Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 430 The Return Journey

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, I'll go back and sort things out first, then I'll call you. Just make sure you're ready."

Chen Hui said, "Actually, I think if we find a place in Fengtian, set up a few proper yurts, and do exactly the same thing as the place we went to the other day, copying everything from the dishes to the etiquette, it will definitely be a hit."

Xiao Wei helped Chen Hui pack the things into the leather suitcase, and then the men each carried a little more. The group left the department store and headed back.

Xiao Wei said, "There are two problems. First, the purity of the food; we definitely can't fake it. Second, regarding the performances, should we hire a few people from here? Would it be feasible to find them locally? If all the food has to maintain its authentic flavor, then we can only source it from here, but wouldn't that be too costly?"

Chen Hui said, "Didn't you just say we could get wholesale from food factories? Can we do it together? We can do wholesale while operating yurts (traditional Mongolian tents), wouldn't that reduce costs? It's mainly a matter of the order quantity per order, right?"

Zhang Jun said, "The things here can be stored for a relatively long time because of the Mongolian people's living habits. As long as you keep them clean, there shouldn't be any major problems. As long as you have enough space to store them, it's fine."

Xia Maosheng laughed and said, "Storage isn't a problem at all. We have cold storage, right? Would they dare charge us a high price for storing our stuff?"

Chen Hui, carrying a leather suitcase, slapped Xia Maosheng hard on the back and said, "You're quick-witted." Xia Maosheng gritted his teeth, pulled Geng Hui a few steps to the side, and said, "It's blatant revenge. I'm not going to argue with you. Ouch, this kid is too ruthless. He's going to make a hole in the back." He then twisted his neck and shook his arms to relieve the pain.

It wasn't far at all, only a few hundred meters. We chatted and laughed all the way there. We took our things into the guesthouse and divided them up. We emptied Geng Hui's small suitcase and filled it up. We went downstairs to have lunch and then came back up to sit, talk, and rest.

In the afternoon, the seven of them spent the afternoon at Genghis Khan Park, taking some photos. This is considered the highest point in Xingcheng, offering a panoramic view of the entire city. The sky was such a pure blue, and the land stretched endlessly. Standing on the platform in front of the temple, gazing into the distance, one felt a sense of openness and expansiveness.

This Genghis Khan Mausoleum is not a true tomb but a sacrificial temple. It contains a large golden statue of Genghis Khan, some portraits, and detailed records and interpretations of the history of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. It was built during the Japanese occupation to appease the Mongols. From that period until the early days of the People's Republic of China, Xingcheng, historically known as Wangye Temple, remained the political and economic center of eastern Mongolia.

The first shot of Japan's invasion of China was fired here in 1929. The September 18 Incident refers to the Mukden Incident in 1931 at the Liutiaohu Barracks (Beidaying) of the Fengtian Army in Fengtian City, which marked the fall of the entire Northeast. In fact, before September 18, Japan had already occupied a large area in the Northeast, but the Fengtian Army was still in power at that time, and the Republic of China was still in name.

I wonder which hemisphere of the highly developed brain the historian used to write the history of modern Japanese aggression.

Japan's aggression against China began with the First Sino-Japanese War. Historically, the relationship between China and Japan after the war was unclear until the September 18 Incident. In fact, the Treaty of Shimonoseki following the First Sino-Japanese War directly erased China's rule over the Korean Peninsula. Before the First Sino-Japanese War, China had the position of Governor-General of Korea, the last of whom was the renowned Yuan Shikai.

The Treaty of Shimonoseki also stipulated the cession of the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan, which the Qing Dynasty agreed to. The treaty stipulated that China ceded the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan Island and its affiliated islands, and the Penghu Islands to Japan, and paid Japan an indemnity of 2 million taels of silver. China opened Shashi, Bayu, and Suzhou-Hangzhou as treaty ports and allowed Japan to invest and establish factories in Chinese treaty ports. In addition, the treaty legalized the stationing of Japanese troops in Shandong.

However, the cession of the Liaodong Peninsula touched the interests of Tsarist Russia and Germany and France. So these three countries dragged Japan into a corner and gave it a severe beating, changed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, and returned the Liaodong Peninsula to the Qing Dynasty. However, it was not returned for nothing; the Qing Dynasty spent 30 million taels of silver.

Japan, a cunning and manipulative nation, wiped the blood from its face and silently occupied the Korean Peninsula, Shandong, and Taiwan before beginning preparations for war. The most interesting and tragic aspect is that Japan's war preparations were funded entirely by reparations from the Qing Dynasty—a staggering 230 million taels of silver. This was because the Japanese people at that time were barely able to feed themselves and had no money whatsoever.

That old woman has money to build her own garden and money to give to foreigners, but she has no money for military or civilian purposes.

Then came the Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of Beijing, and Tsarist Russia subsequently sent troops into Mongolia and Northeast China. By 1900, the various Russian armies had converged on Tieling, occupying the entire Northeast. This completed Tsarist Russia's so-called "Yellow Russia Plan," and a city was built on Liaodong Bay, which is today's Dalian.

In 1903, Japan had squandered all of Qing Dynasty's money, forcing the entire nation to sell everything they owned to prepare for war. In February 1904, they secretly organized an attack on Port Arthur. Even the Japanese only dared to employ this tactic of a surprise attack without a declaration of war. The Russo-Japanese War broke out in Northeast China. Port Arthur, Yingkou, Liaoyang, and Andong were the primary battlefields.

By September 1904, the Japanese had committed all their forces and were running out of steam. Their frenzied fighting terrified the Russians, who retreated all the way from Lushun, Liaoyang, Fengtian, and Heigou to Siping on land, and chased the Russian warships all the way to Vladivostok at sea.

I suddenly realized that today, the border between China and Russia is actually thanks to Japan. Holy crap.

Then Japan occupied Shandong Bay, the Penghu Islands, and the Liaodong Peninsula, gradually pushing Tsarist Russia to the border we see today. During this period, Northeast China was essentially jointly governed by China and Japan. Then came the familiar history: the puppet state of Manchukuo was established in 31.

Therefore, it is not difficult for us to see that before the First Sino-Japanese War, the Korean Peninsula, Ryukyu Islands, Penghu, and Taiwan were all our territories.

Thanks to the Japanese Emperor, if it weren't for him, we could be watching the Black Sea Fleet in Dalian today, instead of Vladivostok. Although Vladivostok was originally ours. And I would be a proud Mauritian.

During the post-World War II period of military rule by the United States, the Japanese government asked Chiang Kai-shek if he wanted the Ryukyu Islands. Chiang Kai-shek, finding the management of several small islands too troublesome, refused. Damn it! Not only did he refuse, he even agreed to hand them over to Japan for administration.

……

At 9:30 p.m., Xiaowei and his group of five boarded the train for their return journey, carrying their luggage.

Zhang Jun helped carry the luggage onto the train and find berths. The five of them sat directly in one carriage. The sister-in-law took a large aluminum lunchbox filled with fried dumplings, wrapped it in several towels, and handed it to Xiao Hong. Of course, there were also boiled eggs, a full twenty of them.

After some words of farewell, Zhang Jun and his sister-in-law got off the train. The train slowly started moving, and several people clung to the windows, waving goodbye to Zhang Jun and his sister-in-law. As the train gradually accelerated, the small town was left behind, growing farther and farther away.

(End of this chapter)