() After the conference to attack Taiwan and eliminate hidden dangers, the British representatives from various countries put forward the suggestion of using diplomatic means to confuse Taiwan first. This was unanimously despised and approved by the representatives of various countries. Therefore, representatives from the five countries, mainly the British consul in Hong Kong,
The delegation sent a note to the Qing government, requesting the Qing government to send a capable minister who was familiar with Taiwan to act as a mediator for the negotiations between the two parties.
When the Qing government received this note, it was also in a dilemma. The news that the Japanese and Russian fleets were annihilated by the Taiwanese sneak attack had already reached the Qing government. From disdain at the beginning to surprise later, the Qing government had no regard for Taiwan.
The abandoned child in his arms has mixed emotions. He has such a large family business and is still in danger of being bullied by the big powers. After Taiwan, a small land, was ceded to Japan, only ten years later, Japan and Russia were separated.
The fleet was wiped out in one go. This result made Qing Zhengfu both happy and scared. He was happy that Japan and Russia, which were riding on his head, were finally defeated, and after all, they were defeated by half of their own people; he was scared.
What's more, if the great powers can't defeat Taiwan, will they take revenge on the other half of their own people, that is, Qing Zhengfu. After seeing this note, Qingzhengfu finally breathed a sigh of relief, and finally did not count himself as one of them.
They are in the same group as Taiwan, but the Qing government is also very embarrassed by the request of the foreign masters. Since the death of Li Hongzhang, many veterans of the Huai Army have been purged from Beiyang. Although the current Yuan Shikai was also from Beiyang, he does not belong to the Beiyang army.
The people from the old Huai Army had basically no friendship with Liu Mingchuan, who died in Taiwan back then. Besides, I don’t know who is in charge of the Qing government in Taiwan now. Where can I find a middleman to negotiate with the foreign masters?
The situation was difficult, and the foreign master's request could not be delayed, so Qing Zhengfu looked around and finally found a scapegoat, that is, the 68-year-old Governor of Huguang, Zhang Zhidong. Why should Zhang Zhidong be the middleman?
What? During the Sino-French War, Zhang Zhidong and Liu Mingchuan fought together, and later Liu Mingchuan went to Taiwan to fight the Dutch, and Zhang Zhidong also prepared a large amount of military pay for him. Later, Zhang Zhidong built
During the Hanyang Iron and Steel Works, Liu Mingchuan's son specially sent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, which showed that the relationship between the Zhang and Liu families was still good.
Zhang Zhidong was very angry when he received the imperial order. He wrote to the imperial court, believing that the Qing Dynasty should not wade into this muddy water. Since Taiwan already belongs to the Japanese, it has nothing to do with the Qing Dynasty and cannot do anything wrong.
Because of the enemy's affairs, the Qing Dynasty was asked to be the intermediary. However, the imperial court refuted Zhang Zhidong's memorial and insisted that Zhang Zhidong be the intermediary for the sake of the stability of the Qing Dynasty. Zhang Zhidong had no choice but to give up.
With my nearly 70-year-old body in tow, I made the long journey to Hong Kong. After meeting with delegations from five countries, I returned to Guangzhou and contacted Taiwan’s new government through the local Golden Elephant Pharmacy. I then took a train from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The cargo ship arrived in Taiwan.
The official person who greeted Zhang Zhidong at Tamsui Port was Liu Fu, the current president of Taiwan. Originally, Liu Fu did not take the information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs seriously. Judging from his experience and historical knowledge in later generations, this time the five-country delegation came to negotiate with
Negotiating on your own is basically fooling yourself, wasting your time, and confusing your judgment, thereby giving the five countries time to prepare. When the five countries are ready, they will use cannons to replace the words of the delegation. Especially those in the delegation
There is actually no Japanese. Liu Fu knows very well that now the Japanese are basically unable to see Taiwanese. Not to mention how many Japanese warships Taiwan has sunk and how many Japanese generals and princes have been drowned in the past ten years or so.
Usually, Taiwan's submarines often use cargo ships flying the Japanese flag as targets. Many Japanese cargo ships disappear every month. Although the number is not large, they can't hold up. Japan represents this time
The reason for not participating in the peace talks is simply because the hatred is so great that I can no longer even pretend.
But it was Zhang Zhidong who came. This governor of the Qing Dynasty had some friendship with Liu Mingchuan and Liu Fu. Liu Fu had funded Zhang Zhidong to establish the Hanyang Iron Works, and Zhang Zhidong had also worked in Shilu
He helped Liu Fu on the iron ore issue, so it would be best to meet him.
Although they had met several times before, this was the first time the two met. Zhang Zhidong, who is nearly 70 years old, has a long snow-white beard under his chin and big bags under his eyes. He looks old, but he is in good spirits. Since it is not a formal meeting,
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Zhidong did not wear official uniforms, but only wore casual clothes worn by civil servants. The two exchanged greetings on the pier, and Liu Fu welcomed Zhang Zhidong to the Presidential Palace as a junior, where he lived in the old office.
In the small courtyard of my father Liu Mingchuan.
According to the understanding at the time, the guests should be accommodated first, and then arrange the reception banquet. After eating and drinking, we can talk about anything the next day. But Liu Fu didn't understand or care about these things, and he didn't wait for the reception in the evening.
After the banquet was served, I wandered to Zhang Zhidong's residence alone in the afternoon.
Zhang Zhidong did not expect that the son of an old friend, the current president of Taiwan, would be so direct. He stopped going around in circles and directly told Liu Fei about his mission and was very worried about Liu Fei's current situation. Liu Fei did not tell him about his current situation.
I told this old uncle who was my family friend about my strength and thoughts, but asked Zhang Zhidong to relax. For the sake of him making a trip about the delegation of 5 countries, Taiwan agreed and we could come and talk about the specific details.
The time and place will be determined by
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs went to contact the five countries, so you don't have to worry. Liu Fu knew that the imperial official who was a border official always liked to run industries, so he asked the accompanying personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to use his own special car starting from tomorrow.
I took the old governor to visit the factories in Keelung and Taichung. In addition, military and naval ships can also go aboard. Forget about submarines. Although those things are powerful, the space inside the cabin is small and the environment is poor. I am afraid that I will bore the old governor Zhang.
Come anyway.
Starting from the next day, Zhang Zhidong was led by someone from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He first visited a thermal power plant outside Taipei City and a machinery factory that specializes in small-volume production of Great Wall pickup trucks for Taiwan. At the beginning, Zhang Zhidong also
Some complained that Liu Fu was rude for not accompanying him on the tour, but after entering the machinery factory, Governor Zhang did not bother to complain about Liu Fu.
I was attracted by these huge machines and the cars produced using the assembly line model. I touched here and there, and even tried my hand on a section of the car chassis with an electric welder. Although the welds were basically unqualified,
Governor Zhang was still very happy. He no longer cared about whether Liu Fu was accompanying him or not, and made a request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs personnel around him to drive the car himself.
Liu Fu didn't have time to take care of this lovely old man. He just ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to try to meet his requirements. For an old man who had hoped that his motherland could catch up with the Western powers all his life, what could be better than letting him experience this kind of thing first-hand?
What would please him even more than the charm of large-scale industrial production?
After getting away from Zhang Zhidong, Liu Fu immediately asked Liu Fu's successor, the new Foreign Minister Chen Hailing, to form a small negotiation team. The team's personnel did not seek skills, but only courage. In fact, according to Liu
Fu's idea is to let the newbies from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who have not experienced this kind of negotiation scene form a group to experience this kind of scene. Anyway, whether it is Liu Fu or the representatives of the five countries,
There is no reason to be discussed in this negotiation. It is the same as sending many experienced people. It is better to let the newcomers open their eyes and gain insights. However, Foreign Minister Chen Hailing does not dare to follow Liu Fu's instructions. After all,
This was a negotiation with five major powers, which might lead to some diplomatic disputes. Therefore, Chen Hailing decided to personally lead the team and rush to Hong Kong with a group of training candidates from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
