In the evening, the noisy Embassy Street fell silent, and the marchers, who realized that there was a big deal going on, had already dispersed.

The gendarmes who arrived to inquire about the scene have already cordoned off the scene. At this moment, the embassy area is already "five steps and one post, ten steps and one sentry".

The smell of gunsmoke still permeates the air, and the ruins of Russian-style buildings are still silently indictment of everything that happened during the day.

All entertainment venues are closed, and even the people who like to watch the excitement the most are closed at the moment for fear of getting into trouble.

On the contrary, the embassies of various countries that had been closed before became active. Everyone was very cowardly in the face of the riots, but after the change to the Japanese government, everyone's courage grew again.

The prestige of the gendarmerie can frighten the Japanese people, but it cannot deter the diplomats of various countries. Under the influence of traditional culture, the idea of the death of rabbits and foxes in the European world is particularly strong.

Everyone is a diplomat, so if you don't stand up and speak out at this time. What happened to Russian diplomats today may be replicated tomorrow in themselves.

Embassies around the world, including Britain, Japan's ally, resisted this bad behavior during the day.

Encountering a group of legation masters who couldn't speak, scold, or touch, this was a bitter pain for the gendarmes in charge of blocking the scene.

Some grumpy lords punched and kicked the gendarmes who stood in the way. At this moment, there are already many people who have been beaten with blue noses and swollen faces.

I have to admire the resilience of the Japanese. Even if he was beaten, he still greeted him with a smile. Anyway, there are many of them, and the legation is just a few people, and after one wave is beaten, another wave will go up and continue.

Relying on the style of "scolding and not fighting back", the ministers of various countries lost their temper and successfully bought time for cleaning up the scene.

……

In the Imperial Palace, Emperor Meiji was already so angry that he stomped his feet, and the calm and monarchical majesty of the past had long been lost.

There is no way, what happened today is so exciting that it directly tosses out the biggest diplomatic crisis in Japan's history.

Originally, it was troublesome enough to storm the Russian embassy, but as a result, all the staff of the Russian embassy were clicked. Emperor Meiji felt hopeless about these troublemakers.

No matter how many objective reasons there are, the Japanese Government cannot escape the blame for such an incident.

In particular, the tragedy occurred under the noses of diplomats of various countries. If one is not handled well, Japan may even suffer a catastrophe.

Unable to suppress his anger, Emperor Meiji roared almost with a roar: "Which idiot planned today's incident and pulled people out?" ”

You can't do it if you don't get angry, no one has ever seen such a pit. The protests were no more, and the Meiji Emperor was happy to put pressure on the Russians.

The slaughter of the Russian embassy would have been completely unexpected. But anyone with a bit of political acumen should be aware of what this means.

The daytime tragedy provoked not only the Russians, but also the European-dominated international order.

That is, the specific casualties have not been exposed, otherwise the news received now would not be a collective protest by the ministers of various countries, but the embassies of various countries moving and running away.

With a little brainstorming, Emperor Meiji knew that the Japanese government was in big trouble next. Enmity with the Russians is no longer a big deal, the most important thing is the sanctions from the international community.

Until these issues are dealt with, Japan will have no allies. Even the British government could not have brazenly backed them.

The demonstration was organized by several student groups, including the Anti-Russian Communist Association and the Iron and Blood Revenge Society, to protest against the Russians' violation of imperial rights.

The storming of the Russian embassy was not within the scope of the organizers' plans. The situation at the scene got out of control, mainly a bullet that flew from an unknown place and hit a protesting student at the scene.

Then someone killed someone taller than the Russians, which sparked the anger of the people at the scene, and then the tragedy broke out.

Judging by the situation at the scene, during the daytime clashes, we had hundreds of dead and nearly 1,000 injured......"

Without waiting for Gentaro Kodama to finish speaking, Emperor Meiji impatiently reprimanded: "I'm just asking who you planned, not to hear you defend them."

Whatever the reason, if something so big happens, someone has to stand up and take responsibility and give an explanation to the international community.

Do you think that countries around the world will give up storming the Russian embassy because of civilian casualties?

Let's not forget, dozens of staff members, including the Russian minister, all died.

In the eyes of the world, it is no longer ordinary civilians who participate in demonstrations, but a mob of unknown people. ”

If the explanation is useful, there will be no war in this world. No matter how the conflict was triggered, the staff of the Russian embassy were always killed by the Japanese people who participated in the demonstration.

It is enough to have this one. It is necessary to kill people to pay for their lives, otherwise the diplomats of various countries stationed in Japan will not be able to sleep in the future.

"Hey!"

Kodama Gentaro is also very helpless, it's not that he wants to defend the students, it's really that too many people are involved. If you really track it down all the way, you don't know how many will be unlucky.

Moreover, most of the people who participated in the demonstrations were patriotic students, and the reason why what happened during the day was entirely a conspiracy. If it weren't for someone guiding it, this tragedy wouldn't have happened under normal circumstances.

It's just that now that it's happened, someone has to be responsible. The group that planned the parade must have borne the brunt.

After a pause, Gentaro Kodama added, "We've sent someone to investigate who is behind it, but the scene was too chaotic to determine where the bullets came from.

The gendarmerie has cordoned off the site, our specialists have intervened and are setting up the site.

According to the plan, we will disguise the scene as an accidental fire, which resulted in the death of the staff of the Russian embassy, and the marchers rushed in to ......"

Without waiting for Gentaro Kodama to finish speaking, Hirobumi Ito couldn't help it first. He has completely lost hope of the military's brain circuits.

"Kodamama-kun, are you sure you're not joking?"

Not a joke, a joke in itself. Unless the staff of the Russian embassy were all dead, otherwise the fire would have escaped long ago.

Even if there is no guarantee that everyone will escape, at least the guards guarding the gate should not be killed. Such an explanation cannot even be perfunctory.

The storming of the embassy is to "put out the fire", then it is even more nonsense. There were quite a few witnesses at the scene, and the Japanese government did not have the ability to make the staff of several nearby embassies talk nonsense with their eyes open.

It is not impossible to treat all countries in the world as idiots and play helpless, and if Japan is as strong as the Americans in later generations, it can play like this.

It's a pity that Japan in these years is a little brother, at most it can barely touch the threshold of the great powers, and it still hasn't crossed the door.

The strength is not good, and they play all countries as fools, which is clearly that they have not experienced social beatings and want to come out to find excitement.

There is no way, the thinking of the East and the West is not consistent. The civilian officials who first came into contact with the West could only barely keep up, and the thinking of military generals was still stuck in the traditional mode of thinking.

In the eyes of the military, what happened in the Russian embassy was only an issue between Japan and Russia, and had nothing to do with other countries.

Anyway, Japan-Russia relations are like this, no matter how bad it is, it can't be much worse.

However, the reality is very cruel. European governments, on the other hand, love nothing more than to get involved in this kind of international affairs without any risk and pure prestige.

Anyway, it is Japan that is at a loss, and it is right to catch the Japanese government and squirt violently.

If there are major powers willing to take the lead in sanctions, everyone will not mind joining in the fun and giving full play to their "international influence".

The hazy Kodama Gentaro, soon realized his mistake under the criticism of everyone, and decisively chose to admit defeat, without the slightest spirit of the Japanese Army.

……

Foreign Minister Inoue Shin: "So far, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received diplomatic notes from 11 countries, including Britain and Shinra, asking us to explain what happened to the Russian embassy during the day, and to open the scene for them to send people to inspect.

We have already been approached by the British Minister, and the results have been very unsatisfactory, and the British have also asked us to give a reasonable explanation.

That is, the results have not yet been announced to the public, and if the British knew that all the staff of the Russian embassy had been killed, I am afraid they would not have supported us.

Extrapolating from the current situation, if we do not give the international community a reasonable explanation, the empire is likely to be sanctioned.

Now the situation is very unfavorable for us, and if the Russians take the opportunity to attack us, the international community is likely to support them. ”

There are only problems, but no solutions, which is the true portrayal of the Japanese government now. It's not that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs doesn't work hard, it's just that the matter is too big, the losses are too great, and there is no room for maneuver.

International politics also has rules of the game, and if the rules are broken in the context of lack of strength, then they will be punished by the rules.

Prime Minister Shigenobu Okuma: "Things have already happened, it's not impossible to hide, and the empire will pay the price."

What we can do now is find a way to minimize the impact of the event, and at the same time minimize the damage to the Empire.

It would be better to be able to identify the culprits behind the provocations, and if we could point to other countries, our responsibility would be much lighter.

According to the analysis of the situation at the scene, does the gendarmerie have any clues? Even if the real culprit cannot be determined, the suspect can do it. ”

Although he knew that the chance of finding a black hand was very low, Okuma Shigenobu could only choose a dead horse as a live horse doctor. If you don't find a backing to share the pressure, the Japanese government is really not back!

Gentaro Kodama shook his head directly: "It's difficult! There are so many suspects that we have no evidence in our hands, and there is no way to testify at all.

Even if the murderer is caught, it may be difficult to determine who the real black hand is, and the planner can completely disguise himself as a personal vendetta.

If it can't be proved to be a political assassination, then all the responsibility will still be borne by us. ”

From the perspective of pure interests, the main person who wanted to provoke the Russo-Japanese War may be the suspect in planning this incident.

At this point, there is no way to look down. The most suspicious were the Japanese military, Britain, and Shinra, followed by Spain, the United States, and the Far Eastern Empire.

No matter who the black hand is, it must not be the first three. No matter how big the suspicion is and how much evidence there is, it must not be.

The second echelon can indeed shake the pot, so we must first come up with evidence. Who would believe it if they say it with empty mouths and white teeth?

If you don't get out of the pot and make an enemy for yourself, then it's over.

Lu Xiangshan County has a friend: "Prime Minister, do you think we give a mastermind behind the scenes, will the Russians believe it?"

Things have come to this point, and there is no possibility of détente between us and the Russians.

Even if the tsarist government could hold back and the Trans-Siberian Railway was opened, the Russians would still have to advance eastward, and a war would still be inevitable.

Rather than waiting for the Russians to come and react passively, it is better to start preparing now and start before the Trans-Siberian Railway opens.

As for the international impact, it has come to this point, which is nothing more than a formal apology, compensation for the bereaved family's pension, and assurances to countries that similar situations will not occur.

If you can talk about it, you can talk about it, and if you can't talk about it, it's a big deal to accept sanctions. As long as the empire lowers its attitude, the European countries will not send troops because of this.

You can rest assured that such sanctions cannot be sustained. As long as our war with the Russians breaks out, the British will find a way to help us lift the blockade, and I believe that the HRE will not stop us.

Even if it's blocked, we can smuggle it. Unless countries send fleets to our doorstep to crack down on smuggling, the blockade will exist in name only, and the capitalists will have a way to get around it.

The real impact is still on grain and other commodities, and as long as we work together, this period of hard work will soon pass. ”

Politics is complex and changeable, and when we analyze problems from different angles, we can draw different conclusions.

Diplomatic reproaches, which were regarded as beasts of prey, by civilian officials, became opportunities in the eyes of the main battle faction.

At this moment, the Japanese government is like being forced to go to Liangshan and can no longer come down.

With the last layer of window paper pierced, all illusions of the Lord and the faction were shattered. Everyone realized that the Russo-Japanese War was inevitable, and the difference was only a matter of when.

The atmosphere inside became even more oppressive, the fate of the country was involved, and no one dared to make a decision lightly.

After a long time, Ito Hirobumi was the first to break the silence: "The Russo-Japanese war is indeed inevitable, but now is not the time.

The Russians need to wait for the railway to open, so why don't the empires need time to prepare? In the current state of the empire, there is simply no ability to conduct a big war.

What's more, there is a careerist behind this who provokes trouble, which is even more unguardable.

If you don't get this guy out, who knows what else will happen, the empire can't afford to toss them. ”

As he spoke, Ito also turned his gaze to the military representatives, as if to warn them not to play with fire.

It was not only Ito Hirobumi who was suspicious, but also Emperor Meiji, whose eyes changed when he looked at the generals, as if he was searching for something.

No one likes to be suspected, but military generals are also hard to argue with right now. Don't say that the civilian officials are suspicious, and even they themselves are suspicious of each other.

This style of doing things is too much like the operation of the army. In particular, the radical groups that planned the march are inextricably linked to the military.

Even if they did not plan the shooting incident that detonated the scene, they are inseparable from the violent storming of the Russian embassy and the destruction of the Russian embassy.

Everyone is smart, and if there was no one leading the scene, even if there was a shooting, the scene would not get out of control so quickly.

If nothing else, the direction in which the bullets are flying must be determined first, right?

I didn't want to do anything, as soon as the slogan was shouted, I rushed to the Russian embassy, and the police happened to be transferred at the time of the incident, which is too much of a coincidence.

Too many coincidences add up, and then it's no longer a coincidence. Especially in the context of the murderer not being caught, everyone thinks of it more.

Perhaps other international forces are capable of planning the shooting, but it would be nonsense to control the marchers.

Knowing that fanatical national activists are ultra-patriots, it is not easy to buy them off.

Being able to accurately grasp the time and place for ambush, if you say that you have not prepared in advance, no one will believe it.

Being able to receive information in advance and evacuate quickly after shooting, without leaving a trace, is not something that ordinary people can do.

Whether the international forces can do it or not, everyone is not sure, but the Japanese military will definitely be able to do it anyway. In the depths of their hearts, everyone's fear of the military has been raised by more than one notch.

Emperor Meiji: "Ito-kun is right, the mastermind behind the scenes must be found out, otherwise the empire will never be at peace."

The gendarmerie immediately arrested the organizers of the demonstration, investigated the instigators behind it, and ordered the schools to tighten control and ban these illegal organizations.

In addition, the police presence in the embassy area has been strengthened to prohibit any procession near the embassy area. ”

Although he did not say it explicitly, from the eyes of Emperor Meiji, everyone could see that he was suspicious of the military.

It is impossible to explain it, and the Japanese military is also surrounded by mountains and a large number of various chaotic groups, and the military itself may not be able to figure it out.

Occasionally, there are a few brain-dead guys, and that's completely normal. Back then, when Nikolai visited Japan, he was assassinated by guards arranged by the Japanese government.

As for the problem of the prevalence of extremism in the military, in fact, the top military leadership is also very troublesome. I've been trying to find a way to solve it, but unfortunately in the end it has little effect.

Packing tickets for these guys, that's definitely a sign of being tired. No one knows what strange things these extremists can do.

In fact, at the beginning, some people in the military proposed to send a few dead soldiers to the embassy district to make amends and give an explanation to the international community. Even in the army, there were people who signed up and were ready to die for the cause of the empire.

Fortunately, there are friends in Shan County who have been in contact with Western culture and stopped them in time. Otherwise, it would not be sacrificed, but to add fuel to the fire.