Education is the foundation of the country, is the source of development, is the development of the same important strategic events as the development of the economy, Yuanqi was founded at the beginning of the sparing effort to implement universal education, every year to allocate a huge amount of funds as education funds, easy to be content is in many occasions to explain the importance of education, and clearly pointed out that education is the development of industrial development and economic and social progress of the foundation.

As the most important aide of Yi Zhixiang, Zhao Liewen knows better that universal primary education has a huge role in promoting the industrial revolution, and he really did not expect that the proportion of primary education in the Japanese country, which is isolated overseas and has been closed off from the country, will be so high.

After being silent for a long time, Zhao Liewen spoke: "The big shopkeeper has good intentions, but the students are worried that some people with ulterior motives will use this matter to attack and ruin the reputation of the big shopkeeper, which is not conducive to the regent of the big shopkeeper after the constitution is established." ”

"Huifu is too worried." Yi Zhizhi said disapprerovingly: "What if you can't be regent?" Controlling the financial economy, even if I am in the rivers and lakes, I can control the political situation, why care about that false name, even if I am not the king of Zhennan now, can't I still manipulate the court situation of the Qing Dynasty? ”

Hearing this, Zhao Liewen couldn't help but smile, "It's the student's appearance." ”

"Don't care too much about the name before and after you, the merits and demerits of your own descendants will comment, life is enough to be worthy of your heart!" Yi Zhizhi said and looked at Xie Xiuyuan, "Destroying the Wa Kingdom, losing the not small market of the Wa Kingdom, the loss to Yuan Qi is not small, but this is something that cannot be helped."

There are pros and cons to everything, compared to eliminating the huge potential threat of the Japanese state, and permanently incorporating the Japanese state into the territory of our country, this little benefit in the moment is nothing at all, not to mention, these losses are only temporary, and they can be recovered after ten or eight years. ”

said lightly, the head is not a leek, and it will grow again soon after cutting a stubble, Xie Xiuyuan secretly slandered himself, he is really a little reluctant to the market of the Wa Kingdom, otherwise he would not have come to help Zhao Liewen as a lobbyist today, but even Zhao Liewen has changed his attitude, what else can he say?

After a slight hesitation, he said: "The population of the Wa Kingdom is 30 million, and the shogunate system is even inferior to the feudal autocratic imperial system, how can the proportion of primary education be so high?" ”

Is this questioning the popularity of education in the Wa Kingdom? Yi Zhixiang glanced at him, lit a cigarette slowly, and then said slowly: "The Wa Kingdom is deeply influenced by our culture, and pursues Zhu Xi's Confucian doctrine, hoping to cultivate the people's loyalty to the shogunate through the three outlines and five constants emphasized by Confucianism, so as to achieve the goal of maintaining social stability and consolidating the rule of the shogunate.

The country had a well-developed education system, but the main reason for such a high level of primary education was due to the temples, or private schools run by temples.

The prosperity of Buddhism in the Wa Kingdom was much higher than in our country, and the Tokugawa shogunate incorporated Buddhism into the political system, so it can be said that every common person in the Wa Kingdom had a temple to belong to and support, and the Wa country, which was only a province, had tens of thousands of temples, and there were more than 15,000 temple houses alone.

On the other hand, in addition to cultural education, the temple house education of the Wa Kingdom also attached importance to moral education, and put forward many moral norms, advocating simplicity, thrift, diligence, hard work, and self-discipline. This is one of the reasons why Terakoya education has been vigorously promoted. ”

Speaking of this, he lightly knocked the cigarette ash, "Buddhism and Taoism in my country are also quite prosperous, and the temple house education model can be tried ......." ”

Hearing this, Zhao Liewen hurriedly said: "Big shopkeeper, this matter must be cautious, students secretly think that the inclusion of religion in the political system will do more harm than good." ”

"I don't plan to bring religion into the regime." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "It's just that I plan to use the power of the people to promote universal education, temples and Taoist temples all over the country are a force that cannot be ignored, and it is not impossible to try it, besides, there are many church schools in Western countries." ”

Wakoku, Seto Inland Sea, Takamijima, Tadotsu Domain, port.

At dusk, a small fleet of more than a dozen ships slowly sailed into the port of Tadutsu, this is a mixed fleet, several Japanese ships in front and behind are flying the flag of the shogunate navy, and the middle five steam sail hybrid warships with black smoke are flying the golden dragon flag of the Beiyang naval division of the Qing Empire.

On the deck of the flagship 'Xianghe' in the center, Shao Hengyu, who was sent to Kyoto to be canonized, looked at the humble port that was getting closer and closer, frowned slightly, and the fleet crossed the Seto Inland Sea to Osaka, all the way to Osaka had a plan, he didn't understand why he was docking at such a humble port.

Glancing back at a few officers in blue naval uniforms behind him, he couldn't help but say, "Rest here for the night tonight?" ”

Hearing this, several officers of the Beiyang Naval Division looked at Zhang Fugui, a second lieutenant of the Nanyang Navy as a guide, who was not familiar with the sea area of the Wa Kingdom, and only knew that the Seto Inland Sea was the most important shipping route of the Wa Kingdom.

Zhang Fugui was very clever, and as soon as he heard this, he understood the meaning of the other party's words, and immediately smiled and said: "Back to Lord Shao's words, in front of you is the most famous 'sea of tides' in the Seto Inland Sea, with complex currents and many whirlpools. ”

Without waiting for Shao Hengyu to ask, an officer said, "Why did you choose this island to anchor?" ”

Zhang Fugui explained: "Naturally, it is for safety reasons. ”

Hearing this, Shao Hengyu didn't ask any more questions and turned around and paced to the bow of the ship, he knew very well in his heart that going to Kyoto to be canonized this time would have a lot of risks, the situation in the Japanese Dynasty was chaotic, and even the king of Xiaoming and the Japanese might be poisoned, and the assassination of shogunate officials was also common, and the trip to Kyoto was naturally safety first, and caution was the first.

"A tidal sea?" An officer of the Beiyang Naval Division said thoughtfully: "The island ahead is the salt-filled islands?" The base of the famous salt-saturated water army in the history of the Japanese Kingdom? ”

"I can't imagine that Brother Lian has a lot of research on the history of the Wa Kingdom." Zhang Fugui nodded, "Yes, the front is the Salt Salt Islands, and the Salt Salt Water Army still exists, and it belongs to the shogunate." ”

Because he was not accustomed to sleeping on the ship, as soon as the ship entered the port, Shao Hengyu landed and lived in a simple inn under the arrangement of Sheng Haizhou, and the accompanying honor guards also went ashore one after another, and the officers and men of the naval division were also divided into two groups, one group of the battleships left behind and one team landed to carry out the subordination, and the accompanying escort of the Japanese naval division was quite cautious, and drove out all the ships that were originally anchored in the harbor.

When night fell, the sporadic lights made the originally humble port a little lively, but as the night deepened, the lights were also extinguished, at three o'clock in the morning, the captain of the ship Acton who woke up after a nap got up to patrol the night as usual, this is the rule on the battleship, on the deck, he glanced at the dark and dreary sea, and was about to patrol the sentry, when he heard a sharp short whistle, enemy attack? He was suddenly shocked and his hairs stood on end, and he immediately shouted and asked, "What's the situation?" ”

"There's movement on the sea!" The lookout post on the mast shouted, "Request a flare!" ”

"Flares!" Acton hurriedly shouted.

"Bang Bang Bang" three fireworks burst into the night sky, illuminating the nearby sea clearly, through the light of the fireworks, Acton clearly saw that the sea was black and oppressive ships were slowly heading towards the harbor, and they were no more than a mile or two away.

In an instant, a series of sharp whistles sounded in the harbor, and one after another fireworks continued to bloom in the night sky, reflecting the situation on the sea as if it were day, and a large area of at least a hundred ships of all sizes were rapidly approaching the harbor.

On the shore, Sheng Haizhou woke up from his sleep, pulled up his clothes and rushed out of the inn, and when he saw the situation on the sea, his face became extremely pale when he landed, sea aid! He's sure it's definitely the Sea Aid! Ryoma Sakamoto's Sea Aid Team! Damn, that guy didn't even die?

He quickly reacted, so many ships, it must be a fire attack! The artillery equipped with the warships of the Qing Navy is not at all something that the warships of the Japanese State can compete with, and attacking at night, and so many ships, can only be attacked by fire!

On the flagship 'Xianghe', Acton quickly calmed down and ordered in a deep voice, "Send someone to pick up Lord Qincha on the ship immediately." ”

"Yes!"

"Order the officers and men on the shore to quickly return to the ship."

"Yes!"

"Order, all ships anchor and ignite, all personnel are in place, ready to break through!"

"Yes!"

After giving three orders in succession, Acton had completely calmed down, the enemy's intentions were obvious, counting on a silent approach and relying on the ship to carry out more fire attacks, fortunately, it was discovered early, and the fleet had plenty of time to rush out of the harbor, as long as they went out of the harbor, relying on the steam power and artillery superiority, they were completely invincible, he secretly regretted it in his heart, he should not have let the Qincha go ashore, and it would take a lot of time to get the Qincha on the ship.

"My lord, there's a fire on the shore!"

Acton looked back and saw that the place where the fire started was the inn, and his heart sank to the bottom in an instant, this was definitely a premeditated ambush! There must have been a leak of the news, and the Japanese were ready to ambush them here in advance! I'm afraid that Lord Qincha will be more auspicious!

The inn caught fire, and then a chaotic gunfire rang out, and the entire inn was suddenly in chaos, and the frightened Sheng Haizhou rushed into the inn almost instinctively, he knew too well the consequences of the assassination of the Qing State Qincha, if the Qing State Qincha was assassinated, it would be tantamount to a great disaster, not only for him, but also for the shogunate, and even for the entire Wa Kingdom!

Before rushing into the inn, Sheng Haizhou heard a chaotic exclamation mixed with Chinese Japanese, "My lord has been stabbed!" "Catch the assassin!" His mind went blank for a moment, and he rushed into Chincha's room without hesitation, and what he saw was a headless corpse, and he almost fell to the ground in front of him.

On the flagship 'Xianghe', Acton listened to the messy gunfire on the shore, his nervous face turned pale and his palms were sweating, in the case of not being sure of the life and death of Lord Qincha, he did not dare to rashly order the boat, his task was to escort Qincha, if he left Qincha and fled, what consequences awaited him, he didn't need to think about it at all, but looking at the black and oppressive ship that had obviously accelerated its speed and was approaching the harbor, he couldn't help but feel anxious.

Just when he was anxious and didn't know what to do, Zhang Fugui hurried over and said, "My lord, you must order to leave the port immediately, there is no time!" ”

"But Lord Chincha ......"

"If Lord Qincha is still alive, there are more than 300 people on the shore to escort him, so there is no need to worry." Zhang Fugui said in a deep voice: "If we don't rush out, there will be only one result, the whole army will be wiped out!" ”

After being reminded by him, Acton woke up like a dream, and hurriedly said in a loud voice: "Order, break through!" ”

The steamship showed a great advantage at this moment, and under the lighting of fireworks, the five battleships rushed out of the harbor quickly and nimblely, and then a counter-encirclement began to carry out a fierce return fire, and the rumbling cannon resounded across the sea, and was heard far away in the silent night sky.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the enemy ships that came to attack at night fled in panic, but many ships were still sunk by artillery fire, and the pursuit continued until dawn, Acton was concerned about Shao Hengyu's life and death, and had no intention of fighting, so he immediately ordered to return to the harbor.

As soon as he entered the harbor, he received the bad news that Shao Hengyu, the lord of the Qincha, had been beheaded, and Sheng Haizhou, the leader of the Japanese naval divisions who accompanied him, was also shot dead in the Qincha room, killing sixteen assassins, and seven wounded by suicide, Shao Hengyu's head has not yet been found.

Acton's pale face was silent for a long time, and Zhang Fugui asked beside him, "Are there any casualties among the brothers?" ”

"Twenty-four dead, twelve wounded." The officer hesitated for a moment before adding, "I lost fifteen rifles...... and the assassins of the Wa Kingdom are out of ......." ”

"Don't be discouraged." Zhang Fugui was relieved: "The assassins of the Japanese Kingdom should have been lurking in the shadows for a long time. As he spoke, he looked at Acton and said, "This island is not big, the sky is already bright, send warships to block the sea, and use platoons as a unit to pull the net to search, the guns are small, and the head of Lord Qincha must find ......." ”

Acton nodded, and said listlessly, "The herald ........" ”

After he finished giving the order, Zhang Fugui continued: "The battleship has Busan's carrier pigeons on board, so report it to the camp as soon as possible." ”

Fukuoka, Hakata Bay, Yuanqi New Army Camp, received a telegram from Busan, Xiao Mingliang glanced at Guo Zhongmu with some suspicion, "The Japanese people have eaten the gall of the bear's heart and leopard, and they really dare to assassinate the canonized Qincha?" ”

Guo Zhongmu lit a cigarette and didn't say anything, he felt that this matter was too strange, it was impossible for the Wa Shogunate and the Wa King to do such a thing as assassinating and canonizing the Qincha, which was tantamount to bringing great disaster to the Wa State, and the assassination must be the forces of several feudal clans who advocated the downfall, and there was another possibility, which was Yuan Qi's plan.

He didn't dare to say this, and after a slight mutter, he said, "Hurry up and report to Shanghai, and immediately inform General Yida." ”

Xiao Mingliang nodded, then ordered, after thinking about it, he then ordered: "Let the Beiyang Navy Division send a fleet to pick it up, there can be no more accidents!" ”