Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 406 Meeting Meiji
Ito Hirobumi coughed lightly calmly, and said loudly: "No matter what, someone must take responsibility. Then, I, Ito, will do it. Your Majesty." Seeing the emperor's approving eyes, Ito became more confident: "Your Majesty , In the current situation, if there is a war, both jade and stone will be destroyed. The cabinet must evacuate the population of Tokyo and prepare to launch jade fragments. And the emperor can't save it." Ito bowed deeply to the emperor, stood up and continued: "So, our generation Even ten thousand deaths can't atone for the sins, so my opinion is peace. Your majesty please judge."

The tone is fixed, and the next thing will be easy to handle. The emperor decided to continue to endure humiliation and meet the absurd Ye Zugui who visited Tokyo. According to the list provided by Ye Zugui, Ito ordered the Ministry of the Navy to remove the 30 main perpetrators including Sato Shinichi from the secret hiding place. The location was escorted to Tokyo, ready to be delivered to the Chinese fleet at any time.At the same time, Xixiang Congdao was ordered to continue the alert in Tokyo Bay until that night.

On the royal road in the shrine, Ito happened to meet Ye Zugui who came to visit the emperor. He held Ye Zugui's hand pretending to be intimate and said: "Although His Majesty the Emperor did not agree to the request made by your country, he would like to see you very much." Seeing you, the success or failure of this matter depends entirely on you."

Ye Zugui waved his hands and said with a smile: "The success or failure of this matter depends entirely on the emperor. I hope I can bring the good news back to China."

After finishing speaking, Ye Zugui left Ito Hirobumi and strode towards the "Pine Pavilion"

A few minutes later, Ye Zugui saw the tired-looking Emperor Meiji.

The emperor nodded weakly, forced a smile, stretched out his right arm, and politely asked Ye Zugui to sit down and talk.

After sitting down, the emperor said slowly: "Ito Hirobumi told me everything, I deeply regret the misunderstanding between China and Japan this time, and I hope General Ye can forward my apology to your country Your Majesty the Emperor." After finishing speaking, the Emperor picked up the teacup and drank it slowly, as if his reply to Ye Zugui had come to an end.

Ye Zugui was not angry either, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty may have forgotten one thing, and it is very difficult to understand this matter."

"Oh? What's the matter? Since this matter is a misunderstanding, I hope that our two countries can start from the perspective of generational friendship and let it calm down as soon as possible." The emperor's words were even smoother and gentler than Ito Hirobumi seasoned.

"I think Mr. Ito has not had time to tell you the whole thing, so I will repeat it now"

"Needless to say, I already know about this." The emperor frowned, it seemed that this Ye Zugui was really not an easy Chinese to deal with.

"Presumably you have heard of the two conditions proposed by us."

The emperor's face was immediately covered with frost: "General Ye, those crew members have been released. This is the greatest concession the empire can make so far. Now you have come up with two more conditions. Are you trying to threaten me?"

Ye Zugui thought to himself, what kind of bullshit emperor would still play a rogue at a critical moment, but he still had a humble expression and said: "Now it's not about who is threatening who, but about clarifying the right and wrong, and returning the dignity of our country. Your Majesty is the king of a country, don't you even understand this truth?" On the surface he was courteous, but he spoke wittyly, obviously he didn't take His Majesty the Emperor to heart.

"Crack", the emperor smashed the tea cup in his hand, and said angrily: "Ye Zugui, I treat you with the etiquette of hospitality, but you are so ignorant. Do you know who you are talking to? As long as I send a sentence If you don’t, you don’t even think about getting out of the gate of the Pine Pavilion!”

Ye Zugui was not afraid, instead he burst out laughing, and suddenly withdrew his smile, his gaze crossed Meiji's face like a knife's edge: "Your Majesty, since I, Ye, dared to come to see you alone, I didn't think about getting out of here alive. The great country of China is full of talented people, and it is nothing if I am missing Ye Zugui, but I advise you to think about the fate of Tokyo and even the city."

"You, you are threatening me. Do you think I dare not kill you? Do you think that the Great Empire will be powerless to resist the arrival of a few Chinese warships?" The emperor faltered a little when he said this, showing a lack of confidence.

Ye Zugui laughed, laughed loudly, the sound shook the Pine Pavilion and the entire shrine.The emperor's face was flushed with anger, he pointed at Ye Zugui angrily and said, "What are you laughing at?"

Ye Zugui suppressed his smile, stood up slowly, his face turned cold immediately, and said to Meiji: "Your Majesty, the time left for you and Tokyo is running out, you have to think carefully and say goodbye!" , Ye Zugui strode out of the Pine Pavilion, leaving Meiji alone in the main hall on the high seas where China and Japan intersect. Huge warships are parked there. These warships are neatly arranged in a reserve formation, waiting for the battle at any time Order.

As time-honored brands, the main guns of the two ships Dingyuan and Zhenyuan fired training bullets into the water from time to time, sometimes raised the barrels, and sometimes lowered them.People from the Imperial Navy Staff Department gathered in the captain's room of the Dingyuan ship, analyzing the current situation.

Deng Shichang was worried that if he stayed in Tokyo Bay for too long, if the Nagasaki port garrison fleet came back to help, the naval formation brought by Ye Zugui would be very passive. There was no reply, which still made everyone sweat for him.Therefore, after half an hour, a lesson must be taught immediately, and they must not love to fight. As long as they destroy their coastal defenses, they will return to the voyage immediately after firing a few symbolic shots at the buildings in the city.Otherwise, Ye Zugui and others would probably suffer heavy losses if they fought alone and far away from the mainland.And China is not yet ready for a full-scale war, because everyone knows that even if it can be easily swallowed, it will have indigestion in the future.What's more, it is by no means a country that can be eaten at will.

But Lin Jianzhang has a different view on this issue.He thinks that Ye Zugui will not have any safety problems. He has reason to believe that Ye Zugui leads a super-large fleet with a total tonnage of more than [-] tons. Strength may eat them all.Moreover, every half an hour, Deng Shichang will send two cruisers to go straight across the Sino-Japanese border and turn eastward to the waters [-] nautical miles away from Tokyo. , Deng Shichang gave an order, the main force of the Beiyang Fleet staying on the high seas must attack across the board, smashing Nagasaki and Tokyo in one fell swoop.

Deng Shichang and Ye Zugui had been together through life and death, and they loved each other like brothers and sisters. He was extremely anxious about Ye Zugui's delay in replying. He wished he could fly to Tokyo to see what happened. Seeing that the sky was about to darken, he couldn't wait any longer. Yes, I came to see Lin Jianzhang with a lot of lawsuits in my head. "Lord Lin, you are really calm. Look at what time it is. There is still no news from Ye Zugui. If you wait like this, the cucumbers may be cold."

Lin Jianzhang smiled, and said: "Brother Zhengqing, don't be restless. Our intelligence reports from all aspects have shown that there is no abnormal situation there. General Ye must be doing his best to deal with people diplomatically. Think about it, if now We rushed over rashly, and General Ye is about to conclude the negotiation, isn't it a good thing?"

"Is there such a good thing? People have always been insidious, cunning, and full of tricks. They will never give in easily. What if they take advantage of this period of time to make secret arrangements? After they arrange their plans, let's go over and just sneak into someone's house." In the trap." Deng Shichang obviously intends to fight.

"Brother Zhengqing, you have experienced hundreds of battles for so many years, don't you know that a general must plan before making a move? It's not that I, Lin Jianzhang, fear the enemy. I fought the Russians in Vladivostok back then. Why did I take life and death seriously when I took the lead? , but the emperor has repeatedly told us that once we go to war, we must find the right time. Have you forgotten this sentence?" Lin Jianzhang was a little displeased.Deng Shichang is a veteran general in the imperial navy, with high prestige, even in front of the emperor, he has a high status. Lin Jianzhang was just a guard envoy of Vladivostok. He has deep insights, and was appreciated and promoted by Liu Buchan and even Guan Xuqing. Later, he was promoted all the way to the position of Chief of Staff of the Navy. He is willing to work under Lin Jianzhang. Over the years, he has been coordinating with each other and everything goes smoothly. For this reason, Lin Jianzhang admires Deng Shichang's demeanor from the bottom of his heart.Unexpectedly, today they thought that Ye Zugui had a dispute.Lin Jianzhang is a person who does not care about others. A while ago, at the imperial meeting of the Qianqing Palace, he had a wonderful debate with his boss Liu Buchan on the issue of aircraft carriers in front of all civil and military officials.At this time, his stance on the issue of whether to send troops was even firmer, even if it was Deng Shichang, he would do his part.

Deng Shichang was a little annoyed immediately, he pointed to the long fleet behind him, and shouted: "Master Lin, just ask our thousands of sailor brothers, they can't wait to rush to Tokyo, now you let us do it here Waiting, the soldiers in front are dying, how can we wait!"

"Zhengqing, I hope you calm down a little bit. You have to know that you are not an ordinary sailor. You are a senior general of the Imperial Navy. For the general, you must look out for the overall situation and understand the general situation. You have kept your duty for so many years. How can you now? It would be reckless."

"I, Deng Shichang, am not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, nor is I a good official who seeks fame. I would rather not be an official than just sit back and wait for my brother to be in danger."

"This matter is no small matter, it's not up to you and me to decide, we'd better ask the emperor before making a conclusion."

"No need, it's an emergency. I have followed the emperor for many years. I think that even if the emperor knows about it in the future, he will sympathize with his subordinates. Even if Longyan is furious in the future, I, Deng, will be solely responsible for the blessing or the disaster." Deng Shichang twisted his head. Turning his head away, he never looked at Lin Jianzhang again, looked towards the direction of Tokyo, and said with a low face: "All generals obey orders! All anchors, ready to go to battle!"

"Yes! Please follow the orders of your lord!" All the officers and soldiers of the ships replied with their chests raised.

All of a sudden, the alarms of all the ships were loud, and the drowsy sailors jumped up excitedly in the evening sea breeze and rushed to their respective combat positions.Especially the second ship Dingzhen, everyone held their breath and prepared to deal a fatal blow to the rampant people.

At this moment, a voice shouted: "Master Deng, wait a minute, Beijing is calling!"

Deng Shichang and Lin Jianzhang turned around together, only to see a communications soldier rushing over and handing a telegram to Deng Shichang's hands. Deng Shichang saw that it was the hadith sent by the emperor, with only a few words written on it. Four words: "Don't be restless!"

(End of this chapter)