Chapter 377 Let the Japanese Army stand on their own in North Korea

The "Living Room Talks" were later introduced to the history textbook. Many historians believe that it was this talk that laid the tone for China's rise later. Of course, some people say that it was the earlier naval battle where the Beiyang Navy defeated the Joint Fleet. However, thinking that the Beiyang Navy also fought hard before the Tangzhou Fleet came to aid. If there were no reinforcements, it would be very likely that the joint fleet would suffer both sides. Therefore, the "Living Room Talks" received higher recognition.

After this talks, although Britain and France, which had originally opposed the Qing Zhengfu and Tangzhou's pursuit of Japan, did not immediately change their courses and support Qing Zhengfu and Tangzhou, they also agreed to the extremely harsh terms of peace talks proposed by Guo Jinzhang and Li Hongzhang. In this way, Japanese Zhengfu, who had a little hope for the future, immediately fell into a state of almost hysteria. Although Ito Hirobuki was more rational, he could not fight against the almost grief-indulgent national sentiment in the country, and had to step down in disgrace. Then, he advocated toughness and claimed that he would rather be shattered than bow to China, Akito Yama Prefecture, who became prime minister and began to dispatch the basically complete Japanese army.

Guarding various key cities in the local area. However, no matter what, the negotiations are always going to take place. But what is unexpected is that the Qing Zhengfu and Tangzhou Zhengfu still asked Ito Hiromitsu to come forward to negotiate. Li Hongzhang, Ito Hiromitsu and Yama Prefecture Akito all felt it was difficult to understand, but Guo Jinzhang insisted that they had no choice. They could ignore others' words, but this kid had to listen. Especially Hiromitsu Ito, although he left Taiwan, his situation in China was getting worse and worse. From time to time, angry people rushed to the door to throw stones, wine bottles, etc., and even ronin wanted to kill him with a knife. At this time, it was impossible to avoid it.

Since Guo Jinzhang has repeatedly asked Hiromitsu Ito to come forward, everyone thought that this guy should have a formal negotiation with this relatively sober politician. But once again, what was unexpected was that on the newly built "Chunfan Building" in Tianjin, after Guo Jinzhang greeted Hiromitsu Ito, he handed the draft treaty to the former prime minister:

"Sign it."

"What does the general mean?" Although he had already been prepared to be humiliated, when he saw Guo Jinzhang's performance, Hirobuki Ito couldn't help but be angry, but he just forced himself to not burst out.

"Sign it." Guo Jinzhang didn't care, "The war is still going on. This is extremely unfavorable to both sides and is not good for the people of both countries. So, I don't want to waste time on debate... Sign it. Anyway, Japan has been defeated and there is no chance to turn the tables."

"General, this is not in accordance with the rules." Hirobuki Ito originally had a good impression of Guo Jinzhang. Because Guo Jinzhang had invited him to step down from office to Tangzhou. Compared with the weather in Tangzhou, Japan is almost useless except for the population of n times. Therefore, Guo Jinzhang has a kindness to him to a certain extent. Even when he received the request that Guo Jinzhang must come forward to represent Japan in the negotiations, he still had a little fantasy, thinking that Guo Jinzhang wanted to give him a chance to seek a decent opportunity for Japan... but he didn't meet, and he was not decent. What greeted him was Guo Jinzhang's naked contempt and... insult.

"As soon as they came, I had someone to sign, and I didn't even talk. Was this kid beaten up by the Japanese when he was in the United States?" Li Hongzhang also attended the negotiations. Sitting aside and witnessed Guo Jinzhang's almost arrogant behavior, the old man was also secretly shocked. Although he and Qing Zhengfu were unhappy with each other's ignorance, they never thought that they would really kill them. At one point, they even thought that they had to let Japan go back to Ryukyu and get another 18 million taels of compensation. But it was Guo Jinzhang who insisted on killing this small country. The entire treaty was fatal, so the Japanese emperor would almost kowtow to apologize. A small Japanese, as for this? But even if he had questions, Li Hongzhang would not be so stupid that he would directly ask Guo Jinzhang. This kid was willing to have an almost stubborn attitude towards Japan's problems, and he would be anxious if he opposed it.

"The rules are set by people. If one day you can be like me and Li Zhongtang, then you have the right to do it like me." Ito Hiromoto's grief and anger failed to make Guo Jinzhang's attitude softer. He pushed the draft treaty in front of Ito Hiromoto: "Old Ito, this treaty can only be agreed or not allowed."

"Are you not allowed to argue at all?" Hirofumi Ito took a deep breath and asked.

"Just debate, but the treaty cannot be changed." Li Hongzhang interrupted.

"You want to talk too much!" Although Guo Jinzhang didn't say anything, he glared at the old man with extreme displeasure.

"Do you treat me as a decoration?" Li Hongzhang raised his eyebrows lightly, and he had sufficient reasons.

"An old thing that doesn't know the hearts of good people." Guo Jinzhang cursed secretly. There are only two words of silence or not! This was what Ito Hiroman originally wanted to tell you, Old Man Li. My buddy worked so hard for so long, and even started to make arrangements many years ago. Isn't it for you, an old guy? Now, you are actually talking to the enemy in turn... Then are you planning to find someone to shoot Hiroman Ito twice so that the amount of compensation will be reduced?

"...Is this treaty in Japanese?" You can't be angry or angry, otherwise the consequences will be even more unpredictable. Ito Hirobumi took a deep breath, barely suppressed his inner excitement, and asked in a deep voice.

"Only pay compensation, give up the land, and there are Japanese translations of the three sections of the three sections of the prefecture of the land." Li Hongzhang said.

"Then let's start the discussion in these three sections." Hirobuki Ito closed his eyes and slowed down for a while, "The compensation of 10,000 taels is too large, and our country cannot take responsibility."

"How could the Japanese Empire not afford even a small 100 million taels?" Guo Jinzhang sneered, and took out another document from somewhere and threw it in front of Hirobuki Ito, "Do you want to take a look for it yourself?"

"The Qing Dynasty's Conquest of Investigation and Investigation"?" Seeing the Japanese writing on the cover of the document, Hirofumi Ito was both ashamed and angry. It was because this case was an overall plan of the Japanese military's intention to conquer China. But now, with a small Japan, it can conquer China? And it was angry, both against Guo Jinzhang and Yutomi Yama Prefecture, the number one maker of the countermeasure case. He hated Guo Jinzhang, and hated that this guy had evil intentions towards Japan early on, and could even get such confidential files; and he wanted to stab him to death with a knife... Overestimating his ability and frantically promoted this plan, so that Japan fell into a situation of almost defeat today, and was the first traitor in Japan. But what if it was the first traitor in Japan? That guy became the prime minister with the help of the grief and anger of the Japanese people.

"The date of this policy was formulated in 1887, which was the 13th year of Guangxu, and was the 20th year of Meiji in Japan... To put it bluntly, it was almost ten years ago. Ten years ago, it clearly stated that Japan's annual income was 70 million yuan. It had such a huge income ten years ago. Ten years later, it could not afford to pay only ten million taels of silver?" Guo Jinzhang asked with a smile.

"Seventy million yen does not mean seventy million taels of silver. The two cannot be equivalent." Hirobuki Ito shook his head and said.

"Isn't you asking you to pay it back at once? What are you afraid of?" Guo Jinzhang said.

"My country really can't afford it, please reduce it a little." Hirofumi Ito sighed.

"My original price was 200,000 taels, but Li Zhongtang felt that Japan's small people were not suitable for this, so he cut it half at once. So this is very rare, and it really cannot be reduced. If Japan refuses to agree, the two countries will continue to make a profit, and the compensation will only increase." Guo Jinzhang said.

"The amount is too large. The general also said that Japan is small and has fewer people, so it really cannot agree. If the amount is larger, it will be even more impossible. So, please reduce it a little more." Hirobuki Ito said sadly. He could see that Li Hongzhang was easy to deal with, and the most difficult thing was Guo Jinzhang. This guy seemed to have a deep hatred for Japan, and he was unwilling to accept it if he didn't force them to death.

"No, this is very rare. It's harder to reduce it." Guo Jinzhang kept shook his head.

"General, for this compensation, our country will definitely need to borrow from all countries. However, if the debt is more, the principal and interest will be even greater, and our country will not be able to repay it." Hirofumi Ito said.

"A 70 million yuan per year can still be allocated 15 million yuan per year to pay the cost of the army and navy. Now, Japan's annual income is probably over 100 million yuan, so it is not a problem to pay the 20 million taels of the Qing Dynasty every year. In this way, in five or six years, the compensation can be paid off in at most ten years, so why should you borrow foreign debts?" Guo Jinzhang said.

"General's fallacy." Hirofumi Ito took a deep breath again, "Is the use of a country so simple? And if you cannot borrow money, you cannot repay your country's compensation. If you are untrustful, your country will start again... Why is it too much to force people?"

"Then you just go and borrow money, but borrowing money is a problem with Japan and has nothing to do with me. We just need to pay compensation!" Guo Jinzhang said.

"General, you are forcing us." Ito said bitterly.

"Actually, we know that the situation in your country is difficult, so we reduced the amount of compensation from 20,000 taels to this amount. It is really difficult to reduce it again." Li Hongzhang sighed, "What's more, if I had known this, why should I have been there? All the Qing dynasties were indignant about Japan's move."

"This is done by soldiers in the country without authorization, and it is not the government of our country, and it also has the wish of His Majesty the Emperor." Hirofumi Ito defended.

"Who do you think will believe this question, Ito Jun?" Guo Jinzhang sarcastically.

"... Please ask two people to reduce the amount a little more." Hirobuki Ito crossed the topic. He did not dare to argue with the two on this issue.

"Not reducing." Guo Jinzhang said coldly.

"..." Hirobuki Ito stared at Guo Jinzhang for a long time, and finally lowered his head, "Since the general insists, let's skip this section first. Let's talk about the transfer section! After seeing that European countries have never transferred all the land occupied by the enemy. Now Japan's territory remains intact, and China's troops are still blocked by our army division on the Yalu River. However, in the treaty, I was asked to ced the Thousand Islands, Hokkaido also wanted to transfer to Tangzhou, and there were Ryukyu, which is..."

"This is my Qing Dynasty territory!" Li Hongzhang said in a deep voice.

"Ryukyu can be divided from China, but the Kuril Islands and Hokkaido are in great difficulty..."

"Japan will not cede two places in one day, and the Tangzhou fleet will not evacuate in one day." Guo Jinzhang stared at Hirobu Ito coldly: "Ito-kun, don't forget that the Tsuga Strait is still in our hands."

"General, don't be too much." Hirofumi Ito said in grief.

"Who is more excessive in bullying the big ones with the small ones and fighting without declaration?" Guo Jinzhang asked.

"...General, Japan is already very small. If Hokkaido is ceded again, the whole country will be in a state of excitement. At that time..." Hirobuki Ito intends to warn Guo Jinzhang, but he stopped halfway through. Threat? Is threat useful to Guo Jinzhang? The whole world knows that this guy is most afraid of is threat. Sure enough, when he heard his words, the sarcasm on Guo Jinzhang's face became stronger:

"Didn't Youpeng in Shanxian yell at the shattering of jade? He forgot that he was the culprit of this battle? I was already very generous without taking his life. If he wanted to fight, then we will accompany him... Anyway, there are expired ammunition in our Tangzhou ammunition depot, and we are worried that there is no place to use it."

"If the general wants to have a life of benevolence in Yama Prefecture, I will immediately send a telegram to ask him to have a caesarean section, as long as he can keep the two places of Hokkaido and Kuril Islands for me, Japan." Hirofumi Ito took a deep breath to calm his mood and said again.

"His life is not worth the price. And I won't do such a stupid thing. Isn't he a hero if he uses his life to save these two places for you? Unfortunately, what I want to do is to make him lose his bad reputation for thousands of years!" Guo Jinzhang sneered repeatedly.

"I don't know if Yama Prefecture has any odor, but if I agree to ceding Hokkaido, it's certain that it will be damned for thousands of years." Hirofun Ito said with a wry smile.

"Before the Meiji Restoration, Hokkaido was just a deserted island, and there was no place on the national map of Japan. Even after the Meiji Restoration, Japan had almost never paid much attention to Hokkaido. Even a hero named Kuroda Kiyoshi once thought about vigorously developing Hokkaido, but it seemed that it had not resonated in your country. Now, you are provoking yourself. It's good that I didn't let you ced the Shiguo or Kyushu. Do you still want to save it?" Guo Jinzhang asked.

"Even so, Hokkaido has come to own it for our country of Japan, which is a fact." Hirofumi Ito said.

"The Hokkaido natives are not He tribes. Since they are not He tribes, they naturally have nothing to do with Japan." Guo Jinzhang said in a deep voice.

"But it is indeed my Japanese territory." Hirobuki Ito gritted his teeth.

"The treaty stipulates that the Kuril Islands will be cedeed into Alaska, and Hokkaido will be occupied and developed by Tangzhou, and there is no discussion on sovereignty. If Ito-kun, you insist, then I promise that from now on, Japan will never have the chance to get involved in Hokkaido again." Guo Jinzhang said coldly.

“…”

"Mr. Ito, it's better to agree. Hokkaido is only half a wasteland, so why bother to make a big fuss about it?" Li Hongzhang advised. Although he understood Hirobu Ito's situation, he felt that it was not worth it for this guy's persistence. Tangzhou sent troops and the United States was also equipped with the Great White Fleet. If they could not get any more practical benefits from Japan, how could they explain to American citizens? They were not a system like the Qing Dynasty for a monarch to be a country.

“…Let’s talk about the concession issue again.”

The negotiations on Tianjin's "Chunfan Building" are slowly underway. Hirobuki Ito tries his best to protect the last benefit for Japan, but Guo Jinzhang ignores his efforts and insists on resigning the treaty he has already drawn. Li Hongzhang occasionally plays and beats, but he does not forget to snatch the cold boy and bite the Japanese... And while the three of them are busy, an unknown negotiation is also underway within the command center of Otaro Gentaro, Pyongyang, North Korea.

"Xu Jun, what do you mean?"

Gentaro Kotaro, who has always been called a "wise general" by the Japanese military, still maintains his own charm. He has meticulous hair, straight lieutenant general uniform, straight waist, and a long knife placed on the table in front of him. Although his eyes were a little too red, in addition to this, he seemed to be unable to see the increasingly embarrassing situation faced by the Japanese army. However, sitting in front of him was a person who had a deep understanding of the situation of the Japanese army, Xu Shichang, the ally and confidant subordinate of Fengtian Admiral Yuan Shikai, appointed by the Qing Dynasty.

"What can we mean? Moreover, General Eryu, even if we mean, do you think you have any choice?" Xu Shichang, if history had not changed, he would later become the president of the Republic of China. Although he had no real power, he had a great status in modern Chinese history. But now he is Yuan Shikai's special envoy, the special envoy to carry out secret missions.

"My soldiers of the Great Japanese Empire never surrendered to the enemy." Gentaro Ota held the knife in front of him.

"Yuan Junmen did not intend to let your army surrender." Xu Shichang smiled.

"What trick do you have?" He couldn't move forward, there were no ships in retreat, nearly half of the soldiers were injured and killed, and the medicine was in short supply, and the army was getting less and less ammunition, and it was about to be consumed... Even though Otaro, known as a stoic general, was still exhausted in Pyongyang. Yuan Shikai, who clearly had the advantage and only needed to wait for a while to easily defeat himself, suddenly sent someone to say that he would not surrender himself... The word "conspiracy" flashed through his heart.

"Crack? Haha, what is crack? Your country fought undeclaredly, intending to attack and then destroy our Qing Dynasty... This is the real crack, right?" Xu Shichang picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip, and smiled.

"I don't want to discuss this issue with you. But what exactly do you General Yuan want to do? Does he think our army is of the soon-to-be defeated? It's impossible to want to let us have a way out, right?" Otaro Genha sneered.

"I am worthy of being the 'wise general' among the three army masters. I can guess it." Xu Shichang smiled softly, "What our Yuan Junmen means is to let you go."

"Which mud?"

"No need to ask why," Xu Shichang smiled softly, "General Eryu, our Yuan Junmen means that you...re independent in North Korea!"
Chapter completed!