On August 11, 1898, it was said that it was the Akasaka neighborhood of Tokyo.

As midsummer approaches, the Bay of Tokyo becomes more and more silent, and the warm South Pacific breeze blowing from the north gently blows through the capital districts below, which seem to be a little more annoying than before.

There is a special place in the city of Tokyo, the capital of the country, which is close to Chiyoda Ward, where the capital of the country is located, and there is a train on the Ginza Line that connects to the Shimonoseki Ward, where the central political axe of the city is located, and it is said that the foreign embassy district that has existed in the country since the Meiji Restoration, Akasaka.

The newly established Seris Legation is also located here, 10-3 Akasaka, Tokyo, which made many people grit their teeth with hatred.

On the 28th of last month, under the "coordination" of the British political axe, the Chinese and Seris political axes signed the humiliating "Sino-Ryukyu Agreement", which not only clearly stipulated the ownership of the Ryukyu Islands in the East China Sea, but also completely denied the legal effect of the former Qing-Yue Shimonoseki Treaty.

"Down with Tsarist imperialism!"

"Down with German imperialism!"

"Take back the Ogasawara Islands!"

"Take back Hokkaido!"

On the streets of nearby Chiyoda Ward, young students of the brigade can be seen holding a demonstration holding banners with slogans written on them.

"I really don't understand these students," Luo Zhenyu, counselor of the Seris Legation in Yue, wondered, "How many years have the Russian embassies been evacuated, and who are they demonstrating here?" ”

Tang Shaoyi, the consul general in the consulate, approached the windowsill of the consulate and said with a smile, "Didn't you hear, isn't there another Germany......

In view of the "protection" of the British, although the European and American powers have not yet taken any specific "measures" for the time being, the territories of outlying islands such as the Ogasawara Islands and Iwo Jima, which are far away from the mainland, are inevitably a little dangerous. Just a few days earlier, the German Far East Fleet had suddenly "visited" the Ogasawara Islands, and on the same day sent sailors ashore to seize the local naval barracks and powder magazines, in fact forcibly occupying this Pacific island 1,200 kilometers from Tokyo.

As early as early April this year, Germany's new Chancellor Hohenlow suggested to Kaiser Wilhelm II, "Our policy, on the one hand, should not be too much involved in the expansion of Tsarist Russia in the Far East, but on the other hand, the right to participate in such actions should be reserved." By 20 May, Germany had even instructed its envoy to China, Klinder, to make a proposal to the Ceris political axe to jointly "seize" the book. After Chen Zeyu politely refused, he tested his reaction to the German occupation of the Ogasawara Islands to China and Russia in the same month, and while Chen Zeyu remained silent, Tsar Nicholas II of St. Petersburg directly expressed his glad acceptance. The German diplomat who received the news immediately sent a telegram back to the Kaiser excitedly, saying: "Facts have proved that the interests of our three countries in the Far East are identical, and I believe that China and Russia will very much welcome any action we take in this direction." So far, China, Germany, and Russia have reached a tacit understanding on the division of their interests.

The German fleet's subsequent attack was also very successful, and it took less than 26 hours to send marines to occupy the entire territory of the Ogasawara Islands in the southern part of the island, including the archipelago, Izu Island, and Iwo Jima, shortly after the forcible capture of Ogasawara Chijima.

Just as Tsarist Russia has always been eager to find an outlet to the sea in the direction of the Indian Ocean, the Germans' desire for colonies in the Far East is also unimaginable. After nearly a decade of entrenching hot colonies in New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, and others, the Germans finally secured their coveted colony in the Far East in the climate-friendly mid-latitude Pacific Ocean. Of course, this is not good news for the other party.

Sure enough, after the news came back, the whole country was indignant, and even all the students in the school went on strike and ran out to hold demonstrations.

Compared with the "simple" student march, the political axe inevitably fell into a dilemma. Considering the real threat of the Russians, the "impoliteness" of the German fleet also seemed to have become a "trivial" mustard problem, and in the end, the political axe could only issue a diplomatic letter of protest without pain.

"These young students are braver than the weak political axe......," Luo Zhenyu commented, observing the team of students chanting slogans on the street.

Tang Shaoyi glanced at the deputy opposite, shook his head and said, "It's good that my country can survive now, what do these students know, do they really think that their flesh and blood can fight against the giant ship cannons of the Russians?" Heh, you still want to take back Hokkaido?! Let's swim through the Kiyotsu Strait by myself."

Although the army had recovered all the territory in the northern part of the island last summer, until now, the Tsarist Russia still forcibly occupied their Hokkaido territory and had been rushing to build local port and shore defense facilities. The huge Russian fleet in the Far East is still a sharp sword in the hearts of all the people, piercing the sensitive hearts of the people all the time.

Originally, after 30 years of reform and reform, the national strength gradually improved, but unfortunately, it was later hit hard by Seris and Tsarist Russia, and even the combined fleet they used to be proud of no longer existed, and the army also lost millions of men one after another, all of which dealt a heavy blow to the book, and its plans to negotiate with European and American powers to cancel various unequal treaties were also put on hold.

The reason why this book can still survive under the "erosion" of Tsarist Russia is due to the support of the Yubu Empire, if it were not for the 6,000 tons of rice transported by British merchant ships every day, I am afraid that all parts of this country would have fallen into a state of famine. In order to get the support of the British, in addition to the 92 million yuan of government bonds issued in the British bond market, he borrowed several times in succession, and now he has owed a total of 460 million yuan to the British, which is equivalent to the fiscal and tax revenue of the previous political axe for a full ten years, and it will take more than 40 million people to work for one year and six months to repay this huge debt.

Not only that, but while carrying heavy debts, he was also forced to open more markets to the British, and in addition, he had to pay for the country's increasingly huge military budget, so he had to continuously raise various domestic tax rates and introduce new taxes, resulting in a weak domestic economy and poor livelihood.

If it were a neighboring country, it would have rioted and started a revolution long ago. However, his perseverance and unity played a role at this time, and although the taxes borne by each family became heavier and heavier, the rice, flour, grain and oil on the market became more and more expensive, and everyone's food became worse and worse, in the face of such unprecedented difficulties, all the people of the country still gritted their teeth and persevered.

Looking at the procession of students who had not dispersed on the street, Tang Shaoyi on the windowsill shook his head and said, "Eighty percent of these students who still have the strength to demonstrate loudly are children of their own families with good backgrounds, Shuyun, have you heard, many people in the four countries in the south of this country starved to death a few days ago......"

"I think that ensuring the stability of Honshu is the first priority," Luo Zhenyu nodded in response, "Kyushu has our country's trade support, and the situation is better, Shikoku Island is already mountainous, lacks arable land, and famine is the most serious. ”

"It is said that our country has lost several battles in succession, and the morale of the people has long been lost," Tang Shaoyi said lightly, "In the face of the bandit methods of the Germans, the political axe can only adopt a concession attitude at this time...... It's humiliating, but it's wise! ”

Listening to the loud student demonstration slogans outside the embassy, Tang Shaoyi sighed and continued, "Only when you have enough food and clothing can you know honor and disgrace, and it is already difficult to say that this political axe is already difficult." Now, even their embassy and consulates in Yanjing have reduced their budgets, and even asked Yanjing Zhengaxe to postpone the payment of the lease fee of the legation......"

"Is it so difficult that the cost of the legation needs to be reduced...... said that this is a shame and thrown to grandma's house. Luo Zhenyu was surprised.

"Hehe, I'm a little embarrassed to say it." Leaving from the edge of the window, Tang Shaoyi said calmly as he walked, "There are only a dozen embassy personnel before and after, but the legation we rented is really extravagant. ”

Luo Zhenyu smiled, "It's a bit extravagant, especially when the yuan is depreciated......

"Hehe......" Tang Shaoyi glanced at him and smiled as well.

According to the lease agreement signed between China and China in the embassy and consulate, Seris diplomats will rent this former Qing office building in the Akasaka embassy district at a price of 9,000 yuan per year. Based on the exchange rate at the time, this price could be considered to match the 13,000-square-meter leased land, but it is clear that after the turmoil of the silver crisis in July, the original rent, which had already depreciated by most of its value, was a bit cold.

In fact, the Seris Legation did a fairly good job, like the splendid British Legation next door not far from them, which had never produced a penny for decades -- according to the unequal treaties signed with them in the past, the legation personnel of the various European powers, including the British, had always lived comfortably in the "free office space" provided by the Axe.

Of course, these situations are not what he wants to see, in fact, he has been trying to negotiate with the powers of various countries to revise the treaty. According to the original history, he did succeed, and in just four years after the First Sino-Japanese War, he succeeded in revising various unequal treaties with other countries.

But now, everything is shattered!

Just a few days ago, Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu, who was in charge of negotiating treaty revisions with European and American countries, was attacked and killed by angry civilians after signing the humiliating "Ryukyu Agreement" and the "Ogasawara Islands Treaty" with Serris and Germany not long ago. Mutsu Munemitsu, a pioneer of the diplomatic circles who led him to learn from the West and resolutely advocated the expansion of military strength and planned a war against China, said goodbye to the world with regret......

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