Sheng Xuanhuai said disdainfully: "What's wrong with it? The land of China is still the world of our Qing Dynasty. It is not the court of the overseas Chinese. We are willing to negotiate with that country, but it is still my clean internal affairs. Do overseas Chinese still want to interfere in the internal affairs of our Qing Dynasty?"

Zhou Fu shook his head and said, "You can't say that. This time, all countries are willing to let the Qing Dynasty join the tripartite talks. It is really all the achievements of overseas Chinese. How can we underestimate overseas Chinese? Besides, the great powers of various countries are not easy to meet each other. If we really put overseas Chinese aside and negotiate with each other alone, we don't know what harsh conditions they will offer. And overseas Chinese are not good people, so how can we give up. There will inevitably be trouble. Therefore, you must not act recklessly when you ask the central government. You must think twice before you act."

Although Sheng Xuanhuai had no good feelings for time travelers, he also knew that Zhou Fu was telling the truth. After all, he was also a pragmatic person and would not talk lies with his eyes open. Although it was a tripartite talk, the Qing court was actually just a foil, and the people who were in charge were overseas Chinese and various countries. Therefore, he said: "What should I do? Do you ignore the UK? Didn't you offend the UK?"

Zhou Fu said: "If you don't visit the Central Government, you can report this matter to the court, and it will be decided by the court. In this way, both British and overseas Chinese have an explanation, and it is surprising that you can't come to the Central Government."

In fact, Li Hongzhang thought so too. With his understanding of the Qing court, as long as all countries do not hold Empress Dowager Cixi responsible, they will accept the harsh conditions, and even ask Li Hongzhang to negotiate with other countries in private, but overseas Chinese will never agree. Therefore, if the Qing court decides, the blame will be taken by the Qing court, and it has nothing to do with him. This is not to say that Li Hongzhang is not the one who dares to take responsibility. When signing the [Treaty of Shimonoseki], the whole country called Li Hongzhang a traitor, and for such a big blame, Li Hongzhang also took it for the Qing court. What's more, Li Hongzhang is now an old man who is nearly 80 years old. To put it bluntly, he is a person who counts on a day by day, so what are you afraid of?

But now it is time and time. When the [Treaty of Shimonoseki] was signed, the Qing court was defeated by the Japanese army on both sides of the 6th water line and was unable to resist the enemy. The whole court could only rely on Li Hongzhang to support him. Therefore, although Li Hongzhang was detrimental to the reputation, he knew that Li Hongzhang was enduring humiliation and also bought a great favor from the Qing court, and there was a chance to make a comeback in the future. Now that overseas Chinese have emerged, their achievements are great, and now they are in great shape. If Li Hongzhang takes this blame again, he will be seeking death.

So Li Hongzhang nodded and said, "Okay, You Qiao, come and write a draft and send it to Xi'an."

Zhang Peilun said: "Yes, Zhongtang." He paused and said: "Zhongtang, the press conference of overseas Chinese, should we also inform the court of the court?"

Li Hongzhang thought for a while, waved his hand, and said, "No need to avoid any extraneous things."

In fact, after reading the content of the press conference, Li Hongzhang was quite dissatisfied, thinking that the remarks of overseas Chinese at the press conference were too excessive, and they were completely condescending, guiding the Qing court as to what they should do, just like teaching students. Although Li Hongzhang also knew that with the current strength of overseas Chinese and the current situation of the Qing court, there was no need to be polite to the Qing court, but some words were said privately, but don’t put them on the table, let alone say in front of reporters, what these reporters do, fearing that the world will not be in chaos, and when they are published in the newspaper tomorrow, this will make the court too reluctant to come to Taiwan. I still don’t know what Empress Dowager Cixi will react.

Now Li Hongzhang is not afraid to be relieved of Empress Dowager Cixi. Because after seeing the old lady's willfulness, no one dares to be relieved of her. He dares to declare war on all countries around the world. There is something she dares not do. Therefore, it is really terrible to say that the old lady is willing to behave. If the old lady knows the remarks of overseas Chinese, Li Hongzhang would not dare to guarantee whether the old lady would be willful again.

Although Li Hongzhang also knew that it was impossible to hide it, because the newspapers in Shanghai would know tomorrow, and sooner or later it would be passed to the court. However, there will be negotiations tomorrow, so don’t make any more troubles. If you can hide it for a while, just wait until the negotiations are over and the three parties sign a peace agreement. Li Hongzhang doesn’t care about how the old lady is willful.

Sheng Xuanhuai, Zhou Fu and others were also smart, so they naturally understood Li Hongzhang's intentions, so they had no objections. Sheng Xuanhuai only said: "Zhongtang, how can the British respond?"

Li Hongzhang said: "Jingfang, if you go to respond to the British, you only say that I have conveyed their meaning to the court and are waiting for the court's reply."

Li Jingfang nodded and said, "Yes, father."

Just as Li Hongzhang and others were discussing the British's suggestions, in the Japanese Consulate in Shanghai, Consul Joe Odagiri and Vice Consul Mansuke were also recruiting the Japanese press group to attend the Time Traveler press conference today.

It turns out that the Japanese press team is composed of Japanese spymen, which is not surprising, because the profession of journalists is often the natural cover of intelligence personnel, and many spies who are well-known are impersonating reporters. Originally, they sent intelligence personnel to pretend to be reporters to test the attitudes of overseas Chinese, but they did not expect that someone would raise an almost provocative question to overseas Chinese. This greatly outlined the expectations of Odagiri and Mansukunosuke. Because Japan has no plans to break up with overseas Chinese now, the two naturally had to recruit members of the press team to ask what Kobayashi was planning to ask.

In an office of the Japanese Consul in Shanghai, Joe Oda and Nosuke Mansuke were gloomy and kneeled on the tatami with straight waists. The five members of the Japanese press team all knelt on the ground, with their hands folded up, and their foreheads were pressed against the back of their hands.

Odagiri said sternly: "What the hell is going on? Why do you ask such a question?"

The person who was kneeling in front said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Consul. It's not this question we plan to ask overseas Chinese, but when we asked, Kobayashi suddenly changed the problem, and we don't know the reason."

Oda Choi said: "Kun Kobayashi, can you explain why you ask this question. Don't you know the consequences of your doing so? It may push overseas Chinese to the opposite of our great Japanese empire, which will bring great disadvantages to Japan."

The man named Kobayashi said: "Mr. Consul, I think our entire Japanese Empire underestimates overseas Chinese. They must not underestimate them. They will become the most terrifying enemy of our Japanese Empire in the future, so we must not be careful."

Mansuke said: "Stop it. Even if overseas Chinese are the most terrifying enemy of Japan in the future, Japan's biggest enemy is Russia now. We cannot be enemies with overseas Chinese and Russia at the same time. And at this stage, we should also unite with overseas Chinese to fight against Russia. These are not all your proposals by Kobayashi, and they have also been approved by the country. But the question raised by overseas Chinese is enough to destroy our alliance with overseas Chinese, and it is even possible to push overseas Chinese to the Russian side."

If anyone could see Kobayashi's expression, he would definitely see that he looked disdainful. Unfortunately, like the other four, he knelt on the ground, with his forehead low on his back, and no one could see his face. After hearing the words of Mansunosuke, Kobayashi said: "Please rest assured, overseas Chinese will definitely not unite with the Russians."

Manjutsu no Suzuki said: "Why?"

Kobayashi said: "The reason is very simple. Russia is not only Japan's biggest enemy, but also China's most dangerous enemy. Now Russia has sent troops to capture China's three northeastern provinces. Overseas Chinese regard themselves as patriots and say they want to safeguard China's interests. Therefore, they will never join forces with Russia. Please rest assured that both of you."

Odagiri and Mansunosuke looked at each other and had to admit that what Kobayashi said was indeed reasonable. Odagiri said: "But your question still destroys the possibility of us joining the Chinese overseas."

Kobayashi raised her head, straightened her waist, and looked at the two of them and said, "No need to worry about this. Overseas Chinese are different from Qing dynasties. They are both pragmatists and focus on real interests. Now they also need to cooperate with our Japan to fight against Russia. Moreover, they have never taken the Qing dynasty seriously. Therefore, such a small accident will never affect our alliance with overseas Chinese. My question successfully laid a nail between overseas Chinese and Qing dynasty, making the Qing dynasty beware of overseas Chinese. In the future, we only look at the development of the situation and the needs of our Japan, and further elicit it, and we can completely alienate the relationship between overseas Chinese and Qing dynasty and gain greater benefits for Japan."

Oda Chee and Mansunosuke were speechless for a while because they couldn't find anything to blame Kobayashi. Although Kobayashi seemed a bit reckless about the improvement of overseas Chinese, after listening to his explanation, he felt that it was indeed a truth. However, Kobayashi's tone just now made the two very dissatisfied, as if a teacher was teaching a lesson to the students. As consuls abroad, they were taught a lesson by a small spy who had just joined the company, and naturally they couldn't get out of their faces.

After a while, Oda Chee said, "Okay, this matter has ended here. We will report Kobayashi's behavior and explanation to the country, and Kobayashi will be dealt with in China, so you'd better go back to China immediately."
Chapter completed!