"Our troops did not come to your cities and lands as conquerors and enemies, but as liberators...... We have come here not to impose on you Gentile institutions, what our politics hope for is ...... It should be as prosperous as it was in the past...... It is our hope that the inspiration of your philosophers and writers will be realized, when people should flourish again and enjoy their wealth and material ...... to the fullest under the harmonious manufacture protected by the divine imperial constitution."

In the thirtieth year of Kaihong, Emperor Kaihong went to the compatriots of the four provinces of Dongying

Eight months ago, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the last rebel contingent was exterminated in Kitahonshu (the island of Honshu was divided into two after the union) and thousands of rebels were executed.

Now peace has finally returned to the lives of 20 million people in the four provinces of Dongying. After the signing of the Sino-Japanese Treaty two years ago, it was opposed by many people, but for the vast majority of ordinary Japanese people, they welcomed it.

After all, in the past thirty years, for ordinary Japanese people, they wanted to change their barren life, the only way was to go to the imperial colonies as laborers, where they could live a better life, and later, many young Japanese men went to the imperial African colonies for another reason - there was no suitable age to marry, and in thirty years, more than 10 million young women married Chinese (Chinese), and they married as far away as Africa and other imperial colonies. Leaving behind tens of millions of young men on their homeland who could not find wives, the African colonies, where the empire was most lax, were the best choice, whether for a better life or to pass on their families. Millions of Japanese youths migrated to Africa, where they worked as indentured laborers to play the role of managers on the farms of their countrymen, managing the "black laborers" and marrying black women, and after ten years of work, they would take their wives and children to buy or rent a piece of land and settle in Africa.

If the Chinese have changed Africa, then the Japanese are undoubtedly their best helpers, after all, more than 8 million Japanese immigrants and their indigenous wives and children, consisting of tens of millions of honorary Chinese, have always been China's best assistants in African rule. Now, with the Sino-Japanese Union, these immigrants from the four provinces and their children who have long been naturalized automatically obtain the status of Chinese, but their indigenous wives are still "honorary Chinese", which is determined by the colonial laws of the empire.

For the less than 30 million people in Japan proper, the Chinese status allowed them to move freely to any of the imperial colonies, receive the same treatment as the Chinese, obtain a piece of land of varying size under the Colonial Homestead Law, and, of course, more importantly, marry an indigenous wife. This is the dream of the vast majority of young men in the four provinces, as well as North Korea and Vietnam, and when their daughters grow up, their dreams will become that they will marry Chinese.

Of course, this is just the dream of ordinary people, and for some worried scholars, what they see is an aging province - the departure of tens of millions of young people has directly led to the country falling to the brink of collapse, and in many places only the old people remain, some towns, and even no children have been born for many years, Japan ...... They are gradually aging, and even dying.

But despite this, for the upper class of Japan, there is no slightest impact, such as Edo, Nagasaki, Hiroshima and other cities, is still very prosperous - while a large number of Japanese people moved out, millions of China moved into Japan in the past three decades, they brought new livelihoods to Japan, perhaps now the rural areas of the four provinces have fallen into unprecedented decline due to population loss, but the cities are prosperous, but this prosperity belongs to the Chinese, of course, now it also belongs to them, Belong to the people of the four provinces.

In thirty years, the four provinces have undergone fundamental changes, thirty years ago, when Chinese people came here, they still needed to find monks or scholars as interpreters, and now, in the city, it is almost impossible to hear anyone speak Japanese, and people have become accustomed to speaking Chinese.

This is true for both nobles and commoners!

Just after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Edo, the capital of Minami Honshu Province, was once again lit up and lit up as a city that never sleeps, and Edo was prosperous, and even in the four provinces, Edo has always been called "Little Shanghai", indeed, to some extent, this is indeed a small Shanghai, there are thousands of factories like Shanghai, hundreds of thousands of workers live in the factories, and there is the same rich nightlife as Shanghai, even more than Shanghai.

Just like a ball, it was in Edo fifteen years ago when the ball first became popular in Shanghai, and today there are hundreds of dance halls of all sizes that attract people from all walks of life in Edo City.

For many ordinary people in Edo, perhaps their greatest dream is to climb the stairs of the Rokumeikan and attend the dance there, a three-story Chinese-style building built 20 years ago and a symbol of civilization with its special material (reinforced concrete), which was once a place for the execution of officials and officers stationed in Japan, and is now a gathering place for the upper class of Edo society.

As a sixteen-year-old Meihui, she and her father Li Zhaowu climbed the stairs of the Luming Pavilion together to participate in the dance held here tonight. Although her current surname is Lee, she is the only direct heir of the Mito Tokugawa family, and in the future she will inherit the title of her father, Count Mito, unlike the emperor who received the title of imperial prince, the Tokugawa family in addition to the title of the prince of the own family, most of the relatives only received the title of earl and below, and there were 350,000 stone fiefdoms of the Mito family who were canonized as earls, and as for the four relatives under the door, they only received lower titles.

For all this, Li Mihui didn't care, the only thing she cared about now was this ball, there was nothing more important than this ball, for her who had just returned to Edo from the imperial capital, this would be her first time stepping into Edo's social circle.

Under the bright lights, on both sides of the wide staircase, there are two hedges made of peony gardens, which are so large that they look like artificial fake flowers. At the end of the hedge made of potted plants, in the dance hall above the steps, the cheerful orchestral music kept wafting over.

As the heir to the title, Mie had already learned Chinese at an early age, and six years ago, at the age of ten, like many Japanese noble ladies, she went to the imperial capital to be educated in Imperial Village with the princess and the noble ladies of the empire, where she was trained in dance, attended the royal village ball, and even danced with the ninth prince at this year's New Year's ball, and this news was even in the Edo newspaper.

Even his father, who has always been obsessed with Hebang, was actually quite excited after learning the news, and even that photo was hung at home by his father - perhaps, not every Japanese agrees with Hebang, but in the eyes of every Japanese, the imperial family is undoubtedly the most noble group in the world, just like two years ago, in the face of some nobles and feudal towns to resist Hebang, after the crown prince personally visited, they all chose to surrender without exception, even if they were resistants, but also after polite refusal, Give the crown prince a respectful gift. Because of this, being able to dance with members of the royal family is naturally an honor for Meihui, of course, if she can, it is worth it to be able to marry into the royal family, even as a side concubine, but Meihui knows that it will not be her fate, because the side concubine of the Nine Emperor Princes has long been selected, and in the end she returned to Japan.

Although I had attended many proms when I was in Tsarkohars, it was only a prom between the students of Tsarkoharson School, and tonight was the first time in my life that I officially participated in the prom. So in the car, answering the questions that her father asked from time to time, Emi was always a little absent-minded. Her heart is even more up and down, it can also be said that there is a little nervousness and a little expectation in the excitement.

By the time the car stopped in front of the Shikameikan, she had anxiously looked up at the window and watched the nightless sky on the streets of Edo flash before her eyes.

When she first entered the Luming Pavilion, she encountered an incident that made her forget her anxiety. Halfway up the stairs, I caught up with a high-ranking Chinese official. The high-ranking official politely turned his body sideways, letting their father and daughter pass first, and looked at Meihui with his eyes stupid. Meihui was wearing a pink dress, which was a popular style in the imperial capital, clearly outlining her green but feminine lines, which only made her whole person look delicate. Her body is sprayed with the most popular perfume in the imperial capital, and her whole body exudes bursts of fragrance - needless to say, Meihui's abundance shows the beauty of Japanese girls after civilization and civilization to the fullest, enough to attract the attention of any man.

After the father and daughter walked upstairs. In front of the dance hall on the second floor, the host of today's ball, the prefect, wearing several medals on his chest, stood side by side with a lady dressed in Han style, and greeted the guests gracefully and elegantly. In Japan, no, in the four provinces, it is very simple to distinguish the native of the empire from the natives, just look at the height. When the provincial governor, who was half a head taller than his father, saw Meihui, there was a trace of exclamation on his face in an instant.

Even this admiration of appreciation did not escape Meihui's eyes - in the royal village, as a nobleman of the outer domain, she had to learn to read people's faces. Her father, smiling and happily, introduced his daughter to the governor and his wife. Mie, on the other hand, is half shy, half expectant, from now on, she has officially entered Edo's social circle, and the news will be published in the Edo newspaper tomorrow.

The dance hall is also full of blooming peonies, which are beautiful. Moreover, there are celebrities and ladies waiting to be invited to dance, and their lace, flowers and ivory fans are like silent waves surging in the refreshing smell of perfume. Mie soon leaves her father and walks into the flamboyant woman's pile. This small group of people, all girls of the same age, wore the same pale blue or rose red dress. These ladies welcomed Mei Hui's arrival, and in their eyes, Mei Hui, who had just returned from the imperial capital, was undoubtedly a symbol of fashion, and they shouted and chirped like birds, praising her for how charming and beautiful she was tonight.

The compliments of her friends made Mi Hui feel so proud that she even wanted to write to her friends to tell her about what had happened here today, but then she dismissed the idea, because her good friend was the princess of the Empire, fifteen-year-old Princess Ning Shu, and the two of them were roommates at school.

Just as Emi was enjoying the compliments of her friends, a Imperial officer who had never met before walked quietly, he was wearing a beautiful and straight black officer's dress, although he was very young, but his rank was not low, the rank of lieutenant colonel, his movements were polite, and when he walked in front of them, he bowed his head slightly.

"Hello, Miss!"

Mie felt a red cloud creep up her cheeks. The meaning of this bow, no need to ask, of course she understands. So he turned around and handed the fan in his hand to the girl standing aside. At this time, a smile appeared on the imperial officer's face, and he looked at her and asked in Chinese with some Henan accent:

"Miss, can you enjoy the light and dance?"

Faced with the invitation of the young Imperial officer, Mie did not refuse, and soon accepted the invitation, and soon danced a waltz with the Imperial Lieutenant Colonel officer to the beat of the music.

While dancing, Mie looked at the officer, his face tanned by the scorching sun, but his appearance was well-shaped, well-defined, and his beard was heavy; Mie put her long-gloved hand on the left shoulder of her partner's uniform, but because of the height disparity, she looked a little struggling. The officer, who had long been familiar with this kind of scene, skillfully led her and danced lightly in the crowd. From time to time, he whispered words of praise in her ear.

In the face of his compliment, Mie returned these gentle words with a shy smile, while occasionally looking around the ballroom. Purple crepe drapery, emblazoned with the coat of arms of the Empire, flanked by the flag of the Empire, everywhere the emblem of the Empire is everywhere.

On the dance floor, people dance happily as the music rises and falls, and under the temptation of orchestral music, people spin around all the time, dazzling. Mie and a friend who is dancing meet their eyes, and in a hurry, they send each other a happy look.

Finally, when the song was over, a somewhat breathless Mie walked out of the dance floor under the guidance of the young officer, and just as she wanted to say thank you, Mie looked up and saw the glittering light in the young officer's eyes, and he smiled at Mie and said.

"Beautiful young lady, do I know your name?"

"My name is Li Meihui, sir, but it seems a little rude that you didn't introduce yourself first."

The young officer immediately straightened up and struck lightly, bowing slightly.

"Miss Li, my name is Yuan Shikai, I don't know if I have the honor to invite Miss Meihui to dance again!"

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