"Yesterday, I received a telegram from Tang Fu, the enemy will be a future offender, the military and the people can hold on to it, and they must not be lightly abandoned,——"

Outside the curtain, the head of the household, Weng Weng, was excitedly reciting the call of Tang Jingsong, the governor of Taiwan.

"Let's quarrel, just discuss it slowly,—— Ming'er Lao Li has to reply to the draft of the Orient, the group of foxes below is clearly not coming up with countermeasures, forcing Lao Li to cut himself off in the Orient."

Looking at the noisy ministers outside the curtain, Cixi drank hot tea and sneered in her heart.

Don't look at the old man, these guys who sell their fame and reputation to brush 'Qingming', they all have a righteous face, but they just guessed the position and bottom line of the imperial court.

If the imperial court is really 'discord', when the Japanese soldiers come in, the first nineteen who pee their pants are these unashamed and shameless 'mouth battles'.

However, since the imperial court has this group of domestic dogs and keeps them to bite, sometimes the master has to endure listening to this group of dogs barking.

Because he still kept waiting for Li Hongzhang to sign a contract to return to China, he used it to divert his attention, and all the remnants of Beiyang were 'bitten to death' and 'rested', and then the imperial court could take the opportunity to reorganize the Qing Dynasty and train the army, and calmly return the military power firmly to the hands of the royal family.

Thinking of this, Cixi couldn't help but look angrily at the sitting in front of the curtain, this 'indisputable' 'own son' glanced at Zaiyan, just glanced at it, Cixi frowned and looked away.

This emperor, the government and the opposition and foreigners all praise him, but the more Cixi looks at it, the more dislike it becomes.

It's not that Guangxu has been recognized by the government and the opposition and foreigners, and he can't find any heinous faults in virtue, plus he is her sister's son, Cixi really wants to abolish him in her heart.

Toyo, Sasebo Military Port.

The sun sets, sprinkling the sea full of gold.

"Woo-"

Amid the whistle of the ship group, the mixed ship group of the Japanese Combined Fleet and the Oriental troop carriers returned to the East Ocean from the Penghu Islands after a journey of 2,500 miles in five days and five nights.

On March 10, the Japanese Army went south and landed successfully at Liangwen Port, the main island of Penghu, and easily captured the Gongbei Fort in the middle of the night.

At 4 o'clock in the morning of the 11th, the Japanese army divided into two routes, one way west to Magongcheng, and all the way south to the Yuandao Peninsula.

At noon that day, Magong City fell, and the Qing officers fled Zhu Shangpan, Zhou Zhenbang, Chen Buti and others to Yuweng Island by boat.

Guo Runxin, the defender of the Yuandao Peninsula, did not have the courage to resist to the death, and led Guo Junshan with the Haiqian Battalion, the fifth battalion was in charge of Ouyang Lian, and the Qing army of nearly 1,000 people who defended the island surrendered.

The officers and generals of the Qing army on Yuweng Island saw the Japanese flag erected in the Fengkou Cave on the Yuandao Peninsula in the east, and knew that the main island of Penghu had all fallen, so they immediately fled from Yuweng Island in small boats.

Fled to Xiamen, the island of Taiwan.

The entire Penghu Islands easily fell into the hands of the Japanese army.

After the Japanese army occupied Penghu, the 'Penghu Administrative Office' was set up in Magongcheng on the 12th, with Rear Admiral Tanaka Tsunatsune as the chief of the administrative department, and the army infantry Nao Sashi Suizhi as the deputy commander.

The 'Penghu Administrative Department' immediately posted notices throughout Penghu to 'Anmin'.

The commander of the mixed detachment of the Japanese army in the south, Yoshiki Osabu Hishijima, announced: "This army has come here on an expedition to ask the Qing country to break the crime of the alliance." The matter is a matter of diplomatic relations, and there is no interference with you and other people. Those who can show their deference and do not resist our army will not only avoid being killed, but also ask about the suffering of the people and take shelter. You should deeply understand this meaning, work prudently, and do not panic and escape. ”

Tanaka Tsunada, the 'head of the Administration Agency', often ordered the production of a large number of 'Shunmin Certificates', which were issued to the islanders who were 'respectful' to go to the Magong 'Administration' to collect them.

On the afternoon of the 15th, two Toyo-built cruisers with a displacement of 1,500 tons and a maximum horsepower of only 1,622 horsepower (5,400 for Matsushima, 659 for the Banjo gunboat sunk by the Hokuyo Naval Division, and 15,968 for Yoshino) were left in the Combined Fleet, and the rest of the group set sail for the return trip.

At this time, one letter was sent from Weihaiwei Military Port to the Hiroshima base camp.

'On the night of the 18th of the Western calendar, an American merchant ship from Tianjin to Hong Kong, the Hawaii, passed through the Beitangji Waterway at the mouth of the Bohai Sea, lost four small boats, and more than 20 Qing men were missing on board; Suspicious. ’

Because the content of the telegram seemed to be 'unspecified', the army major Sayoshi Matsuryo Weiying, who was in charge of the telegram, did not reach the Adjutant Yamamoto Gonbei, the adjutant of the Minister of the Navy, but was directly forwarded to the Sasebo Naval Guard's Office.

At the Sasebo Telegraph Office, who had just received the telegram, Navy Captain Tetsujiro Tsuchiya, who was holding the telegram, was still thinking about whether this inexplicable telegram should be presented to Shikinori Kayama, the Minister of Military Command.

Or more troublesome, forward to the 2nd Army of the Dalian Bay Army.

I heard the whistle from the south.

Through the window of the telegraph office halfway up the mountain, Tetsujiro Tsuchitani saw that Matsushima, the flagship of the Combined Fleet, was slowly sailing into the Sasebo Naval Port at the southern entrance channel.

On the dock of the military port, a large number of navies ran to the dock when they heard the sound, and Tetsujiro Tsuchiya clearly saw that Admiral Shikiki Kayama was leading a group of generals to the dock.

"I don't know how it went, it must be a big victory! In this time of celebration, these boring telegrams should not disturb the generals for the time being. ”

Tetsujiro Tsuchiya muttered to himself, casually throwing this telegram that might change the fate of the Chinese and Japanese troops in southern Liaoning into a drawer.

That night, Sasebo was jubilant, and the Minister of Naval Command, Shikinori Kayama, and the commander of the Combined Fleet, Shosuke Ito, raised their glasses in celebration.

That is, the Battle of Penghu, and the signing of the Qing-Japanese armistice agreement.

According to the contents of it, it is expected that in the near future, Keelung, Lushun, and Dalian in southern Taiwan will become new strongholds for the imperial navy to dominate the East Asian seas.

Then, relying on the huge amount of war reparations, the Imperial Navy will definitely sail high and enter the club of world maritime hegemony and occupy a place.

March 21 of the Western calendar, Oriental Maguan.

The Japanese contract manuscript stipulates the response date.

On the morning of the same day, in front of the bedside of the Receiving Temple, Li Hongzhang complained to Luo Fenglu about the manuscript of the handwritten reply.

The contents of his reply were divided into four items: Korean independence, land concession, military expenses, and trade rights, and he replied to the Japanese army's draft one by one.

Except for the recognition of the first article of the DPRK's independence, Li Hongzhang refuted the other three points.

As for the second article proposed by the Japanese side, 'China will cede the southern part of Shengjing Province, the whole island of Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to the Oriental Kingdom forever; ’

Li Hongzhang retorted and revealed: "When Dongyang went to war with China, he ordered his envoy to proclaim to all countries: 'I am fighting with China, and the one who is fighting for the independence of Korea is not greedy for China's land. Now it has reversed itself, and it is not the act of a civilized and axiomatic state! ”

Subsequently, Li Hongzhang 'sincerely' admonished the Oriental government: "If you rely on the strength of the time and the situation is demanded, the Chinese subjects will inevitably have the courage to lie down and fight for revenge." ”

With regard to Article 3's 'China will compensate Japan for 30,000 taels of silver in its military treasury,' Li Hongzhang said "categorically": "The amount claimed is called military expenses, which seems to refer to the expenses for the current use of troops. In addition, the annual compensation fee is limited, and the interest calculation is reinstated, which is too heavy and unfair, and it is difficult to comply. ”

Li Hongzhang retorted to Article 4 of the 'right to trade, tax exemption, and gold': "If China is allowed to manufacture local goods in China, it is bound to take away the livelihood of the small people, and it is extremely obstructive to the manufacturing plants set up by Chinese businessmen, and the state cannot help but protect them." If China grants such benefits to the East, and all the countries of the West help the same thing, the manufacturing plants of the Chinese merchants will be immediately overthrown. - This cannot be allowed. ”