During the Edo period, Japan was closed to the rest of the country for 200 years. During that time, only a few ports were opened to maintain contact and trade with the outside world, and attempts were made to keep outside interference at bay. All ships that attempt to land forcibly are to be "repelled by artillery."

Until Commodore Matthew of the United States Navy. Perry forced them to end the lockdown with a strong ship and a cannon.

It can be said that Japan, which was closed to the rest of the country, like the closed Qing Dynasty, fell behind from the tide of development of all countries in the world and was left behind. In the same way, the foreign powers forcibly broke the isolation and self-defense, and had to face an enemy who was already too strong.

In the half century that followed, the Westernization Movement and the Meiji Restoration broke out in the two countries, but it is impossible to say what the outcome was by 1894. It's just that the decaying Manchu court and the intriguing Han officials and ministers collectively dragged their feet, and the Westernist forces led by Li Hongzhang fought alone, fighting against Japan with the support of the foreign powers, and defeat was inevitable.

In any case, it turned out to be foolish to close the country to the country, and the empire as powerful as China would still decline rapidly. Japan, which has tasted the sweetness of the open door and stepped into the threshold of the Western world with one foot, is so difficult for them to stop doing at this time!

In the face of the emperor's inquiry, everyone bowed their heads and remained silent.

The Japanese are the best at this kind of "belly art" that you can only understand, but never proclaim. When they simply do not want to express their meaning in a clear, concise, and logical way to chat with each other, they try their best to avoid positive and straightforward communication, and try to move back and detect the possible reactions of the other party.

When it comes to the major matters that have a bearing on the future of the country. There is more political zhì wrist mixed in it. So he let the respected emperor Xià sing a one-man show.

Muren sighed in disappointment. The depressed pawn in my heart was mentioned.

As the nominal spiritual leader of the 50 million Japanese subjects, he must be the great master of the "belly art", and he cannot express a single decree in straightforward and shallow words, and it is amazing enough to be able to say the words "lock the country". Because of this, a group of ministers did not dare to pick up the stubble, it is really Your Majesty that you said it so directly, it is more difficult for us to understand!

It's an amazing kind of thinking logic. The Japanese hardly believe in the literal meaning. So the more clearly you say and write, the more crooked he becomes. This is probably also the reason why Japanese detective novels became popular later, and there were many amazing masterpieces, which is inseparable from its national character.

Obviously, you can't say it, you can only say it. Seeing that all the ministers did not intend to bow to the Chinese, they simply broke the jar and fell. Muren thought about it, it seems that the cost of doing this is even less!

After sinking for a long time, Muren said quietly: "Please also ask the ministers of the countries to discuss it again." ”

After saying that, he closed his eyes and said nothing.

Mutsu Munemitsu, Okuma Shigenobu and the others exchanged glances with each other, as if they all understood. He bowed and bowed, and retired.

Out of the palace. Shigenobu Okuma said solemnly, "The work of trying to gain the support and understanding of the nations will be completely removed from you." We must do everything in our power to ensure that His Majesty is not disturbed by the enemy. ”

Mutsu Zongguang nodded vigorously: "Please rest assured, Your Excellency, we will definitely make a bet." ”

…… Well, it seems that this kind of word is the most commonly used among them, and it is the consistent Japanese style to bet on a qiē or something at every turn. It seems that when they are doing things, they can really persevere regardless of a tendon, so they give the outside world a good image of "Japanese people are very dedicated", and derive allusions such as "wipe the table a hundred times" and "scoop up the water in the toilet and drink it directly".

But the problem is, when you are trying your best to do it, you must first choose the right direction!

Japanese people are very good at doing a certain job to the extreme, but they only ignore that you have to do the right thing first. Walking on the crooked road at every turn and going all the way to the black, is this also a quality worth boasting about?

Needless to say, everyone basically understands in their hearts that from His Majesty the Emperor to the cabinet ministers, they collectively refuse to bow their heads to the Chinese and confess their guilt. Especially now that the Yang Hao group has not officially changed its name, legally speaking, it is a group of rebel forces, how can the dignified Japanese Empire succumb to them!

The members of Shigenobu Okuma's cabinet will organize forces to fully protect Tokyo when they return. This time, it is absolutely impossible to allow the Chinese Navy ships to drive straight into Tokyo Bay, and a resolute battery defense line must be formed between Sagami Bay and the Miura Peninsula.

There are still three pounds of nails in the rotten ship, and Japan is also a naval power, even if there are no warships for the time being, there are all kinds of ammunition and materials and spare artillery. There really isn't any, aren't there still warships of the navies of various countries here? It's okay to lend them temporarily!

The quickest way to attack Tokyo is to enter Tokyo Bay via the Uraga Waterway. As long as this narrow channel with a width of 10 kilometers is blocked and the two sides of the strait are blocked with artillery batteries, there is no need to worry about the enemy's warships being able to drive through.

In addition, it is necessary to deploy a large number of army forces along the coast of Sagami Bay to strictly defend and prevent enemy troops from rushing to land on the beach. In this way, it is possible to ensure that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will not have problems in theory.

As for other places, I can't care about that much for the time being.

Mutsu Munemitsu and other original negotiators immediately went to communicate with the ministers of the great powers to explain the Japanese government's tough resistance attitude in exchange for the support and understanding of various countries - look, our great Japanese empire will fight the price of the whole country's total jade, but also resist the tyrannical Yang army, and contain the powerful enemy for you, should the countries be moved to pay tens of millions of dollars to encourage it?

There is no doubt that the representatives of various countries were extremely shocked by the decision of the Japanese! They never imagined that these little dwarfs would finally adopt such an amazing confrontation strategy to face the extortion of the Chinese. I have to say that this is simply a stroke of genius, beyond everyone's expectations.

The effect is not generally good!

Mr. Acting Former Secretary of State of the United States immediately applauded: "It is remarkable that Japan has made such a wise decision!" The U.S. government is optimistic that you will become a bridgehead and a new force for the blockade of the tyrannical and tyrannical forces of China. It may even be possible to provide some course support. ”

The United States has been planning for a long time. It is necessary to move from isolationism to expansion. The Hawaiian Islands are ripe fruits that are already in our mouths, and it is imperative to use them as a springboard to move into East Asia.

It turns out that they only came here as a trading partner, and they didn't expect to get a large enough military base from here, but now they seem to have a great opportunity, and of course they can't let it go! Even a small price is perfectly acceptable.

After all. The United States was the first Western power to open its doors to Japan, and the Japanese archipelago is far more suitable for transit points than any small island in the ocean.

He decided that he would convince his friends in the Diet to come up with something real to help Japan, no matter what. A large market with a population of 50 million is so greedy!

The British minister, Sadaoyi, frowned at first and remained silent—he was really dizzy by the news, and he didn't react.

However, as one of the three masterminds behind the legendary Meiji Restoration, he has many years of experience working in Japan and has a deep understanding of this nation. It was only a short period of consternation that I understood what the Japanese really thought.

From the very beginning, Japan decided to leave Asia and join Europe. After decades of busy work. It seems that he already has some of the basic elements. From that moment on, the nation was no longer satisfied with merely dominating East Asia. Like the British Empire, they wanted to expand militarily and spread colonies all over the world, with the roots of a mere island nation.

Provoking a war against the Qing was their first step towards becoming a maritime power. If they win, they will have the Korean Peninsula, a population of more than 20 million, and Liaodong, a vast region of China, as colonies.

According to the calculations of the Japanese, the cession of the islands from China became inevitable. Once they succeed and manage properly, it may not take ten years to accumulate further challenges to Russia's hegemony in the Far East, or other countries in Southeast Asia!

To put it a little crazier, they might be able to continue to carve up territory from China, but there are tens of millions of Japanese and hundreds of millions of industrious colonies to support their ambitions to dominate the world's East. I'm afraid that by then, the British Empire will have to retreat and make peace with them, right?

However, this dream was shattered with the defeat of the navy, and Japan resolutely showed its ferocious face, smashing the pot and selling iron to continue to build a naval power. The British saw their true nature more clearly, and when they heard them say this again today, Sa Daoyi's heart was like a mirror.

The Japanese are going to resolutely go to the dark on the road to the West, and they don't want to turn back.

This nation is difficult to tame and absolutely untrustworthy. Now they may have to bow their heads to the Western powers as slaves in order to survive, but as long as they have enough strength, they will definitely jump up and seek self-reliance, and then counterattack their masters, and turn against the guest.

Risk is born in it. But Sa Daoyi could not refuse, because this was the only chess piece used by the British Empire to balance China. And even if he doesn't accept the offer, the United States will actively get involved, and France and Russia will not miss the opportunity. Rather than sit back and watch others benefit, it is better to take the initiative and control this power as much as possible.

Sa Daoyi seemed to be thoughtful, and replied solemnly: "The British Empire will never sit idly by and watch a civilized country be bullied for no reason. Please rest assured, Mr. Minister, that we will help as much as possible and will not let the Chinese succeed lightly. ”

The Russian Maozi and the French were not willing to be left behind, and patted their chests one after another. The Russians, in particular, with green eyes and saliva from the corners of their mouths, made a request to Mutsu Munemitsu: "As long as Japan can provide an ice-free port, the great Russian navy will send a powerful fleet to the Far East to protect you nearby." ”

Mutsu Somitsu couldn't hear Maozi's ambition there, but he didn't dare to agree, you must know that it is easy to invite God and send God, once Maozi reaches out, these greedy guys will inevitably gain an inch, maybe from a port to an island, a piece of land, and finally the whole of Japan will be assigned to his home!

Under the gaze of a greedy green light, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and politely refused with a stiff neck: "Thanks to Russia's kindness, the Great Japanese Empire can open all ports to all countries and provide corresponding supplies and repairs." As for renting or something, I won't think about it for the time being. At the same time, we also hope to be able to get the support of other countries in terms of industry and military equipment, after all, China's military power is too strong to be countered at our current level. ”

Sa Daoyi was really afraid that the Japanese would get dizzy. agreed to the unreasonable demands of the Russians. That's it. It will be difficult for the British to balance them. Now it seems like a good thing. So he immediately made a decision: "The British Empire will not be stingy with its support for its allies, and we can help Japan to train its army and provide some equipment and materials for the production of weapons." ”

As soon as the Yankees saw that everyone was talking about benefits, they immediately followed up: "The industrial strength of the United States is the first in the world, we can provide a full set of industrial facilities, and we can provide endless raw materials and technical support, and even if we start building warships immediately, it is no problem." ”

This opening is a bit too big. Let the rest of the delegates frown. Nowadays, all countries are caught in the competition to build ships, and all the naval design and manufacturing forces have to invest in the construction of a huge number of new warships, and there is simply no extra strength to support other countries.

The Yankees, on the other hand, have a disproportionately weak navy relative to their vast national power, and even if they start to expand now, they have enough surplus industrial power to provide takeaways.

Of course, the shortcomings are also obvious, whether the Americans are in battleship design, steel smelting or cannon manufacturing. All lag behind the major powers. The only one who can take the shot now seems to be only an eight-inch cannon. Build a battleship for Japan? You better rest.

Mutsu Zongguang never expected that it was just a momentary act of jumping over the wall in a hurry, but in exchange for such an unexpected rush of support from various countries, the benefits were really indescribable, and the joy in his heart almost blossomed!

As long as they can resist the attack of the Chinese navy, even if the Japanese people cannot go to sea to fish for the time being, even if the domestic trade is temporarily controlled by foreigners, as long as they accumulate enough military strength, it is not too late to turn back and retaliate!

Moreover, if all countries are so active, if they can be left and right, they may not be able to easily get a large amount of industrial and military construction support without paying any cost. The result was too beautiful to imagine!

Holding back the excitement in his heart, Mutsu Munemitsu and a group of Japanese officials kept bowing to the foreign devils, saying "thank you very much", "I dare not be ashamed", "infinite gratitude" and other words of benefit and expense, thinking about how to draw up a ten-year plan for Japan's industrial and military construction, and fool a group of Western foreign devils into throwing money!

On the third day of Yang Hao's ultimatum, Japan initially reached an agreement with other countries to resolutely resist the unjustified and brutal threats of the Chinese, and the countries provided all kinds of support to ensure that Japan would not be captured.

The news could not be concealed, and it soon spread to China. When Yang Hao saw this result, he didn't come back to his senses for a while.

"Japanese, this is crazy! How stubborn does it have to be to come up with the idea that it would rather resist than retreat? ”

He was puzzled, but Yang Haixin said in one sentence: "Have you forgotten that the Japanese are the kind of temperament that can admit defeat, but absolutely refuse to admit mistakes?" ”

Yang Hao suddenly realized, it's really like that!

In the history of this world, Japan was defeated and became a lackey of the Americans. However, from the emperor to the soldiers below, very few people seriously reflected on the war of aggression they had waged, and in the textbooks and national education that followed, they gradually downplayed their image as an aggressor and used words such as "enter" to obscure their behavior.

Moreover, all the Japanese upper echelons are unwilling to apologize for their aggression and atrocities -- it should be noted that the Japanese are the best at playing tricks on words, and they often say "sorry for the trouble", "sorry", "troublesome" and so on, all of which are words used to cover up their mistakes. The only thing that the Japanese can truly feel guilty about and sincerely apologize for is "apologies".

In the 70 years since the end of World War II, we have never seen a single high-level Japanese "apologize" to China or even other countries, which shows that they do not sincerely repent. Because the Japanese believed from the bottom of their hearts that it was not wrong for them to start a war, but they just lost the war, and that was not their fault. The accumulation of crimes committed in the course of war is an inevitable process and collateral loss, and it is still not a mistake.

They even feel that it is very aggrieved that the United States dropped an atomic bomb because of the war, because of the defeat of the war, because of the defeat of the world, and because they are not allowed to officially have an army.

In the final analysis, this nation is so chaotic and contradictory from culture to cognition that it is unreasonable.

Thinking about what was going on, Yang Hao didn't bother to talk about it, and it was impossible to help them explain to the people of the whole country, "The Japanese are this virtue, and they refuse to admit their mistakes even if they die." He needs this kind of "hard bone" to help him integrate the chaotic public opinion in the country.

As soon as the radio and newspapers announced this news, it immediately caused another uproar of public opinion!

Kind Chinese like to push themselves and others, and they always feel that the Japanese should be reasonable, but the reality is a basin of cold water poured over, making countless people who originally had a trace of kindness angry! This time, the clamor for punishing Japan was boiling, but there were not many Virgins who called for "rational treatment" to come out and look for abuse.

Yang Hao issued a naval mobilization order, immediately mobilizing all forces to launch the first wave of punitive attacks against Japan.

A few days later, led by two "Hebei-class" battleships, escorted by the "Tianjin" heavy cruiser, four newly launched "Dengzhou-class" destroyers hugged each other, and more than a dozen "Weihai-class" frigates drove out of the East China Sea and slaughtered the coastal waters of Japan!

This violent reaction did not exceed the expectations of the Great Powers, who appealed to try to stop them and made a show, but none of them actually drove the battleships over to block the guns of the Japanese.

As a result, the almost identical trial fleet slowly circled back and forth in the East China Sea, and when the Japanese were staring at each other, they suddenly appeared on the sea on the west side of Kyushu Island, and used the huge artillery with a long range to bombard Nagasaki indiscriminately! (To be continued......) R1292