PS: If you want to hear more of your voices and receive more of your opinions, search for the WeChat public account "qdread" now and follow it to give more support to "Time and Space Smuggling 1859"!

Soon, after the guest was searched by two British soldiers, he confirmed that he had no weapons, and invited him into Aliguo's room, and after seeing this young man dressed as an ordinary monk, Aliguo was stunned at first: "It turned out to be your ......"

"It's me," said the man dressed as a monk, "why, am I not welcome?" ”

"No, how could it be, I welcome you to come." Ali Guo took the initiative to nod and salute, "It's just that the letter you gave me earlier, I thought it was someone else...... Anyway, you're coming to me at this time, I'm afraid there's something right, and I don't know if there's anything I can do? ”

That's right, Ali Koku knew the guy in front of him dressed as an ordinary monk, because this person was none other than Keisuke Otori, the attendant and English translator of the new shogunate's eldest Katsu Kaishu.

When Ali Guo used to meet and chat with Katsu Kaishu, this big bird Keisuke would follow Katsu Kaishu's side, this is because although Katsu Kaishu knows a lot about Western studies, but after all, he doesn't know English, so he needs a translator, and Katsu Kaishu's translator is Otori Keisuke, so after a long time, I also got to know this person after coming and going.

Of course, at first, Ali Guo didn't expect it to be him, because the logo on the letter was the logo of Sheng Haizhou himself, so Ali Guo thought it was Sheng Haizhou himself who came over, but he didn't expect it to be the translator and attendant next to Sheng Haizhou.

"You're right, Envoy." Keisuke Otori nodded, speaking in a slightly slower but very clear English, "I did have something to discuss with you this time, and it was a very important matter. ”

"Hmm. I see. Alikook nodded, then waved to the soldier behind Keisuke Otori, indicating that there was no danger, so the soldier nodded, took the initiative to exit the room, and took the opportunity to close the door.

After the soldiers left, there were only two people left in the whole room, Keisuke Otori and Alikoku, at this time, Keisuke Otori looked left and right, and then nodded to Alikoku and smiled: "Mr. Envoy, the guards here are really strict, it's really not easy to meet you." ”

"It can't be helped." Ali Guo smiled. "I think you also understand that there are many people in your Japanese country who have been very unfriendly to us recently, and attacks have happened from time to time, and I am also just in case."

"I deeply regret this." Keisuke Otori bowed slightly, "Although I also think that those Shoyi factions have gone too far, but there is no way to do it, Japan is the way it is, and the shogunate is powerless." At least in the short term, it will not be possible to completely eliminate these rebellions and put an end to this kind of behavior, so it is not wrong for adults to be careful. ”

"I have to say." Ali Guo shook his head. "If you have always been like this, then sooner or later there will be great hardships, and there is no hope for a nation that will only blindly xenophobicize."

"I agree. Your Excellency the Special Envoy. Keisuke Otori nodded, "That's why I'm here today, in fact, to solve this matter." ”

"Oh?" Ali Guo looked at him. Smiling slightly, he stretched out his finger and pointed to a sofa chair next to him, "Come, please sit, let's sit down and talk, it's always rude to stand and talk." ”

"That's rude." Keisuke Otori bowed again, and then sat down on a sofa chair next to him, the whole process looked pleasing to the eye, and it was indeed very comfortable, at least Alikoku looked quite satisfied.

After Ali Guo also sat down diagonally opposite, he took the initiative to say, "You just said to solve it?" Does it mean to solve the problem of the rebellion? ”

"Yes and not quite." Keisuke Otori said.

"What do you mean yes and not all?" Ali Guo frowned slightly, "Do you Oriental people always speak so complicated?" Can't you just talk directly? ”

Hearing Ah Liguo say this, Keisuke Otori smiled slightly, and asked instead of answering: "If I'm not wrong, Mr. Special Envoy should have just come out of the Chinese Embassy's Mansion, and he must have just met with Master Li, and he broke up unhappily, right?" ”

"So what?" After Ali Guo answered, he immediately said, "What, have you sent someone to spy on me?" ”

"We didn't send anyone to spy on you, Envoy." Keisuke Otori said, "Actually, we have been sending people to spy on the Chinese, and we just happened to see you coming out of the Chinese embassy office, so we notified me nearby, and I only learned about it." ”

"Uh-huh." Ali Guo nodded, but did not say anything, as if he was satisfied with this reply, and seemed to be dissatisfied.

"I have always heard that you British have a good relationship with the Chinese, and the two countries have formed an alliance, but now it seems that the rumors are not true." Keisuke Otori said again.

Hearing him say this, Ali Guo suddenly lowered his face, raised his chin and said lightly, "What do you want to say?" If you just provoke my relationship with the Chinese, then you seem to be looking for the wrong person. As you said, the British Empire and China are now allies, and the two sides have very close contacts, and even if I personally feel anything about China, it will not affect the inherent diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Of course, I believe that you should be too young and inexperienced, and you will speak without consideration, so you will be so reckless, for the sake of Lord Sheng Haizhou's face, I will not care about you.

But you have to understand that I am the plenipotentiary of the British Empire, representing the dignity and interests of the British Empire, so when you talk to me, it is better to think clearly before speaking, and next time, I can only ask you to leave. ”

Indeed, Ali Guo personally does have a great dislike for the Chinese, especially Li Hongzhang, but he understands that as a diplomat, he cannot do things according to his own preferences, and in the big picture, the advantages of an alliance between China and Britain do outweigh the disadvantages, at least for now.

As for the current filth between China and Britain in Japan, although Ali Guo himself feels very sad, in essence, the distance between Britain and Japan is too far, and the investment in Japan is not high, even the United States and France are inferior, so once the Chinese dominate Japan, although the British will have losses, but the losses will not be too large.

In other words, no matter how much trouble China and Britain make, it is also a matter between the two countries, and between the two powers. It follows the code of conduct between the great powers, and you, a little Japan, are clearly the meat on the board, and you are not qualified enough to provoke the two behemoths of China and Britain.

In addition, although Ali Guo was more polite to Keisuke Otori, it was just a politeness, and he didn't know what other purpose the other party had, to put it bluntly, it was for the sake of Katsu Haizhou's face behind him, if it was just him. Then Ali Guo will never look at it, because he is not qualified.

As if sensing the coldness of the Ari Kingdom, Keisuke Otori, a young but sensitive Otori, nodded: "Yes, I understand, since that's the case, let's get down to business and talk about my true intentions here." ”

"Please." Ali Guo nodded, "I'm listening." ”

"That's right." Keisuke Otori said, "I said it earlier. Japan is in a state of chaos right now, and the main culprits for this are those who don't know what to do, if it weren't for the misdeeds of these people. It will not provoke the Yoshidaya incident, nor will it provoke the intervention of the Chinese, nor will it provoke the coup d'état of 100 people, and then the entire Edo Castle will be destroyed. ”

Hear here. Ali Guo continued to nod, but in his heart he was unimpressed.

What is the Yoshidaya incident, that incident may really be done by some of the Shoyi faction. But before that, it was not without Japanese attacks on Chinese, or even other foreigners, but no one had ever stirred up the crowd.

Although the Chinese are said to have killed a person in the Yoshidaya incident, which is indeed a big deal, the Chinese raised troops so quickly, and at first glance, it was premeditated, and it was definitely not a temporary intention.

Therefore, Ali Guo thought that the Chinese had long had the intention of getting involved in Japan, but they were not ready before, and the Yoshidaya incident gave them an excuse to interfere in Japan, so they quickly sent a private mercenary army to make trouble, and after the trouble, the benefits were also reaped, so they patted their asses and left, and then the prepared Chinese government officially came forward and talked to Japan with a fair and just face, but to put it bluntly, it was not for a better invasion of Japan?

In other words, even if there is no disturbance by the Shoyi faction, there is no Yoshidaya incident, something else will happen, and sooner or later the Chinese will intervene in Japan, just sooner or later.

In other words, the Chinese are the main culprits responsible for the great turmoil in Japan, and Ali Koku does not think that Katsukaishu cannot see this clearly, nor does he think that this Otori Keisuke does not understand, so they are now blaming all the sins of Yiqiē on the heads of the Yiyi faction, obviously for another purpose.

Keisuke Otori saw Alikoku nodding, but he didn't know that the other party was actually very unimpressed, and continued to introduce the situation there.

According to Keisuke Otori's words, the past is just enough, and now that the new general has come to power, he is trying his best to make the country prosperous, and he wanted to let those people go, but who knows that these factions not only do not know how to rein, but on the contrary, there is a tendency to further deteriorate, and attacks on foreigners are becoming more and more frequent. In this regard, both the Shogun and the Shogun were quite worried, and they were determined not to tolerate it, but to wipe out these Shoyi factions that had not achieved enough things and had more than enough failures.

Osaka Prefecture, Kyoto, and Yokohama, where the shogunate directly controls zhì, is good to say that there are Chinese and shogunate cooperation together, especially the strict suppression of the Shinsengumi, and the situation has been much better recently, but in the remote areas where the shogunate is not yet able to fully control zhì, such as Nagasaki Port, Choshu Domain, and other places, the Shogunate is still very arrogant, and even in many places I have heard of blatant attacks on foreign friends, which makes the shogunate very worried.

Hearing Keisuke Otori say this, Ali Guo nodded sincerely and expressed his approval.

As Keisuke Otori said, if before the Chinese sent troops to intervene in Japan, the actions of the Japanese attacking foreigners were somewhat restrained, then after the Chinese burned Kagoshima, raided Osaka Prefecture, attacked Kanagawa, bombarded Edo Castle, killed and injured a large number of Japanese people, looted a large amount of wealth, and left the life and death of the previous generals uncertain, the hatred of Chinese and other foreigners in various parts of Japan has reached an unstoppable situation.

However, after the Yoshidaya incident, the number of Chinese civilians in Japan decreased sharply, and it is almost impossible to see any Chinese civilians wandering the streets of Japan, that is to say, almost all Chinese in Japan are soldiers, and these Chinese soldiers usually live in several concentrated camps, and they enter and exit in groups, and the firearms are sharp, and the vigilance is very high.

Such a fierce and unreasonable approach made the Japanese resentful, but helpless. Because they could not find a chance to attack the Chinese, because in the face of the highly vigilant Chinese, their only way was to attack, but once they attacked, those Japanese stragglers were definitely not the opponents of the well-trained and well-equipped Japanese dispatch army.

Not to mention these Chinese soldiers, even those civilian personnel in the embassy can be counted out if they don't leave the embassy area. They are also escorted by a large number of people, and high-ranking officials like Li Hongzhang will also clear the scene in advance, not only a battalion of Chinese soldiers escorting, but also the minions of the shogunate on the periphery, so it is even more difficult to kill these people.

Because of this, as a result, until now, there has not been a single incident of Japanese attacking the Chinese, not because I don't want to. Rather, it can't.

However, there was nothing that could be done about the Chinese, and the anger of these Japanese, especially those of the Samurai faction, had nowhere to vent. So he targeted other foreigners.

Westerners such as Americans, British, and Dutch, who have been in Japan for a long time, have garrisons not only in the port of Nagasaki, but also in Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, and many other places. Most of these Westerners are civilians or missionaries, and there are still very few real soldiers.

In the past, the Raiders hated these Westerners. But most of them were petty fights such as secretly throwing stones and setting fires, but since they were severely beaten by the Chinese, these factions immediately took advantage of the hatred of the Japanese to set off a new upsurge of rebellion.

By the time Keisuke Otori spoke to Rekuni, there had been a number of attacks on foreigners in various places, and the exact number of casualties was not clear, but at least more than 100 people.

However, due to the slow communication methods of this era, and the fact that Alikoku has been living near Osaka Prefecture recently, and his attention is mainly Chinese, he has limited knowledge of the situation in other regions, and only knows that the Japanese attacks on foreigners are intensifying, but it is not clear what the specific Yan zhòng is to.

In fact, what Alikoku did not know was that the commanders of the British, French, American, Russian, and Dutch garrisons in the port of Nagasaki had declared martial law, and they had begun to consult closely together on how to deal with the current situation in Japan.

If it had not been for the strong entry of the Chinese, especially the promulgation of the Sino-Japanese Edo Treaty, and the fact that everyone knew that the Chinese had supported Japan's new shogunate, and that the commanders of the garrisons of Britain, France, the United States, Russia, and the Netherlands had some scruples about China's force and opinions, the United Fleet's interference would have begun long ago.

You must know that although the five Western countries have all stationed plenipotentiary ministers in Japan, it is the commanders of the garrisons who really have the power.

That is to say, whether or not to start a war against Japan is the final say of these garrison commanders, not those envoys stationed in Japan, and although the envoys stationed in Japan represent the interests of their own countries, they actually have to listen to the words of these garrison commanders.

Generally speaking, the commander of the garrison is actually the emperor of the earth who is far away from the emperor of Tiangao, who has the power to cut first and then play, and if he is done, he will generally concurrently serve as the governor of the place. And the ministers like Ali Guo and the like look very awesome, but their main role is to upload and distribute, and wipe the butts of those garrison commanders, at most they can fake the power of a country like Japan, but their status is actually not high.

In short, there are some things that Ali Guo is not clear, he doesn't know that the garrison commanders of the five countries have long discussed how to deal with Japan, he asked Li Hongzhang to theorize before, purely to gain political achievements for himself, and the other is that his heart is unbalanced, if he knew the real intentions of his boss, it would definitely not be so easy to finish.

However, although the information lag made Ali Kuni not understand how serious the current shape of Japan was, he was experienced after all, so after listening to Keisuke Otori's words, he immediately realized what was going on, and quickly asked a few more questions.

When he heard that there had been so many incidents of Japanese attacks on Western civilians in various parts of Japan recently, Alikook immediately understood that the opportunity to intervene in Japan and reap the benefits seemed to have been found.

"Mr. Special Envoy." Keisuke Otori didn't know what Rei was thinking, he just said to him step by step according to the plan he had thought of before, "As I said earlier, the people of the Shoyi faction are doing too much now, and we can't continue to tolerate this, so we decided to crack down on the Shoyi faction."

As far as we know, the current base camp of the Shoyi faction is the Choshu Domain, and if this local force that does not obey the order is defeated, then presumably the forces of the Shoyi faction will be dealt a heavy blow, and the Shoyi faction will certainly not continue to be so arrogant and will not attack people in the West so unscrupulously, don't you say? ”

"Hmm...... Well? Alikook, who reacted, looked at Keisuke Otori with a sincere face, and frowned. Only then did he nod, "That makes sense, then, you mean, the shogunate is preparing to crusade against the Choshu domain in the near future?" ”

"That's what it means." Keisuke Otori nodded, "But Mr. Special Envoy, you must also know that our general has just ascended to a high position, and there are all kinds of ruins waiting to be rebuilt, especially when the new army is still in the grass formation, and it is not able to send troops directly for the time being." So. We hope that our British friends will do us a favor and join us in the crusade against the unsubsalized Chōshū Domain. ”

"Well, you mean, you're looking for us to borrow troops?" Ali Guo smiled, "Just like your family Sheng Haizhou used the Chinese in the first place?" ”

"This ...... Yes. Keisuke Otori lowered his head slightly, "That's pretty much it." ”

"Hehe, that's kind of interesting." Ali Guo smiled, and then lay back, half-squinting as he remembered what had happened.

Isn't it? Ali Guo had just had a quarrel with Li Hongzhang before, and one of them was that he hoped to continue to fulfill the previous agreement, jointly attack the Changzhou Domain, and then take advantage of the situation to take Zhou Fangguo of the Changzhou Domain. It became a British Concession.

Of course, those mentions of Ali Guo were not the thoughts of the British commander in Japan, but the thoughts of Ali Guo himself. It's a pity that Li Hongzhang categorically rejected it with an unreasonable attitude, so that he could no longer play.

However, that side was just rejected by Li Hongzhang. Here, the Japanese shogunate actually sent people to look for him, hoping that the British would send troops to the Choshu Domain...... What does this mean? Let's not talk about anything else, at least to explain one point, that is, the new shogunate or Katsu Haizhou is not the same heart as the Chinese!

This news is important, and if it is true, then there are many places where it can be operated in the future. Although Ali Guo believes that if China does not fall, Japan will not be able to escape the hands of the Chinese sooner or later, but in 50 years, the British can still take the opportunity to reap the greatest benefits.

And with fifty years as long as that time, who knows what will turn out of the situation? Perhaps Japan will really take the opportunity to rise and become a nation-state, so that it is unknown that the Chinese will no longer be able to swallow it completely.

After thinking about it, Ali Guo opened his eyes and looked at Keisuke Otori head-on: "Did you tell me what you told the Chinese?" In other words, with the strength of the Chinese in Japan, it should be no problem to sweep away the Choshu Domain, why don't you go to the Chinese for help? Not to mention anything else, the residence of that envoy Li is not far away. ”

"This, of course, we have thought about it." Keisuke Otori said, "However, our shogunate and the Chinese are in the stage of full cooperation, and all aspects are very tight, plus the Chinese army has just arrived, and all aspects are not familiar, and it is always a little unkind to let the Chinese send troops to the Changzhou Domain." Besides, most of the targets of this attack are Westerners, and you still have an excuse for sending troops, but we are a little sensitive when we send troops.

Therefore, what our family means is that this time we will send troops to the Choshu Domain, and our shogunate will not take the initiative to attack, but will turn a blind eye and leave it to you British to deal with it. At that time, you British can send troops to attack the Choshu Domain under the pretext of attacking your civilians by the Shoyi faction, and then we can logically recognize the treaty signed with you during the period of the previous general and curb the arrogance of the Shoyi faction. ”

"Oh? Let's send our own troops to attack the Choshu Domain? Ali Guo smiled slightly, "After winning the war, you still have to recognize the new treaty signed with us before?" ”

"Exactly." Keisuke Otori nodded.

"Are you telling the truth?" Alikook stared at Keisuke Otori with blazing eyes, "Does what you say count?" ”

"What I just said is actually what our family general meant." Keisuke Otori, "Of course, that's what Elder meant. ”

The elder is Katsu Haizhou, so the meaning of the elder is undoubtedly the meaning of Katsu Haizhou, and now everyone with a discerning eye knows that the person in the new shogunate is Katsu Haizhou, and the general is just a puppet.

"Good, good, very good, hahaha!" Ali Guo couldn't help but laugh.

It really should be laughed, he couldn't get it in Li Hongzhang before, but he didn't expect the people of the Japanese shogunate to give it to him lightly, can this not make him happy?

Seeing Rei Kooki laughing there, Keisuke Otori was smiling on the surface, but blood was dripping from his heart.

Keisuke Otori certainly knew what he meant, which meant continuing to lure wolves into the house, giving Japan one more, no, a few more hungry wolves lying on top of Japan and sucking blood and eating meat.

However, there is no way to do it, as Katsu Haizhou told him before, Japan is currently a fat pig without self-protection, and there are jackals and beasts all around, since it has been targeted, it is better to pull a few more hungry wolves in, so that these beasts can contain each other, in this case, Japan still has a chance to live.

In other words, Katsu Haizhou believes that China obviously wants to dominate Japan and is the biggest threat to Japan.

Since Japan cannot confront China, the best way to prevent Japan from becoming a puppet of China is to pull a few more powers in and let them taste some sweetness from Japan, so that for the sake of interests, these powers will intrigue with each other, and Japan will have more room for maneuver.

Because of this, Keisuke Otori came to Arekoku and threw the Choshu domain as bait so that the British could also intervene. At that time, once the British defeated the Choshu Domain, they could not only deal a blow to the arrogance of the Choshu Clan and other Yiyi factions, but also take advantage of the situation to use the excuse of signing a new treaty to let the new shogunate catch the line of the British, so as to avoid falling completely under the control of the Chinese.

In short, Sheng Haizhou's use of this method can be said to be well-intentioned, and there is no way to do it. Moreover, Sheng Haizhou can't come forward on his own, so he can only give a hint to Ali Guo and let the British do it themselves.

This is not to say that Sheng Haizhou did not bear it, but in fact, they are all now controlled by the Chinese, and it is impossible to take the initiative to invite the British in, which is too obvious, and it is easy for the Chinese to see through it, and then mess up the operation.

Therefore, the meaning of Shenghaizhou was to let the British unite with several other powers, and suddenly attack the Changzhou Domain under the pretext that the expatriates were harmed, creating a fait accompli, so that the Chinese would not have the time and opportunity to intervene in advance, and finally could only pinch their noses and recognize it.

In short, each country has its own thoughts, everyone has their own ideas, the key is to see who can really implement their own ideas, who can have the last laugh.

"Understood." After laughing, Ali Guo nodded to Keisuke Otori, "Go back and tell your family, just talk about it, I will do my best to meet your request, I just hope that when the time comes, you will not break your word, and you are really willing to recognize the previous treaty." ”

After a pause, Ali Guo sneered: "I hope you don't play tricks, you must know that our British Empire is still the most powerful country in the world, and although China is also very strong, there is still a long way to go compared to our British Empire." Therefore, if you deceive us, think about the consequences! ”

"Don't worry." Keisuke Otori said, "The elder has already said that as long as you can send troops to the Choshu Domain and take down the Maori family of the Choshu Domain, we will never break our word!" ”

"Then it's a deal!" Ali Guo smiled slightly. (The novel "Time and Space Smuggling 1859" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lottery gift for everyone!) Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign in the upper right corner to "add friends", search for the official account "qdread" and follow, hurry up! (To be continued......)