"No, Your Excellency Prime Minister, we must not be frightened by the Germans. It would be a shame to give up those territories like this! Lu Xianggang Ichinosuke looked indignant.

"If the Germans send a naval attack, then what should we do?" Okuma Shigenobu was a little worried, so he didn't want to offend the Germans.

"Your Excellency, although the German navy is powerful, can their navy still be able to go ashore, no matter how powerful their navy is? As long as the army holds its ground, the Germans have no way to take us! If time drags on, it will also be very bad for the Germans. Therefore, it is highly likely that it will not be done in the end. Although this will cost the empire a lot of money, as long as you can get those territories, it is acceptable to pay a big price! Okaichi insisted.

"What if the German Navy shelled the coastal areas of the Reich? The most prosperous places in the empire are all on the coast! And these places are almost all within the range of the naval guns of the German Navy! Rokuro Yashiro said.

"Coward! Are the Navy's shore fortifications just decorations? Okaichi scolded.

"Horse manure! That's hitting a stone with an egg! "Rokuro Yashiro doesn't give in.

Seeing that the two showed signs of quarreling again, Okuma Shigenobu had no choice but to announce the dismissal of the meeting to avoid a physical altercation between the two.

"Alright, that's all for today's meeting!" Shigenobu Okuma said.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, we are running out of time, we must make a decision early!" Foreign Minister Takaaki Kato said.

"I'll just go see the senators later. It is better for the elders to decide such a major event related to the fortunes of the country! Shigenobu Okuma said. It's just that his tone is full of helplessness.

Although, Shigenobu Okuma is the patriarch of the island nation, the de facto head of government. However, he is the only one who has to be, and he is really nothing more than a puppet. The power is in the hands of the elders. If the elders are not satisfied, they can change the prime minister at any time.

As soon as Okuma Shigenobu heard that he was going to see the elder, the other cabinet ministers immediately stopped arguing. Because they knew that since it was up to the patriarchs to decide, there was nothing left to them. No matter how much they fight back and forth, it doesn't make any sense. Once the senators agreed, they only had to follow their orders.

The elders are the politicians of the island country in a state of semi-retirement, and they have great influence in the island country, and can even be called the de facto supreme head of the island country's government. All major events are almost decided by these patriarchs. They decided something that even the prime minister or even the emperor could not oppose.

Now there are only 5 veterans left in the island country, namely Yama Prefecture Aritomo, Matsukata Masayoshi, Inoue Xin, Oyama Rock and Saionji Gongwang. From these few people, it can be seen that the army of the island country has a great advantage, and among the five veterans, there are two from the army, namely Youpeng in Shan County and Dashanyan. There was no one in the navy, and after the death of Saigo Nomichi, who was born in the navy, there were no more veterans in the navy. As a result, the navy has always been at a disadvantage in the struggle with the army.

The island navy has always wanted to put Gonbei Yamamoto and Heihachiro Togo on the throne of the elders. However, it has never been successful.

In the afternoon of the same day, Shigenobu Okuma arrived at the residence of Aritomo in Yamaguchi. Yama Prefecture Youpeng is the most senior of the five patriarchs, so the senators' meetings are usually held in his residence. At the Council of Leaders, Shigenobu Okuma, as Prime Minister, only had the power to speak, but he did not have the right to decide. Only the patriarchs have the power to decide.

"Everyone, everyone is here, let's start the meeting!" Shan County Youpeng said.

Although Shan Shan Youpeng is seventy-seven years old, he is still full of energy, and his physical and mental state is very good. Among the other patriarchs, Matsukata is the oldest, already eighty years old, but his spirit is quite passable, only Inoue Shin is seventy-nine years old, but his spirit is not very good, and in another time and space, he only has a few months of life. The younger Dashan Rock and Xiyuan Temple Gongwang are also seventy-three and sixty-six years old respectively.

It can be seen that the island country is actually a politics of the elderly, and the actual power of the state is in the hands of these old men in their seventies and eighties.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, is there anything that is difficult for the Cabinet to decide this time?" Shan County Youpeng asked.

"Your Excellency, the Reich declared war on Germany at the beginning of the war because it was an ally of the British Empire in this world war. And took the opportunity to rob those German colonies in the Pacific. But it is a pity that Germany has performed very bravely in the European battlefield, and now it has successively defeated the kingdoms of France and Italy, plus Russia, which withdrew from the war before, only Britain is still struggling to support. And judging from the comparison of the strength of the two sides, it is only a matter of time before Britain is defeated. The Cabinet feared that the Germans would immediately take action against the Reich after the end of the European theater of war. The Cabinet now had two points of view, one was to give up those colonies, return them to Germany, seek the understanding of the Germans, and restore relations between the two countries. The other was to continue to occupy those territories and prepare for a war with the Germans in the Far East. If the empire wins, then those colonies will always belong to the empire, and the empire will even be able to get more things. However, if the empire loses, the consequences may not be bearable. The achievements of the empire since the Meiji Restoration are most likely to be wiped out in the war! Shigenobu Okuma explained the cause and effect and the disagreement in the cabinet, and then he closed his mouth tightly, waiting for the decision of the senators.

After listening to Okuma's statement, the elders also frowned one by one. Their old experience has taught them that this time the problem is indeed very tricky.

Germany is too strong, and what the island nation is doing this time is completely a matter of stealing food. It is impossible for any country to endure such behavior by an island nation. Therefore, it is very likely that Germany will take action against the island countries in the future after ending the war in the European theater.

"If Germany attacks us, will the Navy be able to repeat a victory in the Battle of Tsushima?" Shan County Youpeng asked.

During the Battle of Tsushima, the navy of the island nation waited for work and fought a duel with the Russian navy that had come from afar. In the end, the island's navy was victorious, which enabled them to win the Russo-Japanese War.