1890 King of Southeast Asia

July 8, 1896, sunny weather, Tokyo area.

Japanese Cabinet meeting.

Saigo's eyes were dull, looking at the ministers who were arguing, his heart was full of powerlessness.

Ito came over and patted Saigo on the shoulder: "God doesn't bless Japan, accept it! At least, we have left some things. Compared with the past, we now have the land of Korea, this stepping stone. What we lost this time, we will get back next time!"

Saigo looked at Ito, who was dying before, and seemed to have returned to the time when he was full of vigor and vitality, "I really miss the time when we fought together!"

Saigo stared into Ito's eyes, "We! Is there really a next time!"

It was obviously a question, but Saigo used a statement tone.

Ito was not easy to answer. Japan owed 2.6 billion yen, and now there are still 300 to 400 million left, but the war is about to end, and this money will be used to stabilize the currency value.

Ito could only deceive himself, because Japan had no competitive products suitable for export: "Yes! The textile industry and silk reeling industry can provide a large amount of foreign exchange, which is enough to repay the loan..."

In Tokyo Bay, on the armored cruiser "Barbaric", the mediation group of various countries was waiting for Japan's reply.

Cyril took out his pocket watch and looked at the time: "Gentlemen, it's almost twelve o'clock. It seems that the Japanese do not intend to accept our ultimatum..."

Cyril's voice was full of disappointment. Japan was originally a good chess piece, and it was a pity to lose it like this...

…………

On the afternoon of July 7, the task force arrived off the coast of Tokyo Bay and handed over an ultimatum to Japan.

The first release of this book: ——

“Article 1 of the first paragraph: Both parties shall immediately stop the dispute, cease fire on the front line immediately, and prohibit any form of friction.

Article 2 of the first paragraph: Both parties shall gradually withdraw their troops, the Qing imperial army shall be stationed on the border, and the Japanese army shall ensure the smooth supply of the Qing army’s northern defense line.

Supplementary item of the second paragraph of the first paragraph: The mediating country shall be responsible for supervising the behavior of the Qing army and ensure that the Qing army will not engage in war.

Article 1 of the second paragraph: Japan shall shrink its sphere of influence to the Korean region, and the two sides shall sign a peace treaty based on this.

Article 2 of the second paragraph: The Korean region shall be open to the mediating country, and the merchants and citizens of the mediating country shall have Treated as Japanese nationals.

………

Article 1 of Article 6: As compensation, the Qing Empire shall pay Japan a compensation of no more than one year's fiscal revenue, and the two sides shall make peace on this.

Article 2 of Article 6: The mediating country has the right to anchor its warships in Tokyo Bay, Japan, and Japan shall provide corresponding reception for a period of five years.

Japan must accept the above statement and give a reply within 24 hours. If it exceeds this time, the mediating countries of Britain, France, the United States, Germany, South and Japan will be in a state of war. "

This statement is not harsh. The benefits that Japan can obtain are very limited, but it seems normal to others. It is impossible for a snake to swallow an elephant, right?

…………

"The Japanese are coming!" The Germans especially did not want to see the Japanese compromise, but they did not want to miss the opportunity to exert influence.

Lin Anmin took a look and saw that the Japanese still had some time to board the ship: "Sir, what kind of role does Japan play in the eyes of London?"

Cyril took a sip of tea leisurely, "Japan's actions are really disappointing, but for the interests of the British Empire, Japan's integrity needs to be maintained."

Lin Anmin nodded: "In terms of maintaining regional stability, South China and Britain have the same interests, but the Japanese are really annoying, so South China hopes that the treaty signed between Japan and the Qing Dynasty will not involve the Qing Dynasty too much."

Cyril frowned. If Britain did not suck blood from the Qing Dynasty, its investment would be too great. The Tsar was aggressively building a railway to the Pacific Ocean. By then, a steady stream of gray animals would arrive in the Far East. Could the rubbish combat power of the Qing Dynasty stop them?

Lin Anmin continued: "Japan is now a chicken rib. According to its fiscal revenue last year, even if all of it is used to repay the loan, it will take Japan 45 years to pay off the principal and interest. This is obviously unrealistic. Why not let the creditor country take over its government directly?"

That's all. To put it bluntly, it's just an introduction. Britain will not take over such a government. It doesn't have that much energy. But the repayment capacity of 160 million pounds, including principal and interest of 300 million pounds, is indeed beyond the payment capacity of the Japanese government.

…………

After Japan accepted the statement of the mediating country, the news quickly spread back to Nanhua. Liu Yiming had returned to Sishui to deal with the documents that had fallen in the past few days.

Halfway through, Liu Yiming called Xu Hui to find out how much Nanhua had earned in this war: "The Japanese government has accepted the ultimatum, and the war will not last too long. How much have we earned?"

Xu Hui happily opened the account book: "In terms of weapons, we sold tens of thousands of shells, hundreds of artillery pieces, and a large number of medical supplies. In addition, we also imported a large number of various parts or raw materials.

The trade volume of weapons is about 80 million, but half of it is debt, plus miscellaneous items, about 500 million.

The bulk of it is immigrants. The war lasted for a year. In the second half of the year, we were able to gather more than 500,000 people every month. At present, the population of Nanhua has exceeded 20 million, and the problem of the ratio of men to women has been alleviated."

Xu Hui was very excited when he said that Nanhua had grown from the initial 200,000 people to the current 20 million people in just six years!

Liu Yiming was a little surprised, but not particularly excited: "Give priority to the development of Borneo. You arrange for a steel plant to move there, and various chemical plants and machinery manufacturing plants should also transfer personnel to Borneo to open branches."

This is foreseeable, and there will definitely be another wave of immigration. The one-year war has caused huge deficits for the Qing Dynasty.

The statistics department (intelligence organization) of Nanhua believes that the Qing Dynasty collected more than 800 million taels of silver from the people in one year for war funds. In addition to the pre-war preparation stage, the total expenditure of the Qing Dynasty was about 900 million taels of silver.

Ironically, the funds that were finally determined to be used for war-related funds (including food procurement) did not exceed 200 million taels of silver, and this part was also corrupted. For example, the price quoted for the shells purchased by Beiyang was 20% higher than the actual selling price.

Xu Hui was very surprised. Java has always been the focus, and its development has matured a lot. Why should we focus on the development of Borneo?

Xu Hui asked puzzledly: "Java already has a mature model, why focus on developing Borneo? This will cost a lot, and all the money we earn will be invested in immigration."

Liu Yiming took out a booklet with the "Luzon Islands Investigation Report" clearly written on it

Xu Hui understood, "Are we going to take action on Luzon so soon? By the end of the year, the navy's strength can be doubled again, and then we can crush Spain and deter Britain and France at the same time."

Liu Yiming shook his head: "Not so fast, time is on our side, but after taking over the Luzon Islands, the geographical advantage of Borneo will be highlighted. Prepare in advance, and it can also be used as a logistics base at that time."

Xu Hui nodded. If the Luzon Islands are incorporated into the territory, the advantages of Borneo will be fully reflected-large area, rich resources, and close to both the north and the south.

Liu Yiming pressed the location of Manila on the map: "How are the natives in Borneo handled?"

To build a factory, you have to build a city, so the security requirements are high.

Xu Hui looked relaxed: "In the past few years, the natives in Borneo have decreased by more than 70%. They were plowed once by the Japanese army, and then plowed again by the third and fifth divisions.

There are only a handful left. Governor Zhang reported that there are more than 2 million people, and they are annexing various native forces. Yang Tao means to wait until they get all the natives together and then solve them all at once."

…………

The negotiations in the north lasted until September. Finally, the old witch who wanted to return to the palace intervened in the negotiations and agreed to a compensation of 60 million taels of silver, opening three trading ports, and the same treatment for the Japanese and European countries.

It is said that Lord Li fell ill that day and refused to sign. The old witch had no choice but to send four princes to carry people to the door. When they saw Li Hongzhang was just hanging...

After being rescued by the prince, Lord Li shouted "A clean name for a lifetime! A clean name for a lifetime!" Then he vomited tomato-flavored blood and fell into a coma.

Finally, on September 18, the pro-war Weng Tongsu was held by four princes who received 500,000 taels of silver and signed a ceasefire treaty.

After the treaty was signed, Lin Anmin came to the Governor's Mansion under the pretext of visiting the patient and met the "seriously ill" Lord Li:

"How is Lord Li?"

Lord Li sat steadily on the armchair, but actually sat under Lin Anmin.

Lord Li bowed his hands: "Who can be satisfied with this trick of mine? It's just a trick of a scoundrel. It's about peace talks, thank you sir!"

Lin Anmin also bowed his hands: "Lord Li is polite, we are also happy to cooperate."

Lord Li looked curious: "I don't know why Nanhua helped my Beiyang?"

Lin Anmin waved his hands: "I just don't like Japan. A strong Japan is not good for Nanhua.

By the way, I came here today to seek Lord Li's help for another matter."

Lord Li sat up straight: "Just say it, as long as I can do it!"

Lin Anmin didn't understand why the old man was so formal today?

"I hope to buy some German standard weapons, preferably ones you have used, but relatively new. It can be used to offset the payment, or it can be exchanged for Nanhua's weapons. You can choose the specific one. But I also hope that this matter can be carried out quietly and confidentiality is the best."

Lord Li nodded. Since it was to be kept secret, he would not ask. As for whether to exchange or not? Are you kidding? There are so many weapons in stock, just take a few and replace them.

Lord Li smiled bitterly: "Deduct the payment! I can't find much money for the time being..."

"The war is over, and it will only be a matter of two years. It's okay. Our cooperation can be done with or without money." Lin Anmin smiled. The goal has been achieved, so we can talk about other things!

They didn't know that this batch of rifles would pass through Hawaii, transfer to the United States, and then go south to Peru. After a circle in South America, it will finally be transported by a Dutch transport ship to a Swiss warehouse in Transvaal, South Africa.