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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 747: The Fall of Japan

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    The Japanese envoy was led by an old acquaintance, Kawaji Shomo. Ever since Kawaji Shomo submitted the famous "Chuanji Statement" to the shogunate after contact with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Japanese shogunate has maintained friendly relations with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.  ¡Ñ, During the eight-year conflict between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Russia in the Far Northeast, Japan has always maintained the same pace as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Many Japanese samurai were recruited to accompany the Taiping Army to fight against the Russians.

    Although Japan changed the status quo of being oppressed by Russia and achieved a lot of benefits by embracing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the overall situation of being oppressed by the great powers has not improved. After the end of the Anglo-French-Russian War, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom seemed to be on the same side.  The great powers bullied Japan together.  In this case, the domestic rebel faction also shouted the slogan of imitating the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. They changed Hong Yun'er's slogan of learning from the barbarians to conquer the barbarians and called it "respecting the king and resisting the barbarians". They hoped to launch an uprising like the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.  End the weak shogunate in the country, and then confront the great powers, hoping that a miracle like the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will happen and defeat the powerful powers, thus making Japan a powerful country in the East.

    Since the United States used force to coerce Japan into founding the country in 1853, Japan has signed founding treaties with Russia, Britain, the Netherlands and other countries, and Japan's closed-door system has collapsed.  In 1858, the eldest shogunate Ii Naobi, under pressure from foreign countries, signed the Treaty of Amended Trade between Japan and the United States of America without waiting for the emperor's permission. Some feudal lords and patriots who advocated fighting the foreigners instigated the emperor to issue an edict through ministers who had conflicts with the shogunate.  He refused to approve the contract and advocated respecting the king and resisting the barbarians.

    From October 1858 to 1859, the shogunate arbitrarily arrested the patriots of the Zunou and Anti-Barbarian Faction in Kyoto, Edo and other places, resulting in the Ansei Prison.  In 1860, 18 rogues from the Mito and Satsuma clans of the anti-barbarian factions avenged the victims of Ansei Prison and assassinated the elder Ii Naobi in Edo, which was known in history as the Sakurada Gate Incident.

    The center of the movement to honor the king and repel the barbarians was the Choshu Domain, led by Yoshida Shoin and his disciples Takasugi Shinsaku and Hisasaka Gentan.  The members of the "King-King-Repelling-Barbarians" faction include lower-level warriors, countrymen, wealthy farmers and merchants, village officials, priests, Chinese scholars, and officials from all over the country who demand reform of the shogunate or have conflicts with the shogunate.  From the end of 1862 to the beginning of 1863, the Emperor Zunwang and the Anti-Barbarian faction instigated the emperor to issue edicts, ordering the shogunate to regularly announce the expulsion of the barbarians, abrogate treaties, close ports, and expel foreigners. Of course, this did not include the Chinese who had been doing business with Japan all year round.  January 31, 1863.  Takasugi Shinsaku and others burned the British Legation.  On June 6, the shogunate was forced to agree to the emperor's plan to start the campaign against the foreigners on June 25.  On June 24, the shogunate announced to ministers of various countries that ports would be closed.

    On June 25, July 8 and 11, 1863, the Choshu Domain fort shelled American, French, and Dutch ships passing through the Shimonoseki Strait.  Before that.  Japan imported a lot of advanced artillery from China. In particular, the feudal lords of the Choshu Domain, who were the rebel faction, also imported a large number of various firearms and artillery that had been eliminated by the Taiping Army from China. Therefore, the armed strength of Japan's rebel faction was greatly enhanced.  , and also strengthened their determination to bring down the country with arms.  So in the battle of Xiaguan bombardment of the fleets of the great powers.  The overthrow faction achieved some results, but the fleets of the great powers were temporarily defeated due to lack of preparation.

    On July 16 and 20, U.S. and French warships successively attacked Xiaguan in retaliation.  At this time, Takasugi Shinsaku organized a new army of surprise troops trained in imitation of the Taiping Army to defend Xiaguan. The battle was fierce, but Takasugi's army temporarily defended Xiaguan.

    Since the war spread to the entire sea area of ????Japan, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also sent fleets to Japan under the pretext of protecting trade routes and expatriates.  Originally, Japan's overthrow faction believed that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom came to help them, but unfortunately, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom supported the shogunate from beginning to end.  Therefore, the fleet of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom soon joined the fleets of the great powers to deal with the rebels together.  In fact, the reason is very simple. The activities of the rebel faction have affected the normal trade between China and Japan. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, as a major power in East Asia, will of course want to intervene with armed force.

    On August 15, a total of 27 warships from the Chinese and British joint fleets attacked the Satsuma Domain. The Lord of the Satsuma Domain surrendered and turned to the combination of public and military affairs (the alliance between the royal ministers, the shogunate and the feudal clans).  On September 30, 1863, the forces of the shogunate and the public-military coalition controlled by various countries launched a coup in Kyoto, driving away Sanjo Sanimi and other seven ministers who overthrew the shogunate, and violently persecuted the king-respecting and barbarian faction.

    It was August 19, 1864.  Hisaka Gensui and others led the soldiers of the Choshu domain into Kyoto and fought fiercely with the Kyoto defenders controlled by the shogunate. Hisaka Gensui and others were defeated and committed suicide.  On August 24, the shogunate was under the instruction of the Taiping Rebellion Embassy in Japan.  Instigated the emperor to issue an edict to launch the first war against the Choshu clan on the grounds of investigating the Forbidden Gate.  The combined fleets of Britain, China, the United States, France, and the Netherlands also attacked Shimonoseki again on September 5. The Choshu Domain failed due to internal and external attacks and surrendered to the shogunate. The conservative forces regained control of the domain, and Takasugi Shinsaku and others were forced to flee.

    The defeat in the struggle caused the faction to rethink their strategy.  In the spring of 1865, Takasugi Shinsaku once again raised his troops, advocating the opening of Hong Kong to protest against the shogunate, and no longer mentioned resisting the foreigners. This meant that he recognized the commercial interests of various countries in Japan, but he was still prepared to overthrow the shogunate.  At this point, the movement to honor the king and resist the barbarians transformed into an armed collapse, and a secret military alliance was formed with the Satsuma clan.  At the same time, the UK alsoBalance the interests and harms, change strategies, and support the rebel faction.  The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom believed that a chaotic Japan was more in the interests of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so they further strengthened their support for the shogunate. This time, the French sided with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and supported the rule of the Japanese shogunate.

    So, in 1865, the overthrowing faction launched multiple armed attacks on the shogunate with the support of Britain. The Japanese shogunate was somewhat unable to withstand it, so it sent a mission to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to seek help.

    In the Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City in Beijing, Xiao Yungui cordially met with his Japanese friends. Soon the two parties reached an arms deal of five million pounds. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom sold weapons to the Japanese shogunate at a reasonable price and agreed to dispatch Taiping troops to retire.  Officers trained and organized the new army for the shogunate in a private capacity.

    Chuanlu Shengmo was very happy and even offered to pay to hire heroic Taiping troops to cross the sea to participate in the shogunate's war, but Xiao Yungui declined politely.  Just kidding, Xiao Yungui knows where the bottom line is between Britain and France. It is okay for everyone to support one side and make a lot of war fortune, but it is absolutely not allowed to actually send out troops for armed intervention. This is the rule that everyone has agreed on. Anyway, Japan is the one who died in the war.  Japan spends its own money on its own people, but it is not cost-effective to send its own soldiers to fight.

    Chuanlu Shengmo did not feel depressed after being rejected, and then negotiated a purchase agreement for some food supplies.  In recent years, Japan has been an important market for China's dumped goods, just like Central Asia, Mongolia, Tibet, South Asia, Southeast Asia and other places.  They are all important markets for China, especially Japan, Southeast Asia, and Central Asian countries. China is supporting pro-China forces and has also earned a lot of gold and silver.  In particular, arms transactions with Japan were spot transactions of gold and silver, which further protected the Taiping Rebellion's gold standard currency system.

    After seeing off Shengmo from Chuanlu, Xiao Yungui hummed a ditty and came to the imperial garden. He saw Hong Yun'er talking to Li Xuanji and Han Baoying there, and Li Xuanji was also there.  Xiao Yungui couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed on his face.

    Since the end of the war, the concessions of Britain, France and other countries have been taken back by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The security and judicial rights in the concessions are managed by the police and judicial system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. However, the land rented by foreigners from various countries is still used by foreigners from various countries, and there is no restriction on the isolation of China and Yangtze.  of barriers.  After the three-year siege was lifted in the British Concession, Li Xuanji returned to the concession, and Clifford returned to China to find his wife.  When he learned that his wife was in China, she was only focused on the Red Cross affairs with Nightingale and was no longer entangled with Xiao Yungui. Clifford asked his wife to return to England with him.  But Li Xuanji refused.  He still insisted on staying in China to work on the Red Cross Society, but Clifford had no choice but to stay in Shanghai together.

    At the beginning of this year, Li Xuanji and Clifford came to Beijing. Li Xuanji planned to set up a branch of the Red Cross in Beijing, while Clifford had an artist problem and wanted to see this ancient and great Orient with his own eyes.  capital.  So the couple arrived in Beijing. Today Clifford and his wife were allowed to visit the Forbidden City. Clifford was amazed as soon as he entered the Forbidden City. He went around to visit accompanied by the internal security personnel, while Li Xuanji came to visit Hong Yun'er.  It happened that Han Baoying came back from Xinjiang to visit Shi Dakai and also came to the palace to visit Hong Yun'er. The three girls chatted while walking in the imperial garden.

    Xiao Yungui didn¡¯t see Li Xuanji¡¯s face clearly at first, but when he got closer, he was also seen by the three women.  Just when he was about to turn around and leave, Han Baoying shouted loudly with a smile: "Your Majesty, stay safe!" Xiao Yungui had to bite the bullet and walked forward to meet the three women.

    After Li Xuanji and Han Baoying performed the traditional Chinese ceremony, Li Xuanji lowered her head slightly, while Xiao Yungui touched his nose and felt a little embarrassed. I remember that when they met again at the Licha Hotel in Shanghai a few years ago, the two had already explained their words.  .  But I still felt slightly uncomfortable when we met again.

    Hong Yun'er broke the awkward atmosphere with a smile and said, "Sister Xuanji came to Beijing to develop a Red Cross branch here. What do you think, Your Majesty?" Xiao Yungui sighed, nodded and said, "Very good, that's it."  Very good, I fully support it, just tell me if you need anything."

    Li Xuanji breathed a sigh of relief and said: "We will solve the funding problem ourselves. We only need a place" Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Yungui immediately said: "Approval, grant them a place immediately, right in the inner city.  There are several palaces from the former Qing Dynasty that are vacant. If you go and see which one you like, we will grant it to you."

    Han Baoying chuckled and said: "Your Majesty, I have never seen you so cheerful." Xiao Yungui's old face blushed slightly and said angrily: "Little girl, did you talk to me like this? Believe it or not, I will go back and transfer Li Xiucheng to  Going to the Northeast?" Li Xiucheng is still the garrison commander in the Gyeonggi region. He has been in a good relationship with Han Baoying in the past few years and has reached the point of discussing marriage.

    Han Baoying was slightly embarrassed, snorted and said to Hong Yun'er: "Queen, you see your Majesty has bullied me again." Hong Yun'er smiled and consoled her with a few words: "We??Go for a walk over there and let the two of them talk alone.  "After that, she took Han Baoying and left first.

    Seeing Hong Yun'er and Han Baoying walking away, Xiao Yungui breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Li Xuanji and said, "Do you plan to live in Beijing permanently?" Li Xuanji shook her head and said, "After finishing the branch affairs, I plan to go back to Shanghai."  Xiao Yungui said oh, looking at the familiar person but no longer familiar relationship, he couldn't find anything to say for a while, and finally he could only say: "Your eldest brother is still serving his sentence" Li Xuanji's eldest brother Li Zhong followed Rong  Lu was captured in Jinzhou together and later tried as an accessory and sentenced to fifty years in prison.

    Li Xuanji nodded and said: "I have visited him several times. I have been encouraging him to serve his sentence well and strive for a commutation. I hope he can be released as soon as possible." Xiao Yungui smiled bitterly. Even if Li Zhong performed well, his sentence would be reduced by one.  Ten years later, when he comes out, he will already be an old man in his sixties or seventies, so what's the use?  But Xiao Yungui didn't know that Li Chong's life was longer than his. Li Chong was released after serving his sentence at the age of sixty-six. Later, he followed Clifford to do archaeological and cultural research until he was more than ninety years old.  He died of illness, Xiao Yungui, Li Xuanji, Clifford and others all died of old age one after another, but he is still alive.

    Xiao Yungui nodded and said, "Come to me if you need anything." Li Xuanji hummed softly. She was afraid that Clifford would think wildly when he saw her alone with Xiao Yungui when he came back, so she said, "Your Majesty,  I'm going back first and wish you all the best." Xiao Yungui nodded, feeling a little reluctant, but watching Li Xuanji's back go away, he finally did not call her back

    Li Xuanji and Nightingale have been committed to promoting the Red Cross. In their later years, they returned to the UK with Clifford, and the two finally lived in the UK together. As one of the founders of the Red Cross, Li Xuanji¡¯s name has also been remembered by later generations.  Her love story with the founding emperor of the Taiping Rebellion was often adapted into movies and TV shows decades later.  (To be continued.)
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