I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 256: Driving the tiger and swallowing the wolf
"Oh oh oh!"

The morning light was dim, and as soon as a rooster raised by someone's house crowed, there were countless crows.

"Click..."

Li Sihai put on his coat and cotton trousers, walked downstairs with his arms folded and shouted: "Aniu, you lazy guy, stop sleeping, open the door for business!"

"what…"

A Niu yawned, stood up, and stepped forward to open the door. The guy opposite just opened the door.

"Morning."

A Niu, who was still a little dazed, said hello casually. He was shivered by the cold wind, and he quickly returned to the lobby to put on his clothes and do some work.

At this time, it was just getting dark, and the doors on the street gradually opened. Soon, people went to the street to buy breakfast, or rush to work. In the blink of an eye, it was full of people.

Li Sihai's family ran a department store, selling some odds and ends, but the business was not very good. He thought that if the business was not good, he would have to fire A Niu, a long-time employee.

A Niu on the side agreed: "That's not true, everyone is going to buy foreign goods."

Li Hongzhang hurriedly saluted, raised the letter in his hand and said: "To the Queen Mother, this is a letter from Yunnan. Some local villagers killed the Englishman Ma Jiali."

I saw a messenger riding a fast horse with a flag with the word "urgent" written on his back, shouting loudly to alert pedestrians on the road.

"How is it possible? The bandits in the south have been wiped out for more than ten years. What are you thinking?"

"Didn't I tell the officials in Yunnan to treat the British well?"

"Eight hundred miles urgent!"

Prince Gong immediately explained his guilt.

"Sir, this is an urgent report!"

"You must go to see the Queen Mother immediately about this matter. I will go find Prince Gong with you."

Prince Gong asked: "Isn't this Ma Jiali..."

"Oh, hurry up eight hundred miles, it's a big deal!"

After a while, he saw Li Hongzhang standing in the square waiting for the court meeting.

Li Sihai couldn't help but sigh.

The young official ran to Li Hongzhang and handed over the letter.

Li Sihai asked with a puzzled look on his face: "Why are the prices of those foreign goods 30% lower than ours? Aren't we losing money?"

Finished!

"Step aside!"

Li Hongzhang sighed secretly and said: "The British have always been so domineering, and they are themselves to blame for this incident."

Li Hongzhang felt some blood rushing to his head at this moment.

After being reminded of this, everyone had no intention of discussing it. They immediately went home, took their money and bags and ran to the rice store to buy rice.

Li Hongzhang and others are waiting in the palace to go to court.

Whether they were pedestrians or vendors on the street, they immediately exploded when they saw the messenger, and they all fled to both sides, and they were in a panic.

The messenger rushed all the way into Beijing, and within a moment he arrived at the palace and was taken in.

"Why are you still in a daze? Hurry up and buy some rice. If something happens, the price of rice will definitely rise!"

He looked at the lively scene outside and couldn't help but sigh: "These days are getting more and more difficult. It's hard to sell things."

"Oh, the world has really changed a lot."

Before Prince Gong could react, Cixi cursed: "What's going on! Who gave them the courage to kill an Englishman? How will the court deal with this?"

"When something like this happens, Yunnan officials are the chief culprits!"

"If this mess happens, life will be even more miserable."

When Prince Gong heard this, his eyes darkened. It was over now, and the British were afraid that they would fight again.

"It's just that the British will never give up. We have to stabilize British Ambassador Wade first."

Li Hongzhang took the unaware Prince Gong to the imperial study room, where Emperor Guangxu studied and studied, and the two empress dowagers also listened to politics behind the curtain.

Li Hongzhang remained calm, opened the letter and read it, and then his heart was filled with turmoil.

Before the court meeting had even begun, an official rushed into the military aircraft office and looked for Li Hongzhang. When he learned that Li Hongzhang had gone to court, he hurriedly said: "Something serious has happened. Give this letter to Mr. Li quickly!"

_
"Eight hundred miles, hurry up, get out of the way!"

Li Hongzhang cursed quietly.

"Da da da…"

Li Hongzhang replied: "They are officials sent by Mr. Witoma to meet a British expedition team in Burma."

A young official took it and ran to find Li Hongzhang.

The Li family's son happened to come over and said, "If it doesn't work out, we'll just find a way to buy foreign goods."

"Coming from the south, is there chaos in the south again?"

Cixi said: "Then let the Prime Minister's Yamen contact the British ambassador first and see what the other party's reaction is. As long as the conditions are not too excessive, then we will settle the matter."

Li Hongzhang said quickly: "To the Queen Mother, the exchange alliance between our country and Japan has angered Wetoma, and I am worried that the other party will make a big move."

Cixi reacted quickly and said immediately: "Ai Qing reminded me that Japan has had a bad relationship with Britain and France in recent years. There have been several conflicts between the two sides, but Japan has not suffered any losses. It seems that Japan still has some ability to check and balance Britain and France. .

My dear, you can contact the Japanese Prime Minister and continue talking with him. Prince Gong talks with Nawai Toma, and we can drive the tiger to devour the wolf and reap the benefits. "

In the Qing Dynasty, the Queen Mother's self-proclaimed title took many forms.

In formal occasions or court documents, the Queen Mother will call herself "I", which is the same as the Emperor's call.

In daily life, the Queen Mother usually calls herself "I" or "Yu" in private.

In addition, sometimes the Queen Mother will call herself "I" in specific situations, such as when she is in charge of the government. For example, the Queen Mother Xiaozhuang once used the title "I" in formal occasions.

As for the self-proclaimed Aijia, which appears mostly in dramas, there are no specific historical records.

"The Holy Queen Mother is wise!"

Li Hongzhang and Prince Gong immediately saluted and praised him.

Cixi looked at Ci'an and asked, "What do you think, sister?"

Ci'an replied calmly: "Since my sister has made arrangements, let's follow your wishes."

Li Hongzhang and Prince Gong immediately divided their forces into two groups, one going to the Japanese Embassy and the other to the British Embassy.

In the Japanese Embassy, ​​Yagyu Heiyan has already started to prepare things. He has stayed in Beijing for almost a month and will say goodbye and return to Kyoto in a few days. He cannot waste too much time in this place. If the Qing Dynasty does not understand the interests, then He could only do it one other way. He just hoped that he could live in peace with the Qing Dynasty and allow Japan to obtain raw materials safely. Otherwise, if war breaks out and Britain and France intervene, Japan's economy will be greatly affected.

After all, 40% of Japan's raw materials were imported or smuggled from the Qing Dynasty.

He didn't want to go to war with the Qing Dynasty, just because he didn't want to give Britain and France an excuse to deceive the Qing Dynasty.

As for the Kingdom of Korea, Yagyu Hiyan was even less interested in taking the initiative to capture it.

You must know that if Japan takes action against the Kingdom of Korea, the Qing Dynasty will definitely react violently, and may even send troops into the Kingdom of Korea to confront Japan.

Japan's occupation of Korea can be said to be a loss-making business.

First of all, to occupy the Kingdom of Korea, you must arrange an army and fleet to maintain stability, which will require millions or even more than tens of millions of military expenditures a year.

Secondly, the Kingdom of Korea is not rich in resources and has no other use except geopolitics.

In the end, the old tune was repeated, that is, there was a rift with the Qing Dynasty, and then Britain and France intervened, making Japan the enemy of the Qing Dynasty.

It can be said that taking the initiative to go to war with the Qing Dynasty or the Korean Kingdom would do more harm than good to Japan now.

However, in order to guard against Tsarist Russia's invasion of the Northeast and Western Regions of the Qing Dynasty, Japan needed to have military bases in the Northeast or the northern part of the Korean Kingdom.

However, there is no need for Yagyu Hiyan to take the initiative to raise this matter. All it takes is an opportunity for Yagyu Hiyan to make the Qing Dynasty beg him in turn. If the Qing Dynasty begged Japan to take action, then the above reasons would no longer be valid.

Therefore, Yagyu Heige is not in a hurry to take action against the Kingdom of Korea. He only needs to wait for Britain, France and Russia to take action, and he is ready to pick up the slack.

Yagyu Heiyan sat on a chair and looked at the scenery outside. Tetsunosuke Ichimura was instructing others to organize their salutes. When the time was up, they would leave.

At this time, a secretary ran in and shouted: "Your Majesty Prime Minister, Li Hongzhang, an important minister of the Qing Dynasty, is in the hall asking for an audience."

Hearing this, Liu Shengxi Yan put back his thoughts and said with some joy: "Oh? It seems that something happened. Otherwise, why would this person be so impatient... Hahaha."

He instantly thought that something about Magali must have happened.

Yagyu Heiyan changed his clothes, and then took Ichimura Tetsunosuke to see Li Hongzhang.

As soon as Li Hongzhang saw Yagyu Heiyan, he immediately greeted him warmly and asked: "Mr. Prime Minister, I see that you are packing your things. Are you preparing to return to Japan?"

Yagyu Heeyan replied directly: "Yes, Mr. Li doesn't know something. Nowadays, a large number of companies have gone bankrupt in many countries, and the United States is the first.

According to our cabinet's discussion, European and American countries will expand externally in the future. Although Japan will not be affected, your Qing Dynasty will be in danger. "

This was obviously the first time Li Hongzhang heard about the world economic crisis.

Especially after Yagyu Heeyan said it, he felt that the British would definitely not give up this time.

However, he was not in a hurry to speak. Instead, he chatted with Yagyu Heiyan about the British ambassador who had been threatening them.

Of course Yagyu Heiyan knew that the Qing Dynasty was threatened by Vetomar, but he did not take the initiative to help. After all, going to the pole to help would only be misunderstood by others, and his good intentions would be regarded as a donkey's liver and lungs.

This time it was tougher.

He said directly: "Yingjili still wants to interfere with our affairs, his hand is too long.

You don’t have to worry about this matter, just talk to us. If Yingjili gives you trouble, just ask him to come to me. "

Li Hongzhang was delighted when he heard this. He exchanged a few pleasantries and then returned to the Prime Minister's Yamen.

At about the same time, Prince Gong walked into the lobby with a livid face.

Li Hongzhang immediately calmed down his expression, stood up and said hello: "Your Majesty, Witoma's attitude is very bad?"

Prince Gong said angrily: "Not only is it bad, he is clearly domineering. He took advantage of you to talk to the Prime Minister of Japan. The lion opened his mouth. These bastards, they are the ones who caused everything. In the end, it was us who were wrong." , it’s really unlucky.”

Li Hongzhang didn't know what to say, so he changed the subject and said: "Your Majesty, those foreign devils are like that. They always like to look at people with their nostrils and look down on people with dog eyes. You, sir, have a lot of them, so there is no need to argue with these people who drink hair and blood."

Prince Gong carried forward Ah Q's spirit and comforted himself: "Sooner or later, these foreigners, I, the Qing Dynasty, will definitely teach them a lesson."

Prince Gong was much less angry. He glanced at Li Hongzhang and asked, "How are you doing over there?"

Li Hongzhang said somewhat reservedly: "As expected by the Queen Mother, Prime Minister Yagyu is very dissatisfied with Yingji's behavior. The plan to drive away the tiger and devour the wolf can be implemented."

"That's good."

Prince Gong was quite happy.

"Then please leave it to Grand Bachelor Li."

Li Hongzhang cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, you're welcome. This is my duty."

……

After Yagyu sent Li Hongzhang away, Tokugawa Kexi said with some confusion: "Prime Minister, these Qing officials clearly want to use us to fight against Britain and France."

"Yes."

Yagyu Heeyan admitted.

"However, it is not certain who is the flag and who is the chess player in this matter."

Tokugawa Qingxi looked at Yagyu Hiyan's expression and thought to himself: You have already figured out the actions of these Qing officials. I'm afraid that in the end, the Qing officials will suffer a loss, but he is still curious about how Yagyu Hiyan arranged it.

Yagyu Heeyan did not explain directly, but instead said: "Next time, Li Hongzhang comes again, the two of us will come forward together to put pressure on him."

Tokugawa Qingxi asked doubtfully: "Pressure, why?"

Only then did Yagyu Shengxiyan explain: "The reason why they dare to design and use us is just because we are easy to talk to. Next, we need one of us to be a good face and the other a bad face to cooperate with each other to give the Qing Dynasty a show of strength and make them honest." Do business with us."

Tokugawa said happily: "I understand."

Sure enough, the next day, Li Hongzhang came to the embassy again.

This time he still didn't get into the topic directly and just made side remarks.

Yagyu Shengxiyan said directly: "Mr. Li, if nothing happens, I will leave the Qing Dynasty."

Li Hongzhang's heart tightened and he quickly asked: "But my court did not entertain you well? Why should Mr. Prime Minister leave in a hurry?"

Liu Shengxiyan smiled secretly in his heart, and then said: "There are still many things in the country waiting for me to go back to deal with. Mr. Li, I am very busy."

Li Hongzhang originally thought that Prime Minister Yagyu came in person to discuss the alliance because he was in a hurry, but he actually wanted to leave at this time? That's not possible!

If Yagyu Heeyan leaves, how can we drive away tigers and devour wolves?

Tokugawa Qingxi on the side added fuel to the fire and said: "Mr. Li, if there is nothing else, you should go back first."

Naturally, Li Hongzhang couldn't leave, and he still needed to give an explanation to the Queen Mother.

He quickly said: "Mr. Prime Minister, don't worry, I just remembered that I have something important to tell you today, but I forgot about it while we were chatting.

Our country actually intends to form an alliance with Japan, but the British ambassador is obstructing it. We are helpless. I wonder if Mr. Prime Minister can come forward to help? "

Yagyu Shengxiyan secretly laughed in his heart. This is the tragedy of a weak country. If it is given a little pressure, it will lose its position and be led by the nose.

(End of this chapter)