The Korean Peninsula is located in the northeastern part of Asia, separated from the mainland by the Yalu and Tumen rivers, and is hardly connected by land, as if it were a large island separated by a narrow strait. The entire peninsula is mountainous and plateau, with only 20% of the peninsula being flat, especially in the north, where mountains stretch as far as the eye can see. The only plains are almost all located at the southern tip of the peninsula, so almost all grain is produced in the south, especially Jeollabuk-do, which is located in the Dongjin River and Manggyol River basins, and has the largest Hunan Plain on the Korean Peninsula, which is known as the granary of the peninsula. Therefore, in the previous life, North Korea had a food difficulty, and it was congenitally deficient in geography, because the main grain producing areas were in South Korea.

The strategic location of the Korean Peninsula is extremely important, like a big foot, sticking out from the Asian continent, kicking the Japanese archipelago in the ocean, and not far from Japan, from Kyushu, Japan, it only takes one day to reach Busan.

Because of this, Japan has invaded the Korean Peninsula countless times throughout history. As early as 200 A.D., Empress Shengong, the earliest recorded ruler of Japan, was worshiped by the Japanese for "resolutely" invading Korea.

In particular, from the fourth century AD, Japan continued to invade on a large scale, plundering a large amount of gold and silver treasures and population books from the Korean Peninsula. By the 5th century, the Japanese had even established a colonial regime in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula called Renna.

The frenzy of aggression was finally ended by the Tang Dynasty, which was at the peak of its power, and in 663 AD, the Japanese army was completely defeated by the Tang army at the Battle of Baicunjiang, and tens of thousands of Japanese troops were annihilated.

This battle is no less significant than the second Shijie War in the future, Japan thoroughly understood the strength of the Tang Empire, and then continued to send "Tang envoys" to learn from the Tang Dynasty, and since then, in the thousand-year-long history, no longer dare to invade the Asian continent.

Until 1592 AD, Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan, attacked Korea again, fought hard for many years, and was finally defeated by the Ming Dynasty, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was angry and anxious, died of illness, the remnants of the Japanese army withdrew, and Japan had to converge again for three hundred years.

The cycle of history is playing out again.

On August 21, 1883, on the Peony Peak in the northern suburbs of Pyongyang, an important town in northern Korea, Zhan Tianyou, director of the Railway Bureau under the Ministry of Construction of China, was nervously looking at the drawings and paying attention to the construction of the railway at the foot of the mountain.

According to the original Jihua, the railway will run from the northwest, through Pyongyang, all the way to the southeast. However, Ding Yuntong sent a secret telegram ordering the construction of the railway in the Pyongyang area to be completed as soon as possible. The east of Pyongyang is the Taedong River, and the west is the Daedong River, a tributary of the Taedong River, and the original Jihua is to build a railway bridge over the ordinary river, although Jishu is not small, but it is of great significance after completion, first of all, it can just communicate the two sides of the strait, and secondly, the railway line can be covered by Pyongyang, which is more advantageous from the economic and military point of view, but at the same time it will inevitably take a lot of time.

In view of the urgency of the situation, with Ding Yuntong's approval, Zhan Tianyou had to adopt a substitution plan, making the railway line turn a corner, bypassing the foot of Peony Peak from the north, and then entering the Pyongyang area. Since the ordinary river is avoided, the difficulty of construction is reduced, and the speed will be greatly accelerated. However, the disadvantage is that the railway line and Pyongyang Fortress are arranged parallel to the west side of the Taedong River, and once the enemy crosses the Taedong River from the north, the railway line can be cut off. But in a hurry, I had to do it.

At the same time, Yuan Shikai was also preparing for Zuihou.

On August 25, he was gathering the members of many major parties for urgent deliberations. Fearing that if the ministers went out of the city to the Muhua Pavilion, where Yuan Shikai was stationed, it would easily arouse the vigilance of the Kaihua Party and the Japanese, Yuan Shikai put the meeting place at the home of Zhao Ningxia, the secretary of Gongcao. The so-called Gongcao verdict is equivalent to the minister of construction, and although Zhao Ningxia's prestige is not as good as that of the three big parties, this person can be said to be the most pro-China person in North Korea. According to his philosophy, China and the DPRK are vassals, and they are simply the kings and ministers of a country, the king of Korea is his own king, and the emperor of China is his own emperor, and his understanding is even more thorough than that of the Big Three.

In addition to Zhao Ningxia, there are also Kim Yun-sik, Kim Hongji, Yu Yun-jung, Kim Byung-shi, Shen Sun-taek, and some pro-China Min Concubine people, such as Min Tai-ho, Min Yong-mu, Min Yong-jun, etc., plus the commanders of the four battalions of the New Army, Li Zuyuan, Han Gyu-ji, Yoon Tae-jun, and Min Yong-yi. The core of the big party gathered together.

Yuan Shikai proposed that he was going to carry out an economic blockade against Japan and implement three special decrees: the anti-grain order, the gold restriction law, and the ban on prohibition.

As soon as this opinion was raised, there were mixed reactions. Ultra-conservatives such as Zhao Ningxia, Jin Bingshi, and Shen Shunze have long hated Japan to the core, and they can't ask for it. Kim Yoon-sik, Kim Hong-ji, and Yu Yoon-jung, out of consideration for national interests, saw that Japan's economic plundering was intensifying, and they agreed in principle. Only the Min clan feared that doing so would lead to a break with Japan and eventually affect the Min clan's position of power.

In this regard, Yuan Shikai patted his chest and assured that no matter what went wrong, all the consequences would be completely dealt with by China. He also promised that the emperor had decreed that in the event of any consequences, all the ministers present could go to China to continue to serve as officials, and their glory and wealth could be guaranteed.

The worries were relieved, and finally everyone reached an agreement.

The next day, Yuan Shikai and his ministers went straight to Changdeok Palace, met with Gaozong and Concubine Min, and stated their request to issue these three orders in due course.

Yuan Shikai even said bluntly: China's move has no other intentions, just to exclude Japan. No matter what the problem is, China will bear it with all its might; After the deed is completed, when the situation in North Korea is stable, China will not only withdraw its troops from North Korea, but also take Dayuanjun to China and never let it back! And showed the emperor's own telegram with the relevant contents.

Yuan Shikai's conditions tickled Concubine Min's itch.

In the past, Concubine Min was inclined to Japan and the Enlightenment Party, but it was just to contain China, she was most concerned about her own power, and she didn't care about the interests of the country. She carefully weighed that China's promise to withdraw troops and take away Dayuanjun afterwards was exactly what she dreamed of. In any case, the risk was guaranteed by China, and the emperor himself promised that there would be no change of fortune.

Therefore, Concubine Min quickly made up her mind, and at her instigation, Gojong finally agreed to the request of Yuan Shikai and the ministers, and according to Yuan Shikai's request, he wrote an edict and delivered it to Kim Yun-sik, but did not fill in the date.

In other words, as long as Yuan Shikai gives an order, the edict can be issued at any time.

Yuan Shikai breathed a sigh of relief, although the emperor had made it clear that Concubine Min and the others would not have a more choice, but after all, this matter was very important and affected the overall situation, seeing that Gaozong had finally achieved his goal, he immediately called to report to the country.

After receiving the report, Ding Yuntong was overjoyed, at this time Liu Buchan's "Portuguese fleet" had arrived at Xuwen Port at the southern tip of the Leizhou Peninsula, this ancient maritime silk port that had long been abandoned, has now become a secret port of the Chinese Navy, and it also played a miraculous role in the Sino-French War, and it is best to hide the fleet.

At the same time, the main fleet commanded by Shen Shoukun was also waiting for orders in Weihaiwei.

The army, on the other hand, is also basically ready.

Ding Yuntong divided the Guards into two parts, the first part was to prepare for the early entry into the Korean War, and this part was divided into three levels.

The first level is the Su Yuanchun Brigade of the Second Division, which is secretly crossing the Yalu River, and in two days it will be able to assemble in Yiju County, and with only one order, it can go south by train, accompanied by thousands of strong laborers.

The second level is Jin Shun's 7th Division and Liu Jintang's 9th Division, which have been transported to Andong through the completed Anbong Railway, and can enter the war at any time.

The third level was Wu Changqing's 4th Division and Ma Yukun's 6th Division, stationed in Mukden and would wait for orders to leave for Andong.

The second part is to act as a strategic reserve, which will determine the itinerary depending on the development of the war situation.

This part of the army includes:

Liu Mingchuan's 3rd Division, stationed in Shandong;

Song Qing's Fifth Division, stationed at Dagukou;

Feng Zicai's 1st Division and Nie Shicheng's 8th Division stationed on the outskirts of Beijing.

Ding Yuntong's strategy was: in the early stage of the naval war, to avoid the decisive battle, to harass and maneuver, the land war to adopt the "refueling tactics", let the troops slowly enter the Korean Peninsula, in the process, while killing and wounding the Japanese army, while delaying time, so that the main force of the Japanese army can enter the Korean Peninsula, and then play the "Portuguese fleet" as a hole card, and the Japanese navy to fight a decisive battle, in one fell swoop to interrupt the Japanese army's sea supply line, completely annihilate its main army, and lay the future history of China and Japan.

Now the premise for all wars has been met.

The telecommunications department under the leadership of Sheng Xuanhuai is making every effort to maintain the telegraph and telephone lines that extend in all directions like a spider's web, including the conventional military communications system, the secret agent system of the Military Justice Department of the General Staff Headquarters (referred to as the Military Unification), and the espionage system of the Central Ministry of Internal Affairs (referred to as the Central Unification), and the three systems are integrated into one, enabling Ding Yuntong to accurately grasp all the situations inside and outside the battlefield at any time.

Tang Shaoyi, who was in Europe, also sent a telegram back, and the negotiations with the Jewish consortium also made significant progress, and soon the first loan contract will be signed, with an amount of 5 million pounds, equivalent to 17.5 million taels of silver.

The amount of this loan contract is not very large, but the significance is extraordinary. It was a political declaration that the international Jewish financial bloc would side with China in the future East Asian war, thus cutting off most of Japan's economic foreign aid.

However, Ding Yuntong understands that the Jews do not see the rabbit and do not scatter the eagle, and the reason why the significant progress has been made is because China has clearly expressed its support for the establishment of the Jewish armed Liliang, which has further gained the trust of the Jews.

At this point, the farce with Japan can be over.

At this time, the talks between China and Japan had reached a climax, and the two sides had basically set the framework of the treaty, the terms of which were extremely favorable to Japan.

Ito Hirobumi and others were sold, and they were full of pride, thinking that a new order in East Asia could be established. I didn't know that all about this intrigue was just a glass of boiled water before a super feast, not even an appetizer.