Chapter 198: The Three Kingdoms Return to Liao

Forbidden City, Yangxin Palace.

Guangxu looked at the contract in front of him, his hands trembling uncontrollably. Once he wrote "approved" and stamped it with the imperial seal, the contract would take effect.

Sun Yuwen, the military minister, saw that Guangxu was at the critical moment and began to hesitate again. He urged: "Your Majesty, the date given by the Japanese is approaching. Your Majesty should approve it quickly to avoid any other trouble."

Guangxu made a final struggle and asked the ministers: "Do you want to wait for the reply from various countries?"

It turned out that before this, the Russian envoy came to the Zongli Yamen and said to the ministers: "The Japanese payment can be negotiated. Please wait."

France also replied: "The Japanese issue can be negotiated, and our country can protect Taiwan."

The Treaty of Shimonoseki ceded the Liaodong Peninsula to the Japanese, and the Russians were very unhappy. On the day when the content of the treaty signed by Li Hongzhang was leaked, Russia was the first to attack.

Russian Foreign Minister Lobanov told the German and French envoys to Russia: "The Russian government has decided to immediately and directly ask the Japanese government not to permanently occupy mainland China in a friendly manner. Our plan is that if Japan does not accept this friendly advice, Russia is considering the three countries to take joint military action against Japan at sea - cutting off all traffic between the Japanese army on the Chinese mainland and their own country."

On the same day, German Emperor Wilhelm II ordered an armored ship and a cruiser to the Far East.

At the same time, German Foreign Minister Marshall and his envoy to Japan, Gotsmid, sent a telegram: "Now Japan's peace treaty has harmed the interests of Europe and Germany, although the latter is still small, we have to fight. Japan must make concessions because there is no hope for the three-country struggle."

France has long coveted Taiwan. It did not obtain Taiwan in the Sino-French War. Now the Japanese have obtained Taiwan without any effort. France immediately joined the Russian plan, and the Tripartite Alliance was formally formed.

On the third day after the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, when Wei Jichen was still on his way back to Tianjin, the three countries' envoys to Japan went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo, Japan, to deliver the memorandum to the Japanese, hoping that the Japanese would immediately revise the Treaty of Shimonoseki and not permanently occupy the Chinese mainland.

The Russian and German envoys also took turns to intimidate the Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Hayashi who received them.

Russian Minister Khitrovo said: "Japan's permanent occupation of the Liaodong Peninsula may lead to conflict. I hope your government will understand this and take measures to preserve its reputation."

German Minister Gottsmid said: "Japan must make concessions because there is no hope of going to war with the three countries."

After hearing what the two said, Hayashi was frightened and hurriedly sent a telegram to Ito Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu in Hiroshima.

After receiving Hayashi's report, Ito decided to hold a royal meeting in Hiroshima to discuss countermeasures.

Ito proposed three countermeasures at the Imperial Conference: First, reject the advice of Russia, Germany and France; second, convene an international conference and hand over the Liaodong Peninsula issue to the conference; third, accept the advice of the three countries and return the Liaodong Peninsula to China.

Mutsu Munemitsu suggested directly rejecting the advice of the three countries.

Saigo Tsunemichi, the then Minister of the Navy, was frightened to death. Saigo immediately stood up and said: "According to intelligence, Russia is sending a 29,500-man force to the Far East Border; Vladivostok has been declared a 'provisional war zone', and war preparations are being made in the area along the north bank of the Heilongjiang River. The Japanese in Vladivostok are concentrated in one place, waiting for the order to withdraw. Our navy and army are all outside, and the country is empty. If the enemy takes advantage of the opportunity to enter, I am afraid that..."

Yamagata Aritomo also echoed: "Not only is it difficult for the three-country joint fleet to cope with it, but even if it fights the Russian fleet alone, it is uncertain. Therefore, we cannot fall out with the third country and establish a new enemy at present."

Finally, after much discussion, everyone decided to make concessions to the three countries, but not to China.

How to make concessions to the three countries? That is to agree to give up the Liaodong Peninsula. If they don't make concessions to China, they will continue to extort a large sum of money.

The Japanese have a very sinister idea, that is, to wait for the two countries to exchange treaties, and then sign a "Liaonan Treaty", and then they can extort money.

After the exchange of treaties, Liaodong belongs to Japan in terms of situation. If the Chinese want to get it back, they must pay; if they don't exchange treaties, they have to revise the content of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, and it is difficult to get the money.

So the Japanese hurriedly urged China to exchange treaties quickly, while stabilizing the three countries first, saying that their countries are discussing.

The German, French, and Russian envoys to Japan were waiting for the Japanese's reply, so they all called the Qing Zongli Yamen and asked Guangxu to wait.

Guangxu asked if he should wait for the calls back from all countries. Sun Yuwen became very shrewd at this time and said confidently: "All countries are absolutely unreliable."

If Wei Jichen was here at this time, he would definitely slap him twice, and he would not learn more skills and study more about the contradictions between countries. Unfortunately, Wei Jichen was hugging his wife beautifully.

If Li Hongzhang was here, he would probably ask Guangxu to wait and see. After all, Li Hongzhang is still a good hand.

It's a pity that the people around Guangxu now are all people who disdain to open their eyes to see the world. The only one, Guizi Liu, has not come out to do things for many years and has not understood the intricate relations between countries.

Therefore, Guangxu asked these people in vain, and these people urged Guangxu to stamp the seal one by one.

Once this matter is resolved, the Qing Dynasty will finally be able to return to peace. It will only lose some territory and pay some money. The wool comes from the sheep, and it will not come from themselves anyway. It will not affect the overall situation. We should still do what we should do and live our lives. It will not affect our own comfortable lives.

Guangxu hesitated and raised the red pen three times, but he didn't put it down.

Seeing this, Prince Gong sighed and said slowly: "The continuous defeats today are not the fault of the emperor, but the fault of the soldiers on the front line. What can we do if we don't sign the contract? Only by knowing shame and then being brave, and rectifying military affairs, can we regain these benefits."

Guangxu burst into tears and cried bitterly: "I am guilty!"

Then he quickly wrote the two words "Qin Zhi". After writing, Guangxu seemed to have lost all the strength in his body and sat down on the ground, without any monarch's demeanor.

The next day, Guangxu sealed his imperial seal and wrote a self-criticism edict, which he prepared to publish on the day the contract came into effect. "From now on, my emperor and his ministers should work hard together to eliminate the accumulated problems, and do their best to study and reform the two major aspects of training troops and raising funds, and make sure to verify everything to achieve the effect of self-strengthening. I have high hopes for the ministers at home and abroad."

When the ministers heard the news, their faces were different. Some took it calmly, some considered what benefits they would get, and some did not care about it.

In Kyoto, Ito Hirobumi received the news that Guangxu had signed the contract and sent people to Yantai to exchange the contract with his plenipotentiary representative. He was overjoyed and led a group of cabinet ministers to the palace to meet Mutsuhito that day.

"Your Majesty, the Qing representative Wu Tingfang will arrive in Yantai at noon tomorrow. By then, we will be able to exchange the contract. After the exchange, Your Majesty can announce the imperial edict, accept the advice of the three countries, and give up the permanent occupation of the Liaodong Peninsula." Ito Hirobumi said this with a look of shame and anger.

Mutsuhito nodded slightly, and then gritted his teeth and said: "This is the shame of the empire. Russia and other Western powers took the opportunity to blackmail us. Our Great Japanese Empire won the war, but they trampled on the fruits of our victory at will."

"Your Majesty." All the Japanese cabinet ministers prostrated on the ground, shouting sadly and angrily.

Mutsuhito stood up and swore: "My dear ministers, endure the humiliation! Know the shame! Revenge! One day, the empire will use the sword in its hand to wash away this shame. Please keep it in mind and don't forget the national humiliation."

All the Japanese ministers bowed their heads deeply and responded in hatred: "Ha!"