The sun never sets.

Chapter 347 Theory

Kotoku Shusui put the armistice conditions drafted by Ito Hirobumi on the table and said, "Chairman Lin will never agree to such conditions."

"If Chairman Lin is not satisfied, he can propose new conditions, but Japan really cannot come up with 3 million taels of silver." Ito Hirobumi said: "The tax burden on the Japanese people is already heavy enough. If we add another 3 million taels of silver as compensation..." He shook his head, "It will cause a big mess."

These reasons are not false, but Ito Hirobumi has deeper plans, which are not convenient to say now.

Takahashi Korekiyo said, “Mr. Kotoku, please.”

"I can pass this condition on to Chairman Lin, but I can't do anything else."

"Mr. Xingde, you are too modest. Everyone knows that Chairman Lin thinks highly of you. Otherwise, he would not have brought it up during the negotiations."

Facing Takahashi Korekiyo's compliments, Kotoku Shusui remained unmoved and remained clear-headed. "I can only do things within my ability."

Seeing that Kotoku Shusui was unmoved, Ito Hirobumi stopped talking and asked Takahashi Korekiyo to talk to him about some theoretical and academic matters. Takahashi Korekiyo, like Ito Hirobumi, also agreed with external expansion. Given Japan's current situation, if it did not expand externally, it would explode, so it had to expand. However, he did not agree with the means and methods of the Army Department's expansion. If Ito Hirobumi and his opinions could be adopted, the current extremely bad situation would not have occurred. However, things have come to this point, and complaining is useless. We can only try our best to solve the problem at hand.

The main problem at present is the war. Japan really can't fight anymore. The Combined Fleet is very strong. The Chinese Navy can only retreat when it sees it. Even the Baltic Fleet of Tsarist Russia can only hide in the port of Qingdao and dare not come out. But warships can only travel on the sea and cannot go ashore. China is not Japan. Even if it is blockaded, it can still hold on. At most, it can increase the freight for merchant ships of Britain, France, Germany, the United States and other countries. Does the Combined Fleet dare to attack the merchant ships of the great powers?

Kuroki Tameshige's First Army and Oku Yasuo's Second Army were struggling to hold on in the Korean battlefield, and they were about to follow in the footsteps of Oyama Iwao and Nogi Maresuke. The most important thing for the Meiji government of Japan now was to cease fire with China. If Kuroki Tameshige and Oku Yasuo were also eliminated, the newly formed divisions in Japan would probably not be able to suppress the increasingly turbulent tide in the country.

Takahashi Korekiyo couldn't care less. Anyway, no matter which side came to power, he would be needed to manage the finances. Even if all of Korea was lost, the People's Army would not be able to enter the Japanese mainland for a while. Even if the People's Army broke in, he would still be needed as an economic and financial expert. Negotiating with China was the business of the elders. He wanted to ask Kotoku Shusui about other things.

"I heard that Mr. Kotoku used to be a Marxist?"

"Yes."

Takahashi Korekiyo asked with great interest: "Why don't you believe it now?"

Japan is now in a state of flux, with all kinds of doctrines and theories, because those in power have failed to come up with a set of logically self-consistent theories, so there is a scene of chaos. China is different. The chairman of the People's Party, Lin Yongchang, has come up with a complete set of theoretical systems that are not only self-consistent, but also very feasible. The most important thing is that it has been proven in northern China. Five years ago, China was almost destroyed by the Eight-Nation Alliance, but it adopted the "Lin Yongchang Doctrine" and was able to defeat Tsarist Russia and Japan in just five years.

Kotoku Shusui said: “Marxism has its advanced aspects, especially its description of surplus value and capital, which has a deafening effect, but it still has some flaws in other aspects.

After all, Mr. Marx was a German. The information he collected was all about Europe, and at most he only went to Central Asia. He didn’t know much about the situation in the East. Mr. Marx himself admitted this, thinking that his summary of history and political system was only suitable for the situation in Europe. Later, Mr. Marx wanted to study the history and politics of the East, but he died before he could do this.

"Chairman Lin said that many of his articles and theories borrowed from Marxism," said Kotoku Shusui. "From my personal understanding, this is indeed the case in terms of the relationship between capital and labor. But Chairman Lin also expanded on the basis of Marxism, making it more suitable for our national conditions in Asia."

Takahashi Korekiyo was very interested and leaned forward involuntarily, "In what aspects specifically?"

"For example, Mr. Marx divided human society into slave society, feudal society and capitalist society, but this is based on the history of Europe and Central Asia. According to Mr. Marx's theory, it is impossible to explain the special situation in China for thousands of years. Since Qin Shihuang implemented the county system throughout China, has China been a feudal society for more than 2,000 years? In how many eras were there feudal monarchs? Even if there were feudal monarchs, they were only nominal. If it is not a feudal society, then what is it? Slave society? Capitalist society? Marxism cannot explain these things."

Kotoku Shusui is usually taciturn, which means he is thinking about problems. When necessary, he can also talk a lot and talk endlessly. In Japan today, there are too few people who can discuss deeper theories with him. Even his good friend Miyazaki Toranomon and the time-traveling Buntomi cannot discuss with him. One of them is a martial artist and the other is a doer. They can't understand theoretical things. Ito Hirobumi and Takahashi Korekiyo in front of him are different. Ito Hirobumi is known as the smartest person in Japan, and Takahashi Korekiyo is known as Japan's leading financial expert. Although everyone has different positions, Kotoku Shusui believes that he can still have some academic discussions with them.

"So how does Mr. Lin Yongchang explain the special situation in China and Asia?"

Kotoku Shusui took a sip of tea to moisten his throat. He never drank alcohol, partly because he was poor, and partly because he had been sickly since childhood. He rarely drank expensive tea, so he could only taste that it was good tea, but he didn't know how good it was. Then he continued, "Mr. Lin said he was also thinking about this problem, and now he has proposed a new theory that divides the social system of China, and even the world, into three main aspects: sacred values, middle-level organizations, and grassroots governance. Through specific analysis of these three aspects, different societies can be divided."

Ito Hirobumi also became interested and personally added tea to Kotoku Shusui. "Mr. Kotoku, please take your time. I'll ask someone to prepare a midnight snack later."

Chapter 248 Sacred Value

Chairman Lin defined "sacred values" as the highest ideological ruling force in the entire Chinese society, and even in the world society. This force can be a certain consciousness or a specific person or people. In the people's government, "sacred values" are the broadest masses of the people.

The embodiment of "sacred values" does not necessarily mean a dictator with actual ruling power, but in the consciousness and thinking of most people, it is a supreme existence. For example, in ancient Chinese dynasties, the embodiment of sacred values fell on the emperors who "greater achievements than the five brothers and more extensive territory than the three emperors"; in our country of Japan, the embodiment of sacred values fell on the "Emperor".

Kotoku Shusui talked eloquently about the "middle-level organization". Chairman Lin also called it "core leadership" or "middle-level management". It represents the many middle-level representatives who have actual power in ancient and modern society. Its representatives can be prime ministers in ancient dynasties, powerful governors; or they can be powerful popes in Western religious societies.

As for "grassroots governance", it is rooted in the local area and can use power and status, or even moral kidnapping, to directly manage the power of the civilian population. From this, we can infer that in a certain social life, the more enlightened and excellent the grassroots governance power is, the more stable the entire society will be, and vice versa, the more turbulent the society will be. "

Theory is used to explain the actual situation. When the actual situation does not conform to the theory, the theory should be revised, but some people like to revise the facts. Most of what Lin Yongchang "writes" now are Comrade Li Desheng's thoughts. In terms of specific policies, most of them are the policies formulated by the teacher in the early days. For example, "Soldiers Committee" and "Equal Land and Tax Reduction". The largest class in China now is farmers. Many farmers, and it can even be said that most farmers in this era are illiterate. They don't understand this theory or that theory, but they understand land. If you give them land and reduce taxes, you can immediately get the support of the majority of people. This is better than any theory. As long as the problem of farmers is solved, the rule of the People's Party will be unbreakable, and other things will be easy to say.

After listening to Kotoku Shusui's explanation of "sacred values", "middle-level organizations" and "grassroots governance", Takahashi Korekiyo applauded, "Great, really great, in this way, all countries and societies in ancient and modern times are included. Together with "On Contradiction" and "People's Line", Mr. Lin Yongchang is qualified to be a contemporary saint. These contents will appear in "Selected Works of Lin Yongchang"

"In the third volume?"

"It should be. It is said that Mr. Yang Du and some people are polishing it. As you know, Chairman Lin is very busy and focuses on major events. He has no time to deal with trivial matters."

Ito Hirobumi frowned and thought for a while, "Is Lin Yongchang going to abolish all schools of thought? With his current prestige, it's not impossible, but..."

Takahashi Korekiyo asked, “But what?”

Ito Hirobumi sighed and said, "In this way, we in Japan can only follow behind China in the future."

"You mean?"

Takahashi Korekiyo showed a surprised expression on his face, but Ito Hirobumi didn't say much. He turned to Kotoku Shusui and said, "I have arranged a boat, please leave as soon as possible. It would be good if peace can be reached one day earlier."

"Let me write a letter and we can start now."

"There's no need to be in such a hurry."

"It's good to save one life." Kotoku Shusui asked, "Does the count have any paper or pen at home?"

Ito Hirobumi's home was naturally equipped with writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone. Kotoku Shusui quickly finished writing the letter and asked Ito Hirobumi to hand it to his friend. "That's all."

After Kotoku Shusui left, Takahashi Korekiyo said, "Kotoku-kun is a gentleman, a gentleman..." He swallowed the words "can be deceived by tricks" and asked, "Count, you just said that Lin Yongchang of the People's Party wants to abolish all schools of thought, what do you mean?"

Ito Hirobumi smiled and said, "Kotoku Shusui would never ask me such a question."

"In terms of wisdom, I am not as good as Kotoku-kun."

"Otherwise, Takahashi-kun just isn't interested in this."

The collapse of the Japanese army in the Outer Northeast and Korean battlefields caused a landslide and tsunami in Japan. The Meiji government tried every means to conceal the tragic defeat on the front line, but how could such a major event be completely blocked? After the [Guards] and [Mongol Iron Cavalry] entered Vladivostok, they immediately broadcast the news that the Japanese army in Outer Northeast was completely annihilated, and many Japanese heard the news. Many merchant ships traveling between Korea and Japan also brought back sporadic bad news. The Chinese army was divided into two groups in Korea. One group besieged Kuroki Tameki's First Army in Seoul, and the other group used defensive counterattack tactics and used powerful firepower to defeat the Japanese army. They chased Oku Yasukuni's Second Army all the way south and almost reached Busan.

At first, few people believed the Chinese propaganda, but as more and more news came back, the whole of Japan was almost boiling. The shouts of "Heaven punishes the traitors" resounded through the sky, and Yamagata Aritomo once again hid in the geisha's house. I don't know how many people wanted to shoot him. Marshal Oyama Iwao was dead, and he died on the battlefield. It was impossible to let him take the blame. The blame could only be put on Yamagata Aritomo, the number one in the army. He wanted to stay at the geisha's house - this time a younger girl - for a few more months, and then come out after the storm passed, but what happened is what happened, and it doesn't mean that those things will not exist if you pretend to be an ostrich.

Because of the firepower support of the Combined Fleet, Seoul and Busan are still in the hands of the Japanese army, and some supplies can be transported from time to time by sea, but it can't last long. Now is the coldest time. The Chinese are carrying out the cold gun and cold artillery campaign. The casualties of the Japanese army are not large and they can still hold on. If the Chinese dragged those captured 280mm howitzers over, even with the firepower support provided by the Combined Fleet, Seoul would not be able to be defended. Moreover, the main force of the Combined Fleet must guard against the Baltic Fleet of Tsarist Russia... Now it has been renamed the Pacific Fleet. Although the battleships of Tsarist Russia are slightly worse than the new main force of the Combined Fleet, they are not much worse. If the Combined Fleet is determined to fight guerrilla warfare with the Japanese army at sea, it will not last long.

Apart from other things, every time the fleet is deployed, a large amount of money is needed, plus maintenance and repair, that is also a large amount of money. The newly formed Pacific Fleet of Tsarist Russia does not need to fight a decisive battle with the Combined Fleet. It can drag Japan to death just by hanging out for a few rounds. Japan is not Britain, and it does not have colonies all over the world to suck blood. It is said that the Chinese also urgently ordered a "dreadnought" and a cruiser from Russia, and at the same time launched a joint naval war with France, preparing to purchase four destroyers from France.

Aritomo Yamagata wanted to delay for a few days, but Emperor Meiji and other elders could not wait any longer, and once again convened the Imperial Conference in the dead of winter.

Chapter 349 Method

There were still nine people participating in the Imperial Conference. Marshal Oyama Iwao died, and Emperor Meiji promoted Kimmochi Saionji, who was a former court noble, to join the ranks of the elders. Just from the composition of the elders, it can be seen that the power of the army has shrunk greatly, while the power of the emperor's faction has increased a lot. Kimmochi Saionji has no soldiers and no power, but this is temporary. He can participate in the Imperial Conference, and his influence will inevitably continue to increase.

At about this time last year, the Meiji government also held an imperial conference. Everyone present was full of confidence, as if they could overthrow both Tsarist Russia and China as long as they stretched out their hands. Even Ito Hirobumi felt that the military's plan was very likely to be realized at that time, so he did not try his best to stop the actions of the army and navy. Of course, he couldn't stop it even if he wanted to. Japan's resources were too scarce, and both the army and the navy had a strong desire for expansion. If it didn't expand outward, Japan would starve itself to death.

The essence of the Meiji Restoration was centralization and internal oppression.

Borrow money to fight wars and expand outward. Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, a series of military adventures by the Japanese army had failed, but because of the support of Britain and the United States, Japan could borrow more money and launch larger war operations. In order to gain more benefits, not only the British supported the Japanese to attack North Korea, but the Americans did the same. The United States once sent warships into North Korean waters, trying to force North Korea to open its doors, but was repelled by the artillery. After that, the United States was also one of Japan's major financial backers.

Britain was the world hegemon, and the United States was the most industrialized country. With these two great powers waiting on their side, it was hard for Japan not to tremble. In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Japanese army chased the Beiyang Army everywhere, from Seoul to Pyongyang, and from Pyongyang to Liaodong. If they had not been frightened back by the other three great powers, the Japanese army would have been able to kill all the way to Beijing.

But now the Japanese army suffered a defeat, a very painful defeat. Everyone who participated in the imperial meeting had a gloomy face. They looked at each other and no one wanted to speak. Seeing the depressing atmosphere, Emperor Meiji had to speak first, "Because of the misunderstanding with the Chinese side, Marshal Oyama Iwao and 200,000 soldiers have become gods. What should we do next? Please speak freely."

Katsura Taro lamented, "What else can we do now? We can only negotiate peace as soon as possible!"

He was a disciple of Yamagata Aritomo and was to take over the army in the future. After him was Kodama Gentarō. He was still alive and kicking, but Kodama Gentarō had died of illness in Outer Tohoku. But this was a good thing, at least he didn't have to be killed like Oyama Iwao, Nozu Michikuni, Nogi Maresuke and others, whose heads were taken as trophies.

Saigo Tsungmichi snorted coldly, "It's all because of your army that you disgraced yourself. Two hundred thousand soldiers were destroyed just like that! Even if it was two hundred thousand pigs, they would have to be kept alive for a few months, right? But you guys are gone in less than a month!"

"Baga! Who are you calling a pig?"

Katsura Taro was so angry that his face turned red. He jumped up, clenched his fists, and said angrily: "If your navy had not bombarded Dagukou, how could such a disaster have occurred? The main force of the army is in Outer Northeast, and you provoked a war..."

"It's because your army's combat effectiveness is weak!"

"It's all the Navy's fault!"

"If the Chinese hadn't attacked from behind..."

Seeing that the army and navy were about to fight in front of the emperor, Ito Hirobumi had no choice but to slam the table and said, "Enough! The state affairs are so difficult, do you still want to make things worse?"

Katsura Taro snorted and sat down angrily. The disciple quarreled with the navy, but Yamagata Aritomo still hung his head and looked listless. Ito Hirobumi looked at Yamagata Aritomo and was very dissatisfied. He knocked on the table and shouted: "Yamagata, can the army continue to fight?"

Yamagata Aritomo was the Chief of Staff and the Commander-in-Chief of the Military Stations. He was one of the general planners and commanders of the war. Even if he wanted to play dead, he couldn't do it. "We can't fight any longer." Yamagata Aritomo raised his head and said, "We must immediately cease fire, reorganize the troops, and send reinforcements to the front line. Only in this way can we... save North Korea."

Emperor Meiji frowned and asked Ito Hirobumi, "Ito, what does the British say? Can the mediation be successful?"

Ito Hirobumi shook his head. "It's difficult. The Chinese are now in the upper hand, and they won't stop easily."

“The BJP doesn’t even listen to the British?”

"Britain is strong in its navy, and the Royal Fleet is unrivaled in the world, but even the most powerful warships cannot reach shore. The Chinese are intent on fighting, and Britain does not have many means to restrain the People's Party."

"What about the United States? Are Americans just going to watch China reoccupy North Korea?"

Ito Hirobumi said: "Although the US government rejected the People's Party's request for a loan, they are still waiting and watching because China has promised to open its market."

President Theodore Roosevelt wanted to intervene in the Sino-Japanese War, but the U.S. Army had just replaced its equipment and was small in number, so it was powerless against the Far East battlefield which involved hundreds of thousands of troops.

"The British and American devils can't be trusted!"

"But now we can only rely on them!"

"It's because the army is incompetent, otherwise why would it come to this?"

Seeing that there was a tendency to quarrel again, Ito Hirobumi had to stand up again to stop it. The army was defeated and the navy was in big trouble, and Ito Hirobumi's power and prestige increased significantly. Although Ito Hirobumi did not mention the previous incident, many people thought in their hearts, "If only I had listened to Ito."

"Your Majesty, these are the armistice conditions proposed by the Chinese."

Ito Hirobumi handed several documents to the emperor and the elders, "These are the armistice terms proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

"Baga! This is clearly the Treaty of Shimonoseki! Do the Chinese want to humiliate us?"

"The terms proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are feasible!"

"That's right! We still have the combined fleet! If the Chinese want to continue fighting, then let's continue fighting!"

"Okay, let's not talk about this now." Ito Hirobumi had to knock on the table again. "Whether it's war or peace, we need money. The national finances are on the verge of collapse. Do you have any solutions?"

Japan borrowed money to fight the war. When the war failed, not only did all the previous investment go down the drain, but it also had to spend a large sum of money to rebuild the army. When it comes to money, everyone is discouraged. Financial problems have always plagued the Meiji government. In order to expand and maintain the army and navy, it has to invest every year.

The Meiji government had already reached its limit in its domestic exploitation. In the past few decades, there had been several large-scale peasant uprisings, the largest of which involved 300,000 people. Of course, the peasants with sickles and bamboo spears had no fighting power and were easily suppressed. But every suppression cost money, and the place would be burned to ashes. It would take several years for the government to collect money, which was a huge loss from an economic point of view.

As the Minister of the Navy, Saigo Tsunemichi's main task was to get money for the navy, but he had no idea how to get the money. Similarly, Yamagata Aritomo had no way to get the money. Raise taxes? It's already impossible to raise taxes. If we raise taxes again, there will definitely be a big mess. The Japanese are suffering from the oppression of being squeezed to the bone, and are almost struggling on the verge of death. Because they can still struggle to survive, they did not rise up in rebellion. But if there is widespread starvation, they will have to rebel.

The army and navy were unable to get more money, and the same was true for the other elders. Emperor Meiji sighed and said to Ito Hirobumi: "Count, just tell me what you have in mind."

Chapter 350: The State Advances and the People Retreat

After the rise of the People's Party, Ito Hirobumi organized a team to study the various policies of the People's Party, including land policy and taxation policy. He did not want to seek benefits for Japanese farmers, nor did he want to establish a "worker-farmer alliance" in Japan, but the People's Party's approach of eliminating middlemen had too many benefits, which could greatly increase the country's tax revenue and boost the morale of the army, so Ito Hirobumi was very tempted.

Japan's Meiji Restoration eliminated the feudal lords in various places and completed the process of centralization. The money of each feudal lord was collected and concentrated on military industry to implement the plan of enriching the country and strengthening the army. The People's Party's policy went a step further. Not only did it eliminate local warlords, but it also eliminated large landowners and businessmen, so it could use more resources for heavy industry construction. If we ignore the issue of color and only consider taxation and economy, the People's Party's policy is an enhanced version of the Meiji Restoration. In Ito Hirobumi's view, Japan relied on exploiting farmers to complete the initial accumulation. The people's government was actually exploiting farmers. Because it eliminated middlemen and distributed some benefits to farmers, it became the savior of farmers.

Ito Hirobumi is a pragmatist. Since the People's Party's system has so many advantages, it is not a bad idea to use it. At a certain imperial meeting, he tentatively mentioned it, and then he was forced by other elders to apologize in public and admit that he had not considered it carefully. The People's Party's land reform must first eliminate the current grassroots organizations, and then start from scratch to do something else. The elders are all vested interests, how can they make a move against themselves? Ito Hirobumi is popular because of his extroverted personality, but he is arrogant, does not promote others, and ignores those who are incompetent, so he cannot form his own faction. Everyone admits that Ito is an elite, but very few people become his confidants.

The other elders were different. They all had a large group of people who followed them around to make a living. Ito Hirobumi could wield a knife and chop as much as he wanted, but Yamagata Aritomo and Saigo Tsumichi could not. However, the situation has changed now. The army was defeated miserably, and the navy was better, but because of the big mess, its momentum was not as good as before. Ito Hirobumi felt that he could bring out the previous plan and talk about it.

When Ito Hirobumi mentioned the "land reform" again, the faces of the elders were very solemn, even the Meiji Emperor. The essence of the People's Party is to eliminate the rentier class and concentrate on doing big things. Now the largest rentier class in Japan is the emperor and the big chaebols, and behind the big chaebols stand the army, navy and elder ministers. What Ito Hirobumi said was first aimed at everyone present!

If it were another time, if the situation was not so bad, everyone would definitely rush forward and force Ito Hirobumi to apologize in public again. But now they can only look at each other and remain silent.

"Gentlemen, this is a critical moment for our survival. We have to reform! If you have better ideas, you can put them forward now!"

Saigo Tsunemichi looked around and said hesitantly, "There's no need to be so anxious about this. We can wait and see. Maybe the British can force the People's Party to make concessions."

"Yes! You can wait, there's no need to be so anxious!"

"We can ask the great powers to mediate!"

"If you don't have money, you can ask the British for a loan!"

Since ancient times, it is hard to give up good fortune. Among the elders, there are a few who are very close to Ito Hirobumi and are close to him in ideology, but most people still do not want to introduce the People's Party's system. Borrowing money from the powers requires high interest, but that is a national financial problem and can be passed on to all citizens. Land reform and a series of supporting policies take money out of everyone's pockets, and normal people know what to choose.

Ito Hirobumi was a little disappointed, but only a little. At the current situation, it was no longer something that Yamagata Aritomo and his team could stop. If the situation continued to deteriorate, no matter how reluctant they were, they would have to accept it.

The Imperial Conference did not come up with anything useful. The only consensus was to continue transporting troops to Korea. At least, Oku Yasuo's Second Army must not be destroyed, and Kuroki Tameki's First Army must also be protected. The newly formed divisions had no experience, no cannons and machine guns, and even few old rifles. Could they stop the Chinese who were as fierce as wolves and tigers? It was probably difficult, but it would be difficult to stop them.

You have to stop it even if you can't help it.

After coming out of Nijubashi Bridge, Ito Hirobumi was about to get on the carriage when Saionji Kimmochi came up behind him and said, "My Lord Earl, could you give me a ride?" Naturally, Ito Hirobumi would not disagree.

Kimmochi Saionji is a former court noble and is now the president of the Seiyukai. Although he is regarded as the emperor's man, his political stance is very close to that of Hirobumi Ito.

"Count," Saionji Kimmochi closed the car door and said in a low voice, "I'm afraid that Kuroki Tameshige and Okubo might..."

Ito Hirobumi interrupted Saionji Kimmochi and gave the driver some instructions. After the carriage left the palace, Ito Hirobumi said, "I know what you said. The First and Second Armies in Korea will not last long. Not only do I know this, but His Majesty the Emperor and Yamagata Aritomo also know this."

"Since you know, why......"

"No one will give up until the last moment. All we can do now is wait." Ito Hirobumi said self-deprecatingly: "Others say I am the smartest person in Japan, but in fact I am no different from others."

Saionji Kimmochi sighed and said, "How did things come to this?"

Ito Hirobumi shook his head and did not answer. Instead, he asked another question, "What is the view of the meeting on raising government bonds?"