For this reason, the Qing court immediately issued an edict, declaring: "The place of birth is under the jurisdiction of China, and Japan will not be allowed to watch it." www.biquge.info He also informed the countries that Lin Yizhe had been sent to "lead the steamship army to the platform to patrol the plateau to check the situation and prevent the sun from sending troops." Li Henian's note to Saigo Congdao with a strong attitude is completely consistent with the "spirit" of the edict. Subsequently, Britain, France, the United States, and other countries also sent notes to the Qing court, expressing their disapproval of Japan's actions.

The concepts of "Fandi" and "hinterland" in the "World View" must be subordinated to territorial sovereignty under the "World View". This was the first time that the Qing court made the clearest statement that Taiwan was Chinese territory, and after learning the news, the Japanese side became obviously hesitant to send troops to Taiwan.

When the news reached Saigo Shomichi's hometown of Kagoshima Prefecture, many people began to worry about the serious consequences of this risky military operation.

Listening to Kirino Toshiaki's not worry-free words, Saigo Takamori did not show any concern at all, but raised his glass and took a long sip of sake.

"If Saigo-kun is cautious enough and does not have a head-on contact with the Qing army, there should be no danger." Shinohara Kunigan on the side said, "The Qing government will not want to go to war with Japan. ”

"Yes." Saigo Kobei, the younger brother of Saigo Congdao, also said, "With the consistent attitude of the Qing government, as long as my brother does not come into contact with the people of the Qing country, and only fights with Shengfan, and does not give the Qing government the excuse to interfere, the Qing government will not directly send troops, at most, it will send troops to deter and force my brother to withdraw the army." ”

The speculation of Shinohara, Kunigan and Saigo Kobinge, was actually quite correct, and Li Henian, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, who was strong against Japan, fully supported Lin Yizhe to bring ships into Taiwan, and at the same time, he also played the imperial court, suggesting that war with Japan should not be taken lightly: "...... If the Japanese soldiers disturb the hinterland of Taiwan, they should be the superintendent of the town, encourage the corps, and work together to block and suppress. If you only take revenge on the Ryukyus refugees in the name of killing the Ryukyu refugees, you should follow the theory of the contract and not be silent and punished, so as not to provoke yourself. ......"Li Henian's attitude can be said to represent the thoughts of many officials in the center of the Qing court. Through a series of negotiations with the Qing Dynasty government such as the Ryukyu Incident, the Japanese had thoroughly figured out the temper of the Qing Dynasty officials, and only then did they have such a view.

"I'm afraid not necessarily." Saigo Takamori put down his glass and shook his head.

"Why did Mr. Nanzhou say that?" Toshiaki Kirino asked.

"Taiwan, unlike Korea and the Ryukyus, is not a vassal state of the Qing State, but a territory directly under the central government! Moreover, it is so close to the rich southeast coastal area of the Qing Dynasty, and our country has taken such a risk to enter Taiwan, and the Qing State will certainly not sit idly by! Saigo Takamori said quietly, "Let North Korea not take it, but take Taiwan, the government is stupid and stupid to this point!" Even if it is the decay of the Qing Kingdom, it will not do such a thing, right?! ”

Hearing that Saigo Takamori actually compared the Japanese government with the decadent and sluggish Qing government that they looked down on so much, Kirino Toshiaki and the others couldn't help but change color.

"His Majesty the Emperor appointed Saigo-kun as the 'Great Commander of the Emperor' this time, and he should have been instigated by some traitors!" Toshiaki Kirino said hatefully.

"It's a pity that Brother Congdao didn't realize the treacherous conspiracy in this!" Saigo Kobei also said.

"I heard that before Saigo-kun set out on the expedition, His Majesty the Emperor personally summoned Jiamian and gave him a sword, which shows that His Majesty the Emperor has great favor to Saigo-kun and attaches great importance to this expedition." Shinohara Kunigan was more serious than the others, "Even if Saigo-kun really had a conflict with the Qing people, His Majesty the Emperor should not blame him." After all, Saigo-kun is serving the country and expanding the territory. ”

"In short, this dispatch of troops to Taiwan is a senseless adventure, and there is no joy in victory, and there are worries in defeat." Saigo Takamori took another sip of sake and sighed, "It's a pity that Congdao refuses to listen to my advice." It doesn't matter if he dies himself, the warriors of the feudal clan who followed him to Taiwan will be pitiful if they are not allowed to return to their hometowns. ”

Listening to Saigo Takamori's words of lamenting those lower-level samurai of the Satsuma Domain, several people in the room couldn't help but be relatively silent.

Of course, they knew that Saigo Takamori left the Meiji central government and returned to his hometown not only because the proposal to "conquer Korea" was vetoed, but another important reason was that he was dissatisfied with the Meiji government's policies that were detrimental to the interests of the lower-ranking samurai!

Saigo Takamori was very sympathetic to the misery of the lower-ranking samurai after the Meiji Restoration. In a letter requesting relief from the Satsuma Domain's government for relief from a soldier who had participated in the War of the Shogunate, he wrote: "When the situation of life and death is imminent, it is like a personal property, and when the matter is decided, it is immediately discarded, which affects morality and righteousness." One of his widely circulated poems wrote: "After several bitter and bitter aspirations, the husband is full of shame." Do the bereaved members of the family know that they do not buy beautiful fields for their children and grandchildren. Because he was not accustomed to the fact that many high-ranking officials of the Meiji government were chasing fame and fortune, poor and extravagant, he accused them of forgetting their righteousness for the sake of profit and betraying the original intention of the reformers.

Saigo Takamori's personal character has always been admired in Japan. It was on these internal issues that Saigo Takamori had a conflict with Okubo Ritsu and others. Despite their contradictions, Saigo Takamori and Okubo Toshimichi realized that in order to establish a modern state and extricate Japan from the semi-colonial crisis, it was necessary to eliminate feudal separatism and establish a centralized state power. From 1871 onwards, they continued to unite under this goal and made every effort to reform the abolition of feudal prefectures. In July 1872, Saigo Takamori was appointed General of the Army and Governor of the Guards. In July of the following year, the government promulgated five documents, including the "Regulations on Land Taxation Reform", to implement the land tax reform that reformed the feudal land ownership system and established the modern land system. Around this time, the government also carried out a number of bourgeois reforms politically, economically and militarily. Saigo presided over and participated in these reforms, and although he did not make any special achievements in the content of the reforms, it should be said that he commanded the military forces and ensured the smooth progress of the reforms with the backing of force, which should be said to be his unique contribution. Saigo Takamori, Okubo Ritsu, and Kido Takayoshi are known as the "Three Heroes of the Restoration" for their roles and contributions to the Restoration of the Shogun.

Japan's Meiji Restoration was actually a process of redistribution of resources and power, in which some of the old rights holders would inevitably lose their original resources and power; The concept of Restoration, to apply the theory of management, is actually a process of flattening management. A part of the middle strata will inevitably be eliminated, that is, a process of squeezing from the top and bottom strata to the middle strata, and the power and resources that will eventually be deprived of this middle will be redistributed to the highest and lowest groups, so that both management and production will reach a new equilibrium. For example, the essence of the "rebellion" is to deprive the Western colonizers of their resources and privileges in Japan and use them for Japan's own use. However, compared to Japan at that time, the Western colonizers were very powerful, and even powerful feudal clans such as Satsuma Choshu were deeply aware that they could not compete with them behind enemy lines, and if they insisted on depriving them of their resources in Japan, it was very likely that they would be completely defeated by these powerful countries, and even sovereignty, that is, the right of their own government to allocate their own national resources, would be completely lost. It would therefore be better to recognize their presence in Japan, or even to form an alliance with them, in exchange for their support and the necessary military-technical assistance, in order to obtain higher resources for development (the so-called "development of productive forces") and the ability to squeeze other strata (to fall under their support); The essence of the "downfall" is to point the finger at the shogun class below the emperor and above the princes, depriving him of his privileges, territories, and the resources he has and the power to distribute resources; After the success of the "downfall", the "abolition of the feudal domain and the county" was equivalent to cutting this knife at the princes again, depriving them of resources and power. However, further military reforms have made ordinary civilians have the rights and obligations to serve as soldiers, so that more people have a sense of honor and promotion opportunities for loyalty to the country, which is equivalent to this sword slashing at the lower-ranking samurai. If you want to talk about betrayal, the princes and low-ranking samurai who have made great efforts in the process of the fall of the curtain have all been betrayed by the new government!

Saigo Takamori himself was actually very much in favor of the new military system, and he knew that from a public point of view, the new system would make Japan stronger. But from a private point of view, it's hard to say. The princes had contributed to the downfall, and after their resources and power were deprived, they could become new chaebols and landlords, even if they could not live the luxurious and corrupt life before, at least their livelihood was not to be worried; And those low-level samurai, they are very numerous, as individuals, they have not many resources, and if they are deprived of the privilege of joining the army, it is equivalent to having no food and clothing. Saigo Takamori did not hesitate to cut his samurai sword at the shogunate and feudal lords, but he hesitated when it came to the large number of low-ranking samurai who had always supported and defended him. Saigo Takamori could not forget these comrades-in-arms who fought side by side with him, so in the initial stage of military reform, he made efforts to increase the number of guards with the lower rank of samurai as the main body, in order to give these former comrades-in-arms a place to stay. However, the establishment of the Guards is also limited. Although Saigo Takamori himself was very generous, whenever a Satsuma samurai came to him, if he could not solve their personal problems, he would let him use them at the cash drawer at the door. However, this money did not solve the fundamental problem after all, and it also made him politically jealous.

In order to solve this problem, Saigo Takamori came up with a solution to expand externally, "making up for the lack of embankment within the embankment", allowing the low-ranking samurai to invade other countries and obtain new privileges and new resources from the people of the new territory and other countries. For the sake of a small country like Japan, in fact, this is indeed a way out. But that's easier said than done.