Liang Qichao once said that the awakening of China’s four-thousand-year dream actually began in which war?

Therefore, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 was actually a test of China and Japan’s ability to learn from the West. For Japan, this is a counterattack battle to be superior to China; for China, this is a defensive battle to defend the dignity of a great country. In the end, the ants defeated the elephant and completely woke up the Chinese. From the monarchs and scholar-bureaucrats to the common people, everyone felt the pain! It is indeed a great shame and humiliation for the majestic kingdom of heaven to be defeated by a small country! Dong Zhongshu said: "The sky is stable, and the Tao is also stable." Could it be that the flexibility is about to change? !

In particular, after this battle, the Western powers really started to think of dividing China, and the national crisis became unprecedentedly tense! Liang Qichao said: "The awakening of the great dream of our country for more than 4,000 years actually began after the defeat of Sino-Japanese War, the cession of Taiwan, and the repayment of 200 trillion yuan." The idea of ??"national rejuvenation" that you and I usually use also happened after this battle. truly formed. In 1902, Liang Qichao put forward the concept of "Chinese nation" for the first time, marking the transition from the "calm" stage to the "conscious" stage with the Chinese nation as a national unity! (Since then, the discussion about the Chinese nation has continued for a long time, and it was not until the appearance of Fei Xiaotong's "The Pluralistic Unity of the Chinese Nation" that it stopped for a while.) For the first time, the Chinese people have a national consciousness in the true modern sense! Why? Because this new civilization reference frame of the West has crossed the ocean and appeared in front of you and me, it is very different from the comparison between the Central Plains and the Yi Di that has been repeated for thousands of years! Liang Qichao said that there are only two civilizations today: Western civilization and Eastern civilization!

There is no doubt that the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War was an important watershed in modern Chinese history!

However, few people know that as early as ten years before the war broke out, the outcome was already doomed, and the cause turned out to be a prostitution!

The Chinese Navy cannot control its lower body

Since mid-July 1886, in order to prevent Russia from spying on Yongheung Bay on the east coast of North Korea and to urge the British to withdraw from the Korean giant they occupied Island, Admiral Ding Ruchang, on Li Hongzhang's order, led the Chinese Beiyang Navy to inspect the east and west coasts of North Korea. Because the iron ships needed to be docked and oiled for repairs, and at that time China had not yet built a shipyard suitable for the drafts of the two ships "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" with a draft of more than 20 feet, Li Hongzhang decided that Ding Ruchang would lead the Zhenyuan, Dingyuan, Weiyuan, and Zhenyuan ships. The fourth Jiyuan ship went to Mitsubishi Shipyard in Nagasaki, Japan for inspection and launched a "goodwill visit" to Japan (with a flamboyant nature).

This is the first time the Chinese armored fleet has visited Japan!

After the ship arrived in Nagasaki, it attracted countless Japanese people to watch. Japan invited the Chinese navy to land for shopping. Unexpectedly, the Chinese navy violated regulations and went to prostitutes without authorization, and disputes arose over the issue of prostitution. (The following is Brother Xiang’s wild imagination. The Japanese lady said: 200. Qing Bing said: Didn’t we agree on 199 yuan and 9 cents? 200, 199.99, 200, 199.99, 200, 199, 99... two Hours passed, and the two of them were still arguing. The two of them couldn't stand it anymore, so they called 110. After they arrived at the police station, they were still arguing: 200, 199, 99... The police asked the people next to them: Are they studying math problems?) His partner was detained. Qing Dynasty Shuirong immediately went back to gather people and rushed to the police station to snatch them out. The Japanese were very angry. Two days later, a group of martial artists and police took advantage of the opportunity for the Chinese navy to land again for repairs (strictly not allowed to bring weapons) and ambushed them in an alley, causing 50 and 30 casualties on both sides respectively. human debate.

History is full of accidents. What turned out to be a matter of a penny turned into a big diplomatic incident, which is known as the "Nagasaki Incident" in history.

Of course, another theory is that when the navy landed for shopping, conflicts arose with the Japanese due to the language barrier! The author is more inclined to say whoring!

Negotiations between the two sides reached a deadlock

After the incident, the Japanese side conveyed the relevant situation to Xu Chengzu, the Chinese Minister in Japan.

Xu Chengzu learned that the officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and immediately took several preliminary measures: 1. He submitted a note to the Japanese side to express his protest, believing that the accident occurred because of the Japanese side's "pre-prepared intention to kill" and demanded that the Japanese side Fang worked with Admiral Ding Ruchang to impartially investigate and investigate the personnel responsible for the incident; 2. In order to prevent the situation from escalating, he immediately called Nagasaki Governor Cai Xuan and asked him to instruct Ding Ruchang to strictly discipline the soldiers and not to quarrel with the Japanese police again; 3. Quickly sent Counselor Yang Shu there Nagasaki.

Subsequently, he called Li Hongzhang to report the discussion and discussion, and believed that the matter was so important that the Prime Minister's Yamen should take a fully feasible measure. In fact, in the telegram, Xu Chengzu had already mentioned the basic principles and methods of reasoning for the case, that is, according to legal procedures, he invited Taixi lawyer. Li Hongzhang was convinced and immediately asked Ding Ruchang to do it. A few days later, a British lawyer was invited to defend China.

In late September, a large amount of evidence from the "Nagasaki Incident" negotiations showed that Japan was not responsible. However, Japan refused to admit its mistake and instead threatened China with "the risk of losing peace in the future." Under this circumstance, Xu Chengzu proposed to Li Hongzhang the strategy of conducting diplomatic struggles backed by force. However, Li Hongzhang believed that not long after the Sino-French War ended, the country was in financial difficulty and could not mobilize troops; the Nagasaki Incident was a minor event, and if troops were mobilized because of this, it might trigger a Sino-Japanese war. In the end, the Qing government did not agree to this reasonable strategy.

During this period, the Japanese side used delaying tactics and continuously requested new certificates, making it impossible for a large number of Chinese officers and soldiers to return home. At the same time, it had to pay high legal fees in an attempt to force China to no longer pursue the case. Under this circumstance, Xu Chengzu proposed the strategy of "mutual compensation and sympathizing with the more seriously injured", which was equivalent to finding a way out for the Qing government. It was the best alternative to the military strategy. However, the Japanese side still refused to take the responsibility, and Xu Yi was furious. He wrote to Li Hongzhang, believing that "there is no other way but to break off diplomatic relations." Although Li Hongzhang did not agree, he took the initiative to "suspend the trial", which was considered relatively stubborn.

Security management under multi-party game

Li Hongzhang was an important figure in charge of China's foreign diplomacy at that time. The reason why he adopted the initiative to "suspend the trial" strategy was that he did not agree with Xu Chengzu's "breaking off diplomatic relations" The strategy is to put a certain degree of pressure on Japan, and to avoid causing war between the two countries. This strategy did produce certain results, forcing Japan to re-examine the Nagasaki Incident.

Because blindly opposing China was not conducive to Japan's expansion in the Korean Peninsula, but created opportunities for Russia, and Japan's strength at the time was not enough to make China give in. At the same time, the United Kingdom and other Western powers acted in their own interests and did not want to see a confrontation between China and Japan, so they stepped in to mediate. On January 28, 1887, Japan announced its acceptance of the "heavier casualties than the more serious" response plan.

After several hours of discussion, Japan finally paid China more than 50,000 yuan in pension, while China only paid Japan more than 10,000 yuan, and Japan had to bear the medical expenses of the Chinese navy. The half-year-long "Nagasaki Incident" finally came to an end after a series of twists and turns after reaching a deadlock.

Two completely different decisions

The "Nagasaki Incident" happened suddenly and was an accidental event, but the direction of history has been changed by accidental events in many cases. At that time, the Chinese navy had the absolute upper hand, and the handling process and final results of the case also gave the Qing court some relief. Since then, it began to slow down or even stop the development of the navy. Subsequently, a large amount of military expenditures (about 13 million 2) Being transferred to the "Three Gardens Project" (the 60th birthday of Cixi Lafayette).

In stark contrast, the entire country of Japan regarded this incident as a great shame and a great humiliation, and quickly launched a nationwide "coastal defense donation campaign". The emperor took the lead in donating 300,000 yen to promote Naval strength. The most important thing is that the seven or eight years after the Nagasaki Incident was a period of rapid development in the world's naval military technology. Japan seized the opportunity, purchased and manufactured large quantities of new warships, and finally overtook China in one fell swoop before the Sino-Japanese War.

According to historical records, Japanese children at that time were divided into two groups when playing games, one was the Japanese fleet and the other was the Chinese fleet. It is also said that a man named Wu Daigoro stole a small dictionary from the Qing army and later discovered that it was a telegraph code book and deciphered the code.

Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, Japanese fur coat Mutsu Munemitsu deliberately translated the "First Letter of Severance of Diplomacy" into Chinese and gave it to the Chinese Minister in Japan Wang Fengzao. The next day, Wang sent a long telegram to the Qing court. After the Japanese intercepted it, they compared it carefully and completely deciphered the telegram code. From battles to negotiations, every move of the Qing court was under the control of Japan. How could it be invincible?

Xiang said: A trivial event changed the direction of history. This is the "butterfly effect" of history and the greatest charm of history!