It is true that Westerners are a country of tigers and wolves.
But the Ming Dynasty... is not necessarily a so-called good country.
It is impossible not to have the slightest ambition for Japan!
You must know that when they visited the Ming Dynasty, they witnessed with their own eyes how Paraguay was incorporated into the Ming Dynasty.
A country just disappeared. Even the Paraguayans themselves took the initiative. Of course, there were not many Paraguayans left at that time.
Facing Yin Teng's objection, Okubo Toshimichi said directly.
"If Japan is destined to perish, at least it will be merged into the Ming Dynasty, and we can still become Ming people! But if Japan becomes a colony of the British, then we will be slaves of the Western monsters, just like the Indians, they are in their own
In our country, we are third-class citizens without any rights.”
Why Okubo Toshimichi became a supporter of Asuka and Bong? Essentially, it was the lesser of two powers that harmed each other. When he visited Daming, he witnessed the merger of Paraguay into Daming. Paraguayans became Daming people. They are the same as Daming people.
, enjoy the same rights.
But what about in India?
India under British colonial rule was nothing more than a group of enslaved third-class citizens. As colonized rulers, they had no rights, let alone wealth and power!
India is just a source of raw materials and a dumping market in the British colonial system. The British don't care about the life or death of Indians. They just exploit India to the fullest.
This is the attitude of Westerners towards colonies. If Japan becomes a colony, it may not be much better than India. It may even lead a more miserable life than Indians.
Because at least India still has resources to exploit, but Japan has nothing.
In such a comparison, he certainly prefers the former. At least the former, the Japanese are still human beings.
But what about the latter?
Then you will really have nothing. Not only will you have nothing, but you will also become a slave to the Westerners.
"And does Japan have any other options now?"
"But we are not sure yet that the British will side with the Tokugawa family."
Yamaguchi Naakata, as the foreign minister, said hesitantly.
"We can't just assume that just because the British sent their warships to Osaka, they want to occupy Japan, right?"
"By the time they really want to occupy Japan, it will be too late. If we cannot ask Ming Dynasty for help immediately, by this time next year, we may not even have a chance to ask for help."
Okubo Toshio said in a rather serious tone.
"We must seize the opportunity before us. If we hesitate for a moment, we will all be Japan's sinners."
"Sinners? Doesn't it mean that we are not sinners if we surrendered Japan to the people of the Ming Dynasty?"
"The Koreans have been in the Ming Dynasty for so many years, but they have never seen North Korea disappear! Isn't North Korea a ready-made example in front of us?"
Okubo Toshimichi directly launched North Korea. In his opinion, Japan did not want to be merged into the Ming Dynasty. The best option for Japan was to be like North Korea and surrender to the Ming Dynasty. In this way, it could obtain the full protection of the Ming Dynasty.
After all, there are ready-made examples to follow.
"That's completely different."
Yin Teng Bowen said loudly.
"We need to know that the current Ming Empire is not the Ming Dynasty in the past. If we surrender to them now, they may directly merge the Ming Dynasty into their country. By then..."
Before he could finish speaking, Okubo Toshimichi interrupted him directly.
"There is no need to think about what happened at that time. Let's think about the present first. What should we do now? Tell me, what should Japan do now?"
what to do?
Faced with the predicament before them, these most outstanding figures in Japan suddenly became a little confused. After all, in interactions between countries, strength is relied upon, and Britain has an overwhelming strength advantage.
In front of Britain, Japan is just a fish on the board. What choice do they have now?
There is only the choice of mermaid!
Faced with everyone's dispute, Iwakura Tomomi said.
"In my opinion, we should communicate with the British minister and ask them what they want to do. By the way, we should express our protest to them. How can they interfere in Japan's internal affairs?"
Iwakura Tomomi felt a little heavy. How could those British interfere in Japan's internal affairs so treacherously? Didn't they know that the Tokugawa family was in the past?
After Iwakura Tomomi made this decision, he even personally summoned the British Minister to Japan Parkes, the same guy who was imprisoned in the Qing Dynasty for refusing to kneel and caused the burning of the Old Summer Palace.
When he expressed his protest to the British for not interfering in Japan's internal affairs because the British sent a fleet to visit Osaka, Parkes gave a direct answer.
"Your Excellency, the attitude of the UK has always been very clear. We are willing to maintain a good cooperative relationship with any party in Japan. This first requires making sure that they are willing to cooperate with the UK."
Parkes had received direct instructions from London. According to London's secret telegram, Britain would side with the Tokugawa family and Saigo. They wanted a divided Japan, not a unified Japan.
As for the reform government, these people are more inclined to cooperate with the Ming Dynasty, so naturally they are not within the scope of the British consideration.
From London's point of view, it is not impossible to split Japan into two halves or more. Once the Ming Dynasty seeks allies in East Asia, it will only be able to win over one of them due to the hostility between the Tokugawa family and the Restoration government. Britain can at least win over them.
Keep one; if you look at it on the bright side, the British goal is to stop Ming expansion in Japan.
From the UK's perspective, this will pay the smallest price, but will yield the most generous rewards.
Parkes' answer made Iwakura Tomomi couldn't believe his ears.
What does this mean in UK?
Do they really want to annex Japan, as Okubo Toshimichi suspected?
The answer is obvious.
That day, after a fierce debate, Iwakura Tomomi finally made the final decision-to invite the Ming fleet to visit Japan.
Why was the Ming Dynasty fleet invited to visit Japan?
This was also the little thought Iwakura had in mind. In their opinion, as long as the Ming army did not enter Japan, it would be impossible to lure the wolf into the house.
Inviting the navy of the Ming Dynasty can also help Japan deter the British navy that is visiting Osaka. In other words, it wants to use the power of the Ming Dynasty to deter the British and prevent the British from arbitrarily and unreasonably interfering in Japan's internal affairs.
Of course, what he doesn't know is where all this will lead in the end?
It's like he doesn't even know that Britain's policy towards Japan has undergone a fundamental change.
In international affairs, the fate of small countries is often influenced by big countries, and now Japan is unfortunately the one being influenced. It's just that they are in it, and they don't know all this, and they just passively follow their instructions.
Therefore, it is a way of self-preservation, trying to protect oneself in this chaotic world of tigers and wolves.
But they didn't know that their invitation only further confirmed the British speculation that Ming Dynasty's expansion target was Japan.
…
When receiving the invitation from the other side of the ocean, Emperor Zhu Da had been sitting there quietly.
In fact, he doesn't have much ambition for Japan.
Rather than annexing Japan, he preferred to use the Japanese as consumables for the empire to help Ming Dynasty develop its great cause in Africa.
This is definitely not an African warning, but a realistic need, just like the British used Indians to achieve their expansionary rule in Africa.
The expansion of the Ming Empire also required its own consumables. In fact, before that, the Ming Dynasty could also obtain these numbers, just like now. There are many unemployed warriors who are willing to come to the Ming Dynasty to serve as the empire's consumables and serve the Ming Dynasty in Africa.
.
But such consumables are consumables from other countries after all. With Japan's innovation, those people will eventually have national consciousness. Will they still be loyal to the Ming Dynasty in the future?
This is a question that Emperor Zhu Da had to think about.
In comparison, what is the final choice? It is to allow Ming Dynasty to become the ruler of the land in Japan. Even if it is a nominal ruler, it can step by step turn it into the land of Ming Dynasty since ancient times.
He has been planning for this for a long time. But now? Things are progressing more smoothly than he imagined. Just like now, Japan's reform elites are holding Japan to the door with both hands.
Inviting the fleet to visit is just the first step. They want to use the power of the Ming Dynasty to intimidate the British, but in the end they will find that just using the power will have no effect.
After all, the British have now changed their attitude towards Japan. In this case, Japan does not have much choice at all. Either accept its fate. Or... there will be nothing to do with the Japanese.
Emperor Zhu Da believed that the outstanding elites of Japan's reform would eventually make their choice, after all, they had no choice at all.
Emperor Zhu Da had to sigh with emotion.
"Sometimes luck comes and it's so hard to stop it."
Originally, according to Zhu Xianhai's plan, he was prepared to wait until the Japanese civil war started in full swing, when the so-called reform government was about to collapse, before sending troops into Japan and using force to help Japan achieve peace.
Then what?
Of course, the Ming Dynasty could stand on the stand of helping Japan and send Japan's laid-off samurai to Africa in the name of peace. There is an extremely vast world there, and there must be a place for those people to use themselves.
Those people will marry local indigenous women there, start families, and eventually take root in the area, becoming an indispensable helper in the Ming Empire's imperial cause. Of course, at the same time, there will be millions of Japanese women
Coming to the Ming Dynasty as workers, they will also take root in the Ming Dynasty, marry the men of the Ming Dynasty and start a family...
In this process, Ming Dynasty was the final winner. As for Japan... Japan's destiny will be deeply changed at that moment.
But what about now?
Before the plan was fully launched, the Japanese were so proactive and cooperative that they offered up their country with both hands.
"We cannot let down the sincerity of the Japanese people."
Emperor Zhu Da said again when he was talking to himself.
"Well, people like Yin Teng Bowen can still be used. In the future, give them more opportunities to become naturalized people of the Ming Dynasty! Otherwise, I will really be sorry for their daring loyalty to the Ming Dynasty."
This chapter has been completed!