"You're saying you're just mercenaries from the Satsuma Domain?" Katsu Haizhou's eyebrows moved, "In other words, robbing Osaka Prefecture was actually the idea of the Satsuma Domain, and you are just thugs?" ”

"It's not a nice word to be a thug, but it's true." Li Hongzhang nodded, with a sad expression, "I also think that what they have done is excessive, and I have also discouraged it, saying that this is Japan's internal affairs, and it is best not to interfere, but I am soft-spoken, and people don't listen to what I say, so what can I do." ”

"Sir, aren't you from the Ministry of Internal Affairs?" Sheng Haizhou said, "Isn't the Internal Affairs Office a close confidant of the emperor?" And your identity seems to be Chincha? Can't even you restrain these people? ”

"Huh." Li Hongzhang's eyes narrowed, "Your information is very well-informed, it seems that you have done a good job of our intelligence work." ”

"Where, where." Sheng Haizhou hurriedly explained, "Actually, I have traveled in China before, and I know some things about Shangguo, but I know some public things. The identity of a famous person like you, Lord Li, is obvious, so I can know a little bit about your situation, not that we deliberately investigated, and please rest assured. ”

"It's okay, I'm not an intelligence officer." Li Hongzhang waved his hand, "Back to the front, didn't you ask me why I couldn't control them?" Then I can tell you the reason, which is that these people are actually private mercenaries under the Eastern Bloc, not the Imperial army.

If they are in the country, they will naturally be restricted by the law and cannot mess around, but if they are out of the country, then the domestic law has no right to regulate them, and theoretically, they are not subject to the jurisdiction of the imperial court and can act at will, I say so. Do you understand? ”

"Why is that?" Sheng Haizhou asked, "Since these people are all from your China, why don't you have the right to control them abroad?" ”

"Quite simply, it's a question of the scope of legal constraints." Li Hongzhang said, "You must know that our laws can only be binding at home, and if we go abroad, our laws will not apply." If our laws also apply abroad, the situation is complicated and unfair to other countries. You say, don't you? ”

"This ...... That's right. "Sheng Haizhou is also a smart person, and he understands it after a little thought.

Also, if China's laws are also applicable abroad and can bind their own people abroad, then in case the laws of other countries conflict with China's laws, will the Chinese on foreign soil listen to foreign laws or follow their own laws?

If the laws of foreign countries are followed, then the binding effect of Chinese laws on foreign Chinese will be invalid, and if Chinese laws continue to be followed. Wouldn't that be extraterritorial? This is an infringement on the sovereignty of foreign countries.

Others may still be a little unable to get around the corner, but as a high-ranking shogunate, Katsu Kaishu often studied foreign laws, and besides, Japan also suffered from the extraterritoriality of Westerners. So the understanding of this is quite profound.

"It's okay if these people are doing evil abroad, and it's not easy to control, but they also have a belonging, right? And the business name they belong to always operates in China, right? Can't you bind these people by guò to the firm to which they belong? ”

"That's what you're talking about. We've been thinking about it for a long time. Li Hongzhang shook his head, "Otherwise, I wouldn't be here." My deposit zài is to show the existence of the imperial court and have some binding effect on these people, but it is obviously not successful, and these guys obviously don't give me much face.

Supposedly, for ordinary firms, my deposit is still binding, but the Oriental Group is a special company, and it may not be willing to sell the face of our internal affairs government.

The reason is very simple, many of the major shareholders in this company have big backgrounds, either powerful or foreigners. I won't talk about the magnates, let's just talk about this foreign shareholder, the big trading houses of Britain, France, Prussia, Spain and other powers have invested in it, so even if our imperial government does not provide them with weapons, there is no shortage of weapons sources for them, so this also makes this business full of confidence.

In addition, most of these mercenaries are rebels who were exterminated by the imperial court in the past, and they are already unruly, but now they have been incorporated into private mercenaries, and they have always recognized money and reason, so my influence on them is really limited, at most, I let them not attack your Edo Castle and Kyoto, so as not to cause irreparable political incidents to the empire, but in other aspects, such as if they want to attack other places to make money, then I can't do anything. ”

"If, as you say, they don't admit money, then we can hire them too!" Katsu Haizhou suddenly said, "If you are really hired by the Satsuma Domain, then we can also offer the same conditions, no, it is a higher condition to hire you, I wonder if you can serve our shogunate?" ”

"Well, I don't think that's a problem." Li Hongzhang said, "But I have to discuss with them first, generally speaking, I think as long as the price is negotiated, other aspects are not a problem." ”

"Then please, sir." Katsu Haizhou pleaded with him.

"Well said, well said." Li Hongzhang's eyes narrowed when he smiled.

After Sheng Haizhou left, Li Hongzhang hurriedly found Shi Dakai and Tang Hailong, and told the matter as it was, Shi Dakai was fine, calm as water, but Tang Hailong's eyes widened.

"Master Li, what are you trying to do here?" Tang Hailong said, "Do you really want us to obey the orders of the shogunate?" Become their mercenary? ”

"What's wrong with the right price?" Li Hongzhang said with a smile, "Anyway, you are all mercenaries, who are you fighting for?" In Japan, do you think anyone can stop you? ”

"But once we accept the command of the shogunate, then don't we have to obey the shogunate's arrangement for everything?"

"Lord Tang's words are wrong." Li Hongzhang shook his head, "You are an independent guest army, even if you accept the employment of the shogunate, you are fighting independently, and you don't have to obey the orders of the shogunate." In other words, the shogunate gives a goal, such as asking you to fight whoever you want, you will fight, but how to fight and when to fight, you have the final say, understand? Moreover, before the battle is made, the money must be paid, and after the battle the plunder shall be yours, and the trade will be done. ”

"Have you ever thought about this situation." Tang Hailong said, "What if the shogunate asks us to fight the Satsuma Domain?" We were hired by the Satsuma clan. But you and I both know that the Satsuma clan was actually coerced by us, and Shimazu Hisamitsu can't say what he is suffering. If the people of the shogunate let us go and fight the Satsuma domain, what should we do? ”

"It's easy to do, let's excuse that the Satsuma Domain is an old customer, I'm sorry, so we can just leave the Satsuma Domain." Li Hongzhang said, "We can say to the shogunate, except for the Satsuma Domain, within Japan. None of us can fight, and we can give silver once for a fight, isn't that enough? ”

"Will the Imperial Government agree to do this?" Tang Hailong asked.

"Don't worry about this, I will report to the higher authorities first, and we will act after the superiors agree." Li Hongzhang said, "But in my experience, the above will agree." ”

Li Hongzhang expected it well, when he used the radio intercom to inform Shen Shiming of the plan directly. Shen Shiming thought about it for only three minutes before agreeing to his plan.

"As long as the price is right, that's not a problem." Shen Shiming said, "But." Didn't your original plan to help the Satsuma clan fight the shogunate and provoke a civil war in Japan, but now you help the shogunate, doesn't this strengthen their centralized power? ”

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister. There was a mistake in my plan earlier. Li Hongzhang said, "I have thought about it, a regime is relatively complete. At the same time, Japan, which is relatively weak, is actually more beneficial to our empire. ”

"Oh? A whole and weak Japan is more beneficial to us? Tell me your reasoning. ”

"Because of the market, my lord." Li Hongzhang said, "Prime Minister, if Japan is relatively intact, then the market is unified, as long as we control the central shogunate, the Japanese market will be fully opened to us, and then those opposition will be suppressed by the shogunate, and we just need to make money comfortably." At that time, Japan's resources and cheap labor will be in our pockets, and it will be easier to control Japan if we control the shogunate in politics.

Relatively speaking, if we provoke a civil war, Japan will be torn apart, and then Japan will be in a war-torn situation.

Let's not talk about such things as heroes in troubled times, and it is not in our interests to talk about a war-torn Japan. Because of the war in Japan, we could not easily get cheap gold from Japan, nor could we sell our industrial products to Japan.

In addition, once Japan forms a chaotic situation of separating princes, it will inevitably be easier for the Western powers to penetrate, and if they choose one or two feudal lords to support, then our control over Japan will be relatively weakened, and we will not be able to achieve the situation of monopolizing Japan.

Therefore, whether it is from commercial interests or political interests, we should support a pro-China shogunate, and after that, the empire can sign a series of conditions in our favor with this pro-China shogunate. In this way, we can comprehensively monitor and guide Japan's development, and we can prevent Japan from developing heavy industry, and only turn Japan into a source of raw materials and a dumping ground for our products, and become a de facto colony, so that they will never be able to get rid of us.

In other words, wouldn't it be better to take Japan into our hands and turn it into our protectorate, so that they can have a certain degree of autonomy, so that we can eliminate the interference of other powers, and then we will slowly encroach and make Japan eventually a province of the empire. And it also saves money and effort, don't you? ”

"That's it......" Shen Shiming thought for a while, then nodded in agreement, "This is also a good method, a unified and weak Japan is indeed more conducive to our encroachment strategy, well, then let's do it first, if this plan is successful, it is not impossible for you to go to Japan as a governor in the future." ”

"Thank you, sir!" Li Hongzhang was overjoyed.

"However, that's all a long-term plan, for the time being, the expeditionary force can't stay in Japan for long, because His Majesty still needs them there, after all, the original intention of the establishment of this force is to help His Majesty stabilize the Americas, not to fight Japan, and the troops invading Japan have other arrangements, do you understand?"

"I understand, Prime Minister."

"Okay, it's not easy for you, I'll make a favor, let you fight again, get the last money and leave, and this time I'll call the shots for you, and you can also share the proceeds of the next war."

"Thank you, Lord for the reward." Li Hongzhang is overjoyed this time, this is a big windfall, and it is the fast money in front of him.

"If you want to make a fortune before this, it's best to have a quick decision, don't delay, can't delay August at the latest, and also, you must fight well, and you can't lose too much." Shen Shiming continued. "As soon as you leave Japan, my official negotiating envoys and the real Japanese Front can be sent over, so for the sake of the empire and for yourself, do a good job."

"Don't worry, Prime Minister, with the combat power of the Japanese, our troops are invincible here, and no matter who they fight, they will not exceed August."

"I hope so!"

After receiving the Prime Minister's affirmation and authorization. Li Hongzhang, who was full of excitement, immediately moved again, and regardless of the fact that it was late, he called Shi Dakai and Tang Hailong overnight and told them what Shen Shiming meant.

"I can only fight one last time, so I have to choose a rich target." Tang Hailong said, "Well, you can't fight Edo, where else in Japan is the richest?" ”

"It's mid-June." Shi Dakai said, "I will leave Japan in August at the latest. In other words, we still have more than a month to spend in Japan at most, so we can only make a quick decision, so we must choose a good goal. Be crisp and clean, and not get bogged down in war. ”

"Either way, it's a great opportunity to make a fortune." Li Hongzhang said, "We must make good use of this opportunity!" Missed it. It's hard to make a fortune again! ”

In the end, Shi Dakai and Tang Hailong both felt that they were really not thinking about these materials. They are still more suitable for war, so the negotiation side was handed over to Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang was fully responsible.

After the discussion, he found that it was already three o'clock in the middle of the night, and Li Hongzhang simply didn't sleep, and directly sent someone to call Sheng Haizhou, who had already fallen asleep.

"I've talked to them." Li Hongzhang, whose eyes were red, said straight to the point, "The two generals said that if the price is right, they might as well serve you once." However, they said that because the Satsuma Domain was an old customer, and Commander Tang was ashamed, he could fight anyone, but he couldn't fight the Satsuma Domain. ”

"Can't you fight the Satsuma Domain?" Sheng Haizhou frowned.

"Yes, you can't fight the Satsuma Domain." Li Hongzhang said, "Others, you can hit whoever you say." Of course, it can only be you Japanese, and if you want us to fight Westerners, you can't do it. ”

"Oh, that's right." Katsu Haizhou pinched her thigh with her fingernails to drive away her sleepiness, and her brain slowly became flexible, "By the way, Lord Li, I remember that you said earlier that after leaving Osaka, you will still fight the Choshu Domain, isn't that so?" ”

"That's right." Li Hongzhang nodded, "This is originally the meaning of the head of the Shimazu family, and it is also one of his conditions, what's the matter, is there a problem?" ”

"Actually, I don't understand." Katsumi said, "As far as I know, the relationship between the Satsuma Domain and the Choshu Domain has always been good, and the Shimazu family and the Mori family have not heard of any grudges, why did the Satsuma Clan's family let you fight the Choshu Domain?" ”

"It's not easy." Li Hongzhang pouted, "The Satsuma Domain was just accidentally disabled by us, and its strength will not be restored for a while, what is the best way to restore its strength to the fullest?" Naturally, it is an invasion of rich neighbors. Look at the map, the Choshu Domain is next to the Satsuma Domain, and it has always been known for its wealth, and the Choshu Domain has been greatly damaged, and the notoriety will be borne by us, and the Satsuma Domain will take the opportunity to send troops and swallow the Choshu Domain. Anyway, the most we can do is grab some money, and we can't take away the land and population, so don't we want to cheap the Satsuma Domain? ”

"If you know this, why don't you stop it?" Katsukai Boat Road.

"Block? Why should I block it? Li Hongzhang said, "As I said, the task force and the expeditionary force are only mercenaries under the Eastern Bloc, and they cannot represent the imperial government. As long as it does not harm the interests of the imperial government, and does not directly attack your Edo and Kyoto, which will affect the diplomatic relations between the two countries, I have no reason to stop them. ”

"How can it not affect the diplomatic relations between the two countries." Sheng Haizhou hurriedly said, "You guys are invading our Japanese territory." ”

"I'll say it again!" Li Hongzhang said, "They are private mercenaries, and the decisions they make have nothing to do with the imperial government, so as long as they do not directly attack your Edo and Kyoto, violating the bottom line of you and me, the imperial government will not be responsible for other matters." Hmph, if you want to say that, why didn't you see your emperor and general come out to take responsibility for your invasion of our country back then? ”

"That's all about the previous dynasty, how can it be confused with today?" "Besides, even at the beginning, it was not our emperor and general who supported the pirates, but it was really the weakness of the country at that time and the inability to govern. ”

"Then it's the same with us." Li Hongzhang said, "Our imperial government is also powerless to govern the overseas behavior of private consortium mercenaries. ”

"Well, let's stop arguing about that. It doesn't make sense at all. "What do you have to do before you give up attacking the Choshu Domain?" ”

"I'm afraid it's going to be hard." Li Hongzhang said, "Attacking the Changzhou Domain is a sure thing, and it is not negotiable. Unless, if you are willing to pay a large sum of money for redemption, then the two generals are satisfied, and you can break the trust of the head of the Shimazu family. Let go of the Choshu domain and not fight. ”

"How much silver does it cost?" Sheng Haizhou's difficult road.

"Not much." Li Hongzhang smiled and raised a finger, "This number is fine." ”

"A million taels?" Katsu Haizhou's mouth opened wide.

"No, no, no, it's not that cheap." Li Hongzhang waved his finger, "It's 10 million taels of silver!" ”

"Ten million?!" Sheng Haizhou was really surprised this time, "How is it possible, how can we have so much money to come up?" ”

"Then I can't help it." Li Hongzhang spread his hands, "The asking price of the two generals is this number, if you don't have this number, the Changzhou Domain will have to fight." ”

"This. This ......" Sheng Haizhou didn't know what to say for a while, so he had to be stunned in place.

Seeing him like this, Li Hongzhang smiled: "Actually, I have a good way." Save yourself the hassle. ”

"Oh? Please also ask Master Li to make it clear. "Katsumi Boat Road.

"Didn't you say earlier that you wanted to hire us to work for your shogunate?" Li Hongzhang said, "It just so happens that the head of the Shimazu family of the Satsuma Domain just said. Let's go to the Choshu domain after we have fought Osaka, but we don't say who we will hand over the territory to after the battle.

In my estimation, they felt that they would not be able to hold Osaka Prefecture even after we defeated it. So don't do it at all, it also means to make a sum and leave.

As for the Choshu Domain, according to my estimate, they wanted us to fight alone, and after the fight, they would pretend to be good people and try to annex the Choshu Domain peacefully. On the other hand, if we were to be asked to give them the Choshu Domain, they would be burdened with some notoriety, and everyone would know that we were serving the Satsuma Domain, don't you think? ”

"Yes, it must be so!" Sheng Haizhou nodded hurriedly.

Although he nodded, Sheng Haizhou didn't believe these words at all in his heart, in fact, even Li Hongzhang's previous words, he was half-convinced, and most of them didn't believe it.

But there is no way, who made the fists of the expeditionary force and the task force big enough, and they were fierce enough, good guys, they burned down a main city at once, even if the foreigners came back then, it was not so barbaric.

Moreover, the appetite of these Chinese seems to be particularly large, and the foreigners are categorically not so ruthless.

It is precisely because these Chinese are fierce and ruthless, and they are rude and shameless, and they are powerful, so Sheng Haizhou tries to show that I believe in you as much as possible, just to paralyze the other party and let the other party not find an excuse to gain an inch.

How to say it, at this time, Japan, in the face of foreign aggression, is also in a period of exploration, there are both blind xenophobic faction, there are also foreign compromise faction, relatively speaking, although the founding faction seems to be weak, but in fact they are the most sober-minded people in Japan at this time, and Katsu Haizhou is one of them.

Katsu Haizhou believes that with Japan's current situation, it will not be able to directly resist foreign aggression at all, and in that case, Japan will be completely degraded and will never have a chance to rise again.

Why? This is related to the experience of Sheng Haizhou.

As early as 1855, Katsukaishu spent a long time in Nagasaki, translating Western texts and beginning to build the shogunate's navy, and it was at that time that he was appointed as a naval instructor in Nagasaki, similar to a naval academy instructor.

During that time, he came into contact with a Dutch naval lieutenant, learned gunnery and navigation, and was exposed to the modern concept of the state.

In fact, in today's Japan, don't look at outsiders as the unified name of Japan, but in fact, the common people of Japan do not have any national concept, or in other words, they all regard the feudal country they live in as their own country, and generally say where they are from, and they all say that they are from such and such a domain, and there is no unified Japanese national concept, nor does they have the concept of the Yamato nation.

Katsu Haishu remembered that the Dutch naval lieutenant once told a story that the naval lieutenant had asked a Japanese merchant if Nagasaki could defend his city if it was invaded by foreigners. The merchant replied, "That's none of my business, it's the shogunate's responsibility."

This story is nothing to the sea boat itself, because it is reality. But the Dutch lieutenant told him that in such a Japan, the people have no sense of national concept at all, and there is no cohesion, and in a country like this, without cohesion, he only needs one ship and fifty people to occupy all the strategic points in Nagasaki, and such a Japan can be conquered lightly.

Since then, Katsu Haizhou has been deeply touched. And began to make in-depth contact, and found that as the lieutenant said, most of the Japanese, especially a large number of lower-ranking people, did not have any concept of Japan at all, and only hoped to have a full stomach, and as for who was the ruler, they did not care and did not care.

The great powers are strong though. But after all, they are too far away to really invade Japan, at most they can bargain here and sell some goods to make some money. But China is different, China is right next to Japan, and it has a large land and a large population, especially the new emperor is young and promising. He is ambitious, and has not tried failures and setbacks, if he angers the other party. If you don't get it, you will really send a large army to invade, and then you may not be protected by a kamikaze.

Because of this, Sheng Haizhou kept his voice down, even if he knew that the other party was talking nonsense, he recognized it, pretending that he was very confused and fiddling, in order to make the other party lose his vigilance.

"Since you think it is, that's easy." Li Hongzhang didn't care what Sheng Haizhou was thinking, and said to himself, "I think it can be like this, what about the Changzhou Domain, we will fight correctly, but after the battle, we can hand over the territory to the people of your shogunate to manage, what do you think?" ”

"Give us the territory of the Choshu Domain?"

"Yes." Li Hongzhang nodded, "Didn't the Choshu Domain always deal with your shogunate?" It just so happens that we will kill the Choshu Domain for you, and then hand over the territory to you safely. Correspondingly, you only need to come up with five million taels of silver for military expenses. How's that going, it's a good deal, right? With only five million taels, you can lay down a strong domain, is there anything more cost-effective than this? ”

"You're selling two for the same thing." Sheng Haizhou couldn't help but sarcastically, "What a good calculation." ”

"Haha, yes, it's a feudal and two sales." Li Hongzhang smiled nonchalantly, "Then do you agree or not?" ”

"Five million taels is categorically impossible." Katsu Haizhou shook his head, "The shogunate will never be able to come up with this money. ”

"Well, I'm not going to bargain with you little by little." Li Hongzhang said, "Three million taels, the lowest price, if you don't bargain, it's three million taels!" Give us three million taels, and we will give you the Choshu Domain! ”

"I can't take out three million taels!" Sheng Haizhou continued to shake his head.

"Then you can borrow money." Li Hongzhang said, "You can borrow money from the merchants in Osaka, they are very rich." It's really not possible, the banks of our empire can also lend to you, and the interest is easy to say. ”

"Your Excellency." Sheng Haizhou said quietly, "You seem to have had the idea of giving us the Choshu Domain from the beginning, right?" Why, then, do we need silver? ”

"One yard to one yard." Li Hongzhang said, "Yes, it was my idea to send the Changzhou Domain to you, and the two commanders will also sell me face and agree." However, they all want money to death, and if they don't give money, they will never be able to send it away. Therefore, you have to take the land, and you have to give out the money, and both are indispensable, understand? ”

"What happens if we don't agree?" Katsu Haizhou frowned and said, "After all, the Choshu Domain was actually originally from our shogunate. ”

"You don't agree." Li Hongzhang frowned, "This is really a problem for me." Well, since there is no use value, what do you think we will rob the entire Choshu Domain from city to city, and then burn it all down? ”

"You guys!" Sheng Haizhou clenched his fists, he really wanted to kill this damn guy here.

Don't look at Sheng Haizhou now with his bare hands, but he has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, and he is confident that he can kill Li Hongzhang even if he is empty-handed, but this is meaningless, it will only anger the other party.

"I see!" Sheng Haizhou fell down in an orderly manner, seemingly saluting, but in fact, it was to hide his angry eyes and murderous aura, "I will do my best to report this to the shogunate, and please be patient." ”

"Well, I'll wait then." Li Hongzhang said with a smile, "Don't let me wait too long." No matter how much you delay, our schedule for fighting the Choshu Domain will not change, so hurry up. (To be continued......)