Master Yuan, start!

If the Qing Dynasty, after being divided into two halves, could have its government and the people united, like Japan in the first year of the Meiji era, then Ito Hirobumi would no longer have any improper thoughts about the mainland.

But this is not the case.

How to solve the issue of salaries for millions of Eight Banner soldiers?

In order to abolish the samurai salaries, Japan triggered the Southwest War which was no less severe than the Qing Dynasty's war to overthrow the shogunate. How would Yuan Shikai deal with the Eight Banners?

According to intelligence, tens of thousands of Eight Banners were captured during the War to Overthrow the Curtain and used as miners and slaves. It is said that more than half of them were killed or injured in the past seven years.

He and the Eight Banners had long been at odds with each other. It was good that he now had a large army, but if he lost his troops one day, his fate would be unimaginable.

Yuan Xiangcheng didn't know what Ito Hirobumi was thinking, but he did think carefully about what he said.

Yuan Xiangcheng could hear that Ito Hirobumi's Mandarin accent was closer to that of the Jianghuai region, probably an accent passed down by scholars who fled to Japan in the late Ming Dynasty and stayed there.

But why did Ito Hirobumi want to sow discord between himself and the Qing court? How much benefit could Japan gain from it? Was it worth taking such a risk?

Today's Japan may not be much weaker in strength than in the original time and space, but the international situation it faces is no longer the same.

The first is North China, which is closest to Japan. Since Korea had long been taken over by Yuan Shikai, the western Japan region was directly threatened by the National Defense Forces.

In the Jiangnan area, due to the existence of the newly formed Hunan Army, the military force is much stronger than in the original time and space.

Fujian, which is close to Ryukyu, became the focus of the competition between Hunan and Huaihai due to its special geographical location.

The two sides used Xiamen as the dividing line. One side took over the three prefectures of Tingzhou, Longyan and Zhangzhou close to Guangdong; the other side took over the three prefectures of Shaowu, Jianning and Funing close to Zhejiang.

As for the remaining areas in central Fujian, such as Quanzhou and Fuzhou, due to the dispute, both sides temporarily agreed to hand them over to the jurisdiction of the former Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, Bian Baodi.

Therefore, there were not many troops defending Fujian, but Taiwan, the springboard, had already been taken by the French, and Ito Hirobumi was not arrogant enough to try to anger France.

Chapter 198 Yuan Yiteng Talks 2 Nanyang

"According to what Mr. Ito said, the two governors in the south are clearly also trying to support the Tartar chieftain." Yuan Xiangcheng sounded out:

"And the one they are loyal to is the pseudo-Tartar chieftain. Isn't this even more absurd?"

In Yuan Xiangcheng's view, Ito Hirobumi's grasp of the general trend of the world was very cautious, and he certainly did not come from Japan to instigate him to rebel against the Qing Dynasty.

There must be a bigger plan hidden in his heart.

After all, in the original time and space, Ito Hirobumi led the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and the Japan-Korea merger, and neither of them encountered strong opposition from the international community. Instead, they brought Japan huge war reparations and Korean mineral resources.

He took risky moves at every step, but always managed to escape danger. His tactics were much better than those of his Showa successors 30 years later.

Even as a time traveler, Yuan Xiangcheng never looked down on Japan's first prime minister.

"Lord Yuan seems to not believe me?" Ito Hirobumi shook his head helplessly and took out half a foot of white cloth from his arms.

"Look, Master Yuan, this is a blood letter from Zhu Yongjin, a descendant of Zhu Shunshui of the Ming Dynasty."

"Zhu Shunshui actually has descendants left in Japan?" Yuan Xiangcheng asked in surprise.

Of course, he knew the famous name of Zhu Shunshui, a Ming Dynasty loyalist. In order to support the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Shunshui followed Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Huangyan in the Northern Expedition, traveled between Annan, Xiamen and Zhoushan to coordinate, and even asked Japan for troops for revenge several times.

It was not until the Qing Dynasty established its rule on the mainland that Zhu Shunshui, seeing that there was no hope of restoring the Ming Dynasty, fled to Japan and opened a school to teach. Later, he studied under Tokugawa Ieyasu's grandsons Tokugawa Mitsurugi and Tokugawa Tsune, and enjoyed great reputation in Japan.

Zhu Shunshui is also known as "the first overseas Siming person"

However, Yuan Xiangcheng did not expect that this person's descendants did not integrate into Japan, but instead retained the surname Zhu until the end of the 19th century.

Shaking his head, Yuan Xiangcheng looked carefully and found two lines of words written on the white cloth.

"Restore the Ming Dynasty! Lord Yuan, please restore the Han Dynasty!"

Seeing Yuan Xiangcheng remained silent, Ito Hirobumi smiled faintly and said something that he thought Yuan Xiangcheng could not refuse.

"If Lord Yuan is interested in restoring China, the Great Japanese Empire can serve as his right-hand man and help him conquer the south of the Yangtze River and pacify Guangdong and Guangxi!"

Helping Yuan to move south may seem very domineering, but in Ito Hirobumi's view, it can only be regarded as a last resort.

The reason why he decided to do so can be traced back to the time when Japan invaded Korea.

Ito Hirobumi believed that the hasty defeat in Korea seven years ago was not a big failure. Instead, he could use Yuan Shikai's help to eliminate some restless warriors in Japan.

After all, although the sword ban order has been issued for many years, the samurai problem is still difficult to deal with. In the final analysis, the Japanese government still has no money.

If he had money, he would not have carried out the "rank and salary punishment" and stopped paying the samurai salaries, which eventually led to dissatisfaction among the samurai group and triggered the Southwest War that swept across Japan.

Although the war was settled and the troublemakers among the samurai were arrested and executed, the remaining samurai did not obey the government from the bottom of their hearts, but dared not speak out.

Therefore, at the suggestion of Ito Hirobumi, the two major garrisons of Hiroshima and Kumamoto, which sent troops to Korea, recruited many down-and-out samurai.

If the troops sent to Korea win, that would naturally be good; if they lose, they can also consume these warriors.

In the end, the news of Korea's defeat caused Ito Hirobumi to give up his position as prime minister.

However, this move reduced the instability among the people, and Ito Hirobumi took a step back to advance, using his position as prime minister to exchange for the successful promulgation of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan and the naval shipbuilding order.

Uncle Ito Hirobumi felt that the defeat was worth it because it not only brought about the constitution, but also gave the Japanese navy a strong future.

The whole country is united and feels ashamed of the defeat of Japan, Qing and Korea. After several years of hard work, it may be possible to seek revenge.

The subsequent development of Bako was somewhat beyond Ito Hirobumi's expectations.

After the Qing Dynasty's fall from grace, China was split into two parts, north and south, which really stimulated Ito Hirobumi and made him have great ambitions.

Just like the Great Japanese Empire couldn’t defeat you, Yuan Shikai, but couldn’t defeat Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guoquan and the like?

Therefore, after the Qing Dynasty was divided into north and south, the Japanese government once set its sights on the two governors in the south.

When Zeng Guoquan died and Liu Kunyi succeeded him as the Governor-General of Liangjiang, there was a heated discussion within the Japanese government on whether to send troops to Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

However, considering that the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas were the traditional sphere of influence of the British, it was likely to anger the British. In addition, the Russian crown prince was assassinated at the time, so the matter was left unresolved.

When the Japanese recovered, they discovered that Liu Kun had transformed himself into the "Governor-General of Jiangnan" and had taken advantage of the rich territory to expand the army, saying that it was to prevent a pincer attack from Yuan, Hubei and Huai.

Since Jiangsu and Zhejiang were difficult to take over, the Japanese government set its sights on Li Hongzhang, who was further south.

However, the developments up to this point were somewhat beyond the Japanese's expectations.

hFirst, the South China Sea Fleet defeated the Spanish Philippine Fleet at a cost of almost no damage, but that’s not all.

When the Spanish consul came to question him, Li Hongzhang dragged the Americans in. He ignored the Spanish opposition and joined hands with the United States to unilaterally notify Spain that a "Sino-US Joint Concession" would be established in Manila, Philippines.

The Spaniards were naturally furious. On the day when the South China Sea Fleet escorted the Sino-US Concession staff to Manila Bay, they once again brazenly opened fire and launched a surprise attack on the South China Sea Fleet.

The fully staffed Philippine Fleet was no match for the South China Sea Fleet, let alone its remaining members. Liu Buxian and Lin Taizeng responded calmly and, at the cost of the loss of power to the Laiyuan, completely annihilated the Spanish Philippine Fleet.

Since then, Spain has only more than 5000 colonial troops left in the Philippines, and no longer has an organized naval force.

Li Hongzhang was naturally overjoyed upon seeing this, and quickly ordered a pursuit of the victory, intending to transport troops to land in Manila and fight for Luzon Island.

After the great news was announced, the people in Cantonese, Chaoshan and southern Fujian regions, where every household had someone who went to Southeast Asia, were also excited.

Everyone shouted "Long live the Governor" and "Long live the South China Sea Fleet", and rushed to the recruitment point of the newly formed Huai Army of Lingnan, intending to be the first to enter Luzon Island.

When the Laiyuan was towed into Guangzhou Bay, the Cantonese people rushed to the dock with knives from their homes to donate to the Laiyuan for repairs.

Li Hongzhang, who felt that the people's morale could be used, discovered at this time that the threat from foreigners was not that terrible. As long as he did not provoke countries like Britain, France, Russia and Germany, the remaining European countries were all soft persimmons that could be manipulated at will.

I don't know what the old woman was doing back then. She always asked for peace. I founded the Huai Army to suppress the Nian Rebellion and won many victories.

On the contrary, after becoming the Governor-General of Zhili, he was constrained in every way. Yuan Shikai clearly won the Sino-French War, but he still asked me to seek peace.

Unconsciously, Li Hongzhang denied his past self who was wholeheartedly seeking peace under Cixi.

However, reality is not always smooth sailing. After the Spanish realized that their colony in the Philippines was no longer secure, they immediately begged for help and relied on their royal connections to cling to Germany and the Netherlands.

Thanks to the mediation of Germany and the Netherlands, Li Hongzhang was eventually forced to abandon his plan to capture Luzon Island.

But the Americans were not satisfied. Under the constant instigation of the American consul, the two countries forcibly leased the "Lingayen Gulf" in the north of Luzon for 25 years.

It was just a "lease" of a port, and Luzon Island was not fully occupied. In addition, with the help of the Americans, Germany and the Netherlands were reluctant to help Spain, so they acquiesced.

Afterwards, in order to thank Li Hongzhang, the Americans specially provided him with an interest-free loan of 500 million US dollars, about 400 million taels of silver, specifically for purchasing American products and equipment.

At Li Hongzhang's request, a naval school was opened in Huangpu, Guangzhou, and American instructors were hired to train naval personnel specifically for the Lingnan New Army.

The power of the South China Sea Fleet became famous throughout the world in a short time, even to North Korea, not to mention Japan, which was always paying attention to the situation in the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, after assessing the situation, Ito Hirobumi had to give up the idea of ​​attacking the South China Sea Fleet and instead planned to support the Qing forces and fish in troubled waters.

Chapter 199: Pictures of Europe's Past

After the assassination of Tsarevich Nicholas, the Japanese were willing to sacrifice a prince and two new warships in exchange for the Russians' "non-prosecution". Their ultimate goal was to avoid fighting on two fronts. They planned to endure hardships for three years just to avenge their disastrous defeat in Korea.

But why, when the three-year period was up, did they give up their desire for the mainland and turn to seek cooperation with Yuan Shikai?

The storm of history, fanned by Yuan Shikai's butterfly wings, once again deviated from its trajectory and headed in a different direction.

There were two reasons why the Japanese in the original time and space wanted to wage war against China.

The first is the fundamental reason, that is, the Japanese had coveted Korea and Manchuria for a long time. It happened that the Donghak Uprising in 1894 led to political instability in Korea, and the pro-Japanese faction frequently requested assistance, which just satisfied Japan's desire to annex Korea and covet China.

Feilu Group

The second is the direct cause, the Nagasaki incident.

In 1886, the Beiyang Fleet arrived in Nagasaki at the invitation of Japan and allowed its officers and soldiers to go ashore. Some sailors took the opportunity to visit a brothel for pleasure, and after drinking heavily, they brawled with Japanese soldiers, ultimately resulting in the deaths of five Beiyang sailors and five Japanese military and police officers.

In the chaos, in order to rescue their comrades, the Beiyang Fleet took off their gun covers and pointed their 12-inch cannons at the city of Nagasaki, forcing the Japanese government to release the people.

Li Hongzhang did not punish the Beiyang Fleet after learning of this. Instead, he summoned the Japanese consul in Tianjin and threatened, "Starting a war is not difficult. Our warships are anchored in your country. Their hulls and guns are indestructible and can be deployed at any time."

You must know that the person who uttered these threatening words was Li Hongzhang, the "paperhanger" who served under Cixi in the original time and space, not Li Hongzhang, the "Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi" who now forcibly occupied the Philippine Concession.

The reason why Li Hongzhang dared to say that was because at that time the Japanese navy was just starting out, while the Beiyang Fleet was basically established and was at its peak.

As a result, the Japanese, knowing they were no match for the enemy, had no choice but to accept the bitter fruit and pay China 5 yen in compensation and also cover the cost of treating the wounded. On the other hand, China only paid 1 yen.

This move greatly enhanced the prestige of the Beiyang Fleet in the country, and the American Naval Annals also knew about the Beiyang Fleet because of this incident. After learning more about it, they called it the first in Asia and the eighth in the world.

But one man's honey may be another's poison.

From the Japanese perspective, this is undoubtedly unacceptable.

San is simply the "Qingminggui" of the Meiji era in Japan.

San, only 5 people died. Why are the lives of Qing people more valuable than those of Japanese?

When the Beiyang Fleet arrived in Nagasaki, citizens crowded the docks just to see the awe-inspiring sight of the huge ships and cannons. Some of the onlookers were amazed, some were envious, and although their emotions were complicated, not many of them were hostile.

But foreign sailors got drunk and caused trouble in their own country, even killing their own police, and finally asked their own country to pay compensation. This is simply a great shame and humiliation.

After this incident was reported, the China threat theory quickly became popular, and vigorously developing the navy became a consensus among all Japanese people, from the emperor to the common people.

Even Japanese children were playing a game called "Sinking the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan". One person played the role of the Dingyuan or Zhenyuan ship of the Beiyang Fleet, and the others played the role of the Japanese fleet, surrounding and attacking the Beiyang Fleet.