Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Ye Zugui was not afraid, instead he burst out laughing, and suddenly withdrew his smile, his gaze crossed Meiji's face like a knife's edge: "Your Majesty, since I, Ye, dared to come to see you alone, I didn't think about getting out of here alive. The great country of China is full of talented people, and it is nothing if I am missing Ye Zugui, but I advise you to think about the fate of Tokyo and even Japan."

"You...you are intimidating me. Do you think I dare not kill you? Do you think that the Japanese Empire will be powerless to resist the arrival of a few Chinese warships?" The emperor hesitated when he said this, seeming Lack of confidence.

Ye Zugui laughed, laughed loudly, the sound shook the Pine Pavilion and the entire shrine.The emperor's face was flushed with anger, and he pointed at Ye Zugui angrily and said, "You...you...what are you laughing at?"

Ye Zugui suppressed his smile, stood up slowly, his face turned cold immediately, and said to Meiji: "Your Majesty, the time left for you and Tokyo is running out, you have to think carefully and say goodbye!" , Ye Zugui strode out of the Pine Pavilion, leaving Meiji alone in the main hall on the high seas where China and Japan intersect. Huge warships are parked there. These warships are neatly arranged in a reserve formation, waiting for the battle at any time Order.

As time-honored brands, the main guns of the two ships Dingyuan and Zhenyuan fired training bullets into the water from time to time, sometimes raised the barrels, and sometimes lowered them.People from the Imperial Navy Staff Department gathered in the captain's room of the Dingyuan ship, analyzing the current situation.

Deng Shichang worried that if he stayed in Tokyo Bay for too long, if the Japanese garrison fleet in Nagasaki Port came back to help, the naval formation brought by Ye Zugui would be very passive. There was no reply, and everyone was still sweating for him.Therefore, after half an hour, it is necessary to teach Japan a lesson immediately, and not to be willing to fight. As long as their coastal defenses are destroyed, and then a few symbolic shots are fired at the buildings in the city, they will immediately return to the voyage.Otherwise, Ye Zugui and others would probably suffer heavy losses if they fought alone and far away from the mainland.And China is not yet ready for a full-scale war, because everyone knows that even if it can easily swallow Japan, it will have indigestion in the future.What's more, Japan is by no means a country that can be eaten at will.

But Lin Jianzhang has a different view on this issue.He thinks that Ye Zugui will not have any safety problems. He has reason to believe that Ye Zugui is leading a super-large fleet with a total tonnage of more than [-] tons. The strength may eat them.Moreover, every half an hour, Deng Shichang will send two cruisers to go straight across the Sino-Japanese border and turn eastward to the waters [-] nautical miles away from Tokyo. , Deng Shichang gave an order, the main force of the Beiyang Fleet staying on the high seas must attack across the board, smashing Nagasaki and Tokyo in one fell swoop.

Deng Shichang and Ye Zugui had been together through life and death, and they loved each other like brothers and sisters. He was extremely anxious about Ye Zugui's delay in replying. He wished he could fly to Tokyo to see what happened. Seeing that the sky was about to darken, he couldn't wait any longer. Yes, I came to see Lin Jianzhang with a lot of lawsuits in my head. "Lord Lin, you are really calm. Look at what time it is. There is still no news from Ye Zugui. If you wait like this, the cucumbers may be cold."

Lin Jianzhang smiled, and said: "Brother Zhengqing, don't be impatient. Our intelligence reports have shown that there is no abnormal situation in Japan. General Ye must be doing his best to deal with the Japanese diplomatically. Just think about it. If we rushed over now, and General Ye is about to conclude the deal, wouldn't it be a good thing?"

"Is there such a good thing? The Japanese have always been insidious, cunning, and full of tricks. They will never give in easily. What if they take advantage of this period of time to secretly lay out their plans? After they have set up their plans, let's go over and just get into it." I'm in someone else's trap." Deng Shichang obviously intends to fight.

"Brother Zhengqing, you have experienced hundreds of battles for so many years, don't you know that a general must plan before making a move? It's not that I, Lin Jianzhang, fear the enemy. I fought the Russians in Vladivostok back then. Why did I take life and death seriously when I took the lead? , but the emperor has repeatedly told us that once we go to war, we must find the right time. Have you forgotten this sentence?" Lin Jianzhang was a little displeased.Deng Shichang is a veteran general in the imperial navy, with high prestige, even in front of the emperor, he has a high status. Lin Jianzhang was just a guard envoy of Vladivostok. He has deep insights, and was appreciated and promoted by Liu Buchan and even Guan Xuqing. Later, he was promoted all the way to the position of Chief of Staff of the Navy. He is willing to work under Lin Jianzhang. Over the years, he has been coordinating with each other and everything goes smoothly. For this reason, Lin Jianzhang admires Deng Shichang's demeanor from the bottom of his heart.Unexpectedly, today they thought that Ye Zugui had a dispute.Lin Jianzhang is a person who does not care about others. A while ago, at the imperial meeting of the Qianqing Palace, he had a wonderful debate with his boss Liu Buchan on the issue of aircraft carriers in front of all civil and military officials.At this time, his stance on the issue of whether to send troops was even firmer, even if it was Deng Shichang, he would do his part.

Deng Shichang was a little annoyed immediately, he pointed to the long fleet behind him, and shouted: "Master Lin, just ask our thousands of sailor brothers, they can't wait to rush to Tokyo, now you let us do it here Waiting, the soldiers in front are dying, how can we wait!"

"Zhengqing, I hope you calm down a little bit. You have to know that you are not an ordinary sailor. You are a senior general of the Imperial Navy. For the general, you must look out for the overall situation and understand the general situation. You have kept your duty for so many years. How can you now? It would be reckless."

"I, Deng Shichang, am not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, nor is I a good official who seeks fame. I would rather not be an official than just sit back and wait for my brother to be in danger."

"This matter is no small matter, it's not up to you and me to decide, we'd better ask the emperor before making a conclusion."

"No need, it's an emergency. I have followed the emperor for many years. I think that even if the emperor knows about it in the future, he will sympathize with his subordinates. Even if Longyan is furious in the future, I, Deng, will be solely responsible for the blessing or the disaster." Deng Shichang twisted his head. Turning his head away, he never looked at Lin Jianzhang again, looked towards the direction of Tokyo, and said with a low face: "All generals obey orders! All anchors, ready to go to battle!"

"Yes! Please follow the orders of your lord!" All the officers and soldiers of the ships replied with their chests raised.

All of a sudden, the alarms of all the ships were loud, and the drowsy sailors jumped up excitedly in the evening sea breeze and rushed to their respective combat positions.Especially the second ship Dingzhen, everyone held back their breath and prepared to deal a fatal blow to the rampant Japanese.

At this moment, a voice shouted: "Master Deng, wait a minute, Beijing is calling!"

Deng Shichang and Lin Jianzhang turned around together, only to see a communications soldier rushing over and handing a telegram to Deng Shichang's hands. Deng Shichang saw that it was the hadith sent by the emperor, with only a few words written on it. Four words: "Don't be restless!"

Resurgence: World War II Chapter 395 Rising Stars in Politics

As soon as he saw the emperor's telegram, Deng Shichang immediately lost his temper, let out a long sigh, and walked silently to the command room.

Lin Jianzhang said behind his back: "Zhengqing, someone from Lin dares to guarantee that Ye Zugui will not be in trouble. If there is any danger, I will be the first to lead the team to Tokyo to cover his bloodstains, and then go to the Forbidden City to plead guilty to the emperor." .”

Deng Shichang turned around suddenly, stared at Lin Jianzhang for a while, then cupped his hands and said, "Zengrong, I was wrong just now."

Lin Jianzhang smiled slightly and held Deng Shichang's hands.

On Tokyo Bay, Emperor Meiji led a group of senior government officials to personally send Ye Zugui back to the ship. The Japanese sailors over there had already handed over the perpetrator of the Tori Harbor incident, Sato Shinichi, to the Chinese soldiers.Sato Shin turned pale, stared at Ye Zugui and the others, and suddenly yelled like crazy: "Damn Chinese people, your success this time is all because of Japan's weakness. As a soldier, I feel deeply. But don’t get complacent too early, sooner or later the warships of the Empire of Japan will sweep across your coastline, and the dirty and weak history of your nation will repeat itself!”

Emperor Meiji, Ito Hirobumi and other Japanese officials were ashamed and annoyed by Sato's words. Meiji smiled unnaturally, and said to Ye Zugui: "General Ye, don't mind, this person is a national scum of the Great Japanese Empire. The unhappiness in the room was entirely caused by him, I hope you will punish him severely after you take him away, we will never tolerate this kind of scum."

Ye Zugui cupped his fists and said, "His Majesty the Emperor can start from the overall situation of the development of China and Japan, which really makes Ye admire."

Ye Zugui boarded his warship, turned around and glanced at Tokyo in the haze, recalling the ups and downs and twists and turns of his trip, his heart was ups and downs for a while, and he couldn't help himself. "Start the boat and go home!"

Two hours later, at the Nagasaki Naval Port, more than 300 Chinese sailors finally saw the blue sky above their heads after being imprisoned for three days. There were wild smiles on their faces, which formed a sharp contrast with the gloomy Japanese officers and soldiers.

A heavy ship flute sounded from a distance, which caught their attention. I don't know who shouted first: "Dragon flag, it's our Chinese dragon flag!" Immediately afterwards, everyone boiled, tears and laughter Intertwined together, the three days after leaving their hometown seemed to them a century of waiting.

Many people looked at the fleet with the yellow dragon flag flying in the harbor, turned their heads and covered their faces and wept. They knelt down trembling, kowtowed, and moved their bodies, letting their knees rest on the hard ground. Grinding painfully, he turned to the west and knelt down three times and kowtowed nine times, crying on the ground and crying: "We finally saw our own warship and its own flag. After three days of lingering, we only wait for today's help. We finally wait On this day...it's all due to the emperor's grace! The emperor's grace!"

Correspondingly, Gonhei Yamamoto and others were ashamed, and Chinese and foreign journalists outside Hong Kong gathered together to watch this shameful scene in Japanese history.

In this way, the incident was called the New Black Ship incident by the Japanese. The Chinese navy broke through Tokyo Bay and took away the Chinese crew and the Japanese criminal Sato Shinichi. It ended with the compromise of the Japanese government. In two days, he was caught in a cabinet downturn. Of course, the treacherous and cunning Ito Hirobumi had already prepared for himself. In this year, Japan’s political system also underwent some slight changes. The influence of the banner figure Shanxian Youpeng began to stir up again.And Hirobumi Ito has controlled the Japanese political arena four times successively, and he has naturally cultivated a large number of cronies. Among them, Ito's favorite protégé Saizono Temple Komochi has risen rapidly in the Japanese political arena and has become a new political star that shines throughout Japan.

"Nishion-kun..." After Ito Hirobumi experienced this turmoil, he seemed to have aged a few years in just a few days. He looked at Xiyuanji Gongwang, who is known for his wisdom, with emotion, and said: "At the beginning, you There is nothing wrong with seeing it. In today’s Japan, the national power is exhausted and the people’s livelihood is dying. To come forward to form a cabinet at this time is undoubtedly to make trouble for myself. China, but the current facts prove that I was wrong, Japan is a mess, internal and external, all kinds of contradictions are intertwined, anyone who jumps in will be unable to extricate themselves.”

Xiyuanji Gongwang's face was very calm, and he took a sip of sake calmly and said: "Ito-kun, it's best to leave the political arena for a while, the emperor has approved the establishment of the constitutional government friendship association, and your wish before you came to power is finally fulfilled gone."

"Hehe..." Ito Hirobumi took a sip of wine with his protégé, stretched out his body and relaxed his numb legs, took a piece of sashimi to his mouth, chewed it carefully, and said, "It's been a long time since I felt so relaxed." It’s time to eat. Speaking of it, I still want to thank the Chinese Navy.” He said it easily, but in fact he couldn’t help but feel pain in his heart. The annual income of 560 million yen in Japan can be used for his personal income during his tenure as prime minister. With close to 50 yuan in the treasury, and now that he is out of the field, such an opportunity may be very difficult.

Of course, Xiyuan would not have thought that his teacher was making such calculations, and smiled and said with emotion: "Yes, I should be grateful. If there is no threat from the Chinese navy, those idiots in Congress will never understand the importance of developing the navy. One-tenth is the upper limit of the navy's funding, stupid!" Gongwang Xiyuanji held the wine glass in his hand, never put it to his mouth, and sighed: "If Japan does not develop the navy, this incident will happen again at any time .”

Ito Hirobumi swallowed the food in his mouth, looked sideways at Xiyuan and said, "Can you see that the people in Congress are all idiots? But... compared with China... Japan is indeed too small. The annual income is 560 million yuan, The equivalent of Chinese dragon coins is only more than 700 million yuan, of which only one-third is used for naval expenditures, while China... the huge China's annual naval expenditures are more than 5000 million yuan. Every time I think of these, I can't help but I am sorry for the Great Japanese Empire. The annual naval budget of the Great Japanese Empire is only enough to buy a better cruiser. If you want to buy an ironclad ship like Dingyuan Zhenyuan that is outdated in China, it will take two or three years... not necessarily. And there is another account, the naval supremacy of the United Kingdom, the annual naval expenditure is only more than 3000 yuan. It seems that China, the sleeping lion that Napoleon called it, has finally woken up. "

"There is also the two ironclad ships that the British said they would give to Japan for free. Because of this incident, the weak British took pictures of China's power and sold them to Japan at a price of 500 million yen. , it seems that in this world, only big countries have friends.” Ito Hirobumi has always been a very cautious person, and he will not easily express his inner thoughts on any occasion, but now his political life is coming to an end. He turned into a chattering resentful woman, complaining non-stop.

Of course, Xiyuanji Gongwang understood the teacher's mood at this moment. He glanced at Ito Hirobumi, who was confused, and said, "Mr. Ito, I think we should go to see the emperor tomorrow."

"Meet the Emperor? Why?"

"I want money, buy a boat." Xiyuan Temple Gongwang said firmly.

"You're crazy!" Ito said in amazement with the wine glass in his mouth, "The Bird Harbor Incident has just passed, and the Empire of Japan has just experienced an unprecedented humiliation. The Empire also paid the Chinese 100 million yuan in compensation for this You can imagine how heavy the heart of His Majesty the Emperor is, but you ask for money at this time. Once the Emperor is furious, will your political career still exist? I am already old, and it doesn’t matter what happens in the future, but you are in your prime, and you are a member of the Japanese political circle. The rising star also entrusts my political ideals and ambitions of Ito Hirobumi, it is simply too reckless to do so!" Yes, the Japanese know that the Empress Dowager Cixi spends 4000 taels of silver every day, which is enough to support the whole of Britain for a year Expenditures for half a navy.

"The emperor is not the Empress Dowager Cixi in China who spent 4000 taels of silver every day." Xiyuan's words were short and firm. "No way. For the sake of the Great Japanese Empire, everyone should sacrifice, even if it means ruining my political career."

Ito Hirobumi looked at the students he had trained with a pair of dim old eyes, as if he felt a strangeness that he had never had before.

In the Tokyo Imperial Palace, the Emperor sat solemnly in the throne, recalling the time he had experienced, feeling happy, but thinking of the Bird Harbor incident, he couldn't help falling into incomparable depression.He once inherited the throne at the age of 16, and in the second year, with the support of a group of revolutionaries such as Yamagata Yutomo, he resolutely implemented the "royal restoration" and moved Tokugawa Yoshiki, who was invincible at the time, to the ground.Later, the feudal clan was abolished and the county was established, and a visiting delegation was sent to study the Western democratic political system vigorously, and a series of drastic reform measures were adopted.The Meiji Restoration is a miracle in world history.A small, poor, and resource-poor feudal country achieved social, economic, and military transformation in just half a century and became an advanced capitalist country.All of these are closely related to the name "Meiji".However, Japan was devastated by China. After a Sino-Japanese war, the achievements of the empire over the years were destroyed by the flames of war, and it has never recovered from it. Whenever he thinks about it, his heart will be cut out like a knife. uncomfortable.But he is not a person who can succumb casually. He has been trying to find opportunities for the rise of the empire from the powerful Chinese Empire. He has been blaming himself for days, why Japan is so stupid to offend China at this time.

Now he looked at the two important political figures, the old and the new, with empty eyes, and said nothing for a long time. Ever since he met the Chinese navy veteran Ye Zugui who came alone, the emperor's mood has not been better. He is reflecting Why, when you look at the entire Japanese military world, you can't find a brave and resourceful general like Ye Zugui. What's even more frightening is that there are many people like Ye Zugui in China.

Resurgence: World War II Chapter 396 The Navy is the Cornerstone

"I decided to go to Ise Shrine tomorrow to pray for the blessings of Japan and the people of the empire." The emperor's voice seemed weak and exhausted, and he was completely different from the wise and decisive Meiji back then.Ito Hirobumi, who has followed the Meiji for decades, saw the appearance of the emperor, and he couldn't help but feel sad. At the same time, he also blamed himself deeply for his inability to change Japan's backward situation during his administration, so that now let The emperor was so humiliated.

Gongwang of Xiyuan Temple remained calm and said, "Your Majesty, I express deep regret and remorse for this incident, but after learning from the pain, I think we should sit down and think about why it caused such embarrassment. situation."

Xiyuan was really extraordinary. A short sentence lifted the spirits of Meiji who was on the verge of despair. His eyes lit up and he asked, "Have you already considered it? Then tell me what is the reason for this?"

Nishizono straightened his upper body and bowed slightly to the Emperor and Hirobumi Ito, and said without hesitation: "Navy! From the perspective of the rise of world powers, Spain in the 16th century, Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the present Germany or China, which country does not rely on a powerful naval force to traverse the world? Looking back and looking at the Bird Harbor incident, the Chinese fleet has hardly received any damage from us within a distance of thousands of nautical miles. Any sea blockade from the other side, all the way straight into Tokyo Bay, just imagine that if the two countries develop, China can swallow up the entire Japanese archipelago in less than a week. Maybe I am exaggerating, but this matter Reflected from one aspect, the empire's maritime defense capabilities are too weak, Japan is an island country surrounded by sea, if it does not have a strong naval force, let alone rise, it will be difficult to protect itself."

The words of Xiyuanji Gongwang are sonorous and powerful, and there is no doubt about it, but Ito Hirobumi secretly sweats for his disciple's outspokenness.

The emperor was silent for a while, nodded and said: "It makes sense. Do you have any specific plans for this, tell me about it."

"Yes." Xi Yuan raised his voice and said, "I think one of the most critical factors is to increase the navy's military spending. On this basis, immediately issue additional military bonds in order to raise as much funds as possible. At the same time, Congress must Formulate a five-to-eight-year plan for building and purchasing ships in order to compete with China's increasingly powerful naval fleet in the future, especially paying attention to the purchase of new battleships and ironclad ships.

"The annual financial revenue of the Empire of Japan is 560 million yuan. Compared with China, it is really insignificant..." The emperor shook his head, picked up a memorial from the wooden table, and said: "This is the report from the Ministry of the Army yesterday. They requested that the military expenditure of the Ministry of the Army next year be increased to 130 million yuan in order to maintain a standing army of 22 people. Now your idea of ​​financing the ship purchase plan is good, but to maintain such a plan, For the current economic situation of the empire, it is really too difficult..."

Ito Hirobumi looked at Xiyuanji Gongwang and thought that this plan was too crazy. If it goes on like this for a long time, no government can stay in power for long.But he also knows that, given the current situation in Japan, only if this goes on, will the crazy army be able to crush any opponent who comes to steal Japan.

"Your Majesty, the empire is still unable to protect itself, let alone develop. To rise, you must have the spirit of sacrifice. This is what you once said. If we don't take action now, we will in a few years Become the ignorant and backward government of the Qing Dynasty.” Xiyuan’s words were straightforward, and he had no scruples even in front of the emperor.

"Alright then. Just follow your plan." The emperor nodded weakly.