Resentful of the pirate sneak attack of the Russian ships, and because the attack of the two torpedoes had caused too much shock to the Satsuma naval officers and men on the "Mt. Fuji", the Satsuma gunners resumed firing with their 120-mm main guns and 75-mm secondary guns without an order from the flybridge after seeing that the "Blast" began to tilt.

Because this time it was a fixed target, and because the Satsuma gunners were skillful, a 120-mm shell soon hit the dying "Demolition", piercing the hull and causing further water ingress, and then a 75-mm shell hit the stern of the "Blast", destroying the propeller.

In the telescope, Heihachiro Togo clearly saw that the broken propeller blades fell and smashed into the Russian sailors who fell into the water, causing huge waves with red colors, and he seemed to be able to hear the screams of the Russian sailors in his ears, and a cruel sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The machine gunners also seemed to feel the pleasure of revenge brought by the bloody color, and turned the cannon fire from the hull to the Russians who fell into the water, watching the Russians struggling on the sea turn into flying pieces of flesh and blood, Togo Heihachiro's heart only felt inexplicable excitement, without the slightest pity.

"Lucia, ghost animals! Die! Shichiro Kataoka also howled like a rude sailor at this time.

Heihachiro Togo was admiring the sinking of the "Demolition" and the slaughter of the Russian sailors, when the lookout suddenly shouted: "The steamer soot has been found in the distance!" ”

Only then did Togo Heihachiro and Kataoka Shichiro come back to their senses and realize that this was the sea area belonging to the Ryukyu Kingdom controlled by the Qianguo Navy, and it might be the Qianguo warships or the warships of Britain, France, and the United States. Immediately ordered: "All stop shooting!" Accelerate immediately. Get out of here! ”

Shichiro Kataoka also realized that something was wrong. Immediately ordered to stop firing and turned away from the battlefield, and just as the "Mt. Fuji" was turning, Togo Heihachiro on the flybridge suddenly saw a young Russian naval officer floating on the sea next to the dilapidated and smoke-billowing hull of the Russian mine-strike ship. Look at yourself with a vicious gaze.

Heihachiro Togo looked at the Russian naval officer, and somehow, suddenly felt that this young face was familiar.

He wondered why he felt the way he did.

Could it be that when I was in England, I had seen him on some occasion?

Heihachiro Togo stared at the Russian closely, searching for his memories, but he thought for a while, but he couldn't remember where he had seen this person.

By this time, the "Mt. Fuji" had completed its turn and was moving forward at maximum speed, and the figure of the young Russian floating in the water quickly disappeared. Finally disappeared, but in the mind of Heihachiro Togo. but freezes his image.

That hideous and angry face impressed him too deeply.

Who the hell is he?

Heihachiro Togo suddenly remembered the strange dream he had before the war.

Makarov's final moments came to his eyes, overlapping with the figure of the young man.

Makarov? Could that young Russian officer be the commander of the Russian fleet in his dreams, Makarov?

After Heihachiro Togo confirmed that they were alone, for some reason, he suddenly felt a chill on his body.

He wanted to order the "Mt. Fuji" to return and send a small boat full of sailors to search for and kill all the Russians who had fallen into the water, but seeing the smoke column in the distance getting closer and closer, he hesitated for a moment and finally gave up this plan.

Maybe in the future, we will meet at sea, right? Heihachiro Togo thought secretly in his heart.

Heihachiro Togo didn't know that he and Makarov met in this time and space, this was actually the first, but also the last.

Holding on to a plank, Makarov floated on the surface of the sea, looking at the fragments of the hull and floating corpses around him, and screamed loudly in pain.

Rysakov's body was not far away, lying in the sea, half-floating and half-sinking, with his eyes closed, as if asleep, but his pierced chest and the surrounding blood-soaked sea clearly reminded Makarov of how his death was caused.

Makarov's heart was filled with remorse and self-reproach.

He knew that it was his impulsiveness and self-confidence that cost the lives of his closest comrades, and destroyed the latest mine strike ships of the Imperial Russian Navy and a large number of brave and excellent naval officers.

Although his heart ached like a knife, Makarov's mind soon returned to the battle itself.

"No...... The speed of the boat is too slow...... There are also too few weapons, two torpedoes, not enough at all! Inadequate! ”

"If it was a bigger, faster ship with more torpedo tubes, I would have won! Will win! ”

"The protection of this ship is too weak...... Unable to withstand the heavy artillery fire of the enemy! If it had armor, not only would no one die, but we would have won! Will win! ”

"Although it is a lightning strike ship...... But it also needs to be equipped with cannons! The firepower of a machine gun is so weak! It's too weak! …… I need a bigger ship, capable of having a lot of firepower in addition to torpedoes! ”

At this time, Makarov's spirit had fallen into a state of extreme excitement, and he did not notice the Qianguo cruiser "Yuankai" approaching in the distance, nor did he think of calling for help to the Qianguo people.

Until the moment he was rescued on the deck of the "Yuankai", Makarov did not recover from his state of madness, so that the sailors of Qianguo thought that the Russian had gone crazy.

But at this moment, no one thought that those thoughts in Makarov's head would mean a new stage in the development of the world's navy.

Tokyo, Imperial Palace, afternoon.

Aiko Yanagihara looked at the increasingly emaciated Emperor Meiji, and her heart was full of worry, but she couldn't think about it.

After the Southwest War turned into the Russo-Sastic War, Emperor Meiji was always worried and couldn't sleep at night. According to the diary of the guard, the situation at that time was that "even if His Majesty the Emperor was allowed to lie down, he could not easily fall asleep." Listen carefully, he just coughs slightly. I also covered my mouth with a quilt. Don't let the sound leak out. Early morning. Ask him if he hasn't slept well at night, and His Majesty the Emperor will surely say, 'No, I slept well.' This is to keep people from worrying about him. ”

From the time he decided to borrow troops from Russia to the present, Emperor Meiji has never thought about tea and food, and the daily amount of food is less than one-third of what he usually eats.

In fact, not only the Meiji Emperor, but also the current important ministers of the Meiji government are all exhausted. The Secretary of the Interior, Iwakura Gushi, and the Secretary of the Treasury, Shigenobu Okuma, both fell seriously ill some time ago. Hirobumi Ito, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, heard that he had a cold. After not coming to work for more than half a month, the emperor sent someone to inquire, only to learn that his illness was not serious, but because of overwork, he neglected treatment, and it was complicated by pneumonia. In order to comfort him, the emperor decreed that he was given three bottles of red wine. Later, Saionji Gongwang also caught a cold and rested at home, and the emperor also sent condolences to him.

Although it was the end of summer, the country was facing a major event. Emperor Meiji knew that everyone's body and mind were burdened. It's because everyone is exhausted.

"Rest well! Aiko, I'm going to attend the Imperial Council. Emperor Meiji sensed the concern and melancholy in Yanagihara Aiko's eyes, and he said with a forced smile that he was worried that she was too worried.

"Your Majesty, you are still ...... Let's eat a bowl of porridge! Aiko Yanagihara looked at Emperor Meiji, whose eye sockets were deep and bloodshot, and said softly.

She knew that the emperor was going to hold a meeting today, and it might take a long time, and she was worried that the emperor had eaten too little, because she thought that the emperor had carefully prepared his favorite food, but the emperor didn't use much.

Ever since he borrowed troops from Russia, the emperor's complexion has been poor, and he has eaten less and less, sometimes without a grain of rice all day long, and it can be said that he has eaten a lot today.

"No, I'm not hungry, besides, the meeting won't take long." Emperor Meiji waved his hand, stood up, said goodbye to Yanagihara Aiko, and staggered away with the support of the chief of the guard.

In the evening, Emperor Meiji entered the main hall, and by this time all the ministers had already arrived, waiting for the arrival of the emperor.

After a brief opening ceremony, after the chief of the guard announced the meeting, the emperor said to the ministers, "The decision to borrow Lucia was not my intention. However, things have come to this point, and I know that everyone is helpless. ”

The ministers looked at each other, only in sincere fear. At this time, the emperor whispered, as if speaking to himself, "The arrival of the Lu army not only failed to drive out the thieves, but caused misery to the people, and now I don't know how to apologize to the imperial spirit of the emperor's ancestors." In front of hundreds of millions of people, I don't know what kind of face I will face? ”

As he spoke, the Emperor burst into tears, and tears poured down his chest.

Emperor Meiji, who has always prided himself on his fortitude and decisiveness, has ever wept in public, which can be said to be unprecedented. The ministers were speechless for a moment, but felt the weight of responsibility on everyone's head.

The main content of this meeting was to discuss the prospects of the war; because the Russian army had failed in several attacks on Osaka, and the warring areas had been ravaged by war, the Japanese Government not only had to pay the Russian army a huge amount of war expenses, but also had to raise materials for the Russian army and provide relief to the refugees, and the financial resources were also facing exhaustion, and the war-weariness within the Japanese government began to breed and spread, and some people even put forward a proposal to negotiate with Saigo Takamori. The purpose of this Imperial Council was to discuss the prospects of the war with a view to finding a way to end it quickly.

After the meeting began, the ministers spoke one after another, but because Iwakura Gushi, Ito Hirobumi and other important ministers were not all there, the Imperial Minister Sanjo Minomi could not hold down the scene at all, and the imperial meeting was held until midnight, and did not reach a unanimous conclusion, but instead became a meeting to denounce the atrocities of the Russian army, and the emperor had no choice but to announce the dismissal of the meeting.

When he returned to the Imperial Palace, the Emperor could not sleep for a while, and he was so worried about the future of Japan that he composed a poem:

What the future holds, the heart of the mind is broken.

The bright moon is already in the window, and I still can't sleep.

And the emperor did not know that on this night, Hirobumi Ito, whom he trusted the most, did not sleep, but was still busy working for the future of the country.

A horse-drawn carriage drove quickly to Ito's residence, and in the carriage sat a man of about forty years, wearing glasses and Western clothes, looking very elegant, and he was a businessman at first glance, but in fact, he had not been in business for a long time.

This person is the former Daizo Shaosuke Shibusawa Eiichi.

This time, Shibusawa Eiichi received a summons from the Secretary of the Ministry of Works, Hirobumi Ito, and rushed to meet him.

Shibusawa Eiichi was a member of the Japanese Mission at the International Exposition in Paris, France. After that, he traveled in Europe for nearly two years. He was deeply impressed by the industrial development and economic system of Europe at that time. After returning home. He was hired by the new Meiji government to serve in the Ministry of Finance, where he was promoted to Minister of Finance. He was directly involved in the formulation and formulation of almost all major policies of the new government, such as the reform of the monetary system, the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures, and the issuance of public bonds.

A long period of travel and investigation to Europe had a major impact on Shibusawa Eiichi. In order to learn more about the Western industrial world, Shibusawa Eiichi hired a French teacher along with several others to seize all the time to learn French. It didn't take long for him to be able to have everyday conversations and conversations in French. The elimination of the language barrier provided great convenience for Shibusawa Eiichi to investigate and study, and gave him more opportunities to examine the details of European society. Shibusawa also paid a special visit to Jewish bankers such as Flory and Herald, asked them about economic issues, and listened attentively to their explanations about banks, railways, joint-stock companies, and public debts. He visited the stock exchange, and thus gained a deeper understanding of the tremendous role played by the joint-stock company system in modern economic life and the process of industrialization, and laid the foundation for later engaging in industrial and commercial enterprise activities and popularizing the joint-stock company enterprise system.

After studying and studying in France for a while, Shibusawa Eiichi traveled to various European countries, successively to Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and the United Kingdom. In these countries, Shibusawa Eiichi visited a large number of factories, including knitting factories, watch factories, various military weapons factories, iron and steel factories, locomotive factories, glass factories, mints, etc., and saw social facilities that were not available in Japan, including modern military camps, newspaper offices, museums, banks, and so on. Everywhere he went, it was an eye-opener for him. Deeply shocked by industrial civilization. Through his visits to Western countries, Shibusawa Eiichi saw a new world that was completely different from Japan.

Meiji 6 years. The 33-year-old Shibusawa Eiichi has become the Daizo Shosuke in charge of the state budget. However, Shibusawa Eiichi later submitted his resignation and decided to abandon his official position and enter business. Because in Europe, Shibusawa Sakae could feel the strong contrast between the Western powers and Japan everywhere. For example, in dealings with French government officials and merchants, there is no distinction between government officials and merchants, and the relationship between the two is completely equal; In Japan at that time, the social status of the shogunate bureaucrats, samurai and merchants was like a world apart, and there was no word for equality. Shibusawa Eiichi painfully realized that in order for Japan to prosper, it was necessary to break away from the old habit of being a lowly official, noble, and lowly businessmen, learn from the West, and regard industry and commerce as the great cause of a powerful country. It was he who chose to resign. After resigning, he organized and founded Japan's first joint-stock bank, and thus began his career as an entrepreneur, but he did not cut ties with officialdom.

Receiving a summons like this was not new to him.

Arriving at Ito Hirobumi's residence, Shibusawa Eiichi entered Ito's study as if nothing had happened.

Ito Hirobumi was sitting in the comfortable chair next to the table with his arms crossed, face down, thinking deeply about something. As soon as Shibusawa Sakae came in, he didn't seem to notice.

"I just received a message from your servant, and I came, I wonder what Your Excellency Ito commanded?"

There was no response. Shibusawa Eiichi stood silently for two or three minutes, and then asked again: "May I ask Your Excellency Ito, what are you looking for me?" ”

At this time, Ito Hirobumi came back to his senses and said to him a little embarrassed: "I'm sorry, I was distracted and didn't notice Shibusawa-kun's arrival, please sit down first!" ”

As he spoke, Hirobumi Ito moved a chair for Eiichi Shibusawa and invited Eiichi Shibusawa to sit down.

"You don't look good, Ito-kun." Shibusawa Eiichi looked at Hirobumi Ito's gloomy and haggard face, and said with concern, "You are too lacking in rest, it's not good to go on like this." ”

"It's okay, I'm used to it." Ito waved his hand absently and asked Shibusawa Eiichi, "I heard that you have a good relationship with the French banker Mr. Flory?" ”

"Yes, we are good friends. Your Excellency Ito. Shibusawa Sakae nodded and replied.

"How far can your friendship go?" Hirobumi Ito asked.

"We're very good, we're very compatible, and we've worked together." Shibusawa Eiichi replied, "To put it simply, it's like my current relationship with His Excellency Ito. ”

"Are you in France, do you have any friends like you?" Hirobumi Ito asked again.

"Yes, I traveled across the ocean to France to investigate, and I made a lot of friends, from all walks of life, and after returning to Japan, although I haven't been out for a long time, I have always kept in touch with them, and some of them have business contacts."

"Really? That being the case, I would like to ask you one thing with the utmost sincerity - but have you eaten? ”

"Yes, I've eaten at home."

"I haven't eaten yet, let's talk while we eat."

Hirobumi Ito called his family and asked them to serve him food. The servant quickly brought the meal. Shibusawa Sakae looked at it one by one, and there was only a simple meal as a bowl of clear soup, a small plate of sashimi, a bowl of stew, and a bowl of white porridge. Ito sprinkled a pinch of salt on the porridge and said as he ate, "Today at the Imperial Council, the future fate of Japan was discussed. ”

"Huh? Are you sure? Excellency. This...... Has His Majesty the Emperor made a holy decision? Shibusawa Sakai was taken aback and asked. (To be continued......)

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