Sheng Haizhou didn't wait long, and on the third day after his complete showdown with Li Hongzhang, the Japanese dispatch from Shanghai had already arrived in Japan.

The Japanese Dispatch Army had a total of three divisions of the National Defense Forces, totaling more than 40,000 people, with an average of more than 13,000 people per division.

The three divisions were stationed in three places, namely Yamakawa Port (Ibusuki Port), Osaka Castle, and Yokohama Port in Kanagawa, and exactly one division was stationed in each place.

The arrival of this large army, although Shenghaizhou's heart was shocked, was also completely relieved, because this showed that the Chinese did not give up on him, and looking at the strength of the Chinese, as long as he hugged the Chinese's thighs tightly, at least for now, his safety was no problem.

However, this time only Japan sent troops, and no Chinese envoys came, but only an order came, that is, Li Hongzhang was appointed as the plenipotentiary ambassador of the Chinese Empire to Japan, responsible for the negotiations between the Chinese Empire and Japan.

This is a formal appointment issued by the State Council, which is completely different from the previous sneaky situation, that is, from the moment he received this order, Li Hongzhang can be regarded as a formal ambassador for negotiations.

This made Sheng Haizhou breathe a sigh of relief, after all, Li Hongzhang was also a little familiar with him, and he was really afraid that a stranger would mess up the matter here. Now that the ambassador for the negotiations is Li Hongzhang, and it is said that he will be stationed in Japan for a long time after the negotiations, he will be in charge of affairs here, so I think it is a good thing.

Now that the Japanese dispatch force has arrived in Japan and quickly entered the territory laid by the original expeditionary force, the mission of the expeditionary force is over, and they will now re-board the ship and officially set off for Hollywood City to carry out a new mission.

Since Li Hongzhang became Japan's plenipotentiary negotiating ambassador, it was clear that he could not continue to follow the expeditionary force, which made Shi Dakai and Tang Hailong a little sad. After all, these days, they have worked together happily, and they can be regarded as an iron friendship that has shared the spoils together.

"Lord Shi, Lord Tang." On the dock to see him off, Li Hongzhang picked up his wine glass and saluted Shi Dakai and Tang Hailong respectively, "This trip is thousands of miles, the future is uncertain, I don't know when I will be able to meet the two adults again." It's really embarrassing to think about the past. Hey, I won't say anything superfluous, here I will use this glass of wine to wish the two adults a successful start and create more brilliance! ”

"Please!" Shi Dakai and Tang Hailong each picked up the wine glasses and saluted, then drank them dry, and then turned over the empty wine glasses, indicating that the wine had been drunk.

"Good!" Li Hongzhang also drank the wine in the cup at once. Again a salute, and then nothing to say, indicating that one qiē is all in the word.

After the toast was over, Tang Hailong was about to turn his head immediately. However, he found that Shi Dakai did not move, but smiled slightly, and hugged his fist at Li Hongzhang: "Master Li, as you said." Farewell today, I don't know when we can meet. We'll forget it, but there's one person. I've always wanted to see you, but I always didn't have the opportunity, and when I left today, don't you want to see you? ”

"Oh?" Li Hongzhang was stunned for a moment, and then his expression moved, "Lord Shi is saying?" ”

"Hey." Shi Dakai shook his head, then turned around and waved his hand to a middle-aged officer behind him, signaling the other party to come over.

After the middle-aged officer rushed over, he immediately saluted Shi Dakai first, and before he could speak, Shi Dakai spoke first: "Commander Li, there is no need to say more, I called you over this time, not for anything else, just to let you catch up with Lord Li." ”

Immediately afterwards, Shi Dakai didn't wait for the middle-aged officer's surprised face, turned around and arched his hand to Li Hongzhang: "Lord Li, there is still a lot of time, you can talk slowly first, and we won't bother." ”

After speaking, Shi Dakai pulled Tang Hailong, who was a little inexplicable, and half-dragged and half-pulled, leaving this place to Li Hongzhang and the middle-aged officer.

Seeing Shi Dakai and Tang Hailong walking away, the middle-aged officer turned his head, looked at Li Hongzhang, and then hugged his fist: "Second brother." ”

Seeing that this person took the initiative to say hello, Li Hongzhang smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Okay, okay...... Ji Quan, I haven't seen you for many days, but you have seen more and more clearly. ”

That's right, this middle-aged officer, officially Li Hongzhang's third brother, Li Hezhang!

At the beginning, the Jingwu army was very stiff with the Qing court because Wang Sanwu robbed Caoyin, and Li Hongzhang once took Li Hezhang to Shanghai, the purpose was to observe Li Yongji's Jingwu army, and be a lobbyist to persuade Li Yongji to take a step back.

However, after Li Hongzhang arrived in Shanghai at that time, the situation was unclear, so Li Hongzhang did not go to meet Li Yongji, but parted ways with Li Hezhang, and let Li Hezhang go to the Qingpu Military Academy of the Jingwu Army, and he himself returned to Zeng Guofan, which was a bet on both sides.

Since then, although Li Hezhang has not changed his name or deliberately concealed his identity, no one cares about him because Li Hongzhang was not very famous at that time. On the contrary, because he defected earlier, and he was indeed talented, he quickly emerged in the Qingpu Military Academy.

This difference is more than two years, during which except at the beginning, Li Hezhang once sent a letter to Li Hongzhang and told him about his situation, but later because the military academy carried out closed teaching, and Li Hongzhang's situation was not good at that time, Chen Yucheng, who was supported by foreigners, was beaten up, and he had no fixed place to live, and it was difficult to contact, so Li Hezhang did not send any more letters to Li Hongzhang, and the two sides did not contact each other for a long time after breaking off contact.

Later, the situation changed, and no one expected that Li Yongji would lead the Jingwu Army to rebel so quickly, and then defeat the Qing army, clean up the Taiping army, sweep the world in just one or two years, establish the Chinese Empire, and enforce the new policy with a strong hand.

During that period, although Zeng Guofan was still a prince, Li Hongzhang keenly saw that Zeng Guofan had lost power with his thighs, so he decisively defected to Nanjing, and with his own ability, he was favored by Shen Shiming, Prime Minister of the State Council, and slowly got his new status in the new government, and the future can be said to be bright.

Li Hezhang is not bad, although he has been studying at Qingpu Military Academy for a long time and rarely touches outside things, but Qingpu Military Academy is not the kind of learning that does not listen to things outside the window, although it is a closed teaching, but it regularly provides newspapers to keep students abreast of the changes in the outside world, so Li Hezhang is also quite clear about the changes outside.

During the Qingpu Military Academy. Li Hezhang studied artillery, although he was a little older, but he was bold and righteous, but he quickly organized a circle of contacts, and because he achieved very excellent results in several simulated confrontations, he was appreciated by the principal Yu Hongrui.

It's a pity that after Li Hezhang has learned something, the domestic war has basically been fought, and with the strength of the Central Army of the Chinese Empire, there will be nothing unsightly. Even if there is, it is estimated that it will not be their turn to fight for a while.

The army is different from other places, it hates peace and likes war, because without war, there will be no war merits, and without war merits, you can't be promoted quickly, although there is still a qualification, but hard work qualifications are not what Li Hezhang likes, so he is the same as others. I signed up for the expeditionary force, not for the so-called high salary, but for the simultaneous calculation of military merits.

That is, although the expeditionary force is nominally only a private mercenary force. But what you do in the army is documented, and if you don't want to be an expeditionary force, you can be transferred to other regular army units. Then you will be rewarded for your promotion based on your merits during your time in the Expeditionary Force.

In other words, Li Hezhang was able to participate in the expeditionary force mainly to increase his military exploits. Then he was promoted to the rank of official through his military exploits, otherwise, he would have boiled in the country, and he didn't know what year or month.

It was also his luck that the expeditionary force actually wanted to select cadets to form a regiment, and all the officers in the regiment were calculated by examination and recommendation, as a result, although Li Hezhang was not the one with the best grades, but with popularity, he was finally promoted to the regiment commander, and since then he has become a middle-level officer.

You must know that if it weren't for this opportunity, then according to the normal situation, after graduating from the Qingpu Military Academy, Li Hezhang would generally be transferred to the National Defense Force to be a platoon commander, and then slowly boiled from the unknown platoon commander, and waited to get the regiment commander step by step, then I don't know what year and month it was.

Therefore, the expeditionary force gave Li Hezhang a chance, a chance for him to quickly become a mid-level officer, even if this unit was not a regular army.

In short, Li Hongzhang and Li Hezhang, the two brothers, can be said to have their own experiences, but they have not been in touch with each other for a long time except for the beginning.

Of course, during this period of time, Li Hezhang may not know much about Li Hongzhang's situation, but in good conscience, Li Hongzhang must know where Li Hezhang is, because Li Hezhang has been at the Qingpu Military Academy these days, so Li Hongzhang really has the heart to reconnect, and he will definitely not be unable to contact him.

But how to say it, Li Hongzhang just hasn't been in touch, it's not that he forgot, just kidding, how can this kind of thing be forgotten, after all, it was Li Hongzhang's idea to bet on the two parties at the beginning.

It's really Li Hongzhang's mind is too heavy, his future is unclear before, and when he hasn't found a backer and a way out in the new dynasty, he is embarrassed to contact Li Hezhang, and after finding Shen Shiming as a backer, it is inconvenient to contact Li Hezhang, for fear that people will say that he is colluding inside and outside.

It's not that Li Hongzhang is too careful, it's really that Shen Shiming's official position is too high, Li Hongzhang's position is too sensitive, and Li Hongzhang is well aware of the fact that His Majesty hates the collusion between the military and the government, and has always advocated that being a soldier should not interfere in politics, and being an official should not involve the military, and it is strictly forbidden for administrative officials to interact too much with military personnel.

In other words, from the beginning of the establishment of the empire, Li Yongji separated the army from the local administration, and the places where the troops were stationed were all forbidden areas of military camps, and the localities did not have contact with the localities, but the localities had to find the police in advance, and if they needed the army, they had to report to the central government, and then the central government contacted the military, and then ordered the local garrisons to assist the localities according to the situation.

That is to say, all the local finances are handed over, and then all the military expenses of the local garrisons are allocated from above, which has nothing to do with the localities at all, and the two do not interact with each other in ordinary times, so that the phenomenon of collusion between the military and the government is put an end to it.

It is precisely because of this system of separating the military from the government and the completion of the radio communication network that Li Yongji can confidently and boldly use the new policy, because even if there is a problem with the new policy, it can be forcibly changed by the army at any time.

In other words, in the area of local administration, Li Yongji only formulated a framework of the bureaucratic system that combines modern democratic centralism, but the specific implementation is quite loose, and it is slightly different from place to place, and it is a mode of governance that crosses the river by feeling the stones, delegating a lot of power to the localities and giving them a lot of power, so that they can flexibly respond to the impact of new ideas.

But in the army, it is a completely centralized system, that is to say, the emperor is the supreme commander, everything must be listened to the emperor, and the general staff and the Ministry of Defense can be said to be the emperor's right and left hands in the army.

Specifically, the General Staff is a command body that is primarily responsible for the movement and operations of the army. The most high-weighted; The Ministry of National Defense is the overall coordination agency, mainly responsible for army building and logistics.

Although the armament situation of the Praetorian Guard is not under the control of the Ministry of Defense, but under the General Staff, it is because the source of the weapons of the Praetorian Guard is problematic and cannot be disclosed, so it can only be classified as a secret agency, but the Ministry of Defense is different, the Ministry of Defense is an open body, so the Ministry of Defense can only manage the Wehrmacht.

In short, the bureaucracy of the Chinese Empire. It is precisely because Li Hongzhang understands this iron law that he does not take the initiative to contact Li Hezhang in peacetime, not only for self-protection, but also to protect Li Hezhang.

Of course, if you don't get in touch, you don't get in touch, but their relationship is there, in fact, the relationship between him and Li Hezhang has been collected by the intelligence department for a long time, after all, Li Hongzhang's position is also very important. With such a person, it is impossible not to investigate, not to mention that Li Hongzhang still entered the emperor's eyes.

That's right, the reason why Li Hongzhang upgraded so quickly. It's not that Shen Shiming really likes him much, it's just that his name is so famous that it's hard for Li Yongji to think about it.

It was precisely because Li Yongji knew that Li Hongzhang in another time and space was a good capable minister, so he deliberately asked Shen Shiming to take more care of him. But after all, it can't be done obviously, so every qiē is Shen Shiming's head, as if Shen Shiming is Li Hongzhang's Bole. But I don't know if it weren't for the emperor's unique vision, Shen Shiming is so busy every day, and there are a bunch of people under his hands who want to work, who has time to pay attention to a Li Hongzhang?

It's a pity that Li Hongzhang doesn't know this, he cherishes this hard-won status and power very much, and has always been cautious, so he usually doesn't contact his family, even if he was sent out this time, he knew that his third brother Li Hezhang was in the expeditionary force, but so much time has passed, and he has never gone to recognize this third brother.

You must know that Li Hezhang is not a small person, but one of the three commanders of the expeditionary force, plus his resume, Li Hongzhang has no reason not to know that this guy is his younger brother, but in order to avoid suspicion, he usually never took the time to meet this younger brother.

In the same way, as a student of the military academy, Li Hezhang is also very aware of the iron law of separating the military from the government, after all, this is something that has been repeatedly emphasized in the military academy. Therefore, after Li Hongzhang did not contact him, he did not take the initiative to contact Li Hongzhang, but devoted himself to the military academy, striving to improve his grades, win over his relationships, and find ways to run for the future.

After participating in the expeditionary force this time, it was nothing at first, but after Li Hongzhang came, the identity of the central commissioner was so strong, how could Li Hezhang, one of the three dignified regiment commanders, not hear of it?

If you say that the name can still have the same name, but Li Hongzhang has been with the expeditionary force for so long, and everyone has too much time to meet, so just like Li Hongzhang has long recognized Li Hezhang, Li Hezhang has long recognized Li Hongzhang, the second brother.

However, although he recognized it a long time ago, Li Hongzhang never went to look for Li Hezhang, and Li Hezhang never looked for Li Hongzhang, and he never even mentioned it.

So, since Li Hongzhang and Li Hezhang have never taken the initiative to contact, how did Shi Dakai know about the relationship between them and take the initiative to bring Li Hezhang before leaving? This was, of course, an accident.

Speaking of which, Shi Dakai didn't know about the Li brothers in the past, and he didn't know that Li Hezhang was Li Hongzhang's younger brother at all. After all, in this time and space, Shi Dakai had not had much contact with Li Hongzhang in the past, so how could he know who his younger brother was.

In addition, Shi Dakai is a leading general, not an intelligence officer, so he will not have any preferential treatment in terms of intelligence, and he is not clear about the relationship between Li Hongzhang and Li Hezhang.

However, it is also considered a coincidence, during the period when Edo fell, the expeditionary force watched from the wall, and waited for the Japanese to loot Edo Castle, Shi Dakai deliberately went to comfort his generals in order to avoid his subordinates from having feelings, and drank with several regiment commanders and battalion commanders.

After hearing that Li Hezhang was actually Li Hongzhang's younger brother, Shi Dakai was also surprised, fortunately they were close at the time, so Shi Dakai quickly asked Li Hezhang to go down to rest, and after Li Hezhang woke up, he asked alone.

If others don't ask, Li Hezhang can choose not to say it, but if the boss asks questions, don't say it or talk nonsense, it is different in nature, so when he saw Shi Dafa asking, Li Hezhang simply said the situation and admitted that Li Hongzhang was his brother. But it didn't say that it was a two-headed bet back then. just said that this was because everyone had different ideas back then, and briefly talked about the fact that he himself came to join the Jingwu Army back then, and said that this qiē was a coincidence.

Shi Dakai didn't doubt him, but he sighed and felt a little nostalgic, after all, in Shi Dakai's opinion during that time, it was indeed a big mess in the world, and there was nothing wrong with the Li Hongzhang brothers going their separate ways because of their different concepts.

After listening to Li Hezhang's words, Shi Dakai wanted to arrange for the two brothers to meet at that time, but Li Hezhang stopped him. It is said that they actually know each other's existence, but one of them is a military officer and the other is a high-ranking official of the central government, and it is easy to settle the truth when they meet each other, after all, military-political collusion is a very sensitive matter.

Shi Dakai also knew about this matter, although he felt that the other party was a little too careful, but he didn't insist.

Originally, Shi Dakai didn't want to take care of it, but before leaving. Thinking that it is thousands of miles away to go to the Americas, he doesn't know if he can come back alive, he himself has no worries, but he doesn't want his subordinates to do the same.

Others can't help it. But since Li Hezhang and Li Hongzhang are brothers, there is no reason why they should not meet at this time. Therefore, he specially called Li Hezhang over, just hoping that the two brothers would meet before leaving. It's not to please anyone, it's purely a feeling. A feeling of wandering in troubled times, after all, he also came from that year, and he has also lost a lot, a lot......

After Li Hezhang and Li Hongzhang met face-to-face, in addition to saying hello to each other at the beginning, they briefly talked about their life trajectory after separation, and then suddenly they had nothing to say.

This is understandable, everyone is not a woman, as soon as they meet, they talk to each other, they are all ambitious people, after briefly talking about their own situation, let the other party understand the path they are taking, it is enough.

"When you go to the Americas, you have to be more careful." Li Hongzhang sighed, "Living is the biggest future." ”

"I will." Li Hezhang nodded, "Second brother too, I heard that you have become Japan's plenipotentiary envoy, and you will be stationed in Japan for a long time in the future...... Japan is in chaos right now, and a lot of people are hostile to us, so it's important for you to take care. ”

"The Japanese? Hum. Li Hongzhang smiled disdainfully, "There is a powerful Japanese dispatch army here, the Japanese don't dare to do anything to me, you can rest assured." ”

"Second brother, don't be careless." Li Hezhang persuaded, "When I joined forces with those Japanese, I dealt with them privately. Although these Japanese are inferior in weapons and training to us, they are fierce and cruel and not afraid of death, especially those so-called samurai, who are not only strong in martial arts and ruthless, but also vow not to give up in order to achieve their goals, and are completely a group of madmen who are not afraid of death.

In the past, these Japanese people were very disgusted with foreigners, not only Westerners, but also Chinese. Well, now that we have killed so many of them, robbed so many things, and knocked down their capitals, it is such a great shame that the Japanese must hate us to the core.

That's right, the two armies are fighting, the Japanese are not worth mentioning, they are terrible to fear in their dead soldiers! I have heard that many of the high-ranking officials of the shogunate died in the assassination of dead soldiers, which is simply unthinkable in our country.

In short, the Japanese have a long history of assassination, and it is said that they are ever-changing, making people unguardable, such as what ninjas, it is a group of specially trained high-level assassins, proficient in various assassination techniques, in the past, many high-ranking officials and foreigners died in the hands of these people, so second brother, you must not underestimate the enemy, you must be more careful. ”

"Don't worry." Li Hongzhang smiled slightly, "I will care about my own life, and I will definitely ask for more guards, so it's done, right?" ”

"As long as you go out, you have to bring a guard, and the more the better." Li Hezhang said, "Second brother, I'm not joking! You are different from me, I am not of high status, and in the army, it is generally not so easy to assassinate me, but you are a master of plenipotentiary negotiations, and you are in a high position, they will definitely target you. ”

"Understand, I will definitely pay attention, you can rest assured." Li Hongzhang shook his head with a wry smile.

"That's good." Li Hezhang nodded, then clenched his fists, "Okay, it's not too early, speaking of which, I'll see it here." When he is ready for me to become famous, let's meet again in my hometown! ”

"Good!" Li Hongzhang nodded, and then also clasped his fists and saluted, "The future is difficult, cherish a lot, don't say anything else, second brother, I wish you a smooth journey!" (To be continued......)