At 4:30 p.m. on the second day of the seventh month of the third year of Shenwu, when the ministers of various countries came to the Yin'an Hall of the Prime Minister's Office again, Yang Rui, who was sitting in the prime minister's chair, did not speak, and Xie Zhangtai, the diplomatic secretary next to him, replied to the note submitted by the minister on the previous working day. As soon as he said that he would "consider that the war in the Zhili area has basically ended, and order the submarine forces of the Chinese Navy to lift the blockade of Tianjin and Dagukou," the ministers of all countries, who were standing neatly but applauded in their hearts, immediately exclaimed loudly and applauded continuously.

However, Xie Zhangtai's words are not finished, he believes that the lifting of the blockade is only aimed at Tianjin and not the entire Bohai Sea, after all, there are more than 70,000 Japanese troops in five divisions in the Lushun fortress, and at the same time, as compensation for the loss of prisoners, he asked the customs to temporarily stop paying Gengzi indemnity for a period of five years, so that China's economy can be restored, all weapons were handed over to China.

If you promise me, then I will promise you, and this kind of exchange negotiation is actually the embodiment of the spirit of British diplomacy. The British Acting Minister, Mr. Mamuller, immediately agreed to convene a meeting of the Legation to discuss the reasonableness of the compensation proposed by the Chinese side, and the outcome of the meeting will be answered tomorrow afternoon. Speaking of which, in line with the principle of humanitarianism, he demanded that the Chinese side open up its grain supply to Tianjin. Because his request was within the scope of discussion by the Standing Committee, it was Xie Zhangtai who immediately agreed to lift the grain embargo on Tianjin.

Grain is the most scarce material in Tianjin, and the Japanese may be able to suffer two rice balls a day for another three or five days, but after these three or five days, they will have to kill horses to satisfy their hunger. If there is no food after three or five days, there will be nothing but suicide and murder. More than 100,000 people could only starve to death outside Tianjin. At midnight, the first shipment of grain from the capital arrived. The Japanese soldiers who were waiting at the train station clutched the sorghum rice and wailed excitedly, but the next morning, the chief of staff of the Naoli Dispatch Army, Senior General Yusaku Uehara, the commander of the 1st Army, General Kuroki Weizhen, and the commander of the 2nd Army, Marshal Okuhoko, committed suicide by seppuku at night.

The news spread throughout the barracks, and there was a great chaos in all parts of the Japanese army, but fortunately, the Japanese army had a tradition of suicide after defeat since ancient times, and General Uehara Yusaku had already explained everything before his self-defeat, and under the command of Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Matsuishi Yasuji, the chaos did not turn into real harassment, but after that. The Japanese army, which still had remnants of morale, completely collapsed.

This was the case with the Tianjin incident, and when the legation replied to Xie Zhangtai's request for compensation on the second day, the three demands of the Chinese side were considered reasonable by the legation except for the one that handed over the weapons, but in the same way, the British put forward a new demand after expressing their consent, that is, these two articles were not implemented until the peace treaty between China and Japan and China and Russia was signed.

The signing of a peace treaty between China and Japan will be counted. In order to better abuse Maozi, Xie Zhangtai immediately objected to the request of the legation, and as a concession, the Chinese side could agree to allow the Japanese army to retain certain weapons. However, he demanded that the customs immediately abolish the two yuan and change the yuan, and on the day of the Japanese army's departure from Tianjin, the customs would suspend the payment of Gengzi indemnity. Until five years later.

The ultimate goal of the legation was to demand an armistice from China, and Yin'an Palace actually meant that the customs would suspend the payment of reparations to various countries. According to the number of households, the principal and interest of the financial department to pay various indemnities every year is as high as more than 50 million taels. The amount of the Gengzi indemnity is 18,829,500 taels per year, and the suspension of payment for five years can save nearly 100 million taels. This is worth a lot more than the guns in the hands of the Japanese army.

Not surprisingly, the first negotiation failed, and the city of Tianjin was still surrounded by the revival army, the only difference was that through the Guò Beijing-Tianjin Railway and the Shanhaiguan Railway, grain arrived in Tianjin every day to sustain the Japanese army's livelihood, but the outrageous thing is that these grains were extremely expensive, and if they were to eat for a year and a half, the Japanese finances would be completely bankrupt.

After several mediations and pressures, a few days later the Chinese side finally began peace talks with Japan and Russia, the legation was to want China and Japan, China and Russia armistice and peace talks to settle the package, but Xie Zhang objected to this, China and Japan are China and Japan, China and Russia are China and Russia, the two should not be confused, so the final negotiations were divided into two parts, the morning to talk about the Sino-Japanese negotiations, the afternoon to negotiate with the Russians, and the negotiations did not stop fighting, when to negotiate, when to cease the war.

On the first day of negotiations, the legation discovered that there was a difference between the Chinese treatment of Japan and Russia; for Japan, in addition to demanding the return of Taiwan, the restoration of Korea, and the cancellation of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, China only demanded that Japan compensate 200 million taels of silver, but this amount did not want the support of the Japanese government, but was compensated with the profits of various assets invested by Japan in Northeast China and Korea, which was equivalent to declaring that the Japanese assets occupied by the squadron would not be confiscated, and the railways and mines would eventually be returned to Japan; As for Russia, in addition to canceling the unequal treaty, the Chinese side is extremely outrageous and demands that Russia compensate Russia for military expenses of one billion taels of silver, and demands that it be paid immediately.

Britain and France believed that this was evidence that China had been bought by Germany, and they spared Japan and Russia, so as to help Germany relieve pressure. In the eyes of the United States, this is a sign of a thaw in Sino-Japanese relations, with the pro-Japanese faction within the government overpowering the pro-American faction.

Hearing about China's conditions, the Russian minister Kupenschi, who did not want to pay reparations at all and only wanted to withdraw his troops and restore them to the status quo ante, roared for a while and then withdrew in protest, while the Sino-Japanese negotiations proceeded as usual. The next day, the U.S. minister, Reinsch, did not go to the negotiation site, but went to the prime minister's office to meet Yang Rui, who believed that he had to reconcile the gap between China and the United States, so that China would insist on hostility to Japan rather than Sino-Japanese goodwill.

"Mr. Minister, the Prime Minister has been in the General Staff all day today, and he will not be back until tomorrow afternoon." After being received by the staff of the Chancellery, Reinsch heard a disappointing news.

"Oh well. I think I'll visit again tomorrow afternoon. Ryan said as he left.

At this time, in the Renshou Hall of the Summer Palace, real negotiations between China and Japan were underway.

"In view of your previous actions, the DPRK government does not agree to your stationing troops in the DPRK again, but your country's economic interests can be preserved. This is also a view that we share. ”

The number of negotiators at Renshou Hall was small, and the Chinese side was Yang Du, former minister to Japan Wang Guangqi, and Zhang Zongxiang, director of the Japanese Department of the Intelligence Bureau. On the Japanese side, in addition to Koike Zhangzo, who had met before, there was also a newly arrived Japanese negotiator, Kishigero Bihara. and a prince of the Japanese royal family: King Hirokoshi Fushimi Miya.

The other parties were all able to talk about it, but the distribution of interests and the garrison of North Korea were the biggest differences between the two. In order to completely transform North Korea, and because there is no money to redeem it, North Korea must carry out violent land reform, but this is a taboo in Japan. On the other hand, there is the issue of the Korean garrison, and Japan hopes to have troops stationed in the south of Korea, but China will not make any concessions to this, but it will guarantee that there will be no troops stationed south of Seoul. And in ten years, all troops stationed in North Korea will be withdrawn. The Japanese side agrees in principle to these points, but there is another question: China and Japan are not stationed in the DPRK, so how can the interests of China and Japan be ensured?

"Lord Yang, I'll adjourn the meeting for the time being." Wang Bogong, who has been watching from the sidelines, said that he feels that this is the best result for today's form, and that the conditions proposed by the Chinese side are acceptable in principle, but that the final decision can only be made after consultation with the delegation in Beijing and in Japan.

"I agree." Yang Du also felt that an agreement between the two sides was not far away. His heart was very relaxed, he nodded and said again: "My country's Prime Minister has come to the Summer Palace in person, and I will invite you to a banquet in the evening." ”

"Ahh Several Japanese were taken aback, and secret negotiations were set up here. They thought that they would not see anyone except Yang Du, but they didn't want Yang to come in person. King Fushimi Miyahiro was the first to stand up and bow in thanks, and Kishigero Bihara and Koike Shozo also quickly got up and bowed. King Bogong said: "Thank you so much! ”

Being able to persuade the prime minister to come is Yang Du's face. He was also extremely happy about this, and was polite to the Japanese. He immediately said: "Your Excellency the Prime Minister hopes that China and Japan will have a long-term friendship, and our country's concessions to your country have also been set by your Excellency himself. You must not listen to rumors that the Prime Minister is pro-US and neglects Japan, but that is just a rhetoric about the success of the revolution and the unstable establishment of the country. Today, the two countries have been fighting so far, fighting for the two barren lands of North Korea and Taiwan, and now they have only made outsiders laugh! ”

After the Japanese withdrew from the conference room, Yang Du and Wang Guangqi were also busy rushing to Le Shou Tang, which was Yang Rui's fixed residence in the Summer Palace.

"How's the talk, what do the Japanese say?" Yang Rui asked with a smile, he thought that those foreigners were very happy when they heard Xie Zhangtai ask Russia for a billion taels of indemnity.

"Back to my lord, most of them have been discussed, but the garrison and the Japanese have some opinions on land reform." Wang Guangqi said.

"They are so quick to give up on Taiwan?" Yang Rui was a little surprised, he thought that the Japanese would fight for every inch of land.

"My lord, Taiwan originally belonged to our country, and the islands were all Chinese, and this time it was occupied by our army, even if Japan recaptured it with the help of various countries, it would not take ten or twenty years to quell the rebellions in various places. However, in the past 10 or 20 years, China has continued to grow stronger, and no one can be sure whether the great powers will persistently persist in it, so in the eyes of the Japanese, it will never be possible to regain Taiwan if it is lost and consolidated by our country. Wang Guangqi said.

The same is true for North Korea, which has been so popular that it is completely impossible to be annexed by Japan. Since this is the case, it would be best to ensure the security of Japan's main island and at the same time get back some more economic benefits. I think that if there is no pressure from other countries, Japan will sign a contract with Japan in the middle of this month. ”

"Hmm. The Outer Northeast hasn't been talked about yet, right? Yang Rui asked.

"The Outer Northeast is the last thing to talk about." Yang Du waved his fan and said, "The Japanese are very concerned about this, so a prince came." ”

"You fooled me." Yang Rui looked at him and said, "Don't forget it, that place is Chinese, not Japanese, and you can immigrate, but the number of immigrants cannot exceed ours." ”

"How can this surpass us?" Yang Du said with a smile, "As soon as the border is opened on our side, it will take a few steps to arrive." The Japanese have to take a boat, and the place in the outer northeast is very cold, and the Japanese are not afraid of freezing to death when they get there! ”

Yang Du smiled so confidently, it really made people not know what to say, pulling Japan to the Outer Northeast, in fact, he was worried that the United States and Russia would win over Japan's hostility to China, of course, whether this wolf can be raised maturely, it still depends on the later table, as far as the current few years are concerned, it is still worth raising, and in addition to the repatriation of prisoners of war, the income of the Japanese assets everywhere is in their own hands. That's the minimum pay.

In the evening of the same day, the Chinese and Japanese negotiators had a banquet in Shifang. Yang Rui didn't want to talk too much, but Yang Duqing was very hot. Both the guests and the host were very happy. After the banquet was withdrawn, Zhang Zongxiang and Koike Zhang Zao left under the pretext of leaving the room, and the remaining four people in the hall drank tea and began to talk about really confidential matters.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, can China and Japan really defeat the Lu Kingdom?" Unexpectedly, the first question of King Fushimi Miyahiro Kyoshi was this. Yang Du and Kishigero Bihara were both a little surprised, you must know that ten years ago, Lu Guo was defeated and Japan was victorious.

"Russia is very easy to deal with now, but Russia after the revolution is very difficult to deal with." Yang Rui said, "It is best to occupy the Russian Far East now, but there will be endless troubles in the future." Of course, our country is in the west, and your country is in the east. So it's our country that's really under pressure, which is why the sovereignty of this place should belong to our country and not your country in terms of investment, and even more so if you look at history.

If we can really work together, in thirty years' time, we will be able to sweep across Asia, drive out all the colonies, and liberate the local people; But if they fight among themselves. Thirty years later......"

Yang Rui suddenly stopped when he said this, and when he saw that the Japanese were listening, he had no choice but to say: "The consequences of the bad war are expensive and both of us can afford it, and the final result of this kind is only to cheapen the United States." ”

"Rice Country?" King Bo Gong was a little strange and a little approving. He was born in the navy and is currently the commander of the fleet of the Yokosuka town guard, and is a well-known faction of the fleet decisive battle. The malice towards the United States is extremely obvious, and now I hear that Yang Rui, who has always been pro-American, is also taboo against the United States. He was actually a little happy.

"Yes, Mi Guo." Yang Rui said with a smile according to the Japanese saying. "If China and Japan can't hold their sea power in East Asia, they will be pressed by the United States for hundreds of years, and they won't be able to live a good life."

"But what about England?" King Bogong finally heard Yang Rui reveal his inner thoughts, and immediately pretended to be stupid and wanted to ask in detail.

"Britain?" Yang Rui seemed to understand what he meant, and said: "Britain also depends on whether he can win the First World War, if the Allies win, there will be nothing to do with Britain in East Asia, which is why Britain is now going all out in Europe and is unable to take care of East Asia." Even if Britain had won by chance, his grip on the world would have weakened after the war. ”

Yang Rui judged this, King Bogong's heart just jumped violently, he felt that the decline of Britain was a good thing for Japan, so it was very likely that the sea power in East Asia would be transferred to Japan by Britain. Yang Rui had already guessed his thoughts before he said this, and then said: "Your Excellency, in fact, Germany's today is Japan's tomorrow. ”

After all, Yang Rui is recognized as a great man of a generation, and his sudden assertion made King Fushimi Palace Bogong and Bihara Kishigero very surprised, after the two looked at each other, King Fushimi Palace Bogong got up and said: "Please also ask Your Excellency to give advice." ”

"You may be seated. Have a seat. Seeing this, Yang Rui smiled and said: "Britain has dominated the world's oceans for 300 years, and the only taboo is actually Russia. In order to contain Russia and prevent the bear's claws from penetrating into the warm waters, Britain supported three countries, one of which supported the establishment of Prussia, because he was the only country in Central Europe that could win against Russia, and the result was the establishment of Germany; The second is Ottoman Turkey, which should have fallen a long time ago, but it has not yet fallen, which is supported by the British in all directions; In fact, it is your country, Russia wants to go south to obtain Lushun, but Britain wants to stop it, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty is not angry, and Britain can only form an alliance with your country to prevent Russia from going south.

Of these three countries, Turkey is the largest empire and it is difficult to revitalize it, while your country and Germany are both latecomers, and the monarchs and ministers are working hard to govern the country, and the country is thriving, but if your country is so strong that it threatens British hegemony, Britain will not hesitate to fight your country back to its original shape as it did against Germany. As I said earlier, Britain did not know victory or defeat in this battle, and even if it did, it would be weak and powerless. But does it mean that after the war, a weakened Britain will cede some of its sea power to your country?

I don't think it's possible! There is only one way to seize sea power, and that is to speak of strength, just like Tirpitz's risk strategy, let his fleet reach seventy percent of Britain's, Britain does not want to lose both, but can only cede part of the sea power, Germany is precisely because it wants to do this, but it has not yet reached seventy percent and was suppressed by Britain......"

Yang Rui looked at the Japanese who were listening attentively, the theory of the United States was actually made by the Japanese, thinking that his words had already reached his heart, he said again: "Among all the countries in the world, only the United States can challenge Britain's sea power, Britain is really weakened after the war, and it can only be replaced by the United States, which is the same language and species, not Japan, and it is impossible to be China." And if we want to change this situation, we can only form a real joint fleet with Japan to meet the challenge of the United States, or Britain will replace the United States, and we will still have a bamboo basket to fight for nothing. ”

"The Sino-Japanese alliance, the real... Combined Fleet..."King Fushimi Miyahiro Gong felt that there was a fire burning in his heart, and he immediately wanted to hold an emergency imperial meeting in Tokyo to discuss the Sino-Japanese alliance, but Yang Rui's words were not finished there.

"Although China and Japan went to war before, they were all old historical grudges, and these must always be let go, otherwise they will be hostile for a lifetime, and each other will eventually be cheaper than the white race. After this war, as a reward for the Russo-Japanese War, the economic interests of Korea and Northeast China can be retained; In the future, China will obtain tariff independence, and your country can obtain the most favored nation tariff treatment, and the market occupied by Europe and the United States will be divided between our two countries. And the Russian Far East, which is more than a million square kilometers, can recognize the special interests of your country's monopoly and can emigrate. ”

Yang Rui said this, next to him, Kishigero Bihara wanted to speak and stopped, Yang Rui smiled when he saw this: "Huizi said that the sea belongs to you, and the land belongs to us, this is just a rough division." If your country really wants to acquire the whole of Sakhalin, then you must send troops to the western regions of our country. Russia has inconvenient transportation in the Far East, but the transportation in Central Asia is more convenient than ours, and when the time comes, they will have a million troops in Central Asia, depending on how many troops your country can produce. ”

"The Western Regions?" King Bogong wanted to say Xinjiang, but he knew that China had changed the name.

"yes. Western regions. It is very likely that we occupy the Russian Far East, but the Western Regions have been robbed by Russia, and the yellow sand is long and the road is far away, not to mention the war, even the march is very difficult. Yang Rui said. Sometimes I was actually very worried that the recovery of the Outer Northeast would not make up for the lost land in the Western Regions. However, for the sake of oil, this is also forgotten. ”

"Oil?!" Yang Rui said casually, I don't want to Fushimi Miyahiro Gong and Bihara Kishigero both body shocked, and history is different, nine years ago Japan and Russia signed a contract, the southern part of Sakhalin Island was not ceded to Japan, and Japan has not explored on the island, although there was oil on Sakhalin Island before, but it has been depleted, and Russia's exploration a few years ago was only exploratory and fruitless. With the large-scale use of oil in the boilers of warships, the naval powers began to pay attention to and look for oil minerals, and King Fushimi Miyahiro Kogong was born in the navy, so he naturally remembered oil.

"After all, the Outer Northeast is not our place, there is oil, but the reserves can only be speculated based on experience, that is, by our geologists...... Mr. Ding Wenjiang, who discovered the Nanyang oil fields, believes that there are about one billion to two billion tons of oil in the Outer Northeast region, and of course there may be more, and although these oils are buried deeper, they still have extraction value. Yang Rui mentioned Ding Wenjiang, the Japanese look was tight, it was this person who judged that Yanchang oil had no exploitation value, and the Americans really gave up after exploring, and in the Nanyang Basin, he turned around the local area for a few days, and quickly determined that there was oil in this place, and the exploration and drilling really found the oil field, but unfortunately the oil field was finally cheaper than the Americans.

"In order to compensate, the oil in the Outer Northeast can be exploited by our two countries as a joint venture." Yang Rui laughed harmlessly. "However, when the time comes, when the Russian ** team sends troops to the front line of Mongolia, your country will contribute."

"Your Excellency's goodwill will be conveyed to the Cabinet in the next step, and you will do your best to promote the Sino-Japanese alliance." Fushimi Miyahiro said. His mind kept spinning things like 'sea power, the real combined fleet', 'Ding Wenjiang, oil, one billion and two billion tons', for fear that he would accidentally miss the content. After a hasty salute and farewell, as soon as the talks between Japan and Japan were over, he got up and rushed to Japan -- this was not something that the negotiators in Beijing could decide, but it had a bearing on Japan's national policy for the next few decades, and the country should immediately convene an imperial meeting to discuss the specific plan of the Sino-Japanese alliance. (To be continued......)