In the military conference hall in the Hainan Palace, the senior members of the Hainan military were still arguing fiercely over the war situation in Guangxi.

The guard officer came to report, and General Chen Fangzheng asked to see him. When Chen Zhong heard the news, a smile appeared on his face, and he knew that the opportunity he was looking forward to had finally arrived.

Chen Fangzheng came to the conference hall and immediately began his report: "Lord Wang, generals, according to our front-line intelligence, the Japanese army stationed in Taiwan and the Japanese West Sea Fleet have received orders to prepare to declare war on our Hainan!"

In addition, the British Far East Fleet has already shown signs of moving closer to Hainan, and the French fleet has also appeared in the South China Sea area. ”

Chen Zhong invited General Chen Fangzheng to sit down and asked, "General Chen, who is the commander who commands the Japanese fleet?" ”

"Back to the prince, according to front-line intelligence, the chief admiral of the West Sea Fleet this time is Rear Admiral Ito Xiangzen. This person is the second son of Admiral Ito Yuhiro, the commander who was commanding the Russo-Japanese War"

"Oh, that's kind of funny." Chen Zhong looked at Chen Fangzheng with interest and said, "General Chen, as far as I know, this Ito Xiangshan is an alumnus of you when you studied at the British Naval Academy, right?" ”

"Back to the prince, there is such a thing. After graduating from the Etajima Naval Academy in Japan, Ito continued his studies at the Royal Naval College in the United Kingdom, where I also studied.

This Ito is a standard professional soldier. During our time at school, we had contact with each other, and they had different views on Japan's war against China.

He greatly admired the remarks of Japanese politicians advocating the common prosperity of the Far East and the integration of East Asia, and he was convinced that Japan had sent troops to China purely to help China expel the Western powers.

At the same time, Ito Xiangshan also expressed that he loves China very much, and he also longs for peace. ”

After listening to Chen Fangzheng's introduction to Ito Xiangshan, Chen Zhong sighed, because he also knew something about Ito Youheng, a Japanese military soul-level figure back then, before crossing over. This man was also a standard professional soldier, and after the Russo-Japanese War, he retired due to his lack of political interest.

Now, the son of Ito Youheng, the chief general of the First Sino-Japanese War, and also a classmate of Chen Fangzheng, the commander of the navy in Hainan, is really a joke in history, and this fateful grievance seems to be a silk net that no one can get rid of.

"Back to the prince, there is also, this time the West Sea Fleet, which cooperated with Ito Xiangshan, started the war against our Hainan because of the Kodama Gentaro Division of the Army to which Taiwan belongs."

Chen Zhong knew very well that this Kodama Gentaro was concurrently serving as the governor of Taiwan at this time.

In that year, after the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan forced the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki, and Taiwan and the Penghu Islands were ceded to Japan.

In order to quickly pacify Taiwan, Japan adopted the method of suppressing and appeasing Taiwan. However, the first three governors of Taiwan, Shikinori Kayama, Katsura Taro, and Nogi Noshinori, failed to control Taiwan, and in Nogi Noshinori's view, the Japanese rulers gained more than they lost, and their military expenditures were as high as 7 million yen a year, and in addition to Taiwan's taxes, Japan also took out 12 million yuan from China's indemnity in the First Sino-Japanese War to provide military subsidies to Taiwan.

As a result of the huge expenditure, Japan not only did not get real benefits from the cession of Taiwan, but on the contrary became a heavy burden for Japan.

As a result, Japan came up with the idea of betraying Taiwan, and said that the then Prime Minister Matsukata Masayoshi was moved.

After a series of behind-the-scenes activities, it was initially decided to sell Taiwan to France for 15 million francs (100 million yen at all).

In 1898, Ito Hirobumi re-became the prime minister of Japan, and at a meeting of military and political leaders held under his auspices, Nogi Noshinori formally put forward his theory of selling Taiwan, and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also resolutely supported Japan's idea of selling Taiwan.

Gentaro Kodama stood up and spoke in disagreement, saying: "I believe that Taiwan is a barrier to southern Japan, and its military value is very great, and it cannot be sold to France. In order to get Taiwan, we spent so much effort and killed so many people. If Taiwan is sold to other countries, it will not be worth it in the long run. As for Governor Nogi's mention of Taiwan's inability to govern, I don't think it's that Taiwan is difficult to govern, but that the officials we manage are incompetent. If the Prime Minister feels that there is no governor in the government to govern Taiwan, I am willing to go. ”

As a result, Gentaro Kodama succeeded him as the governor of Taiwan. Immediately after Kodama took office, he implemented a series of new colonial measures in Taiwan: militarily, Kodama Gentaro brutally suppressed Taiwanese compatriots, he implemented the armor protection system, and implemented the law of joint sitting. Countless killings.

However, on the other hand, Kodama adopted a soft policy of adding "sugar in addition to the whip". With regard to the bad habit of opium smoking that the common people liked, it was changed from purging to "monopoly," and it also carried out activities to respect the elderly by "feasting on the old people's classics," and the "Yangwen Society" attached importance to the commendation activities of the elites who read and did business.

Economically, Kodama Gentaro implemented a monopoly system of salt, camphor, tobacco, alcohol, and opium, and wantonly exploited the Taiwanese people. In order to squeeze more oil and water from Taiwan's peasants, Kodama Gentaro promulgated the "Taiwan Cadastral Rules" and "Land Survey Rules", and organized a large number of people to re-measure the entire Taiwan's land.

Through this measurement, Taiwan's cultivated land area has doubled, and Japan's land tax revenue to Taiwan has also doubled.

What satisfies the Japanese authorities the most is that Gentaro Kodama frantically plundered all kinds of resources and materials in Taiwan, thus benefiting Japan greatly.

At that time, sugar was a very scarce commodity, and the price sometimes rose several times a day, and Taiwan's soil and climate were very suitable for growing sugarcane, so Kodama Gentaro forced Taiwanese farmers to grow sugarcane.

Every year after the sugar cane harvest, the Japanese colonial officials instructed the sugarcane farmers to make it into raw sugar, buy it all at a low price, and then ship it to Japan for fine processing, so that the price of sugar increased exponentially. Taiwan's jaggery has been continuously shipped to Japan, which has not only made the Japanese authorities make a lot of money, but also solved the employment problem of many unemployed people in Japan.

The series of colonial policies pursued by Gentaro Kodama in Taiwan made the Japanese authorities taste the sweetness, and no one ever mentioned the matter of selling Taiwan to other countries anymore.

Kodama's tenure in Taiwan lasted for more than eight years, almost the longest of all governors-general, and this year, after the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Kodama Gentaro has returned to the military department, although he is still serving as the governor of Taiwan. He was appointed at the same time as the civil affairs chief Goto Shinpei, who became the de facto ruler of Taiwan.

Chen Fangzheng continued: "This time, the army on the island of Taiwan is fighting with the West China Sea Fleet, in addition to making preparations for landing. Goto Shinpei and Kodama Gentaro also plotted to capture Fujian, but this battle plan had not yet been approved by the emperor.

In addition, the Japanese military, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sent a telegram to King Edward VII of Great Britain and invited the British Far East Fleet to join the war. The British Far East Fleet also entered a state of war against our Hainan.

King Edward VII of England ordered the British Far East Fleet, Commander of the Royal Far East Fleet, Admiral Philmantle, to deal with the military conflict between Hainan and Japan at the discretion of the British Far East Fleet. ”

Xiao Yang was a little impatient when he heard this, and said: "Lord Wang, now my Hainan is facing the pressure of large troops, and I am being attacked on all sides, and the combined strength of these surrounding troops is three or four times that of my Hainan, and my Hainan is now in danger!" How can we be good?!!! ”

Everyone was looking at Chen Zhong, and they knew that the situation in Hainan in front of them had undoubtedly fallen into the most dangerous deadlock!