After dinner, everyone was still drinking coffee and chatting in the small living room. Kenji Doihara smiled and said:
"I have long heard that Her Royal Highness Princess Liaoyang of the Ming Dynasty is an old friend of Tokyo. However, I have just come to the Ming Dynasty from Japan to take up the post of military attache and have not yet paid a visit to Her Highness in Nanjing. Tonight, Your Highness the Princess has condescended to come here. Please allow me to present a gift to Your Highness.
A gift, firstly, to show respect to His Highness, and secondly, His Highness has been away from the place where he grew up for a long time, and he misses his second homeland. With this thing by his side, I hope it can explain His Highness's longing for the place where he grew up. Please move it.
Walk to the study."
The "place of growth" and "second motherland" in his words was Japan. Fourteen Gege expressed her gratitude with a smile, but with some doubts in her heart, she got up and followed him to the study.
This is a large study room. In the middle of the study room, there is a large, exquisite Japanese-style screen.
The whole house is a Western-style bungalow, including the study room, and the decorations inside are also from Xishi. The only screen in the whole room is purely Japanese. The fourteen grids can be understood at a glance. Kenji Doihara wants to contribute
The gift I gave myself was this Japanese screen.
This screen is made and painted extremely beautifully. On it is a complicated picture of a lady admiring flowers, with the towering Mount Fuji in the distance. The entire screen is painted with traditional Japanese ukiyoe paintings, which is exquisite.
Although Shi Shigege grew up in Japan, she was not a talented poet and calligrapher like Zhu Yourong. She had no research on these cultural objects. She just felt that this thing was extraordinary and a very good thing. At least
It's better than the screen in my living room.
Sure enough, Kenji Doihara was very happy to see her looking at the screen intently. He immediately introduced to her how valuable this screen was, how high its artistic value was, what materials it was made of, what famous artists made it, and what master painted it.
How rare... Then, he very solemnly expressed his gift to Shi Shigege, saying that Her Royal Highness the Princess could send someone to pick it up tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or whenever it is convenient.
Shishi Gege also heard it, and Doihara's arrangement was quite decent. Since Shiba Gege's residence has been kept secret, of course it is not easy to "deliver it to your door". You can only wrap it up and wait for when Shiba Gege is convenient.
Send someone to get it.
Such a good thing, even though Shi Shigege was not a scholar, it was indeed pleasing to the eye, and he immediately nodded and accepted it with a smile.
Kenji Doihara was very happy. He didn't expect Shi Shigege to give him such face. The first step to win over the relationship went smoothly, and then Kenji Doihara started talking about business.
…
Even the Fourteenth Gege never expected that Kenji Doihara could say such a thing.
In other words, on behalf of Japan, I said this:
——The three families of Japan, Ming and Su divided up the Northern Qing Dynasty.
There was a map of China spread out on the desk, and Ken Doihara traced it with his fingers:
"Your Highness, please see, the initial idea is this... The Manchu and Mongolian areas east of Shanhaiguan and eastern Outer Mongolia will be protected by Japan sending troops to preserve an independent Manchu and Qing regime... The western Outer Mongolia and the northwest Huijiang will be included in
The scope of the Soviet Union...the largest remaining piece: the entire North China, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Uzbekistan, all included in the scope of the Ming Dynasty..."
As he said that, he raised his eyes and looked at Shi Shigege to observe her reaction.
Fourteen Gege was extremely surprised, but her expression was calm. She looked at the map calmly, without comment.
Doihara Kenji waited for a long time, smiled slightly, and said:
"Of course, this is just a preliminary idea, but the current war between the Ming and Qing Dynasties is at a deadlock. This is also the best way to break this deadlock and the Ming Dynasty to conquer the Central Plains as soon as possible and restore the sphere of influence during the Northern Ming Dynasty... Your Highness the Princess may ask
, why did Japan not first approach the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ming Dynasty for this kind of matter, but first secretly explained it to Her Royal Highness the Princess?"
Shi Shigege raised her eyes and glanced at him, still noncommittal. However, she obviously acquiesced to the question.
Doihara Kenji smiled and said:
"Two reasons: First, Her Royal Highness's special status makes it difficult to find someone like Her Royal Highness who can consider issues from the standpoints of the Ming, Qing, and Japanese countries, no matter in the Ming and Qing dynasties or in Japan.
Secondly, Her Royal Highness the Princess must have noticed that as I just said, I hope to maintain an independent Manchu Qing regime in Manchuria and Mongolia... At that time, in the eyes of the Empire of Japan, there is no one more suitable to serve as the Qing ruler than Her Royal Highness the Princess.
The Queen’s people…”
Shi Shigege felt a thump in her heart, and instantly tightened up, and the blood flow in her body accelerated.