In the evening of the same day, the Japanese negotiating team packed up their luggage and utensils, and in the early morning of the next day, they took a passenger ship and left Shanghai to return to Japan.

And after getting on the boat, Ito Hirobumi locked himself in the room and didn't come out, and even ate his meals in the room, while the others knew that Ito Hirobumi was in a bad mood, so they didn't bother him. It wasn't until the evening that Ito Hirobumi sent someone to call Miyamoto Naoto to his room, the two sat down, and Ito Hirobumi said: "Miyamoto-kun, I've been thinking about what Qin Zheng said for the past two days, what do you think?"

During the negotiations, although Miyamoto Naoto participated in the whole process of negotiations, during the negotiations, he basically did not express any opinions, just watched the whole process, of course, in his capacity, it is normal not to speak, and in the private deliberations of the Japanese negotiation team, he rarely speaks, and even if he speaks, there are no whimsical suggestions. Of course, Ito Hirobumi was not disappointed in him, Bi Jing's overall situation is like this, and it is not the power of one person that can be recovered. In fact, Miyamoto Naoto is also afraid that he will lose too much, he knows that the traverser of East China ** is with several modern warships to cross over, there must be advanced monitoring and eavesdropping equipment in the old time and space, every move of the entire Japanese negotiation team, every word and deed is under the control of the other party, he is a little careless, showing his feet, let East China ** know that he is also a traverser, the other party will inevitably do everything possible to get rid of himself, so he must not be careless. It wasn't until the Japanese negotiators got on board and left that he relaxed.

Seeing Ito Hirofumi ask, Miyamoto Naoto smiled bitterly and said, "Sir, I really want to tell you that Qin Zheng's words are wrong, but if you want me to tell the truth, I can only disappoint you, and what Qin Zheng said is indeed true." China has a vast territory, a large population, Japan was able to win in the 12-year Sino-Japanese War, in addition to the corruption of the Qing Dynasty, there was also an important reason, that is, after 30 years of the Reform Movement, Japan at that time had entered the ranks of civilized countries, and established its own initial industrial system, becoming an industrialized country, and although the Qing State also carried out nearly 30 years of Westernization Movement, the depth and breadth of change could not be compared with Japan's Meiji Restoration, so the Qing State was essentially an authoritarian and backward agricultural country。 The First Sino-Japanese War was actually a war between a rudimentary industrialized country and an agricultural country, and the most obvious difference was that the weapons used by both sides at that time were basically all self-produced in terms of army weapons, and although there were a small amount of imports, the self-produced weapons could also be replaced, but their performance was a little worse, while the Qing State relied on 7 percent of the weapons and ammunition to be imported lazily, and once the import channels were cut off, it would be impossible to continue; while in the navy, although the main warships of both sides were purchased from foreign countries, the Hashidate, one of the Japanese Sankei ships, and the Akitsu Island, one of the capital ships, were both built in Japan, and the artillery shells could be produced by themselvesHowever, all of the eight major divisions of the Beiyang Naval Division were purchased from foreign countries, and not only did they not have the ability to build warships, but they could only produce their own solid bombs, and even explosive bombs needed to be purchased from foreign countries, so it was not surprising that Japan was able to win. ”

Ito Hirofumi nodded and said, "This is what Qin Zheng said, Japan is one step ahead." ”

Miyamoto Naoto said: "Yes, it's a pity that this step has been caught up by East China, although the industrialization level of East China is not as good as Japan as a whole, but it has initially formed a system, the weapons, ammunition, and warships of the Far East War can basically be produced by themselves, and in this war, they not only obtained a large amount of land and population, but also a huge amount of indemnity, so after the war, their overall level will inevitably have a leap forward, and East China The reunification of China will not take 10 years, and then the entire Chinese people's human and material resources will be owned by them, and Japan will no longer be able to gain a step ahead. It's cruel to say that, but it's true. ”

Ito Hirofumi said: "According to you, before East China unifies China, we still have a chance." ”

Miyamoto Naoto smiled bitterly: "Theoretically, this is the case, but Japan's consumption in this war is huge, and it owes a lot of foreign debt, it is impossible to catch up with the development of East China in 10 years, if the Portsmouth negotiations can be signed, Japan may still have a chance." ”

Ito Hirobumi could only smile bitterly, Portsmouth negotiated East China ** only asked for 50 million pounds in compensation, and did not land in Japan, at that time, if Japan agreed, the loss could be reduced by at least nearly half, but the world could not buy regret medicine.

After being silent for a while, Ito Hirobumi said: "After the end of the war, Britain, France, the United States and other countries will help Japan recover its national strength, do you think it is possible for Japan to recover early?"

Miyamoto Naoto said: "It is true that Britain, France, the United States and other countries support Japan, but they are all for their own interests, not for Japan, so they will not support Japan infinitely, if I am Britain, France, the United States and other countries, I only need Japan to recover enough to contain East China, and I don't need Japan to completely defeat East China, Japan and East China are the most beneficial situation for them to contain each other, and either side dominates in East Asia, which is not the result they want to see." And if there is a greater interest, Britain, France, the United States and other countries will not hesitate to buy Japan. ”

Ito pondered for a while before he nodded and said, "You're right, but there's no other way for Japan?"

Miyamoto Naoto said: "Of course, there is a way, first of all, we should try our best to provoke the contradictions between Britain, France, the United States and East China, and let them come forward to directly confront East China, Japan must not rush to the front line of confrontation with China, but should hide behind Britain, France, the United States and other countries, let them fight to the death, while easing the relationship with East China, while using East China Put pressure on Britain, France, the United States, and other countries to force Britain, France, and the United States to provide greater benefits to Japan in order to restore Japan's national strength, and when necessary, even establish a certain amount of good relations with East China, and the posture is also as low-level as possible. This is because Japan's fall to China is a result that Britain, France, and the United States absolutely do not want to see, and in order to hold Japan, Britain, France, and the United States must provide Japan with more support. ”

When Ito Hirofumi heard this, he also nodded again and again, and said, "Gao Ming, this is a very clever way." ”

Miyamoto Naoto said: "Mr. has won the award, this method is very simple to say, but in practice, it is not easy, whether it is East China, or Britain, France, the United States and other countries, it is not easy to deceive, this requires extremely clever diplomatic skills, extremely fine operations." ”

Hirobumi Ito said, "It's better than being at a loss." ”

Miyamoto said: "That's right, but there is one thing that needs to be solved immediately." ”

Hirobumi Ito said, "What's the matter?"

Miyamoto Naoto said: "Japan's customs must be in the hands of Japan. ”

Ito Hirobumi couldn't help but smile bitterly again, tariff autonomy has always been a piece of his heart, after the opening of the Black Ship incident, Japan also signed a large number of unequal treaties with European powers, foreign countries not only enjoy extraterritoriality in Japan, but also control Japan's economic lifeline, after the downfall, Japan has repeatedly negotiated with European columns, asking for the abolition of all unequal treaties, but the effect is not great, until 1899, after the Sino-Japanese War, foreign extraterritoriality in Japan was abolished, and Japan's tariffs are the same as the Qing court, still controlled by Britain。

Ito Hirobumi had originally planned to negotiate with Britain to take back tariff autonomy after defeating Russia, and the same was true in the old time and space, but after Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War, it was not until 1911 that Japan officially withdrew tariff autonomy. And now Japan clearly does not have such conditions. However, without taking back the tariff autonomy, it will be impossible for Japan to achieve complete independence, let alone restore its national strength and continue its development, so it can only try to use Miyamoto's method of borrowing strength.

So on the time of the return trip, Ito Hirobumi, Komura Shoutaro, Miyamoto Naoto and others conducted detailed negotiations, if they used East China ** to put pressure on Britain and take back Japan's tariff autonomy.

Time passed unconsciously, and the ship sailed back to Japan and into Tokyo Bay.

Standing on the side of the ship and looking at the dock, Ito Hirobumi saw that the dock was full of soldiers, loaded with guns and ammunition, waiting for battle, and outside the dock, there were many people, and a large number of flags and banners could be vaguely seen. I was just stopped by the soldiers and couldn't enter the dock. And Ito Hirofumi could only smile bitterly, of course these people would not have come to welcome him back, they must have come to protest.

At this time, the faces of the members of the Japanese negotiating team were not very good-looking, but Ito Hirobumi was also mentally prepared for this, and he was not surprised, but persuaded others not to take this matter to heart, and one day they would understand the efforts of the Japanese negotiating team.

When the ship docked, Ito Hirobumi led everyone down from the ship, and there were many people on the dock to greet him, led by Saionji Konobo and Inukai Takeshi, both members of the Machiyokai founded by Ito Hirobumi, and Ito Hirobumi's right-hand man. It is said that he is the public leader of Saionji Temple and one of the fathers of the Meiji Restoration.

Seeing Ito Hirobumi get off the boat, the two immediately greeted him, and Saionji Gong said, "Ito-kun, hard work." ”

Ito Hirobumi sighed and said, "I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed to lose my power and humiliate the country, I'm really ashamed of Japan." ”

Inukai Yi hurriedly said: "Ito-kun, don't blame yourself, it's not your responsibility, on the contrary, you let Japan restore peace." ”

A few people were talking, only to hear the sound of the crowd shouting outside to the dock, it turned out that the crowd protesting outside the dock already knew that Ito Hirobumi got off the boat, although there were soldiers at the entrance of the pier, and the horses were not allowed to enter, but they could shout loudly, although the voices were not all neat, but a few words could be vaguely heard:

Hirobumi Ito is a traitor.

Hirofumi Ito, suicide and apology.

Hirofumi Ito, committed suicide by caesarean section.

...... ......

Saionji Gongwang said: "Ito-kun, don't care, people are angry now, it will calm down after a while, your contribution to Japan will not be forgotten, and now Japan still needs you." ”

Ito Hirobumi was about to say something more, when an officer came over and said, "Commanders, hurry up and leave the dock, it won't be good if something happens to the people outside." ”

Saionji Gongwang said, "Ito-kun, let's get in the car and talk about it." ”