Xiao Letian nodded upon hearing this, "But Takasugi Shinsaku, who has visited Shanghai, your team of surprise soldiers fought beautifully, and you can get used to using the new foreign guns."
Takasugi Shinsaku is only 28 years old now. Although he is brave and diligent, he is definitely not a mature politician. When he heard the praise from Prime Minister Tokai Xiao, he immediately bowed his head and choked up and said, "Thank you Prime Minister Tokai Xiao for your righteous deeds. Without the funding of the Prime Minister's foreign guns, I am afraid that the Qi Bing Team will not be able to survive." Even if the entire army is wiped out, victory may not be possible. I bear this in my heart..."
Xiao Letian looked at Takasugi Shinsaku and sighed secretly in his heart. If history had not changed, this young man would have died of illness this year, and Sakamoto Ryoma would have been assassinated within a few months of his death.
Two heroes died within a year. Japan's Meiji Restoration lost two real strategists and two politicians who knew how to advance and retreat. In the end, the entire Japanese political situation was controlled by those fanatical soldiers and the emperor who did not know how to restrain. All the strategic gains after the Meiji Restoration left only Ryukyu in the end, and the rest were lost.
"Takasugi-kun, the wave in East Asia has just begun, be sure to take care of yourself." Just when Takasugi Shinsaku was inexplicably moved, Xiao Letian's eyes looked at Yamagata Aritomo.
Yamagata Aritomo is known as the founder of Japanese warlordism and the most powerful man in Japanese politics after Ito Hirobumi. Although he is just running errands with Sakamoto Ryoma and others, Yamagata Aritomo has one of the greatest advantages: longevity. He is the earliest member of the Overthrow Faction. Among a group of powerful figures, he is the oldest alive.
Shanxian Youto did not die until 1922, which was already the eleventh year of the Republic of China. This strong soldier experienced two battles of Choshu, the Meiji Restoration, the Boshin War, and the Southwest War that changed the original intention of the Restoration, helping The emperor completed the first centralization of power in Japanese history.
He participated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1884-1894, and was still present during the Russo-Japanese Northeast War. By the time the Eight-Nation Allied Forces entered Beijing during the Boxer Rebellion, Yamagata Aritomo was already Japan's Field Marshal and Prime Minister.
After Ito Hirobumi was assassinated in 1909, no one in Japanese politics could restrain Tai, and the power of the Choshu clan in the army reached its peak.
"You, warlord leader, have allowed me to find you. Don't worry, I will keep an eye on you. You are still useful now. When you become a thorn in my side, I won't mind dealing with you myself..." Thinking of this, Xiao Letian suddenly stretched out his hand to Emperor Tongzhi who was sitting behind him. The little emperor grabbed the Western sword in front of him and handed it to Xiao Letian's hand.
"We have friends in Shan County." Xiao Letian shouted.
"Hai..." Young Shanxian Jun shouted and took a step forward, kneeling respectfully to Xiao Letian. Donghai Prime Minister Xiao's counterattack in Europa has deeply shocked Shanxian Youpeng. This natural born The warlord admired the strong from the bottom of his heart, and his whole body trembled when he saw the command knife.
"Mr. Shanxian, I heard that you were extremely brave in the battle of Changzhou and it was you who captured Ogura City." Xiao Letian asked.
"Hai... The duty of a warrior is to fight, a place where hundreds of thousands of lives are fought for. I dare not fail to do my best."
Yamagata Yutomo, who is only 29 years old, is still sharp-edged and far from the political consciousness of the founder of later Japanese warlords. He is no match for Xiao Letian, an old fox who has lived in two lifetimes.
"Mr. Yamagata, this is the command sword I captured from a Prussian noble on the European battlefield. I give it to you now. I hope that one day you can be like me and defeat the Westerners and save Asia from the fate of being colonized..."
Since ancient times, cooperation must have a common program. If Xiao Letian wants to unite the hearts of the rebel faction and make them listen to his orders, he must put the same hat on both sides from this moment on, that is, to resist the foreigners.
Respecting the king and rejecting the foreigners has always been the core idea of the Japanese reformists, but the method of rejecting the foreigners has changed throughout the reform trend of thought. In the beginning, the rejection of the foreigners was true rejection of the foreigners, which meant doing everything possible to push the emperor to the throne, push the shogunate, and start a war with the foreigners.
People like Takeichi Hanheita of the Tosa Kinou Party were early representatives of the anti-barbarian faction. Japan's Shimonoseki Incident, in which the Choshu Domain fired artillery on foreign merchant ships, was also the ultimate expression of this kind of thinking.
This idea of respecting the king and rejecting the foreigners is actually the same as the opinion of many literati in the Qing Dynasty. They don't want to change themselves, so they are passionate about driving out the foreigners and restoring the old order and dignity of their country.
But it is a pity that this kind of resistance to the foreigners was quickly suppressed by the powerful ships and artillery of the West. Takeshi Hanping was too hara-kiri, Shimonoseki was defeated by a bombardment from the British, French, American, and Dutch countries, and the Choshu feudal clan was defeated. They didn't even dare to repair the bombed forts.
At this point, the King-resisting faction declined, but the Overthrowing faction rose. Takasugi Shinsaku, Sakamoto Ryoma, Yamagata Aritomo, Okubo and others all realized that in the face of powerful Western power, Japan must learn to bow its head and work hard. Change yourself first and accept new things.
Putting the emperor on the throne, removing the decadent shogunate from power, and finally allowing the country to carry out Westernization reforms, this is the philosophy of the overthrow faction.
But learning from the West does not mean that they have forgotten the idea of resisting foreigners. In fact, Japan's entire Meiji Restoration was challenging Western civilization. The ultimate injustice of the Japanese rulers during that period was to become the leader of Asia and replace the historical status of the Central Plains civilization.
From the Russo-Japanese War in Northeast China to the two-way conflict in World War I, to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II and the final unconditional surrender, this nation had a dream of resisting the foreigners for eighty years.
In the end, the Americans shattered Japan's dream of expelling the foreigners. The country completely bowed to Western civilization psychologically and became a vassal of the United States. It left Asia and joined Europe very thoroughly.
Xiao Letian put the command knife that he had snatched from Viscount Alan into the hands of Youpeng in Shanxian County. Looking at the excited warlord leader who was trembling all over, Xiao Letian knew that his words had an effect. The Overthrow Faction was still the same in history. faction, their hostility to the Western powers is from the bottom of their hearts.
"Work hard, Mr. Shanxian. Maybe one day you will become a general beside me and command a hundred thousand troops to conquer the world. This is not impossible." Xiao Letian set another nail in his heart.
Just when Youpeng from Shanxian County expressed his loyalty to Xiao Letian, suddenly a very complicated look from the people kneeling below was directed at Xiao Letian. Xiao Letian was keenly aware of the strong dissatisfaction and stubbornness.
"Ryoma-kun, who is that young man sitting at the back? His eyes are so heroic. Come forward and let me see."
Before Ryoma Sakamoto could introduce him, a short young man walked quickly to the middle of the tatami and spoke in very fluent English: "Dear Prime Minister, Ito Hirobumi of the Shimo-Choshu Domain, graduated from the University of London, England, and returned after the Shimonoseki Incident. Japan, I was inexplicably excited when I heard that the Prime Minister's military power shocked Europe. I was a bit rude when I saw Zun Rong today. Please forgive me, Prime Minister." After saying that, he knelt down on the tatami.
Xiao Letian's heart skipped a beat, "Holy shit, Ito Hirobumi, the first prime minister of Japan, the leader of the Bunji faction, a civil servant can suppress the entire Japanese warlord system. When he was alive, Yamagata Youto didn't dare to jump around at all, the army and navy All the factions in the country surrendered to his power..."
He is a great man. Although he led Japan to win the Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1894, Xiao Letian was very disgusted with him psychologically, but he could not help but be convinced. He was a great man.
He led the Sino-Japanese War and won the Russo-Japanese War. He even visited Beijing during the Reform Movement of 1898 and put forward reform suggestions to Kang Youwei and Emperor Guangxu. After the reform failed, he actively rescued Huang Zunxian. And Liang Qichao.
Xiao Letian has very complicated feelings towards this short man, because Ito Hirobumi is a rare strategist in the wise reform. To put it bluntly, he is a politician who knows how to advance and retreat.
His diplomatic strategy for East Asia was very clear, which was to safeguard the actual interests of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, deeply manage North Korea and Taiwan, and refuse to get involved in mainland China.
Noshi once said that Ito Hirobumi once had a so-called political testament. In his plan, Japan must learn to be calm, and it will take a hundred years for the newly acquired territory to be digested before it can continue to build troops.
Japan is really too thin. If you eat two pieces of fat in one go, you must stabilize your mind and not be greedy. Digest the meat in your belly into energy to make yourself stronger first and then consider obtaining new benefits.
Blindly marching into the interior of the Central Plains, or even going to war with the Western world on a whim, are unwise moves. It is very likely that you will not get new fat, and you will have to vomit out the two pieces in your belly.
Facts have proved the wisdom of Ito Hirobumi. Less than forty years after his death, his successors spit out all the fat they had eaten after the Meiji Restoration, leaving only Ryukyu. That was because the Americans had their own Only the small abacus saved it.
It's terrifying to think about it. If Japan had completely followed Ito Hirobumi's diplomatic strategy and held on to the fruits of victory of the Meiji Restoration, not launched a war of aggression but only adopted a defensive national policy to survive World War II, perhaps Asia would already be dominated by the Japanese.
"Ito-kun...how old are you this year?" Xiao Letian asked coldly.
Ito Hirobumi was stunned and then said, "I was born in 1841 in the Western calendar, and I am exactly 26 years old this year..."
"Ahem..." Xiao Letian coughed twice, thinking that he is so young and still an age that can be fought for. I don't want to kill him yet, let's keep it for a while.
Thinking of this, Xiao Letian turned around and said a few words to Mr. Long. Mr. Long nodded and walked out quickly. Soon, a shabby notebook with a cowhide cover was brought in by Mr. Long like a treasure.
Xiao Letian stretched out his hand and said to Ito Hirobumi, "Come, take a few steps closer... This notebook is the diary I kept during my expedition to Europe last year. It contains a lot of my judgments about the situation in Europe. Look, there are many photos here as evidence. .”
"You will definitely be able to understand it when you return from studying in the UK. Take it and consider it a gift from me. I hope you can become a true strategist in Japan instead of a short-sighted politician..."
After saying this sentence, there was a gasp of air in the room. No one thought that Xiao Letian had such great expectations for Ito Hirobumi. Is this passing on the mantle? Is this selecting disciples to join the room?
