"Yes!" Hirobumi Ito admired the young and polite emperor very much, and immediately knew what he was going to say, "The cabinet has decided to apologize to China and compensate for the related expenses. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info "Hirobumi Ito took a document out and presented it to Emperor Meiji, "The cabinet is fully responsible for this incident, and it is deeply disturbed and guilty that it has lost the face of the empire, and it has decided to resign and apologize!" ”

Emperor Meiji shook his head, "I will not allow it, Taiko, your hard work and talent I can see very clearly, this is not your fault, nor is it the fault of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is us," he sighed slightly, and said with some sadness, "It is our country that Japan is too weak." ”

"Your Majesty!" Ito Hirobumi and the others hurriedly leaned down and exclaimed sadly, "It's all the incompetence of the ministers!" ”

The lord is worried about the humiliation of the ministers, both China and Japan, according to the previous shogunate era, I am afraid that these ministers will immediately apologize. "Japan is so weak, so in the face of the arrogant and rude Qing State, we can only retreat, the cabinet is not at fault at all, I know this very well, please withdraw your resignation, I will never accept the resignation of the cabinet, apologize and pay compensation, there is no problem at all," Emperor Meiji said coldly, "I believe that this incident can stimulate the struggle of the people of the whole country, and this matter can be turned into a good thing." ”

The Emperor has decided, so let it be done," but," the Emperor continued, "I've seen your plays, why can't the Yoshino be bought?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Ito, "for the purchase of the Yoshino, we have been able to negotiate with the members of the Diet again and again, but we have not been able to resolve the difficulty of increasing the appropriation. ”

Mutsu Munemitsu said unhappily, "These people don't realize at all whether Japan, which is so powerful on the side of the Beiyang Fleet, can live a stable life!" ”

"The government wants His Majesty's support," Ito Hirobumi said, looking up at Emperor Meiji, "and if His Majesty supports it, the parliamentarians will never dare to make any objections." ”

Emperor Meiji didn't mean to say anything about it, he shook his head, "If the parliament doesn't support it, I can't force it." ”

"The current cabinet is very difficult, if this budget is followed, the military spending will be increased from 10 percent to 30 percent, and the people really cannot afford it; But the threat of the Chinese Beiyang Navy is also in front of Japan! Hirobumi Ito said, "If the threat of the Beiyang Fleet was just an ethereal cloud on the horizon, the scene in Nagasaki Port is obviously the best living threat!" ”

Emperor Meiji looked at Minister of the Navy Saigo and said, "Minister Saigo, what do you think?" ”

"With all due respect, this time the crisis is solved, but what about next time? Next time, when the artillery of the Beiyang Navy hits the Japanese mainland, it will be too late to increase military spending! ”

"Please be careful!" Ito Hirofumi pretended to reprimand Saigo, "Don't say such frustrating words in front of Your Majesty!" ”

"If the Yoshino can't be purchased in time, then Minister Saigo's words are entirely possible!" The representative of the military department, Yuhiro Ito, answered.

"So according to Minister Saigo, how quickly do we need to buy the Yoshino?"

"I thought it wouldn't be more than a year at the latest," Saigo thought about it carefully, and then said, "After the Beiyang Navy Master acquired this 9,000-ton warship, it completely stopped buying warships within a few years, which is a good phenomenon, and Japan should seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" ”

"A year? It's been too long! I need to be in half a year! "The Emperor stood up from his throne.

Ito Hirobumi and the others were shocked, and they stood up together, looking at the emperor in almost disbelief.

The emperor wore a long-sleeved, knee-length kimono of white brocade and a flowing crimson culotte that dragged just behind the gold and black heeled getals on his feet. In contrast to his noble and elegant attire was the gloomy look on his face, and he said coldly: "I can't tolerate the Chinese navy showing off its might in front of me for a day, and I must never see the whole empire being so ashamed of such an incident in the port of Nagasaki, Taige!" Within half a year, the Yoshino must be bought! ”

Ito Hirobumi said with some hesitation, "The ministers will do their best to realize His Majesty's will." However, it may be difficult for the people to bear such a large military expenditure. ”

The Emperor's sword-like gaze stabbed at Ito Hirobumi from under his thick eyebrows: "Am I such a monarch who is inconsiderate of his subjects?" Like Gou Jian, I can do it...... Come! ”

Several courtiers heard the sound and ran to the ground.

Emperor: "Withdraw the meal!" From today onwards, I will only eat one meal a day until the Imperial Navy surpasses the Beiyang Navy! ”

Ito Hirobumi and the others were deeply shocked, and knelt down together and cried in unison: "Your Majesty!!! ”

"Many of Fukuzawa Yukichi's words just now are quite pedantic, I don't fully agree with them, he completely ignores the sharp increase in the national strength of the Qing State over the years, the Qing State has defeated Russia and France, this is a great achievement, but if we" the Emperor's eyes shine brightly, "it is a coward's act to abandon the ideal of the rise of our Yamato nation just because the Qing State is strong, I think that he is very right about one thing, our Japanese Empire, for thousands of years, if we want to become strong, The biggest and most initial obstacle is the Qing Kingdom! It's been like this since Toyotomi Hideyoshi! ”

The emperor's gloomy and very loud voice echoed in the hall, "Qing Guo is the biggest obstacle on the road to the rise of our Japanese Empire, this obstacle is like Mount Tai, although it is high, but I will never give up the determination to break this biggest obstacle because Mount Tai is too high, Mr. Fukuzawa believes that if Japan wants to rise rapidly, it is necessary to abandon all the old things that are not suitable, and it cannot be the same as the Qing State, or maintain their inherent dregs that have been handed down for thousands of years, just absorb some military technology, "The Three Principles and Five Constants," Emperor Meiji suddenly said in Chinese, "The Three Principles and Five Constants, as if they were ghosts enveloping the Qing Kingdom, these things, we in Japan must firmly abandon, this is what can be done by leaving Asia and joining Europe, and all Westernization!" Ladies and gentlemen, the Qing State does not want to forge ahead, or maintains the old system of ruling and managing subjects, this must not keep up with the trend of the times, please believe this, so, I can do the same! ”

China and Japan signed an agreement to pay each other compensation for the dead and wounded, with Japan paying China 52,500 yuan, China paying Japan 15,500 yuan, and Nagasaki Hospital paying 2,700 yuan for medical expenses. The two sides reached an agreement to make concessions to each other, and both sides agreed that the misunderstanding was caused by the language barrier, so the perpetrators were handed over to their own governments, while the dead and injured were compensated by the other side. It is worth mentioning that the amount of pension paid by the Japanese side greatly exceeded that of the Qing court. In other words, it is equivalent to paying reparations to China.

In the eyes of the Japanese, it is unbearable for foreign sailors to come to their country to make trouble when they get drunk, and finally ask their country to pay compensation. Advocating force has become the mainstream public opinion in Japan, and "vigorously developing the navy" has also become a consensus in Japan, and "we must defeat Dingyuan" has become the goal and slogan of the Japanese navy. Even the most popular game for Japanese children is divided into two groups, one group dressed as the Chinese fleet, and the other group dressed as the Japanese fleet, and the main purpose of the game is to besiege Dingyuan and Zhenyuan.

Japan's Cabinet once again put forward a bill to increase military spending, but under the pressure of the emperor to eat only one meal a day, and under the rising anti-Qing sentiment among the people, it was easily passed, and no one dared to oppose it.

The Emperor's gloomy and unruly voice spread throughout Japan: "I have always believed that the task of reviving the empire lies with the navy. Although the empire allocates a huge amount of money from the treasury for coastal defense, and I also allocate 300,000 yuan from the inner treasury every year to subsidize it, but I still feel that it is insufficient. I am very worried. In order to show my will to lie down and try my courage and motivate my subjects to be loyal and courageous, I have decided to eat only one meal a day from now on. If the Imperial Navy is not strong, I will not be able to eat again......"

The Japanese island nation is boiling!

In the streets where the Emperor's decree was hung, the noisy citizens knelt in the dark, reaching out to the sky, weeping, and shouting, "Long live the Emperor!" ”

PS: Long live the monthly pass! (To be continued.) )