Very late, Yu Zixun withdrew from Sun Shifu's house, and he did not ask Sun Shifu to help him with the "Four Blades" plan, and the reason why he decided this way was because Sun Shifu praised the recent Manchu constitutional move, that is, the five ministers went abroad, according to the information in the previous meeting, ninety percent of the overseas Chinese and wealthy businessmen were royalists, and if Sun Shifu was informed of such a secret matter, then Sun Shifu would definitely inform the royalists, and there were Japanese spies in the alliance, and the royalists did not?

On July 25, Yu Zixun returned to Tokyo, but he encountered some trouble when he entered the port, the boat he was on was restricted from docking, Yu Zixun was worried on the ship, there were several cannon shots from the shore, he squeezed from the crowd to the railing, but he didn't see anything, only to go ashore, he found out that the American delegation at that time.

"What are the Americans doing here?" Yu Zixun sat on the tatami mat, looked at Zhang Shi opposite and asked.

"What else can you do, share the spoils with the Japanese." When Zhang Shi was on the shore during the day, he saw the police cleaning the dock, and the surrounding Japanese cheered for the arrival of the Chinese people, and everyone shouted "Long live the emperor", so that Zhang Shi, who is a Chinese, had to shout a few times "Long live the emperor", and while shouting, he thought that they were all cutting the land of China, and he suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"Oh." Yu Zixun didn't know that it was U.S. Secretary of War William who came this time. Howard Hua. Taft, while he and the Japanese agree only on North Korea and the Philippines, is equally crucial for China. "Let's talk about what we plan, shall we?" He said.

"As in the past, it can only be a needle in a haystack," Zhang Shi was not in a hurry at all. But he wrote a few words on the table. After Yu Zixun saw it, he pondered, and after a while, he also wrote a few words on the table. After he finished writing Zhang Shi and wrote again, this time he didn't act after reading it, and after a long time, he arrived: "Then according to your meaning, please ask the headquarters first, this matter is not an ordinary difficulty, the more links there are." The more likely it is to make a mistake. ”

Zhang Shi nodded and said, "I will try my best to do things well." ”

*

San Francisco, USA, Sacramento Street, Hongmen Church.

"Kizan, didn't you have contact with Yang Jingcheng?" The big man in the main hall, Huang Huang Sande, said.

"There is a connection. But it's just a matter of talent planning. Situ Meitang was sweating a little on his forehead, because of Sun Wen's mention last year, Huang Sande has been committed to re-registering hundreds of thousands of Hongmen members, and borrowing registration fees as a means. Collect huge sums of money. For him, this can not only collect money, but also change the situation of the Hongmen scattered in the past. It's just that now Huang Sande obviously wants An Liangtang to serve Sun Wen, and he is trying his best to promote the merger of the Revival Society and the Alliance Association. This is something that Situ Meitang did not expect.

"Oh. Sun Wenzhi's Alliance, the largest anti-Qing group in China, will merge with the Renaissance Society and the Alliance, and then cooperate with the Zhigongtang and outside to overthrow the Manchu court together? Huang Sande thought about Sun Wen's promise, and his heart was very eager, through the previous exchanges, he knew that the revival society had power, and without the strength, it was impossible to spend so much money on any talent plan, if the revival association also joined the alliance, then the revolution was really just around the corner.

"The purpose of the two associations is different, and it is difficult to coordinate with each other, that is, to forcibly merge, which is not conducive to the anti-Qing event." Situ Meitang knew about the centralization of power of the Revival Association, and deeply agreed that this was the way to save the country, so he dared to oppose Huang Sande in person.

Huang Sande suddenly laughed, "Hehe." Aren't you already in the Revival Society, are you? ”

"Nope!" Situ Meitang was in a hurry, if he joined the Revival Society, it would be a betrayal of Hongmen, which would be three cuts and six holes. "I just think what Yang Jingcheng said is more reasonable, and it is completely different from Sun Wen's concept of only saving the country, so I said this."

"It's good if you don't have it. Historically, only others have joined Hongmen, and no one else has joined us. Huang Sande said softly after drinking tea, seeing that An Liangtang was becoming more and more powerful with the support of the Revival Association, he still wanted to use the door rules and the merger of branch halls to knock on An Liangtang. When will Yang Jingcheng come to the United States again? ”

"I don't know." Situ Meitang just breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't know Yang Rui's whereabouts.

"Then you can let him take his time." Huang Sande said, afraid that Situ Meitang would not comply, he said again, "The people in the talent plan are all from Hongmen, and if he wants to take these people away, he always has to give us an explanation." ”

Situ Meitang only had Nuo Nuo, and he was also heavy when he left the main hall, but when he returned to Boston, the cousin's brother Ruan Benwan asked, "What did the big guy say?" What does the big guy say, are we all merged? ”

Situ Meitang was bored, and said: "Hetang always has to be together, otherwise foreigners will provoke us to fight like crickets, and death will be in vain." The trouble now is that I don't know what benefits Sun Wen gave to the big guy at the beginning, and he is now completely on Sun Wen's side. I also want to bring Brother Yang and ask him to merge with Sun Wen. ”

Ruan Benwan said with a smile: "The last time Sun Wen visited the port, I felt that this person was not ashamed, he must have promised benefits to the big guy, otherwise how could the big guy support him." ”

"But Brother Yang, he also gave him benefits?" Situ Meitang is still unknown.

"You. Giving you $10,000 and promising you $1,000 after the revolution, which is more moving? Ruan Benwan saw that he was confused and had to make another analogy, "Yang Jingcheng is too serious, you see that Sun Wen didn't spend a penny, he just casually proposed a plan to merge the branches, and the big guy was very happy, if it is really a merger, the registration fee alone will be hundreds of thousands of dollars, you say Yang Jingcheng can give him hundreds of thousands of dollars?" Besides, as long as Sun Wen promises an official position to the boss in the air, it will be more attractive than hundreds of thousands of dollars. ”

"Will the big guy believe it?" Situ Meitang can fight, and he also values righteousness, but he is not the opponent of the bigwigs at all.

"Why don't you believe it? Gizan, you're thinking a lot of things too simply. Look at how much effort he put into Sun Wen's matter. And this Yang Jingcheng did not join Hongmen like Sun Wen, and he was not from Guangdong, and he didn't think about what benefits the bigwigs promised after the success of the revolution. Who do you think the big guy will turn to? ”

What Ruan Benwan said is very reasonable, but Situ Meitang's nephew feels that Yang Rui is polite and knowledgeable, and the two of them talked, so they naturally only think that Yang Rui is better than Sun Wen, but Huang Sande has only met Yang Rui once, but he has been traveling with Sun Wen for more than half a year, and what the big guy thinks is completely different from what he thinks. Naturally, it will be biased towards Sun Wen.

While Situ Meitang was pondering, Ma Tsai knocked on the door outside, "Big guy." Revival will come. ”

"What?" Situ Meitang and Ruan Benwan were both shocked, could it be that Cao Cao Cao arrived?

The person who came this time was Yu Zixun, he was the intercontinental liaison of the Revival Society, and he ran wherever there was something. The whole world is flying around. With a new "four-edged" plan. He was in a hurry to find it, the Japanese-Russian peace talks had begun, and he couldn't delay any longer, so he came to the meeting overnight regardless of the fatigue of the journey.

Situ Meitang, Ruan Benwan and Yu Zixun have long been familiar with each other, and after a few polite exchanges, Yu Zixun said: "This time, I still have a big plan to ask for, and I hope to ......."

Situ Meitang didn't wait for him to be polite and said, "There are things that only we can do." Then I'll definitely help. ”

Yu Zixun saw that he was refreshed, and he didn't talk nonsense. Straight to: "It means like trying to hurt someone, a Russian in Portsmouth." With that, he took from his bosom the representative of the Russian peace talks, Sergei . Yurivich. Werther handed him photos and documents.

The Japan-Russia peace talks began on 9 August, and Yu Zixun and Zhang Shi took the fastest boat, and they only arrived on 17 August. Situ Meitang rarely read the newspaper, as soon as he heard that Yu Zixun wanted him to hurt someone, he only felt that it was a small matter, even if he heard that it was Russian, it didn't matter, but Ruan Benwan took the photo after hearing about it, and found some newspapers in the house, and said nervously after reading it: "This is a big man!" ”

Situ Meitang grabbed the newspaper, and after reading it, asked, "Why did you kill him?" ”

Yu Zixun smiled, "It's not a killing, it's an injury!" Preferably a serious injury! Moreover, it is not us who has stepped in, but Japan who has stepped in. ”

Situ Meitang was puzzled, and Ruan Benwan next to him thought about it and suddenly realized: "Ao-I, okay!" Good! All right! He was surprised, and said to Situ Meitang: "Big guy, this thing must be done!" Be sure to do it! ”

However, he was excited, but Situ Meitang pointed to the intelligence and said, "It's hard to start." They were all negotiating in the naval base, and the Wentworth inn I had been to when I was a naval sailor, and that place was only accessible to the rich, and it was difficult to get started in either place. Also How can I pretend to be Japanese? ”

Yu Zixun smiled, "Don't worry, there is always a chance, the Japanese are already in Portsmouth." ”

When Yu Zixun spoke, Oda Saburo who followed Lord Nishitake was very happy, he didn't want to sleep every night, he was afraid that it would be a dream when he woke up. Lord Nishitake has been looking for a samurai at the dock for so long, but who knows that in the end, no one wants it, but he thinks that he can do things well, and he came to the West Ocean as an entourage. Although, although, copying some inexplicable texts every day makes Oda half-literate very big, but this is nothing compared to this wonderful journey, beautiful maid, and always respected. Nishitake-sama is really my great fortune. May I never leave him! Saburo Oda prayed reverently before turning off the lights and going to sleep.

"How's it going?" Zhang Shi asked.

"It's all negotiated, Situ is very supportive!" Yu Zixun said.

"Have you chosen the right one?"

"Hmm. Situ originally wanted to do it himself, but he was persuaded to find the most neat horse boy who worked at the bottom, and I brought it. ”

"Hehe, how powerful? I'm afraid something will go wrong. ”

"It's fine. A qiē has already been explained. Situ said that Ma Zai is righteous and completely reliable! How is it on your end? Chances? ”

"Maybe."

"What do you mean maybe there is?"

"That is, God wants us to achieve it, and if we don't achieve it, there will be nothing. Sir, you should leave immediately, otherwise things will be very troublesome if something goes wrong. ”

"Hmm. I know, you have to take care! ”

"Hmm. Take care! ”

*

Sergei. Yurivich. Baron Witte finally understood Li Hongzhang's feelings back then, and he fell into a great contradiction. And for this it is impossible to sleep. In his later memoirs, he wrote: "It was not a victor's treaty, but a defeated treaty, and Russia had not signed such a treaty for a long time...... On the one hand. Reason and conscience tell me what a happy day it will be if I sign the contract to-morrow, while the cry of my heart reminds me: 'If the god of fate does not let you go to the peace of Portsmouth, you will be happier, or others will put everything on you, for there is no one, not even the Russian Tsar.' Especially Nicholas II - willing to confess his faults and crimes before the Fatherland and God. ’”

The mental torture at night did not prevent Baron Witte from speaking strictly, cautiously, and sharply during the day, and he tried his best to stop the attack of the Japanese Foreign Minister, Komura and Takahei, and bargained with the Japanese word for word. Save interests and face for Russia. It's just that this thing is very difficult, the land battle is lost, the naval battle is completely annihilated, and the United States. Although Russian customs have reduced tariffs on American products. But Roosevelt was still vaguely on the side of Japan. Faced with such a situation, the only thing that Witte could hope for was the press and public opinion, and before the negotiations, Witte set five precepts for the delegation, three of which were related to this, such as "In view of the great role of the press in the United States, it is necessary to be especially polite and kind to a person in the press." At the same time, he demanded that "the inhabitants of the democratic United States be pulled to their side." Be very unpretentious and very democratic for them. Don't be a little arrogant. ”

Sunday, August 20. The negotiations had already reached the seventh round, although in the second round Witte made a big show -- in response to the Japanese demands and the persecution of Petersburg, he deliberately shouted to Korostowitz to ask him to check the ticket back to China, and published the excessive Japanese demands in the newspapers of Boston and New York, pretending that the negotiations would end immediately. Japan had no choice but to compromise and reconsider the first article - but no amount of performance was of any avail, and on 18 August negotiations reached an impasse over the issue of reparations and the cession of Sakhalin, which seemed to have inevitably broken down.

"Your Excellency, today is Sunday, are we going to Mass in the Anglican Church?" Korostowitz said that last Sunday, at the request of Mr. Witte, the Russian delegation had gone to the nearby Anglican church for Mass, which he thought would make a good impression.

"Oh......" said Baron Werther, looking at a decree from Petersburg, frowning. Yes. Today is Sunday and we should go. It's going to make a good impression of us. ”

After Werther finished speaking, he threw away the qiē in his hand, returned to the room and changed his clothes, the delegation was ready, he took everyone out of the hotel with him, and when he arrived at the church, he found that the first mass had begun, so he could only wait for the second one, although he stood outside the church, but because of the radio outside the church, he could hear the voice of the choir inside:

"Lord, save us from a calamity and give us the ...... of our times"

As the Mass seemed to be coming to an end, Baron Witte prayed in the dedication song, waiting for the completion of the qiē, and exclaimed, "It was a genius idea who put this thing in the church." "Obviously, he's talking about radio.

"It is said that it was invented last year, and then little John. Rockefeller bought it, and finally installed such an east ...... in every church" Before Korostowitz could finish speaking, he heard two gunshots, "pop" and "pop", and then His Excellency the Baron fell down with his stomach, and the scene was extremely chaotic for a while. Later, in an interview with the New York Times, he said, "That evil Japanese man with a Japanese flag tied to his head rushed savagely, and we were doing reverent mass outside the church, and when he fired the first shot, I wanted to keep His Excellency Baron behind, but the Japanese were so cruel that he must have heard that His Excellency the Baron was a representative of the delegation, so he must have put His Excellency Baron to death...... I call upon the white people of the world to unite, and all the saints of Christ to unite in denouncing this barbaric and bloody act......"

"Japanese killer" for Russian negotiator Sergei . Yurivich. The assassination of Baron Witte aroused the condemnation of the whole public opinion, and although His Excellency did not die in the end because of the timely rescue, this barbaric assassination, especially when His Excellency was shooting during his reverent Mass, was almost a declaration of war against all the Christian saints.

At first, the Japanese delegation strenuously denied that the assassination had anything to do with Japan. They speculated that some criminals might have done it, but soon Sergeant Mack of Portsmouth hit back at the Japanese rhetoric with real action. On the day of the assassination, he found a suspicious yellow man on his patrols, and when he ordered the other party to stop, the other party shot at him, so he immediately shot the suspect with superb marksmanship, searched the suspect's belongings through the police station and found the key to a small hotel, and when the police opened the door, the truth was revealed: in addition to the photos of the Russian delegation and the details of the operation, the room was revealed. There is also a map of the vicinity of Wentworth Inn. Of course, the most shocking thing is the suicide note left by the murderer in the room.

From the suicide note, it was learned that the Japanese who assassinated the Russian baron was called Saburo Oda. A native of Kawasaki Prefecture, Japan, his two younger brothers died in the Ru War, and he was extremely disappointed with the government's peace talks with Lu Guo, and he could not change his situation. He worked hard to win a lot of money in the casino. Then he planned to assassinate the negotiators of the Lu country. What is surprising is that in addition to assassinating the representative of Lu Guo, Oda Saburo also believes that US President Roosevelt is also a Caucasian who discriminates against Japan, and that it is he who deceived the Japanese government and dragged Japan into negotiations.

The shocking nature of the suicide note made the whole United States turn upside down, and it was noisy. People have made the newspapers forget to praise the brave Sheriff Mike, of course. The oblivion of the press doesn't matter, Sergeant Mack has risen to deputy chief of the Portsmouth Police Department.

Somewhere in Boston, Yu Zixun, who listened to the report, looked at Sheriff Mike's bright smiling face in the newspaper, and couldn't help scolding, "It's really cheap, five thousand dollars, it takes ordinary people more than ten years to earn it." And the key is fame and fortune. not only received the money, but also got his name, and was promoted. It's nice to be a cop in the United States. ”

Zhang Shi smiled: "Hehe, without him, things wouldn't have been done so smoothly, at least, his words would have condemned Oda Saburo as a murderer." ”

"But Anliangtang's brother is completely different from this Oda Saburo." Yu Zixun was still a little worried.

"It's fine. Seeing that brother did it was only the Russians, I believe they would not be so stupid. ”

Zhang Shi spoke at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital, and after a day of rescue, Sergei . Yurivich. Baron Witte woke up, and as soon as he woke up, Korostowitz noticed it, and he shook the hand of His Excellency the Baron vigorously and said, "Your Excellency, it is wonderful. You've finally woken up! ”

Werther was confused, and it took him a while to remember what happened yesterday, and he asked, "Did the murderer catch him?" ”

"Caught," Korostowitz said, pointing to the photo in the New York Times, "it's him, the police have shot him dead, and evidence of an assassination plan has been found in his room, and by the way, this crazy Japanese is going to assassinate President Roosevelt!" ”

Witty looked at the photographs in the newspaper attentively, and after being surprised, he did not speak, he was silent for a while, and then asked: "Who was I standing with during Mass yesterday?" You call them all over, I have something important to explain......"

The assassination in Portsmouth, USA, caused the Russian-Japanese negotiations to be interrupted for a while, and because there was solid evidence that the murderer would assassinate US President Roosevelt, the hot-blooded Yankees in the United States spontaneously organized to expel the evil Japanese from the country. However, the matter was soon over, with Roosevelt's intervention. Although Roosevelt was angry, while condemning Japan, he gave support to Russia, and the two sides immediately signed a contract based on what had been agreed in the previous seven rounds of negotiations.

Witte did not have much objection to the immediate signing of the treaty, because what had been promised before was occupied by the Japanese, and it was impossible for him to ask for redemption, and on the Japanese side, Kobayashi and Takahei could only agree to this in view of the current international public opinion and the economic situation in Japan. Thus, on August 25, the Russo-Japanese Treaty of Portsmouth was signed, which, in addition to giving a proper name to the Russian-owned assets of South Manchuria, which Japan now occupies, is that Russia formally recognizes Japanese interests in Korea. As for the rest, Japan got nothing.

On the day the treaty was signed, tens of thousands of people gathered in Hibiya Park in Tokyo, believing that the assassination was a blatant conspiracy and that Saburo Oda was a good man and could not have done such a thing. They demanded the abrogation of the treaty and the continuation of the war, and the protests soon turned violent, with angry citizens burning down the interior minister's residence and police stations everywhere, injuring thousands and killing hundreds. (To be continued......)