There were no radios or telegraphs in Japan, but the burning of Kagoshima was still spreading out as fast as possible, and because Japan was a densely populated island country, shipping was developed, and the shogunate and local feudal lords had always focused on intelligence gathering, the speed of information transmission was not much slower than that of 800 riga.

It only took ten days, and although the Chinese did not dare to say that the whole of Japan knew about the burning of Kagoshima, at least the shogunate knew about it.

But as you know, the shogunate didn't have much to deal with this matter other than anger and anger.

You must know that the shogunate, as the de facto ruler of Japan, still has the largest resources so far, so it is not ignorant of overseas affairs, at least knowing that China's current strength is not something that Japan can resist.

If you can still expect a kamikaze or something in the past, but with the advent of the black ship and the seizure of the customs by the great powers, the people of insight among the Japanese no longer have any luck mentality, but instead ask for the founding of the country and become strong, such as Katsu Haizhou is one of the representatives.

In a certain way, the shogunate at this time was still quite sensible, and it was also full of talents, and it could not be said that the response to foreign invasion could not be wrong, at least it was much more rational than those stunned young people who respected the king and the Yi faction at this time.

It should be noted here that the nominal capital of Japan at this time was still Kyoto, which was the residence of the emperor, and the seat of the political capital, or shogunate, was actually called Edo Castle, not Tokyo.

Tokyo was renamed during the Meiji Restoration, but most of the information that Li Hongzhang and others knew about Japan was from within the country, and these materials were directly called Tokyo, plus the problem of translation, so they also called the location of the shogun Tokyo.

In short, the shogunate was still quite afraid of the Chinese at this time, and the discussion came and went, and the shogunate's final response. While gathering troops to defend Edo Castle, they sent people to meet the Chinese in the hope of reaching a settlement, and in order to increase the success rate, they also found the British, hoping that the British would help mediate.

However, before their envoys could choose a person, they soon heard the news that the Chinese had attacked Osaka two days earlier, after less than half a day of fighting. Osaka has fallen!

This news shocked the shogunate, far from the leisurely wandering when he first heard that Kagoshima was burned, but the real fried hair.

You must know that Kagoshima is owned by the Satsuma Domain, and the Satsuma Domain is far away in the west, and it has always been at odds with the shogunate, so Kagoshima was burned, and the shogunate was angry, but it was actually a little gloating.

But. Osaka is different, Osaka is the city directly under the jurisdiction of the shogunate, and it is the most important city, which can be said to be the cornerstone of the shogunate. Among other things, nearly half of the shogunate's income depended on merchants in Osaka.

Now that Osaka has fallen, how can you not surprise the shogunate? Of course, what scares them even more is that. Osaka is a majestic city, no less large than Edo, and the Chinese conquered Osaka in less than half a day. What a fighting power this must be!

Of course, things are not as those in the shogunate thought, how strong the Chinese are, but the Japanese are too soft-boned.

In fact, although the expeditionary force and the task force are very strong, the scale of Osaka is not comparable to that of Kagoshima, so if it is a strong attack, it is absolutely impossible to take it in half a day, unless Osaka is continued to be burned.

In fact, the reason why Osaka Prefecture fell so quickly was because they surrendered on their own initiative.

On the sixth day of the burning of Kagoshima, the expeditionary force set off again, taking a task force transport ship and heading straight to Osaka.

Accompanying the expeditionary force were the detained Shimazu Hisamitsu and several guards around him. According to the plan, after taking Osaka, when he asked the representative of the other party for money, Shimazu Hisamitsu had to come forward to accompany him and let people see him.

In order to prevent accidents, these things were actually explained to Shimazu Hisamitsu in advance, and Li Hongzhang even made it clear that if you want to commit suicide, they will not stop you again this time, but if you die, they will immediately set up a puppet family head again, and then ask for more troops from the country, anyway, this matter is not difficult.

To put it bluntly, Li Hongzhang is continuing to intimidate, but this trick is quite useful, especially for Shimazu Hisamitsu.

As mentioned earlier, Shimazu Hisamitsu is actually a relatively wise head of the family, and he has always paid attention to the collection of Chinese intelligence, and when it comes to understanding China, although he does not dare to say that he is the first in Japan, he is definitely in the top ten.

Therefore, Shimazu Hisamitsu is well aware of the strength of China, especially the Chinese army, and knows that China currently has at least one million regular troops, which is definitely not comparable to the Satsuma Domain and Japan.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this understanding, coupled with the fact that after life and death, the greed for life and fear of death in his heart has regained the upper hand, so Shimazu Hisamitsu is so cooperative, and his explanation to his subordinates is to endure humiliation.

In any case, the task force and the expeditionary force, which had not actually been planned in detail, returned to Osaka Prefecture in less than two days, eight days after the Great Fire of Kagoshima.

When the task force arrived in Osaka, the magnates of Osaka actually knew about the burning of Kagoshima, but what they didn't expect was that before they could say much about it, they would have to face this qiē themselves.

Immediately after, they realized that something was wrong, because these large fleets, which were obviously Western black ships, were all flying the flag of the Shimazu Domain?

While they were still wondering, those fleets opened fire, not only did they open fire, but they also sent troops to forcibly seize the port, which could scare the people of Osaka half to death.

With the development of the times, Osaka has become a purely commercial metropolis, and the size of the castle town can be said to be the largest in Japan, but on the contrary, Osaka Castle is not so important.

Moreover, there are no precipitous batteries in Osaka, so once the task force arrives, the defenders of Osaka really can't do anything.

In fact, the defenders of Osaka were basically businessmen, and it was good to maintain law and order in normal times, but it would be impossible to think about letting them stop the enemy troops covered by naval guns.

Therefore, at this time, the Osaka Town was appointed by Kawamura Shusho, and although he ordered the soldiers to defend, these soldiers only dared to watch from a distance in the city, and they didn't even think about taking the initiative to intercept them.

In this way, the strength of a battalion of the expeditionary force captured the port of Osaka without difficulty, and then the fleet used the port to directly deliver all its forces to the port of Osaka without any danger.

But. Osaka is so big that it doesn't have many walls, but it's not a good idea to completely occupy Osaka with more than 6,000 people.

Although it cannot fully occupy Osaka, it can maintain Osaka's transportation hub to the outside world.

Soon, Shi Dakai and the others formulated a plan to besiege Osaka based on the map provided internally, plus a few local prisoners.

According to the plan, Shi Dakai and others decided to encircle on all sides, simply put, to use a task force to besiege the sea in the west. On the other three sides, the land route was besieged by expeditionary forces.

Although the land route is surrounded on three sides, the forces are not evenly dispersed, but have a primary and a secondary.

Specifically, one battalion of troops will be placed at the intersection of the Yodogawa, Kanzaki and Yasui rivers in the north, two regiments to the east of Osaka, and two battalions to the south.

This was done because both the north and south sides could be quickly supported by naval guns. So you don't need too many troops, relatively speaking, the terrain in the north is complex, and the defenders can be fewer. Therefore, one battalion was placed, and the terrain to the south was relatively flat, so two battalions were required.

As for the east side of Osaka, it is the most dangerous because of its geographical location. In addition, it was impossible to get naval artillery support, so the strength of the troops was also the largest, and the strength of two regiments was placed.

Shi Dakai and others have summed it up. With the strength of the expeditionary force, even if it was surrounded by 100,000 troops, it would be easy for the two regiments to break through, so they swaggered to besiege the east, and this road in the east is also the most important land passage from Osaka to the outside world.

However, what Shi Dakai didn't expect was that as soon as the plan was formulated, before it could be implemented, he suddenly found that the Osaka defenders had sent a messenger.

The envoy sent by Osaka Castle was named Muneyoshi Shimizu, who was thirty-five years old and a representative of the great merchants, and he came here mainly to inquire about the news.

Hearing this news, Li Hongzhang had an idea and took the initiative to receive him, and at the same time brought Shimazu Hisamitsu along.

In the course of that meeting, Li Hongzhang claimed that he was invited by Shimazu Hisamitsu to come to crusade against the corrupt and incompetent shogunate in the name of mercenaries and return the great government to the emperor.

After speaking, Li Hongzhang also threw down a stack of photos, all of which were photos of Kagoshima after it was burned. Originally, these photos were just taken by Li Hongzhang as information, and they were originally going to be reported back to the people of the Internal Affairs Office, but now, you might as well take them out to scare and scare people.

Sure enough, it's nothing else, what mercenaries invited by the Shimazu family, Shimizu Muneyoshi doesn't believe it at all, but these photos are real, and because they are all taken with high-definition cameras, the picture is very clear, which makes Shimizu Muneyoshi, who has been to Kagoshima Port many times and is very familiar with the local situation, very shocked.

Later, Li Hongzhang excused himself and asked Shimazu Hisamitsu to chat with Shimizu Muneyoshi alone, so that Shimizu Muneyoshi could get some more accurate information.

Therefore, when he heard that the Chinese fleet had a mysterious arson shell that could not be extinguished by water, and it only took half a day to burn Kagoshima like this, and fortunately survived a storm, Shimizu Muneyoshi could no longer be calm.

At this time, Li Hongzhang appeared again, and at this time, he didn't say any nonsense, and directly asked them to immediately disarm and surrender, and return to the Shimazu Domain, otherwise, they would burn Osaka Castle to the same as Kagoshima!

In order to increase the persuasiveness, Li Hongzhang also took Shimizu Zongyi to visit the scene of a naval gun shooting, using burning * burning * bombs, when Qing Shui Zongyi found that the shells fired from one of the battleships of the task force could really burn a raging fire on any ground, and the water could not be extinguished, he also really believed in the power of the task force and promised to go back and make peace.

This also shows a little skill of Li Hongzhang, he did not directly ask for money and things, only said that they should disarm and surrender, and the target of surrender was not the expeditionary force, but the Satsuma Domain, which made the other party more or less acceptable in terms of reason.

Li Hongzhang's plan is very simple, that is, to deceive Kaicheng first, and wait for the control of Osaka, and then it is not just what he says.

The simple people of Osaka believed it, they really believed that it was just a war of the Shogunate, and that the goal of the people was the shogunate army, and as long as they surrendered and took sides, they would be spared, so they surrendered.

As for why the Shogunate didn't go to Edo and came to fight them Osaka, this doesn't need to be explained by others, the people of Osaka themselves can explain it.

What Osaka is the cornerstone of the shogunate, what are the tactical benefits, what are the advantages of taking advantage of the situation, and so on. Anyway, they didn't feel strange at all why they came to beat them instead of going to Edo, but felt that it was a very normal behavior.

This is also the pride of the people of Osaka at this time, because in Japan at this time, the people of Osaka still thought that they were so good, and there was a saying that those who won Osaka won the world, so they did not think it was strange that the Satsuma army came to fight Osaka.

However, Osamu Kawamura, the governor of Sakamachi, was a die-hard shogunate supporter, and it was impossible for him to agree to surrender. Therefore, this so-called peaceful liberation is not without blood.

Although Osamu Kawamura is the supreme commissioner, his subordinates are basically locals, and they are all inextricably linked to the merchants of Osaka, and it can even be said that eight adults are indebted to those Osaka merchants.

Therefore, although the Osaka town is nominally the supreme governor of the area, the real owners of Osaka are the local merchants. Therefore, when the merchants of Osaka decided to surrender, no one could stop them.

Ultimately. Osamu Kawamura was put under house arrest by his subordinates, and then Osaka's big merchants led the samurai of the town to take the initiative to open the gates of Osaka and collectively march to the expeditionary force. No, it was the surrender of the Satsuma Domain.

The entrance ceremony was also quite lively, and although the citizens of Osaka did not warm up the city and did not go out of the door, the merchants of Osaka organized a lot of people. Take the initiative to bring a basket and a kettle, the basket holds dry food, and the kettle holds sake. Here comes a pot pulp.

What, why not do roadside flag waving welcome? In this era, this is not prosperous, and eating pot pulp is the right way.

Of course, out of prudence, there was only one regiment of troops entering Osaka Castle, that is, Peng Yulin's third regiment, which was dominated by the former Qing army. The 3rd Regiment entering the city will send troops to seize all the city gates and communication arteries at the first time, and strictly defend them. They also planted explosives and ignition materials in key places such as the Osaka castle tower, so that if something happened, they could immediately set fire to create chaos and take advantage of the opportunity to get out.

Not only that, but the 1st and 2nd regiments were still stationed outside the castle, and the muzzles of the naval guns were still aimed at Osaka Castle, and communication with the 3rd regiment was kept open at all times, just in case of accidents.

When they heard that the troops of the Third Regiment completely controlled all the key points in Osaka, Shi Dakai and the others breathed a sigh of relief, and at this moment, Osaka City was really taken by them.

In the Battle of Osaka, Li Hongzhang was the first to make the effort, and it was precisely because of his clever words that the expeditionary soldiers were able to obtain Osaka City without bloodshed, and it can be said that they obtained the greatest benefits at the lowest cost.

The fact that Osaka Castle was taken so easily made the entire expeditionary force full of confidence, and some people even proposed to go straight to Kyoto next and capture the emperor's Kenyì alive.

Tactically speaking, this is not difficult to implement, after all, the distance between Kyoto and Osaka is only about 100 miles, and with the equipment and combat effectiveness of the expeditionary force, it is not difficult to fight back and forth for a long distance.

But from a strategic point of view, it doesn't make sense to fight Kyoto and capture the emperor alive, but it will anger the whole of Japan, and then the gains outweigh the losses.

You must know that the expeditionary force is just a mercenary army, and the purpose is to make a fortune, not to seek anger, so after taking Osaka, the next thing to consider is how to make good use of this bargaining chip to make a fortune.

Sure enough, when Li Hongzhang heard that the expeditionary force had taken full control of Osaka Prefecture, he no longer talked about Sino-Japanese friendship with the group of Osaka businessmen, and talked about the retro of Wang Zheng, but directly used the lack of military spending as an excuse to want the Osaka businessmen to ask for money.

The businessmen in Osaka had expected the money, so it was not surprising, the only thing that surprised them was that Li Hongzhang's appetite was too big, and he opened his mouth to 10 million taels.

"Your Excellency is drunk." Just when the other Osaka wealthy merchants were surprised by this number, one of the representatives of the wealthy merchants present, Konoike Zenemon immediately raised his glass and persuaded, "Come on, come on, have another drink, although this kind of sake is not as good as the good sake of the country, but it is also mellow and pleasant, so let's have another glass of it, my lord." ”

"Come less!" Li Hongzhang simply waved his hand, and then sneered, "Sue you, don't expect this little trick to deal with the past, ten million taels of silver, not one or two less!" ”

"My lord laughed." Konoike Zenemon, who was blocked, was not angry, "You actually mean 100,000 taels of silver, right?" ”

Li Hongzhang suddenly slapped the table: "Do you think I'm joking with you?" ”

With Li Hongzhang slapping the table, the guard outside the door suddenly opened the door with a gun and came in, quickly pointed to all the wine bosses present, and waited for Li Hongzhang to wave his hand, then saluted Li Hongzhang in a proper manner, and then retreated cautiously.

Regardless of whether this is a drama or not, this hand did scare many people, and many people trembled half-truthfully. It seems that he was frightened by the scene just now.

"You know now." Li Hongzhang looked around at everyone present, "10 million taels of silver for labor and military expenses, one tael cannot be less, of course, the silver is not enough, it can be exchanged for equivalent gold, we are not picky." ”

The bigwigs looked at each other, and finally motioned to Konoikezenemon to let him speak.

Helpless, Koikezenemon had no choice but to continue to come forward and say, "My lord." 10 million taels of silver, it's really difficult for a strong man, and if you sell our whole Osaka, you can't get it out. ”

"Sell Osaka?" Li Hongzhang's eyes narrowed, "There's no need to sell it, if you don't have money, we can send troops to get it ourselves." I don't believe it, Osaka Castle is so big, and it's going from house to house. Well, there's no need to arrest all of you wealthy businessmen, and then raid them one by one. I don't believe that I can't collect enough 10 million taels to come out! ”

"Your Excellency!" When Li Hongzhang said this, Konoike Zenemon was startled, "You mean, raid the house one by one?" ”

"yes." Li Hongzhang nodded. "Didn't you say I didn't have any money, so I had to get it myself. However, I have always been soft-hearted and quite sympathetic to the people's feelings. So this raid, start with the richest, finish copying the richest, and then go down in turn, when it reaches 10 million taels, when the raid will stop. Then, as soon as we want to talk and talk, we will stop when we say that we have raised enough 10 million taels, and we will definitely not ask for more. ”

"Your Excellency." Konoike Zenemon took a deep breath and said as calmly as possible, "China has always been a country of etiquette, if you do this, you are not afraid of being pointed out by thousands of people, and you are not afraid of discrediting the Heavenly Empire?" ”

"I think you're probably mistaken about that." Li Hongzhang said with a smile, "Our current identity is just a mercenary hired by the Satsuma Domain, and it does not represent the affairs of the Chinese Empire and the government of the Chinese Empire. Moreover, you also said that the people of the Satsuma Domain did it, and we will not participate in it, of course, how they will spend the money after they rob it, that is another reason. In short, this money was robbed by the people of the Satsuma Domain, not us, do you understand? ”

"This ......" Hearing Li Hongzhang say these shameless words so naturally, Konoike Zenemon was also a little angry, but he was very good at controlling the situation, knowing that the knife was in the hands of others, they were fish and meat, and now it was too late to be angry, and when the time came, he would anger others, with this person's shamelessness, maybe he could really splash blood in five steps, and then take advantage of the situation to raid the house.

"What you mean, we understand it thoroughly." Konoike Zenemon nodded with a cold face, "Ten million taels, we will definitely try our best to raise it, but do you promise that as long as you get the money, there will be no other special requirements?" ”

"Of course not." Li Hongzhang nodded with a smile, "We are just mercenaries of the company, this time, in addition to punishing you for killing our employees without permission, the other is to ask for money." It's enough to destroy Kagoshima Castle in the Satsuma Domain, but it costs us a lot of money to go out once, and we can't really explain it to the company if we don't get something back. ”

"We'll definitely find a way to get the money." Konoike Zenemon said, "But after all, the number is too large to be gathered for a while, so please forgive me a few days." ”

"Grace, yes." Li Hongzhang also sternly said, "Just take you five days, collect 10 million in five days, otherwise, we will let the people of the Satsuma Domain find you wealthy businessmen to loot from door to door." I don't care about it, but I've heard that the people of the Satsuma clan are not well disciplined, and I'm afraid that they will commit adultery and plunder, arson and murder when they loot, so that's not good, don't you say? ”

In fact, where are there any people from the Satsuma Domain, the expeditionary force came to Osaka this time, and only brought Shimazu Hisamitsu and a few of his guards, which is not enough people to raid the house. But it doesn't matter, when the time comes, let your own troops change their clothes, and then plant a flag of the Shimazu family, the soldiers of the Shimazu family in Osaka Castle are just that, anyway, it's just a formality, deceiving the people who don't know about it, for smart people, who doesn't know what's going on.

Moreover, these Osaka people did not know that this 10 million taels was the asking price of the Eastern Bloc for Osaka City, and the Chinese Imperial Government had not yet opened its mouth to ask for it, so this kind of looting was just the beginning. (To be continued......)