In the third year of Wenjiu (1863), there were many disturbances in Fusang. As the plan to resist the barbarians was blocked, the public-military alliance was on the verge of collapse. There were constant conflicts between the court, the shogunate, and the princes, and all parties finally began to go their own way.

Oguri Tadjun and others, who returned to Fuso at the end of the second year of Bunkyu, finally disseminated the "Fuso Proposal for the Development of Industrial Development" within the shogunate after ten months of hard work.

By the time Naohide came to visit on October 25, the matter was almost coming to light:

It is said that as long as the Three Kingdoms bombardment of Xiaguan is handled peacefully and no serious trouble is caused with the foreigners, then a public discussion will be held.

A public discussion was about to be held, and Naohide knew that this meant that the shogunate had made up its mind - the parties had already colluded with each other countless times in private before, and this public discussion was just for the shogunate to gain a reputation for being selfless.

Therefore, if Oguri wants to get what he wants, his most important thing at the moment is to first solve the problem behind the Three Kingdoms bombardment of Xiaguan, which is the blackmail used by the Western powers.

In fact, the negotiations are almost over, and the main issue at the moment is money. The reason why Zhixiu came to visit this time was actually to solve this problem - he took the initiative to send money.

The specific process of previous negotiations is as follows:

Since mid-July, the shogunate has frequently negotiated with Britain, Buddhism, Milan, and England regarding the bombardment of Shimonoseki.

The shogunate is headed by four people. They are the foreign ministers Kawaro Shomo and Iwase Tadatsuki, the confirmed ministers are Oguri Tadhun and Mizuno Tadoku.

The representatives of the four countries were Neil, the acting minister of England, Bercourt, the French minister, Pleuin, the French minister, and Boles Brooke, the general governor of France in Fuso.

At the beginning, the price offered by the foreigners was either compensation of 620,000 pounds for military expenses and losses, or the immediate opening of Hyogo, Edo and Osaka to the ports. The latest result is, either compensation of 200,000 pounds, or the immediate opening of Hyogo to the ports.

This result is only equivalent to one-third of the original lion's mouth made by foreigners. The fact that it can be achieved like this highlights the ability of Oguri and others.

How did Oguri and others talk about it?

The main thing is to adopt various means of defeating it.

It has been nine years since the founding of the People's Republic of China and four years since the opening of the port. What's more, Oguri has just returned from Europe, and everyone already knows the reality of the foreigners.

Lan Guo, who once served as the world's coachman, is now basically useless and has been reduced to the status of a follower of the British.

Besides, they used to dominate the fusang trade, but now they are left with only scraps. How can the Lan people not complain!

Therefore, when the shogunate promised to favor the Lan Kingdom in terms of trade, General Governor Brooke hinted that he would help change the situation - in fact, the Lan people were weak and could not contribute much if they wanted to help, but after all, he was only one person, no matter what

It's okay to make trouble again.

Next came the Mi people.

In fact, the Mi people are not willing to be troublesome. After all, the war between the north and the south is going on at home, and the north is very difficult. Even the trade with Fuso has begun to decline. The offer to build ships for Fuso can only be declined, and there is no money.

I've made money, so there's nothing to talk about.

But the more coward you are, the more you have to pretend to be a bully. This fat ass poops hard, and it has been like this since ancient times, and it applies to everything.

Therefore, the shogunate had no choice but to promise to send envoys to Mizhou to apologize.

After receiving this guarantee, Minister Priuin no longer bothered him.

The remaining two are the two that are difficult to deal with, England and France - especially France, which is unyielding and not only demands that the four countries advance and retreat together, but also insists, "620,000 pounds, not even a penny less"

!”

Isn't this stuck?

But who doesn’t understand the principle of avoiding reality and giving up the truth? Buddhists are not easy to talk to, so let’s talk to the British first.

Neil, the acting minister of England, actually came to Fuso for the first time. The original minister Aliguo was on vacation, so he came to top the vat. As a result, the second Tozen Temple Incident (1862.6.26) happened as soon as he arrived. Where did this happen?

Go ahead and reason.

In fact, the Three Kingdoms bombardment of Xiaguan had little to do with him, and he was completely blamed:

In May, Changzhou began to bombard foreign ships, but did not dare to provoke the British ships at all.

So Neil was just watching the fun.

But the bad thing is that because Neil was new here, in order to avoid omissions (shirking responsibility), he felt guilty and gave the navy admiral an order:

"The military power is entrusted to you with full authority, so that nothing goes wrong."

Isn't this actively looking for abuse? The admiral thought about it, "I can do anything with my feelings, and my boss will take the blame." So as soon as the Buddha asked for help, the British admiral of the Navy took the warship away in the name of watching the battle, and

When you get to Xiaguan, you roll up your sleeves and start working, giving full play to your subjective initiative!

Afterwards, the shogunate approached Neil to negotiate:

"I regard you Yingjili as my ancestor, so I have to give you a reason for beating you."

Although Neil is a retired Army lieutenant colonel and has a solid military background, he is now a foreign affairs officer. If this is too outrageous, it is not impossible to say it, but it depends on the occasion:

Now that the person coming forward from the shogunate is Oguri Tadatsun, it's a bit awkward to use strong words to make excuses.

Although the couple doctors they left behind in England do not hold the title of royal medical advisors, they actually do the same thing.

If the rumors spread to the queen's ears, wouldn't it be a fool's errand? Have you ever heard of a heart testimonial? Big shots don't care about evidence. As long as they think this is the case, there's nothing wrong with her!

But after being beaten, he could only stand firm now, so he said to Oguri righteously:

"Whether you believe it or not, it was actually Changzhou who struck first, and we were just forced to fight back in self-defense.

You are not allowed to go around talking nonsense without proof or evidence.

Understand?"

After hearing this, Oguri Tadashi smiled slightly and said whoever made the first move should be put aside for now. Now, he should focus on how to deal with the aftermath.

Neil thinks Oli is a sensible person:

Since Prime Minister Temple came to power in 1859 and Russell became Foreign Secretary in the same year, Little England has become popular.

What is "Little England"?

It means "not expanding territory, separating colonies and developing free trade."

The background of this strategy was that at that time, England was overstretched and had too many overseas territories. Some places could not make any money at all and became a financial black hole. Therefore, the government, which was burdened with a huge burden, began to shift blame and asked overseas countries not to cause trouble everywhere.

Of course, China in the Far East is a huge country and too important, so it does not fall into this example.

But as for Fuso, the island country has a small population and is much worse off in comparison. Therefore, the "Little England" policy must be strictly implemented.

In Naohide's original world, it was the Shikoku bombardment of Shimonoseki that took place in 1864. The British minister Aliguo was in charge of the matter. Afterwards, Aliguo was transferred from Fuso. Although he continued to serve as the minister to China, his official career was not smooth ever since.

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It is particularly worth mentioning that in 1869, the famous Al-Ali Agreement was rejected by the British House of Representatives, which became a laughing stock in the foreign affairs circles at that time.

Although Neil didn't know this, he knew that Oguri signed a contract with the local government in Thames and ordered two warships and a large number of machinery. This meant that the relationship between the shogunate and the country began to heat up, so the Three Kingdoms' bombardment of Shimonoseki was really an extraneous issue - Buddha,

Mi Ai can fight as he pleases. Anyway, England is the strongest and has both sides, so profiting from it is the right way.

Therefore, Xiaoli suggested to "reduce big things into small things, and make small things into small things". This is what people say, and it is more pleasing to the ear.

But Neil also has concerns:

One of them is that he is worried about the country of Ali.

Minister Aliguo has always been tough. If he wants to get rid of his title of "acting minister", to get his approval or even recommendation, I am afraid he will have to follow the rules and continue to implement the tough strategy without retreating.

Two and one, it's hard to sheath the sword because of shame.

After all the beatings, how can we still pretend that this is not the case?

Besides, the French Minister Berkut promised to take the lion's share of the compensation, and he didn't even need the achievements. When will it be his turn to be the Minister?

What's more, this arrogant attitude may not be able to convince the public - subordinates are all hoping for promotion and success.

If you dare to block your wealth, you will offend the public and you will definitely lose the hearts of the people.

Neil hesitated, and the matter dragged on for two months.

Then, a turning point happened.

The matter was unresolved for a long time, and John Bryan, the head of the British Hakodate Hall, also came to Yokohama to join in the fun. After meeting, he began to drink ecstasy soup for Neil.

Originally, the two had a disagreement before, but the matter has passed:

Before the second Tozenji incident, Brian warned Neil, but Neil didn't care - you are a nouveau riche businessman, and you didn't come from the Celtics with a major, so why should you listen to your speculation?

Nonsense!

It stands to reason that after this incident, Neil should have become angry and even more hostile to Brian.

But small-minded people can't get away with it. If you want to be an official minister, you have to be magnanimous.

After all, Neil learned a valuable lesson from the naval admiral, "You like others, but they may not necessarily like you!"

Neil arrived in the Far East in 1861 and worked as a secretary to the British Minister in China. He did not know anything about Brian:

He was an adventurer and made a fortune in trade with China and Fusang. The Huitong Bank and Foreign Bank he founded were quite powerful in the Far East.

Later, he played an important role in the Far East campaign of the Crimean War and temporarily emerged.

It is said that he also colluded with many employees of the empire in the Far East, especially among the empire's Xiangjiang navy.

It is enough for you to despise people like this once.

What's more, if I think about it carefully, after I arrived at Fuso, only Brian had kindly reminded me that others were just laughing at the joke, and those respectful remarks now seemed to be just appearances!

When Brian met Neil this time, he first gave him a big gift - some dry shares in Fuso Huitong Bank and Matheson Bank.

This greatly resolved the knot between the two of them:
To be continued...