Just when Yuan Shikai went to Nanjing to take office, Japan, thousands of miles away, was also uneasy on the other side of the ocean.

In order to retaliate against Japanese intelligence agencies' participation in the attack on the disaster victim resettlement camp, East China ** held a large-scale maritime military exercise along the coast of Japan and prohibited Japanese merchant ships and fishing boats from entering the exercise area.

At this time, the exercise had entered 20 days, and sank 7 Japanese fishing boats and 3 merchant ships, and captured nearly 300 Japanese fishermen, sailors, etc., while the Japanese navy all hurried in the port and did not dare to fight. This also put huge pressure on the Japanese. After all, the East China exercised at the doorstep of Japan, which was a demonstration against Japan and had a huge impact on Japan's fishery and commerce. In Japan, it had triggered a wave of public opinion dissatisfaction with Japan.

The Japanese ** is also quite annoyed by the unauthorized behavior of relevant personnel in the Army Department, because the focus of Japan's current work is to negotiate with the UK, and if you want to regain control of the customs, you do not want to cause trouble.

After the war to respect the king and expel the barbarians, although Japan has been in the country for more than 40 years, the customs, like the Qing court, was still controlled by the UK, and the tariff was only 5%. Foreign goods can enter the domestic market of Japan at very low prices. This is of course very unfavorable to Japanese local enterprises and the development of industry and commerce. Although Japan has set many other obstacles for foreign goods at home and invisibly increased the cost of imported goods, this is not a long-term solution after all. In addition, as a sovereign country, customs are controlled by other countries for a long time, and it is not a solution. Therefore, Japan has always wanted to regain control of the customs.

But Japan is not like East China** who can defeat Britain on the battlefield, and then forcibly reclaim the customs and set customs tariffs on it on its own. Britain can only accept it with its nose. Japan can only continue to negotiate with Britain, hoping that Britain can return the control of the customs. However, Britain will of course not easily return the customs rights to Japan. On the one hand, it is to allow British industrial products to enter the Japanese market smoothly. Although Japan's market is not big, mosquitoes are still meat no matter how small it is. Secondly, this is also an important tool for Britain to control Japan. As long as the customs are still in the hands of Britain, Japan will find it difficult to escape from Britain's control. On the other hand, Japan has no useful bargaining chips in its hands and can return interests with Britain. On the other hand, Japan is mostly seeking Britain's demands. Because after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Japan still had a bad relationship, and Japan still needed the support of Britain. If it was against Russia, it would be even more unconfirmed to return the customs. Therefore, despite the negotiations between the two sides, there was no result in the end.

After the Far East War, Japan owed huge debts. If it wants to pay off these debts, it is even more necessary for Japan to recover the customs so that it can increase the revenue of the country and support the growth of Japanese enterprises. Therefore, three months ago, Japanese Foreign Minister Sutaro Komura led a negotiating team to visit the UK, which was actually a negotiation with the UK again. However, according to the news reported by the UK recently, the negotiations were very unsuccessful. The UK insisted on Japan's customs control and refused to let go, leaving the Japanese negotiating team with no choice.

Japan ** has also rescued France and the United States, hoping that these two countries can say a few words for themselves. However, France and the United States not only rejected Japan's request, but instead believed that Japan's customs was still better controlled by the United Kingdom, because the UK has agreed to the principle of opening the door and equalizing interests also applies to Japan. Therefore, both France and the United States can enjoy the discount on the Japanese tariffs, and of course they will not support Japan.

What happened now makes Japan even worse. Because Japanese intelligence agencies participated in the attack on the disaster resettlement camp, it would inevitably lead to tension in Japan's political relations with East China, and some minor frictions occurred. Now Japan has no capital to confront East China. Therefore, if we want to calm the anger of East China and restore the relationship between the two sides, we may have to rescue Britain, France, the United States and other countries to deal with it. In this way, what qualifications does Japan have to negotiate with the UK to revoke customs?

Now the fleet of East China is conducting military exercises on the coast of Japan, which has aroused great anger and dissatisfaction in Japan and also put Japan under tremendous pressure. Therefore, Prime Minister Hirofumi Ito held cabinet meetings for several days to negotiate countermeasures.

Kazumatsu Fang Zhengyi said angrily: "What does our army do? How can we allow other countries' fleets to show off their power at our doorstep? The country has spent so much money to support the army. Now it is in need of the army to protect our country. What is the army doing? If the army cannot protect our country, then what else should the army do? Dashanjun, Eryujun, please answer my question."

After the Far East War, the Japanese army was not only severely damaged, but the military's top leaders also had a major reshuffle. Army Minister Masato Deanuchi, Army Chief of Staff Ayuto Yamamoto, Navy Minister Kobe Yamamoto, and Navy Minister Yuki Ito, all four military bosses abandoned their posts because of the failure of the war. Oyama Iwa is appointed as the Minister of the Army, and Otaro Genharo was appointed as the Chief of Staff. Although these two were defeated in the Far East War, all Japanese circles also knew that the responsibility for defeat was not on them, and everyone would be unlucky. Moreover, these two people He is also the top figure in the Japanese army at present. Yama Prefecture is too old and suitable to be in charge of command behind the scenes. Masato Tanuchi lacks practical experience, so these two people are indeed the most suitable candidates; and the Navy Minister was replaced by Shiki Kawayama, and Shiki Saito was appointed as the Minister of the Navy. Originally, Shiki Kawayama was semi-retired, but in the Far East War, the Navy suffered greater losses than the Army. A group of Utou's senior generals were killed. Now there is a fault, so the veteran can only be invited to come out to calm the people's hearts.

Seeing Masayoshi Matsukata asked himself, Oyama Iwa had to say: "The one who threatens Japan now is the fleet of the East China*, which should be the responsibility of the navy, and we are the army, which is only responsible for land security."

After he finished speaking, Matsukata Matsukatsu Matsuyasu immediately said: "Where is our navy? What is the navy doing? Seeing the enemy's fleet blocking our doorstep, can the navy remain indifferent? Kawayama-kun, Saito-kun, you can also say something."

Shiki Karayama was very dissatisfied with the attack on the Navy, but now he had to answer, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "The Navy suffered a heavy blow in the Far East War, and almost all the main warships were sunk. They are now under reconstruction and are not ready for combat capabilities."

Masayoshi Matsukaya said: "What! Two months ago, didn't you just come back from the UK? You said that the combat effectiveness of these two warships is far greater than that of the ** warships in East China, why don't you dare to fight?"

Yusheng Shigenobu Okuma also said: "Yes, if the navy dares not fight and cannot protect Japan's territorial waters, what else should the navy do?"

Shiki Karayama explained patiently: "These two warships have just returned from the UK. After long-range navigation, the warships need to be repaired. In addition, the crew also needs to be trained with the warships, which will take at least half a year to form combat effectiveness. Moreover, although the combat effectiveness of these two warships is strong, the number is too small after all. This time, East China ** dispatched 6 battleships and 4 armored cruisers. Even if they go to battle, they are outnumbered, so they can only rely on..."

"Haga!" Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Shigeshino Okuma with a Japanese scolding. "Excuses are all excuses for incompetence. If the navy is afraid of death and dare not fight, it is better to disband the navy."

Shiki Karayama became furious at this time and said, "Our navy did not go to war because it was timid, but now it does not have the conditions for combat. Moreover, our navy has made great contributions and sacrifices for Japan. I will never allow you to slander the navy like this."

Saito Mitsu also said: "Yes! Why should we lead the finger at our navy? Why don't we blame the person who caused this incident? Is this crisis caused this incident by our navy? I think who should be responsible for this incident. Therefore, those who cause this crisis should not be a turtle, nor should they cause trouble to the east. If they are still a man, they should take the initiative to stand up and take responsibility."

Sure enough, after Saito Shi said this, everyone's eyes immediately focused on Oyama Iron and Oyama Gentaro, and at this time the two could no longer remain indifferent. Moreover, Saito Shi said this a little too much, almost cursing. Of course, Saito Shi was also very angry. After all, it was Oyama Iron who led the disaster to the Navy just now, and let the Navy bear the accusations and anger of others. Of course, he could not ignore it anymore and wanted to pull the finger back to the army again. He was so angry that he said a few excessive words.

The Japanese army and navy were already disagreeing, and Saito Mi said too much again, so Oyama Iwa immediately stood up and said sternly: "Saito, what do you mean? Who are you talking about to be a turtle with a headscared head?"

In fact, Saito Mi felt a little regretful. He shouldn't say the "reducing turtle", but now he has said that he can't take it back, and he can't admit defeat in front of the army. Therefore, Saito Mi stood up and said, "Oyama-kun, what does it mean? You should know the most in your heart. If you still pretend to be confused, I can say it more clearly. If this crisis was caused by our navy, our navy will naturally bear all the responsibility, and even if it is sacrificed, it will be spared no matter what.
Chapter completed!