For the Japanese, it was the end of the world.

The Emperor stood on a high ground and watched hundreds of thousands of people, weeping bitterly in grief and loss, creating a dark atmosphere that was so gloomy that it was impossible to breathe in the long streets from the port to the center of Tokyo. It seems that every breath requires all the strength, and every step of movement must force oneself not to lose shape.

The national nature of the Japanese is that it is easy to gather a high-pitched fighting spirit and then huddle together to launch a battle in an extreme period of time, but it is often the strategists who are over-eyed and the specific executors who like to do things on their own, and eventually make a lot of unfavorable and unfavorable things.

And once they encounter failure, the narrow-mindedness and vulnerability in their bones are immediately exposed, and hysterical breakdowns are the most common, so it is understandable that the suicide rate is so high.

Since the first year of the First Sino-Japanese War, they launched the war against the Qing Dynasty, and in the past two years, the navy and the army have acted together, paying more than 100,000 casualties and the entire navy being annihilated, and the fighting spirit has already been completely crushed.

When Yang Hao took the initiative to provoke a competition to build ships, even the British, who still wanted to use Japan's hand to balance the situation in the Far East, could no longer afford an investment that did not see hope. As a result, they refused their request to continue lending money to the Japanese to build warships. After that, the Chinese Navy launched a half-year-long naval blockade, which broke the economic lifeline of this small emerging country that had not yet achieved industrialization!

The loss of the capital supply for the development of the industry and the pure reliance on the looting of the barren livelihood of the people in the country is simply not enough to fill the great hole caused by the war. The economy of Japan as a whole has almost completely collapsed, only because of the rigid hierarchy they have developed over thousands of years. So that the lower peasant masses did not revolt for the time being. The situation can barely be maintained.

Another point. It is also the myth that "Japan itself will not be attacked" that supports the last vestiges of faith in its citizens.

However, the hope of being forgiven lightly is nothing more than a dream after all. When the majestic figure of the Chinese navy was rampant at the door of its house, in the face of the threat of giant ships and cannons, the Japanese finally realized that the time had come for all the sins they had done.

Come out and mix, sooner or later you have to pay it back.

There is no mercy, there is no room for reasoning. In this era of "truth is within the range of a cannon", a big fist can take it all. The weak and unwilling to provoke the powerful enemy can only watch the crazy revenge befall them.

Even if Yang Hao didn't fire a single shell, the invisible pressure had completely destroyed the fighting spirit of the Japanese.

Yang Hao did not get off the ship, and he did not even let the Japanese know of his arrival. There were not many naval officers and men who landed, and only Liu Buyun, Deng Shichang, and others led a group of negotiators, together with the Marine Corps soldiers in charge of guarding, to hug Li Hongzhang ashore.

From afar, through the telescope, I could clearly see the faces of the Japanese as if they were mourning, and countless people stared at the Chinese envoys with bloodshot eyes. But he didn't dare to shout threatening words.

Yang Hao smiled coldly: "Bullying the soft and fearing the hard, the color is fierce." Small country and widows. You will never learn to truly respect the strong and pity the weak. Cultivating the national spirit with bestiality and aggression as merits, no matter how developed such a nation is, will never be able to change its obscene behavior in its bones. ”

Whether it is Japan, which has been defeated in this plane, or Japan, which has been militarily powerful and economically developed in the world, it will only form a superficial courtesy, and it will not be a true benevolence from the heart.

It is difficult for others to understand Yang Hao's views, but they will not have objections because of this. In the revolutionary army group, there are no pedantic people like zài who repay grievances with virtue. They all know very well that for China to rise, it must climb through the bones of some enemies. Japan sent it to the door as a stepping stone, and it must be taken honestly and unceremoniously.

The new dynasty of this world was facing a terrible situation in ruins at that time, which was a hundred times worse than what Yang Hao owned today. However, it was under such difficult conditions that the people of the whole country did not hesitate to defeat the powerful United States and United Nations forces in the Korean War. After that, it took India lightly; Then fight to the death on a small scale with a strong polar bear to show your determination. In the end, a costly, 10-year war was used to rectify the Vietnamese tyrants, so as to create a precious period of peace and development of 30 years.

Today, it is time to officially kick off the rise of the new China in the world.

Yang Hao's purpose couldn't be hidden from the people around him, and Zhou Jianhao asked with some puzzlement: "Why did Mr. give such a great opportunity to Mr. Li?" After all, he is a representative of the old era, and he himself is not very happy to actively move closer to us. ”

Everyone knows that Japan at the moment is a dead dog, and anyone who goes up can stomp on it and sign a treaty that represents the beginning of a new historical stage. It stands to reason that the new government headed by Yang Hao should be handled by someone to handle it.

Yang Hao knew that his words might be asked on behalf of a large group of people, and replied with a smile: "In everyone's opinion, it is an excellent opportunity to show Xiàn, but in the long run, Old Man Li is more suitable than us." On the one hand, this move can show our attitude towards the older generation and further win their cooperation; Second, it also sets a relatively moderate tone for future national policies. China cannot be imaged as an arrogant country that is aggressive in everything, which is not only inconsistent with the spirit of our culture, but also detrimental to the long-term interests of the country and the nation. ”

Zhou Jianhao was smart after all, he frowned and thought about it slightly, knowing that Yang Hao's foresight was no matter how good it was.

In today's China, although the success of the revolutionary army has become an irresistible trend, without the cooperation of those old forces, the speed of advancement of the revolutionary cause, the depth of the process, and the quality of completion are completely different.

Li Hongzhang, these old guys, represent the traditional scholar power in China for thousands of years. From the very beginning, they have rallied over the majority of the population and represent the will and values of the entire nation. It is too difficult and too difficult to completely change the traditional concepts that they have led that have penetrated into the blood of the people.

Unless Yang Hao has the ability to conjure up 10 million like-minded Gao Su zhì revolutionaries at once, it will be enough to fill the government agencies at all levels of the entire country, and completely brainstorm and wash away the whole people from top to bottom. Otherwise. The vast majority of the populace were accustomed to following the teachings of the gentry clans. While thanking the new government for the benefits. On the one hand, consciously or unconsciously, he continued to respect the call of the old and famous people in the township.

Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Shilin class has successfully completed the control of the lower forces of the entire country, and it is too difficult and difficult to eliminate their influence.

Under such circumstances, even if the revolutionary army has carried out an agrarian revolution and comprehensively carried out ideological, cultural, and educational innovations, it should not expect one or two generations to complete the change of concept. On the contrary, it will be due to the rapid corruption and degeneration of the bureaucracy. In the near future it will be restored to its original state.

If you look at the development trajectory of this world, you can see that even after half a century of chaos in the civil war of resistance in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, and after nearly 30 years of ideological impact and turmoil in the new dynasty, it has only been more than ten years since the reform, and the son, young master, son, and young lady have quickly returned. In the following decades, with the invasion of Western culture, there was even more miasma of mud and sand.

The original good traditional culture has not been inherited, and the bad things have spread unscrupulously. It is difficult to say how much better the whole nation will be than the old era they criticize. In addition to the improvement of material conditions, the decline of morality to the point of lack of morality of the whole people can be regarded as a great stain on the great and glorious image of the rulers.

Yang Hao never dared to say that they could do better than the ancestors of this world. I just hope that with my own efforts, I can make some good changes as much as possible. As for whether it will be completely successful after that. But he never gave much hope.

Greed is the common root of human beings, and lust is also the normal nature of human beings, and an environment in which human affection is greater than the law has been formed over thousands of years. If an ancient civilization wants to complete a gorgeous turn, let alone one generation, ten generations can complete it, which is considered very efficient.

In the words of a master of Chinese culture, it will take 300 years for China to complete the cultural transformation. Even from the time the Opium War broke the Manchu rule, it would not be completed until at least the 22nd century. On the bright side, after 300 years of collision and integration of Eastern and Western cultures, the Chinese civilization will inevitably be able to abandon the dross, spit out the old and embrace the new, and complete a historic transformation after experiencing complete destruction and reflection.

At that time, the feat of leading the world civilization to climb upward and enter a new era will be born.

Yang Hao is now facing conditions, without the complete destruction of being ravaged by repeated aggression, there will be no opportunity to thoroughly reflect on the dregs of civilization, and of course, he will not be able to appear again Yan zhòng's admiration for foreigners, let alone countless half-baked "advanced ideas" from Japan and all kinds of distortions and sabotage that they have deliberately created.

The advantage is that we can calmly find a large number of academic talents who are proficient in traditional culture, and take advantage of the opportunity of the epoch-making turmoil and civilization exchanges to sort out a relatively complete essence of Chinese civilization by reserving the chaff.

But the downside is also obvious: the traditional conservative forces have not been greatly damaged, and the resistance to revolution is countless times greater than in the world.

Yang Hao did not even dare to guarantee that he would be able to complete the first revolution on a national scale, because in the absence of foreign threats, the speed of the degeneration of the existing revolutionary forces was very likely to exceed the speed of the revolution's advance. Maybe one day before the toss is over, the backyard will catch fire first.

Therefore, he should unite as much as possible the forces that can be united to speed up this progress. Tong Guò's friendly attitude towards Li Hongzhang sent a clear signal to the old guys that they could see the sincerity of the new government. Even if you don't help promote innovation, it would be nice not to cause trouble for everyone.

The second reason is to focus on shaping the external image of the new regime.

Yang Hao did not want the new regime to plant the arrogant impression of "reckless militarism" and "unforgiving" to outsiders, which would not do any good to expand cultural influence and reduce resistance to foreign expansion.

The experience summed up over thousands of years of Chinese history is undoubtedly the most deceptive. Although the hegemonic style of the United States in this world is cool for a while, it is a kind of desperate path in Huashan where the cost remains high and there is no way out. When they have nowhere to shear their sheep to fill the bottomless pit, the danger of collapsing from a high position can come at any moment.

It is precisely because of this point that New China has declared "no hegemony" from the very beginning, but it has not hindered the country's rapid rise in the slightest. And all over the world, all the so-called "hegemons" who are complacent about being powerful for a while are short-lived ghosts.

This time he took Japan to attack, and Yang Hao didn't want to be a bully. How to do it not only to make Little Japan obedient, but also to let the outside world see that China "convinces people with virtue". Calmly stand on the moral high ground. Appropriately display the inviolable aura of the Chinese nation. How to handle the weight of this. It's really not something that the stunned young people of the junta can do.

On the contrary, the old man Li Hongzhang has been doing foreign affairs for decades, sandwiched between the great powers and the Qing government, which has always been vigilant against him, racking his brains to make things as round as possible, and this kind of wisdom is by no means comparable to ordinary people. He is also very able to understand Yang Hao's intentions, and he must be able to do it properly.

It's a pity that Yang Hao couldn't personally verify that scene, so he had to let people secretly take pictures of the picture. Come back and enjoy it slowly.

After listening to Yang Hao's explanation, Zhou Jianhao had no doubts in his heart. He couldn't think of a better way.

The navy was moored in Tokyo Bay, silently cheering for the negotiating team.

However, it was said that Li Hongzhang and his entourage drove into the Tokyo embassy and consulates and calmly accepted the welcome of the cabinet members headed by Mutsu Munemitsu. Old man Li, who straightened his waist for the first time, unceremoniously put on the demeanor of a first-class prime minister of the Qing Dynasty, and gave an unceremonious order to the younger Japanese: "The old man is here to ask the teacher to ask for the guilt, don't do the superficial work, you better hurry up and prepare how to apologize!" ”

It seems to be an arrogant style, but it has left some leeway for the Japanese.

Mutsu Munemitsu is worthy of being a Meiji veteran, and he is especially aware of Old Man Li's temper and style. Immediately understood that this was already saving face for them. Otherwise, with the old fellow's usual arrogance. It's no wonder if you don't hurt them hard.

As a result, a group of Japanese officials nodded their heads and waists, "hi hi" endlessly, arranged in a low voice, and hurriedly went back to discuss countermeasures, as well as secretly traffic accompanying personnel to probe the bottom line of the Chinese negotiations.

In Li Hongzhang's entourage, Li Jingshu took care of his daily life, and Luo Fenglu, Ma Jianzhong, Wu Tingfang, Lu Yongming and other secretaries and counselors were indispensable. Among them, Wu Tingfang is not only a rare barrister of this era, but also an old friend of the Japanese people, and cherishes the friendship with the Japanese very much. Therefore, it is not surprising that it has become a breakthrough for the Japanese side to be eager to understand the inside situation.

Li Hongzhang seemed to have no idea that his subordinates were infiltrated, and he enjoyed the hospitality conditions made by the Japanese in a down-to-earth manner.

In fact, Japan's poor appearance, can he make any good things to make him, the prime minister of the world, look at it? In order to ensure safety, Yang Hao even brought his own food and drink for the entire negotiation team. Among the entourage, there is a logistics team at the level of a palace kitchen to ensure that the elderly can eat comfortably.

That night, Yang Hao quietly returned to China by boat. However, Li Hongzhang and his entourage were warmly received by the Japanese side, and the delegation and the navy held several banquets, and envoys from various countries in Japan came to cheer one after another, openly and covertly inquiring about China's goals.

Li Hongzhang didn't have a word of happiness in his mouth, and no matter how others knocked on the side, they couldn't find out the truth. Others have "accidentally" said something after all, such as Wu Tingfang confided in Mutsu Zongguang, saying that the current head of the military government, Yang Haoyan, hated the sun, and this time he wanted to make a complete reckoning of the national hatred accumulated in the past hundreds of years! It would be better for Japan to be prepared for tremendous pressure as soon as possible.

Mutsu Munemitsu himself is an arrogant and domineering person, and he likes to be unforgiving. On the other hand, when he was hit hard, he was so angry that he almost flipped the table on the spot.

Of course he didn't dare, because the consequences would be beyond his death. For the sake of the future of the whole country, he can only endure humiliation and do his best.

Other ministers who were interested in helping also learned some news, but they had completely different views. For example, Yang Hao, who is known to the Americans, is actually very arrogant and arrogant, and he simply looks down on such a small state as Japan, and this trip is just to kill chickens and monkeys, and use Japan's head to warn the powers that have no regard for China. Actually, I don't really know what to do with Japan.

The British and the French were shocked to learn that Yang Hao had great ambitions, and he wanted to completely take Japan, and then recover the Far East lands occupied by Russia, so as to form a huge circle of influence around the sea directly facing North America, including Sakhalin Island, the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese archipelago, and the Philippine Islands, turning the huge China Sea into an inland sea, and creating an unprecedentedly huge eastern power.

This statement is very arrogant, but the problem is that Yang Hao has a great chance of success!

After all, in the eyes of Westerners, the whole of East Asia is actually a radiation belt of the Chinese cultural sphere, and these small countries around it have historically been China's vassals. As long as China becomes strong, they still have to obediently lean on to be the little brother. But in that case, a powerful Eastern empire will inevitably compete for dominance in the Pacific Ocean, and even extend its hand into the Indian Ocean. At that time, the position of the British Empire will be challenged more severely than ever before!

At this time, Japan was exhausted and gave up to Britain again. China has always liked to be the main wrongdoer, engaging in the absurd drama of "repaying grievances with virtue". Perhaps, they will be able to generously forgive the various mistakes made by Japan and bring them back into the sphere of influence after they are subdued.

The Great Powers really did not want to see this outcome, and they could not help but be worried. When he came back, he gathered together to discuss how to destroy him. If necessary, it is not hesitated to join forces to put pressure on China. Japan, we must protect it.

All kinds of gossip were flying all over the sky, and the Japanese got all kinds of information, which made their heads big.

Li Jingshu was silent as an invisible person in the banquet, even if someone specially came to toast, he also dealt with the past with reason. Most of the time, I was watching everyone's performances on the sidelines.

After returning home, he couldn't hold back the doubts in his heart and asked the old man, "Why do you make so many nonsense statements to the outside world?" Could it be the coping strategy arranged by the father in advance? ”

Li Hongzhang shook his head with a smile: "The old man didn't have any arrangements, most of what they said was their own guesses, and a few were rumors they heard." The real content is only known to the old man. ”

Li Jingshu was a little dumbfounded, what the hell is going on? (To be continued......)