Master Yuan, start!

Realizing that Yuan Shikai had acted so loyally, Guangxu felt even more grateful. At this moment, he just wanted to meet Yuan Shikai as soon as possible and take a good look at this loyal minister!

He grabbed Yi X's arm and said excitedly, "Father, let's go back quickly, the sooner the better!"

Chapter 152 The Ups and Downs of the Anti-Curtain War

In Tokyo, Japan, spring has arrived, and it is the season when cherry blossoms bloom. Young men and women in kimonos and tuxedos and wearing wooden clogs attend rallies and talk to each other about recent major international developments.

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The humiliation of being defeated by the Qing Dynasty when Japan invaded Korea three years ago seems to have gradually faded as Japan has found a new path.

After the French colonized Taiwan, they could not find enough manpower to carry out construction, and a considerable number of knowledgeable people on the island refused to cooperate with the French, so they selectively introduced some Japanese.

Attract Japanese workers, Japanese youth, and Japanese companies to develop in Taiwan.

Compared with the original time and space, Japan enjoyed the benefits of colonizing Taiwan. Although the benefits were not much, because of the presence of the French, Japan did not have to pay a lot of colonial management and construction costs, so it actually promoted the development of the sugar industry a little.

It's a blessing in disguise.

At the same time, due to the discovery of astonishing coal reserves in Hokkaido, Japan is also vigorously promoting the Hokkaido settlement plan.

Relying on the same strategies as China, such as the migration to Guandong and the west, the Japanese government mobilized its people to migrate south and expand north, which to a certain extent alleviated the internal food contradictions.

However, these measures were only a drop in the bucket. The bulk of Japan's fiscal revenue at that time still came from cotton spinning, raw silk and grain products.

Coupled with the huge shipbuilding plan in the past two years, the Japanese people have been under a lot of pressure.

Many farmers, after a year of hard work, could not even harvest enough to feed their entire families. They had no choice but to sell their land and move north or south, working in the mines of Hokkaido, plantations in Taiwan, or factories in Tokyo.

However, the misery of these lower-class citizens has nothing to do with the men and women walking under the cherry trees today. They are of Chinese descent and are now excitedly discussing a major event.

"The Russian Tsarevich visits Japan!"

This is undoubtedly an unprecedented diplomatic event for Japan at present. Since Emperor Meiji ascended the throne, there has never been a precedent of foreign royal family members visiting Japan.

Although Crown Prince Nicholas of Russia is currently a prince, in fact, after Tsar Alexander III gradually stopped caring about state affairs, Crown Prince Nicholas has held some of the Tsar's power.

In the eyes of the Japanese, this was a visit by a "quasi-tsar" and was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity to promote Japan internationally.

However, Nicholas did not mean to treat Japan differently, it was just that Japan happened to be on his way home.

In fact, Nicholas did not visit Japan specifically, and the trip did not even have any political purpose.

Nicholas's trip was more for relaxation. He started from Greece, passed through Egypt, India, Japan, China and other places, and finally returned from Siberia, perfectly avoiding all the famous big countries.

The Tokyo dock was decorated with lights and colors, preparing to welcome the incoming Prince Nicholas. Over there, in a Tokyo restaurant, the Meiji bosses sat together to discuss important matters.

"Mr. Okuma, you still need to pay more attention to the visit of Crown Prince Nicholas." Prime Minister Aritomo Yamagata raised his wine glass and reminded Foreign Minister Shigenobu Okuma.

"Hi, Prime Minister." Okuma Shigenobu nodded.

He knew that this was a good opportunity to expand the liberal civil rights group, so he would have done it with all his heart even without Yamagata Aritomo's instructions.

"Mr. Inoue, is the etiquette for receiving the Emperor proper?" Yamagata Aritomo asked Home Minister Inoue Kaoru, "When the Crown Prince visits, should he be received with the etiquette of the Emperor or the etiquette of the Prince?"

"Of course, we will receive you with imperial etiquette." Inoue Kaoru replied while eating sushi without even raising her head.

The quasi-tsar is also an emperor, not to mention Russia, one of the European powers. If he is neglected in Japan, it will have a huge impact on Emperor Meiji's reputation in Europe.

At this time, Japan still regarded itself as a small country in East Asia and was very respectful to the European powers.

After reaching a consensus on Nicholas' visit to Japan, Inoue Kaoru clapped her hands, called several geishas outside into the house, and performed a Japanese play.

After eating and drinking, everyone in the room started talking more.

"The war with the Qing Dynasty seems to be over." Ito Hirobumi took a sip of wine. "The emperor who fled to Korea succeeded."

"Oh, the anti-curtain war was successful so quickly?" Army Minister Oyama Iwao laughed out loud. "I thought it would last at least five years."

The incident in which Yuan Shikai rebelled against the empress was called the "Anti-Curtain War" in Japan. As the name suggests, it was named after the Anti-Shogunate War.

At the beginning of the war, a number of veterans including Ito Hirobumi believed that this would be a protracted war.

Because the emperor's army only had Yuan Shikai himself, while the empress dowager had the financial resources of the entire country and the support of the central army.

However, Oyama Iwao did not expect that the Empress Dowager's army was so vulnerable, even worse than the shogunate army in the war to overthrow the shogunate.

The shogunate lasted at least another year, but the Empress Dowager's army suffered a series of defeats within a few months, and even the Empress Dowager fled south from the capital.

"This means we won't be able to take advantage of this opportunity to infiltrate North Korea again." Yamagata Aritomo's eyes dimmed. "Does this mean the establishment of an intelligence network will have to be postponed again?"

As soon as Yuan Shikai started his rebellion, Japan became restless, but Yuan Shikai still left nearly 1 troops to defend the various passes in Korea, and increased inspections in Pyongyang, Incheon, Seoul and other places.

In addition, after the Sino-Japanese Korean War, Japan's influence in Korea was almost eradicated, so the establishment of Japan's intelligence agency was fraught with difficulties.

"What about the southern part of Qing?" Navy Minister Kuroda Kiyotaka, a native of Satsuma, wasn't particularly concerned with Korea. "The southern part of Qing isn't very well protected against intelligence espionage. It would be better to expand our intelligence network there."

"Kuroda-kun, I'm afraid you've forgotten," Ito Hirobumi reminded him. "The southern region is the British sphere of influence. Even if we expand our intelligence network, we can't take advantage of them."

"But the Empire cannot be trapped on the four islands forever. We should open up the land under the sun for the subjects of the Empire of Japan!"

Kuroda Kiyotaka is very worried about the current situation in Japan. If there is no land to nourish it, Japan will probably dry up soon.

The attempt to lick North Korea has been repelled by Yuan Shikai, so the only option is to develop southward.

"Our people have discovered traces of gold mines in Taiwan!" Kuroda Kiyotaka announced this explosive news.

The "our people" he mentioned naturally referred to the Japanese, but more importantly, they referred to the people of Satsuma Domain.

The French colonial authorities in Taiwan relied on the power of the Japanese to assist in their rule, which inevitably led to the Japanese's participation in various affairs. Since those who are close to the water get the moon first, the merchants from the Satsuma domain were the first to participate.

In the original time and space, the gold mines in the Taipei area were discovered after Liu Mingchuan became the governor of Taiwan.

However, in this time and space, the French forcibly leased Taiwan, and the secret of the gold mine was kept until today until it was discovered by the Japanese who went to Taiwan.

"Have you discovered how much reserves there are?" Ito Hirobumi asked excitedly, not expecting that Kuroda Kiyotaka was still hiding this matter.

"The average grade is about 4.8 grams per ton, and the reserves discovered so far are no less than one million tons!"

Hirobumi Ito quickly calculated in his mind that a million tons of gold mine with a grade of 4.8 means that at most more than a thousand tons of gold can be mined.

Although Japan had long implemented a dual gold and silver standard, the gold in its treasury was only over 100 tons, and it was actually still based on the silver standard.

In recent years, due to the decline in international silver prices, there has been endless debate in Japan over whether to implement the gold standard or the silver standard.

Under the silver standard, the decline in silver prices was beneficial to Japan's exports, resulting in a trade surplus.

If the gold standard is implemented, it will have an adverse impact on exports and will also undermine the prosperity of agriculture, industry and commerce.

Hirobumi Ito supported the gold standard because from the perspective of strengthening military strength, importing weapons and large ships would consume a large amount of foreign exchange. If the gold standard was adopted, it would be beneficial to imports and save some foreign exchange.

However, after only a moment of excitement, Ito Hirobumi calmed down.

"Kuroda-kun," Ito Hirobumi said, his eyes filled with longing, but he still refused: "France is not a rival of Japan at the moment. We cannot easily offend a major European power."

"But are we just going to watch the gold mine being discovered by the French and then handed over to others?" Kuroda Kiyotaka was not willing to do so.

"Give the order to erase all traces, delay as long as possible." Although Ito Hirobumi was not the prime minister, his orders seemed unquestionable.

"You are all loyal subjects who care about the empire," Yamagata Aritomo stepped forward to ease the atmosphere. "There will be many opportunities in the future. For now, let's turn our attention to Crown Prince Nicholas."

Just as the bigwigs from several parties were toasting to each other, new changes occurred on the Chinese side.

...

Guangxu arrived in Tianjin by boat in early May. After arriving in Tianjin, he had no time to rest and rushed to Beijing without stopping.

More and more ministers reported to him that Yuan Shikai had embarrassed Weng Tong in person, so he naturally would not favor only one side.

In his heart, one is his master and the other is a general who saves the country, and they should live in harmony.

At this time, Guangxu still had illusions about Weng Tong and wishfully believed that Master Weng would definitely support his reforms.

He believed that as long as the civil and military forces worked together, wiping out the disobedient governors in the south would no longer be a dream.

However, Yuan Shikai had reported to him earlier about the shortage of personnel in the National Defense Army. With only tens of thousands of people at hand, it seemed difficult to wipe out the Xiang and Huai forces in the south.

But Guangxu felt that with his orthodox appeal, it might not be impossible. The key was whether Yuan Shikai was willing.

As long as I appeal to his emotions and explain the reason to him, Yuan Shikai will understand my difficulties.

The feeling of being in power for the first time was so great that Guangxu couldn't help singing on the way to Beijing.

Although he had to face problems such as conflicts among important officials and contradictions between the imperial court and local governments, he was addicted to the feeling of power.

Soon, Guangxu, immersed in a fantasy world, arrived in Beijing.

Yuan Shikai, Weng Tong and a group of important clan officials were waiting to greet them outside Yongding Gate, and Guangxu naturally helped them up one by one.

However, he did not realize the gloomy expressions on these people's faces.

It was not until he entered the Forbidden City that Weng Tongcai reported to Guangxu a piece of news that could not be worse.

The Germans and French brought in the British to mediate.

Chapter 153 Loyal Minister Yuan Xiangcheng

French Minister Badnot, along with German Minister Hai Jing and British Minister Eugenie, were waiting at the Prime Minister's Office.

This mediation was actually led by the French, who dragged Germany along, and the UK was somewhat interested.

The Germans did not have many interests in China. After annexing the areas around Zhongshan and Hengqin Island, they also armed themselves under the vigilance of the British. Moreover, some time ago, the German ambassador went to Korea specifically to express goodwill to Guangxu.

Although the British were very happy that Yuan Shikai's army had such combat effectiveness, it meant that Yuan's army could effectively block the Russians in the Far East.

But at the same time, they were also worried that Yuan Shikai would move further south and undermine their economic interests in southern China.

In addition, the Indian colonial government and the Qing Dynasty's minister in Tibet were still in a standoff on the plateau, so the British decided to give the Chinese government a warning.

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Of course, just a warning would be an overreaction and would damage their Far East strategy.

The French were the ones who were truly uneasy. They were worried that after the Qing palace coup, the emperor who had regained power would not recognize the treaty signed with the French.

After all, the dispute between the emperor and the empress dowager ultimately originated from the treaty of cession of territory and payment of indemnities signed between China and France.

But this is just wishful thinking on the part of the French.

German Emperor Wilhelm II was becoming increasingly arrogant. He had just dismissed Bismarck from his post as Chancellor at the beginning of the year. Now all officials stationed abroad were concerned about changes in the domestic situation.

Although the envoys from the three major countries seemed to be sitting together, they actually each had their own ulterior motives.

However, at this time, Guangxu, who had returned to the Forbidden City, faced another problem.

When Guangxu returned to the capital, he had not yet appointed a minister of military affairs.