On the sea surface of Lujian Bay, the wreckage of more than a dozen troop carriers was burning on the sea, the flames were scorching, and thick smoke was billowing out of the sky and covering the sea.

The flotilla was attacked by the warship group of the Qing Imperial Navy at the door of his own home, and this kind of face-to-face humiliation was enough to comfort the pain of the Gaosheng troop carrier being sunk by the Navy.

In the Battle of Lumi Bay, the Aki was sunk, and the flagship of the Navy, Nanisu, was severely damaged. Although Naniwa survived, the hull was badly damaged, the keel had been burned and deformed, and it could no longer serve in the navy after repair.

More than a dozen troop carriers of the third flotilla of the Fourth Division of the Japanese Army were destroyed in Kami Bay, killing and wounding more than 6,000 people. At the same time, even the news that the first batch of British troop carriers and the second batch of American troop carriers were attacked by the Qing Imperial Navy in the waters near Amami Island also spread.

As soon as the news broke, Lin Dong, the consul general of the Chinese People's Republic of China in China, immediately sent a note to the prime minister, Minister for Yamen Affairs, and raised the most solemn protest, calling it a war provocation.

Prime Minister Yamen Minister Yi said that the incident was being verified and refused to give any reply to this.

Lin Dong returned fruitlessly, and reported Yi's attitude to Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu on the same day. Mutsu Munemitsu immediately reported the situation to the Kuroda Kiyotaka cabinet and discussed countermeasures with important military officials of the Honkai Army.

Mutsu Munemitsu said, "At the beginning, the Prince firmly disagreed with the War Department to continue to increase the number of troops on Amami Island, but now it seems that your judgment is correct, Your Majesty. The Qing Empire really ignored international practice and openly attacked our troop convoy and frigates, which was an undeclared war! ”

The Chief of the General Staff of the Army, Prince Arisugawa Miyachihito, just smiled bitterly and sighed: "This king still hasn't insisted on his opinion, if he insists on dissuading, he will not cause the troop transport fleet and the escort fleet to lose more than 20 ships in vain, and even more than 10,000 people in the Fourth Division!" ”

"It's not your fault either!"

Prime Minister Kiyotaka Kuroda said: "You didn't insist at the beginning, wasn't it because the opposition of the War Office was too great, and you were worried that some people in the War Office would take the opportunity to mutiny?" ”

On the side, Mutsu Munemitsu, Minister of Finance Ito Hirobumi, and Minister of the Navy Command Department Shiki Kayama nodded yes one after another, understanding what Prince Chihito had done at the beginning.

Hirobumi Ito asked, "It's time for the War Office to settle down, right?" The 1st and 5th Divisions have already been lost, and the 4th Division has also lost most of them, they should be sober, right? ”

Prince Chiren waved his hand and sighed, "They are still clamoring for revenge and preparing to start a war against Qing!" ”

Mutsu Zongguang frowned and said, "Our navy has not yet been built, isn't it ridiculous to start a war against the Qing?" Your Majesty, you can't be softer, you have to suppress their unrealistic thoughts! ”

Ito Hirobumi snorted coldly: "How do you let the prince start?" Those militants in the War Department are all supported by Prince Nohisa of Kita-Shirakawa Palace! ”

Everyone was silent for a moment, if it was easy to say that others took the lead in making trouble, but it was Prince Nengjiu, the brother of Emperor Meiji, who was making trouble behind his back.

Prince Nohisa of Kita-Shirakawa Miya was born in Kyoto, the ninth son of the Fushimi Miyakuni family and the son of Emperor Hitotaka. During the Meiji Restoration, he was elected Emperor Tobu by the Shogunate Okuhatsu Domain, but was defeated by the combined forces of the Choshu Domain of the Satsuma Domain in the Boshin War, and was accused of being an "enemy of the court" by the imperial court. In the third year of the Meiji era (1870), he was pardoned and returned to the world, and went to the Prussian Military Academy for further study. After returning to Japan, he served as the commander of the Osaka Division, made great contributions to the First Sino-Japanese War, and was promoted to lieutenant general of the Guards Division.

Ostensibly, the Meiji Restoration was successful and the shogunate collapsed, but in fact the power of the state and the economic lifeline were still in the hands of the various feudal lords, and the last feudal lords of the powerful factions in each region of the country did not die until 1920, and until then, the influence of each feudal lord controlled the political situation of the feudal lords. For example, Ito Hirobumi and Inoue were vassal of the Choshu domain, Mutsu Munemitsu and Kuroda Kiyotaka were from the families of the Satsuma domain and the clansmen, and Shiki Kayama was a Kishu domain. The nine elders of the Meiji era, such as Hirobumi Ito, came from the vassals and vassals under the tent of the various feudal lords of the Motomoto, and they treated their respective feudal kings with the same respect as the Meiji Emperor. It can be said that although the vassal king of Yuben has lost the title of vassal king at the moment, his strength is comparable to that of the governor of the United States. Prince Nohisa, on the other hand, controlled twelve feudal kings such as Sado and Izu and was loyal to him, and was powerful.

Prince Nohisa, the Emperor of Tobu deep down, did not give up his dream of being the emperor, and his various actions showed that he was ambitious and immortal, but Emperor Meiji and Prince Chihito did not dare to move Prince Nohisa until there was enough evidence that Prince Nohisa was killed, and many times they could only swallow their anger.

This kind of political method is well understood by Ito Hirobumi, Kuroda Kiyotaka and others, so it is inconvenient to ask deeply.

"At least the loss of the Fourth Division can weaken Prince Nengjiu's strength, and in a sense, we have to thank the Chinese."

The 4th Division, also known as the Osaka Division, is a descendant of Prince Nohisa, who has been running for many years. Prince Chihito didn't pay much attention to the loss of the 4th Division, which is one of the reasons why he didn't stop the War Office from sending the 4th Division to reinforce Amami Island.

Kuroda Kiyotaka said: "Amami Island is isolated overseas, and it is a springboard to control Kyushu, and this time the Qing Imperial Navy disabled the Fourth Division and destroyed Prince Nohisa's plan, which is also a good thing." ”

Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu suddenly coughed and said, "I wonder if we're off topic?" ”

Prince Chiren immediately smiled and said, "What the foreign minister said is that now is the time to be unanimous with the outside world, and our own internal problems are already secondary. ”

Everyone nodded in agreement, after all, compared to dealing with Prince Nengjiu and the Qing Empire, it was obvious that the latter was a top priority.

Kuroda Kiyotaka said: "This time we suffered heavy losses, losing the Ryukyu Islands, the first and fifth divisions were completely wiped out, the fourth division lost more than half, the navy lost four warships, more than a dozen troop carriers, and the direct loss of personnel and materials was as high as 20 million yuan (2 million pounds). ”

Prince Chiren sighed and said, "Without a decent navy, we can only suffer the losses this time, and the Qing Empire will not compensate us!" ”

Only then did Shiki Kayama say: "I knew that there were so many losses, it was better to buy a few more decent warships to come back, and it would not have made the Qing Imperial Navy so arrogant!" ”

In the past, these words would definitely be unanimously opposed by everyone, but now that the facts are in front of them, they can't help but deny it.

Kuroda Kiyotaka said dejectedly: "After this incident, I will persuade the cabinet and the political axe to increase investment in the navy, and we must speed up the pace of rebuilding the navy and recover this blood debt in the future." ”

Shiki Kayama suddenly raised his eyebrows, he was so happy to hear this. Even the unhappiness given to him by the loss of four warships and a dozen troop carriers by the Navy was thus concealed.

Mutsu Munemitsu asked, "How can I explain to His Majesty the Emperor and the people that the great powers are looking at us?" ”

Ito Hirobumi said: "You must declare war on the Qing Empire, otherwise it will be difficult to explain." ”

Prince Chiren asked worriedly, "However, we don't have a navy to compete with the Qing Imperial Navy, what should we do after the war is declared?" ”

Kuroda Kiyotaka explained, "I think the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Foreign Affairs meant that the declaration of war was just a show, and as for how much of a role it could play, I think the people also knew that we did not have the strength to go to war with the Qing Empire. When the time comes, we can mobilize the hatred of the people to develop our economy and military power, and that may be the only benefit we can get! ”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Mutsu Munemitsu added: "You can use the British and Americans to make a fuss, this time the Qing Empire Navy attacked their merchant ships, the two of them will definitely not give up, they will attack the Qing Empire, it would be good if they could form an alliance with us!" ”

Ito Hirobumi said: "You can use it, but you can't trust Britain and the United States, they may not offend the Qing Empire for us, and Britain and Russia are mortal enemies, and we are allied with Britain and the United States, so what do the Russians think?" We can't afford to lose our watermelons and pick sesame seeds! ”

After half a day of deliberation, the official axe submitted a letter of renunciation to the Qing Empire on the afternoon of June 1, declaring a state of war. On the morning of June 2, Emperor Mushihito approved the Cabinet's edict declaring war, officially declaring war.

At the same time, the British Minister Plenipotentiary to China, Douglas, also submitted a protest to Prime Minister Yamen, demanding that the Qing Imperial Navy release Captain Hoss and his crew of the Royal Cruise Line, and at the same time make solemn representations over the sinking of a British cruise ship by a warship of the Qing Imperial Navy.

Similarly, U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to China, Tian Bei, protested to Prime Minister Yamen, demanding the release of Captain James and his crew of the U.S. Pacific Mail Shipping Company, and expressing anger at the sinking of five U.S. cruise ships by Qing Imperial Navy warships.

Yi was so anxious that he was about to go crazy, running to the Forbidden City for a while, and running to the Summer Palace for a while, complaining to Guangxu and Cixi, and at the same time complaining to Wang Chenhao, saying that all this was provoked by Wang Chenhao, and if the Qing Empire had a stalemate or even a war with the United States and Britain, it would be Wang Chenhao's fault.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Yanjing, the Forbidden City Jinluan Palace.

Wang Chenhao was summoned to the palace and explained the cause, process and result of the entire incident to Guangxu and the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty. And in the end, Wang Chenhao took out the pivotal text of the Ryukyu King Shangtai thanking the Qing Empire for his help.

"Congratulations to the Emperor, the King of the Ryukyus is deeply grateful to the Celestial Empire for the help and help given to the Ryukyu Kingdom, and points out that the Celestial Army of our Celestial Empire is grateful for recovering the land of the Ryukyus; The Celestial Empire Navy blocked the invasion of the Celestial Navy and troop carriers, and defended the territorial waters of the Ryukyus. The Celestial Empire is willing to accept the people of the Ryukyus, and let the people of the Ryukyus bathe in the grace of heaven and thank them three times. Thank you at the same time, the Ryukyu Kingdom is willing to serve the Heavenly Empire forever. ”

Guangxu asked Wang Chenhao to state the attack on the troop transport fleet, but Wang Chenhao understated a few words, but said a lot of other things, and answered the question.

Despite this, more than half of the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty stood up and applauded, echoing Wang Chenhao's words.

Emperor Guangxu sat on the dragon chair above, and saw the situation below clearly, knowing that Wang Chenhao had successfully enveloped most of the courtiers. Although he was unwilling in his heart, what Wang Chenhao said was reasonable and well-founded, and Guangxu had no choice but to take Wang Chenhao. Emperor Guangxu is now smart, as long as he doesn't catch enough handles and evidence to kill Wang Chenhao, he will not take the initiative to provoke Wang Chenhao again.

"Wang Aiqing has made great contributions to the imperial court, and I will definitely be rewarded."

"Thank you, Emperor! This is what Weichen should do, don't dare to ask for credit! ”

Wang Chenhao also recently found that Guangxu's attitude towards him has changed, and he doesn't have a straight face when he sees him like before, and his face is the same as his dead father. Although Wang Chenhao didn't know Guangxu's intentions and purposes, and he wouldn't believe that Guangxu would let him go, but since Guangxu talked to him with a pleasant face, Wang Chenhao also hit the snake and went down the pole, and the well water did not interfere with the river water.

However, Emperor Guangxu changed his tactics, but Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao did not change their views on Wang Chenhao, especially when Wang Chenhao smashed most of the civil and military officials with money, the two of them were very jealous but hindered the face of the name of the Qing official and did not go along with Wang Chenhao, which made them stand even more on the opposite side of Wang Chenhao.

Weng Tonggong said: "Your Majesty, the navy sank the British and American ships for no reason, and seized the crews of the British and American ships, causing the British and American ministers to solemnly protest to the Prime Minister's Yamen, and even called this a war provocation against Britain and the United States and threatened war retaliation. All of this was due to the fact that Minister of the Navy Wang Chenhao was not strict in discipline and arrogant to his subordinates. ”

Guangxu turned to Wang Chenhao and asked gently: "Wang Aiqing, is what Weng Aiqing said true?" ”

Wang Chenhao immediately replied: "Your Majesty, the British and American steamers carrying soldiers of the Japanese army have violated the British and American policy of neutrality in the dispute between the British and the Ryukyus. In order to safeguard the sovereignty and integrity of the territorial waters of the Ryukyus, a subject of the Celestial Empire, the British and American steamers of our navy sent troops to intercept the British and American steamers. After being persuaded by our naval officers, the British and American steamers understood that it was wrong for them to do so, and they were willing to surrender the steamer. Later, the Japanese army hijacked the British and American crew members and forced them to shoot at our navy, so our officers and men had to defend themselves and fight back, and at the same time, it was also to rescue the British and American crew members on board. Therefore, it is not our fault. ”

Guangxu had long understood in his heart that Wang Chenhao must have no fear, and he didn't expect Weng Tongyi to easily grab Wang Chenhao's pigtails.

"What Wang Aiqing said is very true!"

Wang Chenhao immediately thanked him, and then said in a surprising voice: "The minister wants to impeach Weng Tong for bullying the king!" ”

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the hall, Guangxu and the civil and military officials were immediately stunned, and Weng Tongyi was even more surprised.

"The old man is loyal to the court and the emperor, how can he bully the king? You don't want to spew blood! ”

Guangxu came back to his senses and asked, "Wang Aiqing said that Weng Aiqing deceived the king, is there any evidence?" ”

Wang Chenhao smiled and asked Xiang Guangxu: "Did the emperor hear Lord Weng just now call Weichen?" ”

Guangxu was stunned for a moment, and then Wang Chenhao turned to the civil and military officials and asked, "Fellow ministers, just now Weng Tonggong called me the Minister of the Admiralty, but is there such a thing?" Don't tell him that it's so loud, you don't hear it! ”

Prince Qing immediately took the lead and said: "That's right! That's what Weng Tongyi said! ”

A cadre of civil and military officials immediately nodded in agreement.

Wang Chenhao turned around, looked at Weng Tongxiao, and said with a wicked smile: "Lord Weng is really polite!" I, Wang Chenhao, am just a minor Minister of the Admiralty, and the Minister of the Admiralty is the highly respected Prince Gong. The Minister of the Navy is a first-class officer or above, and Lord Weng has promoted me to an official, but he still puts the emperor and the queen mother in his eyes? Besides, Britain and the United States didn't say that they would retaliate against us with war. ”

Weng Tongyi was immediately dumbfounded, just now he just wanted to add oil and vinegar, but he didn't expect Wang Chenhao to make a fuss about this.

"The emperor forgives the sin, the old minister just made a slip of the tongue."

Guangxu is also annoyed that Weng Tong is too stupid, and this kind of low-level mistake can also be made.

"Lord Weng, you are an important minister of the imperial court, is it enough to make a slip of the tongue? I'm here today, and if I'm not here, and then it's rumored that I've become Lord of the Admiralty, and you think I'm self-appointed to rebel? You know, how much the emperor values you, and your slip of the tongue almost ruined my reputation as a loyal minister. ”

Weng Tongyi was so angry that he couldn't refute a word when he pointed at Wang Chenhao.

Guangxu rolled his eyes, knowing that it was Wang Chenhao who deliberately retaliated, so he said sharply: "Weng Tongxiao, you have to pay attention, as an important minister, you have to think twice before speaking." ”

"Your Majesty, the old minister—"

Before Weng Tongyi could refute, Guangxu interrupted him and said, "Punish you for three months as a punishment!" ”

Weng Tongyi was suddenly aggrieved, he was fined half a year last time, and this was punished for another three months, how can he live in the future!

Wang Chenhao saw that Guangxu lightly punished Weng Tongyi in a few words, and was about to say that it would be better to punish him for three more months.

At this time, Li Hongzao spoke: "Your Majesty, even if what Lord Wang said earlier is right, we have the right to attack the British and American ships. However, the third convoy of troop carriers is no longer in the territorial waters of the Ryukyus, but at the doorstep of the country. The navy sank two warships and destroyed more than a dozen warships at the doorstep of the navy, which was a provocation. It is said that Ben is now declaring war on our dynasty, and this crime of starting a war is inextricably linked to Lord Wang. ”

Li Hongzao suddenly changed the topic, which can be regarded as helping Weng Tongyi to relieve the siege, and at the same time poking at Wang Chenhao's weakness. He really hadn't figured out any good excuses.

"Your Majesty, in the Battle of Toshima in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Navy also attacked our Navy's troop convoy without declaring war. Now we repay the other in the same way, and we can be regarded as avenging the thousands of soldiers who died in the Battle of Toshima. ”

Guangxu nodded, and Li Hongzao asked Wang Chenhao: "So Lord Wang admitted to taking the initiative to provoke?" Then you have to take responsibility for taking the lead in the war! ”

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "Lord Li is good at speaking, but he is good at the responsibility of the war, and I, Wang Chenhao, can't afford it!" There is a way that the generals will not be subject to foreign military orders, the navy is far away in the Ryukyus, I am in Yanjing, I don't know in advance what emergency actions they have. ”

Well, Wang Chenhao saw that there was nothing he could do, so he had to push three or six five and clear up the relationship.

(To be continued)