Chapter 95 The ninety-fifth day went to Japan to sign a contract

In fact, Li Hongzhang's illness has long been cured, especially when he learned that the entire Beiyang Navy was wiped out, he seemed to have let go of a big burden, not only started the office normally, but also started talking and laughing.This made Zhao Lian, who had rushed to Tianjin, and Xiaohong, who had been beside Li Hongzhang, a little scared, because Li Hongzhang shouldn't be like this based on his character. Sheng Xuanhuai and a group of staff members were also worried all day long, lest Li Hongzhang would be a temporary flashback in the near future. The imperial decree is delivered to the hall.On the day after Li Hongzhang received the order, he ordered Zhao Lian and Xiaohong to pack up and prepare to return to Baoding.Li Hongzhang said: "Tomorrow, we will leave for Baoding. We have been in Tianjin for a few months, and I really want to visit them."

Zhao Lian said: "My lord, your body is just getting stronger, you'd better drink the medicine prescribed by the imperial physician before leaving." Li Hongzhang said: "It's better to clean up quickly, it's late, maybe you can only return to Baoding alone." Zhao Lian said with a smile: "My lord, are you really old and confused? The imperial court has returned the post of Zixuan and Cavalry Captain, you should be happy." Li Hongzhang stroked his beard and said with a smile: "You Lian'er, do you think that the old man is really confused after being ill? If the old man predicts well, there will be another imperial decree in a few days. Maybe, this time, the old man , I want to go to an island country in the East. In the Qing Dynasty, traitors pay attention to qualifications, and in fact, they also pay attention to qualifications when they sign contracts for the imperial court!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Lian was shocked and said, "My lord, aren't you guessing wildly? You are over seventy. No matter what the court does, they can't let you, an old man, negotiate a peace?" Before Li Hongzhang could speak, the second imperial edict was handed in.The decree said: "The former sent Zhang Yinhuan and Shao Youlian as ministers with plenipotentiary powers to Japan to discuss the treaty. There was a delay in the deliberation of Japan. There was a request for decree in the imperial edict. It was said that they were not of full status. We did not discuss with them and sent them back to Nagasaki. Order Tian Bei called again to inquire, and Nai replied that whenever business negotiations can be held again, China must reassign someone who was able to do great things in the past, has a high position and a reputation, and gives them full responsibility. .Now that the Japanese flames are raging, and Xinjiang is in danger, this is only an expedient policy, but it can solve the dispute and relieve the emergency, and the two evils are urgently sought. Li Hongzhang has a long history of meritorious service, is familiar with Sino-foreign negotiations, and is admired by all foreign countries. Today, Wen Yin pointed out that the imperial court is deeply concerned with planning. At this time, there is no one on the right side of the minister with full power. Li Hongzhang has already rewarded the purple rein and the captain of the cavalry, and then rewarded the feather top , opened the rehabilitated punishment, and rewarded the yellow mandarin jacket. As the first-class plenipotentiary minister, he negotiated a peace treaty with Japan. The Governor of Zhili, Beiyang Minister, Wang Wenshao acted. Li Hongzhang came to Beijing to ask for training without delay. All preparations, All of them will be interviewed in detail when they are summoned. The minister should think that the situation is dangerous, and since he has received the kindness beyond the standard, he should do his utmost to be generous, so that he will not have any worries and be late for a little delay. The date of departure and the book Immediately send a telegram to hear it, so as to relieve the anxiety. This is it."

After sending away the messenger, Zhao Lian was so angry that she said to Xiao Hong, "How can the court do this? Who is not good to send away, but it is necessary to send a man in his seventies to negotiate peace! Isn't this embarrassing?" Xiaohong said quietly: "Ma'am, it's better to take care of the master quickly. It's not like you don't know the master's temper, his old lady is stronger!" Li Hongzhang smiled wryly at his staff and said, "You know, why did this Ito Hirobumi call for the imperial court to send someone who was able to do great things in the past, but also a very respected and well-known person to negotiate a peace? He clearly asked the old man to go , so that he can take this opportunity to humiliate the old man and retaliate against the dissatisfaction of the island country when it first negotiated with me. The old man is not afraid of him, but the old man wants to see his methods! It is good that I lost the Qing Dynasty, but it is not the old man's fault. Foreigners see the old man as very respectable and well-known. In fact, the old man has not even been a minister of military affairs until now. In Japan, the cabinet is in power, and the prime minister holds power. He thought he was fighting with the old man this time, but he was wrong. He In fact, he is fighting with the emperor. The old man has a three-eyed flower feather on his head, a scholar of the Wenhua Palace, holds a purple rein that makes people jealous, and is the governor of Zhili Beiyang Minister. In fact, the old man even bought a few more rounds for the warship I don’t even have the power of cannonballs... Send an order, prepare the car quickly, and send the wife and Miss Xiaohong back to Baoding first, the old man will go to Beijing overnight!"

Zhao Lian wanted Xiaohong to follow her to Beijing even if she was dying.Zhao Lian said with tears: "The concubine is getting old, Baoding still has a few children to take care of, and the concubine can't be with you to take care of you. But Xiaohong is like the younger sister of the concubine, and she will serve you by your side , the concubine should feel more at ease. Just promise the concubine this time, and let Xiaohong go abroad with you." Li Hongzhang knew that his wife was worried that he had made a mistake outside, and it was not easy to refute her, so he could only agree to let her go back to Baoding with peace of mind.

Li Hongzhang's car drove out of Jinmen quickly and headed straight for the capital; naturally there were officials in front of him, so he rode a fast horse and took a step first to report along the way.When the car arrived at Xianliang Temple, there were already messengers from Prince Gong's Mansion, the Military Aircraft Office, and the Prime Minister's Office waiting there in advance. Li Hongzhang and Xiaohong washed up briefly, and they didn't have time to eat breakfast, so they left Xiaohong alone in the temple to rest, while he drove to Prince Gong's mansion to discuss matters of meeting the saint and asking for training.

Li Hongzhang did not set off for Japan immediately after asking for training. Instead, following the will of the Queen Mother and Emperor Guangxu, he visited the embassies of various countries with the illusion of hoping that the great powers would come forward to uphold justice.The first person he met was naturally the American Minister Tian Bei.Tian Bei said bluntly: "The U.S. government will never intervene in war." Tian Bei then persuaded Li Hongzhang to abandon his illusion of hoping that the great powers would come forward to uphold justice: "Turn your back on the European powers, face Japan, completely abandon the idea of ​​​​intervention, and go to Japan as soon as possible. This trip to Japan to negotiate peace, Japan has made clear its attitude: the Qing Dynasty In addition to ceding the land, we have to prepare huge sums of compensation.” Li Hongzhang then visited British Minister Ogner.

Ogner's words were tantamount to a warning to the Qing government. He said: "On the basis that Japan may accept at present, it is extremely appropriate and important to conduct peace negotiations immediately." Li Hongzhang also had a long conversation with Russian Minister Cassini, but it also did not achieve the desired effect.Cassini said: "If Japan's request is quite moderate, we still adopt a policy of non-interference like Britain and the United States; if its request violates our important interests, we cannot ignore it." Cassini really It became "and thin mud".

In fact, when Li Hongzhang was running around following the orders of the Empress Dowager and Emperor Guangxu, Japan was also doing a lot of diplomatic activities, and began to put further pressure on the Qing government in the military to promote the determination of the Qing Dynasty to surrender. The Japanese army who invaded Liaodong soon began to launch a fierce attack on Niuzhuang, Yingkou, Tianzhuangtai and other important towns, and occupied the Liaodong Peninsula within a few days.Japan's military pressure quickly achieved the desired effect. The Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu no longer hesitated, and ordered Li Hongzhang to stop contacting the ministers of various countries, and quickly boarded a boat to Japan to negotiate a peace, hoping to cease the war as soon as possible.

On February 17th in the twenty-first year of Guangxu (March 13, 1895), Emperor Guangxu officially issued a certificate of full power, announcing that Li Hongzhang was the first-class minister with full power, and he was given full power to sign and draw.On the next day, Li Hongzhang and others boarded the German ships "Liyu" and "Gongyi" and flew the flag of "China's First Minister of Peace" and set off for Shimonoseki, Japan, together with Costa, an adviser introduced by the US Minister Tian Bei.His entourage included his sons—Li Jingfang, the former envoy to Japan who returned after the loss of China and Japan, the translators of the embassy in Japan, Taoists Luo Fenglu, Ma Jianzhong, and Wu Jianfang, Wu Yong, the assistant magistrate in charge of clerks, and Xiao The red girl, her two maids, and the prime minister's yamen also selected 20 officials from various yamen to study foreign affairs, etc., and they all sat on the boat.Because of Li Hongzhang's advanced age, Empress Dowager Cixi dispatched two imperial physicians to accompany the ship to prevent accidents.

Li Hongzhang had objections to letting the Americans serve as advisers to Japan to negotiate a peace.However, the Empress Dowager Cixi, Emperor Guangxu, and the Prime Minister’s Yamen insisted on doing so, and Tian Bei also threatened this: “If Costa is not allowed to go with him, China and Japan will not reach any agreement!” Second negotiation. Li Hongzhang sighed in his heart, but he didn't say another word.What standards did Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi set for this peace negotiation? When Li Hongzhang was about to board the ship, he had to hand over a memorial as usual. He wrote in the memorial: "The memorial went to Japan to discuss the general situation in advance in order to comply with the order, and respectfully prayed for the holy lesson. The first-class plenipotentiary minister negotiated a peace treaty with Japan, and immediately went to Jinjing, and was summoned three times by Yang Meng, who gave detailed advice and inexplicable admiration. According to the US envoy Tian Bei's letter for several days: Japan called China and sent another minister to negotiate a peace agreement. In addition, North Korea is independent, if there is no full power to commercialize land and handle treaty deposits, there is no need to go there. Repeatedly meeting with princes and ministers, all think that the enemy's desire is very extravagant, especially pay attention to the cession of land, now the time is urgent, it is very important This cannot be discussed. When the Prime Minister's Office sent a letter to reply: Tian Bei has the full responsibility for all business activities in Japan. In a short time, the Minister of Military Aircraft, Prince Gong, etc., passed on the emperor's decree to give the ministers the right to sell the land. right..." That is to say, before Li Hongzhang negotiated peace with Japan, the Qing government had already set the negotiation policy for land cession and indemnity in advance. After Li Hongzhang and his party boarded the boat, they received two secret letters from the Minister of Military Aircraft, one of which was a copy of the memorial that Prince Qing handed over to the emperor. Minister of Military Aircraft Mi Jiyun: "The special dispatch of Li Hongzhang to negotiate with Japan was originally a last resort. The relationship is so great and it is difficult to turn around. The imperial court has also learned from it. This minister is entrusted with this huge task, and the only thing to do is to weigh the importance of interests. , The urgency of the situation, overall planning, that is, negotiating a treaty with China, so as to relieve the worries of the night and soothe the hopes of China and foreign countries, there is indeed a long period of time, and this secret is known. This is it." The copy of Prince Qing's memorial is: "The enemy's situation is unpredictable, the current situation is dangerous, the emperor sent important ministers to renew the peace talks, but Japan has repeatedly delayed, and the academician Li Hongzhang has not yet made the trip. I am sincerely afraid that the Japanese will wait for the river to break apart and divide the troops to conflict with Jifu. Then there are great worries. The ministers wait for Fu Si and the Japanese slaves to take advantage of the victory and arrogance. Their extravagant hopes cannot be overestimated. Dangerous, just pointing fingers. Judging from today's situation, the clan society is more important than the frontier. The interests are intertwined, and there is no trouble. The minister and others kindly requested to be summoned the day before yesterday, and I plan to present it in detail. I will send you an order and order the minister I respectfully ask for the decree, and follow it. The emperor has a plan, and the time is right. The ministers and others told Li Hongzhang to give him the right to negotiate and transfer the land, and asked him to consider the priorities and negotiate with the Japanese. Yesterday, Tian Bei was sent to Japan. The reply is scheduled for the Nagato meeting. Li Hongzhang should set off quickly to avoid any troubles. All the ministers and others will follow the decree to apply for a reprieve, and I would like to make a practical statement and beg for the emperor and empress dowager's kindness. I would like to play." Nagato in the imperial decree is Shimonoseki in Japan.It can be seen from the booklet that Prince Qing Yikuang was already in a hurry, wishing he could give Li Hongzhang two wings and let him fly to Japan that day. In fact, at the same time that Li Hongzhang was leaving, there was also a man in Japan who rushed to Shimonoseki from Yokohama, Japan, with a bought pistol in his arms. The man's name was Toyotaro Koyama, he was twenty-six years old, and he was from Beidashima, Ma Prefecture, Japan.Taro suffered from autism (also known as autism) since he was a child, and lived in his own hallucinations all day long.Due to frequent seizures, he has not yet entered school at the age of ten.His father, Lao Lang, was a road builder, and his mother washed clothes for people all the year round.Life was tough.Taro couldn't go to school, so Lao Lang took him with him every day when he went to work. Lao Lang had a bad stomach a day, and when he was walking home from work, his stomach suddenly rang again.It happened that there was a small forest by the side of the road. Lao Lang threw down his pickaxe and ran into it without thinking too much about it. Taro stared blankly at the pickaxe for a while, then suddenly grabbed the pickaxe and walked into the woods. Lao Lang was squatting under a tree and trying his best. Taro came over, raised the pickaxe and swung it at Lao Lang's head, hitting Lao Lang's temple.Lao Lang didn't hum, and died immediately.Taro was forcibly sent to the hospital by the local government for treatment. After his condition improved, he was sent to school again.Because of his strong body and enthusiasm for war, he was recommended to the military academy.When he arrived at the military academy, Taro joined the Japanese right-wing group Shendaokan and changed his name to Koyama Ronosuke.At this time, Rokunosuke Koyama has transformed from autism in the past to paranoid. Knowing that China and Japan were going to negotiate peace in Shimonoseki, Ronosuke Koyama was shocked, and immediately waved his hands in the Shendao Pavilion and shouted: "It is a shame for Japan to give up its occupation of Beijing. It is too early to make peace with China." ! I'm going to stop them!" Koyama Rokunosuke did what he said, and soon bought a five-shot pistol, then hurried to Mashima, stayed in an inn, and waited quietly for Li Hongzhang's arrival. On the morning of February 24th in the 21st year of Guangxu (March 20th, 1895), Li Hongzhang arrived at Shimonoseki and moved into Yinjie Temple, a posthouse designated by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the afternoon of the same day, someone from Japan came to invite Li Hongzhang and his party to Chunfan Tower to meet with the Japanese minister of plenipotentiary negotiating and exchange documents.Li Hongzhang immediately took Li Jingfang, Ma Jianzhong, Wu Yong, translators, bodyguards and others, and rushed to Chunfan Tower in a sedan chair and rickshaw.Ke Shida also hastily took his staff and went with him in a rickshaw, unwilling to lag behind. When I arrived at the designated room, Li Hongzhang laughed instead, because the Japanese plenipotentiary was indeed Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito and Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu. The two parties sat down, and Li Jingfang showed the documents to Hirobumi Ito. Ito Hirobumi carefully looked at it again and again, and finally said: "This minister did not expect that the high-ranking and powerful Li Zhongtang could really come. Very good, we can negotiate terms." Li Hongzhang looked at the ecstatic Hirobumi coldly, and while combing his beard with his hands, he said slowly: "Wait a minute, the old man hasn't spoken yet." Ito Hirobumi was taken aback, and immediately asked back: "You, Li Zhongtang, came here to discuss peace?" Li Hongzhang replied: "That's right, I came to your country to negotiate a peace. But according to the terms of the "Public Law of Nations", before the two countries at war can negotiate a peace, the war must be stopped, and then the terms can be negotiated." Itou Hirobumi smiled and replied: "Li Zhongtang is worthy of being a veteran foreign minister, and he also knows that there is a "Public Law of the Nations". Well, this minister agrees with your suggestion. But this minister has one condition. If you agree, this minister can Declare a cessation of attacks on your country." As Ito Hirobumi said, he handed a written text written in Japanese and Chinese to Li Hongzhang, and said: "Please draw a seal on it according to the terms proposed by our country. .” Li Hongzhang did not speak, but took a look at the written text, but it was the truce conditions proposed by Japan: (1) The Japanese army occupied Dagu, Tianjin, and Shanhaiguan; (2) The Qing troops in the above-mentioned places surrendered their weapons to the Japanese army; (3) Tianjin to Shanhaiguan The railway was under the jurisdiction of Japanese military officers; (4) During the truce, the Qing government was responsible for all military expenses of the Japanese army. Li Hongzhang smiled, and pushed the written text back to Hirobumi Ito, stroked his beard and said, "I'm very sorry after reading the clauses drafted by your minister. I can't agree to these clauses, and I have no right to agree to them." Itou Hirobumi said slowly: "Li Zhongtang doesn't need to agree to these terms now, this minister can give you four days to consider. Four days later, we will still meet here." Li Hongzhang just stroked his beard and smiled without saying a word.The Japanese side immediately announced the end of the day's talks. Koyama Ronosuke was hiding in a grocery store near Yinjie Temple at this time, waiting for a good time to strike.The owner of the grocery store is called Jiangcun Rentaro, and the specific location of the grocery store is No. 20, Wahama-cho.