After Fang Boqian returned to Lushun, he immediately reported on the attack in Fengdao waters.

"Did the Japanese fire the first one?" asked Admiral Ding Ruchang.

"The enemy is strong and I am weak. Will I fire the cannon first?" Fang Boqian said angrily.

"You said that Guangyi was severely injured and Cao Jiang surrendered, what about Gaosheng?" Gaosheng was equipped with more than 1,000 troops. Fang Boqian only reported the situation of Guangyi and Caojiang.

"I'm afraid I've fallen into the enemy! The Japanese have been planning to start a war for a long time, but Lord Zhongtang has been reluctant to increase his troops to North Korea. Now there are more than 10,000 Japanese troops in southern Korea, so Gongting is probably in danger." Deng Shichang clenched his fists and smashed the table.

"Now, except for the two ships in the Beiyang Navy, the rest are not as good as Japan. Lord Zhongtang naturally hopes to mediate through the great empires, and if the war is avoided, it will be avoided." As the admiral, Ding Ruchang still knows a little about Lord Zhongtang's thoughts.

"By the way, Yitang (Fang Boqian), please take the navigation log and let me see it." The captain must record some important things that happen every day in the form of a diary, and fortunately, if someone encounters an emergency, someone will check it out.

"Oh, here." Fang Boqian took out a notebook and handed it to Ding Ruchang.

Ding Ruchang turned to the last page of the record and looked at it, and asked in surprise: "Has Yoshino severely damaged?"

Fang Boqian was secretly proud, but his face was extremely calm. He said, "Short long after Cao Jiang surrendered, Guangyi wanted to get close to Langsu and fire, but was severely injured by Langsu and got fire, so he escaped. Now it is afraid that there will be little danger. After Guangyi left, Langsu, Akizumi began to turn around and think that I would come. One ship could not defeat three ships. If I continue to fight, the Japanese ship would sink. So I immediately ordered to escape in order to protect Jiyuan. Yoshino relied on his speed and chased me without waiting for Langsu and Akizumi. A sailor fired at Yoshino with a tail cannon, and made several shots in a row. Yoshino immediately caught fire and did not dare to chase him again."

"Yoshino hits several times in a row? OK, OK, Yoshino is known as the best cruiser at present, and it is very good to severely damage Yoshino. By the way, can the officers on Yoshino be killed or injured?"

"This... a shell hit Yoshino Shimbun Bridge. It is unknown whether the officer was killed or not." Fang Boqian said.

"Hitted to the bridge? It's probably because the captain was killed by the bombing, so he didn't chase him anymore!" Liu Buchan said.

"Well, that should be the case." Ding Ruchang nodded.

"I'll report to Master Zhongtang first."

"I'll send a report." Ding Ruchang said.

When Li Hongzhang received the telegram, he had already guessed what was going on. He hurriedly found the envoy of the great powers in China. What he hoped was to mediate. Japan's undeclared war was not in line with the legal principles of the civilized world.

It was not just Li Hongzhang who knew at this time, but the court learned about this quickly.

Now this is no longer a question of whether to fight or not, it is already a question of rising to the face of the Celestial Empire. Japan made a war without declaring a declaration and attacked the Qing Empire navy at sea. If Japan did not defeat Japan, what was the face of the Celestial Empire?

In court.

"Your Majesty, the Japanese have fought without pronouncement, and they must teach a good lesson!"

"Your Majesty, the Japanese Navy is no longer inferior to the Beiyang. If you fight, it is probably unpredictable to win or lose. I believe that asking Western eminents to mediate is the best choice. Japan's undeclared war is contrary to the legal principles of the civilized world, and the great powers will definitely stand on our side."

"Okay! Li Hongzhang, the Japanese have bullied them to the doorstep! You still want to find the great eminents to mediate! The Japanese repeatedly violate the majesty of our Celestial Empire. If you don't teach a lesson, I'm afraid that even the African niggers will ignore our Celestial Empire in the future! At this time, I will report to the Queen Mother for the Queen Mother to decide. You don't have to say much. Retreat the court!" Guangxu said angrily.

After retiring from court, Guangxu immediately went to meet the Lafayette and told him about it.

Cixi touched the Buddhist bead with her fingers and said, "He can't calm down this Japanese man, Master, what do you mean?"

"My son thinks we should teach the Japanese a lesson, otherwise everyone will think that the Qing Dynasty is a soft persimmon in the future." Guangxu said with his head down.

"Then what the emperor means to fight?" Cixi stopped.

"If we don't fight, my heavenly dynasty will be invisible." Guangxu looked up at Cixi, but he could not see the happiness and anger of the Empress Dowager.

"The emperor will make the decision in this matter! If you want to fight, you must fight quickly. I don't want my birthday to be affected."

Guangxu raised his head and showed a happy expression on his face: "Dad Shengming, I will ask Li Hongzhang to fight quickly!"

"Yes." Cixi responded and closed her eyes, Guangxu stepped down with tactfulness.

After Guangxu left, Li Lianying, who was behind Cixi, said: "God of Lafayette, do you really want to fight with the Japanese?"

"Can you still bear this Japanese bullying?"

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Regarding the issue of who fired the gun first in the Battle of Toyoshima, China and Japan each had their own opinions, saying that the other party fired the gun first. In fact, everyone understood that it was the Japanese who fired the gun first, because the strength of the two sides was too great at that time.

The quarrel cannot come to an end, and Li Hongzhang also saw that the great powers had no intention of mediating and had to give up.

On August 1, 1894, the Qing and Japanese sides officially declared war. Japan first issued an edict to declare war, and the Qing Dynasty later issued an edict.

In the declaration of war, Emperor Meiji said: "...... to save North Korea from disasters forever, maintain peace in the overall situation in the East, and promote the glory of the empire at home and abroad ('China' refers to Japan)......"

Except for the signature of Meiji Emperor Mutsuhito, all cabinet ministers signed the imperial edict, which proves that the Japanese government is united and has planned to start a war long ago.

On the other hand, the imperial edict issued by Guangxu was nearly 10,000 words, but it revealed that even Guangxu, who was the main war, was not prepared. There is a sentence in the imperial edict: "The situation of Japan's deception was unexpected (it was unexpected anyway)."

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Sorry, I went out to play with my classmates today, and called me last night, but I forgot to say it at the end of yesterday's chapter. I'm so sorry.

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Chapter completed!