Master Yuan, start!

Russia did not pay any reparations, and the Karafuto Island area was too remote and required a huge investment in development, so it did not get any war dividends at all!

Hirobumi Ito, who was standing behind him, frowned slightly after hearing this. He had withdrawn from the competition for prime minister and had been serving as a government adviser in the name of chairman of the "Constitutional Research Society".

Compared to the furious Kuroda Kiyotaka, he cares more about whether the government and the opposition can reach a balanced agreement this time. If a bigger conflict arises, Japan may even be divided!

In Japan of this time and space, the contradiction between the ruling and opposition factions and the civil rights faction has become the most important contradiction in the country.

The contradiction between the army and navy became a secondary contradiction.

The reason is that after the Battle of Korea with Yuan Shikai, the Japanese Army lost its power; after the Battle of Whale Sea against Russia, the Japanese Navy lost its power.

If everyone is equally bad, then the eldest brother won’t make fun of the second brother.

The original contradictions between the army and navy have gradually been bridged with the failure of the two wars.

However, Yofei T: There is no problem between the Army and Navy after the five-liu-killing movement, and the liberal civil rights faction actually popped up again!

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It's really unexpected.

After all, Ito Hirobumi was a veteran politician who had experienced many hardships. He immediately thought of a solution. After pondering for a moment, he said:

"Kuroda-kun, since becoming Prime Minister these days, I'm sure you've realized that leading a country's affairs is not an easy task.

Especially in such a turbulent time like now, no matter what you do, you will be criticized."

"Ito-kun, what do you mean?" Kuroda Kiyotaka asked in confusion.

"Retreat to advance!" Ito Hirobumi stood up, looked out the window at the crowd marching downstairs, and said slowly:

"In the current situation, the position of Prime Minister is a hot potato. Rather than struggling to hold on, Kuroda-kun should just go with the flow and take the opportunity to step down."

Kuroda Kiyotaka understood this very well, but he was not willing to hand over power to the so-called "liberal and civil rights factions". In his opinion, this was irresponsible to His Majesty the Emperor!

He looked at Ito Hirobumi and said, "Mr. Ito, I am willing to make some concessions and absorb some liberal civil rights factions into the cabinet."

After Kuroda Kiyotaka formed his cabinet, in order to ensure the foundation of his rule, most of the cabinet ministers were military figures from Choshu and Satsuma.

Okuma Shigenobu, who came from the Hizen domain and considered himself a liberal and democratic rights advocate, was naturally kicked out of the cabinet by him.

Now, he wants to invite Okuma back to the cabinet to ease the turmoil.

Ito Hirobumi shook his head: "No, the liberal civil rights faction will not compromise this time. They have been suppressed for more than ten years and will not be willing to be an embellishment to us so-called feudal lords.

In their view, this turmoil is the best opportunity!"

"Kuroda-kun, if the conflict between the ruling and opposition parties grows, it will be even more detrimental to our country's survival during this difficult period. So, why not give in to the liberals and civil rights movement?"

After all, Hirobumi Ito is still Hirobumi Ito, and he is not comparable to the Showa young generals.

In order to maintain the stability of Japan's political situation, he was even willing to persuade Kuroda Kiyotaka, who was also a feudal lord, to give up the position of prime minister.

Of course, he was not a good man. Faced with the aggressive liberal civil rights group, although Ito Hirobumi was willing to give in, he was also ready to overturn the table at any time.

"Don't worry, Kuroda-kun. As long as the army and navy are in our hands, in the hands of His Majesty the Emperor, these liberal civil rights groups won't be able to cause any trouble."

Ito Hirobumi looked very confident, which showed his pride as a pioneer of the overthrow of the shogunate.

Hearing the increasingly loud shouts outside, after a long period of thought, Kuroda Kiyotaka, who was filled with grievances, could only sigh and waved to his followers: "Go prepare the car, let me go see Okuma Shigenobu."

"Wait a minute, Kuroda-kun." Ito Hirobumi stopped Kuroda Kiyotaka who was about to go out.

"Ito-kun, what else?"

"Kuroda-kun, I heard that President Yuan Shikai proposed to purchase the battleships Fuji and Yashima a few days ago, didn't he?"

The battleships Fuji and Yashima were purchased by Japan before the naval war against Russia. However, due to the post-war economic collapse, the payment of the final payment was extremely slow, so they are still docked at the Armstrong Shipyard in the UK.

"That's true," Kuroda Kiyotaka nodded and explained, "However, I was worried about public opposition, so I didn't agree to it."

Hearing this, Ito Hirobumi's eyes flashed, and he said, "How about this, Kuroda-kun might as well sign a letter of intent with Yuan before resigning.

Ba0*7?804] Wu Feilun

It is expected that these two warships will be transferred to the navy of their country."

Listening to Ito Hirobumi's non-stop talk, Kuroda Kiyotaka gradually understood and couldn't help but applaud!

Intent to sell warships!

In this case, when Okuma Shigenobu took office, he would either formally agree to sell the two ships and be criticized by the people, or tear up the letter of intent and offend Yuan.

After offending the Yuan family, how credible is his plan to unite with China in the eyes of the Yuan family?

By then, how much support will the liberal civil rights cabinet still have?

Chapter 467 Introducing Japan into the Philippines

The rainy season in South China has long gone, and the sun is shining brightly in Guangzhou.

Although the Battle of Hanoi was over, the sound of gunfire was still lingering. Duan Qirui had already made up his mind to maintain a high-pressure situation against the French troops in the Hue area.

Therefore, shortly after the Battle of Hanoi ended, he mobilized 3 divisions in the name of the Military Commission, marched south to Vietnam, and continued to approach the Central Vietnam area.

At the same time, the National Revolutionary Army in southern Guangxi also launched a counterattack. Under the influence of the defeat in Hanoi, the French troops that had previously landed in Guangxi lost their fighting spirit, retreated step by step, and finally retreated to the coast of Qin and Lian. They could only rely on the fire support of naval guns to defend the city.

The busiest person these days is Wang Shizhen. As he is in charge of the General Logistics Department, he has to give detailed instructions every day on hundreds of captured telegrams sent from the front lines.

Some of the cannons and machine guns captured in Hanoi were to be kept in place; some that were severely damaged were to be sent back to the rear for repair.

The medical supplies left behind by the French inside and outside the city must be screened before their use can be determined.

Mines, factories, etc. near Hanoi must send domestic personnel to take over and assess whether they need to be dismantled and brought back to the country.

As for the rifles that the French threw away in their hasty escape, although they did not match the caliber of the National Revolutionary Army's rifles, they could not be discarded. They could be transported back to the country to be used as training guns for the reserve forces.

...

Telegram after telegram made Wang Shizhen feel both pain and joy. His body, which was not very strong to begin with, finally collapsed from exhaustion after staying up late for several nights.

Upon hearing that the hardworking "Chief of Staff" and "Chief of Logistics" was bedridden, Yuan Shicheng immediately put down his work and ran to Wang Shizhen's residence to express his condolences.

After entering the room, Yuan Xiangcheng discovered that Xu Shichang and Tang Shaoyi had already arrived and were talking to Wang Shizhen, who was lying on the bed with a towel on his forehead.

Yuan Xiangcheng pointed at Xu and Tang and scolded them with a smile: "Well, Juren and Shaochuan, you two came here without telling me that the organization stipulates that unless it is an emergency, any meeting of three or more Central Committee members must be reported to the Central Decision-making Committee for approval.

Have you two made a report?"

Seeing that Yuan Xiangcheng was deliberately "raising an army to punish" Lin, Xu and Tang also grinned.

Xu Shichang was originally a member of the Central Decision-making Committee. He and Tang Shaoyi came together. Who did they need to report to?

However, just as they were about to retort, Wang Shizhen, who was lying on the side, spoke first: "Chief Instructor, haven't you been talking with the Japanese envoy these days? Why..."

Wang Shizhen was really surprised to see Yuan Xiangcheng coming without notice.

"No matter how important the Japanese envoy is, he is not as important as the health of my chief of staff." Yuan Xiangcheng took a half step forward, shook Wang Shizhen's hand, and said:

"Pinqing, you must take good care of yourself and rest. Don't damage your vitality."

Wang Shizhen smiled helplessly and said with emotion, "There's nothing we can do, Chief Instructor. Time is running out. The faster we act, the more leverage we'll have over the British in the future."

When they heard Wang Shizhen mention this, Yuan Xiangcheng, Xu Shichang and Tang Shaoyi, who had been feeling a little relaxed, straightened up.

In the later stages of the war against France, the Central Decision-Making Committee of the Socialist Revolutionary Party held a meeting to discuss the future situation.

At the meeting, almost everyone agreed that after taking Hanoi, no matter what the outcome of the war against France would be, the British would most likely no longer support the National Revolutionary Army as they had before.

The British had previously stood on the side of Yuan's National Revolutionary Army because they wanted to protect their colonial interests from the influence of Russia and France.

But after the wars against Russia and France, the two major obstacles that currently prevent Britain from expanding its interests in China no longer exist.

Even though the British and Yuan Shikai were now very close, they even proposed to recruit some National Revolutionary Army soldiers to serve as British volunteers to participate in the South African war.

But unless the Boer War could continue, once the war was over, British politicians would immediately follow the principle of interests first and find ways to curb this rising momentum.

It won't come openly, but there will definitely be some degree of restrictions.

If we want to achieve this goal, Japan seems to be the best choice.

Therefore, at the meeting, Yuan Shikai proposed that if Britain and Japan did not want to get closer, then letting Japan take the initiative to threaten Britain's colonial interests would be the most appropriate option.

Bringing Japan into the chaos in the Philippines was an attempt.

If Japan gains a foothold in the Philippines, the next natural direction of expansion will be to continue southward.

The island of Kalimantan in Borneo happens to be just south of the Philippines.

Moreover, the British protectorate of Sabah in North Borneo is right next to the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines.

Yuan Xiangcheng believed that by then, the forces of Britain and Japan would be so close, and Japan would be so hungry, that it would be difficult for them to reach an alliance targeting the domestic situation.

As for whether Americans would object to Japan's participation in the Philippine War?

Yuan Xiangcheng was not worried about this because times had changed.

If a playboy who has been unlearned since childhood suddenly picks up books and studies hard one day, his family's expectation of him may be that he would be thankful if he can pass the imperial examination.

On the contrary, for a child prodigy who has been well-read in poetry and literature since childhood, almost everyone thinks that he must pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi.

People's expectations will change, and so will the country's expectations.

The reason why the United States in the original time and space dominated the Philippines was because no one here had enough strength to stop it.

Historically, France and Britain were at loggerheads in the upper reaches of the Nile because of the Fashoda Incident.

Japan's attention was all on the north. It tightened its control over Korea while enjoying the indemnity from the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

Looking around the Western Pacific, who could still say NO to the United States entering the Philippines, the Siamese or the Dutch?

Therefore, after winning the Battle of Manila, the Americans gradually began to think about annexing the entire "Philippine Islands".

One concept needs to be clarified. Spain's rule in the Philippines was almost limited to the northern island of Luzon. As for the Broken Islands further south, they only occupied them in name. In reality, they still practiced economic colonization and allowed them to develop freely politically.

But this time and space is different. A powerful China has emerged in East Asia and has even extended its tentacles to Southeast Asia.

The Americans' psychological expectations were not that high. Yuan Shikai sounded the American minister and Hoover several times, and they both believed that the US government's goal was probably to occupy "Luzon Island" centered on Manila, and did not include the scattered archipelagos south of the Philippines.

These islands are full of indigenous people and Muslim believers. Given the current national strength of the United States, it is simply unable to send troops to land and clear them out.

It is also very reasonable for the Japanese to send troops to clean up one by one and then take some islands in return.

The climate in Nanyang is not like that of Sakhalin. It is summer here almost all year round, and the amazing three harvests of rice a year alone is enough to make the Japanese excited.

Not to mention, the Spaniards still have some abandoned plantations left in these places. As long as they can be used reasonably, they can become colonies to provide blood transfusions to the Japanese mainland in a short period of time.

Japan, there is no reason not to be tempted.