1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll

Is this really what those idiots, brainless fools, and idiots in the military think of as "weak diplomacy"?

of course not!

Its real name is similar to what Fujiwara no Kaneshiro is doing now, and is very similar to some of Fujiwara no Kaneshiro's superficial claims, namely:

System confrontation!

By the 1920s and 1930s, any Japanese with a bit of vision had noticed something that Chinese intellectuals hadn't understood for centuries:

The Meiji Restoration was a complete failure.

What was the purpose of this reform movement, which was praised to the skies by some Chinese people in later generations?

To ensure Japan's independence.

However, due to lack of experience, the Meiji Restoration itself was based on the Western system, especially the Washington system, which recognized that "everything in the West is excellent, Westerners are inherently superior, and the Japanese should learn everything."

Therefore, no matter how hard Japan tries, it will always be controlled by the West. When the West is in a good state, it will give you a couple of bones. When the West is in a bad state, it will treat you as a punching bag or even a blood-sucking bag.

If you want to defeat the system, you must create your own system. Only when the system fights against the system can you have the possibility of victory. Otherwise, you are not even on the same level. What can you use to compete?

To get rid of this embarrassing position, Japan must build its own system and establish confrontational thinking and competitive goals on the same level as the West.

It was precisely because of this realization that many Japanese politicians, such as Kijuro Shidehara, proposed to "replace the administrative measures taken against China at that time with bourgeois and fair methods", which later became the "Shidehara diplomacy".

Things like "reconciliation with the United States and the Soviet Union, no longer carrying out armed aggression against China but engaging in economic negotiations" are all products guided by this idea.

Reconciliation with the United States - Although it was a last resort and a substantive reconciliation was impossible, because the "Anglo-Japanese Alliance" was forced to dissolve, Japan, without Britain's full support, could not fight the United States alone. The rational choice was reconciliation;

Reconciliation with the Soviet Union - trading the security of the Soviet Far East for the return of Manchuria and Mongolia to Japanese control, while exploiting the Soviet Union's compromising mentality and sense of insecurity to force it to move closer to Japan, thus achieving a de facto alliance;

Reconciliation with China - the intention was to draw China into Japan's alliance, using China's huge size as a backing to fight against the West and the Soviet Union, and thus achieve Japan's independence;

This would not only ease the strategic pressure of losing the open protection of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, but also solve the problem of losing the supply of major strategic resources such as mining, metallurgy, and oil after the sea transportation lines were cut off by the United States.

It can also take advantage of China's vast resources, rely on Japan's relative advantages in technology and capital, and the Soviet Union's relative compromise with Japan in Manchuria and Mongolia, and ultimately establish the so-called "Japanese system."

The Shidehara diplomacy was even inherited by militarists later, except that they changed the "gentle and gradual establishment of the system" into the "drastic and rapid establishment of the system" after being forced into a corner by the United States during World War II.

To be fair, "Shidehara Diplomacy" was an extremely far-sighted approach for Japan, but the same thing done by different people can have completely different effects.

With the support and backing of the armed forces in the Northeast region and the United States' repeated "victories", Fujiwara no Kanezane's words were believed and followed.

This is much better than what happened back then when Kijuro Shidehara and others were always tried to sabotage whatever they did by warlords and right-wing elements.

Shidehara was well aware of this, so after Fujiwara no Kanezane formally put forward his proposal, he immediately tried to show goodwill to the other party through various channels and finally got the opportunity today.

"Alright, alright, Mr. Shidehara, you don't have to be like this in front of me. You should think carefully about what you should say when you see Ms. Field."

"Please give your instructions, Your Highness."

"Mr. Shidehara, I agreed to help you return to politics, not because I was looking for a mouthpiece, but because I sincerely hope you can fully utilize your talents."

"...Thank you, Your Highness."

After all, Kijuro Shidehara is a 60-year-old man who has experienced countless hardships. He is not easily moved and quickly gets into his role:

"I can..."

There's nothing "new" about Inohara's remarks; they simply rehash some of the content from "Inohara Diplomacy" and "The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere":

"...I will appropriately make a tentative request to Ms. Field to ask if she is interested in sharing the Pacific region with our country. I have studied some of her proposals and I am afraid she will not easily refuse."

"Yes, the Pacific Ocean is big enough to accommodate both the United States and Japan..."

After Fujiwara no Kanezane said this, Shidehara Kijuro knew that he had passed the "test". He immediately relaxed a lot and said with a smile:

"Yes, that person, like Your Highness, has lofty ideals and will not dwell on short-term gains and losses. He just needs to consider more practical issues."

"You seem to have something to say, right? Go ahead."

"Your Highness, I cannot hide this from you... I have studied your strategic conception of the 'Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere' many times and I deeply agree with it. However, I still have a few questions that I would like to ask you."

"You say."

"First, Your Highness, how can you ensure that the establishment of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere does not overly irritate the United States? Although you have a very good relationship with that woman, political matters are often not determined by her personal will..."

Almost no one thinks that Ms. Field is motivated by personal reasons - how can a politician's every move be based on personal likes and dislikes?

Therefore, the Americans must be up to something bad.

"...I even think that the US and the Soviet Union may have reached some kind of agreement, perhaps targeting us, Japan."

There was an agreement, but the two great powers of the United States and the Soviet Union joined forces just to deal with a mere Japan?

You think too highly of Japan.

Fujiwara Kanesaki curled his lips inwardly, but nodded on the surface and said:

"I have received intelligence that the US and the Soviet Union have indeed reached some agreements whose specific content we are not yet clear about, but what is certain is that they are not primarily aimed at Japan, but at China."

"China?"

"Yes, these two major powers may consider intervening in China's affairs in a more radical way in the future, or even dividing up the entire country in some way."

"Divide? This..."

Kijuro Shidehara instinctively didn't believe it.

The idea of ​​"dividing China" was abandoned by all countries as it was proven to be extremely stupid and costly during the super-turmoil decades ago.

Only some idiots in the Japanese army still firmly believed that they could conquer China by force, and even shouted the slogan "Conquer China in six months", but what was the result?

Without His Majesty Prince Kanezane, they wouldn't even be able to take over the Northeast!

Kijuro Shidehara was extremely angry with the Japanese army for ruining his reputation. When he learned that they were in trouble, he would drink two more glasses of wine every night.

Wait a minute, so, dividing up China might mean...

"Don't think it's impossible. Think about the series of miracles that lady has accomplished since she came to power. If she intervened—and I'm not talking about force, but gentle tactics—how many Chinese would be willing to follow her?"

Fujiwara Kanezane sneered:

"Because of the actions of some idiots, my reputation in China has been severely damaged. To be honest, in the short term, it may not be comparable to that of a newly arrived, flawless American president."

No...cannot refute it.

The few words that have come from the United States can create a new god, let alone the other party personally "descending to China"?

Yes, this must be the Americans’ goal! The Shanghai incident is proof of this!

Otherwise, Ms. Field probably would not have chosen East Asia as the first three stops of her global visit, two of which were even in China.

We are in trouble. If the rough Americans start to learn the gentle tactics, with their strong production capacity, the effect may be better than ours in Japan.

No wonder Your Highness wants to import grain from the United States and bring it to the Northeast. If you do nothing and allow a severe famine to occur in the Northeast, the Americans will benefit greatly.

"...Therefore, we can only use gentle means to fill the huge hole created by the army's idiots and win the hearts and minds of the Chinese people as much as possible, so as to resist the new divisions by the United States and the Soviet Union, especially the new United States."

Kijuro Shidehara strongly agreed with this set of measures.

If everyone were to annex China in a "gentle" manner like His Highness did, the cost would actually be the lowest, and it would also be the best way to protect Japan's interests in China!

Moreover, if we follow the method His Highness suggested, it will indeed be less likely to irritate the nerves of Americans who intend to plunder China in the same way.

After all, if the Americans dare to take a hard line, it would be equivalent to destroying their own "legitimacy", and then the only ones who would benefit would be the Japanese.

Only those idiots in the army would only think about killing!

"In that case, Your Highness, I have a second question: how can you guarantee your control over China?"

Kijuro Shidehara said worriedly:

"I know that your control over Manchuria is perfect, but that's only for now. The Chinese have never been those small, unambitious people. Once they gain power, they will inevitably seek independence."

As a veteran diplomat who had dealt with the Chinese for decades, Kijuro Shidehara was well aware that China would never willingly become a vassal of the Japanese system.

As its economic strength grows and its military power improves, China will inevitably seek to gradually form its own system, expand its influence, and even control Japan itself.

It was precisely because of this concern that Kijuro Shidehara, who was obviously from Osaka, did not stand out and announce his full support for Fujiwara no Kanezane, who was the "Lord of the West" of Japan.

In his view, Fujiwara no Kanezane and his supporters may have been a little too confident, thinking they could completely control the Chinese.

(Many Japanese at the time saw this clearly, and even realized that "the process of establishing the system would inevitably lead to Japan becoming part of China", but the problem was that few dared to admit it.)

"You still don't understand my theory deeply enough, Lord Shidehara." Fujiwara Kanezane shook his head.

"If you want to go further, your horizons cannot be limited to Japan alone, or even to China alone."

"You mean...all of East Asia?"

"When you view Japan as an independent country, you naturally worry about its components within the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, but if you view the entire Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere as a whole, you won't have such concerns."

"...Sorry...I'm sorry, Your Highness. I still don't quite understand."

In fact, Shidehara Kijuro had a vague guess, but he was not willing to say it directly, and Fujiwara Kanezane seemed to have lost interest in explaining it in detail:

"It's okay if you don't quite understand. This is the mindset of a king and an emperor, your majesty, and mine."

Of course, this is bullshit.

If Hirohito had this mentality, he would not have been the number one war criminal in history who escaped disaster thanks to the US-Soviet conflict and a certain amount of luck.

,

After hearing this, Biyuan shuddered and didn't dare to ask any more questions.

As an Osaka native with close ties to the Mitsubishi Group, he was particularly unwilling and afraid to get involved in matters involving royal secrets.

He only wanted Japan and the United States to divide the Pacific Ocean. So, what kind of grand plan was this prince, the most ambitious man in Japanese history, contemplating?

He didn't know and didn't dare to ask.

But at least, this prince who has shown great kindness to Osaka is worthy of our strong support, isn't he?

444 Lushun Old Incident Explosion

Because these were all arranged in advance or someone simply asked his or her own humanoid to perform a double act with him or her, some of the things that happened later seemed too boring.

On the afternoon of her arrival in Japan, Ms. Field met with Japanese Prime Minister and Admiral Saito Makoto, reaffirming the relevant agreements reached between the United States and Japan at the naval disarmament conference.

In short, Japan must continue to implement the treaty signed at the London Disarmament Conference, maintain the size of its fleet at the proportions stipulated by Britain and the United States, and continue to dismantle the warships that have already been built.

On the surface, this treaty was extremely unfavorable to Japan, but this time, not many people opposed it and shouted "Heaven punishes the traitors" or something like that.

Because, as of today, whether it is Saito Makoto, most of the senior Japanese politicians or naval officials, they no longer care much about this so-called disarmament treaty.

On the one hand, by exploiting loopholes in the past to build warships (for example, converting unfinished battleships into aircraft carriers, thus not taking up the capital ship tonnage stipulated in the treaty), the size of the Japanese navy did not actually decrease significantly;

(The period from the signing of the Five-Power Naval Treaty to 1936 was known as the "Naval Holiday Period." During this period, the navies of various countries did not develop much, resulting in the widespread use of "treaty ships" built by exploiting loopholes but with poor performance.)

On the one hand, Japan could not afford to support such a large navy. If it continued to expand madly, not only would the army rebel, but the political circles and the people would also protest.

On the one hand, we now have Fujiwara no Kanezane and Manchuria... the Five-Star Eastern Republic!

Your treaty can limit the size of Japan's navy, but it can't limit that country, right?

Anyway, I can sell all the less-good warships to His Majesty Prince Kanezane, and then use the military funds and the proceeds from the ship sales to buy new ships. Isn't that wonderful?

Transfer payments belong to yes.

In such a harmonious atmosphere, accompanied by Japanese Prime Ministers Saito Makoto and Fujiwara no Kanezane, Ms. Field and her entourage attended the state banquet that evening and then stayed at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo.

The next morning, accompanied by former Foreign Minister Kijuro Shidehara, Emperor Hirohito and Empress Michiko met with US President Field at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo with great ceremony.

This time, no one talked about anything substantive. Instead, they reached a consensus on more "vague" things such as further commitments to strengthen friendly trade exchanges between Japan and the United States, strengthen openness, non-aggression, and maintain peace.

Despite this, it is actually a very big diplomatic development for Japan, and its significance is no less than the previous sudden statement of support for the "Five-Star Eastern Republic" by the United States at the League of Nations Assembly.

You have to know that until Fujiwara no Kanezane rushed to the United States and achieved a series of major diplomatic achievements, the relationship between the United States and Japan was extremely tense due to the conflict of interests in China and the Pacific, and was on the verge of war.

Now, as the new president's first foreign visit after officially taking office, Haruta actually chose Japan, the biggest rival of the United States in the Pacific. The top Japanese politicians are not idiots who insist on fighting a life-and-death battle with a powerful country.

Thus, amidst various political processes of mutual goodwill between the two sides, President Field concluded his two-day visit to Japan and boarded the ship to the next destination:

Shenyang.

Amidst the waves, countless eyes were fixed on the two figures at the bow of the giant ship.

As the accompanying person, "Hachimangu Kanezane-no-Ou" must have been discussing national affairs between the United States and Japan, as well as the global situation with our beloved Madam President.

"...40 reports that we have received intelligence that someone is planning to assassinate you and me, the President of the United States, at the welcoming ceremony in order to disrupt relations between Japan and the United States."

“Oh? Who is it this time?”

"The pre-emptive attacker we've identified is a North Korean puppet army officer who plans to carry out a suicide bombing during our meeting. He's under surveillance and could be apprehended at any time."

"I want to blow you up, injure you, blow myself up, and then put the blame on the Japanese?"