"That is to say, looking at the Qianguo country, there is no one who can replace Lin Yizhe." Ito Hirobumi couldn't think of anyone who could take Lin Yizhe's place, and a look of hesitation flashed in his eyes.

"That's why we have to seize the time to offset the adverse impact of Hayashi Yoshizhe's legacy to Japan as soon as possible." Okubo said.

"If Mr. Haizhou refuses to go out of the mountain, who is better to be the secretary of the navy?" Hirofumi Ito shifts the conversation back to reality.

"Try Takehiro Natsumoto!" Okubo Ritsu thought for a moment and said.

Hearing Okubo's proposal to take Takehiro Natsumoto as Secretary of the Navy, Ito Hirofumi was slightly stunned, but he didn't say anything.

Natsumoto Takehiro had not previously served as secretary of the navy, mainly for "historical reasons" - Natsumoto Takehiro had been sent by the shogunate to the Netherlands to study navy, and when he returned to Japan just in time for the outbreak of the Boshin War, he was serving as the shogunate's vice president of the navy, and on January 26, 9068, he commanded the shogunate warships to shell the fleet of the Satsuma domain off the coast of Hyogo. When the shogunate entered Edo, he refused to surrender his warships, and led eight warships and part of his army all the way north to occupy Hokkaido, and in October 9068, he established the "Republic of Ezo" and assumed the position of president. And when the Restoration Army attacked Wuryok and there were still a few hundred people left in his own army, in order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices, he took the initiative to ask Kuroda Kiyotaka, a staff officer of the Restoration Army, to surrender. Natsumoto Takehiro thought that death was imminent, but unexpectedly, his talent was favored by Kuroda Kiyotaka, and not only saved his life, but also was hired exceptionally after two years in prison and became a high-ranking official of the Meiji government. But now he has resigned and gone into hiding.

"Okay." Ito Hirofumi nodded, now except for Katsu Haizhou, there are indeed not many people who can hold the important position of Secretary of the Navy, and Takehiro Natsumoto is a qualified candidate.

"Shunsuke, I want to know, what do you think if Mr. Nanzhou is invited to serve as Secretary of the Navy?" Okubo asked suddenly.

"Let Mr. Nanzhou serve as Secretary of the Navy?" Ito was taken aback.

"Yes! What do you think? Okubo raised his eyebrows as if challenged, and asked again.

"If Mr. Nanzhou is willing to go out of the mountain, of course it would be better, but if Mr. Nanzhou takes this position, I am afraid that the discussion of recruiting Han will be brought up again." Hirobumi Ito voiced his concerns.

"That's not going to happen, now he must be worried about the Qianguo Navy occupying the Ryukyus and approaching Satsuma, right?" Okubo Ritsu smiled, as if he had seen Takamori Saigo, who was in a hurry.

"Jiadong has always been concerned about Mr. Nanzhou, hasn't he?" Hirobumi Ito asked, as if he had guessed something.

"Isn't he always paying attention to me?" Okubo Ritsu sneered.

Hearing Okubo Ritsu's answer, Ito Hirobumi understood and didn't ask any more.

At that moment, a man who looked like a Japanese government official in a suit and a top hat walked in quickly and handed a thick envelope to Okubo Ritsu.

"It's really Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here!" Okubo Ritsu opened the envelope and glanced at it, and said with some amusement.

"You've seen it all, haven't you? Tell me what our venerable Mr. Nanzhou is doing now? Okubo didn't look through it right away, but asked the person who came.

The visitor glanced at Hirobumi Ito, who was sitting there, and a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes.

"Shunsuke is not an outsider, so there is no need to avoid it." Okubo understood what he was hesitating about, and waved his hand absently.

"Mr. Nanzhou took in a Qianguo person, treated him like a guest, and let this Qianguo person serve as a martial arts instructor at his private school." The messenger thought for a moment and replied.

"What kind of Qianguo person?" Okubo asked nonchalantly.

"This person, according to the report, looks very similar to Lin Yizhe, the recently deceased Minister of the Navy of the Qianguo State......" The messenger hesitated again and said.

"Looks very similar to Lin Yizhe?" Okubo's brow furrowed slightly, and he immediately reached out and rummaged through the envelope.

Soon, a sketch portrait depicted in the brushwork of a Western copper engraving appeared in front of his eyes.

Seeing the person in the portrait, Okubo's gaze couldn't help but shrink.

Hirobumi Ito also came over to watch, and when he saw the portrait, he was also surprised.

"It's really like that, isn't it...... Is it a twin brother? Hirobumi Ito blurted out.

"Our people were also suspicious, so they made a report right away." The messenger replied, "The reports were sent by coded telegram as quickly as possible. ”

"Why are they so suspicious? Just because of the looks? Okubo asked.

"Because this person is also surnamed Lin, and he is also a member of the Lin family in Fujian, his name is Lin Yiqing." The messenger said, took out a piece of paper from the envelope and showed it to Okubo Ritsu, "If it is written in the Central Plains script, it is like these three characters, according to the pronunciation of the Central Plains, the names of the two people are very close." ”

Okubo took the paper and looked at it for a while before putting it down.

"You go and inform them, and then send some capable people into Kagoshima, and pay more attention to the whereabouts of Saigo Takamori and this Lin Yiqing."

"Hay!" The messenger answered and took his leave.

Hearing Okubo Toshitsu address Saigo Takamori no longer using the honorific of "Mr. Nanzhou", but calling him by his first name, Ito Hirobumi couldn't help but tremble in his heart.

"Jiadong, do you think they will be alone?" Watching the back of the messenger disappear, Ito asked.

"Maybe it's a person, maybe it's a twin brother, maybe it's a distant relative, it's all possible." "That's not the point. ”

"What's the point?" Hirobumi Ito asked.

"The point is that this Qianguo man will not appear by Saigo Takamori's side for no reason!" Okubo's gaze suddenly sharpened.

"Shunsuke, you go and send a telegram to Yanagihara-kun and ask him if he personally attended Lin Yizhe's funeral and have you seen the remains of the deceased. I want him to be sure that Lin Yizhe is really dead. Okubo said, "In addition, tell him about the Qianguo man named Lin Yiqing, and let him check if there is such a person in the Lin clan in Fujian." ”

"I understand." Ito Hirobumi nodded, "I'll send a telegram to Yanagihara-kun in a moment." ”

After Okubo finished speaking, he picked up the portrait of Lin Yiqing again and looked at it.

At this time, somehow, he had a strong premonition that this young man named Lin Yiqing would be an even more terrible enemy than Lin Yizhe!

Okubo would not have known how the fate of himself and the entire Japanese Empire would change from the moment he saw Lin Yiqing's portrait!

———— Dividing Line————

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