Master Yuan, start!

Of the six most important positions in the first cabinet of Ito of the Meiji government, namely Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Finance, Minister of the Army, and Minister of the Navy, Choshu clan held an absolute majority of four.

The Minister of Army was given to Oyama Iwao, who was from Satsuma but had friendly relations with Choshu. Only the Minister of the Navy was given to Saigo Jōmichi, who was also from Satsuma. Although some other less important posts as Minister of Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry, and Minister of Education were also given to people from Satsuma.

But anyone with a discerning eye knows that this is just to save face. What is the use of the Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce and the Minister of Culture?

Originally, the leader of Satsuma clan, Saigo Jōmichi, had no choice but to cooperate with this. Firstly, he lacked external reputation because he did not have the political appeal of his brother. All his prestige was inherited from his brother who was famous in Japan. If he did not cooperate with Choshu clan, he would not be absolutely sure that he could create a place for himself in the new government.

The second reason is that its internal position is unstable. After Saigo Takamori committed seppuku, the Satsuma clan did not have any outstanding talents, but this does not mean that no one wanted to be the leader of the Satsuma clan.

Kuroda Kiyotaka, who also belonged to the Satsuma domain, came from a poor family, but he also had a certain prestige. If it were not for his family background, he would probably have replaced Saigo Tsunemichi long ago.

If Saigo Jōmichi continued to be in a stalemate with the Choshu clan for a long time, someone might stand up to challenge his position.

However, after seeing the army's disastrous defeat in Korea, Saigo Tsunemichi's unwilling heart began to become restless again.

"The army suffered a great defeat. The Choshu clan should give up more territory. We cannot let them lead the Empire of Japan into the abyss of failure!"

"Ito overthrows the cabinet!"

"Ito Hirobumi resigns!"

Taking advantage of the defeat, a movement to overthrow the cabinet was also launched in Japan. With the deliberate indulgence of Saigo Tsunemichi, students from Satsuma Domain joined forces with the liberal civil rights group in Tokyo and took to the streets to overthrow the cabinet, targeting Ito Hirobumi.

However, Ito Hirobumi obviously did not think so. The reconciliation between Satsuma and Choshu was his mercy and charity as the victor to the defeated. Now that the army had only encountered some setbacks, the defeated were making noise again, which was really disgusting to him.

Therefore, Ito Hirobumi took a step back to advance. On the one hand, he announced his resignation as Prime Minister to serve as President of the Privy Council. On the other hand, before leaving, he recommended Yamagata Aritomo as Prime Minister. At the same time, he reached an agreement with the liberal civil rights faction Okuma Shigenobu, exchanging the position of Foreign Minister for Okuma Shigenobu's silence in public opinion.

Moreover, one month before his resignation, Ito Hirobumi announced that he would organize a team to draft a constitution and would serve as the chief editor of the draft of the Japanese Constitution.

This move directly hit Xixiang Congdao's weak spot.

The Satsuma clan had never been on good terms with the liberal civil rights movement, and the two sides were able to cooperate only because they wanted to overthrow the Ito cabinet of the Choshu clan.

Now Ito Hirobumi chose to use the promulgation of Japan's first constitution and the position of Foreign Minister to induce the civil rights faction headed by Okuma Shigenobu to give up cooperation with the Satsuma clan.

Okuma Shigenobu naturally knew what to choose, so in September 1887, shortly after the Japanese army was defeated in the Korean War, the Ito Hirobumi cabinet announced its fall.

Aritomo Yamagata, who was from the Choshu domain, succeeded as Prime Minister, Shigenobu Okuma, a member of the liberal democracy faction, served as Foreign Minister, former Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru became Home Minister, Iwao Oyama remained as Army Minister, and the Minister of the Navy was replaced by Kiyotaka Kuroda, who was also from the Satsuma domain, from Saigo Takamichi.

In other words, after all the commotion, the Satsuma clan got nothing, and its leader, Saigo Tsunemichi, was even tricked. He even lost his position as Minister of the Navy and was given the position of Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce instead.

But at this time the list of new members had been released, and everyone could see that Aritomo Yamagata was just a puppet to deceive the public, and the real power was still in the hands of Hirobumi Ito.

Saigo Tsunemichi's attempts to raise opposition were futile, as the Satsuma domain was plagued by internal strife. After his resignation, Kuroda Kiyotaka took power. The power of the Satsuma domain naturally gathered around Kuroda Kiyotaka, and Saigo Tsunemichi no longer had the power to command the people.

After this wave of alliances, the Choshu clan still held a majority among the six heavyweight ministers in the cabinet, including three from the Choshu clan, one from the Liberal Democratic Party, and two from the Satsuma clan.

范围扩大到整个内阁，10位大臣中，首相、内务、大藏、司法4位大臣属于长州藩；陆军、海军、农工商3位大臣出身萨摩藩；外务大臣1位属于自由民权派；文部大臣1位出身早已没落的肥前番；邮递大臣1位，出自旧幕府家臣的本武扬。

Ito Hirobumi's ability to keep things balanced is clearly evident in these seven instances of changing prime ministers.

He stepped down, and the number of ministerial positions held by the Choshu clan in the cabinet was reduced by one, but this did not affect the Choshu clan's dominant position in the cabinet at all. It even introduced the Liberal Rights Party to check and balance the Satsuma clan.

Therefore, after seeing this list, although some people in Satsuma Domain were still dissatisfied, after all, the person in charge had changed, and the new leader was busy consolidating his own power, so he had no way to unite and oppose it, and could only let it go.

The situation in Japan could have been eased at this point, but at the same time, news of France, Germany, and the Netherlands invading South China and leasing land reached Japan.

The Satsuma clan, which had been gradually quiet, and some students and civilians became restless again. Seeing that Westerners could seize a piece of land by driving warships into the Qing ports and firing cannons, they felt that the Empire of Japan was not impossible.

After a period of fermentation, this incident deeply stimulated the entire Japanese people, and they began to reflect on whether they had misjudged the trend of the times.

Millions of silver dollars were invested in the army and the six major garrisons, but in return they suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of North Korea.

What if this money was invested in the navy?

As a result, under the appeals of the people and some anti-Choshu clan forces, the voices demanding attention to the navy and coastal defense became louder.

There are even radicals who believe in the Navy and openly urinate in the Army Recruiting Office, slandering the Army as "red deer!"

The army soldiers at the conscription office had never been insulted like this before, so they started fighting immediately. The radicals were not alone, so they naturally fought back.

As the conversation went on, more and more people from both sides started shouting, and even the Tokyo police were involved. In the chaos, someone picked up a revolver that a police officer had dropped on the ground.

2. "Bang!"

9 The sound of a gunshot calmed down the people who were fighting, but after they dispersed, they found that a guard who came to stop the fight had been shot.

In the end, the emperor sent troops to detain the two groups separately, thus quelling the rebellion.

However, the news still spread, and continued to ferment among those who supported the army and the navy. In schools in Tokyo, students with different ideologies would often fight and be sent to the hospital for this.

The whole of Tokyo was in turmoil.

Aritomo Yamagata, who had just taken office as Prime Minister, had never seen such a situation before, so he could only ask Hirobumi Ito for advice.

5Tokyo, inside a restaurant.

"Sir, public opinion in Tokyo is forcing our Choshu clan to self-harm!" Aritomo Yamagata said anxiously.

"With the defeat of Korea, four out of ten of the three major army garrisons were wiped out, and our Choshu clan is undoubtedly responsible," Ito Hirobumi lamented. "However, I thought my concession would help quell this dispute, but it turned into a major incident that we had to deal with!"

"Yamagata-kun, didn't you seek help from Okuma Shigenobu, the liberal democracy advocate?"

"Since becoming Foreign Minister, Okuma Shigenobu has been completely focused on the abolition of the treaty and the revision of the draft constitution. Apart from these two matters, he has not participated in any other government affairs.

I went to him, but he brushed me off by saying that the civil rights movement had nothing to do with it and that I was powerless to stop it.

Ito Hirobumi laughed bitterly upon hearing this: "Haha, you, the Prime Minister, are being manipulated by the Foreign Minister."

Yamagata Aritomo ignored Ito Hirobumi's teasing and said fiercely, "Sir, why not suppress them? They are just students or ordinary people who supported the Satsuma domain. Suppressing them will cleanse the court and bring peace back to the country!"

Seeing Yamagata Aritomo's naiveté, Ito Hirobumi could only sigh at the simplicity of a warrior's mind. He then said seriously, "Yamagata-kun, this isn't just a matter of land and sea fighting. Someone is dissatisfied with the army's disastrous defeat, and my resignation hasn't satisfied them."

"Sir, are you talking about the Satsuma clan? But the Satsuma clan is now undergoing internal integration, and they can only organize some protests and marches, and they can't do anything to you." Yamagata Aritomo shook his head and denied this answer.

He looked at Ito Hirobumi, who bowed towards the Tokyo Imperial Palace and said with some emotion:

"It's that person who's doing the hard work behind the scenes!"

Yamagata Aritomo's eyes were confused at first, but then he immediately thought of something and lowered his voice and said, "Sir, what do you mean, Your Majesty? Could it be that Your Majesty intends to make us, the Choshu clan, apologize?"

"No, Your Majesty is wise and powerful, a wise ruler rarely seen in a thousand years. How could you be jealous of talented people? Moreover, Your Majesty's ascension to the throne is also due to the great efforts of our Choshu clan. Your Majesty is not such an ungrateful person." Ito Hirobumi first pointed out the loopholes in Yamagata Aritomo's words, and then explained:

Si Er*3”W sobs: “It’s just that all the wise rulers and emperors since ancient times have hoped to have more room to play and obtain more unrestrained power.

Before I resigned, I announced that I would compile a draft constitution for the Empire of Japan. This was undoubtedly a lock on the palace of power for Your Majesty. If nothing happened, Your Majesty would be dissatisfied, but he would have no choice but to obey, because a civil rights constitution is the general trend and the inevitable choice for our Great Japan after the founding of the country.

Even if His Majesty needs to unlock and lock the palace every time he enters and leaves it in the future, he has no choice but to accept it.

However, after the incident of the occupation of Qing territory by the Japanese, the Japanese, and the Three Kingdoms, His Majesty was dissatisfied and would certainly take the opportunity to vent his discontent and seek change. Ito Hirobumi was deeply moved. He had never expected that the Meiji Emperor would not be able to fulfill his wish of becoming a high and mighty god.

In Japanese history, there were very few periods when the emperor was in power. Most of the time, power was either in the hands of powerful ministers, the legal emperor, the retired emperor, the regent, or the shogun. In any case, it was not in the hands of the contemporary emperor.

Emperor Meiji was a rare emperor who held real power, but after the war to overthrow the shogunate, his power was constantly eroded by local feudal factions.

Although these feudal lords did not intend to undermine the emperor again, the idea of ​​deifying the emperor by relying on the constitution emerged.

Ito Hirobumi gave in to the liberal civil rights faction and proposed to compile the Constitution of the Empire of Japan, not entirely to stop the offensive of the Satsuma clan, but also to restrict the emperor.

In the draft constitution of the Empire of Japan, the emperor was constructed into a complete symbolic symbol and became the contemporary god of the Japanese nation.

Since he has become a god, it means that the emperor cannot easily intervene in political disputes, and exists more as a arbitrator rather than a ruler.

On the one hand, Emperor Meiji Mutsuhito enjoyed the feeling of being admired by the people of Japan; but on the other hand, he did not want to be a political mascot, he wanted to participate more in the decision-making affairs of the Japanese government.

After the second overthrow of the shogunate, the so-called "elders" of the nine powerful southwestern feudal domains all wanted to expand their own power in the government, but at the same time, they also wanted to limit the "Emperor's descent to earth", believing that the daily operation of the government did not require the Emperor's interference.

Book search group 6073804

This was something Mutsuhito could not tolerate. He did not want to be an emperor in name only.

Therefore, taking advantage of the news of the army's disastrous defeat in Korea, he tacitly allowed the Satsuma clan and the liberal civil rights groups to cooperate and set off a wave of opposition to the Choshu clan cabinet in Tokyo.

Unexpectedly, Ito Hirobumi took a step back and resigned to calm the situation.

Although Mu Ren was unwilling, he had no choice but to give up.

Unexpectedly, news of Germany, France and the Netherlands invading Qing territory coincided with this. Mutsuhito realized that this was a good opportunity, so he relaxed his control over the streets of Tokyo and deliberately allowed students and people with different political views to cause trouble.

Until the "Army Shooting Incident" occurred, which put the newly formed cabinet government in trouble.

It was difficult for officials to do anything to quell the unrest. Riots were breaking out all over Tokyo, and there were even reports of fights in Kyoto and Osaka.

Unless the army is deployed, the government is no longer able to deal with the current chaos, and if it wants to quell the rebellion, it can only rely on the intervention of gods.

"Now that things have come to this, please, Your Majesty, come forward, Lord Yamagata." Ito Hirobumi helplessly put down the chrysanthemum tea in his hand and said with emotion.

"Okay!" After being instructed by Ito Hirobumi, Aritomo Yamagata also understood the twists and turns behind the matter and knew that there was no other way except to ask the emperor to come forward.

So, after Aritomo Yamagata entered the Imperial Palace the next day and met with the Emperor for an afternoon, things took a turn for the better.

At the end of November 1887, Emperor Meiji of Japan issued an imperial decree to launch the "Coastal Defense Donation Movement" and took the lead in donating 11 yen to purchase and manufacture naval vessels.

The Japanese cabinet issued naval bonds, devoted the whole country's strength to developing the navy, and announced a naval expansion plan to manufacture a total of 5 ships of various types, including first-class ironclad ships, with a total tonnage of 8 tons in the next five years.

However, Japan's naval and army expenditures have already reached 30% of the national fiscal budget. If it wants to expand its military, it can only cut the cake and cannot make it bigger.

Yamagata Aritomo agreed to suspend the research and equipment of army weapons. He also agreed to maintain the existing six garrison headquarters until the naval fleet was completed and not to expand the army any further. At the same time, he planned to allocate 9% of the army's military expenditure to the navy within the next five years.

In this way, the plan to weaken the Choshu clan, which the Satsuma clan failed to achieve after the Japanese army was defeated in the Korean War, was realized in the hands of Emperor Meiji.

However, Emperor Meiji's original intention was not to help the Satsuma clan, but to expand his own authority as emperor.

After reaching a tacit political deal with the Choshu clan, Emperor Meiji took the opportunity to quell the riots at the cost of helping the Yamagata Cabinet resist the political trend. As a result of the deal, Ito Hirobumi, who was behind the Choshu clan, could only make concessions in other areas.

Because the Constitution of the Empire of Japan was promulgated almost at the same time as the naval bonds.

As an exchange of interests with the feudal elders, neither the Choshu clan nor the Satsuma clan insisted in the Constitution of the Empire of Japan that the power of the parliament was greater than that of the emperor.

Although Okuma Shigenobu, a liberal civil rights advocate in the cabinet, was willing to persist, he had no choice but to give up under the oppression of the two major feudal clans.

Therefore, the constitutional sentence "The Emperor shall exercise legislative power with the approval of the Imperial Diet" was changed to "The Emperor shall exercise legislative power with the approval of the Imperial Diet."

"Recognition" becomes "cooperation", which means that the emperor's power does not require the consent of the parliament to be exercised, which means that under the provisions of the constitution, the Japanese emperor has supreme power at the secular level in Japan.

Coupled with his symbolic significance on the religious level, the power of the Japanese emperor was formally fixed in the name of law.

God and Caesar were successfully merged into one in Japan at the end of the 19th century.

However, although the Japanese people were all jubilant at this time, celebrating the naval shipbuilding plan and the promulgation of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan, even men, women, young and old followed the emperor's example and donated generously, expressing their willingness to contribute their own screws to the construction of the navy's warships.

However, they have no idea what kind of purgatory life they will face in the next five years.

The issuance of naval bonds was not enough to cover all the shipbuilding costs, not to mention the usual army and navy expenditures. The Japanese cabinet could only increase taxes on industries such as textiles, brewing, and tobacco, and intensified the suppression of Japanese farmers. The lower-class people in Japan also ushered in more severe exploitation than in the original time and space.

...

However, at this time, Yuan Xiangcheng had not yet received the news from the Red Search Department's Tokyo Station, and was anxiously rushing to Yongxing Bay in eastern Korea.