In the following days, the news of the "Treaty of Tianjin" seizing the Liaodong Peninsula to Yuben spread throughout China, arousing strong dissatisfaction and protests among the people, and politicians hostile to Li Hongzhang had already begun to attack Li Hongzhang for betraying the country.

In this regard, Li Hongzhang did not feel strange at all. Anyway, he already believed that Wang Chenhao's strategy could finally turn the tide, so he didn't care about the scolding during this time.

On December 30, 1894, the Guangxu Emperor said that on this day in the Forbidden City, the Treaty of Tianjin was printed in three languages, both Chinese and English, and the Treaty of Tianjin officially had legal effect in the Qing Empire. Mutsu Munemitsu sent someone to quickly send the treaty document back to Tokyo for Emperor Komoto to sign.

On January 4, 1895, Emperor Meiji signed the Treaty of Tianjin, which officially entered into force in Japan.

On 9 January, the Qing Dynasty formally exchanged the signing documents of the "Treaty of Tianjin" in Tianjin, announcing the end of the First Sino-Japanese War.

Li Hongzhang had only three months to prepare, and he discussed with Zhou Fu, Yang Shixiang, Wang Chenhao, and other aides that he would not put all the bets on the Russians, so he took advantage of the end of the war to ask the powers to lift the arms embargo on China.

The Qing Dynasty said that the war had been signed, and that the great powers of various countries had no reason to freeze the arms of the Qing Empire, so they ordered their respective customs to release them, and the arms ships carrying a large amount of weapons, equipment and ammunition quickly left the customs of various countries and embarked on the road back to China. Among them, the arms purchased from the United States and France were the fastest, departing from Manila and French Vietnam respectively, and soon arrived at the mouth of Dagu in Tianjin.

The Liaodong Peninsula threatened the security of the capital of the Qing Empire, and the Qing court knew that Li Hongzhang was delaying the army, so Li Hongzhang was still the commander of the navy and army of the Qing Empire, and the navy and army of all parts of the country were still under his command.

Qinwang troops from all over the country successively arrived at the front line of Shanhaiguan, Jinzhou, and Fengtian, and publicized to the outside world that the whole army was reorganized and the army reform was carried out.

The great powers knew that the Qing Imperial Army had been defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War, so it was imperative to reform the army after the war, so there was no reason to interfere. Although the present side doubted its usefulness, it had no excuse or evidence, and thus could not be supported by the foreign powers.

Of course, at this time, the Japanese side no longer had the energy to pay attention to the army mobilization of the Qing Empire, because Germany, France, and Russia had officially sent a note to the Qing Empire, openly raising the issue of Liaodong's sovereignty and interfering in the occupation of the Qing Empire.

On 16 January, after half a month of consultations, Russian Minister Cuman had sent notes to Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, and the Netherlands to protest against the cession of the Liaodong Peninsula on the grounds that the cession of the Liaodong Peninsula would affect the security of the Qing Empire's capital and further affect the interests of various countries in China.

Because Russia co-opted France and Germany, no country in the world dared to compete with them in terms of their great power after the three countries joined together. Therefore, Russia's proposal was supported by the spirit of all the great powers except Britain, which, although refused, chose neutrality, because Britain did not dare to offend the three countries at the same time.

In this way, Russia, with the support and acquiescence of the international powers, submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with France and Germany.

The Russian memorandum stated: "His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, with regard to the terms and conditions demanded of China by his own country, hereby considers that the return of the Liaodong Peninsula to this section will not only endanger the security of the Chinese capital, but will also render the reading power of the Korean State in name only." Such a situation would hinder lasting peace in the Far East. In order to once again express its sincere friendship with His Majesty the Emperor, the Russian government hereby advises that the government of the country should give up the occupation of the Liaodong Peninsula. ”

The memorandum between Germany and France takes a similar tone. After reading out the memorandum, the German minister Hai Jing made a threatening statement, saying: "A war with the three countries is hopeless for our own country." Therefore, it is not impossible for your country to compromise on this matter. The French minister said, "With the destruction of the French navy, the French Far East Fleet and the Russian fleet can easily land in the Gulf of Tonkin." Gu said that his country has no ability to refuse concessions! ”

In the end, the three countries' demand for the return of Liaodong to China and the limitation of a reply within 15 days was undoubtedly tantamount to an ultimatum.

After the political axe of the Three Kingdoms openly interfered in the return of Liao, Li Hongzhang immediately traveled to the legations of the Three Kingdoms, saying that if the political axe of the Three Kingdoms was willing to send troops to deter and help the Qing Empire recover the Liaodong Peninsula, the military expenses would be borne by the Qing Empire.

Seeing that Li Hongzhang was willing to pay money, this favor was tantamount to giving them for nothing, so he made diplomatic "advice" to the Japanese and militarily exerted pressure on the Japanese state, and Russia ordered the warships anchored in the ports of the province for the winter to be ready to anchor at any time within 24 hours. Its Far East Fleet cruised and demonstrated in the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Benhai Sea; At the same time, Russia transferred 20,000 troops from Eastern Siberia to Vladivostok and imposed a "temporary regional martial law." Some French and German warships also went to the vicinity of the Korean Strait to make a fuss and create a tense atmosphere.

Germany, France, and Russia are tense against each other, and there is a great tendency for war to break out.

This action gave a great shock to the political axe, and it tried to ask Britain for help and organize an anti-intervention alliance, but Britain saw that Germany, France, and Russia were strong and powerful, so they did not want to offend Russia, Germany, and France for this, so they did not support it. Under these circumstances, he saw that there was no room for maneuver in diplomatic negotiations, and militarily he was by no means an opponent of the three countries. If the Qing Empire did not accept the "advice" of the three countries and did not make a decision, and the Qing Empire was organizing an army to counterattack, it was possible that the Liaodong Peninsula could not be protected, and the recognition of the occupation of Korea stipulated in the "Tianjin Treaty" would also be in vain, and the situation would eventually change to an embarrassing situation.

Ben still makes every effort to preserve the proceeds of the treaty. On January 20, he proposed to occupy only the two seaports of Lushun and Dalian, plus some indemnities. But the three countries remained tough and unyielding.

It was not a real victory over the Qing Empire, which still had a complete Beiyang naval division, plus the cabinet of Kuroda Kiyotaka and finally gave up the permanent occupation of the Liaodong Peninsula.

On January 22, Ben reached a preliminary agreement with the three countries. It was said that Korea was retained and Liaodong was returned to China, but the Qing court had to pay 30 million taels of silver as compensation.

With regard to the amount of reparations, Russia, Germany, and France all held that the renunciation of the Liaodong Peninsula was not a concession to China, but a concession to the three countries, so they said that their own countries could not make demands on China because of this. On the same day, Li Hongzhang sternly refused to compensate. It was said that he threatened to go to war, but Li Hongzhang was not afraid, saying that the Qing Emperor's [***] fireships seized by the customs of various countries had been transported back to China one after another, and he was not afraid of war.

It was only at this time that the present side knew that they had been tricked by Li Hongzhang, because now Germany, France and Russia had intervened, and the responsibility for another war lay with them and not with the Qing Empire, because the three countries would definitely not allow a war to break out.

Mutsu Aozong regretted that he should not have been carried away by the interests in the first place, and now not only did the Liaodong Peninsula return to Li Hongzhang, but he didn't even have compensation.

No, after all, Li Hongzhang didn't want to really fight, so he still admitted that North Korea was under occupation.

Mutsu Munemitsu weighed the pros and cons, and said that he had to finally decide to completely accept the "advice" of the Three Kingdoms and reluctantly give up the permanent occupation of the Liaodong Peninsula. On January 23, the envoys to the three countries notified the political axes of the various countries of this decision.

On the same day, he unconditionally evacuated Liaodong and returned to North Korea. Li Hongzhang telegraphed the Qing army in Fengtian and Jinzhou to advance and recover the lost territory.

On January 26, 1895, the last day of the first year of the lunar calendar, the Spring Festival of the second year. The First and Second Armies retreated to Korea, the Qing Army restored the defense line of the Yalu River, and the Army completely left China, and the whole country and the dynasty were jubilant.