"Huh...... Yamauchi-sama has said something exaggerated, and I, Ito Hirobumi, will never forget why I ended my studies in England early, because the Shimonoseki incident made me clearly understand the faces of the Western powers......"

"Don't doubt your loyalty to Japan, people who are born in Japan are Japanese and die are Japanese souls! No one wants to buy my heart, not even Xiao Letian!"

"But when we are angry, please calm down a little and think carefully about whether all our analysis is wrong, and may I ask you what Xiao Lotian wants, what is his strategy?

"Yaga!" Nabeshima stood up and yelled viciously, "Occupying Osaka Castle is not an invasion of Japanese territory? Joining our civil war without invitation is not a clear proof of his ambition? I have already seen it, you have already taken refuge in Xiao Lotian, right......"

"Wrong! very wrong...... Your analysis is always one-sided and superficial, and if you can say such a statement, it shows that you have no understanding of Xiao Letian and his Asian strategic ......."

"Bold!" Hearing that someone dared to offend the Daimyo's disrespectful words, the samurai of the Hizen Domain subconsciously wanted to attack, but in the end, the shogun opened his mouth to stop them.

"Baga! The state affairs are already like this, and you still want to kill your own people? No wonder you will be defeated in my hands, just give you another chance with this little heart, and you will not expect to succeed!"

After all, the shogunate had ruled for more than 200 years, and even the feudal lords of the four feudal clans in the southwest did not follow him, and Nabeshima Naoda and his samurai retreated to their seats.

The small interruption helped Ito straighten out his mind, and the dry goods mentioned below moved everyone present.

"Xiao Letian's strategy for Japan, I think we should think about it from two aspects: heart and action. First of all, let's talk about the question of the heart, does Xiao Lotian have the intention of annexing Japan? I don't think so, don't be in a hurry to refute me, listen to what I said first......

"Since Xiao Letian was born in the Qing Dynasty four years ago, he first accumulated popularity in the Great Qing Dynasty and encouraged the Qing court to carry out a special zone plan, followed by the Ryukyu raider, and became the prime minister of a small country in the East China Sea......

"A small Ryukyus, land, wealth, and population are not even as good as a high-class county in the Qing Dynasty, and even we in Japan looked down on that small place at that time, but Xiao Letian still chose Ryukyu instead of the Qing Dynasty, why is this?"

Ito Hirobumi looked at the Japanese nobles and high-ranking officials around him, and from the serious expressions on their faces, a sense of pride suddenly welled up in his heart, it turns out that they will also listen to my voice!

"Why? I know why...... Because Xiao Letian is a true master of Western studies, his judgment of the world situation is even more than that of Europeans...... There's something British about every step of the way, isn't it?"

"The British Isles, now known as the empire on which the sun never sets, in the eyes of outsiders, India, Australia, Odessa, Hong Kong...... And so there are British territories, but I tell you, that is wrong, and those lands are called colonies in the mouth of Europeans......"

"What is a colony? It means that the suzerainty controls all diplomatic, political, economic, and military ...... Everything, but with the concept of the state of the original land......"

"This is a completely different idea of expansion from the Middle Ages, where the expansion of the ancient state was based on the direct annexation of land and the establishment of their own regime as the primary task, and this old model was bound to cause fierce resistance from the indigenous peoples, and the output of the new land would not even cover the cost of quelling the rebellion......"

Speaking of this, Ito Hirobumi suddenly said with a strange expression: "Why did the Battle of Baijiangkou in the Tang Dynasty and His Royal Highness Taiko's conquest of Korea fail? The main reason is that under the control of the powerful Central Plains civilization, they don't know how to restrain and always want to eat a fat man......

"The Europeans are too clever to do this, and instead of directly occupying them, it is better to honestly establish their own colonies, and manage the people together with the original rulers, and with the original rulers on the throne to protect them, these Europeans will naturally be able to grab practical benefits......"

"My lords, don't forget that Hong Kong is a British concession, Shanghai is also a concession, and even those Indian kings have not lost their heads, and they can still rule their people...... Haven't you seen it yet?"

Ito Hirobumi looked around contemptuously: "Now do you think Xiao Lotian will directly occupy the land of Japan? That is the real Western sage...... Will you not understand this game played by Europeans?"

In a word, the mountain content hall is stupid, this knowledge is really something they have not touched, they are proficient in the Chinese art of war and culture, even if they have learned Western studies, it is only a little scratch of the surface, and they can't go deep at all.

"I see? Do you mean that Xiao Lotian will directly lease Osaka Castle? 10 years, or 20 years? 100 years?"

Ito shook his head, "I don't think so, Ryukyu and Japan are too close, and now the strong commercial power of the Ryukyus can indirectly control Japan, and the current rice riot is a real example, according to the latest intelligence of the ninjas, now even the Tohoku Sendai region has also had a rice riot, which shows that the Ryukyus' control over the Japanese economy has reached a rather terrible situation......"

"Without using a single soldier, Xiao Lotian could starve thousands of Japanese to death, why did he choose such a stupid method of direct occupation and lease?"

Ito Hirofumi said faintly, "In fact, all Xiao Letian's revenge was actually forced out by our stupidity, and the assassination version of Suzuki was just that, how could he dare to assassinate His Majesty of the Great Qing Dynasty, if he didn't show the fire of thunder, the Great Qing Dynasty and Western countries would question the strength of this teacher......"

"Okay, just now we have analyzed whether Xiao Lotian has the heart to annex Japan, and now let's analyze whether Xiao Lotian has the strength to annex Japan......"

Ito pretended to smile mysteriously, "According to my analysis, the prime minister does not have the strength to annex Japan for the time being, and everyone has been deceived by the appearance of the Ryukyus!"

"Nani, why not...... His 3,000 soldiers had already defeated our two 30,000 armies, and how many such soldiers did he have in the Ryukyus? Ninja reported at least 40,000 ah......" Shimazu Tadayoshi asked.

"The figure of 40,000 is correct, but most of them are new recruits this year, and only those veterans who participated in the European Campaign and the Ryukyu French Campaign are really his elite, and there are only less than 10,000 such soldiers in the hands of the prime minister, and he will not devote himself to Japan......"

"What's more, three months ago there was a sudden new special tax in the Ryukyus, which took one-thirtieth of the profits of all merchants and rushed into the national treasury...... Through my many inquiries, the purpose of this tax increase is to build the Ryukyu Shipyard, do you know how much this tax is expected to be collected?"

Everyone shook their heads, "Fifty million silver coins, a full fifty million silver coins......"

Everyone's gasp, "How do you know, why do you know so well?" Ito laughed and said nothing, he couldn't say that the prime minister had secretly told him, in order to suppress these short-sighted frogs at the bottom of the well.

Ito didn't answer this question but changed the topic with a smile, "Of course, 50 million silver coins can't be collected in a year, and the prime minister won't do anything to kill chickens and take eggs, and the 50 million gold is expected to be collected for twenty years......"

"Oh my God, you can think about it, what kind of army needs so much military spending, and Europe can't match it, so this wealth can only be invested in the navy...... Don't forget, just this year, the name "New Army" in the mouths of the Ryukyu people has gradually decreased, and their name has become Marine Corps......"

"The prime minister never thought of annexing land as the ultimate goal, and we are the only ones who are stupidly afraid, isn't it stupid!" Ito roared.

Tokugawa Keiki, who was sitting in the middle, clasped his hands tightly, "Okay, I admit that what you said has some truth, but if we Japan become a colony of the Ryukyus, how can we meet our ancestors? Japan is already very poor, how can it withstand Xiao Letian's second oppression?"

"General, don't you accept colonization if you cooperate with the French? How can the French train your troops and provide you with weapons without a special policy? Would you rather accept the control of the Europeans than accept Xiao Letian?"

"The most important thing is, do we still have a choice? You don't want to accept the fate of being controlled, but the reality is that the Ryukyus have already controlled the Japanese economy, or at least the rice trade has been controlled by others...... If you don't bow your head, will you starve to death all of Japan?"

Ito knelt down in front of the general and said quietly, "In fact, the Tanggu Special Economic Zone of the Qing Dynasty is already a colony actually controlled by Xiao Letian...... From security, taxation, industry and commerce...... Even the army is all Xiao Letian's final say, what is this not a colony?"

"The arrogant head of the Manchu Qing has also been lowered, what are we? What do we compare with the Manchu Qing? The reality is already like this, and we are not waking up soon!"

Everyone in the military tent with a loud shout turned pale, and the majesty of a strong prime minister decades later was actually played out in advance, and the shogun and the four daimyo were completely speechless, and no one knew how to refute his words.

Speaking of this, Long Ye and Suzuki, who were disguised as Ito Hirobumi's guards, glanced at each other, and then turned around and left, they wanted to bring the latest news to the prime minister.

When Xiao Lotian listened to Suzuki's report, his mood suddenly improved a lot, and the trick of using raze to control Yi was really useful, if Xiao Lotian and the Chinese said these words, the Japanese daimyo would not listen to them at all.

But let Ito Hirobumi, a talented man who has stayed abroad, say that the effect is so good, it seems that negotiations with Japan will begin immediately.