This time, Miyamoto Naoto returned to China to continue his job, so Ito Hirobumi also made a special trip to invite Miyamoto Naoto to his home, and the two had a long talk all night. Although most of the content of the discussion was exchanged in the letter, the depth of content, breadth and detail of the face-to-face conversation was much more detailed than that of the letter exchange, and as a result, the two talked all night, and Ito Hirofumi still felt that he was still unsatisfied.

However, when they talked, the two also had some small differences, such as their views on Russia, Miyamoto Naotaka counted all kinds of contradictions and ills in Russia, and believed that the current Russia is just a vain appearance, not terrible at all, as long as Japan is united and goes all out, it can easily defeat Russia, and there is no need to cooperate with overseas Chinese, and Miyamoto Naoto also suggested to Ito Hirobumi that the revolutionary party in Russia is now very powerful, opposes the tsarist government, and has frequent activities, so Japan might as well send people to fund the Russian revolutionary party to make trouble in Russia in order to contain Russia's energyAnother point is that Miyamoto Naoto believes that overseas Chinese are Japan's henchmen, and strongly advises Japan to get rid of them as soon as possible.

In fact, these views are mentioned in the letters of the two of them, but they are only mentioned together with other issues in the letters, which are not prominent, and when the two talk face to face, Ito Hirobumi found that Miyamoto Naotaku's views on these two issues seem to be a little biased, such as he believes that Russia is not enough to fear, and that it is completely possible to easily defeat Russia by relying on Japanese strength alone, and there is no need to ally with the East China government at all, and he attaches much more importance to the East China government than Russia, and even suggests that Japan should at least inflict heavy damage on the East China government before starting a war with Russia, so as to prevent future troubles。

It should be said that Ito Hirobumi has a great sense of agreement with Miyamoto's views, such as Russia's domestic contradictions and shortcomings, Ito Hirobumi naturally knows a lot, and to fund the Russian revolutionaries, Japan has actually done it, but to say that relying only on Japan's strength, it can easily defeat Russia, Ito Hirobumi does not dare to be so optimistic, in the Chinese saying: a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. And even more so Russia. After all, Russia has more than 20 million square kilometers of land, a population of 150 million, abundant resources, and a strong and warlike national nature. What about the rotten ship and the three pounds of nails? Not to mention Russia, which was once called the "gendarme of Europe" and the "steamroller of Europe."

As for the attitude of overseas Chinese, Ito Hirobumi also knew that sooner or later Japan would have a war with them, because Japan's territory is small and resources are scarce, and if it wants to develop, it must move from China to land and obtain vast land and resources from China that can be used for Japan's development. The three-step development strategy of "if you want to conquer the world, you must first conquer China; if you want to conquer China, you must first conquer Manchu and Mongolia, and if you want to conquer Manchu and Mongolia, you must first conquer Korea." This three-step development strategy is basically a general consensus in Japan.

If China is still ruled by the Qing court, of course, the Japanese can slowly figure it out, but the overseas Chinese were born, and in the past two years or so, they have shown that their ability in all aspects is far stronger than that of the Qing court, and the fortune has long attracted the attention of Ito Hirobumi, if the overseas Chinese are allowed to sit on the throne and then unify China, it will inevitably be able to make China rich and strong, and at that time, there will be no place for Japan in East Asia, so curbing the development of overseas Chinese, and even getting rid of overseas Chinese, are all within Ito Hirobumi's plan.

At present, the biggest threat to Japan is Russia, and it is not yet overseas Chinese, so Japan's top priority is to defeat Russia first, at least to stabilize the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and in the battle against Russia, although it mainly depends on Japan itself, if it can rely on other forces, even if it is temporarily joined forces with overseas Chinese, it is completely possible, after all, it is at that time, Russia is still too strong and terrible. Moreover, if overseas Chinese can be drawn into this war, it is not a bad thing in Ito Hirobumi's view, that is, it can contain and consume the strength of overseas Chinese, and at the same time, it can also take the opportunity to evaluate and analyze how much strength overseas Chinese have.

Of course, Ito Hirobumi can also understand Miyamoto's viewpoint, which does not mean that Miyamoto Naoto is exaggerated and cannot be used, but because of the different positions, Miyamoto Naoto is after all standing in the position of a speaker, so the consideration of the problem is also relatively one-sided, and the discussion of Japan-Russia relations is limited to Japan and Russia, and the discussion of overseas Chinese is also limited to overseas Chinese; and he is considering from the standpoint of the ruler, and no matter can be understood in isolation, but everything must be linked and considered comprehensively. If one day, Naoto Miyamoto also becomes the ruler, he will naturally consider it comprehensively and change his own mind.

However, Ito Hirofumi still attaches great importance to Miyamoto's knowledge and talent, although it is not yet time for Ito Hirofumi to retire, but he also has plans to cultivate Miyamoto Naoto for the future of Japan, and wants to talk to him a few more times, but he did not expect that Miyamoto Naoto will leave Japan and return to Shanghai soon.

Miyamoto Naoto said: "Don't hide it, sir, I just received news from Shandong, the bandit forces in Shandong have been almost wiped out by the overseas Chinese, and our plan to use bandits to contain the overseas Chinese has failed, so I have to rush back to deal with the rest of the matter." ”

When Ito Hirofumi heard this, he couldn't help but be a little surprised, and said, "Is it so fast?" This plan was talked about in the last negotiations, when Ito Hirobumi also said that this was a good way to use the Chinese to contain the Chinese, although Ito Hirobumi also understood that bandits are unreliable, and eventually the overseas Chinese will still calm down this turmoil, but it is enough for the overseas Chinese to work for a while, but he did not expect that it will not even be half a year.

Miyamoto Naoto sighed and said, "Actually, I'm not surprised, because the methods of overseas Chinese are far from being comparable to those of the Qing Dynasty, and their ability to control the country and society is probably not comparable to that country." ”

Seeing that the topic shifted to overseas Chinese again, Ito Hirofumi had no choice but to say: "Don't worry, after the war against Russia is over, I will immediately start arranging it, and the next target will be overseas Chinese." ”

Miyamoto Naoto also knew that this decision was irreversible, so he had no choice but to say: "Okay, I hope it's still too late at that time." ”

Ito Hirofumi hesitated for a moment, and finally finally made a simple statement to Naoto Miyamoto about the resolution he had just negotiated with Yamaguchi Aritomo and Katsura Taro to negotiate with overseas Chinese.

After listening, Miyamoto Naoto was silent for a long time before saying: "Okay, since the adults have decided, then I won't say anything, only one sentence I hope Mr. can remember." ”

Hirobumi Ito said, "What words. ”

Miyamoto Naoto said: "Even if the negotiation and alliance are successful, but the overseas Chinese will never sit idly by and watch us and Russia fight in Northeast China and do nothing, if I guess correctly, the overseas Chinese will definitely take advantage of the time when we and Russia are fighting to lose, take the opportunity to attack, and take advantage of the fisherman, so please pay attention to Mr. Don't forget to guard against the overseas Chinese." ”

In fact, Ito Hirobumi has long considered this, but Japan has the Japan-Britain alliance as a guarantee, Ito Hirobumi of course said that Britain does not want Japan to sit big in East Asia, and also hopes that overseas Chinese can contain Japan, but it will never hope that Japan will be defeated, so as long as overseas Chinese really dare to send troops to make Japan an enemy, Britain will never sit idly by, although Britain may not participate in the war, but it will definitely put pressure on overseas Chinese from other aspects.

And although Ito Hirobumi is a civilian worker, he studied military affairs at the artillery training institute founded by the Edo shogunate when he was a teenager, but in the early days of the Meiji Restoration, he also participated in the army and participated in the Shogunate War, so he is no stranger to military affairs, cranes and mussels compete, and fishermen benefit, although this sentence is simple to say, but it is not so easy to really apply it to the military, to complete the "crane and clam fight, fisherman profit" This tactic has two very important points: First, the timing of intervening in the war; if the intervention is too early, the enemy still has the strength to fight and can still withdraw from the battlefield, and if the intervention is too late, it will be difficult to achieve the effect of making profits in a short period of time in the battle situation or the overall situation.

Second, modern warfare is a matter that involves the whole body, and it is not a matter of leaving or fighting, but the mobilization of troops, the preparation of food and materials, and the preparation of civilian service. The requisition of mules and horses is a matter of a long time and a big move, and it is impossible to conceal it at all, and Japan's intelligence network in Shandong has already been established, and although it does not dare to carry out blatant activities, it cannot be concealed in its preparations for war, and moreover, if the East China Government wants to intervene in the war, it must also cross the sea and land, and it also involves the dispatch of the navy, so as long as it sends people to watch the movements of warships at the entrance of the alley every day, it can know the movements of the People's Army. Although this will not stop the East China government from acting, it will give Japan enough time to warn and maneuver.

After finishing speaking, Miyamoto Naoto got up and said goodbye to Ito Hirobumi and left, and Ito Hirobumi didn't keep it, just thinking about waiting for the end of the war against Russia, and then find a way to transfer Miyamoto Naoto back to China and focus on training.

The next day, the Japanese government sent a telegram to Yasuya Uchida, minister to the Qing Dynasty, appointing him as the chief envoy for negotiations with the East China government, and appointing Keishiro Matsui, the consul in Qingdao, as the deputy envoy to formally negotiate with the East China government. As for the East China government, it is in charge of foreign affairs commissioner Li Sanjie.

The Japanese side first recognized the first article proposed by the traverser, promising to guarantee "respect for China's territory and sovereignty", but the second and Article 4 also proposes to be amended to read: intelligence cooperation, and at the same time requires that if one side declares war on Russia or is attacked by Russia, the other side must immediately declare war on Russia and enter the war within three months, and before entering the war, it should do its best to provide the other side with the necessary materials and supplies.

However, Japan's opinion was naturally rejected by the East China Government, which held that even if the two sides could take action on their own, then there was no need to forcibly determine the time for declaring war on Russia and sending troops to participate in the war, and the East China Government did not object in principle to the provision of necessary materials and supplies to the other side, but such a provision could not be provided free of charge, but could only be said to be provided at a preferential price.

Japan raised an objection: If it does not forcibly determine the time for declaring war on Russia and sending troops to join the war, then what kind of alliance is it? Li Sanjie retorted, even if the two sides want an alliance, then they cannot take action on their own, and their actions must be consulted with their allies.