"However, as far as I know, there are already people who are actively preparing for the dispatch of troops to Taiwan. www.biquge.infoHirobumi Ito stared into Shigenobu Okuma's eyes, "You can't be unaware, right?" ”

"Wouldn't it be nice to keep them some hope?" Okuma Shigenobu smiled and said, "If they want to prepare, they will prepare, but ......" He met Ito Hirobumi's sharp gaze, "If you want to start a war with the Qing Kingdom, I will never allow it!" ”

Hirobumi Ito couldn't help but laugh out loud when he understood why Shigenobu Okuma was in a hurry to know the news of Yanagihara Maemitsu.

"It's a pity that they were played with by your Okuma-kun, and they didn't know it."

"In order to build a strong Japan, these are just means of dealing with unexpected situations." Okuma Shigenoru said.

"Okuma-kun, how do you think Japan, as an emerging country, can not become a colony like India and Burma? What can be done to turn Japan into a great power? Hirobumi Ito asked.

"If Japan wants to become strong, it must build its own industry and complete the industrialization of Japan! In this way, Japan will have the strength to compete with the world's powers! It is possible not to become a colony! Shigenobu Okuma firmly gave his answer, "In order to build Japan into a strong Western-style country, no matter how hard work and hard work I put in, I have no regrets!" ”

Hearing Shigenobu Okuma say such a thing, a hint of admiration appeared in Ito's eyes. He recalled the ups and downs that the two of them had experienced in the process of building the railway, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion, the current situation was not easy to come by.

Because Shigenobu Okuma has been studying orchid for many years, when it comes to modern industrialization, the ideas of Okuma and others can be said to be valuable. After Okuma came to power, he focused on promoting Japan's "industrial development" policy. Okuma proposed the establishment of a trade department to be in charge of foreign trade, finance, shipping, and commerce, and Okuma's proposal was approved. However, the establishment of the Department of International Trade and Commerce caused a power struggle within the Rapid Changers, and the new feudal lords such as Ito Hirobumi were dissatisfied with Okuma's efforts to reach out everywhere and vied for power. In order to ease the power struggle. Okuma immediately proposed the creation of the Ministry of Industry. The Department of International Trade was limited to the commercial sector, and the Ministry of Industry was put in charge of modern industrial construction. In 1870, the Ministry of Industry was formally established. Since its establishment, the Ministry of Industry has become one of the most important ministries in Japan. The entire new Japanese government was completely controlled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Secretary of State for Okubo Toshitsu), Ministry of Finance (Secretary of State for Shigenobu Okuma), and Ministry of Industry (Secretary of State for Hirobumi Ito). And Ito Hirobumi is also known as the "deputy minister".

Okuma's accession to the Ministry of Finance, coupled with the Ministry of Industry presided over by Hirobumi Ito, marked a significant increase in the power of the Radical Changers in the government. The radical reformers were in power and immediately began to implement their own policies, and the Ministry of Industry and Industry was building various modern industries in various places and pushing forward with the industrialization plan at a rapid pace. Call for foreign teachers. Engage in industry. For a time, the voice of Western-style industries in various places was loud, and the "foreign leap forward" swept Japan. In order to achieve political success, the Radical Changers, after some planning, decided to start a new thing - a railway. Kido and others openly opened up public opinion, saying, "Railways are the weapons of civilization." Only by laying railways in the whole country can the Quartet be civilized. ”

In fact, before the radical faction decided to build a railway, there was actually a certain amount of research on railways in Japan. When Manjiro Chubin gave a lecture at Kaisei (Satsuma no Rangaku Domain), he first mentioned railways and trains. July 18, 1853. Only one month after Perry's voyage, Vice Admiral Pugartin of the Imperial Russian Navy led four large warships into the port of Nagasaki. Pugarting was instructed to negotiate with the shogunate about supplies. At that time, the Saga Domain, who was in charge of the garrison of Nagasaki Port, as a representative of the Japanese side, went on board the ship to negotiate with Pugartin. On Pugartin's ship. The Japanese saw a model train. This model is powered by burning alcohol. The Russians performed a model train run for the Japanese on the spot. At that time, the Japanese were "dumbfounded" when they saw the scene of this small train running. Among the entourage of the Saga clan were two technicians of the Saga domain, Tafu Motoshima and Kisuke Nakamura. The main island was a musket forger of the Saga Domain. Nakamura was the head of the refining side of the Saga Domain at the time. After studying the model, the two returned to the Saga Domain to report to Naomasa Nabeshima, the lord of the domain. Naomasa Nabeshima was originally fond of orchidism, so he ordered the construction of this thing.

In 1855, the Saga clan built a model alcohol steam locomotive on its own. And the trial was successful, reaching a speed of 30 kilometers per hour. The product of the Saga clan was the first known steam train in Japan. In 1858, Britain demonstrated its trains for use in China in Nagasaki. Its excellent carrying capacity greatly stimulated the Japanese. Subsequently, the shogunate also drew up plans to build a railway. In 1869, just after the end of the Restoration. At the Chinuma Coal Mine in Hokkaido, the Japanese used rails for the first time. At that time, the rails were made of wooden iron rails, and oxen and horses were used as the driving force. But it can already be counted as the first railway system. After Hokkaido's attempts, the Rapid Changers believed that railways were of great benefit. Originally, the shogunate had a national railway plan, but it was unable to implement it. But now the Restoration government has enough strength to carry it out. So the construction of the railway was naturally put on the agenda. The Radicals believe that all countries in Asia today have become colonies, with the exception of Thailand and Japan. In order to prevent Japan from becoming a colony, Japan should learn from the West. However, the people in China are very conservative, and the laying of railways can make them see the strength of Europe and the United States, so that they can abandon their conservative ideas. Therefore, the laying of railways is imperative. In addition, although shipping was developed at that time, it was possible to improve the efficiency of land transportation. This is a great thing for national reunification. So in the 3rd year of the Meiji era, Okuma and Ito jointly came forward to persuade Minori Sanjo to open up the project through the railway. When the news came out, there was an immediate group discussion. The Slow Progressives were unanimously opposed. Saigo Takamori, the leader of the Slow Progress faction, was originally going to rebel against Okuma, and at this time he loudly condemned Okuma and others as "wasteful". Okubo and Okuma's old comrade-in-arms, Sokuma Tanetomi, also vehemently opposed the matter. Even the military disagreed, considering that the extremely important military mapping required in the construction of the railway could lead to leaks. In the private sector, because the productive forces were still underdeveloped at that time, a lot of iron was needed for railway construction, and public opinion believed that this would lead to a shortage of iron tools in the private sector. In addition, iron, which is the raw material of the katana as a symbol of the samurai, is being used as a railroad track for the train to "step on" this time, and many diehards cannot accept this. It was at this time that the national daimyo unanimously returned the copyright. The government took over more than 24 million in debt. Fiscal difficulties are excruciating. Okuma was not happy to let the government take the lead in building the railroad at this time. It is advocated that the government should guide private capital to build railways. And letting private capital build it will cause another trouble. As early as 1867, during the shogunate era, Portman, an official of the U.S. Consulate, had obtained a permit from the shogunate to build a railroad. This permission stated that the shogunate would only provide the land, and that the United States would take care of the rest. After the fall of the shogunate, the U.S. minister took the opportunity to demand that the new government honor his permission. On the other hand, several British capitalists set their sights on this railway business, applied to the new government to establish a railway company, and proposed to let foreign capital build the railway. The government splits the plan. When Okuma learned about it, he refused. In particular, Okuma denounced the plans of British merchants as "an Indian-style railway plan, with the result that when the railroad went there, it became a colony," and he advocated that Japanese capital build it on its own.

Although Okuma asked Japanese capital to build it independently, Japan did not even know what a Western-style railway looked like at that time, and the huge gap in technology forced Okuma and Ito to seek technical support from foreign countries. At this time, the government was in financial difficulties, and the people were exhausted because the war had just ended. Therefore, Okuma still has to seek foreign financial assistance. While Okuma and the others were assessing the technical and economic strength of the countries to see which one was more reasonable, Okuma and his old rival, the British Minister Parkes, did not know how to get the news, and Parks, who was bent on making the British businessmen earn the money, had been working on the railroad company after the frustration of the railroad company's plan to blow the news to the new government. At that time, Okuma was worried about the opposition of Okubo and Vice Island. Parks' move was a great gift to your door. Okuma haggled with Parks and came to an agreement. In the end, within the radical faction, it was proposed that Britain should be involved in the construction. Okuma's view was that the United Kingdom, as the birthplace of railways and its strong economy, should be selected as a technical and financial donor. Let Britain and Japan build a joint venture to build a railway. In the end, the Radical faction passed Okuma's opinion internally. Later, Okuma and Ito began negotiations with Nelson, a British businessman introduced by Parkes, and finally agreed to borrow money from Nelson to build the railroad. At the same time, ask Nelson to help find vehicles and railroad tracks. After returning to Japan, Nelson published advertisements in newspapers to raise funds for the construction of railways in Japan. After the news was transmitted back to Japan, the whole country was in an uproar, and everyone at the time scolded Okuma and Ito and others as "traitors". The letters of impeachment and the letter of impeachment written by the Ministry of War and the House of Assemblies were piled up like a mountain. Okuma and the others, however, did not care about "public opinion" at all, and went their own way. Soon after, Maejima, Okuma's subordinate, secretly completed a railway construction plan and budget. Okuma copied the second book into the cabinet, and with his eloquence in the cabinet meeting, the cabinet passed the "Maejima Plan". Okuma then conspired with Parks to force Okubo to agree not to interfere in the construction of the railway, successfully removing the stumbling block to the construction of the railway. On the other hand, Okuma was wary of Parkes, in order to avoid the possibility of changing technology for the market, and also to promote the progress of Japanese railway technology as soon as possible. Okuma and Ito selected Katsu Inoue, a feudal priest from Choshu (Inoue specialized in railroad and mining technology when he studied in England), to be the general representative of the Japanese side. In 1870, the British railway mechanic Moren was hired. At the same time, Inoue Katsu was appointed as the head of the mine and the head of the railway. The construction of railways in Japan began in earnest.