The news of the victory in the Battle of the East China Sea was immediately transmitted back to the Forbidden City, and Guan Xuqing sat on the dragon chair with a telegram for a long time, and everything that happened from the time crossing to the present appeared repeatedly in his mind, he was changing the fate of an empire, and at the same time, he was also changing the history he knew

No one knows what will happen in the future, but in the face of the current situation, he fell into a long contemplation, the Qing Dynasty is no longer a poor and weak country like the Sino-French war, desperate to fight to the death against the invading enemy, but a military power born in the East, looking at the world, the Qing Dynasty is now one of the top six powers in the world

After defeating Japan, at least in East Asia, the Qing Dynasty had no opponents that could threaten him, only the strength of the British Empire in the Far East, a powerful country, could shock him, but Guan Xuqing was not sure that Japan's defeat would make Britain desperate to deal with him? Will the nations of the world watch themselves grow stronger?

Although the Japanese navy was completely annihilated, it also suffered a great blow, and the serious injuries of the "Daqing No. 2", "Dingyuan", "Undefeated", "Riding the Wind", "Breaking the Waves", and "Sailing" took at least two months to repair, and after the "Triumph", "Victory", "Nanji", and "Nanxiang" were sunk, the main warships of the Daqing Dynasty were only six ships, "Daqing No. 1", "Zhenyuan", "Jiyuan", "Weiyuan", "Juyin", and "Yongwu", and only two cruisers left, "Flying Eagle" and "Sea Lion". The strength is greatly reduced

If Britain takes the opportunity to invade Burma, the control of the Indian Ocean will certainly not be guaranteed, after all, the southeast coast of the Qing Dynasty has 18,000 kilometers of coastline, and these warships are very difficult to defend the southeast coast, and they are not capable of fighting for the Indian Ocean

Britain's coveting of Burma is not a day or two, not to mention that the rebellion in their African colonies has been quelled, and Britain has the energy and strength to deal with the Qing Dynasty, and this time it will definitely not be as easy as the last Burma war

Japan was still defeated after accepting such help from Britain, although this was a shock to Britain, but it was more of a hatred, because Japan was defeated, that is, thinking that all the previous investment had been wasted, which would make Britain crazy to make up for its losses from the Qing Dynasty

Therefore, the problem in front of Guan Xuqing now is how to seek more benefits for the Qing Dynasty through the victory of this war, and then give Britain more benefits at the same time, so as to avoid letting Britain point the finger at himself and then completely dare British forces out of East Asia through a few years of rest, at least in Malaysia, Canada, and other places, British warships cannot appear, after all, others are not allowed to snore on the side of the couch

"Your Majesty, what are you thinking?" Peng Yulin saw Guan Xuqing holding the telegram and thinking for a long time, and asked suspiciously

Guan Xuqing came back to his senses and said leisurely: "Well, Yan Fu and Deng Shichang fought well Yulin, do you think it's time for us to close the net?" ”

"The courtiers are wide-eyed, and they don't dare to make a conclusion, the emperor is in his chest, and everything is under control," Peng Yulin said with his head down

Although Peng Yulin grew up in the military camp, he is known for his courage in battle, and when it comes to the overall situation, the outlook is obviously worse than Zuo Zongtang, Guan Xuqing looked at this loyal old minister and shook his head helplessly, the population of 40,000 in the Qing Dynasty is too little, too little

"I don't want to hear this, do you want to talk about the need to fight this battle now?" Guan Xuqing asked with some annoyance

Peng Yulin hurriedly replied: "Back to the emperor, now the battle situation is very favorable to my Qing Dynasty, the sea control has been firmly in our hands, and the six divisions of my Qing expedition have also occupied most of the Japanese ministers, thinking that we should take advantage of the victory to pursue and completely defeat Japan."

Guan Xuqing listened carefully, and then asked, "What about after you win the battle?" ”

"Uh...... After that, let Japan completely surrender to our Qing Dynasty, become a subject country of our Qing Dynasty, pay tribute every year, and come to the court every year," Peng Yulin replied after a little thought

There may be no one who knows better than Guan Xuqing Japan's deep-rooted bushido spirit, just like the United States occupied Iraq in later generations, from time to time there were several suicide attacks, the US troops stationed in Iraq often have casualties, and sending troops to be stationed abroad is also a large expense, and Japan will definitely not be willing to be a subject country of any country, and the Qing Dynasty will not be able to station so many troops in Japan, this time the Japanese navy will be completely defeated, I believe that Britain will not sponsor it for free, Without British reinforcements, Japan simply could not recover in the coming decades

"It's a solution, but in order to make Japan a vassal state of our Great Qing Dynasty, you don't have to occupy all of Japan or continue to fight this war, I think it's time to talk to the Japanese," Guan Xuqing said

"What does the emperor mean ......," Peng Yulin asked suspiciously

Guan Xuqing nodded affirmatively and said, "Yes, I want to talk to the Japanese about who is appropriate?" ”

"Hmm...... If the emperor can trust the minister, let the minister go," Peng Yulin said firmly

"It's a candidate, but the affairs of the Ministry of War are still inseparable from you, you still recommend another person to me" Guan Xuqing didn't want to hit Peng Yulin's self-esteem, this general-born minister of military aircraft may be okay to let him lead troops to fight, but if he is allowed to negotiate, it will be very unreliable

"Then let Liang Qi go" Peng Yulin immediately thought of this person who had just entered the military aircraft department not long ago, this person is talented, often talks about the current world pattern, and has studied abroad before, so he is a good candidate

"Liang Qi? Calm and serious, he is a candidate, but I won't let him go this time," Guan Xuqing said after thinking about it

Peng Yulin's face stiffened and said: "The emperor must have a candidate in his heart, and please ask the emperor to make it clear."

Guan Xuqing stood up, put the telegram on the table, walked down and said: "Let the Japanese go to Tokyo to talk to Feng Xianghua, and tell Feng Xianghua that the conditions for peace talks are the same as last time, and they are indispensable."

"Chirp" Peng Yulin suddenly realized, it turned out that the emperor wanted to give this world-building merit to this kid of Xingfeng

After receiving the request for peace talks from the Qing Dynasty, Japan did not react at once, and now the war situation is so unfavorable, if it can really be negotiated peace, it would be a good thing, not to mention that if the war continues, it will be a matter of time before these local troops are defeated without the supply of British fire

When he came to Tokyo again, he saw the ruins and the stinking and rotting corpses that had not had time to be burned in the streets, and his heart was sour, and old tears were running horizontally, and as he walked, he saw the surviving people pleading bitterly, hoping that the war would end soon, and Ito Hirobumi could no longer control his emotions and cried bitterly

Tokyo has become a veritable hell on earth, and the few remaining houses are lined with Qing soldiers, Feng Xianghua, who has already taken a seat in it, waiting for Ito's arrival

Ito Hirobumi walked all the way, and in the face of those surviving people, he didn't even have the face to stop and say a word or two of encouragement, and feeling extremely ashamed, he quickly walked towards the temporary peace conference room

"Stop" The Qing guards outside the door called out to Hirobumi Ito

Under the repeated explanations of the translator, the guards figured out that this old man was the representative of the Japanese peace talks, and he looked at Ito Hirobumi suspiciously, and said: "The general has an order, in order to ensure the safety of the peace talks, it is necessary to search the voice."

When the interpreter conveyed the guard's meaning to Ito Hirobumi, he was completely furious, "Search? Which country has a precedent for body searches in the history of peace talks? Since I, Great Japan, am willing to come to peace talks with your country, it is out of sincerity, and if we need to search our body, then there is no need to talk about it, this is an insult to our Great Japan."

"Hahaha, Brother Ito, don't be angry, I can't be wary of your country's peace talks, I can't help but guard against it, more than a dozen thin women in your country have taken away my Qing Dynasty military minister, prince, Wuyingdian scholar and many others in the palace where my Qing Dynasty is heavily defended and mastered, I, Feng, don't dare to let you in without a body search, please don't be surprised" A hearty laugh came from the room, and a middle-aged man wearing a Qing military uniform with four generals on his shoulders stared at Ito Hirofumi with blazing eyes, and it was this person Feng Xianghua who spoke

These words made Ito Hiroshi's face red and green for a while, and he couldn't live for his own sin, and now it is reasonable for people to propose a body search, but in the peace talks on Japanese soil, it is too unfortunate to search the master's body

"Since your country has no sincerity in the peace talks, then Ito has retired," Ito said, turning around and pretending to leave

Feng Xianghua said unhurriedly: "Brother Ito, my brother advises my brother that now that my Qing Dynasty has mastered the power of the sea, Tokyo and Kanazawa are all in the hands of my Qing Dynasty, and my Qing Dynasty can send a steady stream of troops to Hakodate, Aomori and even Hokkaido at any time, and I am afraid that the last 200,000 troops of your country will also become the soul of my Qing Dynasty, if it really comes to that time, peace talks may not just be as simple as searching your body."

Although these words are true, but from Feng Xianghua's mouth, it has become a naked threat in the ears of Ito Hirobumi, Ito Hirobumi stopped, and his mind continued to struggle, and accepting the body search is undoubtedly a great shame for Japan, and if he does not accept it, he is afraid that he will lose the opportunity for this peace talks, and what awaits Japan is probably a great shame

"I can still trust Brother Ito's character, so Brother Ito doesn't have to be searched, but the people who accompany him must accept the search, otherwise they will be waiting outside the house" Feng Xianghua found him a step down, and he couldn't take a step if he took advantage of it, after all, this peace talk is the emperor's intention, since the emperor chose peace talks at this time, he must have his foresight, and it can't affect the emperor's great cause because of the moment