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Gakuin, which was built right next to the moat of Nijo Castle, is one of the most advanced schools in Japan. That's right, it's high-class, not high-class, because the students in Gakuin are all from famous samurai families or public families. Not to mention ordinary civilians, there is not even a person from a middle-level samurai. The curriculum of this school is also very strange, and it is a consistent system of elementary, middle, and university schools. On the other hand, the university's curriculum focuses on the liberal arts, and it is a high-level institution of learning aimed at training high-ranking Japanese bureaucrats.

Gakushuin institute, Okubo Ritsu, wore a kimono and sat quietly in the Japanese-style room of the institute. A cup of tea, there was no heat in front of him. And his expression was also a little restless, his eyes just looked fixedly into the distance, as if he was anxiously waiting for something.

Outside the room, there was the sound of carriages and horses rolling and the door creaking open, apparently with a visitor. Okubo hurriedly straightened his clothes, stood up and limped outside with the help of his surname. The maiden guarding the outside of the entrance heard the movement inside and quickly opened the sliding door. Before Okubo, who had difficulty in his legs and feet, had not yet stepped out, he heard a Satsuma accent.

"Okubo-kun, but I haven't seen you for a long time. Well, the Gakuin is doing well here, right? ”

The voice was a little rough, the same size as the person who came, tall and strong, like a hill. In Japan, where people are generally short, such a large man is rare. The person who came was none other than Saigo Takasaka, who had now changed his name to Saigo Takamori.

This new Japan is actually the number one, and he actually returned to Japan in person at this time!

Okubo Ritsu hurriedly and respectfully welcomed Saigo into his Japanese room, and instructed the waiting maiden to prepare refreshments. Then he sat down face to face with Saigo. Saigo didn't come alone. There was also a follower behind him. Dressed in a suit and leather shoes, with short hair.

His name is Shigenobu Okuma, a top student from the Saga Domain, majoring in international politics and Spanish. Having worked as a diplomat in Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina, I came to Japan with me when I returned to Japan to report on my work. ”

"Return to China to report on the ......"

Okubo was stunned, Japan has no diplomatic relations with Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina. But then he figured out what was going on. Shigenobu Okuma, who was born in the Saga Domain, has joined the nationality of the Ming Empire, and it is likely that he has also renounced his Japanese nationality!

Saigo smiled and said, "Okuma is in Cao Ying's heart in Han, and his diplomatic activities in Paraguay are very useful for us to expand the colony in the next step. Okuma, tell me a little bit about the situation. ”

Oh, of course, things in Cao Ying's heart are inevitable. Of course, many of the Japanese Chinese who are now serving and fighting for Daming will never forget their homeland. So there is an invisible ceiling above their heads, and it is not their turn to hold key and important positions.

For example, if this Okuma Shigenobu was not of Japanese descent, he would have been a consul in the more important countries of Mexico or the United Kingdom of Central America, and would never have been a consul or commercial counselor in small South American countries such as Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina. However, there is also an advantage of being a consul and a counselor in a small country, that is, you can often act as a minister. Because the Ming Empire did not attach much importance to the diplomacy of these small countries. It is often the case that several countries share a single minister. So Shigenobu Okuma served as acting minister to Paraguay for a long time, and because of this, he and Paraguayan President Francisco Murphy. Solano. López made friends.

Paraguay in this era was a "small power" in South America. In Francisco. López's father, the old dictator Carlos. López has been in operation for 50 years. Paraguay, a barren landlocked South American country, is rapidly rising. The elder López encouraged foreign trade and introduced a large amount of foreign investment; Engineers from England and Austria were brought in to help build railways, shipyards, and steel mills; recruitment of European and American doctors, engineering and technical personnel, opening factories and schools; telegraphs were erected and newspapers were published; In 1850, the National Theatre was inaugurated, and a Europeanized Paraguay emerged as a great power in Latin America. To Francisco? By the time López took over, Paraguay had become the only Latin American country with no foreign debt.

When he was the commander-in-chief of the Paraguayan army and the minister of war, he spent a lot of money to purchase a large number of new weapons from Europe, making the Paraguayan army the most modern army in South America. And the strong military strength has further encouraged the ambition of López Jr. He also thought that he was particularly talented in military affairs, and he could probably be regarded as Napoleon I of South America. This led to the idea of territorial expansion, and Paraguay's neighbor Argentina was one of his potential targets......

"Unite with Paraguay to carve up Argentina? How many troops does this Paraguay have? Okubo Ritsu listened to Shigenobu Okuma's introduction, and immediately felt that his eyes lit up.

Okuma smiled: "Paraguay has a standing army of 10,000, well-trained, equipped with breech-loading guns and Napoleonic guns, and more than 20,000 reserve troops, and more than 50,000 troops if mobilized." Argentina's standing army plus militia is about 100,000, and it can mobilize more than 200,000 troops at most. However, the fighting power of the Paraguayan army far exceeded that of the Argentine army...... 50,000 Paraguayan troops are at least equivalent to 100,000 Argentine troops, right? ”

Saigo Takamori looked at Okubo Ritsu and said with a smile: "What's the matter, with Paraguay as an ally, His Highness Ming should be able to make up his mind to go to war, right?" ”

He looked at Okubo with a smile, but Okubo had a solemn face and didn't speak.

"What's wrong? Okubo, what's the problem? ”

Okubo shook his head thoughtfully, "The new minister of the British Empire to Japan is that Will. When he met His Highness Ming a few days ago, Hai Ming said that the British Empire supported our war with Argentina and Chile in Patagonia, and was willing to help us transport troops to New Japan. ”

Saigo Takamori laughed: "Isn't that just right? Bring another 50,000 from Japan, no, another 25,000 people to New Japan, and I will be able to raise 100,000 troops in New Japan. With the cooperation of Paraguay, it is enough to sweep Argentina and Chile. When we have acquired the fertile land in the western foothills of the Andes, our situation in South America will be completely opened! His tone became serious, "When the time comes, we can completely abandon our homeland and run New Japan with all our might, and we can even move the capital of Japan to San Diego...... Uh, how about changing San Diego to Tokyo? ”

Okubo still shook his head, "Saigo-kun, don't you think the support of the British is very strange?" After all, Japan is on the side of the Ming Empire! ”

Saigo Takamori turned his head to look at Shigenobu Okuma. Okuma laughed, "The reason why the British are like this is because they are about to lose South America!" ”

"Lost...... South America? ”

Okuma nodded, "This is the inevitable consequence of the North American War!" Because on the North American battlefield, the French and Ming armies showed great combat effectiveness. Far beyond the imagination of the UK and the rest of Europe! Under these circumstances, Prussia, which had been fostered by Britain to contain France, chose to turn to France, and then Russia chose to submit to France in the Polish Revolution. There was no land force in Europe to confront France. In such a situation, the South American countries that were originally pro-British or controlled by British capital will inevitably fall to the powerful France...... Even if they did not fall to France, they would have been conquered by the French or Mexican empires after the end of the North American War. In this way, France controlled most of the resources and markets of the New American World, and controlled most of the industry of most of the European continent. It is likely that it will also have more than half of Africa in the future. The Suez Canal and the Tehuantepec Canal, which are under construction, will eventually come under French control. In this way, the French and Roman Empires were worthy world hegemons.

And the only way for Britain to save their empire was to provoke a dispute between the Ming Empire and France...... That is the only reason why they support our action in Patagonia. (To be continued.) )u