"Guys, is there anything else you want to say?" In just a few days, Emperor Meiji seemed to be 10 years old, and the conquest of the Qing Kingdom and the hegemony of East Asia had become a dream of yesterday, and even Japan as a country was like a candle in the wind. The entire Yamato nation has also fallen into the abyss, and there is not the slightest light to speak of.

"Make peace with the Qing State and ask for help from the British." Ito Hirobumi said that the only way for Japan to survive now is to immediately end the state of war with the Qing State, especially the Beiyang, transfer back the relatively complete army, and at the same time ask Britain for help, although Britain is very dissatisfied with Japan's defection to Russia, but there is no permanent enemy, only permanent interests, in order to prevent Russia from obtaining ice-free ports, the British must also make some moves.

"Li Hongzhang's demand is that all Japanese troops in Northeast China and Korea must lay down their arms, and Japan must surrender." Aoki Shuzo said with a pale face.

"It's too much! Just now Beiyang still wants to eat the Japanese Army? Don't they know that they have reached their limits? Emperor Meiji said angrily.

"They have already attacked, and the news that they have not received supplies for a long time and that the mainland has been attacked has completely crushed the Japanese First Army, and Yamagu-kun has nothing to do." Dashan Yan smiled bitterly.

"Now Japan has no choice, go and contact Beiyang again, if they are willing to negotiate peace, I will immediately leave for Tianjin. Also, what is the attitude of the British? Hirobumi Ito asked.

"The British expressed their indignation at the behavior of the Russians! But at the same time, the British said that they had no other way but moral support for the time being, and that a quick end to the state of war with Beiyang was the best way. And the British also advised Japan to surrender to the Qing state. Aoki Shuzo said helplessly.

"If you can really negotiate with the Qing State Center, it is not necessarily a bad thing, these Manchu guys are much easier to deal with than Li Hongzhang." Kawakami said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I'm afraid this is impossible, now it's time to harvest, how can Li Hongzhang give up this opportunity? And don't forget, even if you negotiate with the Manchu center, but if Beiyang insists on not stopping the war. Even if we killed our Japanese captured soldiers, the accumulation of the Japanese Army for decades will be completely gone! Hirobumi Ito said.

"Li Hongzhang won't do this, right?" Emperor Meiji asked in surprise.

"Li Hongzhang can completely push all this on the Manchurians, in the northeast, what the Imperial Army has done is known to everyone, and the Japanese who have lost their weapons are afraid that they will have to face the butcher's knives of those avengers all the time, right? Moreover, the general will not be subject to the orders of foreign monarchs, and the center of the Qing State will not be unhappy with Li Hongzhang for the names of Japanese officers and soldiers, maybe Cixi still hopes that such a thing will happen. After all, she's full. "Sooner or later, you will have to pay it back, this sentence is too suitable for the Japanese army. Saigo expressed his support for Ito's words.

"So what do we do now?" Emperor Meiji was completely helpless.

"Surrender. There is no other way, and one more minute of delay will cause great damage to the Empire. Hirobumi Ito said.

At the same time, Hurd, on behalf of the British government and the commander of the British Far East Fleet, went to Tianjin to meet with Li Hongzhang, and the two sides discussed the future situation in the Far East and how to deal with the Japanese problem.

"Now that the Russians have extended their claws to the Far East, I personally believe that Beiyang should end the state of war with Japan as soon as possible to prepare for confronting Russia." Hurd said.

"As long as Japan surrenders. And accept our terms, then everything is easy to talk about. Li Hongzhang said and handed over a document.

"Lord Nakado, I have to say that your conditions are too high, and Japan, which is already exhausted, will definitely not be able to bear such a heavy burden." After a quick glance, Hurd took a few deep breaths and barely stabilized his emotions and said. …,

"Have money to fight a war and no money to pay reparations? Even if we take away the last yen of the Japanese treasury, and even if we take away the last machine of the Japanese factory, this indemnity will absolutely not be missing. Li Hongzhang said categorically.

"Lord Nakado, in the future, the main opponent of the Qing Kingdom and Beiyang will be Russia, and Japan can be used as a help for Beiyang against Russia. If Japan is weakened too much, it will also be detrimental to the North Sea. Hurd made his attitude clear.

"It is precisely because I have to fight against Russia that I need to obtain more resources from the defeated to develop myself, without these things, how can I heal the wounds of the war? How to accumulate enough strength to fight Russia? And this Japan is not worth supporting at all, they are despicable, they do not have the slightest credibility to speak of, they have betrayed the British Empire by receiving help from Russia. Isn't your country afraid that one day Japan will fight against your country and the Qing Dynasty? Li Hongzhang's attitude was extremely resolute.

"Japan has no chance. He will never be able to threaten the Qing Dynasty. Hurd said.

"Since the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese have been plotting against the Central Plains for the sake of future generations. We must eliminate the Japanese threat once and for all. Li Hongzhang's unyielding attitude brought the whole meeting to an impasse.

"Now Japan is no longer worth supporting, it has lost its navy. Japan, where the army has been hit hard, a large area of the country has been occupied, and the national economy has collapsed has lost its value, and even if Japan is let go in Beiyang, even if your country gives Japan a blood transfusion, Japan will definitely not be able to recover in 30 years. Xu Jie said.

"And now that Russia has obtained ice-free ports in the Far East, the pace of Russian expansion will certainly be very fast, and it is obviously not a wise choice to support a country that has no strength at all in a short period of time! And more importantly, what Japan has done has angered the entire Qing Dynasty, and public opinion is so categorically determined that it is impossible for our Beiyang to let Japan go, and if Beiyang, which has obtained Japan's resources, can become stronger, then it will be easier for us to confront Russia. And I Beiyang urgently need this indemnity. Xu Jie said very artistically, which directly shows that Japan is not worthy of support, and it also shows that it is impossible for Beiyang to let Japan go in its situation.

"Then I want to know how Beiyang will deal with Russia's expansion in the Far East after the end of the war?" Hurd could only convey the opinion of Britain, but he himself could not respond to Beiyang's attitude, and since Beiyang was resolute on the Japanese issue, let's talk about something else by the way.

"We need a lot of money and skills and skilled workers to develop our industry, and I think the UK government can help with that." Xu Jie said with a smile that no one will refuse anything that can make money, only the more sellers, the more buyers will take advantage. Xu Jie has already said something similar to the representatives of other powers, after the end of this war, whether it is the private or Beiyang, they will go to Europe to purchase relevant equipment and technology, in this case, the more bidders the better.

Moreover, if Britain sees that it can also get a piece of the pie from Japan's reparations, then the pressure from Britain will be relatively small, and it will be more conducive to Beiyang's future negotiations with Japan.

"In addition, I think I can try to persuade the Royal Italian Navy to share the relevant data with the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, and of course, this also requires openness and honesty on the part of the British side, and if your country and the Italian side reach an agreement, I think it is not impossible to order ships in the United Kingdom." Xu Jie threw out another cake. Historically, the Japanese could have built ships in Germany and France with British drawings, and it should not be difficult to do this. What's more, the current Italian shipyards are almost filled with orders! …,

"In that case, I will give feedback to the cabinet on Lord Nakado's opinions, and I hope this is the beginning of our new cooperation." Although the purpose of the trip was not achieved, Hurd himself was still very satisfied with the explanation and return of the Beiyang side, so he thought that he could leave now.

After dealing with the British, the central government has decided on the question of who to negotiate and the sharing of interests. Li Hongzhang, who had a tough attitude in his determination to fight, took a tougher attitude when it was time to pick peaches, and repeatedly emphasized in telegrams the role of the mainstay of the Second Beiyang Naval and Land Division, and at the same time launched a public opinion offensive to spread the good fighting of the Beiyang Army and the repeated defeats of Ronglu, and at the same time selectively announced the price paid by Beiyang for this war to gain the sympathy and support of public opinion, coupled with the strong strength of the Beiyang Army, the center also had to make compromises.

As a result, on the issue of reparations, the agreement between the central center and the local forces was as follows: first, the indemnity was used to pay for the war losses and expenses of the various forces, and then the indemnity was used to pay the rewards and remuneration of each army, and a part of the funds were specially set aside as filial piety to the queen mother and the emperor. The last part of the funds was used as the start-up capital for the restoration of the Northeast, after all, as the Longxing land of the Qing Dynasty, it was beaten to pieces by the Japanese army and had to be rebuilt after all. That's what the so-called earmarked funds mean. Whoever undertakes the task of rebuilding the Northeast will be given this part of the money.

And just after Beiyang took care of the relationship with Britain and the center, Li Hongzhang finally decided to meet with the Japanese minister Komura Shotaro. And when he saw the armistice proposal submitted by Komura Shoutaro, Li Hongzhang threw it directly to the ground. "We will only accept the surrender of Japan, and we will not talk about an armistice. We don't mind destroying all of Japan's armies and seizeos in Korea and Northeast China if they don't lay down their arms. Li Hongzhang said lightly.

Li Hongzhang knew the difference between surrender and a ceasefire, the former meant that the defeated country would be subjected to arbitrary slaughter, while the latter meant that the two sides would maintain their original positions and cease hostilities. Therefore, an armistice is absolutely unacceptable to Li Hongzhang!

In the face of the toughness of the Beiyang side, the Japanese government finally chose to compromise, and the Japanese side decided to order all troops to surrender if the Beiyang guaranteed the personal safety of the prisoners of war. The response of the Beiyang side was to ensure the safety of the Japanese troops who surrendered to the Beiyang Army and Navy, and the implication was that if the Japanese army was attacked before surrendering or surrendering to other armies, Beiyang would not be responsible!

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