On 4 June, Li Hongzhang ordered Ding Ruchang, the admiral of the naval division, to send two warships, Ye Zhichao, the commander of Zhili, and Nie Shicheng, the chief soldier of Taiyuan Town, to select 1,500 Huai troops and march to Korea.

However, by the time the Chinese army was on the way, the Japanese vanguard of 400 men had already arrived.

In order to cover people's eyes and ears, it was claimed that these 400 people were to escort Keisuke Otori, the minister stationed in North Korea, back to his post in North Korea, and to protect the Japanese legation from being attacked by the rebels.

Such an unusual revival of the teacher caused Gaozong Li Xi to panic, and he immediately asked Yuan Shikai for advice.

The Japanese side informed Yuan Shikai that Keisuke Otori would return to his post with only 20 patrolmen.

Everything is already clear, Yuan Shikai doesn't go out to verify, and still blindly believes in Keisuke Otori. Reply to Li Xi: Keisuke Otori doesn't like to be troubled, and he only takes twenty patrols to arrest, and he has no intention of fighting.

On 6 June, China informed Japan that China would send troops to Korea as agreed in advance.

On 7 June, Japan replied to China that it would not recognize Korea as a vassal state of China. Officially, Japanese troops have entered Korea.

Then he threatened Li Xi that he could not agree to the Chinese army coming to North Korea, in case the guns would misfire and turn North Korea into a battlefield between China and Japan.

Li Xi was frightened and hurriedly informed Yuan Shikai. The Chinese side was informed not to go ashore after the Qing troops arrived, and not to increase their troops.

Yuan Shikai ignored it and replied to Li Xi: "Japan sends troops, and North Korea should try to stop it." If it is unable to stop it, China will also mobilize troops to defend it. "There is no reason for China not to send troops, is it entering North Korea?" However, if the whole bandit survives, it cannot be stopped because of the transfer of troops."

By this time, Yuan Shikai still lacked due attention to the grim situation of Japan's dispatch of troops to Korea.

On 8 June, a large number of Japanese troops marched into Korea, and Yuan Shikai saw that something was not going well at this time.

immediately called Li Hongzhang: "The widow is very sharp, and it seems that he has no gain, and he refuses to go." ”

However, he also had the last illusion about Japan and comforted Li Xi: He said that Japan's intention in sending troops was to "compete with China for dignity, and not to be alarmed." He insisted that "if you want to retreat the Japanese soldiers quickly, the only way to do so is to quickly try to suppress the bandits." In this way, Japan will lose the excuse of stationing troops in Korea.

And at this time, the east. Learn. Party. The rebels have withdrawn from Jeonju, and the Japanese continue to march into Korea.

Seeing that its goals have been achieved and that its military deployment is nearing completion, Japan has officially entered into a showdown with China. China is told that China has no right to interfere with whether or not the Japanese army enters Korea and how many people enter Korea.

In order to avoid a conflict with Japan, the Qing Dynasty proposed that the two countries withdraw their troops from Korea at the same time, but Japan simply ignored it.

In order to prevent Japan from continuing to invade Korea, Yuan Shikai urged North Korea** to negotiate with Japan, and at the same time asked the ministers of various countries to intervene.

Keisuke Otori had to sit down at the negotiating table under pressure from ministers from various countries.

After negotiations, the two sides agreed not to increase their troops. Keisuke Otori said one thing and did another, and continued to increase troops.

However, Yuan Shikai believed it and telegraphed Li Hongzhang not to increase his troops.

As a result, the disparity between the two countries' forces in Korea has become more and more widespread.

Dangdong. Learn. Party. The uprising had been completely suppressed, and the Qing Dynasty had pacified the chaos in Korea, and demanded that China and Japan withdraw their troops at the same time as originally agreed, but Japan did not pay any attention to it.

Yuan Shikai finally saw that Japan's real intention was to deliberately provoke a Sino-Japanese conflict and drive China out of Korea. Only then did he tell Li Hongzhang the truth, declaring how serious the situation was, and requesting a large increase in troops.

Fortunately, with this telegram, otherwise, Yuan Shikai would be very troublesome. Not to mention the official position, you can't keep your head if you don't get it. We'll know about that later.

In the face of such a situation, Li Hongzhang will not be unaware that sending troops to Korea is no longer a small fight, but a big battle with Japan; Or even a full-scale war between the two countries. Is this capable for China? Is it not within the scope of Li Hongzhang's power, so let's talk about it separately? The most fundamental thing is that I haven't prepared anything yet!

In other words, due to Yuan Shikai's self-righteousness and the false information he provided, the opportunity has been missed.

After Japan took control of Korea, the first thing it did was to ask Li Xi to declare to the outside world that Korea was a completely independent country and had no so-called suzerain-vassal relationship with any country.

That is, to completely delink the North Korean issue from China, what is Japan doing in North Korea? None have anything to do with China.

Li Xi doesn't know what to do? Consult with Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai didn't dare to make his own decisions easily now, so he sent a message to Li Hongzhang.

Li Hongzhang was also helpless, I don't know what to do?

Yuan Shikai had no choice but to instruct Li Xi to refuse Japan's unreasonable demands, and repeatedly asked Li Xi to resolutely resist Japanese pressure.

How is it possible that such a large suzerainty cannot provide protection for vassals, but instead asks weak vassals to protect their interests?

Can Li Xi have any other choice than to comply with Japan's demands?

At this time, Yuan Shikai not only did not review his mistakes and incompetence, but instead put the blame on Li Xi. said that he is: the supreme kingdom of the eye, and it is not against the greatness of the world.

At this time, we can see that Yuan Shikai is contaminated with the vice of an officialdom official: when something goes wrong, he never finds the reason for himself and finds the shortcomings. Even if it is entirely his own reason, he must try to shake the blame, put the blame on others, or find reasons and reasons to defend himself.

Some people in high positions like Yuan Shikai often say: always right, always reasonable.

In their opinion, how could they be wrong? How could they be wrong? If they are wrong, if they are wrong, can the world still respect them? Can you still take them seriously? Isn't it to discredit the ground? Is that worth it?

Actually, they were wrong. Those politicians of true noble character, those open-minded chieftain-level figures in the crowd, their high demeanor lies precisely in the fact that they are always good at constantly looking for their own shortcomings and finding their own faults.

What is even more valuable is that they can openly admit their mistakes and openly speak out about their faults and shortcomings. And it is such people who will be more strongly supported and respected by the world. Moreover, this embrace and respect comes from the heart.

And in fact, they're sure to do things better, too. Because, people always have to move forward in overcoming shortcomings, because failure is the mother of success.

However, how can Yuan Shikai understand this? Isn't it too difficult to ask someone like Yuan Shikai with such a noble character?

Seeing that the situation in the DPRK is irreparable and getting worse and worse, if we stay in the DPRK, not only will there be no achievements, but we will only have more and more black pots. Yuan Shikai knew that he could not stay in North Korea anymore and had to find a way to leave.

At this time, he heard the news that Keisuke Otori was preparing to send troops to escort him out of the country.

This is possible, because Japan has always regarded Yuan Shikai as a thorn in the flesh.

If he is really sent to the situation by armed escort, not only will he lose face, but the country will also lose face. At this moment, he found a reason to slip away, so he sent two urgent telegrams to Li Hongzhang one after another.

One of them said: "Wen Han is determined not to be subordinate, it is a supreme country." Kaihua must persuade Han and tell the big bird. Wen Niao intends to make an example according to the public law, and the soldiers are escorted out. Gore, humiliated. You can only follow the example of the envoys of all countries, send a document to Zhao Han, return to China to discuss, and ask for troops to attack Korea. ”

The second cloud: "I heard that the Japanese soldiers are stationed in Yalu today, and the intention is unpredictable, and the Japanese and Korean are united, and our soldiers are in danger." In Russia, the envoy of the legal department came to say that Han Ting rewarded the Japanese soldiers with a lot of rice and meat, and Han Xi was very incomprehensible. The Chinese are very humiliated here, and Kai is very difficult to see here, so he should go back and plan to stay in Tang (Tang Shaoyi) to stay in the guard hall to visit the matter. ”

Li Hongzhang obviously thinks that Yuan Shikai is making a big fuss, and the grass and trees are all soldiers. Reply: North Korea has not publicly admitted that it is not a Chinese vassal state, and should leave a secret persuasion to persuade North Korea to insist; The Russian minister has promised to intervene to mediate, and there will be an end. "If Wu Yun didn't provoke Hua first, how could he detain the envoys? Don't be intimidated. ”

At this time, Li Hongzhang did not know that Yuan Shikai was like a lost dog in North Korea, and he was in a panic. thought that he still had a lot of energy, and hoped that Yuan Shikai could use his influence to keep the situation in North Korea from being too bad.

It's no wonder who let Yuan Shikai talk nonsense with his eyes closed before.

So-called, although bragging does not have to pay taxes, it may cause trouble for yourself.

Li Hongzhang called back, although he did not reprimand Yuan Shikai, but the sentence "Don't be timid" is already difficult to hear, can Yuan Shikai not hear it? However, he couldn't care much more.

Soon, he found an excuse for himself to slip away: "There are 10,000 Japanese soldiers, guarding the key points of the four roads of Seoul and our land troops, and all of them are planted with artillery and mines." …… Judging by his actions, not only did he not have the intention of withdrawing troops, but he planned to continue to have large soldiers. The Japanese have been planning for a long time, and their ambitions are very extravagant, and if Russia and Britain order with force, they may be heard; If it is only mediated, it may be useless and will miss the military plane. …… Ye (Ye Zhichao) Jun is in the teeth, it is difficult to help, and the Japanese add more troops, revealing unscrupulousness. Ying Xun sent troops and merchant ships to Yalu or Pyongyang to wait for a big move. Han reported that the bandits were peaceful, and I would not be harmed if I withdrew first; And the covenant has been violated, and I should do it myself. If the tooth army and the Japanese army hold each other, the provocation will be completed, and there will be no return. ”

Yuan Shikai said so much, in the final analysis, he still asked for permission to leave.