Chapter 1097: Embassy Crisis

  Chapter 1076 – Embassy Crisis
“According to the news coming from the embassy in St. Petersburg, ever since the outbreak of the conflict in the Far East, anti-Japanese sentiment has continued to rise in the Russian Empire’s civil society.

Many in the Czar’s government are advocating tough measures against us, and the war-mongering faction is so inflamed that the possibility of starting a war cannot be ruled out.

The international community has shown great indifference to the conflict between us and the Russians, and, with the exception of the British, who have verbally expressed their support, most of the countries are in a state of mind to watch the spectacle.”

Inoue Xin said helplessly.

Since the rise of fanatical nationalism, the Japanese government was not a good official, and the foreign minister who was responsible for dealing with international affairs, that was even a hot potato.

Civilian radicals look at the problem, do not use the brain at all, things are never hot-headed, ambition and strength is seriously imbalanced.

Against this backdrop, the foreign minister is often the one who takes the blame, and in the eyes of the public, is the equivalent of a “traitor”.

No matter who goes up, it is the same, you know that after the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, as a great contributor to the Ito Hirobumi was almost put to death as a traitor of the country.

If you don’t have a strong heart, you can’t do such a challenging job.

No matter how strong the heart is, in the face of the current international situation, Inoue Xin also felt numb.

In the international context of two opposing powers, even though he had too many dragon slaying techniques, there was no room for them to be utilized.

Since he was following the British, there was no need to expect to be able to curry favor with Shinra. It was human instinct to cling to the strong, and there was nothing wrong with following Britannia, the most powerful navy, as a sea power country.

The crux of the problem lay with the Boss. In recent years, somehow, the British boss suddenly became ineffective, gradually losing ground in international competition.

First, it lost the lead in the second industrial revolution, then lost control of the European continent, and now even the hegemony of the Royal Navy is shaky.

Maritime hegemony was impacted thanks to the world tour of the Shinra Navy. Any country that has ever conducted joint maneuvers together knows the difference between a super battleship and a traditional battleship.

The British were a step behind in this, and even though their dreadnoughts were launched, they suffered from a bad habit because of the rush.

Just like the earliest “Rome”, it is fine to put it at home to support the appearance, but it is not good once it is driven out.

In this context, although the British also have a super battleship, that can only look at the Shen Luo Navy around to stir up the wind and clouds, to establish prestige.

Falling into the eyes of the people, this is the performance of the navy backwardness, at least in the warship construction technology of the British is another step slow.

The saying of “boom and bust” is not popular in the European world, but it is well known in East Asia. The previous seizure of the Philippines was based on this judgment.

What worries Inoue even more is that the British are not only falling behind in technology, economy, and military, but also in diplomacy, which is their best skill.

When the boss’s diplomacy can’t even be played, it’s even harder for the little brother’s diplomacy to unfold. In this Europe-is-the-center era, who knows that Japan is the onion ah?
In order to change this diplomatic passive situation, Japan’s domestic outbreak of a comprehensive westernization movement, namely: “from Asia to Europe” movement, as foreign minister Inoue Xin is the leader of this strategy.

Ito Hirobumi: “The matter is not that serious, it is just a diplomatic conflict, the Russians are not ready to start a war over it.

The current international situation is very polarized, with Britain and Shinra opposing each other, and the Russian Empire, which is in a secondary position, looks powerful, but in fact they are very embarrassed.

According to reason, the Russian-Australian alliance lasted for decades, the Russians should support the god Luo is right, but they are in the same European continent, but also happens to be neighbors.

One mountain can’t accommodate two tigers, and the European continent can’t accommodate two big countries. Once Shinra defeated Britannia, the Russian Empire would not be able to move forward.

From the perspective of the strategy of attacking from afar, it was the best choice for Britain and Russia to form an alliance to deal with Shinra. After all, Russia and Austria are land-based countries, while the British are sea-based countries.

Even if Britain won the hegemony, it could not threaten the survival of the Russian Empire, and vice versa.

It is the case that Britain and Russia have deep-seated grudges, not something that can be resolved if they want to, and the two sides lack the most basic trust, so there is no basis for an alliance at all.

At this point in time, no matter who they support is not in the interests of the Russian Empire, but they have to take sides, otherwise London and Vienna will not be assured.

This is a big trouble, in the absence of a solution to this problem, the tsarist government is not going to make trouble.

Besides, with the power of the Russians in the Far East, it was not enough to start a war. Once a war breaks out, logistics alone will be able to drag them to death.”

After listening to Ito Hirobumi’s explanation, Emperor Meiji’s face visibly soothed a lot. Because of the butterfly effect, the current Japan was not as lucky as the original time.

Although it had gained a lot from the war against the Far Eastern Empire, there was an additional money-losing Philippine War, and the size of the navy was much larger than the same period in history.

All of these cost money, and the war reparations plundered were taken to fill these two huge pits, so naturally there was less money for domestic development, and the national strength was much weaker than at the same time in history.

The most direct reaction is in the financial. Financial balance is not even dare to think, can not do financial bankruptcy, it is eight million gods blessed.

And the Russians against, not only military pressure, financial pressure is even greater.

From this aspect, Japan and Russia are also similar, both are poor countries whose pockets are cleaner than their faces.

Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu: “Ito-kun, this is just an inference from normal circumstances, but don’t forget that the Russian Empire is often abnormal.

I’ve studied Russian history, and many times the Tsarist government made decisions without thinking.

The most famous one is Peter III, who directly cut off the Russian Empire’s path to the west by backing the alliance and aiding the Prussians because of his personal preference.

The lesser known ones are even more, including several wars in the modern Russian Empire, which can hardly be considered sensible.

Including Nicholas the Great, who was doubly revered by the Russians, blindly launched the Near Eastern War, although in the end he captured the Constantinople region and seemingly won the war.

But from the price paid by the Russian Empire, we know that this is a lose-lose war, the Russians won only face.

The next Alexander II was similar, blindly going to war with Prussia without carefully weighing the pros and cons.

In the end, he did win the war, but the price he paid was that the Russian Empire fell from the top powers to the second tier.

……

In short, the Tsarist government makes decisions that we cannot judge by common sense, or we will suffer a great loss.”

It’s a shock when you don’t analyze it. Running into a competitor who had a habit of not following common sense would make anyone’s scalp numb.

As a matter of fact, the law of inference of interest itself is not valid. It is true that interests come first between countries, but the rulers are still human beings. Since they are human beings, they cannot be absolutely rational.

Very often, the personal preferences and sensibilities of politicians are equally capable of influencing government decisions, especially in feudal monarchies.

There is no doubt that the Russian Empire was a typical feudal monarchy. Even the reforms of Alexander II did not change this nature.

It cannot be said that the monarch’s personal will shapes the decisions of the state, but the influence of the monarch’s personal feelings on the decisions of the state is indisputable.

The most typical example is the anti-Japanese faction at the top of the Russian Empire, and there were very few pro-Japanese creatures in the Tsarist government.

For no other reason than the two scars on Nicholas II’s body. That alone was enough to make everyone hate the Japanese Empire.

It’s also politically correct. If someone assassinates the monarch you’re loyal to, if you’re still indifferent, do you still want to be in the business?

You reap what you sow. Like it or not, the Japanese government will have to pay for its previous mistakes.

Of course, the crowd thought of more. It seems that the Tsarist government’s recent decades of poor decision-making have ended up with Austria picking up the tab.

No wonder they do not think more, once can be a coincidence, two or three times the coincidence, that would be too much coincidence.

Thinking about it, everyone is now able to do, actually not much. They are able to see the problem, others can also find the problem.

Including the top echelons of the Tsar’s government, which had also discovered the problems. Otherwise, it would not be the case that the first thing that every tsar did when he succeeded to the throne was to try to get rid of the dependence on Vienna.

No one wants to be led around by the nose, least of all the unruly hairy bear.

But the reality and the ideal gap is a little far, really if you let them cut their own knife, cut off the link between Russia and Austria and they can not make up their mind.

Since they can’t be separated, they can only be careful when making decisions to avoid being led off the beaten track.

After all, this kind of influence are secretly carried out, the surface of the Vienna government and did not do anything.

Even if you step on the pit, the tsarist government can only hit the teeth to swallow inside the stomach. Externally that can never be admitted, really if the lid, that can only prove their own incompetence.

……

Both governments were trying to find ways to avoid war, and the Japanese government did just slightly more to strengthen its defenses against the Russians.

But the private sector was a different story; anti-Japanese sentiment was high in the Russian Empire, and anti-Russian sentiment was equally strong in Japan.

Looking out at the blackened crowd of protesters, the staff of the Russian embassy in Japan, not even dare to go out to buy groceries.

The incessant cursing from morning to night seemed to be never-ending, causing Minister Fotoriak to be on fire.

“Dial the Japanese Foreign Ministry.”

The staff member suggested in a low voice, “Your Excellency the Minister, the phone lines have been cut, why don’t we send a telegram?”

It could be seen that Minister Vtoriak was still very prestigious within the embassy, and the staff did not dare to stab at all.

Minister Ftoriak roared, “Then why are you still standing here, don’t you hurry up and send it!”

Just after roaring, Ftoriak realized that he slipped up. Since you want to send a telegram naturally have content, they did not say anything, the following work naturally have to wait.

“I’m sorry, Frank. I didn’t mean it, I was just confused by the Japanese just now.

The commotion outside is so big, I don’t believe the Japanese government doesn’t know. Knowing that someone is causing trouble and not stopping it is a provocation to the great Russian Empire.

Tell the guards to get ready, as long as someone dares to cross the border, there’s no need to give me the courtesy.”

There was no doubt that the last sentence was just gaslighting. If they dared to shoot, the people below would have done so long ago.

After a pause, Vtoriak continued, “Inform the country of the situation we are facing, and by the way, invite the embassies of all countries in Japan to join in pressuring the Japanese government.

Notify the Japanese Foreign Ministry and order them to expel the troublemakers in two hours, or else ……”

Or else what, Vtoriak himself is not sure.

Diplomatic blackmail was also divided into objects, not that Japan could not be blackmailed. The crux of the matter was that the Russian Empire’s power in the Far East simply could not scare the Japanese.

This kind of stern warning diplomatic note, if replaced by Shinra or Britain to send, I guess there are still a few points of deterrence, as for the Russian Empire is still a little bit worse.

However, Minister Fotoriak is not worried, here is the embassy district, and not only a Russian embassy, a few hundred meters away there are Britain and Shinra’s embassy.

Outside the commotion is so big, affected not only their family, surrounded by the neighbors are also not good.

If it was for the sake of watching, it was enough to make a fuss for so long. Even for the sake of a peaceful night’s sleep, everyone will put pressure on the Japanese government.

In Japan, there is no shortage of extremists. Ordinary Japanese can’t tell the difference in looks between Europeans, but it’s all white people together.

If things get out of hand, no one will have a good time. Misadventures are all too common.

“There was a bang.

“What’s that sound?”

Vtoriak was sure it wasn’t a gunshot, bullets didn’t fire like that, he had experience with that.

Besides, those who could serve as embassy guards were not fools, and even if they despised the Japanese no matter how much, they knew where this was.

If there are hundreds or thousands of Russian troops stationed here, then naturally there is no need to say, directly dry right.

Unfortunately, there were only a dozen or so guards at the embassy. Compared to the black crowd of protesters outside, it’s really insignificant, even if they have guns in their hands.

People under the roof, have to bow their heads. In the case of the strength gap, even if the inner no matter how angry, but must first be held back.

“The glass is broken, someone threw stones into the embassy.”

This was just the beginning. People are blind followers, and as long as someone takes the lead in anything, there will be no shortage of followers.

A time of crackling sounds rang out, and the rocks that came flying were not only capable of shattering glass, but were likewise capable of injuring people.

The situation was heading towards chaos, the frenzy was ignited, and everyone’s guts were getting bigger and bigger.

No one noticed that just a few hundred meters away, a blackened gun barrel was aimed at the protesting crowd.

“Aim and shoot at the one holding the flag, the discernment should be higher.”

……

(End of chapter)