Zhao Wenting didn't dare to speak more, and Li Junhua looked at his younger brother. Li Junwei didn't say much, drinking tea and looking at the newspaper under the lamp. Li Junhua asked, "Three, what do you think?"

"I don't know Japan." Li Junwei said.

Although Li Junwei has been responsible for foreign affairs both overseas and at home in recent years, he has no idea about Japan at all, because in the politics of the empire, there has always been a state of "no war in the East".

If you look past the minutes of the Imperial Conference or the State Council, Japan has fewer issues, and its importance is even less than those of the vassal states in Southeast Asia. The main reason is that the empire hopes that Japan will be divided, and Japan is now divided. From a strategic perspective, when a country needs strategic goals, try not to change the status quo as much as possible.

“That’s from the perspective of international relations and strategic you are good at.”

Seeing that Li Junwei could not escape, he could only say: "Suppose, this is the will of the Reform Movement Club as a whole or most of the members. I think this should be a temptation. In addition to the Tokugawa Shogunate, I think the three guns, and the southwestern vassals are also willing to see similar temptations."

"What are you trying to test?"

"It's very simple. Although these four political forces in Japan have different political ambitions, to put it bluntly, they all have a common goal, that is, to turn Japan into a strong country. The prerequisite for becoming a strong country is the unity of the country. At present, the biggest obstacle to the unity of Japan is us. It is very important to test our attitude, whether to accept it, accept it but not take the initiative, or to actively promote it. It is very important for what they need to do next." Li Junwei said.

For the entire empire, Japan, which is close to the sky, is the biggest threat in the East, and so for the empire, Japan is best in a state of division, but this is a long-term and strategic appeal. But the problem is that this affects the interests of some people in the empire, and these people are the bourgeoisie.

In Japan now, the shogunate is strong, and the southwestern vassals and the three-ben guns are weak. Therefore, the empire should support the weak and suppress the strong to reduce the possibility of Japan's unification. But the problem is that the Tokugawa Shogunate owns three-fifths of Japan's land and 60% of the population, and controls the largest market, which is what the bourgeoisie urgently needs. It is this sub-power that promotes the normalization of relations with the Tokugawa Shogunate at home and deepens economic and trade exchanges between the two countries.

The bourgeoisie even hoped to establish a customs alliance and a common market across Japan so that the empire could dump goods and occupy this huge market.

But the problem is that the economic foundation determines the superstructure. If Japan's economy is unified, it will be a matter of time before political unification. This is the contradiction between short-term interests and long-term strategies.

"Then what should our attitude towards Japan's unification?" Lin Junhong asked on his own initiative.

Li Junwei shrugged: "This requires a comprehensive understanding of Japan before the answer can be given. I have too little information and my attitude is too subjective. And this is not a very urgent question. Emperor, Brother Cheng, you can ask them."

Li Junwei pointed at the door with his hand, and the two attendants standing at the door looked at each other. What did the two young men know?

"It's not you, I mean the outside world, all the subjects of the empire." Li Junwei said, picking up the newspaper and saying, "Master, the times have changed. The people of the empire have long been free from ignorance. The spread of knowledge has allowed more people to have judgment. The academic and media have their own opinions, and some can be called insightful opinions. The public opinion frenzy this time only needs to wait for a while. Under the waves, gold will always shine."

"Okay, since the other party is testing us, we should calm down. Let's wait a moment." Li Junhua said.

Zhao Wenting looked at the imperial study and found that Li Zhaorui, who was in charge of the Security Bureau, was indeed not there. He said: "The Reform Commission has always been in contact with the Security Bureau. Now the dog has taken off its reins. Is there any change in policy?"

Li Junwei smiled and said, "Mr. Zhao, are you saying that we are shooting ourselves in the foot now."

"I dare not, I dare not." Zhao Wenting did not dare to say it clearly.

Li Junwei signaled him not to be nervous, but said openly: "It doesn't matter. I think this is shooting oneself in the foot. And it's not once. As the creator and controller of the world order, the empire will carry stones to hit oneself in the foot countless times in the future. This is inevitable. Lord Zhao, you will get used to it."

No one refuted it because what Li Junwei said was the fact that most countries in the world are feudal countries nowadays. Feudal royal countries have a common point, that is, the closure of the country, which is natural inconsistent with the empire that advocates free trade. For the strategic interests of the empire, the empire will intentionally or unintentionally cultivate, contact, and organize some political forces in the country to cooperate. In these countries, those who are willing to cooperate with the empire, except for a small number of enlightened lords, are mainly the bourgeoisie.

In cooperation with the empire, it is obvious that the bourgeoisie will develop nationalism and thus exclude the empire.

The Reform Club is an example. The empire cultivated them, and in turn, this group of people is the group that desires Japanese independence and strength the most. But despite this, we cannot do nothing.

As Li Junwei said, the public opinion field in the past few days has really been a great wave of scrubbing sand, and it is also a fire that refines real gold. Within five days after the incident, the imperial public opinion community formed a holistic view, which is that Japan must be a problem with the empire.

This view is most prominent in the empire's famous private newspaper "Beijing News". Its titled "Awakening of the Viper Snake" shows its own views in large volumes, and is rarely accompanied by large comics. In the comics, Japanese territory is depicted as a poisonous snake, biting the throat of the giant dragon of the empire.

The Beijing News put forward several accepted views. One is that there is a grudge between Japan and the empire and an incomprehensible hatred.

The Battle of Baijiangkou broke out between the two countries on the Korean Peninsula. During the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty fought against Japan several times. The Ming Dynasty fought against the Japanese in the southeast and aided Korea in the fight against the Japanese. It became even more complicated when it arrived in this dynasty. The war of the Makura and the civil war in Japan were related to the empire. The original Hokkido (Hokkaido), Tomoma Island, and Sado Island, became the territory of the empire, and the division and internal struggle were deepened in Japan. Okinawa, which originally belonged to the sphere of influence of Japan, was also owned by the empire. The tribute system established since the Toyotomi Hideyoshi's era completely collapsed.

Thousands of years of hatred have not only not been resolved, but has become increasingly fierce.

Secondly, Japan is a single nation-state. After the single nation-state awakens its national consciousness and creates nationalism, it will inevitably challenge the order formed after the war of the fall of the sect, and in particular puts forward some territorial requirements, which is unacceptable.

Third, from a geopolitical perspective, China and Japan are born enemies. Throughout history, Japan will definitely expand abroad after unification, and Japan has a neighboring country in China, and the result is that it will inevitably collide with the empire.

Fourth, from the perspective of national governance, unified Japan will inevitably take the empire as its opponent. Whether the unified Japan is a feudal or a capitalist country, the ruling class will establish an enemy for Japan to control domestic ideas and maintain its own rule. Obviously, the empire is also the only option. This undoubtedly aggravates Japan's hatred of the empire.

This article in the Beijing News is full of nationalist ideas, hoping that the whole country will be vigilant against Japan, but this article also has the effect of throwing bricks and attracting jade. As public opinion fermentes, the views it represents cannot be fully accepted by the public.

In fact, the Beijing News is a newspaper with a strong political atmosphere. Although it is a private one, it is also the mouthpiece of the empire. The Beijing News was the first newspaper of the empire, "Di Pao". In the predecessor of the empire, it was divided into two branches: "Official News" and "Jingbao". The former was directly linked to the Senate at that time, mainly political news, and the content of the latter was relatively complicated. After the establishment of the empire, the two became the Central News Agency and the Beijing News.

The articles of the Beijing News have been criticized many times. Without exception, these newspapers are private newspapers and have bourgeois backgrounds. The extremes even criticize the Beijing News for making confusing the public and hating friendly countries. However, extreme remarks often cannot become consensus in a peaceful era. In the end, the articles of the Shenjing Business Daily confronted the Beijing News, received the support of the public, and replaced the other party and became the mainstream view.

The article in Shenjing Business Daily is called: Snake in a Cage. Like Beijing News, it uses large comics to compare Japan to snakes, but this seemingly sinister and cunning snake is confined to a cage, and the cage is connected to a cage with the imperial provinces around Japan as pillars.

The "Shenjing Business Daily" and the "Beijing Daily" reached an agreement on one issue, that is, as a country of a single nation, it is difficult for Japan to prevent it from completing unification. In other words, this is also a consensus in the strategic community of the empire.

To a certain extent, as long as the empire does not allow it, a country like Japan that is close to the point cannot be unified. But the problem is that it will pay a huge price, and the empire's foreign strategy has always followed the principle of limited intervention. Limited intervention means limited investment, and large-scale wars should be avoided as much as possible. With the development of Japan and the awakening of national consciousness, one thing is certain that the price the empire has to pay will become greater and greater in preventing Japan's unification.

And when two possibilities arise, the empire will accept the unification of Japan.

First, comprehensive intervention cannot be successful. Second, the price paid exceeds the gains after the event is completed.

The article in the "Shenjing Business Daily" believes that Japan's unification is a matter of time, and the empire can accept Japan's unification.

The reason is very simple. The industrial revolution has begun and the era of feudal dynasties has ended.

In the feudal dynasty era, the land population was directly linked to the strength of a country. In Japan, every foreign aggression was after the reunification of the country. However, the industrial revolution broke this law. Land and population were only basic elements of national strength, and what was truly linked to the strength of the country was industrial capacity.

If Japan does not have industrial capacity after unified Japan, it will not pose any threat to the empire. Therefore, split Japan is the best, but unified Japan is not unacceptable. The Shenjing Business Daily believes that the key is not whether Japan is unified or not, but whether Japan can complete industrialization.

The answer given by the Shenjing Business Daily is that it cannot be. There are two theories. First, industrial countries must complete the accumulation of primitive capital, which must be achieved through external colonization. Of course, this is also a limitation of the times. People in this era naturally do not know that the difference between industry and agriculture can also achieve this goal. Japan's location is very special. This country is just next to the empire's bed. Another country with independent diplomacy closest to the Mughal Empire. To the east, it must span the entire Pacific Ocean to reach the place where it can be colonized.

In other words, Japan is different from European countries. It is within the sphere of influence of the empire. If you want to rise, you cannot slowly rise on the edge of the empire like European countries. Instead, you will directly fight the dragon when you leave a novice village.

The second point of view is more important, and it doesn’t matter if the first one is not true. This point of view is that Japan lacks the resources needed for industrialization.

There is no doubt that the first industrial revolution initiated by the empire required two raw materials, coal and iron ore. The former was found in Japan. Even in the 33rd year of the empire, coal produced in Japan still occupied a considerable share in the imperial market, but the proportion decreased year by year. However, the annual output of more than two million tons and a considerable reserve were enough for early industrialization.

But the problem is that Japan does not have decent iron ore. In fact, except for coal, Japan does not have any raw materials needed for industrialization. This means that even if Japan's industrialization develops, it will naturally be at a disadvantage of high costs and can be choked by the empire anytime and anywhere.

As for other views, there are many, for example, Japan is an island country next to the strongest country, with a very small depth and naturally easy to invade.

The conclusion of the "Shenjing Business Daily" is that the only possibility of Japan's rise is the sinking of the empire, and there is no other room for it. In terms of policy towards Japan, the "Beijing News" and the "Shenjing Business Daily" are also completely different.

The Beijing News believes that we must be vigilant against Japan, limit Japan as much as possible, and maintain Japan's current state of division and backwardness.

The policies summarized by Shinkyo Business Daily can be expressed in eight words: available in the short term and controllable in the long term. This is also the goal that the bourgeoisie in the empire hopes to achieve, promoting the normalization of the relationship between the empire and the shogunate, promoting the founding of the shogunate, and deepening economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
Chapter completed!