Hiroshima base camp.

At the senior staff terrace restaurant of Hiroshima Imperial Bank, which overlooks the blue sea of Ujina Port. It has been temporarily transformed into a buffet reception.

Snow-white tablecloths were laid out, bottles of whiskey, brandy, gin, champagne, Italian sparkling wine, and Ben's own beach wine, Yongjiu, and Tsuruyaki ...... It's all over the place. Every bottle seems to have its lid opened, and every glass seems to be filled with wine. The terrace was full of people, navy uniforms, army uniforms, Western-style dresses, and Japanese-style clothes. I didn't drink much, but people seemed to be drunk. All kinds of indistinct cheers and shouts were mixed together, so that this supreme center of the war turned into a rampaging madhouse for a while.

The Qing people have sued for peace! The people of China have sued for peace! When it was said that the fight was already unsustainable, and he already felt out of breath, he announced peace!

The Qing country is so big, and it is said that it is so poor and weak, and it has been civilized for decades, and it has not saved much money. Although the land and naval battles were fought except for the defeat in the Korean battle, there were victories everywhere. However, the vast land of China also consumes various resources that are already scarce.

For example, after the victory in southern Liaoning, the base camp did not hope that the Second Army would stop on the spot, but also hoped that the Second Army could continue to advance towards southern Liaoning, so as to bring greater shock to the Qing people. However, the ammunition that the Second Army of Liaonan now has in reserve is not enough to fight a medium-sized battle. After being attacked by the sudden rise of the Liaonan region of the Qing Dynasty, grain and straw also had difficulties. If it weren't for the capture of a considerable amount of Qing food in Lushun, the entire army would have been cut off. The Imperial base camp was not unwanted, and it did not want to urgently resupply the Second Army right away. However, the more than 100,000 tons of civilian transport ships requisitioned and issued have already been cleaned up. In addition to the repairs and maintenance of these hundreds of thousands of tons of ships under high-intensity use, the rest of the ships have to maintain such a wide range of supplies from Yuben to North Korea, to southern Liaoning, and to Shandong, which has long been overwhelmed! And now there are signs that the transport team of more than 100,000 tons cannot be maintained, and the people of the empire also need these transport ships, for the sake of war, the original normal civilian shipping has almost stopped for a month or two, and if it continues like this, it will have to disband part of the transport ship regiment and demobilize the civilians, but in this way, military transportation will be even more unsustainable!

Not only did the Second Army of southern Liaoning have this problem, but also the logistics of the Third Army of the Qing Dynasty were also extremely bad, and the organization of the Third Army of the Qing Dynasty was quite hasty. It was almost two months ahead of the originally planned mobilization and grouping time. A large amount of equipment and materials were hurriedly pulled out before they were in place. Not only is there not enough artillery, but even rifles, ammunition, and military uniforms are not complete! After the landing of Rongcheng Bay, the Qing army was about to collapse at the touch of a button, and there was no major problem when it was going well. The artillery fire was not enough to destroy the opponent's position, and even the infantry was not strong enough ammunition, and when a company was ordered to attack, it was actually ordered not to shoot!

This is true at the front, but also at the rear.

The war funds raised in the first phase of the empire have long been used. Because of the crushing defeat in Korea, the second tranche of war bonds issued by the empire in London was met with very few people for a while. Western financiers are waiting to see who of the two Far Eastern countries will win the war and who will be able to take on the task of containing Russia's expansion in the Far East. Don't invest until you don't see the watchdog that works. The Imperial Treasury has bottomed out, the Colonial Industry Development Plan has been hit hard, and the Imperial Bank has not even been able to open the documents for the export credit of raw silk for a while!

Even manpower is a problem, for this war, in addition to the 100,000 standing army, the empire mobilized more than 100,000 reserve troops. Especially after the destruction of the two divisions in southern Liaoning, more young and middle-aged people were mobilized in a hurry, regardless of whether there was so much equipment to arm them. Coupled with the personnel who directly and indirectly served this war, the mobilized young men did not worry about seven or eight hundred thousand. Compared with the population of nearly 50 million, the absolute number is not large, but these are the most robust and capable laborers in the countryside. Seeing that it is the time when the farm is busy, the past two years have not been good, and it is a sure thing that the harvest will be poor again this year. The foreign exchange that can be used to import grain has long bottomed out, and it seems that the rice scratch will not be able to run, and we don't know how to fight this famine in the future.

It is said that such a small country, with the weak foundation of initial industrialization, brazenly launched such a battle of snake swallowing giant elephants. On the battlefield, I basically won step by step according to the prediction, but I didn't know why I was about to collapse!

After Ito's defeat in Korea, he resolutely launched an offensive to expand aggression again, which has been called the biggest, craziest, and last gamble of the Meiji period by many people. Everyone calculates, if the Qing Kingdom resists for another month or two, it may collapse by itself! And the Qing State did not have the prospect of collapse at once, although most of their army was vulnerable, and the naval division was basically crippled. But after all, they are too big to retreat. And there's still such a Praetorian Guard!

Many political forces within the country are already secretly preparing for defeat, how to seize greater power in the chaos after the war, and clean up this situation. The most pessimistic view is that the return of the Ryukyu Islands has been made as a condition for suing for peace with the Qing Dynasty.

However, all of a sudden, the behemoth of the Qing Kingdom collapsed on its own!

This sudden victory made this imperial base camp feel intoxicated! These opened wines, when they came later, were almost not drunk, but poured. Several army officers climbed onto the railing of the terrace, despite the fact that the soles of their feet were tens of meters high. They spread their clothes open and shouted to the sea to the west.

"Your Excellency Shan Shan, have you seen it, we have won!"

"The Imperial Army, invincible! God bless the Emperor, invincible! ”

"Your Excellency Yamagu, Your Excellency Kawakami, Your Excellency Nozu, rest in peace! Become a god! ”

"North Korea is ours, Manchuria is ours, we still want Shandong, we want Zhili, we want to turn Qing into a country without a coastline, we want Qing to compensate ten times the military spending, we are the victorious side!"

"The pattern of East Asia for 2,000 years has been mastered by China, and today, more than 2,500 years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, His Majesty Emperor Jimmu, from near to future, Asia will be the Asia of the empire!"

The naval officers, who were most unaccustomed to the frenzy of these army officers, were also shouting and screaming beside them at this time, and some of them were also ready to staggering onto the railing and go crazy with these army officers. Compared to the army, the navy has more to be proud of. They really lost a battle and did not fight, from North Korea, to Dadonggou, to the landing in Dalian Bay, to the shelling of Dagu, and finally to the landing in Rongcheng Bay, invincible, unlike the army in the DPRK general, lieutenant general, major general lost enough, and also lost the main force of two divisions!

Compared with the military, the civilian officials are somewhat reserved in addition to ecstasy. They learned the style of Western gentlemen, nodded to each other, kept touching champagne glasses, exchanged all kinds of feelings, and when it came to sighs, they also took off their glasses and wiped their eyes.

“…… Fortunately, it's over, the empire is almost bankrupt, and strong negotiations are needed to rebuild the empire's finances......"

“…… The ships need to be demobilized, and the imperial grain reserves are insufficient, and presumably part of it can be solved in the south of Korea. The rest, I will have to buy the reparations of the Qing country, I don't know when the negotiations will start? We must not back down on the issue of compensation! After all, it's better to win......"

"It's really unimaginable, in the blink of an eye, the country that almost jumped off the high platform of Kiyomizudera Temple has suddenly become a view of Mt. Kaga...... In addition to His Majesty the Emperor's divine blessing, His Excellency Ito's decisive decision-making power is really admirable! This is the strongest politician in Asia in this era! ”

"What about Your Excellency Ito? Why isn't he there? ”

"Maybe Your Excellency Ito doesn't want us to see him in tears? At this time, he must be drunk, yes, drunk! ”

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

Unlike the civilian army and navy generals who were already on the verge of losing shape in the base camp thought, Ito Hirobumi did not have the kind of drunkenness and excitement they had guessed. This man, who has become "the strongest politician in Asia" in the mouth of his subordinates, is in his study, flipping through a thick stack of materials.

When the news of the Qing court's peace came, he only stayed for a long time, and then said, "I know, please turn it to His Majesty the Emperor, and leave quickly." When the subordinates of the base camp were already so excited that they didn't know what to do, and when they had temporarily lost their ability to work normally, Ito Hirobumi and his secretary team quietly took on most of the general affairs by themselves in the past two days. He did not disturb the ecstasy of his subordinates, but only used his calm work to ensure that the various corps of the army on the front line could still receive timely instructions on the spot, and the war machine that kept the book still spinning.

The head of the Genyosha, the head of the secret service, Mitsumi Toyama, sat quietly opposite Hirobumi Ito, waiting for him to finish reading the materials. These materials are all the most comprehensive information about Xu Yifan and his power that Ito Hirofumi suddenly asked him to see immediately, and he can collect.

In the ecstasy and excitement of others, Ito Hirofumi looked at it for two or three hours. Even if the tradition of kneeling is so good, I feel that my legs are a little numb.

At this time, Ito Hirobumi coughed, took off his nose glasses, rubbed his eyes, and put down the information in his hand. muttered softly, "Amazing guy wow......"

Toushan saw that it was a crack in the words, and hurriedly agreed: "He is an excellent Zhina person, and he is a Zhina person who is difficult to predict by common sense!" Your Excellency, I believe that this figure will also be a problem for the Empire in the future, and it will be necessary to pay attention to it for a long time......"

You must know that Ito Hirobumi has always been very uninterested in them, a folk ronin group born as a rebel samurai in the southwest, and because of this war, it has been able to change a little. After the war is over, I don't know how Ito Hirobumi will deal with these ronin groups, let alone Toyama Mitsuru and his dream of being prime minister! At this time, emphasize Xu Yifan's threat more, there are only benefits and no disadvantages, there is such a trouble, the work on the mainland must continue, and investment must be increased, and the Xuanyang Society is even more indispensable, right?

Hirobumi Ito smiled coldly: "Trouble in the future? No, it's a threat now! Fortunately, this person appeared a little late, if he had appeared in the political arena of the Qing Kingdom earlier, it is difficult to predict what the current situation will be...... Even now, we haven't won yet! ”

Tou Shan took a breath: "Your Excellency, Emperor Yanjing of the Qing Dynasty has already issued an edict to the world to sue for peace, and they have surrendered." At the beginning, when the situation was not clear, Your Excellency asserted that the Qing Kingdom would inevitably seek peace, and the contemptible people at this time greatly admired Your Lordship's foresight...... At this time, why is Your Excellency worried again? ”

Ito Hirofumi remained silent, just pressed his eyes tiredly, and even spoke in a low voice: "It's too small...... We can't breathe a sigh of relief if we don't have victory in our hands...... There is an old Chinese saying that those who travel a hundred miles are half ninety. This war has staked everything, and I can't help but be deeply afraid...... Therefore, the Third Army will continue to attack Weihai, and the Second Army will also order them to continue to oppress Liaoxi, so that the peace envoy of the Qing State will set off immediately! Toushan-kun, I have something to ask for ......"

As soon as he heard this, Tou Shanman's whole person was excited, and he immediately knelt straight, and his head fell down deeply to touch the back of his hand: "Please command!" ”

Ito's energy seemed to have been exhausted, and his eyes were blue with exhaustion.

"Xu Yifan's variable, I still can't see it clearly, and it's difficult to calculate. The Qing Kingdom was too big and too complicated...... Although I can confirm that the main body of their ruling class has declared its collapse. But it's hard to talk about such a thing as a trend...... Just like who could have predicted that the power of the two feudatories alone would overthrow the shogunate and achieve the great cause of the Restoration? ”

He said word by word, slowly and heavily: "Toushanjun, there are no earthly people like me, who can only grasp the things they can grasp, and hold the victory more firmly in their hands!" I want to entrust you with two things, one is to use all the mainland channels in your hands to spread the rumor that in addition to the negotiations with the Qing court, the empire is willing to negotiate an armistice between Korea and Northeast China, and make peace with Xu Yifan alone, and negotiate the post-war status of these two places! And I, too, will cooperate with your actions in a vague manner......"

As soon as he said this, Toyamaman's eyes widened, and he looked at Ito Hirofumi inexplicably in admiration. Of course, it is impossible to negotiate with Xu Yifan alone, but letting such a rumor go out is the best way to deal with Xu Yifan! This would force the Qing court to negotiate with Yuben more quickly and sign a peace treaty, so as to free up forces to deal with Xu Yifan, who was now free to roam the northeast and Korea. It seems that His Excellency Ito has really read through Chinese history and knows that the best way to deal with the Chinese is to use the Chinese themselves to deal with it!

Ito Hirofumi didn't realize it, as if he was just closing his eyes and immersed in his own world, and continued lightly: "...... The only person the Qing court wanted to send to negotiate with me was Li Hongzhang, and it could only be Li Hongzhang. He...... I have a way to deal with it. But it also needs some little tricks...... I need you to contact the people around Li Hongzhang, according to the conditions of the empire, if you end the negotiations one day early, you can give them a kickback of 100,000 yuan...... You can pay for this from the Army's Special Secret Fee...... Can it be done? Toushan-kun? ”

Tou Shanman bowed deeply again: "Contemptible people dare not do their best!" ”

Ito Hirofumi no longer paid attention to Touyamaman, and stood up by himself, perhaps because his mind was too deep, and when he stood up, he shook slightly, he walked to the door, and the lower daughter quickly opened the Japanese-style sliding door of the study. The view from the study is excellent. Even if it's a temporary residence in Hiroshima, it has some of the best coastal scenery in Hiroshima. When you look down from above, you can see the blue sea and the white sails on the sea.

"This ...... It's beautiful...... I finally lived up to my country, everyone, should be partying, right? I really want to know, what is the scene of Qingguo now...... A huge and ancient empire, the scene of collapse, should also be so magnificent that people feel suffocated, right?

…… This is truly a time when heroes are in the right place! ”

(To be continued)