Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Old Friend Visits

  After the meeting to attack and eliminate the hidden danger of Taiwan, the British representative proposed a suggestion to use diplomatic means to confuse Taiwan first, which was unanimously despised and agreed upon by the representatives of various countries. Therefore, with the British Consul in Hong Kong as the main representative, the 5-country delegation sent a note to the Qing government, requesting the Qing government to send a capable minister familiar with Taiwan to act as an intermediary for negotiations between the two sides.

  The Qing government was also in a dilemma after receiving this notification. The news of the Japanese and Russian fleets being ambushed and annihilated by the Taiwanese had already reached the Qing government, which had gone from initial disdain to later shock. The Qing government had mixed feelings about Taiwan, which it had previously considered an abandoned child. Its own vast territory was being bullied by foreign powers, and Taiwan, a small island that had been ceded to Japan just ten years ago, had single-handedly destroyed the fleets of two countries, Japan and Russia. This result made the Qing government both happy and fearful. It was happy that the Japanese and Russian fleets, which had been riding roughshod over China, had finally met their match, and it was also a victory for a "half-Chinese" force; but it was afraid that if foreign powers could not defeat Taiwan, they might take revenge on the Qing government itself. After seeing this notification, the Qing government finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that at least it would not be lumped together with Taiwan. However, the demand made by the Western powers put the Qing government in a difficult position. Since Li Hongzhang's death, many old generals from the Huai Army had been purged from the Beiyang Army, and the current leader, Yuan Shikai, was also from the Beiyang Army but not from the old Huai Army, and he had no connection with Liu Mingchuan, who had died in Taiwan. Moreover, the Qing government did not even know who was in charge of Taiwan now, so where could it find an intermediary to negotiate with the Western powers?

  It's hard to find someone, the Westerners' demands can't be delayed, so the Qing government searched around and finally found a scapegoat, which was Zhang Zhidong, the 68-year-old Governor of Hubei. Why did they let Zhang Zhidong act as an intermediary? It was because Zhang Zhidong had fought alongside Liu Mingchuan in the Sino-French War, and later when Liu Mingchuan went to Taiwan to fight against the Dutch, Zhang Zhidong had provided a large amount of military expenses for him. Later, when Zhang Zhidong built the Hanyang Iron Works, Liu Mingchuan's son even sent several hundred thousand taels of silver as a gift, showing that the two families still had a good relationship.

  Zhang Zhidong received the imperial edict and was momentarily enraged. He submitted a memorial to the throne, believing that the Qing dynasty should not get involved in this muddy water. Since Taiwan already belonged to Japan, it had nothing to do with the Qing dynasty. It wasn't worth letting the Qing dynasty act as an intermediary for the enemy's affairs. However, the imperial court rejected Zhang Zhidong's memorial and insisted that he act as an intermediary for the sake of the Qing dynasty's stability. Zhang Zhidong had no choice but to put down his work and, at nearly 70 years old, rushed to Hong Kong, where he met with a delegation of five countries. He then returned to Guangzhou and contacted the new government in Taiwan through the Jinxiang Pharmacy. Finally, he took a Ministry of Internal Affairs cargo ship and arrived in Taiwan.

  In Tamsui Harbor to welcome Zhang Zhidong, the current President of Taiwan, Liu Wei. Originally, Liu Wei didn't take the information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs seriously, and based on his experience in later generations and historical knowledge, he judged that this time the five-country delegation came to negotiate with him was basically just fooling himself, wasting his time, confusing his judgment, and thus giving the five countries time to prepare. When the five countries were ready, they would use cannons to replace the words of the delegation. Especially since there were no Japanese people in the delegation, Liu Wei was very clear that now Japanese people could hardly see Taiwanese people. Not to mention the past decade or so, how many Japanese warships had been sunk by Taiwan, and how many Japanese generals and princes had been drowned. Even in peacetime, Taiwan's submarines had not hesitated to take cargo ships flying the Japanese flag as targets, with multiple Japanese freighters disappearing every month. Although the number was not large, it couldn't withstand the monthly sinkings. The reason why Japan did not participate in the negotiations this time was entirely because of too much hatred, and even pretending to be polite was unbearable.

  However, it was Zhang Zhidong who came. This governor of the Qing dynasty had some connections with both Liu Mingchuan and Liu Kuanyu. In the past, Liu Kuanyu had even provided financial support for Zhang Zhidong to establish the Hanyang Iron Works, while Zhang Zhidong had also helped Liu Kuanyu on the issue of the Shi Lu iron mine, so it was better to meet with him.

  Although they had met a few times before, it was the first time for the two to meet in person. Zhang Zhidong, who was nearly 70 years old, had a long white beard under his chin, with large eye bags and looked frail, but still had good spirits. Since it wasn't an official meeting, Zhang didn't wear his official uniform, just a simple outfit that civil officials usually wore. On the dock, the two exchanged a few pleasantries before Liu Rongyu, as the younger generation, welcomed Zhang to the Presidential Palace and led him to the small courtyard where his father, Liu Bingzhang, used to live.

  Originally, according to the understanding at that time, guests should be accommodated first, and then a welcoming banquet would be arranged. After eating and drinking, any matters could be discussed the next day. However, Liu didn't quite understand or pay attention to these things, and before the welcoming banquet in the evening had even started, he had already sneaked away to Zhang Zhidong's residence on his own in the afternoon.

  Zhang Zhidong did not expect that the son of his old friend, the current President of Taiwan, would be so direct. He also stopped beating around the bush and directly told Liu Ye about the mission he had been carrying on his shoulders, and was very worried about Liu Ye's current situation. Liu Ye did not tell this elder uncle all about his own strength and ideas, but instead asked Zhang Zhidong to put his mind at ease, saying that Taiwan would take care of the 5-country delegation's affairs, and that they could come to talk, with the specific time and place to be arranged by the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He told Zhang Zhidong not to worry about it anymore. Liu Ye knew that this high-ranking official had always liked to do practical things, so he let the accompanying personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs take Zhang Zhidong on a tour of factories in Keelung and Taichung starting from tomorrow, using his special car. The military and naval vessels could also go up, but not the submarines, as they were too cramped and uncomfortable, and Liu Ye was afraid that Zhang would get sick from it.

  Starting from the second day, Zhang Zhidong was led by a person dispatched by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to visit a thermal power plant and a mechanical factory that produced small batches of Great Wall pickups for Taiwan. At first, Zhang Zhidong still had some complaints about Liu Mei not accompanying him on the tour, but after entering the mechanical factory, Governor Zhang forgot his complaints and was attracted to the large machinery and cars produced in an assembly line mode. He touched this and that, and even personally welded a car chassis with an electric welder, although the welds were basically unqualified. However, Governor Zhang was still very happy and no longer cared about whether Liu Mei accompanied him or not. He asked the personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs if he could drive a car himself.

  Liu Ye didn't have the energy to take care of this lovely old man, he just instructed the Ministry of Internal Affairs to try their best to satisfy his demands. For an old man who had always hoped that his motherland could catch up with the Western powers throughout his life, what could make him happier than letting him experience the charm of large-scale industrial production in person?

  After getting rid of Zhang Zhidong, Liu Fei immediately let the successor of Liu Fu, the new Foreign Minister Chen Hailin, form a small negotiating team. The team members were not seeking to be elite, but rather to have courage. In fact, according to Liu Fei's idea, it was to let those newcomers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who had not experienced such negotiations before form a group and get familiar with this kind of occasion. Anyway, whether it was Liu Fei or the representatives of the five countries, they couldn't come up with anything substantial in this negotiation. Sending old and cunning people would be the same, so it's better to let newcomers open their eyes and broaden their horizons. However, Foreign Minister Chen Hailin did not dare to follow Liu Fei's instructions completely, after all, this was a negotiation with five powerful countries, and if things went wrong, it could lead to another diplomatic dispute. Therefore, Chen Hailin decided to lead the team himself, taking a group of trainees from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Hong Kong.