Chapter 5 in Japan

"What do you think of the memorandum submitted by the Chinese government to China?"

In the Japanese-style room, several Japanese kneeling on the tatami mats are the four old men who are hated and respected by many junior officers of the Japanese army, such as Ito Hirobumi, Yama Prefecture Aritomo, Saionji Konobo and Matsukata Masayoshi. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

It was Hirofumi Ito who spoke, he was relaxed, and he had a calm look that was not impatient or impatient. The remaining people represented the army forces, while the Saionji Gongwang and Matsukata Masayoshi were both inclined to the internal political faction. Several old men glanced at each other, and Youpeng in Shanxian coughed, and then said slowly: "You can agree first." ”

"No!" Matsukata Masayoshi couldn't help but say: "Manchuria is the lifeline of the empire, how can it be easily returned to the Chinese?" ”

Yamaguchi Aritomo had always advocated the annexation of Manchuria, while Matsukata Masayoshi had served as Minister of Finance many times and was opposed to eager expansion. Now the views of the two seem to be just the opposite, but Xiyuan Temple Gongwang is not surprised by this. Whether it is Yama Prefecture Youpeng or Matsukata Masayoshi, they are both representatives of the expansionists, but one is hoping to swallow the whale, and the other is hoping to cannibalize.

Even Masayoshi Matsukata, who was often preoccupied with internal affairs, was unwilling and did not dare to agree to return the land of Manchuria to China, and the fact that Yamaguchi Aritomo said "can agree first" did not mean that he really wanted to hand over the land occupied by Japan in Manchuria.

The Japanese have a long feudal era, forming a unique set of ventriloquist skills, and what they say is not necessarily what it means on the surface, but has a lot of attention to it. The so-called "you can agree first" means that you will regret and not admit it later.

Masayoshi Matsukata naturally understood what Yamaguchi meant, but as a representative of the internal affairs faction with a deep Westernization, he did not want to leave the impression of disregard for morality and commitment to the European and American powers. And if a treaty is really signed, it will definitely be an internal affairs faction like them who will bear the blame.

In Japan now, it is very popular to "punish the heavens". If he is assassinated by a righteous man, where will he be told? The army forces represented by Yama County Youpeng have always wanted to dominate the government, and with this opportunity, it is inevitable that they will put the label of traitor on his head.

"Then explicitly reject them," Yama Youpeng glanced at Matsukata Masayoshi and said lightly: "Relying on the imperial army itself, the Russians can be wiped out, and there is no need for the help of the Chinese." ”

Speaking of which, these people are fighting for their own interests. The Duke of Xiyuan Temple slandered a few times, but he himself was not exempt from vulgarity. After cooperating with the Chinese government, Japan's domestic industrial capacity has been rising, and they have made a lot of money from it.

The War Department, as the leading party, has made the most money from the cooperation, and the cabinet has always wanted to catch these projects in its own hands, and the army deer represented by Yama Youpeng naturally came up with a lot of excuses to refuse.

Ito Hirobumi invited several people over today, ostensibly to discuss the Chinese memorandum, but in essence to share the cake. When I first started working with the Chinese, everyone was not very optimistic. In their eyes, China is already a backward and barbaric land, otherwise, they Japanese would not need to break away from Asia and join Europe.

Who knew that after running for a year, from the bigwigs of the War Department to the soldiers involved, they all made a fortune. That's it, the point is that some people in the army started the smuggling business. Those who were paid by money were smuggled all kinds of medicines and machinery from Handan, and at the same time transported those who could not survive in China to China.......

Thanks to agricultural machinery and fertilizers, no one here in Hebei is starving, and the troops stationed all over Hebei no longer need to gnaw on cans that have been stored for an unknown number of years. At this time, Japan was still in the initial stage of industrialization, and the people at home were being squeezed to death. In order to survive, the Japanese girls had to go to the South Seas to sell their bodies, and the men had to go to the army to work for their lives in order to have enough to eat.....

Seeing that the army has made so much money, the Navy and the cabinet are eager to cut a part of this big cake, so that not only can they make a lot of money, but they can also take out a little to appease the people below.

But what kind of person is Youpeng in Shanxian County? This is a man who was able to divert the army's military funds for business, although he later lost money......

Fortunately, the current Japanese army and navy have not yet made trouble to the extent of later generations, and under Ito Hirobumi's peace, Yamaguchi Aritomo had to give up some of his interests to the navy.

"By the way, Shan Shan Jun, will the Chinese government take advantage of our war in the northeast to send troops eastward?" Ito Hirofumi put down the teacup and said, "Although the current China is undecided, the hundreds of thousands of troops in Hebei and Shanxi are a threat." ”

"No," Shan Youpeng said without thinking, "at least not now?" ”

"Why?" Masayoshi Matsukata was very happy, it was really a rare thing to be able to cut a cake from Yama County Youpeng, and he said in a slightly calm tone: "Is it because of other princes in China?" ”

"No," Youpeng in Shanxian shook his head and said, "It's because there is no sign of mobilization in Hebei and Shanxi." Moreover, the prices of goods in northern China, especially the prices of food, medicine, and other things, did not fluctuate much, so I can say that the Chinese government has no intention of intervening in the war. ”

"According to intelligence, the Chinese government ...... Well, that is, those people in the northwest, do not plan to enter the northeast region to fight without the support of the railway line," Yama Youpeng continued: "The Chinese, after all, are still not comparable to the samurai of our Yamato nation. ”

"But the power of the Chinese cannot be ignored," Ito said slowly, "The war four years ago and three years ago may have been so long that many people have forgotten it, and last year's battle in Liaodong and western Liaoning must not have been forgotten so quickly." Kuroki led tens of thousands of people to attack a warlord in China, and it took more than 5,000 casualties to destroy it. ”

"Yes, China is already a force to be taken seriously." Masayo Matsukata said, "Because, we must continue to maintain a friendly foreign policy with China, and we must not let this country, which has almost infinite manpower, become hostile to the empire." ”

What wishful thinking..... Youpeng in Shanxian was silent, and China, which has become stronger, is it really willing to be suppressed by the empire like this? A man of strength will never bow down to someone who is not as strong as him.