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After entering the Seto Inland Sea, the sailors of the Saigo Maru unconsciously became nervous. Fortunately, I don't know if it was the old battleship at the mouth of the Bungo Suido that gave Japan the confidence to protect the inland sea, or if the attention was all on Korea, and the freighter arrived at Himeji without any danger.

Himeji is the second largest city in Hyogo Prefecture after Kobe, and Osaka is just a few dozen kilometers across the sea. The gray-and-white ancient town of Himeji in the distance bears witness to Japan's history and development. Although it was wartime, the port of Himeji, which was supposed to be protected by a strong fleet, was not well defended, especially after the 10th Wing was transferred to Okayama, leaving only the police and a few soldiers here. The Saigo Maru is an offshore freighter belonging to the Mitsui Zaibatsu that travels between Hokkaido and the Seto Inland Sea for many years, so the Marine Police didn't pay much attention to it, but just checked it a little and left.

The intelligence officer in charge secretly breathed a sigh of relief, pretending to be extremely tired from the long voyage, stretched his waist and let the sailors unload the cargo, and walked towards the liaison office by himself. But as soon as he reached the street, he was hit the shoulder, and he turned his head to see several fishermen with empty rice bags looking hurried. "Hey! What are you doing here? The intelligence officer's shout made the fisherman stop, and when he saw the samurai belt on his waist, he hurriedly bowed, and the fisherman who hit the person was even more afraid to look up: "My lord." I'm sorry, I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to. ”

"Why are you in a hurry, is there a fire in your house?"

The identity of the intelligence officer is the captain of the ship, and his status is much higher than that of the fishermen, not to mention that he works in the famous Mitsui Company, so the fisherman who hit the person quickly explained: "That's the case. Today's rice price has risen again, and we are walking too quickly. So I'm very sorry. ”

"Oh, has the price of rice gone up again?"

"Yes. I heard that North Korea was defeated. So the price of rice has risen to 5 jiao 6 cents today, we. ”

"Yaga! How could the Great Japanese Empire fail? This must be a rumor, a rumor! Get out of here, you stupid pigs. The informant kicked the fisherman away with his shelf, and walked towards the rice as if he was not convinced. Sure enough, there was already a long queue of people in front of the Mi Xing Gate. Even so, there were still a lot of people coming. Koji Komatsu, who hit someone, saw that the victim did not pursue it, and hurriedly lined up behind the human dragon with his partner. The informant would have really troubled a few Japanese fishermen, but he had to do so because Japan had a strict hierarchy.

The people in line saw him squeeze in. His face was full of anger and he didn't dare to scold, thinking that he was forcibly cutting in line. After squeezing to the front, the rice price card really said 5 jiao 6 cents and a liter of rice. You must know that when you went to sea 5 days ago, the price of rice was only about 4 jiao. Now it's 5 corners and 6 cents a liter! This is already sky-high, even in Europe, which has not yet come out of the food shortage, it is not so expensive. But before the time came for him to secretly cheer, the boss of Mi Xing, who wore eyes and looked arrogant and rigid, suddenly walked out of it, and after making a look at the guy, the price card was instantly modified to 6 jiao and 5 points! You can only buy 5 liters per person!

"Why is the price going up again?!"

"The price only went up this morning, why is it going to go up now?"

"There's so much rice in the warehouse, why don't you sell it?"

Seeing that the few citizens who were about to arrive saw the price of rice skyrocketing in front of them, they also limited the number of purchases. Immediately shouted angrily. After a while, everyone became agitated, because Koji Komatsu, who was a step too late, was even more anxious, at the beginning of the year he added another child, the price of rice was already expensive, and now the price has increased again and let people not live!

In the face of the excited rice buyers, the boss of the rice shop did not hurry, relying on his son to be the police chief and scolded: "What do you know! The Empire is at war, hundreds of thousands of Imperial soldiers are forging out territory for your future, and the Nation needs more food. I'm going to donate my food to the country. So from now on, everyone is only allowed to buy 10 liters, and whoever dares to call it again will destroy the revival of our Great Japanese Empire! ”

"You're talking nonsense! Someone saw it yesterday and you want to ship rice to Osaka to sell because it's more expensive there. ”

"The army is fighting in Korea, why should it take ours?"

"Price reduction! Price! Open the warehouse and sell us the rice! ”

The explanation of the boss of the rice store undoubtedly added fuel to the fire, and the people, who had already been tossed half to death by the expensive price of rice, could no longer bear it. War, war, war! War is war in the minds of these people! Many people began to recall the era of low rice prices 10 years ago, and rushed to the rice store excitedly.

"Yaga!" In the face of the crowd trying to grab rice, the boss of the rice shop asked people to go to the police, and at the same time asked the guy to stand at the door and beat the people who tried to grab the rice with rattan, and he himself kept scolding: "Untouchable! You untouchables, your conscience is so bad! This is rice to be given to the army, and any of you who dares to grab it all will be killed. Some people are too frightened by this momentum to go any further, but many more are completely unable to accept the price of rice. I can't open the pot at home, and if I can't buy the rice back, I'll starve to death! Hengzhi is a death, so many people rushed to the rice pile regardless of the danger, and when a bag of rice was snatched and spilled on the ground, and the snow-white rice grains rolled down the road, all the eyes instantly turned red.

Everyone frantically grabbed the rice and stuffed it into the rice bag, and more people rushed to the rice pile to carry it regardless of the rattan, Koji Komatsu also joined in the robbery, risking the danger and grabbing half a bag of rice and preparing to run back, and the terrible whistle sounded at this moment. Hundreds of policemen fiercely brandished batons and rushed into the crowd, how could these policemen, who were usually stuffed by rice merchants and landlords, care about the life and death of the "untouchables", brandished their batons and slashed at Komatsu Koji and others. Crackling batons and screams came and went, Koji Komatsu was hit on the head by a baton without much preparation, and blood suddenly spilled down his forehead, he endured the pain and desperately protected the rice bag in his arms, but this action made more batons fall, and finally the whole person who was beaten was paralyzed, and he could only watch the rice bag return to the hands of the rice boss.

In less than a few minutes, nearly 100 people who were grabbing rice lay down on the road, and the white rice was dotted with blood beads, and the owner of the rice shop saw that a lot of rice was dirty. Just let the guy sweep into the gutter not far away, angry! Fury! Anger in everyone's eyes! These landlords and exploiters are no longer so hateful, they prefer to throw away the soiled rice. He also refused to distribute it to the hungry people, and kept saying that it was for the country!

After the intelligence officer watched the whole riot process in its entirety. I also resented this kind of thing. After five years of incubation, he understood very well that Japan was short of food, but it was not yet such an outrageous situation. You must know that rice is grown from south to north in Japan, and tens of millions of farmers work hard every year to produce a lot of output. The real reason for this was that the Japanese government never invested in agriculture, preferring to build the world's strongest battleships rather than spending money on terraces and canals, and intensified its protection against the exploitation of landlords and capitalists. After the war began, these people used military supplies to hoard and live in strange places. It not only led to the soaring price of rice, but also deliberately locked the granary to create the illusion of a shortage of rice in the market.

Komatsu and the others were carried away, and he was beaten so that his nose was blue and his eyes were swollen and covered in blood, and he lay on the stretcher and groaned in pain, but he was still holding a handful of red-dyed "blood rice" in his palm. Seeing this, the intelligence officer sighed secretly. After thinking about it, I quietly followed.

The issue of people's livelihood in Japan, which was on the verge of turmoil, did not attract the attention of the Tanaka cabinet and feudal lords, and the self-proclaimed leaders of the country were still keen to discuss matters that were "vital to the life and death of the Japanese Empire." Fumiro Konoe, who had been publicly humiliated by Yang Qiu at the Paris Peace Conference, was treated favorably upon his return, and the newspapers praised him as a hero who dared to denounce the enemy face to face. This made him even more proud of being the youngest lord of the Japanese House of Lords because of the hereditary duke, and even at the moment at the five-phase meeting, he still dared to face Tanaka Yoshiichi and other cabinet members, raised the telegram in his hand to the elders of the House of Nobles, and howled: "See? What do you see? We, the Great Japanese Empire, have been betrayed! ”

Konoe Fumiko's face turned red with excitement, like a wild monkey jumping up and down, and he kept handing the telegram to the people of the House of Nobles to check. This look made Tanaka Yoshiichi grit his teeth but helpless, and he could only blame himself for being the first person at the wrong time. Even Yuzaburo Kato and Hanzo Yamanashi, who are bound to die when they meet next to them, are silent. This telegram just sent from Shanghai was too great a blow to Japan! The British Empire agreed to China's terms, and with the exception of Sakhalin, which was reluctant to intervene, almost completely recognized China's reconquest of its territory, and would issue a joint declaration with the United States, France, and other countries on January 1.

That's just three days away!

"Is this the ally that our country has always held in the palm of our hand? Is this the ally we need? Konoe Fumiro had gone crazy and jumped to his feet hysterically and shouted, "Everyone should see it now!" These ghost beasts have never been good people, they have always only used my Great Japanese Empire! In order for the people of China to help them fight, they will blackmail us into signing a false peace treaty! Now that the war is over, the spoils of war that our Great Japanese Empire deserves will not be saved. In New Guinea and Micronesia, the United States and Australia are forcing our country to evacuate! In Taiwan, the army of the Chinese has landed on the island. in North Korea. They are already hitting Pyongyang! Now those ghost animals have betrayed our Great Japanese Empire, and they have completely come together with the Shina people! Three days, three more days! Britain, France, and the United States will recognize Taiwan, and they will recognize Siberia and Asia Minor (Japan's name for Central Asia)! Is it still necessary to maintain such an alliance? It's a femme fatale! Amaterasu is on top, and the 50 million sons of the Japanese Empire have no way to live. ”

This performance was extremely touching, and many people were driven by him to gnash their teeth.

Although Tanaka Yoshiichi despised him for doing this, he couldn't deny his words. Even the most shallow people know that once Britain, the United States, France, and other countries officially announce the cancellation of all unequal treaties with China and recognize the nullity of all treaties three days later, then the Treaty of Shimonoseki will never be recognized by the international community again! Taiwan, North Korea, and Sakhalin Island, which is rich in oil, have really lost this time. So when everyone looked at him, he didn't know how to explain it, let alone have any way to deal with it.

The air in the silent conference room had frozen, and everyone was wondering what to do with Japan when the Shanghai Communiqué was officially published three days later. Is it still necessary to hold on to the current war? Just when everyone was at a loss, he rarely attended the meetings of the House of Nobles, and Togo Heihachi, who was known as the god of the Japanese Navy, suddenly stood up slowly on crutches. His short and stocky body was like a big tree in the eyes of Tanaka and the others at this moment. His gaze wandered around everyone and then stopped at the current sea minister Yuzaburo Kato: "Kato sea minister let the fleet come back." ”

"What!"

"What?"

"What is this old man doing!"

Don't talk about Tanaka. Even Konoe Fumi, who was still in tears just now, jumped up. Everyone asked in their hearts, what does this old man want to do? There is no Saionji Temple. There is no Yama Prefecture Friends, and there is no Katsura Taro. Without Hara-kei, after almost all the Japanese veterans and powerful factions fell on the night of 510, there are not many people who can be called Dinghai Shenpin, but Togo Hei Hachiro is one of the few remaining fruits. It is precisely because of him that after the army horseman killed several high-ranking naval officials in a row on the night of 510, the conflict between sea and land was still forcefully suppressed, and now this old man said that he wanted the fleet to come back. Who would dare to say more?

Konoe Wenlu didn't dare! He stared at the little eyeballs, and stupidly watched Dongxiang Ping Bayun just drop a sentence and walk out by himself. Originally, he wanted to provoke anger and then let the navy do nothing to show how strong Japan was. But isn't it in vain to make such a fuss? It's a shame that I shouted hoarse in my throat just now, could it be that the performance was too excessive and caused this person to lose confidence in winning? Yuzaburo Kato, however, knows very well what this old man is thinking, and the "Shanghai Communique" will sweep the world in three days, and the Navy's original plan to break through the mine array to cut off the Taiwan Strait and stubbornly defend Taiwan and then find an opportunity to shell China's coastal areas to gain bargaining chips is tantamount to a complete failure; if this strategy continues to be forcibly promoted, it will instead give Europe the impression that the Japanese Navy is bullying others, and it is very likely to lead to a situation in which China and the United States join hands to flank Japan.

So Yuzaburo Kato is gone. Before leaving, he glanced at Yamanashi Hanzo, whose face was even worse, and after the navy was gone, the army was also finished this time.

Hanzo Yamanashi is also gone, and he doesn't care about the despicability of the navy.

Gone, all gone. The elders of the noble court have all left, and the prime minister and the inner minister have also left one after another. Only Yoshiichi Tanaka sat alone in the conference room, his face was like wax, and he, the prime minister, was the end of the day.

Fumihiro Konoe, who hit Yoshiichi Tanaka and finally got him out of power, is also gone. But he hurried to the Chiyoda Imperial Palace non-stop.

After the Meiji Restoration, the shogunate was restored, and the Meiji Emperor not only moved the capital from Kyoto to Tokyo, but also directly converted Tokugawa Ieyasu's old nest into an imperial palace. This blue-tiled and white-walled Japanese building facing water on three sides served as a decision-making center for Japan for decades to come. It was here that Emperor Meiji, known as a wise man, issued a series of edicts that brought Japan from a weak and impoverished island nation to one of the world's great powers. However, after all, the life span of human beings is limited, and the death of the brilliant Meiji Emperor has made Japan's heart ache, and when Emperor Taisho has problems with his mind and is often insane, after the accession to the throne, I don't know how many people of insight in Japan wept bitterly and trembled. Fortunately, the legacy left by Meiji is quite rich, and the Taisho era has finally begun. But no one expected that in the second year after entering Taisho, the Sino-Japanese War broke out, and Japan was forced to withdraw from the mainland due to external pressure. The night of 510 deprived Japan of a generation of elites, and people began to wonder whether Emperor Taisho could continue to lead Japan.

After the conflict in the Yellow Sea once again opened up the Sino-Japanese conflict and war, countless people began to miss the appearance of talented and talented figures such as Emperor Meiji and Ito Hirobumi, hoping that they could lead Japan to reverse its decline. In particular, the fact that Yang Qiu, who is only 28 years old on the other side of the sea, has been listed as a public enemy of the country by Japan and will be in charge of Chinese politics for decades, has made Japan hope to find a Meiji-style figure who can compete with him for a long time, so it began to turn its attention to Crown Prince Hirohito, who is only 19 years old and is said to have a Meiji legacy.

Outside, the river had frozen, but the young Crown Prince Hirohito was still sitting in a room without any heating equipment, turning his fingers through the pages of the translation of the "Warring States Policy" by the Royal Graphic Museum. However, when his fingers flipped to the next page, a jumble of footsteps interrupted his reading.

"Prince."

Coming in was Minoru Higashikurehiko, the 9th son of Prince Asahhiko of Kurenomiya. Graduated from the Army University in 1914, because of his handsome appearance, he had relationships with several women from the prince's family in college, and the flowers and grass once gave the royal family a headache, and finally had to kick him to the War Department as an idle post and served as the chief of the royal guard. The young Crown Prince Hirohito looked up, he had a good impression of the little uncle, because Minoru Higashikure often made him happy with the analysis of things outside, especially between countries. So when I saw him, I closed the book with a smile on my face: "Uncle, is there anything urgent?" ”

"Prince, Konoe Fumiro wants to see you."

The Japanese imperial family has strict rules, and the crown prince is generally not allowed to approach courtiers until he ascends the throne, but Fumiro Konoe is a hereditary duke, so he still agreed to see him. Konoe Fumiro immediately bowed and saluted when he came in, and then sat down next to him and told him about today's five-phase meeting: "Your Excellency the Prince, the empire has reached a critical moment, but Prime Minister Tanaka and Foreign Minister Makino are still hoping that the ghost animal will speak for our country, and General Togo wants to end the war. Please call the shots. ”

Hirohito loved politics and military affairs since he was a child, regarded Meiji as his idol, and preferred to be a Zhongxing monarch like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, so he was very aware of the outside world. When he heard that the "Shanghai Communiqué" would be released in three days, and that Togo Heihachi did not approve of the navy continuing the war, he also frowned slightly. But he was very deep in his house, and he didn't answer Konoe Fumiro immediately, and it wasn't until Minoru Higashikure sent him back that he asked, "Uncle, is the situation really bad?" ”

Although Minoru Higashikure has a bad reputation, he also wants to do something big, but Tanaka and the Constitutional Council are very jealous of the cabinet with the imperial background, so after seeing that Emperor Taisho has a bad brain, he pinned all his hopes on Hirohito, and in recent years, he has actively campaigned to persuade everyone to let Hirohito stand up. Under his persuasion, there was indeed a call for Hirohito to be in charge of the country, so after hearing the inquiry, his eyes rolled: "Prince, the situation is indeed very bad. The United States and France have all sided with Yang Qiu, and now Britain has also betrayed our country, which is really hateful! The most hateful thing is that the cause of this situation is completely the internal friction of our country, what a country is most afraid of is disunity, and the people of China are taking advantage of the problems that arise within our country, so what is most needed now is not to find a way, but to immediately have a person with prestige to stand up and lead the country! ”

What he said was already extremely explicit, and Hirohito, who had long been eager to try it in his heart, was overjoyed to hear it. In recent years, Emperor Taisho's illness has become more and more serious, and as the crown prince, he has actually begun to help take care of some things, so shouldn't he be more decisive at this time? He looked at the "Warring States Policy" on the table and raised his head: "Uncle, I remember that a few days ago, an officer named Nagata Tetsuyama wrote to his father, saying that he should contact Russia to contain China?" Can you bring him to me? Also, it's better to look for more energetic young people, I want to meet them. ”

Energetic young people?! Higashikure Minoru nodded excitedly, and he was even more prepared in his heart, taking the opportunity to find Okamura Ninji and others, who were good friends with him, and when he walked outside the palace gate, he let out a long breath to make the unknown guards think that this girl had fallen in love with again.

In the study, Crown Prince Hirohito put his hand on the Warring States Policy, and after a long time, he slowly got up and walked to the door and exhaled a mouthful of white mist, and suddenly remembered what Yang Qiu said when he overthrew the unified country of Beiyang.

"In this era, we young people need to stand up and take on the future and destiny of the country!"

So, is it time for Japan to wash away its aging politics and let young people come forward? …… (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. )