After Saigo Takamori fled back to the Satsuma Domain with three steamships, he didn't plan to commit suicide. The Chinese wouldn't just fight a simple battle. What they had to face next was the real crisis and the real test.
The Satsuma Domain wouldn't give up Ryukyu. If they were willing, they wouldn't choose to go to war with China. The Chinese had stationed a large number of warships in the small Ryukyu. They wouldn't be satisfied with just seizing Ryukyu. If the Satsuma Domain didn't fully recognize the sovereignty of Ryukyu as belonging to China, the Chinese wouldn't stop.
Sure enough, on the third day after Saigo Takamori's escape, a warship appeared on the Satsuma Domain's sea. The purpose of the foreign devils in Japan was to establish a new country. The trade between China and Japan had existed for thousands of years. Even if the shogunate blocked the sea trade, it couldn't stop the trade between China and Japan. Therefore, the purpose of the Chinese fleet was different from the foreign devils. They blocked the Satsuma Domain's outer sea.
The Satsuma Domain had introduced the "Orchid School" a long time ago. They had their own steam engine workshop, their own Western-style factories, and a fairly westernized education system. Therefore, the coastal cities had defensive turrets. The Liberation Army didn't go near these dangerous places at all. Instead, they intercepted ships from Kyushu in the open sea. After capturing the Japanese ships, they detained the crew and towed the ships away. Half a month later, the timid ships didn't dare to come out, and the bold ships were all captured. The sea in the southern part of Kyushu was quiet.
The warship leisurely cruised in the Satsuma Domain's outer sea. In the main hall of Kagoshima, a fierce debate was going on. Saigo Takamori, Okubo, and Tomoyuki were arguing endlessly. A few days ago, the Satsuma Domain made a comprehensive plan. Not only did they not lose their spirit, but they also planned an elite force to attack the warship in the name of negotiation.
Of course, the negotiation mission wasn't completely fake. A group of powerful ronin from Choshu and Satsuma Domain, led by Himura Kenshin, disguised themselves as sailors to pilot the warship. If the Chinese Navy allowed these people to board the warship, they would launch a surprise attack and seize control of the warship. However, the defense of the Chinese Navy was tight. In the contact with the Satsuma Domain, a small warship was responsible for picking up the two envoys, so the surprise attack ended in vain.
Of course, China also maintained the basic courtesy towards the envoy. At the very least, they did not sink the ship carrying the envoy, so the group of ronin survived.
China's request was very simple. The Satsuma Domain was only a local government in Japan, but according to China's investigation, the Satsuma Domain escorted the Ryukyu emissaries to pay tribute to the shogunate. Since such a thing had happened, they couldn't just let the Satsuma Domain admit their mistake. The Satsuma Domain had to inform the shogunate of this matter. The shogunate would personally make a solemn promise to China that they would no longer have any improper thoughts about Ryukyu.
This request seemed honorable, but it was precisely the weak spot of the Satsuma Domain. At the beginning of the year, the Satsuma Domain and the Choshu Domain formed the Satsuma Alliance and worked together to overthrow the Bakufu. It would be extremely difficult for the Satsuma Domain to beg the shogunate now. In many cases, Japan's culture was even more bureaucratic than China's. The shogunate could completely ignore the Satsuma Domain with just one sentence.
If they wanted the shogunate to step in, the Satsuma Domain would have to make substantial concessions to the shogunate. However, these concessions were not that easy to make. At this time, the Choshu Domain was busy preparing for war, and a new war was about to break out. If the Satsuma Domain completely ignored the threat of China and unilaterally supported the war in Choshu, China would see through them and launch a surprise attack from the sea. What would happen if the Satsuma Domain's nest, Kagoshima Castle?
"Are the Chinese Navy going to stay at the Satsuma Domain's sea for a few years?" Okubo Tomori said angrily, although he didn't actually believe it. In fact, the Chinese Navy had received orders to cruise the sea and carry out various military training. At the same time, they would also occupy the islands between Ryukyu and the Satsuma Domain. This was something that would need to be discussed in future negotiations.
It was true that the Tobaku in the Satsuma Domain were in high spirits. However, these people might not be the kind of people who would succeed in toppling the Tobaku even if they died. In the beginning, the Satsuma Domain was very worried about the possibility of a naval bombardment of the city. China was not the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom could not send a large number of troops to Japan, but China could. Therefore, when China adopted the blockade strategy, the Satsuma Domain could breathe a sigh of relief. At the same time, the internal debate also arose.
"If we only ask the shogunate to intervene, it should be possible, right?" Shimazu Tadayoshi, the actual ruler of the Satsuma Domain, said.
"But if that's the case, we can't explain it to the Choshu Domain," Saigo Takamori replied. In the Jinmen Incident two years ago, the Satsuma Domain, which was originally allied with the Choshu Domain, defected and joined the shogunate's side, defeating the Choshu Domain. This feud could be said to be very deep. Sakamoto Ryoma relied on his personal charm and persuasion to promote the new Satsuma Alliance. Now, if the Satsuma Domain asked for help again because of the matter of Ryukyu, the Satsuma Alliance, which had a very weak foundation, would face new suspicions. At the very least, the Choshu Domain would not simply think that the Satsuma Domain was completely forced to do so and was only pretending to be courteous with the shogunate. The Choshu Domain was likely to think that the Satsuma Domain would betray the alliance like the last time.
The other ministers also made suggestions, but these suggestions were all rejected by their own people. After all, when formulating the current plan, they did not consider the factor of China. Just like gamblers who had calculated all kinds of possibilities on the table and were about to start gambling, a big shot that they could not afford to provoke suddenly forced his way into the game. The chips in the hands of this big shot were enough to overshadow the chips in the hands of all the gamblers at the table.
In the end, the Satsuma Domain came to a consensus, which was to delay the matter. There were no signs of China attacking the Satsuma Domain, which might mean that China would soon give up.
Therefore, the Satsuma Domain dragged the matter from March to May 1866. China did not have a fleet at all, and they continued to expand the blockade area. Several major seaports of the Satsuma Domain were blocked, which made the Satsuma Domain, who was very dependent on maritime trade, complain incessantly. At this time, the second Choshu Crusade led by the shogunate was getting closer and closer. The shogunate acted as if they were blind and officially sent a document to the Satsuma Domain, requesting them to send troops.
The Satsuma Domain was very clear about the tricks that the shogunate was playing. In a sense, this was also a way for the Satsuma Domain to step down. If the Satsuma Domain took the initiative to make a request, the shogunate could ask for a sky-high price. Now that the shogunate had made their request, the Satsuma Domain could also raise the issue of China. Of course, this was still lowering their head, but it was much better than what they had initially expected.
Just as the Satsuma Domain decided to formally make a request to the shogunate, the representatives of China were already in Kyoto for the final communication with the shogunate. As early as March, China sent an envoy to contact the shogunate. Although the matter of Ryukyu was the reason for the meeting, the two sides were actually discussing the establishment of formal diplomatic relations.
The Min dynasty of China recognized the Tokugawa shogunate as the only legitimate government in Japan, and the Tokugawa government also recognized the Min dynasty of China as the only legitimate government in China. The Tokugawa family was not a fool. Regardless of how secretive they were about not letting China know about the Satsuma Domain's involvement in Ryukyu, publicly admitting to giving up on Ryukyu would also become an excuse for the Tokugawa shogunate to be criticized. The Choshu vassals were clamoring to honor the king and quell the barbarians. By honoring the king, they wanted to "overthrow the shogunate." Quell the barbarians were blaming the Tokugawa shogunate for being unable to keep the foreign devils out of Japan.
To the Tokugawa shogunate's surprise, China readily agreed to support the Tokugawa shogunate in these aspects. Recognizing the Tokugawa shogunate as the only legitimate government in Japan was a show of support for the Tokugawa shogunate. As for quell the barbarians, China expressed its willingness to work with the Tokugawa shogunate to negotiate with the European and American forces that had previously signed various treaties, guaranteeing the Tokugawa shogunate's dominance in foreign exchanges.
The Tokugawa shogunate was skeptical. After all, China was so enthusiastic and made so many promises. No matter how they looked at it, it seemed like they were up to no good. However, the Tokugawa shogunate knew the strength of the Satsuma Domain's navy. To be able to beat the Satsuma Domain to the point where they didn't even dare to step out of China, they were definitely not an opponent that the Tokugawa shogunate could afford to provoke.
In the end, when the Tokugawa shogunate sent someone to communicate privately, the China representative spilled the "truth" when he was drunk. They wanted to teach the Satsuma Domain a lesson. Ryukyu was very far away from China, and China was discussing the establishment of a trade treaty with the Tokugawa shogunate. Sooner or later, China would withdraw its troops from Ryukyu. In this case, they had to beat the Satsuma Domain to the point where they would never dare to intervene in Ryukyu again.
When the news reached the Tokugawa shogunate, the Tokugawa family was both happy and worried. They were happy that China was really preparing to deal with the Satsuma Domain, but they were worried that China was also determined to force Japan to open up trade.
Of course, the China representatives didn't just foolishly negotiate with the Tokugawa shogunate. They also went door to door to visit the high-ranking officials in Kyoto, striving to get their support. There were even representatives who went to visit the New Writers Group.
The New Writers Group was the guardian of Kyoto in Japan. They had made great contributions in the Ikedaya incident and were the absolute supporters of the shogunate. The gifts brought by the China ambassador were very simple. They were a batch of "white swords" made in China. The Japanese swords were developed from the Tang-style swords that were imported from China during the Tang Dynasty. Japan had developed this kind of swords to an extremely high level with the intricacies of using the conch shell as a dojo. The Japanese swords had always been a weapon that China admired.
The swords that were given as gifts this time were all semi-finished products, which meant that only the blade had been forged. They were Japanese swords that were rolled from mild steel and hard steel. There were no hilts, handguards, scabbards, or even sharpened blades. These were the so-called "white swords." However, the Japanese New Writers Group were all experts. After seeing these semi-finished products and holding them in their hands, they immediately understood the quality of these white swords. Although they had some doubts, they didn't refuse at all.
Half a month later, when the China ambassador went to visit again, these swords had already become finished products. The ambassador's report was that Japan was indeed good at making swords. These Japanese swords were not only exquisitely crafted, but they were also sharp after being sharpened. During the exchange between the two sides, the experts of the New Writers Group cut off ten pillars made of straw mats.
Those who loved martial arts gave swords, and those who loved money gave expensive gifts. The China ambassador patiently contacted the various forces of the Japanese shogunate. In the end, in May, the shogunate finally negotiated with China. During the negotiations, the shogunate made a request. "China can open up trade, but China must support the shogunate in their crusade against the Choshu Domain. This support must be very realistic. "
When the China representative heard this seemingly excessive request, he smiled and said, "In addition to selling weapons to the Tokugawa government, we can also send our regular army to participate in the war. Do you think this is okay? "
The negotiators of the shogunate were dumbfounded when they heard this. The China representative continued, "As long as you are willing to lend your troops to help in the crusade, we will not sit idly by. We hope that the Tokugawa government can believe our sincerity! "
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