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Just this year, Takahashi Yoshio also published and published his "Theory of Racial Improvement", Fukuzawa Yukichi greatly admired the views of this book, and wrote a preface to the book, saying that "the book aims at racial improvement, admonishes people to pay attention to sports, improve clothing, food, housing, and transportation, and then demonstrates the importance of selecting excellent lineage inheritance for the improvement of human race, and can be said to be an important eugenic work", affirming the value of the book in the improvement of human race".

The book is divided into chapters such as "Matters of Racial Improvement", "Matters of Heredity and Habits", "Matters of Physical Education", "Matters of Livelihood Taste", and "Matters of Mixed Marriage", which involve two major parts: customs and heredity. Customs focus on sports and the improvement of lifestyle, while genetics focuses on "mixed marriage". Since its release, the idea of racial improvement has attracted the attention of mainstream Japanese society.

In Takahashi Yoshio's view, "competition for survival and the survival and extinction of the superior and inferior" is a natural law, and the human world cannot escape this law, so he emphasized that the motive for the improvement of the human race is that "since we are already in the testing ground of the survival and destruction of the superior and inferior, the test of whether our physical and mental superiority and inferiority will be directly related to whether our descendants can be saved from the scourge of destruction", "It can be said that the more steam and electricity are used as kinetic energy, the more civilized society will enter, and the more noble the human life will be, so the degree of ability to use the two qi is an important indicator to distinguish the advantages and disadvantages of different races." "If we take the skillful use of steam and electricity, the achievements of modern industrial civilization, as an important indicator of the superiority and inferiority of a nation, then it is obvious that the Japanese nation is at a disadvantage compared with the Westerners who possess these weapons of civilization, and the competition between the two is also easy to see. Now that Westerners have carried these sharp weapons of civilization to the east, oppressing all ethnic groups in Asia, competition for survival and survival of the fittest are inevitable. The Japanese nation is also difficult to ignore. In particular, with the convenience of transportation in Japan, there are more and more opportunities for Japanese people to come into direct contact with Westerners, and there will be more and more cases of foreigners living together with Japanese people. Yoshio Takahashi emphasized that Japan has been dealing with Westerners since the founding of the country. The Japanese are already faced with the dilemma of "competing with the West with Western things." If they still cling to the "old routines" of their old habits and behaviors, and if their "physical and mental habits" cannot quickly adapt to civilized life and cannot be awakened, then they will be ruthlessly eliminated in the face of the fair and selfless natural law of "survival of the good and the destruction of the inferior," and they will not be able to speak of the fate of future generations.

Takahashi declared that the Japanese race had to be improved by means of "mixed marriage". He believes that there are two ways to improve human races: "natural elimination" and "artificial elimination". Natural elimination does not distinguish between plants and animals, and everything is affected by various external conditions such as terroir and food, and gradually changes and evolves. Artificial culling refers to the exertion of influence in an artificial way, which causes the species of animals and plants to change. Long-tailed goldfish and brightly colored peony flowers are the result of artificial elimination. Sparta in ancient Greece adopted artificial methods to eliminate unhealthy infants, and modern Prussia adopted military and national education and training, etc., all of which were methods to improve the human race through artificial elimination. Then, according to the principle of artificial elimination, the optimization of human race between human beings can be improved by the best choice of mates by men and women, and their children can also be improved by choosing mates. With such optimization from generation to generation, it is natural and certain that there will be excellent and perfect offspring in terms of physique, heart and appearance. Therefore, it is the best and feasible way to choose the method of artificial elimination and improve the human race.

Hirofumi Ito agrees with Takahashi's argument. He also knew that another important purpose of Takahashi's writing of this book was to dispel the Japanese people's bad feelings towards Russia.

During the Southwest War, the atrocities of the Russian army against Japanese women on Japanese soil were not uncommon, and after the war. Although the Russian army withdrew (except for Hokkaido), due to the large-scale misdeeds of the Russian soldiers, a large number of Japanese women became pregnant, and the Japanese government issued a decree prohibiting abortion on the grounds that "the population was reduced due to the war", and as a result, a large number of Russian-Japanese mixed-race children were born.

These children are born and grow up. It shows a different trait from the traditional Japanese - strong body, intelligent mind, fair skin, etc., which makes Inoue Kao, Mori Yuri and other high-ranking officials who support the "theory of seeking a strong country" ecstatic, but the Japanese families with these mixed-race children are very ashamed, and in order to prevent these mixed-race children from being discriminated against by society, the Japanese government has issued a special decree to protect these mixed-race children and give financial subsidies to Japanese families with mixed-race children.

In order to alleviate the contradictions among the people, Inoue Shin and others also used the power of the media to hype up the "theory of seeking to build a strong country" and cited similar examples in Japanese history to force the Japanese people to gradually accept the "fait accompli."

Until this century, the Central Plains Dynasty on the Asian continent had been a model for Japan to learn from in all aspects. From the political system to social customs, the influence of the Central Plains civilization on the Japanese people is everywhere and deeply rooted in the marrow. It can be said that the civilization of the Central Plains has deeply nourished and influenced Japan's national culture and national character, so the Japanese concept that "a strong country must first strengthen the species" is not unique to the present.

There was a record in the book "Qingbo Magazine" written by the people of the Central Plains at the time: "The Japanese country is floating on the territory in a boat, and there are three or twenty people in a line. Women are all sent, meet Zhongzhou people, choose the beautiful person to recommend the bed, the name of 'degree species'".

The Japanese nation has always respected the strong and has a strong national self-improvement mentality, so it is often inevitable that it will be extreme.

As early as 6043, a Portuguese ship that had been blown to Japan by a storm and waves accidentally visited this magical oriental country. For the first time, the Japanese saw a foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes, and the Japanese at the time regarded it as "human-like and animal-like". At this time, the attitude of the Japanese towards foreigners was no different from that of the Qianguo. However, by 9053 it began to change. In that year, Commodore Perry of the U.S. Navy sailed his fleet into the waters of Uraga in Edo Bay, and Japan's closed country was forcibly opened by the foreign powers (known as the "Black Ship Incident"). The advanced technology and powerful military force of the West deeply shocked the Japanese who had been in the shadow of the Central Plains civilization for thousands of years, and they began to re-examine their position in the world. Determined to carry out a new and radical social revolution.

Gradually, more and more Japanese people realized that their former teacher, the Great Qian Empire of the Central Plains Dynasty, had become decadent and backward, and that the only way for the Japanese nation to survive and develop was to take foreigners as teachers. Fukuzawa Yukichi once said: "(Middle Earth) education has not been extensive, and customs have not been developed...... its favors. He hated foreigners, despised women, and had the tendency to bully the small and the weak." He regarded Qianguo as an "uncivilized country" and did not hesitate to praise countries such as Europe and the United States.

Originally, worshipping the strong is a very common normal phenomenon in human society, and it is understandable. However, it is rare for the Japanese to take their worship to the extreme, eager to reinvent themselves and reinvent their own nation.

A Japanese writer wrote in his work: "I suddenly saw a short and ugly guy walking on the opposite side, and when I looked again, I realized that it was actually my figure in the mirror." After coming to the local area, I finally began to realize that we are yellow. ”

In the eyes of the Japanese, foreigners have gradually become a kind of god-like existence that is almost perfect. Another Japanese writer once described: "The biggest difference between Western women is that their complexion is abnormally white, and there are blue blood vessels faintly visible under the white skin, which reminds people of marble patterns, and has a hazy and transparent cold color." Not only that, but even the disgusting fox smell on the other party's body was a "intoxicating, luscious, incomparable aroma", which reminded him of the wonderful exotic garden on the other side of the ocean, which is rare in the world.

After the Southwest War, Japan, which had regained its economic and national strength, had a strong desire to keep up with the West. and even "breaking away from Asia and joining Europe". They desperately want to distance themselves from the inferior yellow race and become noble white people. In this atmosphere. Mainstream Japanese society gradually accepted the social Darwinist view, and began to generally believe that the white race was the best, the yellow race was secondary, and the black race was the inferior.

In the wave of "racial reform", the most complete and mature thinking is Yoshio Takahashi, and in order to relieve the Japanese people of the "ideological burden". He took this opportunity to constantly wave his flag and shout, and to reason with all kinds of facts, in an effort to convince the Japanese people that racial reform would also be beneficial to them.

Takahashi argues: "The result of mixed marriages in various countries is a mixture of interests, but it cannot be generalized. But one thing is certain, that is, when the inferior race intermates with the superior race, the quality and appearance of the inferior race will be improved even more, that is, more good results will be obtained. …… This is evidenced by the seeds planted by the Russians in Japan. ”

It was under the influence of Fukuzawa Takahashi's efforts to master and apprentice that the Japanese people gradually forgot the shame caused by the Russian army's atrocities against Japanese women, and some even took pride in the fact that their wives and daughters had had a good relationship with the Russians, and the people's attitude towards the Russians also became friendly, and there was a craze for women to combine with foreign strong men. Some people have even calculated that 1 out of every 10 couples registered for marriage in Japan is an international marriage.

Still, not everyone in Japan can turn the corner around, and Mutsu Munemitsu is one example.

Mutsu Munemitsu also acknowledged that there were differences between the Japanese and Westerners in terms of race, lifestyle, diet, sports, and hygiene, and that it was the Westerners who changed the backward appearance of old Japan. The Southwest War, which endangered Japan's national capital, was ended with the help of the Russians, and Japan's livelihood was quickly restored in a short period of time with the help of the British Rothschild family.

As a result of Japan's vigorous introduction of the latest scientific developments from Western countries, "as a result of the rapid renewal of Japanese learning, the functions of steam and electricity were gradually applied and spread," and the development of steam cars, ships, telephones, and wires, as well as various facilities related to learning, sales, politics, communication, and transportation, were established in various parts of Japan, and the social outlook of Japan was completely renewed. The steamship car crosses thousands of miles of waves like a smooth road, thousands of miles of mountains and rivers are like a flat river, solving the difficulty of traveling, and the telegraph and telephone have broken the barrier of the ends of the earth, greatly accelerating the transmission and flow of information, and the development of the printing industry, railways, etc. has changed the way people communicate. …… Such a gratifying change in Japan is the result of the introduction of Western civilization. ”

Today's Japan is thriving, but somehow Mutsu Munemitsu has always felt that the foundations of this seemingly prosperous Japan have not always been so solid.

"Mutsu-kun. You still seem to have so much dissatisfaction with Japan now," Hirobumi Ito seemed to know what Mutsu Munemitsu was thinking, "You must know that Japan has recovered in just two years after the end of the 'Southwest Rebellion'." ”

"Huh. Don't tell me this kind of self-deception, Ito-kun. Mutsu Munemitsu withdrew his gaze from the crack in the wall and turned to Hirobumi Ito, "You are the head of the cabinet, and you should know the country's finances as well as Okuma-kun. Japan has regained its former prosperity, but this prosperity is based on heavy debts. ”

Listened to Mutsu Munemitsu's words. Hirobumi Ito couldn't help but sigh either.

Of course, he knew that Mutsu Munemitsu was telling the truth: After the Southwest War, the Japanese government was forced to borrow money from the Western powers in order to get out of its predicament, but because all countries knew the actual situation in Japan at that time, they believed that the Japanese government was on the verge of bankruptcy and could not repay its foreign debts.

The Roche family initially agreed to give the Japanese government a loan of £2 million, which was later increased to £5 million. Interest is also discounted, but this huge sum of money is by no means borrowed for nothing. It was agreed that the Japanese government would start repaying the loan after two years, and the money would be deducted from Japan's tariffs in that year, and in order to enable the Japanese government to effectively use this huge amount of money to restore the economy, the Rothchild family sent a large number of financial personnel to various departments related to the economy of the Japanese government as "advisers" to keep abreast of the flow of funds. He also instructed Japan's various economic departments to improve their work efficiency, and with the wave of the "Roche Golden Magic Wand", Japan miraculously recovered within two years, continuing the momentum of the country's prosperity since the Meiji Restoration.

After the repayment began, the Roche family made precise calculations. As a result, although the Japanese government has to repay a large amount of money every year, there will still be a certain surplus in the national fiscal revenues and expenditures, so that Japan can maintain the surplus power for development, so the Japanese government and the opposition can be said to be grateful for the help of the Luo family.

However, Hirobumi Ito, Mutsu Munemitsu and others are worried.

In peacetime, such a small financial surplus is not a big problem, but in the event of war, it is absolutely not enough!

Ito Hirobumi also raised this question with Shigenobu Okuma, the secretary of finance in charge of the country's finances, and Okuma's answer was: "It's okay to borrow from Roche again." ”

Ito was speechless for the simple answer of this rare financial expert in Japan.

But speechless is speechless, and when it really happens, it really has to be done according to what Shigenobu Okuma said.

As early as three years ago, Japanese spies in Qianguo sent back an astonishing news: The Qianguo government is preparing to build a new type of ironclad ship on its own!

According to the information obtained by the Japanese side, the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, the leader of the shipbuilding industry in Qianguo and the largest industrial enterprise in Asia, and the "symbol of the industrial revolution in East Asia," has secretly built a large shipyard in Xiamen, and the scale of this shipyard will far exceed that of the Mawei shipyard in Fuzhou and the Jiangnan Shipyard, the second largest shipbuilding enterprise in Qianguo.

After learning of this important information, the Japanese government reacted quickly and ordered a "Saxony" class ironclad ship at the Volkeng shipyard in Germany, and the cost of purchasing the ship was the entire financial balance of the Japanese government at that time!

According to the analysis of Japanese military intelligence personnel, the Qianguo people have no experience in building ironclad ships, and they may not be able to build ironclad ships immediately after the Xiamen shipyard is completed and officially started, and even if it is forced to embark on the ironclad ship project, the construction period will be very long, and Japan will definitely have the speed at which the navy is equipped with the Qianguo faster than the Qianguo country when it buys ironclad ships in Germany first, so Japan has an advantage in this arms race. However, the information obtained afterwards showed that the Japanese intelligence analysts were overly optimistic in their estimates, and that they underestimated the capabilities of the Qianguoren.

First of all, the Xiamen shipyard was built at an astonishing speed, and it is said that the reason was due to the reform of the wages of the foreigners of the Harbour Administration Bureau by the Prime Minister of the Qianguo Province, Baylor Yikuang, who looked at the salary slips of the Frenchmen who worked in the Harbour Master's Bureau, and found that their wages were several times higher than that of his Baylor, and he couldn't help but be furious, and began the reform with a wave of the sword, reducing the wages of the foreigners to the international standard, "the Harbour Master is not here to support the uncle", and the part of the difference between the original salary is all included in the performance bonus, and the year-end evaluation is carried out. If the task indicators of the current year are completed, they will be issued in full, and if the task indicators are not completed, all will be deducted. As a result, all the shipyard and foreign staff worked hard and competed to be the first, so that the Xiamen shipyard could be built ahead of schedule.

After the Xiamen shipyard had everything ready, it immediately accepted the order of the Navy Yamen and began the construction of ironclad ships, and there were two of them!

Due to the strict secrecy of the Qianguo people, the Japanese side only heard that the ironclad ship that the Qianguo wanted to build was an ironclad ship with a first-class displacement of about 5,000 tons, equipped with a 305-mm cannon and designed to have a speed of about 14 knots.

Another piece of news that made the Japanese Government feel uneasy was that the Qianguo Government was actually preparing to build as many as five of these ironclad ships!

[Thank you for your continued support, this time from the 515 Fan Festival of the Writer's Hall of Glory and the General Election of Works, I hope you can support it.] In addition, there are some red envelopes on the fan festival, get one and continue the subscription! (To be continued.) )

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