In spite of the shogunate's best efforts, the shogunate still relied mainly on foreign purchases, such as the Mt. Fuji from the United States, the Huiten, and the Kotetsu (later the To) from France, in addition to the Netherlands. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 In this way, under the development of the navy under the shogunate ********, in just 15 years, it had 45 foreign-style warships. It was also at this time that the Yokosuka Iron Works was opened. The rapid development of foreign trade brought about by the opening up led to the intensification of domestic contradictions, which eventually developed into a campaign to discuss the curtain. Although the old shogunate collapsed and a new Meiji regime was born, devastating destruction was avoided because of the foresight of Saigo Takamori, Katsukaishu, and others. Warships, naval facilities, and coastal defense ideas were almost intact and were inherited by the Meiji government.

In August 1868, Takehiro Enomoto, the former vice-president of the Shogunate Navy, together with Keisuke Otori, Katsushizu Itakura, and Matsudaira Takei, led four warships "Kaiyo", "Huiten", "Hataryu" and "Chiyoda" and four transport ships left to the shogunate, and secretly sailed to Hakodate, occupied Goryoka, and raised the flag of rebellion. In order to quell the rebellion, the new government launched a crusade. However, these warships alone were not enough, and the Japanese government subsequently requisitioned the "Kasuga" of the Kagoshima Domain, the "Daiichi Chou" of the Yamaguchi Domain, the "Yoharu" of the Akita Domain, the "Toyoyasu" of the Hiroshima Domain, the "Boshin" of the Tokushima Domain, and the "Morrowind" of the Kurume Domain, and cooperated with the government army's "Kotetsu", "Chaoyang", and "Flying Dragon" to cooperate with the army in the battle.

"Kotetsu" was the first ironclad ship of the Japanese Navy. Built in Bordeaux, France, in 1864, with a displacement of 1,358 tons, and boasting an 11-inch (280 mm) Armstrong smoothbore gun and two 5-inch (127 mm) Armstrong guns, as well as two 6-pounder guns and two 4-pounder guns, it was a formidable and virtually unsunken warship for its time, its armored defenses could withstand direct hits from shells of the time without much damage, and its well-turned turrets could defeat any wooden ship.

The ship changed hands several times between the Confederacy, France, and Denmark before being sold to the Tokugawa shogunate for $400,000 in 1867 and arriving in Japan in May 1868. At this time, Japan was in the midst of the Boshin Civil War, and the West was practicing external neutrality, and the American minister detained him in the port of Yokohama. The navies of both the old shogunate and the new government were wooden warships, so whoever gets this ironclad will have an overwhelming advantage in naval power. As a result, the remnants of the shogunate entrenched in Tohoku and the Meiji government wanted to get their hands on the ship. In February 1869, the outcome of the War was decided, and the Meiji government was about to win, and demanded that the West abolish its neutrality. On March 15, 1869, the ship was handed over to Japan and renamed the "Kotetsu" ship. With the addition of the "Armor Iron", the naval forces of the two sides were reversed, and the rebellion was soon put down. In 1871, it was renamed the Higashi and became the main force of the Japanese Navy.

Since then, the Japanese Navy has realized the importance of ironclad ships, and subsequently purchased a small 2,850-ton ironclad ship "Ryuchamp" from the British shipyard in Aberdeen. Compared to the "East", the "Longxiang" has more firepower than the "East", which has 2 doors of 6.5 inches (165 mm) and 10 doors of 5.5 inches (140 mm). Together, these two ironclad ships became the main force of the Japanese Navy.

And as Saigo said, the Chinese navy started later than Japan, although there is a faint tendency to catch up. But now, the most powerful warships of the Chinese Navy are only the 2,000-ton "Weiyuan"-class fast gunboats and the "Peshuo Princess" cruiser purchased (in fact, as a gift) from the British. These warships are all unprotected warships with iron ribs and wooden hulls, and their firepower can be comparable to that of Japan's two ironclad ships, but the protection is absolutely incomparable!

"I see what Saigo-kun means." "But Saigo-kun, what do you think Japan can gain from this war?" Reparations or land? ”

"Land!" Saigo replied loudly and confidently, "That is, the land occupied by the students of Taiwan Island!" Those are places that the Qing government cannot control, and they will all become colonies of the empire! ”

"The Qing Dynasty gave up those lands so easily? Saigo-kun? Hirobumi Ito asked, "Taiwan is not Ryukyu!" ”

"But the Qing government itself said that they can't control the life there! This is our best chance! Saigo shouted from the road, "When the Qing government realizes the mistake they have made, it will be too late for us to act!" ”

"Saigo-kun is really a 'major general's talent'." Seeing that he couldn't say how to move Saigo, Hirofumi Ito let out a deep sigh.

Hearing this, Saigo, who was already a lieutenant general of the army, showed anger again in his eyes, but because of the purpose of this trip and the prestige of Ito Hirobumi, he held back his anger and did not attack.

The allusion to this "talent of a major general" comes from the early years of the Meiji Restoration, when Masajiro Omura was assassinated and Aritomo Yamaguchi became Daisuke of the military department. One day, Yamayama Youpeng asked Saigo's elder brother Saigo Takamori: "What is the level of your brother's talent from the Tao?" Saigo Takamori replied casually: "He can be a major general." ”

Soon after, the Ministry of War appointed Saigo as a major general of the army. Saigo Takamori was taken aback when he heard the news, and said: "When I say that Congdao can be a major general, I mean that he can achieve the level he can reach in the future after studying and improving!" After this incident came out, it has been a joke among the Japanese Army.

And when Ito Hirobumi said something like that just now, he was ridiculing Saigo for being too talented from Daozhi and not listening to dissuasion.

"Xixiang-kun wants to open up Taiwan, I can't help much, I can only provide you with some useful news." Ito Hirofumi noticed the anger on Saigo's face, smiled slightly, and said.

"Ito-kun, please speak." Saigo sat there from the end of the road, changed his tone of inquiry, and asked.

"You have to pay attention to a Qing countryman, Saigo-kun, this person will most likely become your opponent." Hirofumi Ito said, "This Qing countryman's name is Lin Yizhe. ”

"Lin Yizhe?" Saigo was stunned when he heard this familiar and somewhat unfamiliar name from the road.

"Yes, this is a young man in his twenties, Saigo-kun may not remember, he once visited Europe as an envoy of the young Qing Emperor, and he just returned to the Qing Kingdom not long ago, and I heard that he has become the youngest governor of this empire." Hirobumi Ito said.

"The youngest governor?"

"Yes, of course, not the official governor, I remember that his appointment was 'nursing Fujian governor', and it should be the acting position."

"I remembered, I heard that he is Lin Zexu's grandson?"

"Yes, that's him. When I went to Europe, he happened to be in England, and I wanted to visit him, but there were so many things that didn't happen. Ito continued, with a hint of regret in his voice, "Actually, I should have met him." ”

Ito Hirobumi is talking about 1872. In that year, Japan sent a huge delegation headed by the Right Minister Iwakura Guru, including Okubo Ritsu, Kido Takayoshi, Ito Hirobumi and other national policymakers, as well as almost all the leaders of the Japanese government at that time, to inspect and travel to more than 10 countries in Europe and the United States. This expedition had a profound impact on Japan's history, and it was after this expedition that Japan decided on a strategy of "Unai management" at the expense of its neighbors.

And the first time Ito Hirobumi heard about Hayashi Yoshizhe was at this time.

"I heard that he is the maker of the 'Chinese Magic Box', and he also met stupid assassins in Paris." Saigo's voice was hard to hide his disdain, "It's hard to imagine how those people could believe such a legend. ”

"Yes! I don't believe in that either. But one thing can be proved that this young man has extremely close ties with the French royal family, and the rapid development of the Chinese navy is not unrelated to the help of the French side. Hirobumi Ito heard the contempt in Saigo's words and reminded him, "Being able to hold such an important position at such a young age shows that this person is very capable." ”

"Maybe it's just a courtier who climbed to a high position by relying on the favor of the emperor and the fame of the two women and children in Beijing." Saigo obviously didn't listen to Ito Hirobumi's words, "If he is the governor of Fujian, then we should take action." Because Taiwan is under the administrative jurisdiction of Fujian Province, such an inexperienced young man will create many favorable opportunities for us, and if it is replaced by Li Hongzhang, we may consider rescinding this action. ”

"I hope you don't despise him, he, like Li Hongzhang, is one of the few people in the Qing State who dared to declare war on the conservative forces and push for reforms in this ancient country. It's a pity that ......" I don't know what feelings were touched, there was a trace of gloom in Ito Hirobumi's eyes, "I'm afraid that in the end, it's still a useless place for heroes, everything is like a mirror, and it becomes empty!" ”

"What do you mean?" Saigo Congdao was stunned again.

"The conservative forces in the Qing State are too strong, and people like them, after setting off a little wave, will be drowned sooner or later." Hirobumi Ito sighed, "Their power is too small for Qingguo......

"In that case, I'll help them and let them end their pain as soon as possible." Saigo Congdao sneered and said, "I hope I can have the opportunity to meet this young man in Taiwan." ”

Saigo got up from the road and bowed solemnly to Ito Hirobumi: "Thank you very much for your advice!" When he had said that, he turned around and strode away without looking back.

Ito Hirobumi looked at the back of Saigo departing from the road, and shook his head with a wry smile: "The talent of the major general? I'm afraid it's not enough......"