"Behold, the palace!"

Lieutenant Colonel Lei Yuming, commander of the 1st Praetorian Guard Regiment, pointed to the continuous wood and stone buildings at the foot of the mountain and shouted, he stood on the edge of the cliff at the top of the mountain, the open shirt of his military uniform whirring in the wind.

Zhao Minhe, the commander of the first battalion, handed over the binoculars: "Regiment commander, the fight is terrible." ”

Lei Yuming took it with one hand, but saw that in front of the gate of Jingdegong Palace, a bunch of ants were densely piled together, squirming vigorously.

"What the hell, it's all there, we're going to fart!"

Lei Yuming muttered to himself, hung the telescope around his neck, pulled out his revolver and fired it twice into the sky, and began to shout at the group of soldiers who were moving slowly at his feet: "Brothers, go quickly! If you slow down, you can only help people bury the dead bodies, we are here to attack Seoul, not to visit the mountains and rivers! The first battalion hastened up, and within an hour I want you to rush into the city and shove the head of the lieutenant general of that big island into the dunghole!" ”

Next to him, Zhao Minhe reminded: "Regiment commander, shooting indiscriminately will attract the attention of the enemy." ”

Lei Yuming snorted, pulled the trigger four more times, and all six bullets were wasted, and then said slowly: "What if you pay attention, the battle has been fought outside the headquarters, we are still on the mountain, can we catch up and stab a few Japanese to death is the problem, less nonsense, take your battalion forward, didn't you hear what I said just now?" ”

Zhao Minhe hesitated for a moment, plucked up his courage and responded: "However, it is impossible to reach the city within an hour, even if the current speed is doubled, it will take two hours to reach the outer wall of the palace city, and it is now four o'clock in the afternoon, and our original plan is to launch a surprise attack at ten o'clock in the evening and attack Gyeongbokgung Palace——。 ”

"Battalion Commander Zhao! What is Article 1 of the first paragraph of the Code of Conduct for Army servicemen, have you forgotten? Thunderstorm grimaced.

"I remember very well that the duty of a soldier is to obey orders." Zhao Minhe craned his neck and looked at the blue sky.

Thunderstorm unscrewed the roller magazine of the revolver, and with a wave of his hand, six empty cartridge casings fell to the stone, and one of the cartridge casings jumped twice on the stone, rushing into the abyss at Lei Yuming's feet.

"When, you're still thinking about that plan! The situation has changed, and we no longer need to sneak down the mountain and conquer the walls with rope hooks and broadswords! We just need to kill down the mountain generously, smash the gate with zha medicine, rush into the palace and kill, it's that simple! Don't put conditions on me and complain about bitterness, there must be difficulties, and if there are no difficulties, I will use your battalion as a pioneer? I know that you are at the top of the Lu University, so I believe that you have the ability to complete tasks that others can't accomplish! ”

"Not all tasks," Zhao Minhe said calmly, raising his hand to the city that was rising under the mountain, "From here we can clearly see that the Japanese army's defense system has collapsed, and they are consuming the most rearly reserves to defend the headquarters, so it can be said that the overall situation has been decided, and the Japanese army will be wiped out in less than three or two hours." ”

Lei Yuming glanced at him: "And then?" ”

Zhao Minhe put down his hand and turned his head to look at Lei Yuming: "There is no need for our mission to be carried out, so there is no need for the brothers to sacrifice meaninglessly for that little insignificant battle achievement. ”

"What do you say! Am I wasting my life fighting for merit? Who do you think you are? The high-quality students are amazing! I worked hard to stay up all night with the staff officers to make a plan, led the whole regiment over the mountains and mountains, and finally brought everyone to the back hill of Gyeongbokgung Palace, in order to slaughter my own brothers under the city walls!? ”

Lei Yuming was obviously enraged, he couldn't tolerate a subordinate so arrogantly accusing himself of ignoring the lives of officers and soldiers, and since this junior brother who graduated first in the 92nd infantry department came to the first regiment, Lei Yuming has always had a sense of crisis, and this sense of crisis gradually deepened as Zhao Minhe continued to put forward his more intelligent opinions at military meetings, and finally turned into a latent resentment, when this resentment erupted uncontrollably - "Regiment commander, there is a fire in Gyeongbokgung Palace!" Captain Liu Xuedong, a staff officer of the regimental headquarters, intervened at the right time.

The not-so-simple conflict between the regiment commander and the battalion commander was stopped by some kind of God-given accident, Lei Yuming raised his binoculars, and sure enough, he saw a low wall, those beautifully made small boxes spewed black smoke and red flames, and around the boxes, a handful of ant colonies were running wildly.

"It's boring, is it necessary to be so fast?" Lei Yuming shouted unwillingly, put down the binoculars and began to reload his revolver.

"Captain, I-"

Zhao Minhe wanted to explain something, but was interrupted by Lei Yuming in a relaxed tone: "Forget it, I sometimes have a bad temper, and it's okay to be angry, you go back to the army first, let them continue to move forward at the current speed, we will enter the city at eight o'clock tonight, pay attention to safety." ”

"Yes!" Zhao Minhe saluted, used his hands and feet to get off the top of the mountain, and just walked on the mountain road where the troops were marching, but he heard a few crisp gunshots behind him, he sighed and ran to the front of the team.

Two soldiers on the side of the road asked and answered:

"Where is the head of the regiment playing bird hunting again?"

"Nonsense, do you think everyone is like you? Let's practice marksmanship. ”

※※※

At the foot of the towering Beidake Mountain.

"Commander Oshima!"

Major General Toyoda Weiwu, commander of the 11th Brigade, looked helplessly at the Qinzheng Hall of Jingdegong Palace, where the fire was raging, and waved his sword to split a small tree beside him in two.

Major General Bai Humingjin, the commander of the Sixth Brigade covered in blood, staggered to Toyota's side: "Toyota-kun, the people of China have broken through the palace gate!" ”

Toyota clenched his sword and gritted his teeth: "Commander Oshima has already followed the example of Nobunaga [Note 1] and led up*, we can't compare with Commander Oshima in terms of virtue and ability, so we are not qualified to enjoy such a way of ascending to heaven, we can only use the sword in our hands to solve ourselves!" ”

The white tiger grabbed Toyota: "Toyota-kun, the way it is now, it is tantamount to letting the people of China take advantage, rather than cutting themselves, it is better to die in battle, let's rush over together, and use the Japanese knife in our hands to solve the Chinese pig!" ”

Toyota was about to say "yes" when a Manchari rifle bullet went through his right temple and didn't come out, when Toyota let out a muffled grunt and fell to the ground.

White Tiger didn't think about it, raised his proud sharp long knife, and rushed to the palace gate with a strange scream, suddenly, the Qing infantry in front of him scattered to both sides, and White Tiger didn't think about it, just looked forward, and collided head-on with a group of Qing Janissary Cavalry!

In the midst of the screams, a human arm and a steel Japanese sword flew into the sky, and the horse's hooves stepped on someone's body, as if they had trampled on his head, and it seemed that blood was flowing with his brain, as if he was hopeless.

"Kill them all! Leave no mouth alive! ”

Angry humans do not allow waste like reason or kindness to exist.

Lieutenant Colonel Chen Xingyun, commander of the 15th Praetorian Guard Regiment, wielded the golden dragon battle flag on a red background in one hand and his ordinary 7.63mm revolver in the other, encouraging his subordinates to kill all enemies who could still breathe. Beside him, Second Lieutenant Xu Soul, the commander of the guard platoon of the first battalion, strode forward with a large blade covered in blood, and every time he encountered a Japanese soldier lying on the ground, whether he was dead or alive, he took off the head with a knife, and the two soldiers behind him followed, throwing the head that was still dripping blood into a basket made of bamboo strips, and hundreds of the same baskets were prepared, stacked on the side of the palace gate, and used as they pleased. Over the next two weeks, more than 10,000 heads, from generals to soldiers, hung on the tower of the South Gate of Seoul, Chongwen Gate, causing the extinction of pedestrians, the relocation of shops, and the flocks of crows, as a result of the following months.

The Battle of Seoul came to an end in this bloody beheading campaign, and it took less than eight hours for the Qing army to break through to the siege of Miyagi, and even if you count the time to chop off 16,000 heads, it was only a short 24 hours -- and this was to blame for the logistics department not bringing enough broadswords.

"-- Our troops were killed 2,563 and wounded 5,241, of whom 1,816 were seriously wounded. A total of 7,804 casualties were lost. 19,053 were killed and 631 were captured. Report complete! ”

Zhong Xiahuo glanced at the young communications staff officer and shook his head: "The little devil is quite desperate - little guy, in the future, report the enemy's losses first and then report to us, I really don't know what you learned in school, change it quickly, and then send it to the General Staff Officer." ”

"Yes!"

"Silver Staff!"

"Here!"

"You're in charge of organizing everyone to pack up their things, we're going to go into the city for a good meal!"

"Understood!" Yintian heard that he was going to have a big meal, and happily prepared to go.

Later—-

Zhong Xiahuo really did not break his promise, and invited dozens of officers, including all the staff officers of the headquarters, to have a big meal on the square in front of the Miyagi Qinzheng Palace, which had not yet cleaned up the bloodstains, causing more than 10 people with Colonel Lu Zixiang, commander of the 1st Janissary Brigade as a typical representative, to have bloated for several days due to severe indigestion, and more than a dozen of them had their stomachs rumbling after they returned. Yintian didn't eat anything that night, and he didn't feel hungry, and the densely hung head on the Chongwen Gate took away all his appetite. Of course, it was not only the lives of some Hancheng citizens and the appetite of Lieutenant Colonel Yintian who paid the price for those heads on the Chongwen Gate, but half a month later, some Chinese and foreign newspapers and periodicals who had nothing to do exaggerated the matter and sold it everywhere, and even Emperor Guangxu knew about it.

"If you win, you will win, so why deliberately behead the hanging city and humiliate the dead? Now both China and foreign countries think that the army of the United Nations does not know benevolence and righteousness, and is so beastly that the country has lost face. ”

After listening to the emperor's complaints, Liu Yun proposed at the meeting of the sub-planning department that night that Zhong Xiahuo should be transferred back, and Ding Jieyun would be the commander of the Korean Front Army and lead all the army units in the DPRK in a unified manner.

"Zhong Xiahuo's temperament is too strong, and he doesn't know how to take care of the overall situation, North Korea can't let him stay any longer, I am ready to transfer him back to be the commander of the reserve army, and sharpen his temperament."

Liu Yun said to Wen Yi after the meeting, Wen Yi had no objection to this, although he knew that Zhong Xiahuo had no good impression of him, but he never thought that Zhong Xiahuo would try to kill him.

Wen Yi didn't have time to imagine how Zhong Xiahuo would react after receiving the order, in fact, it was very simple, Zhong Xiahuo would repeat his mantra with different words but no change: "It's Wen Yi's ghost again!" ”

Zhong Xiahuo didn't understand that a real famous general should have at least political and moral literacy, otherwise, no matter how great his military exploits were, he would not be able to wash away the shame and stains that would inevitably appear.

But what can humanity do when reason encounters the monster of prejudice, senseless hatred, and the latent savage nature of man?

※※※

On September 25, 1894, the smoke of gunfire in Seoul had already settled, and three thousand miles away in Shanghai, a bloodless battle had just entered the white heat.

Imperial Foreign Minister Zhang Zhigao was already staying up all night for the third time, because the opponent of the negotiations was Japanese Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu, who was known for his cunning and patience, and Zhang Zhigao had to pull off his usual polite face and replace it with a brutal face that was extremely vicious and vicious, and it was really painful for him to maintain this state of affairs that did not suit his character for more than ten hours in a row.

"Foreign Minister Mutsu, His Majesty the Emperor and the ministers of our cabinet have reached the limit of their patience, and if your country is still so stubborn and refuses to accept our country's last demand, then please prepare an urn for the remaining 60,000 officers and soldiers on the Korean Peninsula."

Mutsu Zongguang had heard that Zhang Zhigao was just a young student in his 20s, and he believed that he was old and experienced, so he dared to delay again and again, intending to minimize his country's losses, and he did not take Zhang Zhigao's similar threats many times seriously.

"Your Excellency, if you have something to discuss, I think there should be room for concessions on both sides, your country is rich in products, and our country's market is not particularly necessary for your country. As for the indemnity, the maximum amount that our country can afford is only 15 million taels, and I will not hide it from Your Excellency, that last year's fiscal revenue was less than 20 million taels of silver, and although this year because of the war, although taxes were levied, it was not at all enough to cover the war expenses. ”

Zhang Zhigao said coldly: "Your Excellency seems to have not listened to me carefully for a few days, and I pointed out at the beginning that we do not require your country to pay all the compensation at once, but can repay it in installments. The 200 million taels of silver will be repaid in two stages for a total of 40 years, with 10 million taels per year for the first 10 years and about 4 million taels per year for the last 30 years. Your Excellency's constant prevarication, word play and obvious lack of sincerity will render our talks meaningless if they continue. ”

Mutsu Munemitsu took a sip of tea unhurriedly and began to repeat his old tune: "I regret that my country has brought great sincerity to ask for an anti-Russian alliance with your country, but your country has set up obstacles on some minor issues, resulting in a deadlock in the negotiations. ”

Zhang Zhigao slapped the table with both hands—he had slapped the table at most three times in the more than 20 years before that—and shouted in a voice that was not high-pitched enough: "Please note that your country is already doomed to defeat, your navy is completely destroyed, the main force of the army is also on the verge of destruction on the Korean Peninsula, and the Russian army has landed in Hokkaido, which directly endangers the security of your country. ”

Mutsu Munemitsu smiled slightly: "There are 40 million people in Japan, as well as the emperor of the Wanshi lineage, and the spirit of bushido that supports the entire Yamato nation. Any country that wants to conquer Japan must first be prepared to pay a huge price, which is big enough to collapse a world power, more than 600 years ago, the Mongols who once ravaged the entire Eurasian continent were slaughtered all over the field by our elite samurai, I do not believe that 600 years from now any country will be willing to do such a thing that is destined to have no good results. ”

Zhang Zhigao snorted, twisted his neck and said, "It seems that your country is not going to make any concessions?" ”

Mutsu Somitsu still maintained his calm tone, neither humble nor arrogant: "As I said, everything is negotiable, and there is still room for mutual concessions on both sides. ”

"I see everyone is a little tired, let's have afternoon tea together."

Vice-Minister Bun Yi, who had been on the back burner at the negotiating table for several days, suddenly came up with this sentence, which made the boring stalemate be stopped before it appeared, and Mutsu Munemitsu let out a long sigh, he was too tired to do anything.

Between the pillars of the loop, Wen Yi called Zhang Zhigao, who was rubbing his eyes and pressing his temples: "Zhigao, hard work." ”

Zhang Zhigao smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This kind of thing should be done by that guy He Xin, it is very suitable for him to play a black face like that." ”

Wen Yi handed over a cigar: "He Xin not only has to do the work of the vice minister of the army, but also serves as the director of the ordnance industry and the director of the Ordnance Research Institute, which is enough for him to be busy, so Liu Yun asked me to replace him." That's all for today, go back to sleep first, and I'll deal with Michinoku. ”

"I'm fine—"

"Rest, it's time for me to play with my white face, I've tortured Mutsu for so long, it's time to show him some bottom.

Three hours later, before dinner time came, Mutsu Munemitsu carefully read the draft of the final armistice terms that Wen Yi had given him, and his mind was a little confused for a while, but he said quietly: "Because your terms have changed significantly, I must ask for instructions from China, please postpone the deadline for three days." ”

Wen Yi smiled: "Yes, but please be sure to pay attention to confidentiality, once the great powers know the details of this clause, some interests of our two countries, especially your country, will be needlessly lost." ”

Mutsu Omune leaned forward slightly naked, and said a joke very seriously: "Let our two countries go hand in hand under the premise of equality and jointly resist the encroachment of the great powers." ”

Wen Yi continued to smile: "Of course, the friendship between China and Japan has a long history, the two countries have cold lips, and Russia's aggression against your country is actually a prelude to the invasion of our country, and our country, from the emperor to the members of the Senior Yuan, are all deeply concerned about this..."

The two continued to talk about the high-sounding nonsense for half an hour before having dinner - when it comes to official words, the Japanese learned it from the Tang Empire more than a thousand years ago.

After dinner, at Wen Yi's suggestion, the negotiations came to an end, so that the Japanese side could consult the domestic decision-making level and resume the negotiations in three days, and Wen Yi hoped that the treaty would be signed in one go.

"There can be no longer delay, the Russians are speeding up the transfer of troops to the Far East, and the situation in Korea and Japan must be stabilized as soon as possible, so that we can concentrate enough forces to prevent the Russians from taking advantage of the situation."

Wen Yi remembered that Liu Yun had repeatedly explained to him so much before Shanghai, but out of the consideration of testing the opponent's bottom line and creating a psychological gap, he asked Zhang Zhigao to pretend to be ruthless and repeatedly threaten Mutsu Zongguang, and it took three whole days, and now the most important step of Ji Lu's plan has been taken out of Lu, and the result should be in his own expectations.

Back at the apartment, Wen Yi was about to take a comfortable hot bath, and slept until dawn, but was disturbed by an encrypted telegram handed by the servant:

Brother Wen:

Liang Qichao suddenly submitted his resignation to the Central Executive Committee at noon today, and announced his resignation from the party; according to the intelligence bureau, Liang was about to join Kang's royalist party because he was being wooed by Kang Youwei. In addition, the royalists impeached their own party at today's regular session of the Senate, and Sun Yat-sen and other Liberals also used the issue of negotiations to make trouble. Such an urgent party and government matter urgently needs Brother Wen to deal with it personally, please leave the negotiation matter to Zhigao for the time being, and immediately take a special train back to Beijing.

Liu

September 25th

"Sir, there are people waiting for you outside."

"I know it." Wen Yi put the half-stripped suit back to a normal state twice, and now he really wanted to run out of the city immediately to send a telegram, and let Liu Yun send a professional assassination team - the "Haw Par Battalion" that has successfully carried out more than a thousand missions - to solve the traitor surnamed Liang and his teacher surnamed Kang together, it is best to catch up with the hairy boys like Sun Yat-sen and Lu Haodong, and then the world will be pure, although it is short, but at least let yourself sleep for a good day.

"I'm a counter-revolutionary." Wen Yi laughed at himself in his heart, looked at the forty-year-old middle-aged man in his glasses who showed a tired look, sighed, and stepped out of the room.

※※※

"Democracy, that's interesting."

Wen Yi was lying in the rickety sleeper of the special train, although he was sleepy, he couldn't sleep, so he simply got up and lit a cigarette, looking out the window at the quiet and dark Jianghuai Plain, with a lot of thoughts.

The Democratic Party of the Chinese People, or China People's Party for short, was founded in January 1893, and at the beginning of its founding, it set up two core organs, the Central Executive Committee and the Central Supervisory Commission, to lead the whole party in various tasks with the actual goal of expanding the organization, winning the hearts and minds of the people (i.e., votes), and thus gaining a ruling position. There are a total of 32 members of the first Central Executive Committee, of which nine Standing Committee members were elected, including Vice Minister Wen Yi, Minister of Industry and Commerce Niu Jin, Minister of Finance Han Lang, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Tian Zhenghong, Vice Minister of Finance Mo Ning, Vice Minister of Science and Technology Ma Feng, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhang Zhigao, Governor of Hunan Province Chen Baoxuan, Member of the Senior Council Liang Qichao, and Wen Yi as the President of the Party and Chairman of the Central Executive Committee. At the same time, five standing committee members were elected from among the 21 members of the Central Supervision Commission, namely, Zeng Jize, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luo Sulan, Vice Minister of Culture and Education, Tang Caichang, chairman of the Hunan Consultative Bureau, Huang Zunxian, member of the Senior Affairs Yuan, and Yang Rui, member of the Senior Affairs Yuan, with Zeng Jize as chairman. Now Liang Qichao, one of the members of the Standing Committee of the Central Executive Committee of the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, suddenly quit the party, which cannot but be said to be a major change, which is why Liu Yun, the biggest boss behind the scenes of the Chinese People's Party, is so eager to return to Beijing to deal with it.

As the situation of the Korean War became clearer, the various political forces of the empire also entered a period of active activity - first, the annual election of the Senate was about to begin, and politicians would do anything for the sake of votes; The second is that the fundamental law of the empire is about to be promulgated, and everyone wants to influence the formulation of the constitution to have their rightful seat in the future political ecology.

Although the KMT has gained a clear advantage in the Information Council and local advisory bureaus through more than a year of painstaking management, this does not mean that potential opponents will automatically disappear; on the contrary, parties representing different strata, powerful forces, and groups, such as Kang Youwei's Royalist Party, Sun Yat-sen's Freedom Party, and Zhirui's Noble Association, have emerged one after another to compete with the CDP. Democracy does need competition, but not all competitors have a positive impact on the empire's development.

The Royalist Party was founded in March 1893, and its president, Kang Youwei, declared at the beginning of its establishment that it would protect the people, the country, and the religion (that is, Confucianism), and in order to effectively complete the "three guarantees", it was necessary to support the emperor's holy monarch of the empire, the Guangxu Emperor, and unite as one heart and one heart in order to achieve great things. In the 1894 election of the Senate, the royalist party won the support of some of the enlightened gentry and the old aristocracy through Kang Youwei's strong personal influence and the party's soft ideas, and won 15 seats in the House of Commons and 22 seats in the House of Nobles, becoming the second largest party in the Senate.

The Liberal Party was founded in June 1893 with a Standing Committee, with Sun Yat-sen as chairman and Lu Haodong as vice chairman. The party's clear stand was to demand a republican system, so it was initially suppressed by the joint efforts of the Chinese People's Party and the Royalist Party, and then was forced to stop publicizing the republican system in public and instead demanded the election of the emperor, which won the understanding of the Chinese People's Party, but was still accused by Kang Youwei of being a "great rebellion", and was insulted and impeached by the Royalist Party in various forms and reasons almost every month. Due to its radical views, in the 1894 election to the House of Nobles won only one seat in the House of Nobles, but won 13 seats in the House of Commoners, making it the third largest party in the House of Commons.

Founded in October 1893 by the Minister of Culture and Education, the Noble Society, which was joined mostly by the old aristocracy, was a die-hard royalist organization – they denounced both the Royalists and the Liberals as rebels and rebels, and were sometimes disrespectful to the Chinese People's Party – so they were often distraught by the aforementioned three parties, and only 17 seats were maintained in the House of Nobles after the election of the Senate in 1894.

The rest of the small parties and factions lack sufficient strength and have no confidence to speak in the Senior Affairs Yuan, but in some local cities and counties, they can stand alone.

"So, which forces should be combined and which forces should be suppressed?"

Wen Yi does not intend to solve these problems immediately, some things must be put aside for a period of time, watch the development, feel the context, seize the appropriate moment, and then make a decision, so as not to be biased and confused.

"Let's find Liang Qichao's replacement first."

A strong and energetic face conjured up in his mind.

That man's speech was sonorous and powerful, and although some of his views were radical and sensitive, his passion and knowledge, eloquence and wisdom were completely compatible, and more importantly, he had a firm ambition to strengthen the country and enrich the people.

"Tan Sitong."

Wen Yi silently read the name, put his hand on the cold car window, and stared at his own face reflected on it.

"I'm so tired."

Wen Yi snuffed out the cigarette butt and cut off the memories that were about to move, he slowly lay down and pressed the light switch.

Now everything has sunk into the darkness of hell.

※※※

[Note 1] Nobunaga: Oda Nobunaga, a famous hero in Japan's Warring States Period, on the eve of his imminent unification of Japan, his subordinates Akechi Mitsuhide rebelled and surrounded him in Honnoji Temple.