741578255 two!

Liang Dunyan, who had participated in the specific matters of the First Sino-Japanese Indemnity, naturally answered this question in an instant

When he finally said this number, everyone was shocked, their eyes opened, Chen Moran almost didn't believe his ears, 741578255 two no, isn't it all 250 million taels?

In addition to the surprise, the anger on his face became thicker.

"741578255 two good one 741578255 two"

Snorted coldly, Chen Moran felt that his heart was aching, 740 million taels of silver, this is the price paid by China in the First Sino-Japanese War, what 250 million taels of silver is there

"Your Majesty, the indemnity payments from the First Sino-Japanese War had an epoch-making impact on China's fiscal history, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty's finances and economy have been in a state of collapse ever since. Since the Qing Dynasty was established, it still followed the traditional principle of "living within the limits of income", so when the First Sino-Japanese War broke out, the Qing government's finances suddenly felt that they were in short supply. In order to raise military expenses during the war, Qing Zheng fǔ borrowed from the British HSBC Bank twice, totaling 28,653,961.78 taels of silver. The repayment of foreign debts has become a major part of the state's fiscal expenditure. Later, they borrowed money from Russia, Britain and Germany, and the three countries continued to put forward harsh borrowing conditions, which not only caused China huge losses economically, but also suffered great damage to its sovereignty. China borrowed a huge amount of debt to pay Japan's reparations, and the foreign powers seized a large amount of China's rights and interests through borrowing, and controlled part of China's financial sovereignty. Since then, the balance of revenue and expenditure of the Qing government has been undermined, and China's financial and economic situation has been under the oppression of foreign powers for a long time. ”

"In this way, the reparations from the First Sino-Japanese War are the direct root cause of China's economic weakness."

Facing His Majesty's rhetorical question, Liang Dunyan nodded heavily.

"The 250 million taels of indemnity in the first year of the first day of the year made a start, and it is precisely because of this that there is one person and one tael in the year of Xin Chou"

Zhang Zhidòng added with resentment, and when he said this, he even took a special look at His Majesty, only to see that the anger on His Majesty's face became thicker, and even had a hint of exploding.

"But isn't it, after the Jiawu indemnity set this precedent, the Gengzi indemnity can be said to be the largest extortion in history, and it is precisely because of this that the Qing government will lead to a complete collapse of the financial economy later. The foreign powers used the collateral for the indemnity to collect reparations were customs duties, regular customs duties, salt taxes, etc., to intercept political and financial resources, control China's finances, and influence China's political situation. ”

Yuan Shikai's tone was also a little dark, as a former minister of Beiyang, how could he not know about this indemnity.

"According to the provisions of the annex No. 13 of paragraph 6 of the Xincho Treaty, the total amount of indemnities paid by China to Japan is 106854177 yen, and if interest is deducted, China actually pays more than 210 million yen in reparations to Japan."

Listening to this number, Chen Moran was silent for a long time before speaking.

"Well, the sum of the principal and interest of the indemnity is 740 million taels, which is almost the fiscal revenue of the Manchu Qing Dynasty for 10 years, and the income of Geng Japan is also the fiscal revenue of the Manchu Qing Dynasty for one and a half years. ”

Turning his head to look at Guan Mingtang, Chen Moran asked.

"So what is Japan's fiscal spending today?"

"Your Majesty, as of last month, Japan's fiscal expenditure was 535.3 million yen, and the additional war expenditure and foreign debt expenditure was 420.75 million yen, and there should be no problem with more than one billion yen this year."

Guan Mingtang replied truthfully, although he is China's finance minister, he is well aware of Japan's financial revenue and expenditure, and listening to His Majesty's words, he faintly guessed what His Majesty was going to ask for from Japan this time.

"That's about a billion yen?"

"Yes, Your Majesty"

"Well, let's multiply this number by 11, and that's the condition for us to accept the peace payment."

Boom, everyone heard this, and they all turned their eyes to His Majesty, looking at him with an incredible face, Your Majesty, Your Majesty doesn't know that such a large amount of money, let alone Japan, may not be able to pay for Britain and the United States.

"Your Majesty......"

Without waiting for Mingtang to speak, Chen Moran smiled, looked at everyone and said.

"Everyone is scared by such a large sum of money?"

If there is no one to answer, how can you not be frightened, any country paying this huge amount of money is equivalent to paying the price of the country's demise.

"So, what if we lose?"

With a rhetorical question, Chen Moran's expression became extremely serious.

"If we are defeated, then this time, how can Japan let go of the opportunity to squeeze us as much as possible? 11 billion ......, so to speak, we will pay much more than that"

Then Chen Moran's tone became a little heavy, although it was just a guess, but with the greed of the Japanese, how could he not guess what kind of conditions the Japanese would offer? ,

"During the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese offered an indemnity equivalent to 4 times the Manchu Qing Dynasty's finances, and in the Gengzi negotiations, Japan supported 1 billion taels of reparations aimed at squeezing China dry, 12 times China's annual fiscal revenue, if we were defeated, I estimate that it would be so much."

As he spoke, Chen Moran stretched out his left hand three times anyway.

"15 times, at least 15 billion yuan in compensation, by then, every Chinese will need to bear at least 35 yuan of foreign debt, we may need 50 years to be able to pay off the foreign debt, and the annual payment of principal and interest will exceed 600 million yuan."

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that if we set a benchmark for peace now, then the amount of indemnity should be limited to what the Japanese government can bear as much as possible, and do not cause them excessive financial pressure, which will cause the government to collapse, and such a situation is not in our future interests."

As soon as Guan Mingtang's voice fell, there was immediately a chorus of echoing sound around him, looking at the ministers who echoed Guan Mingtang, Chen Moran smiled bitterly in his heart, if he didn't insist, I am afraid that for these people, they can ask for two or three hundred million, which is not bad.

"Well, when others eat our ròu, they have never been soft, and now it's good, it's our turn to have the opportunity to eat other people's ròu......"

Chen Moran, who was speechless for a long time, saw that everyone looked embarrassed, and finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

"11 billion, this is the condition of reparations, which I insist on"

Perhaps out of fear that they would still oppose it, Chen Moran emphasized again.

"Don't forget that I took out 550 million yuan from the internal crossbow as military expenses, which is equivalent to half of the imperial treasury's preparation for this war, so no matter what the result is, as long as I win, I will receive at least 5 billion yuan in tribute."

As soon as these words came out, everyone was dumbfounded, they almost couldn't believe that this was what His Majesty said, Your Majesty is clearly asking for money, and when Ye Zugui looked at His Majesty, he was even more surprised, didn't His Majesty say that he didn't want a cent of compensation?

"Remember, no matter what"

Chen Moran deliberately emphasized again, this sentence is equivalent to telling them that this money will either be paid by the Japanese or will be paid by the Imperial Treasury. Sensing the surprise in Ye Zugui's sight, Chen Moran smiled, this is also not done, he doesn't insist, I don't know what kind of words they will say.

And Guan Mingtang squeaked for half a year, wanting to refute His Majesty, but found that he had to refute it at all, what is this to take money from the inner treasury, it is simply a "venture capital" to lend money from the inner treasury to the country.

"When, Current"

With a squeak, Zhang Zhidòng, the prime minister, opened his mouth.

"Since Japan can earn more than 500 million yen a year, in fact, 11 billion is not too much, and less is not much, according to the loan and compensation of our Gengzi indemnity, they have paid 11 billion in compensation, and if the repayment interest is calculated for 50 years, Japan only returns the principal and interest of various countries every year, well......"

After accounting for a while, Zhang Zhidòng said slowly.

"That is, more than 400 million, a few years ago, thirty percent of the financial revenue of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was used to pay off debts.

Divided into a hundred years

Hmph, sneering, Chen Moran seemed to see the day when Japan's tariffs, salt taxes, tobacco and alcohol taxes, etc. were all taken over by Britain, the United States, Germany and other countries, paying hundreds of millions of yuan in interest every year, this heavy burden will lead to a complete collapse of the Japanese economy, and this is precisely the best choice to get rid of this strong enemy.

"The others don't have any opinions."

Chen Moran asked rhetorically, and when he saw that everyone was no longer speechless, he nodded.

"Well, the first point of consensus has been reached, and the next thing is the issue of land cession, the problem of Korea and the Ryukyus must be solved, these two places are vassal parts of China, and they should be taken back in a reasonable way, but Japan has occupied Taiwan, so we must take this point into account."

Before others could react, Chen Moran turned his gaze to Ye Zugui.

"Ye Qing, if I'm not mistaken, the navy doesn't seem to have a good large military port in the north now."

"Yes, Your Majesty, although the Lushun base has been re-commissioned, the siege of Arthur has proven that Lushun is vulnerable to attack, so it cannot be a key port in the north of the Imperial Navy."

"Hmm"

After a moment, Chen Moran followed up and asked.

"So, Ye Qing, what do you think of Zoseburg?"

As soon as this sentence came out, everyone only felt that the meeting seemed to have changed its taste, from a meeting to negotiate the basic terms of peace and thus establish the policy of the imperial war, to a "foolish talk", and it was His Majesty who could not argue with it all in charge. ,

After the outbreak of any war, either side will set the ultimate goal of the war and the conditions for peace, so as to determine the ultimate goal of military action; otherwise, a war without a clear purpose will lead to an unlimited expansion of the scale of the war and a rapid expansion of military spending.

Eleven years ago, during the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan formulated the goal of peace with the goal of at least obtaining the "independence" of Korea and obtaining a certain amount of reparations, and the final Liaodong Campaign and the Weihaiwei Campaign were all military operations to obtain more favorable peace conditions and more reparations, before the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Japan's goal was to at least control Korea and strive for the South Manchurian region to be controlled by Japan. But it will always be swayed by various factors, either expanding because the war is going well, or shrinking because the war is lost.

While the most basic demands for peace were being discussed in the administrative building of the Nanjing Imperial Palace, Japan was being controlled by an inexplicable emotion at this time, which was not moving, not angry, but uneasy.

That's right, it's uneasiness

Although it has not yet been confirmed by the government that it is the Combined Fleet, some well-informed companies, especially those that have close trade ties with China, immediately received a secret telegram from the China Society, asking whether the Combined Fleet had suffered a crushing defeat in the South China Sea and was blocked, and the news spread throughout Japan.

"The Southern Fleet suffered a crushing defeat in the battle with the Jingyuan ship"

"The 7 ships of the Southern Relic Fleet intercepted the Jingyuan and were almost completely annihilated"

"The combined fleet suffered heavy losses"

Initially, the news spread that the Southern Fleet had lost 4 warships, then 5, and then the entire Combined Fleet went out to intercept the Jingyuan, not only did it not sink the Jingyuan, but the entire Combined Fleet also suffered heavy losses.

Whenever they talk about Jingyuan, they even use "it" instead, people are not even willing or afraid to mention Jingyuan, they even think that if they mention Jingyuan, the powerful and unsinkable Jingyuan will appear in front of them.

And in the midst of this fear, no one even paid attention to any "rumors" such as "inflation in the Empire" and "the Empire printed a large number of paper money in order to relieve financial pressure", and in this fear, almost everyone, all those who knew the news of the naval battle in the South China Sea, were eager for a response from the Combined Fleet, but the Combined Fleet was surprisingly silent.

"It's been confirmed, the Fuji sank"

The officer who reported specifically emphasized again.

"But it was not sunk by the Chinese, after the rudder of the Fuji was destroyed, seeing that it was no longer possible to leave the battlefield, General Hidaka ordered the crew to evacuate, and then detonated the bomb yào library, before the Chinese sank him"

"Damn Hidaka"

Almost everyone, when they heard this report, they cursed the bold and reckless Hidaka with the same words, originally, the Southern Fleet had a chance to come back, but Hidaka's audacity led to the crushing defeat of the Southern Fleet.

"Iwami 1st Class Battleship, 1st Class Fuji Battleship, Izumo 1st Class Armored Cruiser, Takasago Protective Cruiser ......"

Listening to the general order officer repeating the bad news again, Shimamura Suo, who was the chief of staff of the Combined Fleet, opened his mouth with a pale face and wanted to say something, but in the end, he sat down without saying anything, and the whole person was full of uneasiness.

And Akiyama Shinyuki, who is regarded as the "tactical soul of the combined fleet", has a solemn face, and he also sits there without saying a word, just sitting quietly, if Hidaka is in front of him now, he believes that he will definitely hack that hún egg with a saber, he has obviously asked him to retreat, why did that damn hún egg choose to ignore the order.

And at this time, although he was known as the "Nelson of the East", the short old man Togo Heihachiro, who was still known as the "stuffy gourd", looked at the general officer and asked after the initial silence.

"Aso, Kasaki, and Chitose are all right?"

"There was no damage to the Aso, the Kasashiki was hit by three 105-mm shells, and the Chitose was hit by two 105 shells"

"Oh"

When everyone was shocked by the bad news, Togo responded very calmly, and then he continued. ,

"Not bad, at least we have three more cruisers ready for the next naval battle"

Then he stood up again and commanded the orderly.

"Okay, breakfast should have been eaten three hours ago, let's have lunch at once"

Then he was silent for a moment, and then emphasized.

"Well, the main meal is steak and salad, the dessert is cake, and each officer has to drink two glasses of whiskey, two ounces for a double."

Before everyone could react, Heihachiro Togo bowed lightly to everyone and said.

"You've done a great job."

The crowd was stunned by the performance of the commander of the Combined Fleet, and when they were still surprised and did not wake up, Togo added:

"Don't give up, the battle will continue"

Oh, yes

The battle was still fighting, and at this time, the calmness shown by Heihachiro Togo comforted the originally nervous people, and after everyone calmed down a little, Togo left Akiyama Shinyuki and Shimamura Suo.

"How's that, what do you think?"

Although the question was a bit clueless, both Akiyama and Shimamura knew what the commander was asking.

"If you can completely annihilate the Second Fleet, there is still a chance"

Shen yín for a long time, Akiyama Mayuki replied affirmatively.

"According to the battle report on the front line, although the Jingyuan won this naval battle, it also suffered heavy losses, and it needs to lie in the dock for at least half a year, so we still have a chance."

"Yes,"

Suo Shimamura would have a different opinion.

"If we suffer losses in the attack on the Second Fleet, then there is still a chance to defeat the First Fleet"

At this time, Shimamura Suo pointed out a practical problem that had to be faced, and the fiasco of the Southern Fleet had proved a realistic problem, and any former Zhiyuan ship had no possibility of victory in front of the Zhiyuan ship.

"Now, we can only gamble"

Akiyama Shinyuki said unceremoniously.

"If the rudder of the Fuji is not destroyed, if there is even one battleship in the Southern Fleet, then it is still possible to sink Jingyuan, so this is an arithmetic problem."

Then Akiyama Mayuki immediately took out a piece of paper and did arithmetic for the commander and chief of staff, and soon a result was presented, and looking at that result, both Togo and Shimamura frowned.

After pondering for a long time, he watched the arithmetic Dongxiang spit out a sentence with difficulty.

"This ...... It's just so tough."

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