Chapter 180: Far East Conspiracy One
"It seems that Mutsu-kun is not working anymore. His life may only be the last few weeks left." At Hirobumi Ito's official residence, Saiyuanji Gongwang said to the head of the Japanese government, his tone full of melancholy.
"This is not just sickness, but more heart disease. Although we finally got the two armored cruisers Nisshin and Izumo, the huge price has always been a burden in Mutsu-kun’s heart. Now, this burden has been reduced. He was completely overwhelmed. We all know that Mitsumitsu Mutsu was right, but no one comforted him. He has been living in self-blame and ridicule by others." Looking at the silent prime minister opposite, Saiyuanji Gongwang Some can't bear to say. "By now, there are some things I can tell him."
The unit price is £1.35 million! This is almost the most expensive battleship so far. The second-class battleships Fuji and Yashima purchased by Japan from the United Kingdom are only more than 900,000 pounds. In terms of cost performance, this battleship is compared with the British Centurion. It also has a slight advantage, with 4 10-inch guns, 8 8-inch guns and nearly 20 105MM guns compared to the Fuji-class 4 10-inch guns and 10 6-inch guns. The projection of the former is almost twice that of the latter! Although £1.35 million is expensive, it's okay.
But for Mutsu Somitsu, the price has almost reached twice the starting price! This result greatly exceeded Mutsu Somimitsu's expectations, and even exceeded the bottom line he felt in his heart, and some unreasonable people also began to attack Mutsu Somimitsu's actions. Some militants even threatened to "Tianzhu". Mutsu Somitsu was even attacked near the house! And this series of blows made Mutsuzongguang exhausted. He who had lived until 1898 was now dying in 1897.
"Well, you come with me and tell him the truth, we can't let him leave this world with regret and self-blame." Ito Hirofumi thought for a while and said.
"Ito-kun, I just want to know if what I did is right or wrong, don't comfort me, I need the truth." Two hours later, when Ito Hirobumi and Saiyuanji Gongwang saw Mutsumitsu Mutsu. The Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs shot a hard hand and only grabbed Ito Hirobumi by the collar and said hoarsely.
"You did it right. What's wrong is us. We concealed a lot of things. We concealed a plan that had been planned before the end of the Qing-Japanese War. Today I need to tell you this plan." Ito Hirobumi said.
"How do you evaluate the outcome of the Qing-Japanese War?" Ito Hirofumi asked a question that seemed irrelevant.
"Our war was fought in vain. From a numerical point of view, the reparations we received from the Qing Dynasty only slightly exceeded our military expenditures. After repaying the foreign debts, there was nothing left. Apart from the reparations, we did not obtain colonies. Nothing. The colonies have no raw material producing areas and no markets. The development of ports and the so-called privileges have very limited meaning for the current empire.'
"The most important thing is that our diplomatic environment has deteriorated unprecedentedly, and the Qing country has moved closer to Russia. At the critical moment of the negotiations, Russia, Germany, and France actually stole the fruits of our victory! The Americans have always been indifferent, while the British are fundamentally indifferent. There is nothing we can do. We fought a war, but we provoke a lot of powerful countries, and our diplomacy has fallen into an extremely passive state. "Although the lamp has run out, Mutsuzongguang still has a more accurate analysis of the situation.
"Yes. We won the war, but we did not get enough profits. Under the operation of those financiers, the domestic financial market has also fallen into turmoil. Our financial industry has suffered heavy losses. The situation in the empire seems to be better than before the war. It's worse, so we have to change this situation and get everything we have lost from other places! Can you understand?" Ito Bowen paused and then said, "Colonies, markets, and raw materials origin!"
"Here! Are you going to start another war? We just ended the war with the Qing country. If we fight again, the Qing country will definitely get help from Russia or even France and Germany. We have no chance of winning, you lunatic!" Lu Ozumi quickly thought of what Ito Hirobumi wanted to say. In his opinion, the current Ito Hirobumi is a crazy gambler. When he didn't make enough profit in the last round of gambling, he went crazy, threw all the weights of the empire into it, and participated in another unwinnable gambling!
"You’re right. If I didn’t break into the war with the Qing, it would very likely evolve into a war between Japan and the Qing, Russia, France and Germany. In this case, the British would not be able to save us. . So we chose another target, a weak country! A colony that is easy to occupy, let all the dust settle before the nations of the world can react. Mutsu-kun can guess." Ito Hirobumi said with a smile. There was a trace of pride in the words.
"Weak country? A colony that is easy to occupy? Is there such a place in East Asia?" Mutsuzong was lost in thought. But soon he suddenly realized. "You mean the Philippines, right? You are ~www.wuxiaspot.com~ At this time, Mitsumitsu Mutsu really doesn't know whether Ito Hirobumi is bold or smart! Because sometimes it is difficult for you to distinguish between a genius and a fanatic of!
"You are very smart. The Philippines is a good place. Its area is much larger than the Liaodong Peninsula and Taiwan Island. It is a colony run by the Spanish for a long time. It has land, population, and cash crops. As long as we can drive away Spain. People will soon be profitable. And now the Spanish army is fighting the Philippine insurgents. The chaotic Philippines has greatly reduced the difficulty of our offensive."
"Spain itself has sunk to the west. The relationship between Russia and Germany and Spain is very general. France will not enter the war in a hurry. We are unlikely to be interfered by foreign enemies. Maybe the Americans have certain ideas, but they are far away The Philippines is too far away. As long as we get the recognition of the British, we can eat this place, and in order to support us against the Russians, the British acquiesce in our actions and secretly give some support." Ito Bowen said.
"But even if it is a declining empire, they still have 2 7000-ton iron armored ships and 2 Munich-class armored cruisers. If we really fight, our chances of winning are not very high, and after the fight, if the Russians take the opportunity to make trouble, Our navy has nothing to do!" Mutsu Somitsu quickly discovered the problems in Ito's plan. Although Spain is weaker, Japan is also weaker!
Thanks to the book friend Leng Hao for his color, book appreciation~~~, and the book friend Duckweed's self-floating, monthly ticket support~~~.
