Chapter 58 The Law of the Age of the Jungle

In the Western world, there is an ancient fairy tale, where the animals in the jungle gather to discuss the law of the jungle. The rabbit spoke first. It said that all animals in the jungle should be equal, and things in the jungle should be discussed together, and then decided according to the principle that the minority is subordinate to the majority. The rabbit's speech was warmly supported by many small animals such as elk, goats, squirrels, etc. Just as everyone was about to applaud and pass the resolution, the lion spoke. It first fell on an animal, and then it showed its bloody claws and roared:

"I object! Do you have sharp minions?

So, the small animals scattered one after another, and the jungle restored its original order.

In this era, the most eye-catching relationship between countries is the law of the jungle of the jungle. The jungle here is an ecosystem composed of herbivores and carnivores and Tyrannosaurus rex at the top of the food chain. The law of the jungle is the only truth in the world.

"What is the most important thing for a country?"

In every era and every country, there are their specific pursuits. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, almost everyone would choose - "the dignity of the country" and "the dignity of the nation", and what extends from this is the survival of the country.

And this way of survival is based on the law of the jungle, which is the most basic international law. Driven by this law, for a country, it can have no prosperous economy, no strong industry, no... it can have everything, but it can't be without a strong army. The team.

History has proved this point again and again, and for the backward countries, whether it is Japan or China, to a certain extent, it is an apocalyptic existence. The poor Japan has exhausted its national strength and established an army. It is this army that helped them squeeze into the ranks of powerful countries, thus transforming from sheep to wolves, China We also took the same path. At the beginning of the change, we spared no effort to build an army that could defend the national interests. It was this army that made China turn back from the edge of subjugation and become a powerful country.

The army, there is no doubt that in the era of the law of the jungle, for a country, the army can be said to be the fundamental guarantee of a country. If a country does not have a strong army, then the country will naturally be mixed with the meat of the wolf's mouth.

"We need to re-establish our own army and navy. Only in this way can we achieve true prosperity!"

In the past eight years, every year, every month, every day, every hour and every moment, there have been people shouting constantly in Japan. In their opinion, the compensation of 1.5 billion yuan is not terrible, and the ceding of territory is also not terrible. What is terrible is that the military strength of Japan is restricted, although the so-called Sino-Japanese security treaty is at the maximum limit. The guarantee is to avoid the military threat of the West, but for Japan, a country that has become a powerful country by defeating Russia, at this time, they are becoming vassals of China. For the vast majority of them, it means humiliation.

Rebuilding an army and breaking through the Sino-Japanese security treaty can be said that this is a voice of the Japanese government and the opposition. Only a few people will despise this call. However, neither the emperor nor the politician is willing to take the whole country to take the risk of the deterrent formed by the nearly 400,000 Chinese guards stationed in Japan. It is something that can't be ignored by any reason.

After the news of the European War, especially when the news of China's participation in the war reached Japan, the Japanese government and opposition were boiling, and the seriously ill veteran Inoue Xin wrote to the emperor and the Prime Minister of Xiyuan Temple to ask him to participate in the war.

"European War! The start of the European war is an opportunity for Japan, an opportunity to break through the security treaty. We must seize this opportunity and do everything possible to break through the restrictions of the security treaty..."

There is no doubt that he participated in the war, but after participating in the war, he did not send his own army. He only sent four old cruisers to escort China's expeditionary fleet. As for the sending of the army, he had been hesitating. On the one hand, he hoped to use the European war to expand the army. They broke through the restrictions of the six divisions of the Security Treaty, while on the other hand, they were worried that they had sent troops, but failed to break through the restrictions of the six divisions.

"Chinese people are good at all kinds of conspiracy. At this moment, we must deal with it carefully!"

As Prime Minister, Gongwang Nishimotoji once answered the questions of cabinet members in this way. As a proud disciple of Hirofumi Ito, Gongwang Nishimotoji inherited Ito's liberalism and advocated that the majority of the House of Representatives should form a cabinet, which is called the common way of constitutionalism. When he was studying in France, he was affected and became a pro-European and American faction, but he was influenced by Ito Hirofumi. The thought affects its pragmatic display of pro-China-Asian style.

It can be said that pragmatism has always been the style of Xiyuan Temple. For the domestic Western faction, he is a well-known Western faction, and for the Asian faction, he has the tendency of Asianism. That's why he has been the prime minister in the past four years.

After the European war, the senior minister of the empire fell into a contradiction. On the one hand, he hoped to break through the restrictions of the security treaty. On the other hand, he was worried that the poor army would be used by China, and his caution only made the two factions extremely dissatisfied.

Whether for the Western faction or the Asian faction, their common point is that they are eager to take advantage of this opportunity to expand the strength of the army and navy, so as to enhance the voice of the Japanese army, and finally get rid of China's control. In the Japanese faction, I'm afraid that only a few pro-China factions do not agree with the comprehensive expansion of military strength.

"For now, participating in the war may be the only option to expand its military strength!"

After personally pouring a cup of tea for the Prime Minister, Yuan Jing, the Minister of the Interior, a journalist, looked at the thoughtful Prime Minister and said.

"However, we still don't know the accurate attitude of the Chinese people. This is only the preliminary idea of the Chinese people. Before it is confirmed, blind action is extremely unwise. Eight years ago, the reason why I was defeated was that we took it for granted. Now I don't have any capital to take any risks. "!"

Xiyuan Temple Gongwang shook his head. The reason why he was able to stabilize the Diaoyutai in the past few years was precisely because he was cautious in everything. In his opinion, he had suffered enough blindly.

"But Lord Gui also agreed to send troops!"

Yuan Jing gently reminded the Prime Minister in front of him.

When Hara Jing mentioned Prime Minister Katsura, Xiyuanji Gongwang frowned slightly. In the past ten years, the position of Prime Minister was the two carriage of him and Taro Katsura.

On May 10, the 34th day of the Meiji era, the fourth Ito Hirobumi cabinet, which was established less than seven months ago, fell. This was the second political party cabinet in Japanese political history, and most of the cabinet members were also members of the Constitutional Friends Association. Under Ito's persistence and many times, the first Katsura Taro's cabinet was born.

The first Katsura Taro Cabinet was a long-lived cabinet, which lasted more than five years. The reason for his long life is that he needed to deal with the worsening relationship between Russia and Russia, and the conflict between Russia and Russia in the future, and the conflict between China and China. After the announcement of the defeat of the war, Katsura Taro's cabinet resigned, and Katsura Taro recommended Xiyuan Temple to form a cabinet when he resigned. As a result, the first Xiyuan Temple cabinet was born. The first regime change also appeared in the Guiyuan era.

However, Katsura Taro cooperated with Xiyuan Temple and made an alliance. The House of Lords is the sphere of influence of Gui, and the House of Representatives is the sphere of influence of Xiyuan Temple. But in fact, the Minister of the Interior, Yuan Jing, quietly carried out activities in the House of Lords.

Kei Hara, the backbone of the Xiyuanji cabinet, began to be rude to the people of the mountain department. He used some imperial bureaucrats who were not vassals, such as Rejiro Wakatsuki, Yuyuki Hamaguchi, etc., who later became prime minister, and also Takejiro and others. For the governors of all prefectures and counties, under the principle of "eliminating the old and new use", the Shanxian department was transferred and replaced by a group of pro-political friends.

Xiyuan Temple did this, which attracted people from the Shanxian Department to express their dissatisfaction with the friends of Shanxian County. It attracted a series of friends in Shanxian County to unite with the aristocracy, the military department, etc. As a result, the first Xiyuan Temple cabinet resigned on July 14 of the 41st year of Meiji. The elders also elected Katsura Taro to form a cabinet, resulting in the formation of the second Katsura Taro cabinet. According to the agreement, Katsura Taro resigned on August 30 of the forty-fourth year of Meiji.

Xiyuan Temple was elected to form a cabinet under the "unity and affection" of the elders, and the second Xiyuan Temple Cabinet was established. It was this cooperation that enabled Katsura Taro and Xiyuan Temple to maintain the normal operation of the political axe in this special period. Now, Yuan Jing mentioned the changes of Katsura Taro, but Let Xiyuan Temple realize that if he doesn't change his attitude as soon as possible, I'm afraid... "Can we get confirmation from the Chinese side and confirm that the Chinese side agrees to China's expansion of military strength!"

Xiyuan Temple Gongwang still asked cautiously. Seeing that Yuan Jing seemed to be a little puzzled, he opened his mouth to explain.

"Yan Jing, you must understand that there will always be no fault if we are careful now. If the Chinese side agrees to send ten divisions now, I will immediately agree to send troops to the war. However, there are only three divisions in the Chinese's previous request to send troops, which makes me have to be careful. "!"

Drinking a cup of tea, Xiyuan Temple said with regret.

"And the Chinese people's request for troops is a little strange. China is different from a country like Britain and France. With their population, even if they still have the strength to mobilize 500 divisions, now they have only mobilized 200 divisions, and they want us to send troops, which is really puprehensible!"

"They should cherish the lives of soldiers!"

Yuan Jing found a suitable explanation.

"According to the pension standard of the middle [***] team, the army needs to pay a pension of 500 yuan for each soldier killed in battle, while the insurance company pays 2,000 yuan. If the soldier is married, he still needs to pay at least 30 yuan per month before his wife remarrys. The cost of casualties is too high! If you are disabled, the price will only be higher!"

When saying that the cost of casualties was too high, Yuan Jing was to admire the emperor of the soldier in his heart. Perhaps only the emperor of the soldier would treat his soldiers so kindly, and this kind of proper care without any worries made the middle [***] people on the battlefield only It will be more heroic.

In contrast, Japanese soldiers are undoubtedly cheaper. Japanese soldiers only need a stamp to collect. Even if they are killed on the battlefield, they only need a pension of 100 yuan. If they are disabled and retired, they are no longer the responsibility of the political axe. In contrast, Japanese soldiers are more like cheap cannon fodder.

"So, compared with mobilizing a large number of troops and then bearing a huge amount of non-war expenses after the end of the war, they are undoubtedly more inclined to mobilize the army to participate in the war. The Lieutenant Colonel Cheng once mentioned that "a soldier's equipment is only 36 yuan!" And when a soldier is killed in action, the pension for social expenditure is enough to arm a company." In other words, in the eyes of the Chinese, they prefer cheap Japanese soldiers than expensive Chinese soldiers!"

These Chinese people!

At least here, Yuan Jing couldn't help sighing at the changes of the Chinese people. Ten years ago, in the eyes of the Chinese people, soldiers were just cannon fodder that could be squandered, but now... Chinese people are more willing to use cheap "Japanese cannon fodder".

"Yan Jing, it seems that we are just cannon fodder!"

Xiyuan Temple Gongwang sighed at the side of the language.

"Whether it's cannon fodder or soldiers, as long as we can achieve our plan to expand our military strength, it will be enough! Now, for Japan, the most important thing is to seize every opportunity to expand our strength. In this era, Japan must have its own teeth and claws! Otherwise, it will never break through the Chinese people's restraint!"

"The army may be expanded, but what about the navy?"

Put down the teacup, and Xiyuan Temple's eyebrows were locked.

Compared with the army, he values the navy more. In the past eight years, he has been making efforts to rebuild the navy all the time. Although the tonnage of the navy is limited, as early as four years ago, the naval staff headquarters launched a secret project - relying on the domestic shipbuilding industry, reading power to build a It is a new type of warship with the speed and firepower of the battlecruiser, as well as the defense ability of the battleship.

The Japanese navy's understanding of warships comes from the painful lesson of the naval battle in the South China Sea. In the past few years, the Japanese navy has been eager to own a type of battleship, and even did not hesitate to negotiate to obtain an old warship from China, but this is far from satisfying the ambition of the Japanese navy.

"No ocean, no navy, no navy, no navy!" This is the judgment made by the navy after the war in the South China Sea. It may be easy to make a judgment, but it is very difficult to break through the tonnage limit of the security treaty. Just like after the secret disclosure of the secret project of the naval staff headquarters to build a new type of warship, China first increased their garrison in Yokosuka and protested to the political axe. At that time, the Guards stationed in Japan launched another large-scale military exercise.

And the hypothesis of that exercise turned out to be "the alliance had a rebellion in China, and the Chinese troops stationed in the sea and land together to help quell the rebellion..." The purpose of the exercise was even more obvious. They were reminding Japan, and it was from then that the political community reached a consensus within them. In any case, they should get rid of China's restraint and be realistic. With this goal, it is necessary to build a navy that is enough to deter China.

"Esco, the Chinese need our navy to escort them, don't they? We can take this opportunity to ask for an increase in naval tonnage and at least build more cruisers. In the future, when the time is ripe, at least we will have enough sailors and officers. In the sea battle of the South China Sea, the Imperial Navy has lost too many naval officers!"

"But the question is, will the Chinese agree? You should know..."

As soon as the words of Xiyuan Temple fell, Yuan Jing suddenly laughed.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I personally think that this year's confidential funds should be increased by 30 million yuan. We should use this money to bribe China's political dignitaries. If they can agree to our expansion of the army, then we can agree to expand the escort fleet and relax the tonnage restrictions. It will not be difficult. Those officials, There will always be a way to convince their emperor, and who knows if the Chinese navy is willing to spend money on escorting the merchant fleet!"

Before coming to the Prime Minister, Yuan Jing had discussed with the officers of the naval staff headquarters the possibility of expanding the tonnage through escort. Those officers agreed that this possibility was very large. Unlike Britain, China did not have a large number of overseas colonies to defend. Therefore, the Chinese navy did not have a large number of light patrols. Ships, and after the outbreak of the war, the light cruisers of the Chinese navy were suddenly insufficient. First, China captured Germany's colonies in the Pacific and East Africa, so that China needed light cruisers to defend the colonies. Second, the merchant fleet to transport goods to Europe and the Americas also needed light cruisers to escort, and the Chinese Expeditionary Force. The military supplies also need to be escorted by cruisers. That's why the Chinese navy requires Japan to send cruisers to carry out escort missions.

But the demand in wartime does not mean the demand after the war. The construction of a large number of cruisers will occupy the funds of the Chinese navy, and may even lead to the Chinese navy not having enough funds to build warships. This is something that the Chinese navy does not want to see. In contrast, the use of the Allied navies to escort China's fleet is undoubtedly the most A good choice, in the end, in the face of the needs of the Chinese navy, China's political axe will have to choose to compromise, thus contributing to the Japanese navy to break through the current tonnage limit.

Even in the view of some optimistic naval officers, in the future, with the dispute over the interests of China and the United States in the Pacific Ocean, China is likely to have a naval arms race with the United States. In order to increase its chances of winning, China is likely to agree to build warships to ensure its advantage over the U.S. navy.

Of course, this is just speculation. In their opinion, if they want to achieve this goal, they must have a positive performance in this war, which can make China relax its vigilance against Japan. Only in this way can Chinese people be able to accept Japan's re-arming, otherwise everything is empty talk.

"Bribe Chinese officials..."

After a little hesitation, Xiyuan Temple nodded heavily.

"One step is a step. I hope China can..."

(to be continued)