In the end, the Satsuma Domain bowed their heads to the shogunate, at least on the surface. They expressed their willingness to participate in the second Choshu Crusade. In exchange, the shogunate held a meeting in Kyoto. The shogunate's representative suggested that the meeting be held in Kyoto. This request, which seemed mild to the shogunate, was cleanly rejected by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said frankly, "Ryukyu is a vassal state of China. The final agreement cannot be signed in Japan. If the agreement is signed in Kyoto, it means that Japan can decide on China's territorial issues. We can't accept such an arrangement. "
The shogunate didn't expect there to be so many implications. They didn't dare to reject China's strict request. After discussion, China was far away, so the signing place was the Ryukyu, a warship cruising in the Satsuma Domain's territorial waters.
The Ryukyu was a new name. It was China's main ironclad warship, with a displacement of 51,000 tons. In Japan, it was already a huge ship. On the 19th of May, the Ryukyu, which the shogunate's representative boarded, arrived at the territorial waters of Kagoshima Castle. The Satsuma Domain's steamship was also waiting at sea.
The tonnage of both warships was several times different. After boarding, the Satsuma Domain's representative climbed the slightly shaky gangplank and walked for almost a minute before reaching China's warship, the Ryukyu. The difference in tonnage meant the difference in stability. The Japanese steamship, which weighed more than a thousand tons, would still sway even though it was stable on the sea. In contrast, China's warship was like a giant steel island, unmoving on the undulating sea.
The content of the agreement was that Ryukyu and its affiliated islands were a vassal state of China. They were a sacred and inviolable part of China. Japan admitted that it would no longer invade China's islands and Ryukyu and its affiliated islands.
After the agreement, China sent them away. Of course, the reason was that the conflict had been resolved. There was no reason for China to continue staying in the territorial waters of the Satsuma Domain. The shogunate's representative was a little unhappy. When they saw the difference between the Chinese warship and the Satsuma Domain's small warships, they were naturally very happy. If they could deter the Satsuma Domain, even if they had to borrow the power of China to deter the Satsuma Domain, it would be a very advantageous situation for the shogunate. Even if the representatives of the shogunate arrived at the Satsuma Domain on a large warship of China, and the China warship escorted the representatives back to Edo, the shogunate felt that they had not given the shogunate enough face by leaving so cleanly.
The representatives of the Satsuma Domain saw the goodwill of China from another angle. When China blockaded the Satsuma Domain's waters, they captured many Japanese ships. After signing the treaty, China sent the captured ships and personnel to the Satsuma Domain's Kagoshima Castle. No matter how westernized the Satsuma Domain was, they were still feudal lords. They had never seen such a righteous act. After carefully questioning the crew of these ships, the Satsuma Domain was surprised to find that China did not extort money from the crew of these ships, so the Satsuma Domain happily collected a "ransom fee" from these ships according to their size. After all, the Satsuma Domain did not have the guts to ask for any money from China. In addition, they had lost Ryukyu, and the Satsuma Domain had to make up for their losses internally. If they did not make these people bleed, they would be letting down the traditions of Japan.
These were all trivial matters. The Satsuma Domain discussed China's strategic plan endlessly. Of course, these people hoped that they would only be satisfied with the Ryukyu issue and not make any more moves. But was the powerful Chinese Navy really going to stop here? If the Satsuma Domain had such strength, they would not have dealt with the problem like this.
China did not consider the Satsuma Domain's thoughts at all. After beautiful military and political means, the Ryukyu issue that Vézé had provoked was resolved. The treaty contained some very implicit content, such as "China's islands" and "Ryukyu's affiliated islands." China's hand was actually far from reaching the Sulfur Islands, but through this treaty, China had all the Sulfur Islands and nearby islands under China's control. At least according to the interpretation of the treaty, many small islands in the south of Japan had fallen into China's hands.
The Politburo believed that the issue with Japan was over. At the moment, the north of the Huai River was a pot of porridge, and the Liberation Army's main focus should be on the future northern expedition and the south.
The idea of going south was not first proposed by the Politburo. The original policy of going south was proposed by Vézé, and it was strongly promoted by Vézé. The Politburo members were very supportive of Bi Qingshan's views during the meeting. In order to ensure long-term peace in China, in order to overcome the heavy food pressure at the moment, it was necessary to go south to fight.
"At first, I thought it was strange that my appetite had decreased as I got older. When I went home and asked my wife, I found out that it was because I used too much oil. " Even Wei Changrong expressed his opinion. "In the past, vegetables were soaked in water, but now vegetables are fried in oil. I thought it was because my wife's cooking skills had improved. I didn't expect it to be completely different. "
China was really a foodie empire! Vézé sighed in his heart. The effectiveness of propaganda did not necessarily depend on the depth of the theory or whether the attitude was correct, but on whether it could move people. Bi Qingshan's words, "Have you eaten vegetables fried in oil today?" deeply moved the comrades of the Restoration Party.
The change in food was closely related to every family, and even this group of people with high positions of power had to eat vegetables. When Bi Qingshan expressed his opinion, he first told everyone why the food was delicious, and then he told everyone that oil from Southeast Asia could make millions of China people eat better and fill their stomachs. And it was the Military Governor Vaize who initiated the Southlooking policy. The rice obtained from the South China Sea allowed the Liberation Army to calmly go north, so why not solve the food problem of the whole of China through the war in the South China Sea? This was not only the only way to solve the problem at this stage, but it was also the policy that Vézé had implemented seven or eight years ago.
As soon as such a public statement was made, even Vézé was speechless. Because what Bi Qingshan said was the truth, and what was more brilliant was that he did not fabricate the facts according to his understanding, but accurately restored Vézé's thinking. After Bi Qingshan finished speaking, even Wei Changrong expressed his approval, not to mention the other comrades. After all, everyone rose up to rebel to create a better world, a world where the people could eat their fill. This ideal was far from dying.
The comrades of the Politburo looked at Vézé expectantly, waiting for Vézé to give more specific instructions. Vézé was no stranger to this kind of look. During the implementation of the various strategies led by Vézé, everyone listened to Vézé's orders with this kind of expression. Now that everyone still had this kind of expression, Vézé felt very unhappy in his heart. This was the first time for Vézé to let others seize the initiative of the country's general direction.
Vézé did not show any dissatisfaction. After all, the final decision was still in his hands. "The policy of opening up the South China Sea is not a simple matter. This matter must wait until 1870, after the new fleet is built. We now have nearly a hundred warships of various sizes, and with Lanfang Province as a base, fighting the Dutch is not a problem at all. But our enemy is the British, and the British have thousands of warships. The result of our occupation of the South China Sea is to let the British intervene in this matter. If we really fight with the British, I don't think there is a possibility of winning in a short period of time. The British can produce 300 million tons of steel a year, and how much do we have in a year? So far, only 30 million tons. We are too far behind the British. "
"If the British go to war with us, we will take Hong Kong." A member of the committee made a suggestion that could threaten the British.
In the face of such a strategic view, Vézé did not even have the strength to be unhappy. "So what if the British lose Hong Kong? The British still have ports on the Indo-China Peninsula, and they still have India as a base. A Hong Kong will not make the British give up on intervening in the war. Most importantly, we do not see it the same way as the British. We feel that after taking down Southeast Asia, we can specialize in the South China Sea. The British view is that our fleet will be able to enter and leave the Indian Ocean freely. The Indian Ocean is seen by the British as their backyard. They will not accept us interfering in it. "
It was not easy for the thinking of the British soldiers to understand the thinking of the sea. The Sixth Army fighting for a few hundred miles was already a very impressive battle, and a few hundred miles was an ordinary distance for the navy. If they ran for a few hundred miles, it was very likely that they would not even be able to cover half of the one-way journey.
Vézé continued, "When making a strategic plan, there is still the problem of whether the place we arrive at is the destination or a skip. If the South China Sea is only our destination, then there is a problem. We just want to stabilize that place, but the British sent a fleet to mess with us. The British fleet is in India, do we have the ability to cross thousands of miles to India? If we can do it, then we can steadily take down the South China Sea and make it our territory. Otherwise, it seems that we have obtained it, but we will definitely encounter problems that do not make up for the losses. "
Looking at the blank faces of some comrades, Vézé changed an example. "For example, can we fight into Beijing and beyond the pass now? We have this ability. That is why we can calmly let the north of the Huai River be in such chaos, because no matter what kind of enemy appears, what kind of variables appear, we can solve all the problems in one fell swoop. Compare this to the South China Sea, and everyone will be clear. Where does the coal in Lanfang Province come from? Can the local people produce their own steel? Can they build ships? Can they produce weapons and ammunition? It is obviously not possible. These repairs, supplies, and armaments all have to be transported from the United States. That is to say, our starting point is not Lanfang Province, but the United States. And do we have enough fleets to escort and transport them? Many comrades definitely think that we can, but I don't think it is enough. Therefore, the attitude of the Military Commission is very clear, everyone should wait until 1870 before making a move. "
Whether they understood it or not, whether they supported it or not, since Vézé said so, all objections temporarily disappeared.
Vézé looked at the regretful expressions of some comrades, and he was very worried in his heart. These comrades must not be Ye Gong's good dragon.
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