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To the world, Asia in 1914 was just a place where great powers competed for power. It was a colony of great powers, a place for product dumping, and a source of raw materials. That was all. Maybe there were a few independent countries in Asia, but in fact,

These few independent countries are just wandering in the mouth of the great powers, reluctantly taking advantage of the contradictions between the great powers to maintain their independence.

However, this is not all. At least there is one truly independent country in Asia. Not only that, it has even transformed from a colony of foreign powers to a world power in just a few decades, and that is Japan.

Japan's road to reform and become stronger, especially its defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War, aroused strong repercussions in Asia. Nationalist thoughts flourished and developed rapidly, and national movements surged to an unprecedented high. The Russo-Japanese War was not only Japan's victory over Russia, but also a victory for non-ferrous people.

The victory of the white race over the white race. Therefore, this victory and the first Russian revolution that broke out during the Russo-Japanese War had a lightning-like impact on the entire Asia. The Iranian revolution, the Indian National Congress

The climax of the anti-British struggle, the Revolution of 1911 in China, etc. were all the violent waves of Asian nationalism after the Russo-Japanese War.

The emerging Japan's victory over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War aroused the awakening of the oppressed nations in Asia and greatly inspired their fighting spirit to oppose Western colonial rule. They firmly believed that by following the path of Japan's reform, they could not only win national independence, but also become a nation.

A prosperous and powerful country. People with lofty ideals from many Asian countries have come to Japan. While seeking political asylum and support, they are also looking for the leader of prosperity and power.

This is Japan. At least for most Asians, Japan is not only a powerful country, but also an example for them to imitate and learn from.

But in fact, Japan, which has transformed from a weak country to a strong one, is now facing huge foreign debt, overflowing trade, and budget deficit, which is a reflection of Japan's national financial distress at the end of the Meiji period. In 1911, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Reijiro Wakatsuki, told Army General Yama

Youpeng in the county complained that if this continues, the hard currency retained by the government will soon be exhausted. The proximate cause of this situation is the imbalance in the balance of payments caused by sluggish exports, but the remote cause is the long-term financial pressure caused by military expansion and war, while the domestic market

Moreover, due to the contradiction between the landlord system and the capital system, it is difficult to develop healthily. This seemingly hopeless disease restricts Japan's development.

On July 30, 1912, Emperor Meiji, who had ruled Japan for 45 years, died of illness. After the death of Emperor Meiji, the 34-year-old Crown Prince Yoshihito ascended the throne and changed his reign name to "Taisho", which was taken from the Chinese "Book of Changes": "The tycoon is named after

The sentence "righteousness, the way of heaven". Japan has since entered the Taisho era.

On the one hand, the foreign debt reached an agreement of 1.98 billion yen, which was more than 6 times the tax revenue of the same year, making it difficult to pay interest; trade continued to enter the super market, resulting in the current amount of hard currency decreasing year after year, making it impossible to maintain the exchange system. On the other hand, the interests of European and American powers

Increasing frictions, coupled with the impact of the world economic crisis, have plunged Japan's economy, politics and diplomacy into a downturn.

Under such internal worries, in order to solve the seemingly hopeless disease, Japan attempted to occupy Manchuria and even the entire China, solve domestic problems through the exploitation and plunder of colonies, and then have an even stronger desire to dominate East Asia. It urgently

He needs another opportunity to help his conspiracy succeed.

On June 28, 1914, the bullets fired at the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo, the capital of Serbia, became the fuse of the First World War. After the European powers intrigued each other and survived the tense "July Crisis", seven

On January 28, the war began. The smoke from the West obscured the eyes of the European powers, and they could not take care of the Far East.

The news was like a shot of stimulant injected into Japanese society. The veteran Kaoru Inoue, who was over 80 years old and was in bed resting due to cerebral hemorrhage, was so excited that she immediately wrote to the government, explaining: "This great catastrophe in Europe is a direct response to the epidemic."

The Taisho Era was a God-blessed opportunity to develop Japan’s national destiny, and we must take advantage of this opportunity to “establish Japan’s rights and interests in the East.”

As Germany became involved in the war, the European War broke out on August 1, 1914. Although Japan's top leaders were very excited, on August 4, Japan still publicly stated that it "strictly maintains neutrality" because until this time, there was still one to

The most important country has not expressed its attitude, and this country is the United Kingdom.

Almost on the day Germany was involved in the war, Britain had no intention of expanding the war to the Far East. It was worried that once the war extended to Chinese territory and territorial waters, it would inevitably cause riots in China, affect British trade with China, and damage Britain's dominant position in China.

, because British diplomat Gray notified Japan of the alliance, he himself did not foresee the possibility of Britain asking Japan for help because of the alliance, but Japan, which was determined to take advantage of the situation, ignored Britain's expression and still took the initiative to request to join the war. At the same time, Japan

, the military deployment for the war against Germany was stepped up. By August 3, the Japanese Second Fleet was ready to dispatch at any time in Saseburg, and the Army Staff Headquarters had begun to formulate an operational plan to attack Qingdao.

Britain was doubtful about Japan's request to join the war. It can be said that it was quite contradictory. He was not only afraid that Japan would take the opportunity to expand its power in China and infringe on its rights and interests in China, but also worried that Japan's occupation of the German Pacific Islands would cause disputes with Australia and the United States.

, on the other hand, they hope to use the power of the Japanese navy to destroy the German Far East Fleet and protect Britain's interests in China. They are especially afraid that Japan will turn to the Allies, which will be detrimental to the overall war situation. It is this ambivalence that makes the United Kingdom can only be

It is hoped that Japan will participate in the war to a limited extent.

On August 4, the day the United Kingdom declared war on Germany, it expressed to the Japanese government through Green, its ambassador to Japan, that "if the war spreads to the Far East and Hong Kong and Weihaiwei are attacked, we hope Japan will provide assistance." On August 7, the British Embassy in Japan

The ambassador formally requested Japan to dispatch its navy to assist in searching for and destroying German camouflaged cruisers that were attacking British merchant ships in the China Sea. The British purpose was just to hope that Japan would only help it within the China Sea, but it did not expect that this would play into Japan's plan.

August 7, 10 pm, Tokyo, Prime Minister’s Official Residence.

In the conference room of the Prime Minister's Residence, all members of the Okuma Cabinet gathered here. The meeting was naturally chaired by Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu, followed by Foreign Minister Kato Takaaki, Minister of Finance Reijiro Wakatsuki, Minister of War Okaichi Nosuke, Minister of Navy Yashiro Rokuro, and Minister of Justice Yukio Ozaki.

, Minister of Agriculture and Commerce Kanetake Oura, Minister of Communications Tokitoshi Taketomi, and Cabinet Secretary in charge of records, Tsubasa Nagae.

This was an urgent cabinet meeting convened by Okuma Shigenobu after Ambassador Green made a request for Japan to join the war. The topic of the meeting was only one - to discuss the issue of joining the war.

"After Britain joins the war, even if the war continues, the final victory will be on the British side. Even in the worst case scenario, it will be a dead-end outcome in favor of Britain. Therefore, Japan has nothing to lose by participating in the war."

At the meeting, Foreign Minister Kato Takaaki once again emphasized the benefits of participating in the war.

"Seize the good opportunity to improve Japan's status in the world and further consolidate Japan's foothold in East Asia."

Then he turned his attention to Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu and pointed out the reasons for joining the war.

"Your Excellency, Japan is not yet in a position to participate in the war according to its obligations under the alliance treaty, because the coordinated combat situation stipulated in the alliance has not occurred. However, based on Britain's request, the friendship of the alliance, and the empire, we can take this opportunity to return from the East.

In order to clear out the German base areas and further enhance geographical interests in the international arena, I believe that joining the war decisively is a good strategy at the right time."

I say this not to encourage the Prime Minister to agree to participate in the war. In fact, there is no need to discuss the issue of participating in the war. It has been ten days since the outbreak of the European War. In Japan, the European War has attracted national attention, and the domestic "nation-wide consensus" demand

The slogan of joining the war has almost become the common voice of both the government and the public.

Now, all this is just a formality. And he used the two terms "obligation" and "friendship" based on the Japan-British alliance separately, believing that even if Germany did not attack Weihaiwei and Hong Kong, "friendship" could still be achieved

As the basis for declaring war against Germany, the fundamental goal is to ensure Japan's freedom of military operations in Asia.

Sure enough, when he said this, no matter Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu, Marine Minister Yashiro Rokuro, Riku Minister Oka Ichinosuke, Justice Minister Ozaki Yukio, and Tibetan Minister Wakatsuki Reijiro all nodded with dissatisfaction, this was exactly their goal.

In fact, everyone has their own starting point for participating in the war, but in the final analysis, they have one thing in common, which is to use participation in the war, especially "free movement" in Asia and China, to achieve the purpose of expansion in China.

alleviate the domestic economic crisis,

Okuma Shigenobu nodded and turned his attention to Riku Prime Minister Oka Ichinosuke, who met the Prime Minister's gaze and said.

"Your Excellency, for Japan, this is a God-blessed opportunity that must not be missed."

"indeed"

The Prime Minister of the Sea, Yashiro Rokuro, immediately responded and said.

"There is no need to discuss the issue of participating in the war anymore. I think the only thing left is to bargain with Britain and negotiate the conditions for participating in the war."

The reason why Yashiro Rokuro agreed so readily was that there was a need for the construction, and more importantly, Okuma Shigenobu had promised that the navy would never be involved in the European war, not only the navy, but also the army. In other words,

He said that Japan would never set foot in Europe. As for declaring war on Germany, it was just taking advantage of the situation.

After everyone expressed their opinions and reached a consensus, and agreed on how to negotiate with the British and what conditions they would ask for, the cabinet meeting ended in the early morning. On the afternoon of the next day, the plan and conditions for participating in the war proposed by the Okuma cabinet were approved by the emperor.

With the approval of the elders, all the magic procedures for participating in the war were quickly completed in less than twenty hours.

In the history of world war, this cannot be regarded as a miracle.

Miracle

When Li Zicheng held the copper plate in his hand, his eyes were filled with golden light. To be precise, he released greedy eyes. There was nothing outstanding about this copper plate, but when he looked at this copper plate and the table

When several pieces of paper about 20 centimeters long and 12 centimeters wide are combined together, people can't help but feel excited.

this is definitely a miracle

There are several pieces of paper on the table. To be precise, they are banknotes. These are five-pound banknotes. But if you look carefully, you can find that these banknotes without exception have "1936" and "1937".

There are words like "1938", but the year is on the lead plate, but the signature intaglio is a movable version and can be stamped at any time.

This is the pound printing plate that Li Zicheng found in a wooden box in the submarine. Maybe it is not the printing plate of the Bank of England, but anyone who knows a little bit about the history of World War II knows that there was a uncle during World War II.

The purpose of Operation Earnhard was to secretly counterfeit large amounts of pounds. For this purpose, the Nazis gathered Germany's best engraving experts, papermaking technology experts and mathematics experts. The latter were responsible for calculating the numbering rules for pound banknotes.

In the end, they succeeded in creating special paper for pounds sterling, and used it to print pounds that were fake enough to look like real ones. The beautifully printed, high-quality fake pounds even deceived senior bank employees. The Bank of England only discovered the fake pounds by chance.

Existence: A Bank of England employee accidentally discovered that the serial numbers of the two banknotes in her hand were actually the same. It can be seen that the counterfeit banknotes have reached the level of being fake. They can only be discovered by checking the serial numbers.

What he has in his hands now is the master plate produced by the best engraving experts in Germany during "Operation Bernhard". He only needs to turn the master plate into a tin plate, and then place the tin plate in the electroplating vat.

Copper is plated to make a copper replica for printing.

The reason why this master plate is a miracle is that the other several pound banknotes, those issued from 1908 to 1913, except for the year and the signature of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, are the same as the "Bernhard" in the submarine.

The "banknote" samples are exactly the same. The British 5, 10, 20, and 50 pound banknotes have all been in use since the 18th century.

What's more important is that the Bernhard banknotes are exactly the same as the pound banknotes of this era, at least in my layman's eyes, they are exactly the same.

Perhaps there are not many Bernhard banknotes in the submarine, only a few dozen samples, but there are several boxes of pound special paper, and even the production process technology of pound special paper and pound printing technology, which have been continuously improved.

"Money printing" technology, if... When this idea came to his mind, a smile flashed across Li Zicheng's face.

In an office in the foreign exchange department on the third floor of Huaihai Industrial Bank on Eighth Street, Gao Changxin, who was wearing a suit, stared at Xiao Keqiang in front of him. He was an employee of the foreign exchange department of Huaihai Industrial Bank and had worked at HSBC for twenty years.

Jiu is a senior banknote examiner specially hired by the bank.

The moment he took the banknote, Xiao Keqiang was stunned, because there was only half of it, to be precise, the upper half of the 5 pound note, and the lower half had obviously been cut off.

"This is……"

Holding up his glasses, Xiao Keqiang took a look at the "guest" in front of him. He was not an ordinary guest, but a security guard from the company's security department.

"Chief Xiao, please check these banknotes."

Gao Changxin had a smile on his face.

"Only half a sheet?"

“Only half a sheet”

Although he was a little confused, Xiao Keqiang still took the banknotes from the paper clip. The moment his fingers touched the half pound note, he already knew the answer in his heart. This was a real note.

The extremely special feel of British pound banknotes is unmatched by other banknotes. The cross-shaped linen paper has a dense texture, and the multi-layer superposition process used is also unique. These two special technologies bring a special feel.
To be continued...