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Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, Chunfan Building.

In fact, during the Heian period of Japan, the exact name of Yamaguchi Prefecture should be called Nagato.

Since the Heian period of Japan, which admired the Tang culture, Nagato, which was closest to the Central Plains mainland and Korea, has accumulated a lot of wealth for himself through frequent trade exchanges.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the Kamakura Shogunate, which greatly admired the poetry giant Su Dongpo, imitated the Bianliang Castle of the Northern Song Dynasty to re-plan and build Nagato, so the Nagato in Japanese history was habitually called "Xijing" by the Japanese. ”

Later in the Maori family period, the Maori clan was often called the Cheung Chau Domain because the Maori family owned both Zhoufang and Nagato.

Finally, during the Meiji Restoration, after the abolition of the feudal domain, the Nagato or Nagasu domain was finally renamed Yamaguchi Prefecture, so the name Yamaguchi Prefecture is a new place name in Japanese history.

The city of Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture was called "Chima Pass" in ancient Japan, and the Japanese pronunciation of the word "between" is similar to the Chinese word "horse", so the Qing people used to call Shimonoseki "Chima Pass", or "Maguan".

Shimonoseki City is famous in Japan for its abundant puffer fish, and the restaurant in Shimonoseki that is best at making puffer fish is called Chunfan Building.

The Japanese side chose to make an appointment with Minister Barand at Chunfan Tower, on the one hand, because Minister Barland, who was considering being a member of East Asia, was very fond of Japanese-style Yusheng, and on the other hand, Yamaguchi Aritomo, who strongly advocated learning the Prussian system, was a native of the Changzhou Domain, and it was also appropriate for Yamaguchi Prefecture to fulfill the friendship of landlords.

Finally, Hirobumi Ito himself is also a fanatical glutton of puffer fish sashimi.

Naturally, this Japanese city closest to the Qing Kingdom became the most suitable place to receive the Minister of Barland from the Qing Kingdom.

Along with Minister Barland, the British envoy to Qing, Japan, and Korea, Sir Harry Smith Parks, and of course he also had a nice Chinese name, Minister Pashali, or Sir Pashali.

The joint visit to Japan by the minister of the world's largest power and the minister of the European continent was not surprising to Hirobumi Ito and Aritomo Yamaguchi.

At the same time that Hirobumi Ito greeted his friends in Berlin and invited the Germans to send troops to Qing Guo, Ito Hirobumi also greeted his friends in London and strongly suggested that Britain should also participate in this matter and divide Qing Guo again to participate in the grand event.

At first, Berlin and London were optimistic about the private news that Britain and Germany were very willing to hold in-depth discussions with Japan on this issue, and that the two governments would later appoint Minister Barland and Minister Pashali to take full responsibility for this matter.

Subsequently, the envoys of the two countries handed over an official letter to the Japanese government, explaining that the reason for the visit was very simple, to formally investigate the contradictions between Japan and the Qing Dynasty and to safeguard peace in East Asia.

When I received this official document, the optimists in the Japanese government were very excited, and as soon as they put incense on the two big temples, the gods joined forces, which showed that the incense was burned correctly.

The number one in the world and the strongest in continental Europe are two titles that are much stronger than the United States, which kicked the door of Japan open with a black ship.

Although Japan is not too afraid of the United States, which has just finished a civil war, a former US president is always grinding and chirping in his ears, which is enough to annoy the Japanese government.

The cautious faction within the Japanese government was also cautiously optimistic, and although the Germans had recently become very close to the Qing Dynasty, Britain had always been the guide and supporter of Japan's reform and reform, and at least the talks attended by the British envoy would not be too bad in any case.

Ito Hirofumi still has a trace of doubt lingering in his heart, but he really can't find what he is wondering about after turning it over and over again.

Since you can't find it, it's better to put it first, Ito Hirofumi can put it down.

Therefore, Ito Hirobumi and Yamaprefecture Aritomo, who greeted the British and German ministers at the Chunfan Tower, were very relaxed at this time, and even had the mood to stand in front of the Chunfan Tower on the halfway point of the Amida Temple Town, looking at the beautiful scenery of the Shimonoseki Strait.

It was the height of summer, and even in the southern part of Japan, there was still a hint of cold air blowing from the strait in the sea breeze of Shimonoseki, and it swept coldly across the cheeks.

From the far view of the Chunfan Tower, the Shimonoseki Strait is as vibrant as Japan in the Meiji period, with a variety of huge freighters, a large number of fishing boats, and occasionally the gray-blue warships of the Japanese Navy, slowly passing through the strait.

A busy scene.

"Moving the boat to the smoke, the sunset is new. The wild sky is low and the trees are low, and Jiang Qingyue is close to people. Suddenly, somehow Ito Hirofumi gently recited a five-character quatrain Tang poem.

Youpeng in Shan County on the side was a little surprised, as an advocate of breaking away from Asia and joining Europe, Ito Hirofumi has always been a suit and leather shoes, and he opened and closed his mouth to see how the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe were like it, but he had never seen it, and he had read Tang poems.

Just when Yama Prefecture Aritomo was in a trance, Minister Barland and Minister Pasha Li and their entourage had arrived in front of the Amitaba Temple Town Sho Shrine on the Onoda Maru steamship. Passing through the trestle bridge between the ship and the land, a group of nine British and German officials got on a rickshaw specially prepared by Japan for manpower, passed through the Japanese military police guards standing in the middle of the road, and went straight to Chunfan Tower.

The best time to eat fugu in Japan is in winter, when a bowl of warm and springy fugu hot pot is served with a bowl of rock-yaki shirako or shirako tofu on a cold winter day, which has always been a favorite of Japanese commoners, samurai and even aristocrats.

Although eating fugu in summer is not as heartwarming as in winter, it also has a unique flavor, and it is important to eat puffer fish sashimi.

To make fugu sashimi, the most important thing to see is the level of a chef's knife skills, the extremely tough puffer fish skin, and the meat of the same extremely elastic puffer fish, perfectly cut to the thin as paper, transparent as crystal, this skillful knife skill, is respected by the Japanese as "puffer fish cutting knife".

In addition to the delicious fish and exquisite knife workmanship, the delicious aspect of fugu sashimi is also another major feature of Japanese style fugu sashimi.

There are four main ways to plating puffer fish sashimi, which are "Tsurumori", "Kikumori", "Peacock Sashimi" and "Peony Sashimi", and as the name suggests, the puffer fish sashimi is arranged in the shape of a crane, a chrysanthemum, a peacock and a peony.

The Japanese have a very long history of eating sashimi, and it is said that it was introduced from the Tang Dynasty in the Heian period, and there was an elegant word to describe this method of eating sashimi in the Tang and Song dynasties.

In the Azuchi-Momoyama period (Oriho period), Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who unified Japan for the first time, prepared to send troops to Korea, as the closest to Korea, Nagato, naturally an ideal place to go out and join forces, and when the Japanese samurai gathered in the Shimonoseki area, the samurai who went out one after another, died in the fugu in a very undignified manner.

The dilemma of eating death before leaving the school made Toyotomi Hideyoshi furious, and the first ban on eating puffer fish in Japanese history was introduced.

The ban is not strict, and anyone who dares to eat puffer fish will be fined and imprisoned!

In the Meiji period, the Meiji government really couldn't stand the Nagasu Domain, these stupid guys who died in the hands of puffer fish in large numbers every year, especially they also took stupid guys from other parts of Japan to eat puffer fish together, so the Meiji government published a statement in the newspaper for the first time that Japan is not allowed to eat pufferfish!

And continue to reiterate that those who eat puffer fish will be fined for confiscation of family property, detained, and will have to serve hard labor in a bitter kiln for the rest of their lives!

The reaction of the people of the Changzhou Domain, especially Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, to this is that the soul is faint! As the Lao Tzu of the Cheung Chau Domain, you have to take care of what you eat!

Therefore, the business of fugu sashimi in Shimonoseki is still booming, and the Japanese still desperately eat fugu, and a large number of Japanese poets still write popular haiku every year to praise fugu.

Of course, historically, the last person to lift the ban on eating fugu was Hirofumi Ito, who loved to kill pufferfish.

As a veteran East Asia expert, Minister Barland loves all kinds of Asian cuisine, while Minister Pashali still prefers British tastes.

Watching Minister Barland keep putting one piece of sashimi after another with his chopsticks, dipping it in orange vinegar, putting it in his mouth with mashed radish and shallots, and chewing vigorously, Minister Pashali only symbolically moved his chopsticks.

Raw food has never belonged to the category of civilized people, Pashali pouted secretly.

Fortunately, there are still three kinds of food on the table, which are very much in line with the appetite of the minister of Pashali, the same is wine, puffer sake, put the charred puffer fish fins into the wine glass, pour in the high number of sake, and then light the sake in the glass before drinking, and drink it after the flame is extinguished.

The blue flame of alcohol slowly melts the flavor of the puffer fish fins into the sake, mixing with the unique aroma of the sake itself, and when you take a sip, the burnt aroma of the puffer fish and the stimulation of the taste buds on the tip of the tongue are like a colorful flavor exploding in the mouth.

It's delicious, it's more exciting than any high-count liquor I've drunk before, and it's all delicious!

The second is a boxy, small piece of puffer fish liver, which looks a lot like the famous and delicious foie gras in the French diet.

As soon as the teeth touched it, a special oily aroma quickly filled Pashali's mouth, plump like top foie gras, but it melted in the mouth, and finally only the lips and teeth remained fragrant.

Such a wonderful thing, how can it not come again, when the minister of Pashali rarely asked for another one, the boss of Chunfan Lou hesitated, and finally Barand explained in a gluttonous tone, although the puffer fish liver is delicious, it is highly poisonous, just eat a piece, if you eat more, it is very likely that Pashali will go to meet the forerunner of Japan today.

Pashali was stunned and no longer asked for it.

The third food, in the eyes of Pashali, is like a piece of tofu unique to the Qing Kingdom, but it has a nice Japanese name, Shirako.

Whether it is rock grilled or roasted, the tender white seeds on the outside and inside are dipped in sweet orange vinegar, and the dense taste is smooth and fatty, so that the minister of Pasha Li can't help but applaud loudly.

Pashali, who had eaten a lot of pieces and was finally satisfied, quietly asked Minister Barand, who also ate a lot of jade, what was the jade made of, so delicious.

Minister Barand put down his chopsticks and wiped the corners of his mouth, and told Pasha Li in a serious way that the fine nest is just the fine nest of the male puffer fish.

Pashali suddenly felt a peculiar smell in his mouth, and his stomach was like a river overturning the sea.....

Pashali, who suddenly felt unwell, postponed the meeting that was to start in the afternoon for two hours.

Two hours early, two hours late, what's the matter? In the eyes of Youpeng in Shanxian County, it was just a two-hour respite from the Qing Dynasty.

The venue of the afternoon meeting is still in the Chunfan Building, with golden screens in the carefully arranged venue, and various bonsai are placed around, everything looks so quiet and elegant.

At the beginning of the meeting, after a nourishing greeting and thanking the Japanese government for its warm reception, the investigation of the conflict between the Qing and Japan on the Ryukyu issue began in earnest.

As a Japanese side, it is natural that from the historical, geographical, and current situation, Japan has made a defense that is obviously biased towards itself in the ruin of the Ryukyus domain.

In the eyes of Barland and Pashali, the two sides of the dispute have always had their own reasons, and even if they don't pay attention to them, they can find reasons for being unreasonable, and under the glossy reasons, in fact, they are just bigger than whose fist is bigger, or whoever occupies it first, who is justified.

As for the paragraph that a weak and small country finally takes back its territory or establishes a state after a world axiom ruling, it is also because the fist of the country responsible for mediation is larger than that of the disputed country, at least in the nineteenth century in the law of the jungle of the world.

Japan, which was far more familiar with the rules of the game in the West than the Qing Dynasty, knew very well that if Japan forcibly occupied the Ryukyus without the strong intervention of foreign powers, then the Ryukyus would be Japan's.

Pashali looked at Barland beside him, and the picture of the Japanese in front of him asking and answering questions with great interest, and felt a burst of nausea, this damn German guy has long known that he doesn't like to eat strange oriental food, and he didn't explain what he ate before he ate it, even if he vomited in the room a few times at noon, he still couldn't shake off the irritability in his heart in the afternoon.

Looking at Baland, Pashali was irritable in his heart, and looking at these Japanese, as the backers and financiers behind the retreat of Itagaki by a famous figure in Japanese politics, Pashali felt even more disgusted.

During the Meiji Restoration, Japan was like a young man who liked to try all kinds of adventurous activities, and the whole society was full of all kinds of Western thoughts.

There are those who advocate a republic and a monarchy, those who favor liberal democracy and those who support dictatorship, and according to the ideas of Yoshida Shoin and Fukuzawa Yukichi, all Western ideas should be tried in Japan, so that we can finally find the most suitable system for Japanese soil.

It was with this idea that Itagaki became one of the founding fathers of the Meiji Restoration, and became the leader of Japan's liberal and civil rights movements.

Ito Hirobumi and Saigo Shomichi and others, although they are pro-British factions in Japanese politics, but in the eyes of the British, they are far less cute and confidant than Itagaki retreat, especially this Ito Hirobumi, Pasha Li is even more bitter and hateful.

The British Embassy in Japan moved from Edo to Yokohama because of a fire set by Hirobumi Ito.

The most strange thing is that today the king burned down the British Embassy, and the next day he actually ran back to the British Embassy to apply for a visa, saying that he wanted to go to the UK to study Western culture.....

Ito's fickleness is difficult for flexible Britons to accept.

Pashali's accumulated anger was not only felt by the sensitive Japanese, but also felt by Barland, who was able to torture this upright Englishman after eating puffer fish dishes and then letting him meet the troubled Japanese.

According to the Qing people, everything is ready now, and it is only necessary to let the British blow the east wind.

"Ito-kun, as a mediator entrusted by the Qing government and also recognized by the Japanese government, it seems to me that your country and the Qing country have their own reasons on the Ryukyu issue."

"There are many truths, but as a defender of peace in East Asia, the British government opposes anyone's unilateral attempt to change the status quo in East Asian countries, and this opposition is not just a verbal opposition, but an official warning from the British government." The irritable Pashali was too lazy to play any diplomatic language games, and unceremoniously threw out the latest instructions given by the London side with a cold face.

Ito Hirobumi, who was struck by lightning, finally understood at this time what the doubt in his heart was, that is, the British government that is fickle, has only interests and no morality, and can make deals with the devil for the sake of the end.

"We were sold, the British or the Germans, or the British with the Germans?" Ito Hirobumi was cold, and began to ask himself.

Looking at the Japanese, who were like being splashed with ice water and unable to move, Minister Barand casually threw out another bad news, "As a friend of Britain, the German government accepts the British government's proposal that before the British Indian fleet rushes to East Asia, the German Globe Fleet will assume the responsibility of maintaining peace in East Asia by force." ”

Looking at Hirobumi Ito, who had lost his smile on his face, and Aritomo Yamaguchi, who had a blue face, Minister Barland gently picked up the coffee cup in his hand and said with a kind expression, "I think Ito-kun and Yamagu-kun have long known that Commander Dietrich in Hong Kong has provided the Qing government with a war plan against Japan. ”

"This battle plan was drawn up by Commander Dietrich out of his personal understanding of the German-Qing Treaty, and was not intended by the German government, so the German government authorized me to clarify to the Japanese side that Germany did not have any war malice towards Japan."

"What pleases our government the most is that the Japanese side has also actively shown its goodwill to our country, so the German government has agreed to accept the Japanese government's payment of 20 million taels of silver, that is, 10 million German gold marks, as a guarantee that the German Grand Fleet will not declare war on Japan."

"Yaga! What a shameless betrayal! After a trace of anger crossed Ito's heart, he clenched his fists and forced himself to calm down.

"Japan is only a small country, and it is not qualified or strong enough to be angry with any powerful country, so instead of venting its anger without any meaning, it is better to quickly and calmly find countermeasures."

In the heart of Youpeng in Shanxian County, there was no anger at all, but it was full of endless surprise and admiration, it turned out that this world can still package shamelessness so beautifully, it is clear that a strong country wants to blackmail itself by force, but it has found an excuse to maintain peace, or to maintain the peace of the blackmailed.

"Sure enough, we should learn from Europe and the United States, and it is really eye-opening to be so shameless in art!"

In fact, the more eye-opening things that have opened the eyes of Youpeng in Shan County are still to come.

"As a small country, Japan is willing to accept the will of a strong country, regardless of whether this will is just or not, but a small country also has the anger of a small country. Ito Hirofumi exhaled slowly, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Minister Barland raised his eyebrows thoughtfully, but Pashali still looked disdainful.

"Ito-kun, I have lived in East Asia for a long time, and I know that there are many passionate people in Japan, especially the Japanese Navy from the Satsuma Domain in Kagoshima." After taking a sip of the already cold coffee and coldly glancing at the Japanese in the conference room, Barand warned with a serious face, "I advise Japanese friends not to go to Hong Kong to try any adventures, and not to challenge the patience of the German government and the German navy. ”

"The personnel of the British Empire Consulate in Nagasaki will observe the number and type of Japanese Navy ships in the Sasebo base every day, and if any Japanese Navy warship sails out of the military port before the signing of the Nisshin Treaty, it means that Japan has declared war on the British Empire!" Pashali raised his eyebrows with his chin raised, thought for a moment, and continued to add, "It is also a declaration of war on Germany." ”

"Saigo's naval plan, how could it be that the Germans .... Well, it seems that the British also knew, could it be that there was something between us..."Hirobumi Ito, who was hit hard again, suddenly felt a little breathless.

Under the scrutinizing gaze of Barland and Pashali, Ito Hirobumi took a deep breath and said slowly, "In the eleventh year of the Meiji era, that is, in 1878, the annual income of the entire Japanese government was only 40 million yen, and Minister Barand asked Japan to pay 10 million gold marks, that is, 50 million yen, which the Japanese government really could not afford. Under heavy pressure, Ito Hirobumi gritted his teeth and began to settle accounts for the greedy Germans in his eyes.

"In front of the guns of the Royal Navy, the British government has never cared about the anger and thoughts of any weakling." Minister Pashali interrupted Ito Hirobumi and said arrogantly, "As a reward for the future Japanese government to readily accept the British and German resolutions, the British government is willing to provide Japan with a government loan of 10 million pounds, which Japan needs to repay with customs duties, and the loan will be paid for ten years at an annual interest rate of 5%. ”

"Japan has no room for bargaining in this matter, and must accept it unconditionally!" Pashali held his head high and deliberately emphasized, "Moreover, the Japanese customs must be controlled by the British, and how Japan uses loans must also be supervised by the British government." ”

"Ito-kun, weakening Japan's strength is not the original intention of the British and German governments, and a balanced and stable East Asia is what we want." "So Germany accepts only half of the cash from the Japanese government, and the other half is paid by the opening of mines and trade by Japan. ”

"The Japanese navy first rashly entered the Ryukyus, which was the cause of the Sino-Japanese dispute, so the Satsuma Domain, where the Japanese navy was located, needed to be punished. Britain and Germany decided that the rights to explore and exploit mines in Kagoshima would be mortgaged to Britain and Germany for a period of 99 years. The Japanese Government can only accept this. "Minister Pashali never forgot the most important request of the London side, which was to secure the rights to the Hishikari gold mine in the northeast of the Kitasa region of Kagoshima, Japan.

"The final conclusion of the Japan-Qing dispute is roughly like this, and in terms of specific details, Britain and Germany are willing to uphold the spirit of fairness and are very willing to listen to the thoughts of the Japanese government." Minister Barand added with a smile.

It's just an idea, and whether you accept it or not depends entirely on the mood of Britain and Germany, and that's exactly what happened.

"It seems that the ministers of the great powers have already planned the fate of Japan, and in that case, I can only convey this to my government as soon as possible, and I will give an official reply to the ministers of the two great powers later." After taking a deep breath, Ito Hirobumi stood up, bowed deeply, looked up and asked, "It's just that I don't know how the two ministers decided the fate of the Ryukyus?" ”

After Baland and Pashali exchanged glances, Barand smiled and said, "Since both the Qing and Japanese countries are interested in the Ryukyus, we have decided to make the Ryukyus independent. ”

Between the Qing and Japan, the "Qing-Japanese Ryukyu Peace Treaty" on the settlement of the conflict over the Ryukyus issue was settled at this point, and because the peace treaty was actually established in Shimonoseki, Japan, Japanese history called it the first "Shimonoseki Treaty", or the first "Shimonoseki Treaty".

On the way out of the Chunfan Tower and walking towards Amitabha Temple, Ito Hirobumi asked Barande a question, "Mr. Minister, is it not so confident in Japan and other European countries?" ”

Minister Barand took a deep look at Hirobumi Ito beside him, and then said lightly, "I have lived in East Asia for nearly twenty years, in fact, in my heart, I am more optimistic about you, but... They're stupid now! ”