October 8, 1914, two months before the destruction of Spee's fleet.

Two months, a seemingly long but very short time difference, even accurate to a few minutes and a few seconds of Falkland Islands naval battle data lying in the data machine. For fans of naval warfare, this is a heart-wrenching and blood-stirring, but for Yang Qiu and the Republic of China, that day will be a major point in time for the transformation of military power in the Pacific Ocean! Before Falkland, Spee had pinned down all the British and French forces in the Pacific with two armored cruisers, and nearly a hundred ships of all kinds did their best to search for and capture him. After Falkland, this force will be completely unleashed, and if you want to continue to involve this force, you need to wait for the large-scale launch of German submarines in mid-1915, if you can't complete the negotiations or end the war before this time difference, then no one can guarantee that Britain and France will not change their attitude, at least not as they are now.

Yang Qiu couldn't share these things with others, so he was very anxious after returning to Nanjing. Fortunately, the three arrows in Mukden, Qingdao and Korea finally shattered Japan's confidence in winning the war, and the heavy losses made Okuma's cabinet have to prepare for the end of the war, and after consulting with Li Yuanhong and others, he also made a temporary shelf of the bill to forcibly recover the concession, and at the same time ordered the Northwest Army to stop, but refused to stop military operations in Shandong and Northeast China until the negotiations were completed.

After learning the news, Britain, France, the United States, Russia, and other countries finally relented and formally intervened in the mediation talks.

On the night of 8 October, only five hours after Kato arrived in Shanghai, Wu Tingfang, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China, formally submitted the draft negotiations to Japan in the presence of representatives of various countries at a dinner hosted by Bernard.

First, the Japanese army must unconditionally lay down its arms and withdraw from all Chinese territories and concessions.

Second, all unequal treaties between China and Japan will be suspended with immediate effect, and all Japanese-occupied Chinese territories and concessions, including Lushun, Taiwan, and the Ryukyus, will be returned.

Third, the leaders of the Manchu and Mongolian rebels were handed over, and 17 war criminals, including Masashi Terauchi and Yoshinori Shirakawa, were handed over.

Fourth, compensate for the total losses of $300 million caused by the war to the government and people of the Republic of China.

Fifth, the entire Pyongan Province in northern Korea, including Valcheon and Sinuiju, will be established as a buffer zone for two events, and the Andong-Sinuiju Bridge will be handed over to the Chinese government.

Sixth.

The day after the armistice and peace treaty was proposed, which totaled eight articles and 53 paragraphs, it provoked a strong backlash in Japan, with a large number of radical young people surrounding the Prime Minister's Office and the Diet chanting the slogan that this humiliating clause should not be signed, and the newspapers in the possession of the feudal lords even advocated the continuation of the war and that there must be no compromise with China.

However, as the north was about to enter a cold winter, and there were mysterious submarines blocking the shipping lanes, and Britain, France, Russia, and the United States did not support Japan in continuing the war, the Russian minister, who was eager to withdraw its troops stationed in the Far East, once again took the opportunity to demand that the Japanese troops immediately withdraw from South Sakhalin, and even said that if Japan did not agree, it would reserve the possibility of joining hands with the Chinese Defense Forces to enter Korea. As soon as this statement came out, not to mention Japan, even Britain and France scratched their heads, and were amazed by the whimsical way of thinking of Nicholas II. Obviously, Britain and France would never allow His Majesty the Tsar to be distracted by Asia at this time, but in the face of the increasingly fierce German offensive, France and Britain, which were mired in the quagmire, had to make a statement first.

On October 10, the British ambassador to Japan met with Shigenobu Okuma, saying that as long as Japan signed the contract, it would be able to forgive the loan of $100 million and guarantee the provision of resources so that the Japanese Navy could complete the construction of the last two Kongo-class battleships that had been slowed down due to the need to prioritize the supply of the army and the lack of resources.

The British Empire hit the key point as soon as it struck, and the Japanese navy, which suffered heavy losses, had long been dissatisfied with the army's misappropriation of already very limited resources, and had to grit its teeth and agree to slow down the construction of the last two Kongo-class ships because of national fortune, so as to build more much-needed heavy guns and machine guns for the army. But now the discerning person knew at a glance that he could not fight it unless he really wanted to consume the last drop of blood, so he quietly canceled the order for the First Fleet to dispatch, and for the first time sent three warships led by the King Kong to help Britain search for the Spee fleet, in fact, he was ready to take the opportunity to occupy the island that Britain had promised first. This change has made the Army resentful but helpless, and it can't offend its allies at this time, right? As a result, radical military officers such as Junnobu Aoki, who was unwilling to be defeated, immediately aimed all the spearheads at the Prime Minister's Office and tried to put pressure on the government through non-stop demonstrations. The crowd of people crowded around the Prime Minister's Office and the National Assembly, and even when sitting in the National Assembly Hall, you could still hear the thunderous shouts and shouts outside the thick stone slabs.

This is the second time that the Japanese government has held a five-phase meeting since the start of the war, and Emperor Taisho is still sitting expressionlessly, his fingers intentionally or unintentionally plucking his pocket watch, taking it out and putting it in, as if it is a nostalgic Pokémon. Unlike the last time when five people met to decide the fate of the country, this time the cabinet and the senate were almost all able to move around, and the fierce quarrel never stopped from the beginning.

"The war has come to an end, and it is better to shrink your fists if there is no hope of attrition." Minoru Saito, the prime minister of the sea, was thunderous as soon as he opened his mouth, and of course, the honest supreme commander of the navy did not forget the hatred of the Satsuma and Choshu domains: "An emergency order should be issued immediately to ban illegal gatherings outside, and our country has been dragged into an uncontrollable situation by one offense, and must not be allowed to appear again." ”

"Hey! Who are you talking about? Okaichi Nosuke, who was seventy or eighty years old, had forgotten his age, got up and shouted: "If it weren't for the incompetence of your navy, you retreated and hid like a mouse after being attacked by the enemy in Qingdao, how could Kamio-kun and the 18th Division fail?" ”

"Are you talking about yourself again?! Is this how an incompetent army wastes the resources of the Reich? If General Kato hadn't sworn to suppress the enemy's fortress fire, and if he hadn't decisively sent ships to pick up the soldiers after being attacked, do you think the 18th Division would have retained 4,000 soldiers! ”

It's really strange and wonderful to be out of breath after a few words of honesty, but this kind of excitement is very bitter for Okuma Shigenobu, and after a splitting headache, he finally shouted angrily: "Stop your mouths!" Don't you feel ashamed in front of Your Majesty? Now is the moment to decide the future fate of the Empire! ”

The Prime Minister's authority made the two quickly close their mouths, and Aritomo Yamagu, who was sitting next to Nosuke Okaichi, raised his eyelids and looked at Shigenobu Okuma with an angry face like a beast playing with its prey before eating, but this gaze quickly closed before others could see it. Shigenobu Okuma didn't see this scene, and even if he did, he probably didn't care about the meaning in his eyes. Because for him, whether he signs this contract or not, it means that his political career has entered the countdown.

He didn't want to fight, no one likes to fail, and it was linked to his political career, so he didn't immediately take a stand and turned to the Tibetan Minister, who hadn't spoken since he entered the door.

"Hey, the Prime Minister will ask you again." Okaichi Nosuke was addicted, and poked his cane at Ōzo and said, "Can you tell us about the current economic situation?" "The Satsuma Domain, led by Minoru Saito, was not demolished for the first time, and all eyes were focused on the Ōzo Minister.

The last time, no one cared about the big Tibetan minister got up with tears in his eyes, and thought to himself, do you finally remember me? He bowed to Emperor Taisho and said, "As a subject of the Empire, I don't want to say anything discouraged. However, at present, our finances have indeed reached a very dangerous point. It may be possible to continue the war for two or three months, but winter is coming, and according to the experience of the Sundew War, the winter consumption will be more than three times that of the summer. It turned out that the empire could also get some additions from North Korea, but now North Korea. The prime minister looked at Lu Hai and said, "So my opinion is that whether the war continues or stops, the Korean issue should be resolved first." ”

This kind of obvious nonsense made Okuma Shigenobu scratch his head even more, he wanted to solve North Korea, but now the Wehrmacht is sending weapons and equipment to the Korean guerrillas every day through the Tumen River, and the river is blocked by the sinking of two gunboats, not to mention that even if he goes, he can't pass the terrible heavy artillery group of the Hushan Fortress in Jiulian City. So in the end, he simply gritted his teeth and looked at Youpeng in Shanxian who closed his eyes and did not move. Because he knows very well in his heart that how to choose is between this person's thoughts, since it has reached this point, it is better to open the skylight and say something bright.

For a while, the entire conference hall was quiet, and after raising his white eyebrows twice, he slowly got up under the gaze of everyone, walked to the middle, and bowed deeply to Emperor Taisho.

But just before he finished this action, Emperor Taisho, who had not said a word since the beginning, suddenly jumped up, looked at Yama County Youpeng as if he had seen a ghost, dusted his sleeves and tore open the throat of the male duck: "Hey! You're so bored like this, leave this matter to this old man! He said he would fight if he fought, and he said that if he didn't fight, he would promise his allies. After saying that, he patted his ass and got up and walked out, leaving a room full of Meiji elders staring at each other.

What do you mean "he said to fight and fight, and he said to promise his allies if he didn't fight?" ”

Even at the meeting that decided the fate of the country, there were still people who couldn't help but burst out laughing, and Youpeng, who had a black face, turned his head to look at it, and his anger stopped in his throat. Because sitting there is someone he can't afford to mess with, Heihachiro Togo, the heavyweight patriarch of the Satsuma Domain!

Like a peasant, Togo Heihachi has faded out of the navy since the Rilu War, and has never been involved in political circles, and this time he would not have come out if it was not for the future and fate of the country. But the seclusion did not hinder him, and he had heard that His Majesty the Emperor did not like Yama Prefecture Aritomo very much, and even called that forever expressionless face a joke about the card face, so when he saw that His Majesty the Emperor actually saw the card face, he was frightened and avoided, and he couldn't help laughing. But after laughing, he also realized that he was very unspeakable, and bent down to everyone: "Please forgive me for taking my leave first." ”

With Marshal Togo in front, the corners of the Satsuma Domain's mouth twitched, and only Okuma Shigenobu's heart suddenly twitched.

His word is the final decision? My Majesty the Emperor is not going to die!

Yama Youpeng's face was also blue and white, although the emperor said to listen to himself, but he knew that he must not make decisions on behalf of the emperor, otherwise it would not only happen. It's just that Emperor Taisho's words suddenly pushed him to the crest of the wave. He also knows that there will be no results if he continues to fight, but he can't say no more in person, right? Just when he was in a hurry, a rush of running saved him.

It was the Chief of Staff of the Army, Hasegawa Yoshimichi, who came in, bowed to everyone and hurriedly said, "Prime Ministers, Cabinet Elder. The Chinese army began to attack Jinzhou and Andong Bridge! ”