After Saigo Takamori fled back to the Satsuma domain with three steamships, he did not make any preparations for committing suicide. The Chinese will not just fight a war so simply, and what they will face next is the real crisis and the real test.

The Satsuma clan would not give up the Ryukyus obediently, and if they were willing, they would not choose to go to war with China. And the Chinese dropped a large number of warships in the tiny Ryukyu and would not be satisfied with just capturing the Ryukyus. If the Satsuma clan could not fully recognize the sovereignty of Ryukyu as owned by China, the Chinese would not have stopped.

Sure enough, on the third day after Saigo Takamori escaped, Chinese warships appeared on the sea of the Satsuma Domain. The purpose of the foreign devils coming to Japan was to open the country, and the trade between China and Japan has existed for thousands of years, and even if the shogunate blocked the maritime trade, it could not stop the Sino-Japanese trade. Therefore, the purpose of the Chinese fleet was different from that of the foreign devils, and they blocked the open sea of the Satsuma Domain.

The Satsuma clan introduced "Rangaku" very early, and had its own steam engine workshop, its own Western-style factory, and a fairly Westernized education system. Therefore, the coastal cities have defensive forts. The Liberation Army did not approach these dangerous places at all, but intercepted ships departing from Kyushu in the open sea. After catching the Japanese ship, he seized the personnel and towed the ship. After half a month passed, the timid ships did not dare to come out, the bold ships were captured, and the sea in the south of Kyushu was quiet.

Chinese warships roamed leisurely off the coast of the Satsuma Domain, and the main hall in the castle of Kagoshima was the subject of heated debate. Saigo Takamori, Okubo and the important ministers led by KONE Okubo argued. A few days ago, the Satsuma clan made a thorough plan, not only did they not lose their spirit, but instead planned an elite force to prepare a surprise attack on the Chinese warship in the name of negotiations.

Of course, the task of negotiation is not completely fake, but a group of high-powered ronin belonging to Choshu and Satsuma, led by Kenshin Shimura, disguise themselves as sailors to drive the ship. If the Chinese navy allowed these men to board the ship, they would launch a surprise attack and seize control of the Chinese warship. However, the Chinese navy was heavily defended, and the two envoys were picked up by small warships in contact with the Satsuma domain, and the raid ended in failure.

Of course, the Chinese side also conservatively treated the envoys with basic courtesy, at least they did not sink the ships transporting the envoys, so the group of ronin survived.

The Chinese demand was simple: the Satsuma Domain was only a local government in Japan, and according to the Chinese investigation, the Satsuma Domain escorted the Ryukyu envoys to pay tribute to the shogunate. Since such a thing has happened, it is not enough to simply let the Satsuma clan admit its mistake. The Satsuma clan had to inform the shogunate of this, and the shogunate himself would make a solemn promise to the Chinese side that it would never think anything wrong about the Ryukyus in the future.

This requirement is to look at the righteousness and brightness, but it is precisely the weakness of the Satsuma Domain. At the beginning of the year, the Satsuma Domain and the Choshu Domain formed an alliance and fell together. Now it would be extremely difficult for the Satsuma clan to go down and ask the shogunate in a low voice. Japanese culture is even more bureaucratic than Chinese in many cases, and the shogunate's words are to solve the problems you cause yourself, and you can completely leave the Satsuma clan aside.

In order to move the shogunate, the Satsuma clan had to make substantial and huge concessions to the shogunate. But where are these concessions so easy, the Choshu Domain is in full swing at this time to prepare for war, and a new war is about to break out. What if the Satsuma Domain completely ignored the threat from the Chinese side and unilaterally invested in supporting the war in Choshu, and the Chinese saw through the reality and launched a surprise attack from the sea to take Kagoshima Castle, the old nest of the Satsuma Domain?

"Is the Chinese Navy going to stay in the Satsuma Sea for a few years?" Okubo said angrily, though he didn't really believe it. In reality, however, the Chinese navy was ordered to cruise on the sea, conduct various military training, and occupy the islands from the Ryukyus to the Satsuma domain. This is something that needs to be discussed in future negotiations.

It's true that the downfall in the Satsuma domain is relatively high. But these people are not necessarily the kind of people who will succeed even if they die. In the beginning, the Satsuma Domain was very worried about the possible bombardment of the castle by naval artillery, and the landing of the army. China is not Britain, and Britain cannot send a large number of troops to Japan, but China can. So when China adopted a blockade strategy of cutting flesh with a knife, the Satsuma clan was able to take a breather, and at the same time as internal controversy also emerged.

"If you just ask the shogunate to come forward, you should be able to do it, right?" Tadayoshi Shimazu, the de facto ruler of the Satsuma Domain, said.

"But in that case, we won't be able to explain it to the Choshu Domain." Saigo Takamori replied. In the Forbidden Gate Rebellion two years ago, the Satsuma Domain, which had been allied with the Choshu Domain, defected to the side of the Shogunate and defeated the Choshu Domain. This beam can be said to be extremely profound, and it was Sakamoto Ryoma who relied on his personal charm and persuasiveness to promote the new Sacho Alliance. Now, if the Satsuma clan asks the shogunate for help again for the affairs of the Ryukyus, the Sacho Alliance, which has a fragile foundation, will face new suspicions. At least the Choshu Domain will not simply think that the Satsuma Domain is now completely forced to deal with the shogunate. It is likely that the Choshu clan will think that the Satsuma clan will betray the covenant as it did last time.

Other important ministers also proposed to build yì, but these knots were denied by their own people one by one. After all, China was not taken into account when making the current plan. It's like a gambler who has calculated all kinds of possibilities on the table and has begun to fight, when a big man they can't afford to provoke suddenly forcibly enters the game. The chips in the hands of this big man can eclipse the chips in the hands of all the gamblers at the table.

In the end, the Satsuma clan came to an opinion, which was to drag it out. The fact that China is now showing no signs of attacking the Satsuma Domain may indicate that China will soon give up.

As a result, the Satsuma clan dragged on from March to May 1866. The Chinese fleet did not have any, and the blockade continued to expand, and several of the main seaports of the Satsuma Domain were blocked, which made the Satsuma Domain, which was very dependent on maritime trade, very distressed. And at this time, the second Choshu crusade led by the shogunate was getting closer and closer. As if blinded, the shogunate officially sent a document to the Satsuma Domain, requesting that the Satsuma Domain send troops.

The Satsuma clan knew very well the trick played by the shogunate, and in a sense, it was also a step down the Satsuma clan. If the Satsuma clan offered it on its own initiative, the shogunate would be able to ask for a skyscraping price. Now that the shogunate had made its own request, the Satsuma clan was able to raise questions about the Chinese. Of course, this is still a bow, but it is still much better than the initial expectation.

At the same time that the Satsuma clan decided to formally submit a request to the shogunate, the Chinese representatives were already in the capital for final communication with the shogunate. As early as March, the Chinese side sent an envoy to contact the shogunate, and although the Ryukyu incident was a reason for the meeting, the two sides were actually talking about the establishment of a full-fledged diplomatic relationship with Westernization.

The government of the Republic of China recognized the Tokugawa shogunate as the sole legitimate government of Japan, and the Tokugawa government also recognized the Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese government. The Tokugawa family was not fools, regardless of their secrecy of not daring to let China know about the Satsuma Domain's involvement in the Ryukyus, but publicly admitting that the dispute over abandoning the Ryukyus would also be an excuse for the Tokugawa shogunate to be attacked. The Choshu clan shouted that the king was to "fall the curtain", and the Tokugawa shogunate accused the Tokugawa shogunate of not being able to keep foreign devils out of Japan in response to the fact that the Tokugawa shogunate was forced to open the country.

To the surprise of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Chinese side readily agreed to support the Tokugawa shogunate in these areas. To recognize the Tokugawa shogunate as the sole legitimate government of Japan is to give the Tokugawa shogunate a stake. As for the seizure, China expressed its willingness to negotiate with the Tokugawa shogunate with the European and American powers that had previously signed various treaties to ensure the Tokugawa shogunate's dominance in foreign exchanges.

The Tokugawa shogunate was suspicious of this, after all, China was so enthusiastic and made so many promises, no matter how you look at it, it seems to be uneasy and kind. However, the Tokugawa shogunate knew the naval strength of the Satsuma Domain, and it was by no means a target that the Tokugawa Shogunate could afford to provoke if it could defeat the Satsuma Domain to the point where it did not even dare to leave the door.

In the end, when the Tokugawa shogunate sent someone to communicate privately, the Chinese representative confided in the "truth" when he was drunk. They wanted to teach the Satsuma clan a hard lesson, the Ryukyus were far away from China, and the Chinese side was discussing a treaty with the Tokugawa shogunate to open up trade. Sooner or later, China would withdraw its troops from the Ryukyus, and in that case, the Satsuma clan would have to be beaten to the point that it would never dare to intervene in the Ryukyus again.

After the news reached the Tokugawa shogunate, the Tokugawa family also had mixed feelings. The good news is that China is really ready to clean up the Satsuma Domain, and the worry is that the Chinese side is also determined to force Japan to open up trade.

Of course, the Chinese delegates did not just foolishly negotiate with the Tokugawa shogunate, but also went door-to-door to visit high-ranking officials and important officials in Kyoto to try to gain their support. There were even representatives who went to visit the new writing group.

The Shinsengumi were the guardian force of Japan's capital, played a major role in the Ikedaya incident, and were absolute supporters of the shogunate. The gift brought by the Chinese envoy was very simple, a batch of "white knives" made in China. Japanese swords were developed from the Tang style broadsword introduced during the Tang Dynasty in China. With the delicacy of making a dojo in a snail shell, Japan has developed this kind of knife to a very high level. The sword has always been a weapon that China greatly appreciates.

The knives used as gifts this time are all semi-finished, which means that only the blade is cast. It is a Japanese sword made of rolled soft steel and hard steel. There are no handles, no handguards, no scabbards, and no blades. This is the so-called "white knife". But the Japanese Shinsho team are all masters, and when they saw these semi-finished products and carried them in their hands, they immediately understood the quality of these white knives. Although they were a little suspicious, they did not refuse at all.

Half a month later, when the Chinese envoy visited again, the knives had already become finished products. The envoy's report was that Japan did have a level of knife making, and that these Japanese swords were not only exquisitely handmade, but also that they had achieved the level of sharp-haired knives after they were opened. In the exchange between the two sides, the masters of the new writing group cut off the pillars formed by ten grasses with one sword.

Those who are good at martial arts will give swords, and those who love money will give expensive gifts. The Chinese envoys patiently liaised with the various forces of the Japanese shogunate. Finally, in May, the shogunate finally entered into negotiations with China. During the negotiations, the shogunate made a request, "China can open up trade, but China should support the shogunate's crusade against the Choshu domain." This support has to be very realistic. ”

The Chinese delegate listened to this seemingly excessive request, and he smiled and said, "In addition to selling weapons to the Tokugawa government, we can also send regular troops to participate in the war." Do you think that's okay? ”

The shogunate's negotiators were dumbfounded when they heard this, and the Chinese representative continued: "As long as you are willing to borrow troops to help suppress us, we will not sit idly by." I hope that the Tokugawa government will believe in our sincerity! ”R1058