On August 13, there were two days left before the wedding of the Qing Emperor. ▲∴▲∴, early in the morning, Yokosuka Port, Tokyo Bay, Japan.

On the Kongo, the flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, a Japanese sailor Hatoyama Taro who had eaten breakfast was wiping the barrel of the gun. He was a Japanese expatriate living in England, working as an ordinary sailor on a British merchant ship, earning a pitiful salary to support his family. In 1894, he rejoiced in the news of the defeat of the Qing by the motherland from the Far East, and the subsequent defeat also made his heart ache. Then the Japanese Empire formed a more powerful fleet, and then the Japanese fleet, which made up for the lack of sailors, found him through the Japanese Legation in Britain, hoping that he could join the fleet and work for the future of the empire. Taro Hatoyama was reluctant to join the fleet from the bottom of his heart, and although the original job was hard and the salary was small, he was finally stable. Once you join the fleet, you will face a rain of bullets. However, he could not resist the temptation of the fleet's salary and finally chose to participate, and was selected to participate in gunner training because of his good performance during the training on the return trip, and his first shelling actually hit a reef as a target. When he was still shocked by the huge echo of shells, he had become the gunner of the battleship. In the following training, maybe he was lucky, maybe he was really talented, and his hit rate was above average, and he became the flagship gunner.

It's finally over. Taro Hatoyama stretched and glanced at the dock. Senior generals in uniform on the dock are talking on the pier.

"Yamamoto-kun, the fate of the empire is upheld." Masayoshi Matsukata bowed to Gonbei Yamamoto. Like him, many cabinet members who had come to see off the fleet also saluted Yamamoto.

"Please rest assured, Yamamoto will definitely be able to complete the task." Gonbei Yamamoto will board the ship after returning the salute.

"Be sure to bring back the fleet intact." Prime Minister Yama Prefecture Youpeng solemnly admonished.

Yamamoto bowed his head sharply. After saying "hi", he turned around and boarded the bridge of the Kongo from the gangway to give the order for the fleet to leave the port. With the whistle of the King Kong. The propeller stirred the water and carried the 14,000-ton battleship out of the dock. After many days of sailing and rumors in the fleet off the coast of Qingguo Lushun, Hatoyama Taro understood that today's departure would be an attack on Qingguo after arriving in Qingguo Lushun again. He was like any other sailor. It is believed that the Empire of Japan will achieve significant results in this attack.

Half an hour after the Japanese fleet left port, Guangxu was summoning the king of Ryukyu, the king of Joseon, the king of Siam, and the queen of Hawaii at the Taihe Hall of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Of course, there are also ministers of various countries, because this day is a day for all countries to pay tribute to the emperor.

According to the order of the identity of the visitor, of course, the person who is the king of the land will pay the congratulatory gift first. It is true that the king of the Ryukyus and the king of Joseon presented congratulatory gifts to the emperor of the suzerainty with the rites of a vassal state, and it can also be said that the king of Siam also performed the rites of a vassal state. The biggest difference between the vassal state ceremony and the etiquette of other ministers is that the vassal state is required to kneel. When the Queen of Hawaii also presented the congratulatory gift with the same etiquette, Guangxu was a little unable to sit still. Ryukyu and Korea were vassal states of the Qing Dynasty, and this is recognized by the whole world. Siam, as a country that has always chosen to submit to the Central Plains Dynasty, can also be said to have performed vassal state ceremonies. What kind of vassal rites do you perform with the Hawaiian Kingdom, which has nothing to do with the eight poles of the Central Plains Dynasty in the past dynasties? This shocked the ministers of various countries, especially Ogener. When did the Kingdom of Hawaii belong to the Qing Kingdom?

Fortunately, the embarrassed officials of the Department of Etiquette of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly came to Queen Liliukalani's side and corrected Queen Liliukalani's follow-up etiquette in time, which made the ministers of various countries feel at ease. It's just that the uncivilized barbarians have done the wrong thing, and it's nothing. Guangxu just laughed and accepted the congratulatory gift from Queen Liliukalani. Unexpectedly, Queen Liliukalani wanted to seek a high-speed alert ship and put forward a request on the spot to purchase the Qingguo Cruise, which made the ministers of all countries shake their heads, which was just a simple congratulatory gift, and not a negotiation between countries. It would be rude to make such a request at this time. Thereupon. Ministers can only attribute the Queen of Hawaii to a lack of diplomatic etiquette. The Qing Emperor on the stage agreed to Hawaii's request, and in the eyes of the ministers of various countries, it was nothing, and a warship with no firepower and only speed did not mean anything. Qing people still love face so much, and this kneeling in exchange for a warship. Although it is only a few hundred tons, it can be regarded as earning. The Qing Emperor on the stage was aware of the fact that the Cruiser was about to be decommissioned, and with a big wave of his hand, he gave the warship to the Hawaii Navy free of charge. It's just that the warship is currently on a guard mission off the coast of Japan. You will need to wait until you return to perform the handover ceremony.

"Our country has merchant ships in Osaka, Japan, and we can let them deliver His Majesty's orders." Queen Liliukarani said.

Hi--The court sighed. The ministers had nothing to say about Hawaii's diplomatic courtesy but to sigh deeply. Stage. Guangxu, who looked embarrassed, could only agree, and issued an order on the spot to send a telegram to Osaka, Japan, and asked the local consular officials to take a Hawaiian merchant ship to find the Patrol Sea to deliver the message.

After giving the congratulatory gift, Queen Liliukalani stepped aside at the request of the Qing ceremonial officials, waiting for the other countries to finish the congratulatory gifts. Although the Kingdom of Hawaii is only a very small country, it is also a sovereign state in this world. Hawaii is not a vassal state like Korea and the Ryukyus, and as the queen of the Qing State is a sovereign state on an equal footing, how can she not understand these diplomatic etiquette, everything today is deliberate.

That's right, it was deliberate, it was the result of secret discussions between her prime minister, Lee Eun-bo, and the Qing state. In order for a vassal state to submit to the suzerain, the vassal king must kneel before the suzerain's emperor, which is the same as that of the Joseon and Ryukyu kings. At the same time, in order to show loyalty, it was necessary to hand over his fleet to the command of the Qing State before the Qing-Japanese War, and declare war on Japan before the Qing-Japanese war. This is a condition of the Qing Kingdom, and you can choose not to agree.

But the current situation in Hawaii no longer allows her not to agree. The coup d'état of '94 gave Liliukarani too much of a shock, especially the American fleet that arrived after the coup. If it weren't for the fact that Lee's private army could quickly quell the rebellion, her Hawaiian Guards would not have been able to defeat the American merchant forces so quickly, and the American fleet would have occupied Hawaii. From now on. Hawaii will become a colony for Americans. The Europeans ruled the colonies so cruelly that they wanted to squeeze the last cent of value out of the natives. As a queen, she could not watch her people be treated like this.

Lee established an intelligence organization in Hawaii, and the information from the United States proved everything. The United States still has ambitions for Hawaii. Because there are Hawaiians in Lee Enfu's intelligence agency, and because Lee Enfu borrowed the name of Hawaii, he needs to train people for Hawaiians. This information is all true.

Hawaii's own abilities alone are not enough to protect itself. The United States, a country that has always had its eye on Hawaii, has not dispelled the idea of annexing Hawaii even after its defeat. Queen Liliukalani, who thought that when she had a fleet, she thought that she could protect the best sex of her kingdom, but when the Americans announced that the two Iowa-class battleships under construction would be incorporated into the Pacific Fleet, and at the same time some of the old cruisers would also be incorporated into the Pacific Fleet, they were desperate. Because in this way, the United States will surpass Hawaii in the Pacific, and the key to this is. The Hawaiian Kingdom could not afford the expenses of the existing Hawaiian fleet, which is why the Hawaiian fleet repeatedly appeared in the Qing waters, because all the expenses during this period would be borne by the Qing State. As her prime minister, Lee Eun-bok, said, the navy is a real gold-eating beast. If it weren't for the Qing State secretly paying the expenses of the Hawaiian fleet many times in various names, then the warships of the Hawaiian fleet could only become batteries on the coast. However, without naval protection, Hawaii would not be able to withstand an invasion from the United States. Hawaii, which does not have enough population, does not have enough resources, and now cannot even feed a fleet, can only choose to attach itself to a large country, and this is the fate of small island nations.

Since it is still necessary to choose attachment. Then choose a big country that is most beneficial to your own country. The United States can't be, that's simply a jackal; Britain is indeed the most powerful country in the world, but what they did in India and South Africa shows that they are not good people; Germany, France, too far to take care of. The Far East at this time. There is a country on the rise - China. They defeated Japan, they defeated Russia, they openly raided the Netherlands. They are trying to develop. They already had the ability to fend off the European powers. The key is that since the First Sino-Japanese War, the waters of the Qing Dynasty have extended to the Central Pacific Ocean through the Guangxu Islands.

Because of the arrival of Lee Eun-bo. is also because of Li Enfu's series of investment moves on Hawaii Island, and because Li Enfu treats Hawaiian natives equally. This was strange to Liliucarani, as even the Japanese discriminated against Native Hawaiians. After the failure of the coup d'état by the Americans, Lee En-boo took the initiative to negotiate with Liliukalani to become the chief consul of the kingdom, but he also made it clear that he needed this position to do something. At the same time, he was too busy to have the time and energy to intervene in the internal affairs of the Hawaiian Kingdom, so he only needed a name. For a person who has helped you a lot, but is rich and powerful but has no ambition, only one name is needed, and you have no reason to refuse. And Li Enfu did not ask about the internal affairs of the kingdom, because for him, receiving people from various countries who came to Hawaii under various names (kidnapping, deception, threats, etc.), contacting Cuba, arranging Alaskan mining and security, these things were enough for him to have no room for separation. When the First Sino-Japanese War of the Qing Dynasty began, after the original Pacific Fleet of Hawaii appeared in the Qing Navy, Li Enfu looked for her. It was clear that the Queen would be dismissed from his position as Chief Consul, because from now on he would no longer need the name, and he would only use Hawaii as a transit point to serve his country.

Liliukalani did not agree, but asked Li Enfu about China. Li Enfu said a lot, but Liliu Karani only remembered one thing, the root of China's ancient way of governing the country was benevolence and filial piety. In order to understand what benevolence and filial piety is, Liliukalani began to learn Chinese, she read a large number of Confucian classics, consulted many Chinese, and made her understand that the so-called benevolence is equal care, is gratuitous dedication, and filial piety is the respect of the superior. Liliukalani understands that the superior treats the lower kingdom more with love and unrequited giving, and filial piety is the loyalty and respect of the lower kingdom to the superior kingdom. And the Ryukyus and North Korea, which are far away on the west coast of the ocean, have become the best proof of this. Liliukarani once said to Li Enfu with emotion, you see how loyal China's vassal states are to the suzerain, and at most they pay tribute five or six times a year. In this regard, Li Enfu said: Bullshit loyalty, every time these lower kingdoms in the name of tribute, they exchange half a cart of tattered for a cart of gold and silver. Who doesn't do this kind of thing.

Therefore, when she passed by Ryukyu before coming to China this time, she asked the Ryukyu king Shangtai this question: why did he not pay tribute to the Qing Dynasty. Unexpectedly, Shangtai's answer was: Shangguo will not let it. for there is no reward left in the kingdom of God. What made Liliukalani even more lamented was that the king of Ryukyu received the queen of Hawaii and Ben without informing the suzerainty in advance. Just because this is an internal affair of the Ryukyus, the suzerainty cannot intervene in the internal affairs of the vassal state as long as the vassal state does not go against the will of the suzerain. He also said that this has been the rule for thousands of years.

After visiting the fiery construction sites and factories, Liliukalani was amazed by the Qing Dynasty's investment of hundreds of millions of taels of silver in the Ryukyus. After meeting with the Ryukyu officials, they found that the Qing Dynasty had invested so much that only technical officials were sent and there was no official in charge of government affairs. Even the Qing state set up a consular officer in the Ryukyus, which was completely an exchange between the two countries, why is this?

Shang Tai was very strange that the suzerainty never cared about the internal affairs of the vassals. At the same time, as a suzerain, it also has to bear the security of the vassal state, and all the vassal state needs is to follow closely behind the suzerainty and show enough loyalty. This has been the case for thousands of years.

This was a relationship between the clans and vassals that Liliu Carani had never heard of, and the ironclad facts of the Ryukyus were all evidence of the validity of this statement. And all these relationships are textless, only thousands of years of habits are maintained. Since Hawaii has always needed to turn to a big country, there is no better option than to turn to China. Just like what she said when she asked Li Enfu to officially become the prime minister of the kingdom: I can't be busy with my own affairs, how can I have time to take care of your affairs. At least, the Chinese are more honest.

Liliukalani asked his fellow prime minister, Lee Eun-bo, if one day the Qing Dynasty was strong enough to protect Hawaii. Is it possible for Hawaii to want to be a vassal of the Qing Dynasty? Li Enfu told her clearly - it is impossible. If you look at Ryukyu and Korea, they both sent troops to participate in the military campaigns of the Qing State before they wanted to get asylum from China, because this is a way for the vassal state to show its loyalty to the suzerain, and you don't pay anything but want to get it, how is this possible.

The current battle between Qing and Japan is a battle to determine the hegemony of East Asia. The winner will have a say in the Western Pacific. Liliu Kalani did not understand military affairs, but Li Enfu came back from negotiations and told her that as long as the Qing State was victorious. Between the friendly countries that are fighting side by side, the Qing State will provide support to the best of its ability. At least it can cover the expenses of the fleet, and Hawaii needs to pay for it. He will continue to fight side by side with the Qing when the Qing State needs it. It has been a tradition in China for thousands of years that great powers put faith first, and it is up to Hawaii to decide whether or not to make a document. The absence of paperwork is tantamount to giving Hawaii maximum autonomy.

So, there is a scene of today's congratulatory gift. The original plan was to use the bombing and sinking of Hawaiian merchant ships to propose a high amount of compensation to Japan, but the Japanese were too restrained, so they came up with this method. It was to wait for the Japanese ships to leave the port, and take advantage of the time difference between the Japanese fleet and the land, and force the Japanese to sink the provocative cruiser. However, the Qing Dynasty was able to use radio to make the merchant ships carrying the decree arrive at the place of the exchange of fire at the right time, so that the Japanese could no longer explain.

In fact, Gonbei Yamamoto was really angry at the cruiser, which dared to attack the powerful Japanese fleet with a pitiful single-barreled 102-mm gun at close range with a single ship. Yamamoto ordered four destroyers to besiege the Cruiser, ignoring the request to stop the attack on the warship that was constantly signaling that the Cruiser was now in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Obviously, the Cruiser still carries the flag of the Qing Navy, how did it become a warship in Hawaii. Yamamoto was still wondering if the Cruiser was really on board a Hawaiian merchant ship.

"Fire the cannon and give the order for the merchant ships to leave." Under Yamamoto's orders, four Japanese destroyers opened fire on the merchant ships, and the frightened merchant ships quickly left the war zone. I wanted to use the powerful firepower to destroy the Cruiser to boost the morale of the Japanese fleet, but what I didn't expect was that the Cruiser used the experience of the old and spicy single ship to compete with four faster Japanese destroyers, and a Japanese destroyer that dodged the torpedo attack of the Qing ship was seriously injured by a single shot. Yamamoto did not continue to capture the Qing army that had fallen into the water, but only looked at the sinking Nakatsuna. Although the Cruiser sank in the final event because it could not break through, the fact showed that there was a huge gap between the Combined Fleet and the Qing Navy, which cast a shadow over Yamamoto's heart.

Even if the destroyer is seriously injured, it can run faster than the merchant ship, not to mention that the merchant ship has to salvage the sailors who have fallen into the water. Moreover, Japanese ships only needed to enter the nearest port along the Japanese coastline, while merchant ships could only return to Osaka. So at noon on the same day, the Japanese side made a big announcement that the Qing Dynasty had sunk the Qing ship Cruiser in the first naval confrontation between the Qing and Japan. When the news spread, the whole country celebrated. And when the news reached Beijing, the face of the Japanese minister was like that of a dead mother. Just because after the congratulatory gift, the Qing Emperor held a luncheon, and he had not yet returned to the legation to send back to Japan the news that the Qing State had sent the Patrol Sea to Hawaii. Originally, it was still speculated that the patrol did not receive an order from the Hawaiian side when it was sunk, but it was not until the Hawaiian merchant ship returned to Osaka in the afternoon to report the incident. The angry Queen of Hawaii stood in front of the Japanese Minister in front of all the ministers.

"In our country, the merchant ships have made it clear that the Cruiser is our first ship, and after receiving it, it was still attacked by Japan and finally sank. Is this a provocation and humiliation of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Japan? Now, I, the Queen of Hawaii, officially inform the Japanese government. The Japanese government must pay the Kingdom of Hawaii 10 million pounds within 24 hours, otherwise the two countries will automatically enter a state of war after 24 hours. (To be continued......) u