Reckless hazel forest, vast sandy soil. Since there were no cars and trains in the Far East, Qingying had to take a horse-drawn carriage and began a long journey from the mite Qingjing Division to St. Petersburg.

The official road rammed by loess is not as smooth as imagined, with potholes and gravel all over the road. Despite the clever damping of the bodywork, the shaking is noticeable in the car. In the past 5 months, Qingying has become accustomed to having a gentle and cute Lori by his side; This time, looking at the empty carriage, I was disappointed, leaving only a sigh and a few feelings.

In this era, the northern land did not have as heavy industrial pollution and desert invasion as later generations, and the sky was high and the wilderness was vast. The high mountains and fields are covered with frost and snow, and the rivers are frozen and frozen. It was the lunar month, approaching the end of the year, and this already deserted official road was even more sparsely populated; After leaving Zhili Province, only Qingying and his entourage were still struggling to move forward on the winding road, but fortunately, the wind and snow were not strong, and they were able to accumulate steps and move forward slowly. When the sun went down and there was no post house, Qingying could only lie down in the carriage with clothes. In this long and lonely winter night, Qingying always misses Xue'er Lori very much; If she also accompanies her to the north, it must be a lot of love and laughter, right?

A month later, Qingying and his entourage left Outer Mongolia and officially entered the Siberian region under Maozi's rule. The sun was white, cloudless, and as far as the eye could see, all you could see was an undulating hill next to each other, with no end in sight. Due to the inaccessibility, this Mao Guoguan Road built by the mountain is even more seriously damaged, if it were not for the occasional bare signpost on the side of the road, in the 19th century without GPS satellite positioning, it was simply a murderous invisible labyrinth Jedi. Every night, the sand flies and the stones are gone, and the wind roars; The convoy had to find a leeward col to barely make a fire to make food and survive the cold night. In the barren fields, scattered thatched wooden houses can occasionally be seen surrounded by fields; Every other week, I can meet a dilapidated Mao Guoyi station, take a bath and replenish, and go on the road again.

During the months that Qing Ying had traveled long distances on the long road ahead, the situation in the Far East had finally come to an end. After nearly a month of repeated negotiations, the Mites government finally signed a final armistice with the Japanese government on February 5. The treaty consists of 11 paragraphs, which are also accompanied by "separate covenants" and "agreed articles".

Politically, the suzerainty relationship between Korea and China that had existed for nearly a thousand years no longer exists; Although Korea was nominally an independent state, in reality it had become a complete Japanese colony. In just six months, 100,000 North Korean women became pregnant, and thousands more were used as military prostitutes and humiliated day and night. For half a century after that, the indigenous inhabitants of the Korean Peninsula trembled under the white terror of absolute authoritarianism; In the face of the bayonets and guns of the Japanese army, they were called as slaves, their families were ruined, and they lived a miserable life that was inferior to cattle and horses.

Territorially, Miqing and Japan relied on the current battle line between the two countries and negotiated in rounds to set a new border line. More than half of the Liaodong Peninsula was included in the territory controlled by Japan. However, the thousands of Japanese troops in Taiwan gave up the capture of this area and withdrew from this area due to poor supply, plague and miasma, and the loss of sea control. According to the orders of the base camp, the Japanese army rarely did not burn, kill and loot before leaving, and dug three feet into the ground; Ito Hirobumi had already predicted that by the time the Japanese navy regained its superiority, Taiwan would sooner or later be in Japan's pocket.

In terms of the amount of reparations, Mites Qing and Japan fought particularly fiercely, and both sides used their own means, threatening and intimidating each other and repeatedly probing. In the final treaty signed, Mites paid 70 million taels to Japan for the war, which was paid in six batches in two years. In addition, Mites were forced to open several more treaty ports, allowing Japanese merchants to build factories in these places and implementing most-favored-nation status. When Li Hongzhang walked out of Chunfan Tower after signing, the sky outside had become dark; The cold wind roars, the frost and snow fly, and the infamy of the ages, how can you get rid of it?

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It stands to reason that the turmoil in the Far East should have subsided here, but the European powers had turned their attention to the Far East; For their own sake, things here certainly don't stop there. When the news of the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki reached St. Petersburg by telegram, the Russian ruling class was in an uproar: when Miqing and Japan were negotiating, Russia hinted in every possible way that Japan should not have territorial claims on China's Liaodong Peninsula, but in the most unruly treaty, Japan still insisted on invading Liaodong! Nicholas II, who was almost hacked to death by the Japanese in his early years, hated and hated the country at the time: in order to ensure Russia's interests in the northeast of the mite Qing Dynasty, he did not hesitate to use war to bring Japan to its knees.

However, Nicholas II still had some concerns, after all, Japan was backed by England; Even if Russia wants to teach this vicious dog a lesson, it must take into account the feelings of its British masters. However, this concern was quickly dispelled by the accession of Germany and France. Kaiser Wilhelm II saw that Japan was about to defeat the Qing army, and he felt that Germany should get involved in East Asia. The Russo-French alliance between Russia and France in 1892 shook Germany's position in Europe. Therefore, Wilhelm II tried to intervene in the Sino-Japanese peace talks, taking the opportunity to get closer to Russia, loosening the close relations between Russia and France, and getting rid of Germany's isolation. After Germany tried to win over Russia, France also wanted to gain more interests in East Asia, so it supported intervening in the treaty with both countries.

On the afternoon of 6 February, the day after the signing of the "Treaty of Shimonoseki," the envoys of Russia, Germany, and France to Japan jointly came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo to deliver a memorandum to the Japanese side, issuing a "friendly persuasion" to the Japanese side to abandon its occupation of Liaodong. The full text of the Russian memorandum is as follows: "The Government of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, hereby consults the terms of peace demanded of China by Japan, and considers that the return of the Liaodong Peninsula to Japanese possession not only threatens the capital of China, but also renders the independence of Korea in name only." This is an obstacle to the future of permanent peace in the Far East. Therefore, in order to reaffirm its sincere friendship to the Government of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, the Russian Government hereby advises the Japanese Government to renounce its possession of the Liaodong Peninsula. The ministers of the three countries also bluntly stated that the Japanese side must accept the "friendly persuasion" put forward by the three countries; Because there is no hope in the struggle against the three countries.

After receiving a report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ito Hiroshima felt extremely troubled and anxious. On the issue of dealing with Liaodong, he actually advocated not touching Russia's mold, and also considered that Russia might intervene; However, in order to realize Japan's ambitions for expansion, and at the same time to appease the army generals at the front, the occupation of Liaodong was written into the Treaty of Shimonoseki. But what he didn't expect was that Russia's attitude would be so tough, and Germany and France, which had nothing to do in the Far East, would also intervene!

Because the Japanese navy at this time was weakened compared to history, with a total tonnage of just over 60,000 tons, while the combined fleet of the three countries in the Far East had 120,000 tons, Ito Hirobumi even had to hold a meeting to discuss the rejection of the proposal of the three countries. After consulting with Mutsu Munemitsu, Ito tried to turn to Britain for help and get Britain to intervene to dismantle the Triple Alliance, but failed. Although Britain's naval strength in the Far East was stronger than that of the three countries combined, it was difficult for it to cope with the combined attacks of the three countries in Europe; To confront Russia, France, and Germany for the sake of a Japan with a population of less than 40 million is an unwise choice in every respect. Britain sent a note to Japan, saying: "Britain has the most sincere friendship with Japan, and at the same time cannot but consider its own interests. Therefore, Japan cannot be assisted at its request. "The implication is: although you are my ally, Maozi is now my sworn enemy of the British Empire; But this time, Mao Zi pulled two friends, and when they came together, even I might not be an opponent. It's a long time coming, so you'd better obey them.

Seeing that the British bosses had softened their attitudes under the obscenity of the Three Kingdoms, Japan could only choose to submit. On February 10, Japan sent a reply to the three countries: "The Imperial Government of Japan, on the basis of the advice of the friendship of the governments of Russia, Germany, and France, has decided to renounce the permanent occupation of the Liaodong Peninsula. However, as compensation for Japan's abandonment of the Liaodong Peninsula, the Japanese government demanded that the Qing court pay a ransom of 100 million taels. Later, under the operation of various parties, this number was first reduced to 50 million taels, and then to 30 million taels. The Japanese army withdrew within three months from the date when China paid all the 30 million taels of indemnity.

In the wake of this incident, the situation in the Far East has quietly changed again. Japan is a new empire that has just risen, but it has suffered such diplomatic humiliation that it has been snatched away by the Three Kingdoms. For this reason, Japan has always harbored a grudge, sought to "lie down and taste its guts," vigorously advocated the development of its military industry, and looked forward to an opportunity for revenge. In order to block Russia's southward advance, Britain began to borrow money from Japan and fully support Japan's military expansion against Russia. As the contradictions between Russia and Japan intensified, Mi Qing was able to gain several precious years of peaceful development. A month later, Yuan Datou began to be ordered to organize a new army at a small station in Tianjin, and recruited a large number of outstanding talents such as Wang Shizhen, Duan Qirui, and Feng Guozhang; And Old Man Li finally saw the importance of the navy, and began to widely seek opportunities to order large capital ships overseas. Because of Qingying, Mites Qing saved most of the things in Jiawu, but what about the next time?