Hirobumi Ito smiled, "I'm here mainly to catch up with you. After he finished speaking, he turned back to the French ambassador and smiled: "Mr. Ambassador, is there a spare room for me to catch up with my old friends?" ”

The French ambassador smiled and said, "It's been prepared for a long time, please go upstairs to the study, I have prepared French snacks and coffee for you, you can talk while eating." ”

Ito Hirobumi smiled and thanked him, a waiter walked over and took Ito Hirobumi upstairs, Lin Yuan and Shen Wanqing followed, walking on the stairs Lin Yuan whispered to Shen Wanqing: "Don't look for a bug after you get to the top, do you hear?" ”

Shen Wanqing also lowered her voice and said: "I don't believe that the French ambassador will not eavesdrop on our conversation, if you don't find a bug, won't he listen to everything?" ”

Lin Yuan smiled: "Save face for the French ambassador, let's let him listen." ”

Shen Wanqing smiled and said, "Okay, I'll eat when I get to it, and I won't do anything." The three of them came upstairs and sat down, Shen Wanqing really began to eat with a smile, and while eating, she aimed at Lin Yuan with her eyes, clearly telling Lin Yuan: I just want to make a vase quietly.

Ito Hirofumi also knew that there was no need for Shen Wanqing to come at all, and the purpose of her coming was to prevent herself from being unfavorable to Lin Yuan, so she ignored Shen Wanqing and smiled at Lin Yuan: "Mr. Lin Yuan still remembers the negotiation scene back then?" ”

The negotiations mentioned by Ito Hirofumi were the negotiations that took place in Shimonoseki, Japan, and in the era of Lin Yuan, this negotiation signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which was humiliating and humiliating, and in this era, due to the participation of Lin Yuan, the Japanese did not take advantage of this negotiation at all. Lin Yuan smiled and said, "Mr. Ito, you don't need to play the emotional card, let's talk about it directly." ”

Ito Hirobumi looked at Lin Yuan, his face slowly sank, Shen Wanqing was worried that he would not be good for Lin Yuan, so he put down the snack in his hand and stared at Ito Hirobumi tightly, Lin Yuan gently put his hand under Shen Wanqing's thigh, squeezed it slightly, and told Shen Wanqing: "It's okay, Ito Hirobumi doesn't dare to do anything to me." ”

At this time, Ito Hirobumi said: "His Majesty the Emperor has already said: as long as Mr. Lin Yuan agrees to withdraw the troops, we can agree to any of your conditions. ”

Lin Yuan said coldly: "I have already made it very clear to Matsumoto Yunqing about the conditions, and I can't change any of them." ”

Ito Hirobumi smiled bitterly and said, "Your conditions are too harsh, can you modify them slightly?" ”

Lin Yuan shook his head and said: "No, neither, Mr. Ito, don't say it's you, even if His Majesty the Emperor comes to negotiate with me in person, I won't modify my conditions, I'm really sorry Mr. Ito, let you run away in vain." It's getting late now, and if there's nothing particularly important, I'm going to take my leave. ”

Ito Hirofumi looked at Lin Yuan in a daze, suddenly shook his head with a smile, and said helplessly: "Actually, before I left, Matsumoto Yunqing repeatedly said to me: Your Lin Yuan's attitude is very tough, and Metternich in Austria and Bismarck in Prussia were just two housewives compared to you. ”

Lin Yuan smiled and said: "Metternich and Bismarck are two great politicians, I dare not compare with them, I dare to be tough because China has tough capital, our GDP is far ahead in the world, four times that of the second place United States, our industrial product index is five times that of the second place Britain, we are the world's largest grain producer, and the oil producer ......"

Ito Hirofumi interrupted Lin Yuan with a smile and said, "Mr. Lin Yuan, I know all these numbers, so you don't need to say any more, can you tell me: How did you make China what it is now?" ”

Lin Yuan shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile: "This is enough to be written into a book, how can I explain it clearly in a few words." ”

Ito Hirofumi sat on the chair dejectedly, his face was bloodless, Lin Yuan stood up and said with a smile: "Mr. Ito, if there is nothing else, I will leave first." ”

Ito Hirobumi nodded silently, Lin Yuan and Shen Wanqing walked out of the study, came downstairs, and said goodbye to the French ambassador, the French ambassador saw that Lin Yuan was upstairs and only talked to Ito Hirobumi for a few minutes, I don't know what the two sides talked about, and hurriedly went upstairs, Ito Hirobumi saw the French ambassador come in, and smiled at him: "Or you France have a vision, follow behind China." ”

The French ambassador shook his head and smiled: "Actually, we don't want to see China so strong, Lin Yuan has repeatedly reiterated: to eliminate colonies in the world, our French Republic has a large number of colonies in Africa, and there are also many colonies in Southeast Asia, and one day, these colonies will be taken away by Lin Yuan." ”

Ito Hirobumi smiled reluctantly, did not speak, and said after a while, "Can I borrow your telegraph?" ”

The French minister smiled and said, "Of course, you can call your entourage in, translate the plaintext into ciphertext, and send it by your entourage or by my people." ”

Ito Hirobumi smiled: "Don't dare to bother your subordinates, I'll just let my people send it." After Ito had his men finish the telegram, he left Beijing and changed to a French ship at the port of Tianjin, heading for the United States.

Ito Hirobumi's telegram was quickly received by the Emperor's command post in Kyoto, and the chief translator came to Emperor Meiji with the telegram, and Emperor Meiji first asked, "The telegram will not be deciphered by Hayashi's troops, right?" ”

The translator said, "Absolutely not! The code of communication between Prime Minister Ito and us was newly formulated, and it was absolutely impossible for Lin Yuan's troops to decipher the code on the basis of a single message. ”

Emperor Meiji nodded and said, "Read the information." ”

The chief translator said: "The intelligence is only eight words, 'negotiations fail, the empire is reborn'. ”

Emperor Meiji waved his hand for the translator to go out, and said casually, "Invite the two generals, Aritomo and Ito Yuhiro, from Yamaprefecture." ”

The chief translator nodded and walked out, and when Aritomo and Ito walked into the emperor's house, Emperor Meiji handed Ito Hirobumi's telegram to the two, and Ito Yuhiro first said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, are we really going to carry out the plan for the rebirth of the empire?" ”

Emperor Meiji smiled bitterly: "This is also a way to do it, Prime Minister Ito's negotiations are just a last stand, and now that the last fight has failed, we have no choice." ”

Yama Prefecture Youpeng said at this time: "In our original assumption, 'imperial rebirth' was the last resort, and now it seems that the time is almost ripe, Lin Yuan's four divisions of the Northern Front have been on board today, and their destination is very likely to be Wakasa Bay and Ise Bay, and the destination of the attack must be Kyoto; the 23rd and 24th Divisions of the Central Front Army have also begun to attack Wakayama Prefecture, and Kyoto is very likely to be strategically encircled." ”