A month after the banquet, a letter and a box of ginseng were delivered to Feng Xiaorong's residence in the city of Fuzhou. The letter is accompanied by a rare book of ancient books, and at the end of the letter, there is a flowing handwriting: "Your body is not enough qi and blood, it is advisable to take care of it in peace, and the fool Lin Yiqing is respectful."

In the garden full of clear light that night, the girls who followed Feng Xiaorong to learn the piano saw the teacher wearing a thin white robe, as if the goddess was independent, staring at the cold moon in the night sky, and was silent for a long time.

Tokyo, Japan.

The night was already deep. Looking down from the skykeeping tower, the city sleeps like a giant lying on its back, and the streets and alleys in the distance are faintly lit. The night breeze was slightly cool, and a middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes was looking down from the pavilion, and the wind pulled his black coat and fluttered slowly.

Footsteps came from the bottom up, and another man in a black tuxedo climbed the stairs and bowed behind the middle-aged man's back.

"Ito-kun." The person who came said to the middle-aged man, the new Secretary of the Interior of the Japanese Empire, Hirobumi Ito.

"It's Inoue-kun." Seeing that Inoue's hair, which was only five years older than him, was already gray, Ito Hirobumi couldn't help but sigh.

Inoue Shin is one of the "Choshu Five Heroes", and he was acquainted with Ito Hirobumi in his early years, and the two traveled to Europe together, and from then on they became the founding faction, and made great contributions to the downfall of the curtain and the Restoration, and after the Meiji Restoration, he entered politics and led Japan's financial reform. In the 6th year of the Meiji era, he resigned after being investigated by the Minister of Justice, Shinpei Eto, for budget problems and corruption in the copper mine, and entered the industrial industry, starting the textile industry and the railway business. He has always had close ties with Mitsui, Fujita and other large groups, so he has a lot of say in Japanese economic circles. Later, he became the top advisor of the Mitsui Group. He was once criticized by Saigo Takamori as "Mitsui's big treasurer". It is considered to be a typical representative of the collusion between officials and businessmen, and the embodiment of corrupt officials. After the end of the Southwest War, in order to be able to quickly restore Japan's economy, at the strong request of Hirobumi Ito, Inoue returned to the Meiji government and served as the Senate and Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Once again, he became a strong arm of Hirobumi Ito.

"Why is it alone here? Ito-kun? Inoue asked again.

"You know what? They say that in his last days, Lord Iwakura liked to look out over such a place and look at his city like this. Hirobumi Ito said as if nonchalantly.

"It is said that this castle tower is the highest place in the whole of Tokyo, but it looks like a tower." Inoue replied casually.

"It's so quiet."

"How can it be quiet?" Inoue smiled, his smile gentle, but with a mocking indifference, "This is Tokyo, the center of power in the world, and there is thunder rolling in the silence. It's a sleeping lion. I woke up and regained my strength. You still have to eat meat. ”

"Do you think the Empire has regained its strength over the course of the year?" Hirobumi Ito asked quietly.

"The economy has recovered, and according to this momentum, in another year or two, Japan's total income should be able to surpass that of the Qianguo." Inoue replied, "Then we can make great efforts in armaments, and we will no longer rely on the strength of the Lucia." ”

"Now that I think about it, Your Excellency Iwakura is really a brilliant way to cut off Hokkaido and Lucia, so that the nations can fight against the Lucia, and the Lucia people are stuck in the quagmire and cannot extricate themselves, and Japan can recover quickly, it is really a wonderful way, but it is a pity that the world does not know its good intentions, and every time he insults him in the name of 'national thief', it is sad to think about it." Hirobumi Ito sighed as he looked at the lights in the distance.

Inoue Xin thought of the deceased Iwakura Gushi, and she was also embarrassed.

"Inoue-kun found this place late at night, what's the matter?" Ito asked, taking a deep breath of the night breeze to calm his mind.

"It's not a big deal, and I don't dare to disturb Ito-kun when Ito-kun is out of his mind, hehe. According to the North Korean cable report, the situation in Seoul is already on the verge of breaking out, and I think it won't be long before a big incident happens. ”

Ito Hirobumi turned around, his eyes were cold, and his pupils were dark brown and extremely bright, like burning coal: "Can it succeed?" ”

"I think it's possible. Their excuse now is that the king is ineffective in governing the country, and he is incompetent, so that many hungry people in Korea have starved to death this spring. So they were ready to let the king abdicate the throne and return the government to the king. Inoue said, "This is ostensibly a civil strife in North Korea, and it has nothing to do with Japan." ”

"If Daewonjun comes to power, there will be no change in Korea, and it will still be regarded as the suzerainty of the Qianguo, and if such a big change triggers civil strife in Korea, Japanese businessmen and people in Korea will suffer, and Japan will not get any benefits from it." Hirobumi Ito asked with some concern.

"Of course there will be benefits." Inoue Xin smiled and said, "If Japanese businessmen are killed, Japan can just use this to send troops to Korea in the name of protecting businessmen." ”

"I'm afraid it's hard to send troops, right? At present, Japan's economy has just recovered, its military strength has not yet expanded, and in particular, its navy lacks capable ships, how can it send troops to Korea? If we cause dissatisfaction with the cadres and send troops to intervene, how should we deal with it? Hirobumi Ito said with some dissatisfaction, "With Japan's current strength, it is impossible to start a war, please remember this, Inoue-kun." ”

"That's right, Ito-kun. Of course, I understand that Japan's existing military strength is not enough to start a war, and what I said about sending troops to protect the merchants and civilians is just for show, and the real purpose is to take the opportunity to lure the Qianguo to send troops, so that the civil strife in Korea will further expand, contain the Qianguo's military strength, and give Japan time to develop and expand its armaments. Inoue hurriedly put her plan together.

"I see...... Ito nodded, "If you want to weaken the Qianguo, this is indeed a good way......

Seeing that Hirobumi Ito agreed to his plan, Inoue Xin was overjoyed.

"Qianguo, what will Lin Yiqing's reaction be, have you thought about it?" Hirobumi Ito asked again.

Hearing Ito Hirobumi suddenly mention Lin Yiqing, Inoue Xin was slightly stunned, but he immediately understood Ito Hirobumi's intentions and replied: "I don't think Lin Yiqing will have any reaction. He may be secretly manipulating some officials to interfere in North Korea, but that's exactly what we need. ”

"Oh? Do you think so? Inoue-kun? What's your reasoning? ”

After Lin Yiqing returned to China, the Qianguo court only named him a baron. He was not given any official position. I heard that he was going to take the imperial examination. And in order to prevent him from rebelling, his wife and children were detained in the court, Lin Yiqing was extremely dissatisfied with this, but he had no choice but to return to his hometown in Fuzhou to prepare for the exam, perhaps he originally planned to take over his brother's inheritance, with the help of his wife's brother He Ruzhang, to do a career in the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau. But then the Qianguo court dismissed He Ruzhang from the post of shipping minister, and instead sent an uneducated and very greedy son of the royal family to serve as the shipping minister, Lin Yiqing was very disappointed by this, and seemed to have lost his previous ambitions, indulged in wine, and became a different person. Inoue replied, "Looking at what he has done in the year since he returned to Qianguo, he has only pretended to make rounds of several major military points along the coast of Qianguo, donated some money from the Satsuma traitors, and nothing else. ”

"But he's still the commander of the Satsuma traitors." Hirofumi Ito listened to Inoue's analysis. I didn't seem at ease and thought about it. He asked, "If there is civil strife in Korea, is it possible for him to lead the Satsuma traitors to fight in Korea?" ”

"It's basically not possible." Inoue Xin replied, "The Qianguo court is also very wary of the fact that he is the leader of the Satsuma traitors, and will definitely not let him regain control of the Satsuma rebels, for example, this year, the Qianguo court asked him to go to the coastal areas to inspect, the purpose is not to let him have time to return to the Ryukyus, he also knows this deeply, so after the Korean accident, if there is no appointment from the Qianguo court, it is impossible for him to take the initiative to lead the Satsuma rebels to Korea to quell the rebellion, and the Qianguo court will not be able to issue such an appointment." ”

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□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, and your support. That's what motivates me the most......)