"Minister Li, Japan sent warships to blockade Kyushu. Do we also want to send warships? "Comrades who take a tough stance on the outside world will never disappear, and when the Meiji Navy blocked Kyushu's main maritime trade routes, someone in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a proposal to take a tough approach.

"The governor said, either do it or don't do it, don't try." Li Xin gave an angry answer.

"Isn't it just about sending warships or not?" The young comrades of the Foreign Ministry did not know whether to be really stupid or to pretend to be stupid.

Li Xin personally prefers that this young comrade is pretending to be stupid, if he is really stupid, Li Xin will immediately let this comrade go. He explained: "I think your idea is to let Japan know how good we are and automatically listen to us. We know how good we are, and in fact, Japan knows some of them, so we don't have to think about showing off deliberately. If we can't fight after we send warships, it will only make the Japanese think that we have no courage and underestimate us for nothing. As for the war against Japan, the central government does not allow us to do this, so don't even think about it. To sum up, sending warships is a harmful and unprofitable action. ”

Originally, the young cadres just wanted to try to see if the incitement they wanted to make a big deal could affect Li Xin, but they didn't expect Li Xin to be affected at all, and in turn told his own reasoning. Young people who can get into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are not fools, although Li Xin can be regarded as "earnest teaching", but Li Xin's serious look makes this young cadre feel that he is too faceless. With a wry smile, the young cadre could only retreat.

As soon as the internal problems were resolved, on January 2, 1878, the Japanese ambassador came to visit. The Japanese ambassador asked directly: "We have learned that your country has sold a lot of arms to the Satsuma Domain. ”

Li Xinzhengse replied: "Our government has never sold any arms to the Satsuma Domain. ”

"Do you mean that any Chinese merchant ever sold arms to the Satsuma Domain?" The Japanese ambassador looked a little nervous.

"Whether there is one or not, we have to check it out to find out." Li Xin was talking nonsense seriously.

Of course, the Japanese ambassador knew that this was nonsense, but China's failure to admit official arms sales to the Satsuma clan was already a good result. Therefore, the Japanese ambassador said sincerely: "The Satsuma Domain has already set off a rebellion, and the continued sale of arms by Chinese merchants to the Satsuma Domain will only add fuel to the fire of the Japanese Civil War." Since arms sales are private, we implore your country to prohibit such private practices. Please! ”

"Well, we're going to ban this kind of private behavior." Li Xin replied briskly.

The Japanese ambassador was stunned that this matter went so smoothly. The Meiji government's navy has already blockaded Kyushu, but Kyushu is so big that it can't be completely blocked with just a dozen ships. When China had a huge advantage, it agreed not to sell arms to the Satsuma domain. This kind of promise is unreliable no matter how you look at it.

"But......" Li Xin began. The Japanese ambassador was nervous, and this was what he felt should happen, and China began to ask for a price.

Li Xin said calmly: "I don't think the mutual trust between China and Japan is enough, and under the current circumstances, even if we say that we will not sell arms to the Satsuma Domain, your country may not believe it." ”

The Japanese ambassador tentatively said, "So what do you want?" ”

Li Xin patted the desk and said slowly: "I think China and Japan should have a comprehensive treaty of peace and friendship, we do not ask Japan to submit to us, and we do not even expect Japan to provide military support when there is something in China." However, I don't think there is any need for China and Japan to be hostile. So peaceful coexistence and not participating in military alliances against each other, I think this is a choice that is beneficial to both countries. ”

After finishing speaking, Li Xin took out a document from his desk, "If Your Excellency the Ambassador is interested, can you see if such conditions can be used as the basis for Sino-Japanese friendship." ”

At this time, Japan was far from being westernized to the extent that it wanted to break away from Asia and join Europe, so the upper class was still very familiar with Chinese characters. Maybe they can't read Chinese documents in Chinese, but it's okay to read Chinese directly. The ambassador to China can not only read Chinese, but also speak Mandarin fluently.

After reading the first few items, the Japanese ambassador couldn't help frowning. This is a demand for Japan's full recognition of the territory that China now claims, and Sakhalin Island is in direct conflict with Japan's territorial claims. The Manchus did very poorly in the north, so it was not only the Russians but also the Japanese who fought for Sakhalin. In terms of the number of visits to Sakhalin alone, Japan has been far superior to China for more than 100 years. Now China is demanding that the Meiji government of Japan recognize China's sovereignty over Sakhalin. and recognize China's full sovereignty in the North Pacific. This meant that Japan would henceforth have only Sakhalin Island and the four large islands north of Hokkaido. With Hokkaido's current status, the Meiji government's Line of Control actually only reached the Tsugaru Strait.

Judging from the documents that Li Xin took out and drafted long ago, China has been prepared for a long time. If the Meiji government did not agree, the "Chinese merchants" would continue to sell arms to the Satsuma clan.

Looking down, the Japanese ambassador's face did not improve. China's condition is that China will not participate in a military alliance against Japan, and Japan will not participate in a military alliance against China. This seemingly fair condition itself is also very ridiculous, who in the world now will have enough to support to target Japan, and there are many powers that intend to target China. Japan has the opportunity to make a profit by participating in some organizations, and China does not need to worry about this at all.

As for trade and navigation, it seems to be peaceful, but in fact it is only a heavy pressure on Japan today. Europe had already plundered large quantities of Japan's hard currency through trade, and Japan would be further plundered once China joined.

"I'll let the country know." The Japanese Ambassador replied that these matters were beyond the scope of the Japanese Ambassador's decision and that it was up to the Japanese Government to make a decision.

Li Xin leaned back on the back of a leather chair made of Sudanese cowhide and added, "Other friendly cooperation can be discussed later, and we think that the first one needs to be discussed as soon as possible." ”

That's the point. China doesn't care about things like non-hostility and trade. Even if Japan did sign the treaty, they would have been able to provide information to other countries and the like. So the top priority is the territory, once the territory is finalized, there will be no territorial disputes in Northeast Asia, which will save the country a lot of energy.

The matter was rather urgent, and in order to save all kinds of time after returning home, the Japanese ambassador to China personally returned to Tokyo to deal with the matter. When he arrived in Tokyo, he found that there was a general agitation at the top of the Meiji government. This was the first time that the Meiji government used the National Army against the Shizu army. With Hokkaido's experience, the trained national army was able to overwhelm the Shizu army. Because the national army is large in number and can withstand a lot of attrition. At least the Meiji government believed that the Shizu army had been wiped out by the large national army.

As soon as the troops of the Satsuma clan started this time, the Meiji government realized that things were not necessarily as they thought. In the war between the Shizu and the Ezo Republic, the Shizu army was destroyed so completely that the Meiji government did not think of the role of elite samurai in the war.

Although there were many warriors in this era, there were only a limited number of samurai who were truly proficient in swordsmanship. To the dismay of the Meiji government, most of Japan's elite samurai were anti-Meiji. The Shinsengumi-gumi, the Hirumi group, and the Shoyoshi team, a group of samurai who gathered the masters of swordsmanship at the end of the Edo period, retreated to Hokkaido and joined the Ezo Republic. According to the information obtained by the Meiji government, these people may not really agree with the republican system, but they are very satisfied with the current system and life in Hokkaido. They had no intention of restoring the shogunate for the time being, and at most hoped that the Tokugawa family and the former shogunate would move to Hokkaido so that they could live a better life. Regardless of whether the shogunate could go to Hokkaido or not, these people definitely did not support the Meiji government.

Except for these people, the rest of the swordsmanship masters are basically in the Satsuma Domain. In the battle between the Meiji army and the Satsuma clan, the weapons of the two sides were almost the same, and the Satsuma clan was not at a disadvantage in terms of ammunition supply. The manifestation of the almost unification of the Satsuma Domain sent hundreds of masters, and when the guns were over and the white-knuckle battle began, the effect of these masters greatly exceeded the expectations of the government army.

The will to fight of the national army can only be said to be ordinary, and it lacks such a core force. When the government troops on the front line were slaughtered by the samurai like chopping melons and vegetables, the whole morale immediately collapsed. The government forces on Kyushu Island were defeated one by one and were finally driven out of Kyushu Island. Although the government navy has an overall advantage, the army cannot withstand it, and it cannot be expected to sail warships to land.

When the Japanese ambassador to China went to see Okubo Toshitsu, he learned that Ito Hirobumi was trying to persuade Okubo Toshitsu and Kido Takayoshi, who was already seriously ill. Kido Takayo wants to drag the sick body to Kyushu in person to persuade Saigo Takamori. Okubo Ritsu simply had to serve as the town envoy and personally face Saigo. Even if it is not a mood of defeatism, the pressure of war is very high right now. If the crusade is not won, the government is worried that the nobles will rise up in response. If the people of Shikoku also rose up and demanded autonomy for Shikoku, the Meiji government would have a hard time.

The envoy finally saw the busy and anxious Okubo Ritsu and handed over the conditions of China to him. Okubo did not make a decision immediately, but brought the agreement to the Imperial Council for discussion. After two days of discussions, the Meiji government finally agreed to China's territorial claims, and other demands will be discussed later. The envoy could also understand this, and it was pointless for the Meiji government to continue to entangle these northern territories with China, and even if Japan eliminated all the local forces, would it have the power to challenge China?

If the arms trade between China and the Satsuma Domain could not be severed, the Kyushu Expedition would not have been able to win in any case. At this point, there is a problem that must be solved first.

On February 12, 1878, China and Japan signed the Sino-Japanese Friendship Treaty in Tokyo, which first determined the boundary issue between the two countries, and China finally determined the division of the northern territories. This was one of China's top concerns, and after the agreement was signed, China cut off the arms trade with the Satsuma Domain.

How Japan has a civil war, China is not interested at all. However, on February 14, China got the news. Takayoshi Kido, one of the three heroes of the Meiji era, died of illness in Tokyo. With the death of this man, the situation in Japan became more delicate.