c_t; Yama Prefecture Youpeng raised his head suddenly, and exclaimed, "Ito-kun, do you mean to negotiate peace?" ”

Hirobumi Ito sighed and said, "What can we do if we don't discuss peace, do we still have the ability to continue fighting?" If Tsarist Russia is willing to continue to send troops, we can continue to fight, but now that the bastard Nikolai of Tsarist Russia has relented, we are left to continue fighting, we will not get any benefits, where are we sure to defeat the Chinese tiger now? My only hope is to keep North Korea through diplomatic means, so that we can still rise in the future, and once even North Korea is lost, we will have nothing to rely on. ”

Yama Prefecture Youpeng asked, "Ito-kun, what should we do now?" The basis of any negotiation is based on strength, and now that China has a heavy army, with the support of Germany and the United States, and even the British Empire has recently begun to change its attitude, how can we guarantee our interests at the negotiating table? ”

Ito Hirobumi replied: "This time I can only go in person, I hope that those people in the West can still sell me a face, I personally came forward to call Nicholas II, asking to continue our alliance plan with them, and at the same time invite Britain and France and other powerful countries to mediate, I think, they also do not want a strong China to rise in the East, that is not in their fundamental interests, our hope is that the great powers can intervene, jointly suppress the Chinese tiger."

！ ”

Yama County Youpeng nodded and said: "Ito-kun, then please leave it to you, now that the state affairs are difficult, you need to be more attentive, I will plan to His Majesty the Emperor tomorrow!" ”

Ito Hirobumi said in a deep voice: "Slow, there is also the immediate mobilization of the combined fleet, and the urgent transfer of more than two divisions to the DPRK, you are right, without military strength, it is difficult for us to take the initiative diplomatically;!" ”

Shan County Youpeng replied: "Hai! I'll let Oyama Iwa-kun go and give the order! ”

Ito Hirofumi nodded and said, "Yamasan-kun, I'll go with you to see Your Majesty, you're afraid that it will be difficult for Your Majesty to give up alone, Prince Fushimimi, let's go on a trip together." ( )”

"Smack!"

Emperor Meiji slammed a teacup on the ground and roared, "Yaga, Yaga!" Ito, Yamaguchi, you are all cowards! Our empire still has more than 100,000 soldiers, and we can still fight to the death with the Chinese tiger's army, and the empire cannot admit defeat! ”

Ito Hirobumi hurriedly bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, no, now the elite of the empire's army has sixty or seventy thousand people have been lost in the three eastern provinces, and now the Korean border has gathered more than 120,000 Chinese tiger troops, and will attack Limi Shangwen at any time, once the war starts, Limi Shangwen will definitely not be able to withstand the attack of the Japanese army's strength, if we keep fighting, it will bring immeasurable disasters to the empire, even if we can win in the end, it will be a tragic victory, and in the end it will only cheapen the Tsarist Russia behind!" ”

Emperor Meiji said angrily: "We still have a navy, and we still have a combined fleet!" With the help of the combined fleet, we can attack any port off the coast of Chinese mainland! This battle will not stop! ”

Ito Hirofumi said bitterly: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid you don't know that the Chinese Tiger purchased six advanced warships from the British Empire in one breath on the way home, and then purchased five more advanced warships, and its single ship combat power is all above the original Dingzhen two ships, and now the fleet has arrived in India, I am afraid that it will be able to enter the Chinese coast in half a month at most, and then even if the advantage of our combined fleet will not be wiped out, we will not be able to attack the Chinese coast unscrupulously." ”

Emperor Meiji finally fell silent and said astringently, "Eleven warships."

reads;！ Where did the Chinese Tiger get so much money? Dare to use such a big hand, even in the Qing government, it is impossible to come up with so much money! ”

Ito Hirobumi sighed and said, "Your Majesty, China Tiger has signed a loan agreement with Morgan Bank in the United States, using the Chinese equity of the Liaohe oil field as collateral to lend fifteen million US dollars to the United States, which will be repaid in ten years!" He used almost all of this loan to buy warships and other munitions, which is indeed a big sum, in fact, even the minister has never figured it out, where did he get so much confidence, and the backward loan to Germany and the United States is only afraid that it has exceeded nearly 200 million silver, otherwise how can he face the joint attack of the two major coalition forces of Tsarist Russia and the empire at the same time? ”

Emperor Meiji replied, "Ito, I also know that we are struggling right now, but we have missed this opportunity, when will we wait for such a good opportunity?" The opportunity must not be missed, although there is a great risk that we continue to increase our troops, but it is not completely without a chance, but this time we missed, with China's heritage, once they are revived, which country in the world can make them opponents? Think about the prosperity of the Han and Tang dynasties, it was the real Ten Thousand Dynasties, almost all countries had to bow down, the longer the time dragged on, the slimmer our chances. ”

Ito Hirobumi replied: "Your Majesty, as long as the Manchu Dynasty does not collapse one day, we have a lot of opportunities, that old woman and the young emperor, they don't understand anything, the officials below are more corrupt than one another, and we are united, especially now that the Qing Kingdom has reached the edge of division, the old guy Cixi is still alive, can barely deter the princes from all walks of life, once the old woman returns to the west, the Manchu nobles will definitely not be able to deter the situation, and will inevitably fall into decline and chaos at that time, at that time, That's our best chance! ”

Emperor Meiji slowly closed his eyes and fell into deep thought, and Ito Hirobumi and Yamaguchi Aritomo stood silently below, not speaking.

After a long time, Emperor Meiji said: "Ito, Yamagu, I know your thoughts, but with diplomacy, can we hold North Korea, and how much do we need to pay?" Have you ever thought about it, and besides, now that the Chinese tiger is fierce and relies on the front of the army, they will definitely not give in easily, but now that our domestic economy has suffered serious difficulties, I am afraid that we will not be able to take anything. ”

Yama Prefecture Youpeng replied: "Your Majesty, we have discussed with Ito-kun, we will continue to send two additional divisions to Korea to maintain the balance of power in the Korean war, so that we can be sure that at the negotiation table, follow the power of the great powers, and unite with Tsarist Russia to suppress the Chinese tiger!" Ito said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, also, in the next few years, we must temporarily change our national policy, today's China is not something we can easily deal with, it is better for us to develop difficult, in the direction of the South China Sea, where there are many islands, containing rich resources, will be our focus on the future development direction!" Emperor Meiji nodded and said, "Well, roundabout tactics, I understand what you mean, you go and do it, you must handle things well!" ”

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