Chapter 71: The Little Devil Wants to Enter the Village

  The signing of the Sino-French Treaty on Vietnam did not cause much sensation in the world political arena at that time, but the Qing government and Japan showed extreme tension.

  The Meiji Emperor, who had ruled Japan for 17 years, sat slumped and pale on his throne, shouting angrily at the group of loyal attendants led by Sanjo Sanetomi under the canopy:

  That suddenly emerged so-called Huaxia Zhongyong Army, they actually easily defeated the self-proclaimed second strongest naval power in the world, France, within a year!

  But our intelligence department has not provided a single bit of useful information until now!

  Their naval vessels reached a terrifying 50 or more, while we didn't even discover one single vessel, as if their vessels suddenly emerged from the air!

  The great general of Hawaii is called Zhang Long, who is also a Chinese. I suspect that the previous diplomatic incident in Hawaii was caused by them. The intelligence personnel of our country collectively shed blood overseas in Hawaii, and the emperor has reason to think so!

  You guys told me, what does the intelligence department of the Great Japanese Empire eat for a living? Is it dead or what?

  Due to the sudden and powerful exposure of the Chungyong Army, it defeated France, which was known as the world's second-largest navy, with lightning speed, causing Emperor Meiji to be shocked and terrified. In order to cover up his own helplessness and fear, he vented his negative emotions on the unfortunate Japanese intelligence department, in order to boost his confidence and establish a strong image for himself.

  The unequal and red-faced Minister of Intelligence spoke, and San Tiao Shi Mei hastily chimed in:

  Your Imperial Majesty of Sacred Brilliance, your humble subject can interpret this matter.

  Oh, Iki! Minister Taisho, what's your take on this? Don't hesitate to share. As for the three beauties of Jitsugyo, Meiji was relatively polite in his attitude towards them.

  Goodbye!

  Regarding the intelligence defects of the Qingyong Army, it is roughly because the strategic focus of our Great Japanese Empire was placed on the front line of the Qing Dynasty and Korea in the early days, while distant Hawaii and Vietnam were not valued by the empire.

  The loyal and brave army has been hiding in the dark, not only our country, but even the powerful British Empire did not discover it early. This cannot be blamed on our intelligence department's incompetence, if anyone is to blame, it's those Japanese people, who are extremely cunning!

  I suggest that the Empire strengthen its intelligence infiltration in Vietnam from now on, dispatching skilled personnel from the Intelligence Department and the Black Dragon Society to secretly infiltrate North Vietnam immediately, carry out assassinations of high-ranking officials of the Viet Cong, and organize sabotage activities against the bases of the Viet Cong.

  The empire also wants to stir up the opposition between the Qing and the Zhongyong Army, best to let them kill each other. Only when the Shina people are fighting among themselves can our great Japanese Empire reap the benefits!

  Apart from this, according to the intelligence of the Empire's spies in Qing and Europe, Qing has ordered a large number of ironclad warships from some major European powers, with the aim of expanding the actual strength of the Beiyang Fleet.

  Therefore, the Great Japanese Empire will further increase its investment in the navy, expand the scale and strength of the Imperial Navy, gradually surpass the naval fleet scale of the Qing Dynasty and the Zhongyong Army, making the Great Japanese Empire the first military power in the Far East.

  Wow! Your opinion is absolutely great! Meiji, who had been gloomy for half a day with a donkey face, was overjoyed and praised Saneto repeatedly. It seemed that Japan had become the big brother of the Far East just because of Saneto's words!

  Upon hearing Meiji's praise of Sanetomi Sanjo, known as one of Japan's Five Extraordinary Men of the Chōshū Domain and one of the Three Great Men of the Meiji Restoration, Hirobumi Itō bowed slightly to the Emperor and hastily interjected: "Your Imperial Majesty, I do not entirely agree with Sanetomi Sanjo's views!"

  I think of the great Japanese Empire, which has been renewed for over a decade. However, our domestic resources are scarce, and to possess strong fighting power, we must learn from Western skills, improve our country's scientific and technological level, and strive to expand our nation's scientific and technological strength. Only what is ours will last forever!

  Of course, in the early stage, our country still has to rely on buying warships as the mainstay, but we cannot measure it by quantity. We must have a different approach from the Qing dynasty's massive purchase of warships. We should focus on acquiring ironclad warships with today's most advanced technology and win through quality.

  I also said that our country's resources are scarce and financial revenue is even more limited, so it is impossible to support a large number of naval fleets. Therefore, we still have to take stability as the main priority and cannot act rashly!

  We can dispatch a small number of lightly armed warships to the waters near Vietnam to strike at the ocean supply lines that are harassing the Zhongyong Army, hindering the development of the Zhongyong Army. As for the Qing Dynasty, I can send spies to bribe high-ranking government officials, and it would be best if we could make the Qing Dynasty and the Zhongyong Army go to war with each other, so as to consume the strength of both sides.

  We will also dispatch high-ranking officials of the Imperial Government to the British Empire to negotiate an alliance, and only with multiple preparations can we stand invincible and achieve the legend of a great Eastern power!

  Meiji Emperor was extremely annoyed by Ito Hirobumi's interruption just now, and his hands tightly grasped the samurai sword hanging from his waist. Only after hearing Ito Hirobumi's words did he relax his nerves and feel a little relieved in his heart.

  Ito Hirobumi's words hit the nail on the head. How can one know the value of rice without being the master of the house? If Japan were to develop its navy like the Qing dynasty and the loyal and brave army, just the annual naval military expenses would be enough to bankrupt Japan, not to mention the large number of land armies waiting to be fed and developed with military expenses. So it's still necessary to consider carefully before making a decision.

  After the ministers' respective statements, the Emperor made a final decision:

  Dispatched spies to infiltrate the Zhongyong Army, and also dispatched 5 armed ships to ambush the sea transportation line of the Zhongyong Army, doing everything possible to hinder the development of the Zhongyong Army.

  The Qing side also strengthened its intelligence infiltration work and sent a large number of spies to infiltrate the Qing, waiting for an opportunity to take action.

  Dispatched three Shimei rate teams to the European district to procure high-tech ironclad warships, and also instructed him to negotiate an alliance with the British Empire.

  However, before they could set out, the Chung Yung Army had already received detailed intelligence from Japanese intelligence stations. All ships and spies dispatched to Vietnam mysteriously disappeared without even a ripple.

  As the tormented and desperate Tooyama Mitsuru, who had been driven to the brink of madness by Zhou Yu's cruelty, he became a faithful and obedient lapdog to Zhou Yu after receiving his orders to report every move in Japan back to him. From the depths of his soul, Tooyama was filled with fear towards Zhou Yu, without any hint of resistance or defiance.

  As soon as there was news on this side, he immediately reported it to Zhou Yu's intelligence station in Japan, so every move of Japan was within Zhou Yu's sight. The mysterious disappearance of the personnel sent to Vietnam was also reasonable!

  Nowadays, Touyama Mitsu is also a big shot in Japan, and the high-level news in Japan can't escape his ears, just like it can't escape Zhou Yu's eyes!

  Since the last time the old Buddha made a decision, the Qing government signed the "Vietnam Treaty" and the Zhongyong Army defeated the French army again, which caused great vigilance among the people and once again held a grand court meeting.

  This time Taiwan's Liu Mingchuan again cited 'preparing for the Loyal and Brave Army' as an excuse, and was absent from another grand occasion of the Qing Dynasty.

  In the imperial court, it was still the old routine: Cixi dominated and controlled the government, while Guangxu obediently played the role of puppet emperor.

  Having had the experience of last time, Cixi did not put on her ugly face again, but instead asked with a smile to the group of ministers under the hall:

  Our great Qing has been humiliated ~ the loyal and brave army was defeated once again by the powerful French army, and even signed the "Vietnam Treaty" with the French. What's more detestable is that the loyal and brave army actually asked the French to compensate our great Qing 50 million francs, which they gave to them. This is a slap in the face of our great Qing, and an open challenge to the authority of our great Qing.

  Last time I, the great Qing, recruited and pacified the Zhongyong Army but it didn't succeed, instead a large number of good men of the great Qing were lost. The Zhongyong Army is now openly rebelling! What do you all think should be done about this?

  Zhang Zhidong, under the imperial court, secretly curled his lips and thought to himself: Isn't it all because of you, this old witch?! The Loyal and Brave Army has at least won a victory for China, and the Chinese nation can finally hold its head high. You yourself are incompetent and have lost battles, yet you can't sleep at night and blame the bed for being crooked. Instead, you blame the Loyal and Brave Army for not doing things right. If we Han people were to take over the country, would these foreign devils dare to be so arrogant?! And here you are, spouting nonsense. Alas, all these Jurchen people know how to do is surrender, negotiate, pay indemnities, and cede territory. They're really humiliating the Chinese nation!

  Sichuan Governor Liu Bingzhang and Fujian Governor Cen Yuying also shared similar thoughts with Zhang Zhidong, they were all deeply thrilled that the Chinese Brave Army was able to defeat the French cockerel, and were quite dissatisfied with the Qing's humiliating peace treaty.

  There were not a few people in the imperial court who had similar ideas, but everyone was discussing it secretly and no one dared to openly criticize Cixi's strategy as wrong. Isn't this nonsense? Looking for trouble with the old witch, are they tired of living?

  Seeing that everyone was silent, Cixi's trusted aide Li Hongzhang had to step forward to break the suffocating silence. He took a step forward and bowed in Cixi's direction, saying: "Your humble servant has a memorial to present!"

  Cixi said: Very well, let it be so!

  I humbly report to the Emperor: In my opinion, the current situation is that our Great Qing should figure out how to face such a predicament and not hold any hope for the Loyal and Brave Army anymore! Since they are unwilling to return to our Great Qing, then we can simply expel them from our borders forever!

  In my humble opinion, the first thing our great Qing dynasty should do is to strengthen and expand the scale of construction of our naval fleet, increase the updating of old warships' cannons, invest heavily in expanding the naval bases in Lushun and Weihai, perfect the coastal defense implementation along our great Qing's coast, and intensify the training of our naval fleet, so that our naval fleet can form a higher combat capability.

  Telegram instructions are being sent to purchasing agents in Europe to increase the number of advanced ironclad vessels purchased, as a precaution against sudden attacks by the Ch'ung-yung Army and Japan.

  With Li Hongzhang's opening remarks, everyone else also expressed their own views and opinions.

  Cixi, who had lost face in front of the French, this time made a rare concession to democracy, synthesizing the opinions of various ministers and making a relatively practical decision:

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