Master Yuan, start!

Yuan Xiangcheng knew the bottom line of the negotiations, so he decided to soften his stance. Inoue Kaoru, knowing he was in the wrong, didn't want to argue too fiercely.

Although the people in the room did not change at this time, the attitudes of the negotiators from both Japan and Qing had changed unexpectedly.

"The Korean side can give compensation." After some bargaining, Yuan Xiangcheng took the lead in the negotiations with Wu Daji's tacit consent and put forward conditions that were acceptable to the Japanese.

But he changed the subject and added some conditions: "However, if Japan wants to sign a treaty, it can only be signed with China. Korea is a vassal state and has no right to sign treaties with foreign countries."

"Impossible!" Inoue Kaoru immediately objected, then turned and stared at the North Korean representative, Kim Hong-jip, who sat beside him with little presence. "Is North Korea a vassal state of China? Why doesn't it have the right to sign treaties independently?"

During the negotiations, Si Jinhongji watched the Japanese and Qing sides arguing with each other. He thought it had nothing to do with him and sat there calmly. Unexpectedly, the topic suddenly turned to himself, and he didn't know how to start the conversation for a moment.

3 Logically speaking, Korea was actually a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, but the vassal state system in East Asia since ancient times was not recognized by the international law and public law of the time.

International law holds that since a country is a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, you have the right to control its diplomatic and economic power, rather than letting it go its own way.

However, the Manchu court in the late Qing Dynasty insisted on the policy of "autonomy of vassal states" due to historical traditions on the one hand, and was unable to do anything for some vassal states on the other hand due to its limited strength.

This led to the Qing Dynasty losing vassal states such as Ryukyu and Annan. Only Korea had some troops stationed there, which was considered to be the reluctant fulfillment of the rights of the suzerain state.

Therefore, in its foreign relations, although North Korea informed Western countries that it was a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, due to the policy of "independence of vassal states", North Korea could interact with other countries more flexibly.

However, in their dealings with Korea, other countries often overlooked the word "vassal state" and only saw the word "independence". This is why Korea, as a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, was able to sign so many treaties with Japan, the United States, and Russia.

Before Yuan Shikai traveled through time, he was unable to prevent North Korea from signing treaties with foreign countries in the name of the country, but after traveling through time, he has been preventing the signing of new treaties.

However, among the treaties that have been signed, the most important one is the Ganghwa Treaty between Japan and North Korea. In the Ganghwa Treaty, Japan insisted that Korea was an independent country, which was a foreshadowing for encouraging the Korean Enlightenment Party to be independent and break away from the influence of the Qing Dynasty in the future.

Seeing the stalemate, Jin Hongjip could only rack his brains and think of two sentences: "Korea is indeed a vassal state of China. This is the imperial edict of the Qing Emperor, it cannot be faked."

Before Jin Hongjip could finish, Inoue Xin angrily shouted, "Mr. Jin, are you abolishing the Ganghwa Treaty between the Great Japanese Empire and your country? If the Great Japanese Empire is dissatisfied and bombards Ganghwa Island again, you will have a hard time explaining it to the millions of Korean people!"

Inoue Kaoru's bottom line is that North Korea does not have to apologize, but it must pay compensation, so that he can have an explanation when he returns to his country. However, Kim Hong-jip's words obviously touched Japan's sore spot, which is why he jumped up and down and cursed.

The threat frightened Jin Hongji, and he could only look to Wu Daji and Yuan Xiangcheng for help.

Wu Daji frowned and said nothing, obviously feeling that the Koreans' words had angered the Japanese. He was about to speak to appease them, but was stopped by Yuan Xiangcheng, who had seen everyone's expressions.

"Mr. Inoue, Korea is a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, which is recognized by all nations. The maps published by the Russians and Americans regard Korea as part of China. Don't you admit it?" As he said this, Yuan Xiangcheng took the map that had been prepared long ago from Qu Nan's hand behind him.

During the two years he stayed in Korea, he not only ran a business, trained troops, and wrote articles, but also asked Western sailors to buy world maps from various transit countries.

Slowly spreading out an American map, Korea was shown to be the same dark yellow as the mainland of the Qing Dynasty, even darker than the light yellow of Tibet, Xinjiang and Mongolia.

Inoue Xin was speechless for a moment by Yuan Xiangcheng's map verification method. He could only stare at the map fiercely, as if he wished a knife would pop out and cut the map into pieces.

Inoue Kakugoro pointed his finger at Kim Hong-jip and shouted, "Our great nation of Japan has long signed the Ganghwa Treaty with Korea. This treaty stipulates that Korea is an independent nation and retains equal rights with Japan. How can the Koreans go back on their word?"

"Ah, so that's what your country is obsessed with." Yuan Xiangcheng laughed. "Korea is indeed a vassal state of China, but China does not strictly control Korea's diplomatic and economic rights. Although a vassal state, Korea is not a province of China. Therefore, like the Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang regions of the Qing Dynasty, it implements a different system from the Han provinces."

"As the saying goes, one country, two systems, each with its own differences. North Korea's right to autonomy lies in the right to sign equal economic treaties, but the diplomatic and military powers are still in the hands of China." At this moment, Yuan Xiangcheng only wanted to thank future generations for their wisdom.

"You...you are quibbling! There is no such thing as a country with different systems in the world!" Inoue Kakugoro shouted with his face flushed.

Yuan Xiangcheng was just waiting for this sentence, and he immediately came up with a counterexample: "Of course not. Each state in the United States has different standards for sentencing for theft, murder, and other crimes. Don't the states belong to the same country?"

"The Queen of England is also the Emperor of India. Does that mean the caste system practiced in India should be implemented in the British Isles?"

"Forget it, Goro, don't argue with this Lord Yuan." Inoue Xin stopped Inoue Kakugoro who was still about to argue, looked up at Yuan Xiangcheng and said, "It seems that Lord Yuan is not only proficient in martial arts, but also very familiar with international law. However, you should know that this is an unacceptable condition for us!"

"Oh, is it unacceptable?" Yuan Xiangcheng smiled, walked over to Inoue Xin, searched the Q group: 贰C肆衬h衬衫五六当噜, leaned over and whispered to Inoue Xin: "I wonder if the people of Satsuma Domain in Japan will accept this condition?"

Inoue Kaoru almost laughed out loud. He was a person from the Choshu clan who advocated peace negotiations. The conditions were unacceptable to him, but Yuan Shikai actually threatened him to change someone to negotiate.

"Mr. Yuan, you probably don't know yet. The younger brother of Saigo Takamori, the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce from Satsuma Domain, Saigo Jōmichi, has long threatened to declare war on China. If it weren't for people like me from Choshu Domain who worked hard to defend him, China and Japan would have gone to war long ago." Inoue Xin was afraid that Yuan Xiangcheng didn't know, so he explained it in detail.

However, Yuan Xiangcheng was not surprised. Instead, he reminded Inoue Xin again: "Inoue-kun, if Satsuma takes over the negotiations with China, there is indeed a high probability that war will break out. But your Choshu clan will probably be replaced by Satsuma clan members in the government. The title of Minister of Agriculture and Commerce of Saigo-kun may be replaced by your title of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Moreover, if the war breaks out and the Satsuma clan takes power, wouldn't the Choshu clan's hard-earned dominance of the army in Choshu be quickly overturned? "Yuan Xiangcheng looked at Inoue Xin deeply, then returned to Wu Daji: "Inoue-kun, be cautious!"

What Yuan Xiangcheng is doing now is a tactic often used by later emperors, that is, applying extreme pressure. After negotiations and confrontations with the Japanese, Yuan Xiangcheng also realized that blindly tolerating will only make the Japanese become more aggressive.

If you go into the negotiation with the idea of ​​compensation alone, then in the end what you have to pay may be far more than just compensation.

Chapter 40: One Agreement, Two Representations

Yuan Xiangcheng thought to himself, I know that Japan is facing financial difficulties and severe inflation right now. I am just betting on whether you dare to let people from the Satsuma domain come to power and start a war.

If a war breaks out, it is still unclear whether Japan can win, but the people of Choshu clan will inevitably step down on a large scale and be replaced by Satsuma clan in large numbers.

It's okay to be patriotic, but losing power is absolutely unacceptable. This has been the case for most powerful people since ancient times. Yuan Xiangcheng calculated that Inoue Kaoru and Ito Hirobumi behind him were unwilling to give up the power they had obtained, so he applied extreme pressure.

What should I do? Inoue Kaoru was also hesitant at the moment and didn't know what to do.

As Yuan Shikai said, if the Satsuma clan led by Saigo Jōmichi came to power, they would definitely not agree that Korea belonged to the Qing Dynasty and would inevitably go to war.

But can victory be achieved by starting a war? Inoue Kaoru couldn't help but ask himself, the Qing Dynasty had suppressed the massive Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Rebellion, with hundreds of thousands of troops. Could the current Great Japanese Empire handle them?

It would be fine if the Choshu clan stepped down and the Satsuma clan came to power. But if the Satsuma clan came to power and started a war, and if they were defeated, wouldn't the once-in-a-millennium opportunity for change for the Great Japanese Nation be missed?

Inoue Kaoru weighed the pros and cons in his mind, not knowing whether he really wanted to avoid disaster for the country or was attached to power and unwilling to let go. Anyway, he found a high-sounding reason for himself to sign the contract.

I must sign the contract. If I don't, the Satsuma clan will come to power, and if the Satsuma clan comes to power, there will inevitably be a war. If we lose the war, Japan will be doomed.

So if I don’t sign with Japan, I will be doomed.

As soon as the equation was established, Inoue Kaoru's mind suddenly became clear, but he still wanted to fight for it.

"What Mr. Yuan said makes sense. Whether Korea is a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty can be discussed later. But it is impossible for Great Japan to accept that Korea is not a signatory to the contract. If I don't sign a treaty with Korea, I will not be able to explain myself when I return home." Inoue Kaoru pondered for a moment, slowed down his tone, and put forward new conditions.

Seeing that Inoue Kaoru was no longer so insistent on signing a treaty with Korea, Yuan Xiangcheng was also happy. Since the other side had made concessions, he certainly would not press on. As long as the signing of this treaty placed Korea under the framework of the Qing Dynasty, it would be fine.

When another treaty is signed in the future, we can follow suit and North Korea will naturally become a vassal state of China.

"Don't worry, Ambassador Inoue. The treaty is mainly between your two countries, but the North Korean side will still sign the treaty." Yuan Xiangcheng directly addressed Inoue Xin by his official title, showing how much he valued him.

"Moreover, North Korea must pay compensation to Japan and compensate the losses suffered by the Japanese citizens who were victims this time. It must also apologize to Japan." Inoue Kaoru made a new request.

"Well, compensation is fine, but I think an apology is not necessary, right, Mr. Inoue? After all, the Japanese Embassy in North Korea was not involved in this incident..." Yuan Xiangcheng stopped there.

Inoue Kaoru could only grit her teeth and agree, and at the same time glared at Inoue Kakugoro fiercely, "If you guys hadn't done things so dishonestly, I wouldn't have been in a passive position during the negotiations!"

Since both Japan and Qing have determined the general bottom line, North Korea will naturally not have much objection.

The treaty was quickly drafted and published. The full text is as follows:

The Seoul Incident is of grave importance. The Emperor of Japan, deeply concerned, has dispatched Count Inoue Kaoru, Ambassador Plenipotentiary, to the Qing Empire to assist him in handling the matter. The Emperor of the Qing Empire, expressing his desire to maintain friendly relations, has entrusted Li Hongzhang, Special Envoy Wu Daji, and Yuan Xiangcheng with full authority to discuss the matter. The Emperor of the Qing Empire, entrusted by the King of Korea, has also participated in the deliberations with Left State Councilor Kim Hongjip. This order serves as a warning to the past. The three ministers have conferred in amicable agreement to demonstrate the continued goodwill and prevent future incidents.

Article

The Qing Empire and the Great Japanese Empire jointly published news of the Seoul Rebellion in their respective newspapers, stating that it was a rebellion and reaffirming the spirit of good neighborliness between the two countries. The Korean Seoul Weekly was also to publish the news.

Second

The Seoul government was ordered to provide relief to the families of the victims and the injured, as well as to compensate the merchants whose goods were damaged or looted, and Seoul was to allocate 100,000 won.

Article 3

Song Shimang will severely punish the criminals who killed Japanese businessmen and civilians.

Article 4

If the Japanese embassy were to be relocated to a new building, Korea would provide the land and buildings sufficient to house both the embassy and the consulate. For the additional construction, Korea would also provide 20,000 won to cover the cost of the work.

The fifth

The Japanese guards will set up their barracks on the land of the official residence and implement the fifth clause of the Renwu extension agreement.

December 2, the tenth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty

Special plenipotentiary minister Wu Daji and deputy envoy Yuan Xiangcheng

December 2, the 17th year of Meiji in Japan

Special Envoy and Plenipotentiary of the Third Order of the Imperial Court, Earl Inoue Kaoru

In the treaty, Inoue Kaoru originally buried some holes, such as the last sentence of the first paragraph. Inoue Kaoru originally requested that "the ministers of the three countries should negotiate and make the terms of the treaty", but later changed it to "the ministers of the three parties should negotiate and make the terms of the treaty" at Yuan Xiangcheng's insistence.

For example, the second article, "The Seoul government is ordered to provide relief to the people harmed by Japan this time," was originally written as "The Korean government," but was changed to the Seoul government at Yuan Shikai's request to remove the sensitive country name.

However, Yuan Shikai also made concessions. Originally, he only had to pay the Japanese 5 taels of silver. However, because Yuan Shikai requested changes to two parts of the treaty, the Japanese took the opportunity to increase their compensation demand from 5 taels of silver to 10 taels of silver.

An additional allocation of 2 taels was also requested to be used for the relocation of the Japanese embassy in Korea and subsequent construction projects.

As for the name of the treaty, its original name was the Treaty of Tianjin, but no one took this name seriously.

The name that Yuan Shikai planned to report was the Sino-Japanese Tianjin Treaty, the name that Inoue Kaoru planned to bring back was the Japan-Qing Dynasty Tianjin Treaty, and as for Kim Hong-jip of Korea, he changed the order and called it the Sino-Korean-Japanese Tianjin Treaty.

It's a different treaty, so the content of the treaty is the same, only the name is slightly different.

Yuan Shikai's efforts finally legally prevented Japan from further probing Korea's independence. Although few people in the Qing court could understand this, they still had to do what needed to be done.

This also paved the way for him to further control Korea in the future. Whether it was letting the Qing Dynasty annex Korea, abolishing the feudal system and establishing provinces, or becoming the governor of Korea himself, without the involvement of the Japanese, there would always be less trouble.

After the treaty was concluded, Wu Daji felt that the court did not suffer any loss in terms of content, so he happily signed his name at the end. Inoue Kaoru and Jin Hongji also signed at the end of the article with different thoughts.

There are two copies of the treaty, one written in Chinese, shared by China, North Korea and Japan, and the other in Chinese mixed with Japanese kana, unique to Japan.

After sending someone to complete the sorting, Yuan Shikai quickly sent someone to deliver the contents of the treaty to the court in Beijing.

Chapter 41 Half a Spring and Autumn

The grass and trees are lush, and the scene outside the window is no longer covered with ice and snow.

4 Yuan Xiangcheng, wearing a single shirt, blew on the manuscript he had just written, looked at the students shouting slogans and running in the playground in the distance, turned around, opened the door, and asked Han Bei to pack up his latest article.

"Han Bei, it's the same as usual. After you copy this article, have someone send one copy to Seoul and one copy to Shanghai. One copy should be submitted to Dong-A Ilbo and the other to Shen Bao." Yuan Xiangcheng put down his pen and said a little tiredly.

"Yes, sir!" Han Bei saluted and took the article with both hands respectfully.

"Kid, I've told you many times not to call adults in school. Didn't I tell you a few days ago that you should just call him chief instructor?" Yuan Xiangcheng patted Han Bei's shoulder and said with a smile.

"There are many teachers in the school. Calling you a teacher is not enough to reflect your unique status." Han Bei flattered without showing it.

"Let's go to the meeting." Yuan Xiangcheng pushed the door of a Chinese-style bungalow near the playground and walked in.

O There was an oval conference table in the room, with six or seven people sitting on both sides. When they saw Yuan Xiangcheng coming in, they all stood up from their chairs and watched Yuan Xiangcheng walk to the main seat.

"Please sit down, everyone." Yuan Xiangcheng waved his hand and then sat down. When everyone saw Yuan Xiangcheng sitting down, they sat back in their chairs.

On the left of Yuan Shikai was Wang Desheng, a Huai Army officer who had been sent by Li Hongzhang to study in Germany, as well as several German instructors.

Most of the Huai Army officers who studied in Germany participated in the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Rebellion, and made military achievements. However, because the Qing court intended to weaken the Huai Army, they resigned and returned home after the Nian Rebellion was suppressed.

When Yuan Shikai opened a military academy in Tianjin, he reported to Li Hongzhang and invited these unemployed military talents to serve as daily instructors. However, only Wang Desheng was in Tianjin at present, and the rest had gone to Incheon.

As for Yuan Shikai's right hand side, there are some of the talents he recruited since he traveled through Korea and Tianjin to set up schools.

There are Xu Shichang, Duan Qirui, Sheng Fei, Ming Ye, Qu Nan, Han Bei and others.