At more than 5 o'clock in the morning, the guards on duty in the palace occasionally set their eyes on the garden, they knew that every day, His Majesty would get up at about five o'clock and run along the path of the garden for more than an hour, this is His Majesty's habit, rain or shine, even if it is snowing, His Majesty will not change his habits.

As in the past, Chen Moran, dressed in a sportswear, jogged in the garden, he likes to enjoy the gifts of nature, and the air that is rarely polluted in this era fascinates him, and the morning air is even more ...... Well, sweetness, running in this slightly sweet morning air is a treat in itself.

"Hoo ......"

While running, Chen Moran threw all the miscellaneous things out of his mind, the whole person was completely in a state of tranquility and peace, what power technique, what imperial technique, what emperor and the like would no longer exist, he was himself, an ordinary person.

And this is the reason why Chen Moran enjoys this morning luck, at least it can make him feel a sense of peace of mind.

But in the end, all this is still going to end, an hour and a half later, after taking a shower, changing clothes, and enjoying a simple and not sumptuous breakfast, playing with his daughter for more than ten minutes, and then teasing his son who is only half a year old, Chen Moran, who changed into a military uniform, walked to the government affairs building, and after entering his office, he became another person again.

A familiar ...... The ruler of the Chinese Empire, the emperor of the Chinese Empire, perhaps, this is his profession, although the outside world thinks that this is his destiny, but for Chen Moran himself, he regards the emperor as a profession, which means power and responsibility.

As soon as I sat down behind the spacious oak desk, I saw a white document on the desktop, with the "Panlong Huanyu" badge on the surface of the document, which was a routine intelligence briefing of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau, and when I opened the cover of the document, Chen Moran was used to taking a look at the watermark of the inner page and the watermark number of the inner page, the watermark number was only in the hands of him and Zhang Jing, which was a preparation to prevent everything.

“…… It is said that the Imperial Council will be held today, and after analysis, it is said that the present will make concessions on the issue of negotiations with our country! ”

Lighting another cigarette, Chen Moran picked up the report again and read it carefully.

"It's a book!"

Then he stood up and walked to the wall, stood in front of the map, and looked at the three thousand miles of the Korean Peninsula through the endless light blue smoke...... Three thousand miles of rivers and mountains, if ...... If you can, how much do you hope that these 3,000 miles of rivers and mountains will be included as a province of China, a North or South Korea that reads power? Chen Moran sneered.

"Those Goryeo sticks don't have a country at all!"

Humming coldly, Chen Moran took another puff of cigarette, he clearly knew that until now, most of his thoughts have been affected by the thoughts of later generations, perhaps after seeing too many South Koreans and North Koreans, he no longer has any good feelings for such a country.

Just like in the past year, when the border was closed in Northeast China and North Korean immigrants were banned from entering China, if it weren't for some other factors, even the 78,000 North Korean immigrants wanted to get rid of them, in his subconscious, Chen Moran has always been reluctant to see such an ungrateful country reappear in this time and space.

Regardless of whether it is the Korean Empire or the Republic of Korea, in short, in the future, as long as there is an opportunity, this country will never exist as a reading country, even if it is the best outcome, he will make China a province of China, and at the worst it will be a vassal who controls their internal affairs, foreign affairs, and military.

Smoking non-stop, Chen Moran looked back and forth on the map of North Korea's east and west coastlines...... The army hopes to occupy all of Korea, at least half of Korea, so as to completely cut off the threat of Chinese mainland to the DPRK, and the DPRK is a springboard for the DPRK, and after this war, Sino-Chinese relations are unlikely to get any improvement in the next ten years, so they must remove their springboard.

As far as the navy is concerned, they are unswervingly supporting the "South Korea-Taiwan exchange" that is about to be determined, exchanging South Korea for Taiwan, and for the navy, the most important and only base of the navy is only separated from Taiwan by a strait, and they certainly hope that China will regain control of Taiwan. And they have good reasons, one is to ensure the safety of the sea lanes, and the other is to avoid overprovoking themselves.

As for the cabinet, they are also inclined to Taiwan, because although Taiwan is not China's largest piece of ceded land, it is known to the whole world, and as for the cessed land in the Outer Khingan Mountains, the vast majority of the people do not know that Taiwan is directly related to China's national honor!

All make sense, but I'm afraid that now China can only choose one.

North Korea and Croatia, Taiwan is difficult to recover! As far as China is concerned, North Korea is only a foreign country in any case, while Taiwan is its own country, and the longer the colonial rule is made, the lower and lower the Taiwanese people's identification with China will be, which is the last thing they want to see, and now in Taiwan, more than 95% of the people agree that they are Chinese, if it will be more than ten or twenty years...... So, will I agree to return Taiwan?

A hundred years later, the Chinese have been studying the book and himself, although those official discourses are always a strip of water, what generations are friendly, but everyone knows that it is just a fart.

In this case, there can be no friendship between China and the people, and this mentality determines that they will never do anything loss-making, and this time to exchange North Korea and Taiwan for the capital, in the eyes of the people, is almost equivalent to taking out a handful of gold coins from his left pocket to exchange for silver dollars in his right pocket, which is simply digging out a piece of meat in their hearts.

Will Ben budge?

… In the end, Chen Moran set his eyes on the book...... After digging up this piece of meat, there is only one possibility for the future of China, either China will perish, or China will kill China, for China and the two countries, the sea between the two countries will one day be stained red with blood, as for friendship and peace, it will never exist, if there is any connection between the two countries, I am afraid that it is the connection between you and me.

"Ring, ring, ring, ......" The phone rang briefly for a while, interrupting Chen Moran's train of thought. Generally speaking, the phone in Chen Moran's office rarely rings, because most of the various affairs of the state are submitted by the secretary, who will issue or approve them after reading them. Only in exceptional circumstances will some dignitaries call directly to their offices and ask for their opinions.

If nothing happens, who will call His Majesty and ask about something? Such a disrespectful way would never have been chosen unless it was urgent.

Chen Moran, who guessed that something big must have happened, grabbed the telephone receiver, and Liang Dunyan's Chinese with a strong Cantonese accent was heard.

"Your Majesty? The minister is Liang ......"

As long as he heard this voice, Chen Moran knew who was calling.

"Songsheng, where do you still use self-reporting, is there anything wrong?"

If there is no urgent matter, Liang Dunyan, an old bureaucrat-turned-official, will definitely report to him in person instead of choosing the way of making a phone call.

For these officials who have served as "pseudo-positions", they have always had two fears in their hearts, one is afraid that someone will mention the "false positions" in the past, and the other is afraid of losing the trust of His Majesty, and they understand that for old officials like them, the only thing they can rely on at this time is the trust from His Majesty.

"Your Majesty!"

Liang Dunyan's voice on the other end of the phone seemed a little cramped, if it wasn't for the urgency of the matter, he would never choose to report the matter by phone.

"A few minutes ago, Emperor Samoto's special envoy, Count Ito Hirobumi, sent an attaché to convey to the minister that Samoto is willing to resume negotiations immediately!"

"Oh!"

It seems that he is really ready to make major concessions.

"I've gotten the news and I'm thinking about it......"

Chen Moran paused slightly, and did not hide that he had learned the news, of course, this sentence actually carried some other meanings, at least in this country, his majesty is omniscient, and then said.

"I think it's very likely that Ben will make a big concession, you see?"

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the possibility of concession is very great, but the minister personally feels that in addition to the exchange between the DPRK and Taiwan that we proposed, it is very likely that other conditions will be put forward, so ......"

"Oh......"

Chen Moran pondered for a moment, and then understood Liang Dunyan's intention in making this call.

"Didn't we already draw up the bottom line in the past?"

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment.

"I have also thought about it repeatedly, and I think it is better to report it to His Majesty, I think it is very likely that I will ask us to redeem Taiwan, so as to save the face of the book......"

"Ben's face!"

Chen Moran snorted coldly, and his voice became cold.

"And what about China's face? If we pay the money, is there any difference compared to the ransom money paid by the Manchus? Money! There's no way I'm going to get a point! ”

"Your Majesty, this should be the bottom line of this book!"

Liang Dunyan looked a little anxious, he had repeatedly thought about all kinds of possibilities, there was almost no possibility of taking back Taiwan without compensation, and the investment in Taiwan was as much as tens of millions of yuan, and it was said that Ben was not a defeated country, so how could it be possible to recover it without compensation? Even if the political axe agrees, is it possible for the businessman to agree?

"But what about our bottom line?"

Chen Moran categorically interrupted Liang Dunyan's words, "Spend money to redeem Taiwan, so should we spend money to redeem the land we occupy in Korea?" Oh, could it be said that we withdrew from North Korea without compensation, and then, we had to redeem Taiwan with compensation! ”

For any diplomat, if he can, he will never betray the interests of his country, but there are many times when a diplomat has some of the helplessness of a diplomat, forced by reality and forced by ...... In short, there are too many helplessnesses, and it is these helplessness that make them make all kinds of decisions against their will.

“…… So what about our investment in Taiwan? What about the businessman's investment in land, forest products, and minerals in Taiwan? ”

In the face of Liang Dunyan's almost brutal refusal, Ito Hirobumi forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and shouted in a deep voice.

"That's ......"

Liang Dunyan was silent for a while.

"After the return of Taiwan, everything on the land of Taiwan belongs to the Chinese Empire! When I think about these problems, I have my own solutions, so I don't bother with Dean Roiten! ”

Although he would prefer to solve all the troubles that may arise in the future now, His Majesty has made it very clear that China will not be able to pay even a silver dollar for the redemption of Taiwan.

"What's more, please note that President Ito is China's national territory, and after your country cedes Taiwan, it is impossible for our country's political axe to provide even a copper plate for Taiwan's so-called construction!"

"You ......"

The arrogant and unreasonable attitude only made Ito Hirobumi feel a knot, and the current Liang Dunyan in his eyes is even more arrogant than when he negotiated with the Lu people two years ago, but there is a little more etiquette in his arrogance.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk......"

Liang Dunyan flipped through the table, and the War Department handed him a document before the resumption of negotiations in the morning.

"If according to your country's rhetoric about the redemption of political axe assets and the occupation of ownership, should your country pay for the redemption of the assets of the two roads?"

When Liang Dunyan said this, Ito Hirobumi felt that the other party seemed to be ready to give in, and he hurriedly said something.

"I don't know, in the north of North Korea, what is your country's investment, and what is worth redeeming?"

For a while, Ito Hirobumi really didn't know what was worth spending money on north of Pyongyang.

"For example, the railroad ......"

"That railroad was built by Ben!"

"But now it's occupied by China!"

"That's an improvised narrow-gauge railway!"

"Taiwan's is not a broad-gauge railway!"

The two of you and I are-for-tat, Ito Hirobumi wants to fight for as much compensation as possible for Yumoto, this compensation is more of a "face", at least need to give an explanation to the people of Yumoto.

At the moment when Ito felt his anger knot, Liang Dunyan added another sentence.

"After entering the dynasty, we built as many as 18 iron sapper bridges for the roads and bridges blown up by your army, and according to the cost, this one alone is as high as ......."

When he was about to say the number, Liang Dunyan, who felt that he was not mistaken, looked at it carefully.

"Six million five hundred and thirty-seven thousand two hundred and thirteen .46 yuan...... if it is to be redeemed, then this must be included in the cost of the railway!"

"It's impossible!"

Ito Hirobumi flatly refused, while saying in a mocking tone.

"Thirty-five improvised bridges, costing 6.6 million yuan, is it possible?"

"This is the cost of the Guards to report to the General Staff! And it's also approved by the Ministry of Finance! ”

"That only shows one thing, your country embezzled most of them in the North Korean army, and then deceived the General Staff and the Ministry of Finance, and anyone with a modicum of common sense knows that the cost of the improvised bridge will never cost so much money!"

Ito Hirofumi even deliberately raised his eyes to look at Liang Dunyan, deep down, he hoped that he had guessed correctly, this money was embezzled by the Chinese Army, if this is really the case, then it means that China is rapidly corrupting, and a corrupt China is not to be feared.

"Joke, are there any corrupt people in my guard? Also, Dean Ito, don't tarnish yourself! ”

Liang Dunyan just smiled, but he couldn't help muttering in his heart, the cost of this bridge is too high, according to the plan of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge announced in the newspaper, the total investment is only 80 million yuan, and I will report this matter to His Majesty when I turn around.

While writing down the cost of these bridges in his heart, Ito Hirobumi was silent for a long time before he spoke.

"I want to ...... The railways in the north of Korea can be moved back to Korea as trophies if your country wishes! ”

This will Ito start playing a scoundrel, what kind of scoundrel is this, in Ito's opinion, this is a forced choice.

"So ......"

Liang Dunyan, who was about to follow his words, suddenly realized that this was a trap prepared by Ito, and if he said that they would move to Taiwan, he would probably fall into Ito's trap, maybe he was waiting for himself to say so.

"Even so, we still insist on our country's ownership of any so-called public assets of the colonial governor's palace on Taiwanese soil! Therefore, your country must not bring railways and any other supplies as spoils of war as we do in Korea! ”

"What a cunning fellow!"

Seeing that Liang Dunyan didn't enter his own set, Ito Hirofumi sighed in his heart, and then raised his head and looked directly at Liang Dunyan, his tongue was already struggling, so let's say everything straightforwardly! An agreement should be reached as soon as possible, and the situation in the DPRK cannot be negotiated slowly.

"Minister Liang, the book needs to be compensated, and if there is no compensation, the anger of the people may burn the entire book! At that time, even if the treaty is signed, there is a high risk that the treaty will not be recognized by the people! It could even lead to a resumption of war between our two countries! ”

"Ten years ago, after the signing of the Xiaguan Treaty, the Chinese were equally angry, but as long as the political axe persists, it will be fine, Your Excellency the President is alarmist!"

Liang Dunyan shook his head and denied.

"At least you should take care of Ben's face! At the very least, let me, an old man, have an account to the people and the emperor! ”

First nodded, then Liang Dunyan shook his head again.

"Personally, I very much want to save face for the dean, but if I sign the treaty that pays even one dollar to redeem Taiwan, maybe I will be assassinated tomorrow, and the guards on the front line, especially the guards in the northeast, they are likely to use the most direct way to tear up the treaty, and I ask Dean Ito to be considerate of me!"

The meaning of Liang Dunyan's words could not be clearer, he was threatening Ito with the safety of the army in the northeast.

"Is there really no room for negotiation?"

"There's only room left to sign!"

(To be continued)