What President Meng is most afraid of now is the British fleet and French fleet, helping the Japanese government forces transport troops from sea to Kyushu Island. In that case, I really don’t know when the war will be fought.

Here, the news that President Meng wanted to visit Europe and Li Hongzhang's usual contact with the British minister and the French minister were all effective.

In fact, when the British and French were far away from their homeland and had no benefits when they fought with the Chinese army several times, they would definitely not dare to start a war rashly.

In the past, during the Qing Dynasty, the reason why the British and French dared to provoke the Qing government at any time was that in many cases, they began to proceed without obtaining domestic permission.

The main reason is that it is too easy to take advantage. By the time they find out in China, they have already taken advantage of it. The domestic government is naturally happy. While commending it, it must be natural to expand the scale of the war in the hope of seizing more benefits.

But in the hands of the cute president, how many times have the British and French been beaten by the Chinese army?

Which time will it benefit?

Now let alone the British and French ministers who do not want to fight, even a small number of military officials in Japan are afraid of rashly getting involved in the war without domestic support and consent.

When the cute president was about to set off for Europe, Takamoto Saigo began to take action again.

This was within the expectations of the cute president.

Takamori Saigo was a ‘rebel’, and for Japan, he was even more a patriot.

When the Chinese army and the Japanese fought to the most difficult time, the cute president was afraid that the Saigo Takashi event would suddenly attack, but it was difficult for the Saigo Takashi army and the Japanese government forces to join forces.

Because of several major wars, the two sides became mortal enemies. Even if Takamoto Saigo wanted to give up his past grudges and join forces with the Japanese government forces, the Japanese government forces could not accept it, and Takamoto Saigo's subordinates would not agree.

Therefore, Takamoto Saigo could only wait until the Chinese army and the Japanese government forces had finished fighting before he could go forward.

The hometown of Saigo - also the territory of the Shimazu clan - is a major vassal, which covers not only the Satsuma Kingdom, but also the Osumi Kingdom and the southwestern part of the Hinata Kingdom.

Sitting on these three kingdoms - unified called the Satsuma clan - let the Shimazu clan rule the entire southern end of Kyushu Island - an area of ​​3   500 square kilometers.

This Shimazu territory is also one of the most densely populated areas in modern Japan: in the 1870s, about 760,000 people lived in the Satsuma clan.

At that time, there were only three vassals in Japan above this number: Kaga, Nagoya and Hiroshima.

The generals of the Tokugawa shogunate usually ranked the daimyo with the official rice harvest.

According to this standard, Shimazu clan had the second highest status in Japan at that time, second only to Kaga's Maeda clan.

In the center of Kagoshima Castle is Tsurumaru Castle, an extremely inconspicuous fortress built in 1602 and is the residence of the Daeme Shimazu Iku.

Rather than saying that Tsurumara Castle is a fortress, it is a villa.

The castle has a fenced central courtyard (Honmaru) and Uegu (Nimaru), but neither of these two layouts can see any designs made to resist a lasting attack.

Although the castle has a Ishigaki and a small moat, it lacks the tower that is common in Japanese castles from the late 16th and early 17th centuries - Tenmoe.

Take the Egret Castle located in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture as an example. With its magnificent landscape, this castle has now become a landmark for local tourist attractions.

Egret City has a six-story Tianshou and three small Tianshou, surrounded by moats, towers, stone walls and battlements.

The roads leading to the Egret City are tortuous and deceptive—the roads in the inner city form a maze of numerous dead ends.

On the contrary, the defense project of Tsurumaru Castle is at a minimum and is under-maintained.

A mid-18th century report on the castle commented exaggeratedly: "Although the diagrams of the city towers and the city walls show towers, walls and moats, these do not actually exist."

It was almost surprising to enter the castle and head straight: a small bridge was built on the moat, directly connecting the city walls with Kagoshima Castle.

The Shimazu family does not need a delicate and complex castle, because "the common people are their fortresses."

A dense network of castles defended Kagoshima from invaders and farmers living on the land: During the Takahiro Saigo period, hundreds of small fortresses were scattered on this land, called "outer city".

Tsurumara Castle has no defense projects because it is unnecessary: ​​With many fortresses spread throughout the vassal, a large central castle seems redundant.

The Shimazu family's rural fortress system was strictly a violation of Tokugawa's rule policy, because in 1615, the Tokugawa shogunate stipulated that a daimyo could only own one castle.

Shimazu's castle network means that Satsuma's countryside is continuously placed under samurai's surveillance.

In most vassals, the vast majority of samurai live in the city-south town of Daming, while the countryside enjoys some degree of self-management.

But in Satsuma, thousands of lower-level samurai live in the countryside, and even the most humble details of rural life become part of the samurai rules.

Just like all martial arts capitals, the layout of Kagoshima Castle follows an obvious hierarchical system.

Its center is the castle of Daming - the heart of the politics and administration of the vassal.

The closest to the castle are the government houses and the residences of elites among the famous retainers.

Next are the residences of slightly lower-level retainers, including middle-level government managers and staff.

Finally, there are residential areas for civilians, which stretch along the north and south sides of the city.

There lived craftsmen and merchants, and it was their activities that made urban life possible.

In a typical castle-town structure, such as the general's capital Edo, the city's hierarchy is like a concentric circle centered on the Daming castle.

Kagoshima is also similar to this model, but it is subject to terrain factors - there is Chaeshan to the west and Jinjiang Bay (Kagoshima Bay) to the east.

The mountain and the sea squeezed the standard concentric circle into strips.

Just in front of the castle is a spacious avenue, called "Thousand Stone Horse Field". According to an inaccurate but vivid translation, it can be called "Rich Avenue".

"Thousand stones" means one thousand stones, which represents the annual income of the residents of this street.

Some residents of the Thousand Stone Horse Farm can receive a salary of more than 10,000 shi.

If these people were not Shimazu but the general's direct retainer, they could become daimyos by virtue of their own rights and enjoy the right to visit the general.

The residents of Qianshi Horse Farm are senior consultants of Daming.

They came from famous families and had privileges close to Daming.

Some of these people were Daming's distant cousins, and some were descendants of Daming's younger brothers, whose residences could reflect their wealth and power.

The typical residence on the Thousand Stone Horse Field is the kind of courtyard surrounded by stone or plaster-painted walls.

It was not only the retainers and their families, but also their adjutants and servants.

In Satsuma, as in many vassals, the elite among the samurai are actually a separate class.

The cute president gave a clear reply to Takashi Saigo's provocation. The cute president had already handed over the entire Kyushu Island affairs to Li Hongzhang and did not want to speak directly, but this time, it was different.

"Don't take the initiative to maintain the stability and development of the land that has been obtained now." President Meng directly ordered.

Princess Katrina Kaifu said curiously: "Prince, Saigo Takaho's army is very weak, and it is not even as strong as the original elite of the Qing Dynasty's Huai Army. We can send a regiment at will, which is enough to defeat them. Why not take advantage of the opportunity to kill Saigo Takaho and seize the entire Kyushu Island?"

President Meng replied: "You can't kill Takamoto Saigo. Takamoto Saigo is a Japanese hero. The reason why I keep Takamoto Saigo is due to political needs. With Takamoto Saigo, the National People's Congress on the main island of Japan believes that Kyushu Island is Takamoto Saigo, so I will not firmly support the government forces."

Princess Katrina Kaif was a little confused, "But now, Takamoto Saigo has publicly opposed us? Wouldn't the people support Takamoto Saigo? What's the difference between supporting the Japanese government forces?"

President Meng laughed: "I can allow the Japanese people to support Takamoto Saigo, but I cannot allow them to support Emperor Meiji and unite around Emperor Meiji! Takamoto Saigo cannot become a climate because the corrupt nature of the samurai class determines that they are representatives of feudalism, just like the Qing court. Takamoto Saigo supports the capitalist economy to take root in Japan in the early stage, and later supports the samurai class to continue to dominate Japan's development. He is actually pushing the regression of Japanese history!"

Princess Katrina Kaf had a little understanding and smiled, "Your Majesty is far from thinking. I really didn't think so much. Indeed, Japan is so poor and it's useless to have a lot of places. As long as we defend patiently, Takaho Saigo's army has no way to deal with us. And Takaho Saigo's army cannot cooperate with the Japanese government forces. Unless they surrender to the Japanese government, this is impossible because they have disagreements. In this way, the dispute on Kyushu Island will no longer be a dispute between the Chinese and the Japanese government, but has become a dispute between the Chinese and Takaho Saigo. Your Majesty has improved the status of Takaho Saigo and recognized Takaho Saigo as a government."

"In fact, this is the case, but we cannot clearly recognize that Takaho Saigo is the government. In short, we must buy time, muddle the water, and permanently occupy Kyushu Island. This is our only purpose." President Meng smiled and said, "When you generate electricity, you must explain my meaning clearly to Li Hongzhang."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Princess Katrina Kaif quickly recorded the emperor's words.

The cute CEO thought for a while and said with a smile: "Actually, it's the same whether you say it or not. Li Hongzhang understands what I mean. I've told him before."
Chapter completed!