However, Ito Hirobumi saw an opportunity for his comeback, but just as he was thinking about how to persuade Emperor Muhito to agree to "take advantage of victory and seek peace", a surprising news reached Japan, "A large-scale uprising has broken out in the Qing Kingdom, and the Qing government has been overthrown!" ”

Like the vast majority of people, Ito Hirobumi didn't believe the news at all at first, because it was too unbelievable, the uprising could reach the capital in just half a month, and the Manchu government wouldn't be so useless even if it was abolished, right?

However, as new news continues to come, it is impossible for Ito Hirobumi to believe it or not, especially those British warships that fled to Japan after the Battle of the Yangtze River Estuary, which gave Ito Hirobumi a great shock, that is the British Royal Navy! How dare the Chinese fight? And how did they win?

Ito Hirobumi and others were like gluttonous children who were eager to learn more about the new Chinese government, but because of the blockade at sea, the British Navy in Japan became almost the only source of information, but they actually knew very little.

However, the fact that the Chinese Navy now has six Haitian-class armored cruisers is enough to terrify the whole of Japan, and one Haitian will wipe out the strongest Japanese Combined Fleet in history.

Originally, there were some fools who deceived themselves into believing that the Chinese army was not good and did not have enough strength to land on the Japanese mainland, so they only blockaded but did not attack directly. However, it didn't take long for the bad news that Katsura Taro's division had been wiped out, that was more than 28,000 people, accounting for more than one-eighth of the total strength of the Japanese army, but not even a single deserter could escape, as long as a little brain, people can realize that the strength of the Chinese army is no less than their navy.

In fact, strictly speaking, Japan has not received any reports of the destruction of the Third Division, but if this is not the case, how can it be explained that the Korean Japanese army has lost contact with it for many days? Tachimi Shangwen, who has always had a bad mouth, first publicly said that the Third Division was finished, but he was ordered to be dismissed from his post by Aritomo Yamagu, who had long regarded him as unpleasant, but as the days passed, the Third Division was never able to get in touch, and even Aritomo Yamaguchi could not continue to deceive himself, and the bad news of the destruction of the Third Division spread rapidly, causing great panic in Japan.

Katsukaishu, one of the founders of the Japanese Navy and a Japanese pro-China figure who has always advocated the joint confrontation between China and Japan against Europe and the United States instead of invading China with the West, seized the opportunity to propagate various anti-war remarks, calling on the Meiji government to face the reality and take the initiative to seek peace in order to preserve the Japanese national system.

Although Ito Hirobumi and Katsu Haishu had different political views, as the saying goes, "the enemy of the enemy is a friend," and with the bond of the navy, the two factions quickly united to jointly denounce Yamaguchi Youtomo, and the civilian forces represented by Ito Hirobumi were far stronger than the pro-China faction that was alone, and with their participation, the call for an armistice and peace soon rose.

On the other hand, Emperor Muhito, who was once inspired by the good news from the front and had unprecedented trust in Yamaguchi, gradually discovered that although the good news from the front was still coming, the situation in Japan was getting worse day by day, and he finally began to realize the problem.

On the other hand, although the Japanese base camp had the intention to support Katsura Taro's division, it did not have that ability, and the reinforcements sent to Korea at the risk of "smuggling" were stopped by the Chinese navy, and more than 4,000 people were killed in battle, more than 3,000 were captured, and nearly 8,000 Japanese troops were lost in vain.

But even so, the Third Division was only more than 28,000 people at its peak, and it was still unable to break through the Qing army's Fengtian defensive line. After learning this, Meiji finally realized that the goal promised by Aritomo in Yamaguchi -- "to fight under the city of Beijing" -- was no longer possible, and the idea of armistice and peace was born.

But before Meiji reactivated Ito Hirobumi, the Chinese Revolution broke out, Muhito was ecstatic like those radicals in the army, thinking that it was "God bless the imperial state", and wanted to take advantage of China's civil strife to take advantage of the fire to rob, and then the news of China's declaration of war on Britain shocked and frightened Meiji, but also made him see the hope of holding the legs of the Western powers to carve up China, so he put down the idea of peace, and prepared to continue to expand the war, so he did not hesitate to let the Japanese army base camp resume the operation of risky "smuggling", As a result, thousands of people were lost in just a few years

However, what was waiting for was no longer good news, but the bad news of the annihilation of the Third Division, if it weren't for the fact that this news was not immediately confirmed, there was a psychological buffer time, but I was afraid that Meiji would have vomited blood and fainted like Ito Hirobumi after the Battle of Ganghua Bay

The remnants of the British Far East Fleet did not stay behind to fight alongside the Japanese after completing repairs and supplies in Japan, but instead left Japan in a panic and fled east into the Pacific Ocean, which completely shattered Meiji's hopes.

Under these circumstances, Emperor Meiji not only summoned Hirobumi Ito to the palace again to ask for advice, but even Katsu Kaishu, who had not been taken seriously for a long time, was given the opportunity to meet with him, and his thoughts were already revealed.

After receiving the summons, Ito Hirobumi only felt refreshed, as if the pain in his body had also subsided a lot, and Katsu Haizhou frowned slightly when he saw him, and reminded, "Ito-kun should pay attention to his body, such a serious illness is not so easy to recover." ”

If it were an ordinary person, you might think that this was just pure concern, but Ito Hirobumi heard the over-the-top voice, and immediately broke out in a cold sweat, saluted and thanked Katsu Haizhou, and then showed a tired face, showing that a serious illness had just improved, but it was far from recovering.

In fact, under normal circumstances, it is impossible for Ito Hirofumi not to think of this, but since the Battle of Jianghua Bay, he has been able to watch his rival Toushan Prefecture Youpeng monopolize power and act recklessly, which feels too depressing, and now that he has finally seen the light of day, it is inevitable that he can't control himself.

If it weren't for Katsu Kaishu's reminder, Ito Hirobumi would have gone to see the emperor in high spirits, because the Meiji Emperor who summoned him because the country was in trouble, would definitely think that Ito Hirobumi was a traitor who only wanted personal gain but disregarded the country, and even if he had to use Ito now, he would definitely use it and lose it, and it would be difficult to have a good end (to be continued). )