceled, which will have a major impact on Japan's recovery of economic strength, and will also slow down Japan's recovery speed, and 10 years may not be enough. What's more, Japan is recovering, China is also recovering, and the government of East China has already gained huge benefits in the Far East War, and its strength has far surpassed Japan, and the speed of development will definitely be faster than Japan's, and when they unify China and obtain China's huge manpower and material resources, the speed of development will definitely be even more amazing, and Japan will only be left far behind. ”

Ito Hirobumi also fell silent, in this time and space he has served as Japan's prime minister for a total of 5 times, a total of more than 10 years in power, naturally know that Japan's economy is extremely dependent on China, on the one hand, buy all kinds of cheap mineral resources from China, on the other hand, Japan's industrial products occupy a large market share in China with price advantages, but now Japan and the East China government have completely torn their faces, not only is it impossible to enjoy the preferential import tariffs, but even has East China government The complete cessation of trade with Japan was a catastrophic blow to Japan.

Although the East China government has not completely occupied China, not even half, but almost all the ports north of the Yangtze River are occupied by the East China government, and most of China's mineral resources are concentrated in the area north of the Yangtze River, so as long as the East China government really stops trade with Japan, it will be difficult for Japan to obtain mineral resources from China. However, in terms of product market, Japan can also bypass the East China government and sell in southern China, but southern China has always been the sphere of influence of the United Kingdom, and after losing cheap mineral resources, the price of Japanese products will increase significantly, and it will lose its price advantage, and the future is indeed not optimistic.

Moreover, once the government of East China unifies China, Japan will completely lose China, its most important trading partner, and will have to take a long way from Southeast Asia and even Australia to import mineral resources, and industrial products can only be shipped to Southeast Asia for sale, and will have to endure high tariffs. This does not include the development of the East China government after the unification of China.

Thinking of this, Ito Hirobumi suddenly felt that Japan's future was bleak, and there was almost no hope at all, but looking at Miyamoto Naoto again, seeing his face as usual, he suddenly realized that Miyamoto Naoto might still have a way, although Ito Hirobumi didn't think that Miyamoto Naoto could have any good way at this time, but still asked: "Miyamoto-kun, then do you think there is still hope for Japan." ”

Miyamoto said, "Of course there is. ”

Ito Hirobumi was stunned for a moment and said, "What?"

Miyamoto Naoto said: " Sir, judging from my observations, in 5-10 years, there is a great possibility that there will be a war in Europe, and the scale of this war will be unprecedented, almost all the major countries of Europe will be involved, and the order will be held for a long time, longer than the war in the Far East, and this is where Japan's hope lies, on the one hand, the major countries of Europe participating in the war themselves have a large demand, and their domestic production alone is certainly not enough, and they can only purchase from foreign countries; on the other hand, the war will temporarily withdraw the major countries of Europe from their colonies and other markets, and they need to be filled by new forces, and this is the opportunity for Japan。 ”

After listening to this, Ito Hirobumi couldn't help but feel refreshed, there is a huge war crisis in Europe, and many politicians can see it at this time. It is the Bosnian crisis that occurred not long ago, when there was tension between countries, and a major war was almost imminent.

It turned out that Austria-Hungary and Russia, in order to take advantage of the coup d'état in the Ottoman Empire, one wanted to acquire the two provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the other wanted to revise the "Berlin Treaty" and obtain the Black Sea straits to be opened to Russian warships. As a result, the two countries temporarily joined forces to put pressure on the Ottoman Empire, and Russia did not hesitate to compromise with the East China government in Outer Mongolia, just to concentrate its forces on gaining benefits in the Ottoman Empire.

However, Russia was slow to act, and Austria-Hungary preemptively took the lead, gathering forces on the border and threatening it with force, while the Ottoman Empire, in order to avoid being attacked on the back, on the one hand, quickly ended the coup d'état and stabilized the situation in the country, and on the other hand, under the mediation of Germany, recognized the annexation of the two provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary at a price of 2.5 million pounds, so that it could concentrate its forces against Russian persecution, and at the same time actively lobbied among the major powers to prevent Russia from obtaining the passage of warships in the Black Sea straits.

Since Austria-Hungary had preemptively violated the agreement between the two countries, and now that the Ottoman Empire could concentrate on Russian coercion and refused to revise the Treaty of Berlin, Russia protested to Austria-Hungary and demanded that an international conference be convened to settle the dispute. At the same time, Serbia was encouraged to oppose Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by force, and Germany also expressed its full support for Austria-Hungary, declaring that any country that went to war with Austria-Hungary would fight against Germany and Austria-Hungary at the same time. Of course, Serbia did not dare to be enemies of Germany and Austria-Hungary at the same time, so it turned to Russia for help, and Russia did not have the strength to fight against Germany and Austria at the same time, so it actively communicated with Britain and France, demanding that once Russia went to war with Germany and Austria-Hungary, Britain and France would also declare war on Germany and Austria in accordance with the agreement of the [Four-Power Alliance]. As soon as Britain and France agree to Russia's demands, then the war in Europe will officially begin.

Although Ito Hirobumi is not in public office now, he has always followed the world situation, and there are enough channels to obtain this information, and Ito Hirobumi has always been aware of the development of the Bosnian crisis, so Ito Hirobumi also agrees with the European war predicted by Miyamoto Naoto. Of course, whether the scale is so big and whether the time is so long, Ito Hirobumi still has some doubts, but the predictions made by Miyamoto Naoto in the past have basically not been missed, and Ito Hirobumi still has some confidence in him. However, once the war breaks out in Europe, a large amount of demand will inevitably be generated, and this will obviously be extremely beneficial to Japan's economic development.

So Ito Hirobumi was also a little relieved, it seemed that there was really hope for Japan, and said with a smile: "Miyamoto-kun, you still have a good opinion." ”

Miyamoto Naoto said: "Whether it is an opportunity or a hope, there will always be one, it just depends on whether Japan can seize it." But if Japan still blindly agitates public opinion and instigates populism, I am afraid that if a major war breaks out in Europe, Japan may not be able to grasp it. Sir, please do not ignore this point, and do not think that I am alarmist, for this is indeed a major matter that has a bearing on the survival of Japan. ”