Beiyang 1917

After Ito Hirobumi, the political leader, the only big boss in Japan's political and military circles is Yutomo Yamagata. This guy is known as the father of the Japanese army.

Peace talks with China are the general trend. Shanxian Youtomo is the only big man who controls the political situation in Japan. During the Meiji Emperor's period, because the emperor was relatively strong, he served as the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army, and there was Ito Hirobumi who controlled the political circles, so Shanxian Youtomo was opposite low key.

Ito Hirobumi is like Zhuge Liang in Japanese politics, with outstanding abilities, but he is exhausted to death alone, while Shanxian Youpeng is a bit like Sun Quan. Ito Hirobumi is so aloof and looks down on almost everyone.

After Emperor Taisho took over the throne, the Japanese political arena was almost dominated by the Shanxian Youpeng faction of Shanxian Youpeng. This time when the Chinese side proposed to resolve the territorial issue between China and Japan, the 80-year-old Shanxian Youpeng was the one The people who really make up their minds behind the scenes.

This guy originally set two lines for Japan's foreign policy, one is called the sovereignty line, and the other is called the interest line. The so-called sovereignty line refers to the national border that Japan must guard, and it is also the lifeline of Japan.

The line of interest is closely related to the line of sovereignty. If the line of interest is violated by foreign countries, the line of sovereignty is also in danger.For example, at the moment West Siberia and North Korea are considered to be such lines of interest.

As for Taiwan, it also belongs to the scope of this line of interest, but for the sake of Taiwan, which is originally 3 square kilometers in China, and China, and loses the territory of 6000 million square kilometers in West Siberia, this business is absolutely not done!

As for the Japanese financial and industrial circles, China is their biggest order customer and market at the moment, and these guys with nipples and mothers will never support the government's demand for war with China, let alone the stand behind China at the moment The focus is on the United States, and the strength of the United States is definitely not something that Japan can challenge now!

After the Temple Cabinet passed the motion to negotiate with China to resolve the territorial issue, the heads of the Privy Council, the House of Nobles, the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister of the Temple, the Minister of Army and Navy, and the Chief of Staff attended the imperial meeting of Emperor Taisho.

"My dear friends, is China already so powerful? Do you want to surrender without fighting?" Emperor Taisho is 39 years old this year, born on August 1879, 8. His real name is Jiaren, the 31rd emperor of Japan.

He was the only son of Emperor Meiji who survived to adulthood. After Meiji died of diabetes in 1912, Kahito succeeded to the throne as the crown prince, and changed Yuan Taisho with the sentence "A tycoon is righteous, and the way of heaven is also" in the Book of Changes. After <ren, marry Jiutiao Jiezi (Empress Zhenming) as the crown prince.Had four sons.That is, Emperor Hirohito of Showa, Prince Yongren of Chichibu Palace, Prince Xuanren of Takamatsu Palace, and Prince Chongren of Mikasa Palace.

"Your Majesty, it will take time for China's national strength to catch up with Japan's, but this year, with the assistance of the United States and our Japan, at least in the north, the strength of the Chinese cannot be underestimated!" answer.

"Don't the majestic imperial army and navy have the courage to fight?" Emperor Taisho, who was sitting on the top, couldn't help but frowned, Nima, what a glorious and powerful country Japan was when Emperor Meiji was in power, so he took over Just a few years ago, the China that had just been reborn from the ashes of the Manchu Qing Dynasty really became so powerful?The territory that my father robbed and sent back to the Chinese in my own hands, don't mention the awkwardness in the emperor's heart!

"Your Majesty! The Imperial Army is ready to die for the country at any time! Defend the interests of the Empire to the death!" The new Minister of Army Uehara Yusaku said with a chest raised.

"Your Majesty! The Imperial Navy is still the overlord of Asia. We are confident in blocking any Asian port, or escorting the army to land!" Naval Minister Kato Yusaburo raised his chest unwilling to show weakness. Everyone knows that the cabinet's decision is After the behind-the-scenes consultations between the Shanxian faction of Youpeng in Shanxian County, the Constitutional Political Friendship Association, the Constitutional Comrades Association, and the major chaebols, the result was just a formality at the imperial meeting.

In fact, both the Minister of War and the Minister of the Navy in Japan have the right to submit memorials directly to the emperor, and the candidates must be recommended by the Ministry of the Army and the Ministry of the Navy, and the candidates must be active generals or lieutenant generals. Tradition established in those days.

As in the morning, Army Minister Kenichi Oshima resigned. If the Army Department refuses to recommend a new Army Minister, the cabinet will collapse and resign. It’s just that Terauchi Masaoka is a general of the Yamagata faction, and the Army Department has to rely on Yamagata Yutomo. Therefore, Lieutenant General Kenichi Oshima can only become a victim used by the Ministry of the Army to express his attitude.

If the House of Representatives proposes to dissolve the cabinet, it is natural, but who is willing to play such a thankless role at this moment, if you really want to go to war with China at this moment, you will not only be scolded to death by the Japanese business and financial circles, but also send troops to West Siberia Maybe they could all be starved to death in Siberia because of the hostility between China and Japan.

In front of China's wolf-like 60 U.S. armed forces, the Imperial Army lowered its proud head for the first time, especially before the No.12 Division landed in Vladivostok to fight. The casualties of the division exceeded one-third. The Chinese took over a series of fortresses and cities including Shuangchengzi, Khabarovsk, Hailanpao, Nerchinsk, Chita, Ulan-Ude and Irkutsk. The total number of people is only half of that of the Japanese Army in Vladivostok.

"Your Majesty! Compared to the South Manchuria Railway, Kantung Prefecture, Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao, and Taiwan, the West Siberian Plain is more important to the future of the empire. You can't have both, and those places in China, as long as China continues to grow stronger, we It is quite difficult to defend, the foreign policy of the empire has reached a turning point in history!"

Since Ji Nei Zhengyi is the spokesperson of the Shanxian faction and the prime minister of the current cabinet, he can only be the good guy and the bad guy at the moment. Several speakers of the House of Lords, the House of Representatives, and the Privy Council have stern faces, but no one speaks. , It really takes courage to jump out and be a hero at this moment!

"Prime Minister, then, tell me about the results of the secret consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and China!"

Emperor Taisho sighed softly, the army and the navy were discouraged, and without the support of the chaebols, everyone knew that it was useless to ask Japan to take the risk of the world to challenge China and the United States, Britain and France behind it.Of course, compared to my father, who spent his whole life focusing on Manchu Qing and Manchurian Koreas, the harvest of decades is not as good as his two months of opening up 160 million square kilometers in West Siberia!If you say that, you are not ashamed!

"Your Majesty is wise, according to Yichen's analysis, Wang Geng, the supervisor of China's participation in the war, is a relatively trustworthy person. Originally, when the two sides agreed to jointly march into Siberia and the Far East at the beginning of the year, he promised that the territorial issue between China and Japan could be resolved as a package after the end of the European War. Moreover, during the entire empire's march into West Siberia, the Chinese side provided convenience and guaranteed logistical railway transportation!"

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Ichiro Hirano resigned due to illness. Now Goto Shinpei, who has just been transferred from Minister of Internal Affairs to Minister of Foreign Affairs, has a black eye on diplomacy.

"Well, I've heard about this person too. At least his penicillin has made a considerable contribution to the world. Mr. Hirano was able to resist pneumonia because of the penicillin produced in China. After all, why was Japan authorized to produce it? The purity and yield of penicillin are not as good as those produced in the United States and China?"

The Taisho Emperor used to roll up the imperial edict and used it as a telescope at the imperial meeting, and sometimes he seemed to be more jumpy in thinking.

"Your Majesty, Rong Chen will explain this issue later, but the export price of penicillin exported by China is lower than that of our own production. Even the Western Siberia Expeditionary Army has specified the use of Chinese-made penicillin. This issue will not affect domestic production in the short term. The level of medical security! And Rong Chen can finish talking about the Sino-Japanese territorial peace talks first?"

Terauchi Masaki wiped off his sweat. The wages of workers in Japanese pharmaceutical companies are not more expensive than those in China these days. The problem is that after the disclosure of the formula and production process of penicillin, the production of penicillin has gradually evolved into a public welfare nature, which has led to Those profit-seeking pharmaceutical companies in Japan are unwilling to spend a lot of effort to produce penicillin. Anyway, firstly, it is sold all over the world, and secondly, China sells high-quality and low-priced products, so why not import directly from China?

Not to mention penicillin, it is oil. Japan has become China's largest oil exporter. In the first three months of 1918, Japan imported an average of at least 2 tons of crude oil from China every month. Shipping costs are at least 30% cheaper!Moreover, the quality of crude oil produced in China's Renqiu Oilfield is very good!

"Well, the Prime Minister can continue. Japan has paid such an unprecedented price and concessions. I want to see what conditions the Chinese can give!" Emperor Taisho's attention returned from penicillin to the territorial dispute between China and Japan.