At almost four o'clock on Sunday afternoon, the Chinese ambassador to Japan finally handed over the State Department's decision to the foreign minister. A few minutes later, Foreign Minister Kikujiro Ishii reported China's decision to Prime Minister Shigenobu Okuma.

Originally, after China's request to remove Nippon Zhiyi from his status as ambassador and even withdraw his diplomatic passport, Okuma was extremely uneasy, and almost always agreed to China's requests, and he even took the initiative to propose to the ambassador to Japan that he would personally visit China to personally apologize to the Chinese emperor in person.

Since then, he has fallen into a state of uneasiness, and Okuma knows better than anyone else that hostility to China is widespread in Japan, and that kind of thing on the surface only involves one Nichitoi, but in fact, without the acquiescence of the Cabinet, without the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and even without his connivance, Nichizai would not have been carried out until now.

It is precisely for this reason that the most important thing for Okuma is to calm China's anger in order to prevent China's anger from affecting Japan's current opportunity for development, and it seems that the Chinese side has no intention of delving into it, and it is obvious that Chinese is not willing to completely break up the two countries in this special period, which will lead to an extremely passive situation in China.

But now, listening to Ishii's mention of the demands made by the Chinese side, Okuma suddenly stood up.

"What, let His Majesty the Emperor go to China to apologize!"

Okuma shouted loudly, and then said indignantly.

"The Chinese side has no sincerity to solve the problem at all!"

Okuma strode back and forth in the office, but came to his senses again. He said to Ishii:

"If the Chinese insist, it means that the emperor must go to China to apologize." This is absolutely impossible, Ishii you personally go to China and meet the emperor. Tell him if the emperor goes to China to apologize. It is quite possible to cause. Well, this leads to hatred of China in Japan, which is by no means conducive to the unity of East Asia, let alone the future cause of Asia. ”

There was a moment of silence. Okuma said again.

"Also, please tell the Emperor. I have an inescapable responsibility in this incident, therefore. I will personally travel to China to apologize. At the same time, I will resign as an apology. ”

"Your Excellency! How can we talk about resignation at this most critical moment! ”

Ishii said loudly that as foreign minister, he knew better than anyone that Okuma had been painstakingly managing the "Sino-Japanese balance" and that it had been quite successful, if he resigned. A lot of things can be undone.

"Your Excellency, convene a cabinet meeting!"

Ishii immediately proposed.

"I'm going to talk to the ambassador now. Let's see if there's room for relaxation! ”

At 6:30 a.m., all the important ministers arrived. There was tension in the air, all the brows were furrowed, they already knew what the Chinese side wanted.

"I ask you to pay attention if the Emperor goes to China to apologize,"

The Minister of the Imperial Household, Count Chiaki Watanabe, warned at the beginning of the meeting,

"The people will be very angry, and no cabinet will have the support of the people."

As the Minister of the Imperial Palace, Count Chiaki Watanabe, at this time, he only had one thing on his mind, that is, to maintain the dignity of the Emperor, and there was nothing more important than the dignity of the Emperor.

"However, if this is the final bottom line of the Chinese side, then we must consider how the Chinese side will react if this proposal is rejected!"

The Minister of War, Nosuke Okaichi, had asked a very real question at this time, but then he said,

"On that day, the dignity of the emperor must not be compromised in any way, and if the cabinet makes a decision to refuse, I think it must take into account the reality of the current main force of the army in China, so I think it should be appropriately delayed!" …,

In fact, Okaichi's words are a reminder to everyone that although the current army seems to have a strong military strength of nearly one million, the main force of the army is in Russia and China, and as for the strength of the local army, it cannot even be compared with the Chinese garrison in Shikoku and Kyushu.

"Refusal or not, that's not the problem,"

Ishii interjected.

"Now that the country has reached a critical juncture, we must consider how to calm China's anger, and as soon as possible, otherwise, we must consider what the Chinese will choose once they lose patience!"

"How to choose? Into Tokyo Bay to shell Tokyo? ”

Admiral Minister Rokuro Yashiro interjected on the side.

"If the bombardment of Tokyo can avoid humiliation for His Majesty the Emperor, I think the people will accept it, and it will further make some people really recognize the Chinese!"

Obviously, the shadow of the Battle of the South China Sea still looms over the navy to this day, and the navy has always been a gathering place for the "** faction", and they are more happy to see that after the shelling of the homeland, everything that the Chinese have painstakingly managed will be bankrupt, so that Japan will become truly unanimous in the country,

"If the empire is to survive the great difficulties of the present, it must breathe new life into the spirit of its people. All the people must work together and must clearly tell the Chinese that His Majesty the Emperor must not go to China to apologize. ”

Justice Minister Yukio Ozaki spoke.

"However, judging from this incident, the Chinese do have reasons for their anger!"

Ozaki, who is also a legal expert as justice minister, certainly understands that China has not only a reason to be angry, but even a reason for them to invade Japan again.

"It's too much, how can you deal with terrorists?"

"What a bad guy!"

As the subject shifted, the cabinet meeting seemed to turn into a critical meeting, as if they really didn't have any responsibility.

"If there is still a katana in Hichiki's heart, he should really cut his abdomen!"

"Enough!."

The words of the crowd only made Okuma pay attention to it and frown.

"The question now is not who is responsible,"

Okuma said with a wry smile.

"What we have to think about is how to preserve the dignity of the Heavenly Royal, there is nothing more important than this!"

From Okuma's tone, it could be heard that Watanabe finally breathed a sigh of relief, he knew that Okuma would definitely do everything possible to save the face of the royal family. So now there is only one question left, and that is how to calm the anger of the Chinese. Of course. There is also a reason to reject the Chinese, and as the minister of the Imperial Household, Watanabe naturally has the right to find that reason.

"Your Excellency, His Majesty the Emperor has recently become more and more severely ill. A lot of times, it's like ......"

There was a moment of silence. Watanabe's face showed a hint of embarrassment.

"It's as speculated in some newspapers, and even more serious!"

As Watanabe expected, he said this. Okuma immediately nodded and said.

"Considering the body of His Majesty the Emperor. He is undoubtedly not fit to go to China to apologize! ”

As he spoke, he looked directly at the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, Hirota Kono, a pro-China element in the cabinet, who was a real pro-China element, unlike others who were forced to behave in reality.

But now he was smoking a cigarette, and the smoke was rising. Swirling the lampshade around his head, this guy ...... Knowing that he was proving himself as a maverick in this way, the crowd just frowned. Sensing that the prime minister was looking at him, Kono raised his head.

"Please resign,"

Kono said in an extremely calm tone.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister will first go to China to apologize for his crimes, and resign after returning to China, so as to save the face of the country! Your Excellency Prime Minister, please resign and take responsibility. This would ease the situation. ”…,

After taking the last puff of his cigarette, Kono continued.

"When His Excellency the Prime Minister apologizes in China, inform the Chinese dialect of His Majesty's physical condition, and then ...... His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is invited to go to China with warships, didn't we order a few warships in China? It is fitting that the crown prince will go to China! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can comfort the wounded at the right time, and donate a huge amount of money to China through the Red Cross, so that when he wants to come, he can satisfy the Chinese through negotiations. ”

In a few words, Kono came up with a plan, which undoubtedly saved the face of the Emperor, and also the face of Japan.

Listening to Kono's advice, Okuma glanced at him and sighed deeply. And Ishii and others, who originally wanted to prevent Okuma from resigning, also fell silent, perhaps this is the best choice, this is the only option that is likely to be accepted by the Chinese, the prime minister publicly apologizes and resigns responsibly, the crown prince apologizes in private, as for condolences to the injured, through a certain explanation, it can be regarded as "the mercy of the heavenly emperor".

"I will be crowned emperor tomorrow morning,"

Then he said to the scribe,

"Could you please write down the reason for my resignation?"

When Sato, the secretary of the book, sat down to write, he clearly knew in his heart that Okuma Shigeshin was finished, and what about Japan? Thinking of Japan, his tears dripped on the paper.

In the evening of the same day, Okuma Shigeshin, whose face was bloodless and his eyes were blank, said to Ishii in a tired tone.

"If my expectations are correct, maybe the Chinese will choose the next prime minister for us."

"Your Excellency, you mean Kono ......"

Ishii's brows furrowed, if it was Kono, then everything would be over.

After making the decision to resign, Okuma breathed a sigh of relief. At least, from now on, he no longer needs to think about the danger of being assassinated every day, and now that it has passed, the Japanese may be able to understand the grievances he has suffered for his country.

But inevitably, there is always some unwillingness in his heart,

"Kono is unlikely, this guy who married a Chinese wife is too pro-China, Chinese will definitely learn a lesson, they may increase their control over the government, so ......"

There was a moment of silence before Shigenobu Okuma continued.

"You know, what's the biggest thing I'm worried about right now?"

The Prime Minister's words made Kikujiro Ishii curious, and he looked at Okuma and asked.

"What are you most worried about?"

"What I'm most worried about now is those ** molecules, don't do anything that people regret!"

"Regrets? Are you worried that they will storm the garrison base? ”

Kikujiro Ishii's heart "popped", and he immediately realized that if this happened, it might make all of Okuma's efforts come to naught.

"Your Excellency, should we notify the local authorities to pay attention to the movements of those people!"

Nodding, Okuma replied.

"I have already checked with the Army General Staff Headquarters, they have sent a maintenance force near the base of the garrison army, if anyone dares to attack the base, they will be punished as an attack on the imperial army barracks!"

Although Okuma didn't say "how to deal with it", how could Ishii not know what the crime of storming the imperial army camp was, it was the crime of rebellion. This means that the army can shoot at will to suppress the insurgents.

"Now, the most important thing. It's about making sure that the incident doesn't escalate further. Do you understand! ”

"Hey!"

Shen responded, but Ishii Kikujiro heard Okuma say seriously.

"Alright, Ishii, you get ready. If you go to the United States, Japan wants to win its freedom. To get rid of China, it is necessary to get help from the Americans, and now the Chinese Navy is rapidly expanding. The United States is extremely vigilant. As expected, the Americans also hope to have some contact with Japan to ensure their security in the Pacific, and if they succeed, Japan will surely win its freedom within ten years! And ......"...,

Thinking about the future of Japan. Okuma finally squeezed out a slight smile on his face,

"The Wilson president of the United States was very different from Roosevelt. He is very idealistic, more inclined to support the weak, some of his theoretical ideas, may not be realistic, but they are extremely beneficial to Japan, after you go to the United States, you must try to win Wilson's understanding and support as much as possible, if he can give us support, maybe the Chinese are likely to be forced to withdraw from Japan! ”

For a long time, Okuma has been studying the elimination of China's garrison in Japan by means other than war, and it is precisely because of this that he will be extremely obedient to China in order to eliminate China's hostility and vigilance towards Japan, of course, this is only one of them, the most important thing is external pressure, China is a strong country on the surface, but this power is similar to Japan in the past, he must take into account the pressure of the Western powers, and now the Western powers are limited by the European war and cannot put pressure on them, so they can run rampant in Asia, But once the Western powers are freed up, China will probably have to take their views into account.

"On the one hand, the United States, on the other hand, the United Kingdom, whether the United States or Britain, their East Asian policy is very simple, that is, balance, but after the signing of the Sino-Japanese security treaty, this balance has been broken, in the past, the Chinese have been careful to avoid stimulating the two countries, so as to reduce the pressure they face, but now, this war, has exposed the ambitions of the Chinese, after the war, for their own interests, Britain and the United States are bound to use various ways to put pressure on China!"

Okuma poured a cup of tea for the two of them, and as he drank the tea, Okuma had a look of expectation on his face.

"If it is not bad, Britain and the United States will ask China to cede the newly occupied colonies, which is obviously impossible, maybe the British and the United States will eventually choose to compromise, they may change the way, through some way of letting China control the colonies, but not de jure occupying them, of course, if the situation develops like this, it will be extremely unfavorable to Japan, now, you have to go to the United States, and go to England, give them another choice!"

"Another option?"

"That's right, to make the Americans, the British realize that it is impossible to get China to hand over their colonies, and the two countries will fully understand this, no one who eats the meat in their mouths is willing to spit out, so let the two countries consider, put Japan on the agenda, let the Chinese choose between the colonies and Japan, in this way, it will be beneficial to Britain and the United States, if China chooses Japan, then they will lose their colonies, if they choose colonies, they will lose Japan, Japan can fully balance China's power, no matter what efforts are made, they must take into account Japan, which is close at hand, and Japan will become a pawn between Britain and the United States, and we can make full use of the support of the two countries to break through the security treaty step by step, and now the army has broken through, and the navy is also breaking through, and at that time, We could have proposed a revision of the security treaty! ”

Looking at Shigenobu Okuma, Kikujiro Ishii was completely stunned by what he said, and finally understood why Okuma would blindly stand on the side of China after the outbreak of the European War...... That guy is so hateful, if it weren't for him, how could Okuma's plan be ruined!

As a career diplomat, Ishii naturally knows that this plan is very operable, and this plan takes advantage of the Asian mentality of Britain and the United States, and also takes advantage of China's weakness - China is not a real power, and even if it is a strong country, it needs to take into account the attitude of other powers, not to mention, he is not a real power, at least for the next ten years, he cannot do without the support of Britain and the United States and other countries.

"Your Excellency, this plan is indeed very feasible, but what you should know is that if you resign, then I will also lose my position as Foreign Secretary, and at that time, even if I make progress in the United States, I am afraid it will be difficult to have legal effect, not to mention, all this needs the approval of the new Prime Minister, so ......"

"Don't worry about this, even if it's pro-China, it also cares about the country!"

Okuma smiled, and then said.

"As for your position, as a condition for supporting them as prime minister, your position will be retained, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not the focus of Chinese attention!"

"But, Your Excellency,"

Nodding, Kikujiro Ishii said again.

"If the whole plan is to be guaranteed, it is necessary to ensure the stability of the domestic order, and any accident may lead to a backlash from China!"

When he mentioned this, Okuma's expression became extremely indifferent, but he just drank his tea and did not express any opinion......