After several days of wrangling between the two parties, Wang Guorui finally reached a contract on behalf of Taiwan and Japan's representative Ito Hirobumi, referred to as the "Taiwan-Japan Agreement". And this contract Wang Guorui signed with Japan as the leader of Taiwan, and Japan also signed the contract with Ito Hirobumi on behalf of the Japanese government, and it will officially come into effect after the signing is completed.

"After negotiations between the Japanese government and the leader of the Taiwan region, Mr. Wang Guorui, the Prime Minister of the Empire of Japan and the leader of the Taiwan region have reached an agreement on the following terms."

"First, the Empire of Japan renounced its sovereignty over the Taiwan region in accordance with the will of the people of Taiwan. The future of Taiwan and the ownership of Taiwan's future will be decided by the people of Taiwan in the future. The Empire of Japan cannot interfere."

"Second, the war between the Empire of Japan and the Taiwan region is over, and the two sides cannot use this as an excuse for further incidents in the future. The army and navy of the Empire of Japan will withdraw from the mainland of Taiwan, the Penghu Islands and other affiliated islands in batches."

"Third, the Taiwan region releases the prisoners of war of the Imperial Japanese Army in batches, and the prisoners' food and lodging expenses during this period will be paid separately by the Empire of Japan."

"Fourth, this time the Empire of Japan and the Taiwan region have misunderstandings due to poor communication on both sides, so both parties are responsible and will not pay each other."

"Fifth, the treaty will be implemented from the date of signing, and the two sides will stop the state of war."

The treaty is not complicated, just five articles. Treaties like this between countries are actually more about the interests and strength of Chiguoguo. The content is actually simpler than many commercial clauses, and it is extremely simple compared to hundreds of commercial clauses. However, the efforts Taiwan has made for these five clauses are not simple.

This time Japan relinquishes its right to rule over Taiwan, and Taiwan will decide its own destiny. And Japan will also say that the army and navy will withdraw from Taiwan, and then return to China to recuperate. As for the issue of compensation, this Japan does not pay compensation even if it is killed. Japan is also very rigid in terms of compensation, and will never choose compensation. And Japan is also determined that Wang Guorui does not have a navy, so he cannot go to Japan. This also makes Japan feel confident, thinking that Wang Guorui cannot fight Japan.

However, it is impossible for Japan to ask Wang Guorui for compensation, because their army cannot beat Wang Guorui. Wang Guorui and Japan each have an advantage in the army and navy. Moreover, both sides are island countries and regions, so neither side can do anything to the other. Therefore, everyone has nothing to do with each other, which means that the two parties will not pay each other.

And Wang Guorui has more than 100,000 Japanese troops under his command. Of course, we must blackmail Japan well. And Wang Guorui extorted only two million taels of silver, which is not too much, because if there is more, Japan will not do it. Therefore, two million taels of silver is already the limit of Japan, and Japan will not be unable to produce more. Japan's finances are very tight. He couldn't sustain it at all, and even Wang Guorui couldn't extort much. In addition, Dou Nale also helped Japan speak out on this issue, and Wang Guorui really had to think about what the British envoy said, so he finally agreed with Japan to exchange two million taels of silver for hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war idea.

"We have won! We have won!" "We have won, Taiwan has won!" "Long live! Long live Taiwan!" "We have won!"...

Hearing the news of the signing of the treaty, and Wang Guorui also began to let people explain the content and meaning of the treaty, and the people who were waiting for the result of the negotiation also started to cheer. Because they finally won this time, they feel that they have finally won, after all, they defeated the Japanese invasion. and. There was no compensation for this victory, nor did they sell any rights. This time can be said to be a rare victory, and the victory won by this battle was not lost at the negotiating table.

Although the Japanese have not been able to pay the compensation, it is very good for the common people. At least, they didn't pay compensation, which is already a huge victory. When fighting other countries, even if they win, they have to pay a huge price, but this time Taiwan was able to win without paying an extra price, which is enough to make them feel honored. This is a victory for all the people of Taiwan. After all, many people also joined the army, and some people also contributed money and effort to support the frontline work. Therefore, the victory of this war is shared by all the people of Taiwan.

And Li Hongzhang watched the people in Taiwan cheering one after another, and then said: "Taiwan. Maybe it won't really belong to me in the future!"

"Father, Wang Guorui was so rude this time, he actually drove you away. If you are a first-rank official in the Qing Dynasty, an extremely human minister, and he is just a county magistrate, why can he replace you? What about negotiating with the Japanese? Moreover, they have reached an agreement with Japan, which must be approved by the imperial court. If they reached a contract with Japan without the approval of the imperial court, do they take the imperial court seriously? "Li Jingfang said unhappily.

And Li Hongzhang couldn't help shaking his head at his adopted son and nephew. He is very disappointed with his son, because his son is not a material that can become a great talent. He is too naive about politics. Now Li Hongzhang can certainly see that even though Taiwan does not seem to be occupied by the Japanese army this time, it will never be able to return to the original situation under the rule of the Manchu Qing.

According to the contract, although Japan gave up the sovereignty of Taiwan, the treaty is full of different meanings. First of all, this treaty was signed by the leaders of Japan and Taiwan, not with the central government of the Qing Dynasty, so it was a matter between Japan and Taiwan, and between Japan and the central government of the Qing Dynasty. In other words, the signing of the contract this time has nothing to do with the Qing Dynasty.

In addition, the contract signed between Japan and Taiwan did not include the relationship between Taiwan and the Qing Dynasty. This "Taiwan-Japan Agreement" is only to explain that Taiwan's future and ownership of Taiwan are determined by Taiwan itself, that is to say Everything is decided by Taiwan itself, and even further, it is decided by Taiwan itself. As for whether Taiwan will re-belong to the Manchu Qing or whether Taiwan will establish itself as a country, that will be decided by Taiwan itself, not by the Manchu Qing. Taiwan is fully qualified to disobey the orders of the Manchu central government. As for the settlement of the Taiwan matter and the return to the rule of the Manchu Qing, many Manchu and Qing officials took it for granted.

Many Manchu officials believed that Taiwan should be re-administered by the Manchu central government, that is, it should be ruled according to the past rule method, which is the way they think in their hearts. But they didn't know that Taiwan was already dominated by Wang Guorui alone. By that time, Wang Guorui had already become a tyrant, so would he still be willing to be a courtier of the Manchu Qing again? Wang Guorui has an army of tens of thousands, and his combat power is much stronger than that of the Manchus. Will Wang Guorui still be willing to surrender to the Manchus? Could it be that he can't stand on his own as a king? This is also something that the domestic bureaucrats have not considered, so this is also a very dangerous situation.

"Father, is Taiwan going to rebel?" Li Jingfang asked.

"Rebellion? What qualifications do we have to say that Taiwan is rebelling? Does Taiwan still belong to us?" Li Hongzhang asked.

"Why not?" Li Jingfang asked.

"Huh, we have already ceded him to Japan, and then Taiwan became independent from Japan. What do you think is the relationship? Taiwan is now qualified to decide its own destiny, which means that they can join our Qing Dynasty, and also You can decide your own destiny. So, don’t take it for granted that Taiwan must belong to us,” Li Hongzhang said.

"Bastard, aren't they afraid of being investigated by the court?" Li Jingfang asked.

"They have an army of tens of thousands, and they have not even defeated the Japanese with all their strength. Are they afraid?" Li Hongzhang asked.

Li Jingfang was speechless, because the most important thing for Wang Guorui was to have soldiers in his hands, so naturally he was not afraid of the threat from the mainland. So if this Taiwan is not willing to merge with the mainland again, then the mainland has nothing to do. And Li Jingfang thinks that the mainland is orthodox, so he subconsciously believes that Taiwan should return to the motherland. But now it seems that Taiwan can have its own ideas. After all, they have ceded Taiwan to Japan~lightnovelpub.net~ That means they have no relationship with the mainland anymore. After going back and forth on the contract several times, Taiwan has nothing to do with the mainland. How can Li Jingfang accept this?

"No, we can't just let Taiwan out of our control, otherwise how can we face the civil and military officials of the imperial court? If they dare to rebel against the imperial court, then we must severely punish them!" Li Jingfang said.

And Li Hongzhang couldn't help but shook his head at Li Jingfang again. This Li Jingfang, like many domestic officials, was terrified of foreigners, but full of confidence in his own people. When many domestic troops heard that they were going to fight foreigners, they became very scared and ran away one after another. Once it is a war with domestic rebels, the morale is often greatly increased, and they dare to fight to the death. This mentality is definitely problematic, because China has been strict with the inside and lenient with the outside since ancient times, and it is far better at bullying its own people than against foreigners.

Many officials continue to compromise with foreigners, but they have zero tolerance for revolutionaries and rebels in their own country. So even if you know that Taiwan is strong and its military strength is stronger than Japan, you must find a way to take back Taiwan. They have completely forgotten what their attitude was when they ceded Taiwan. Now that they heard that Taiwan might become self-reliant, they immediately became angry. Li Hongzhang was also very speechless about this mentality. (To be continued.) xh118