Autumn is crisp and cool, and Nanjing's autumn is beautiful. Huang Zongyi, the imperial censor of Youdu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhou Hezhi, the Marquis of Pingyi, and Zhou Lingao and his son, did not bother to stop and sit in the maple forest at night to admire the frost that is as red as February flowers. Ye. was hurriedly summoned to Dongnuan Pavilion on the east side of Qianqing Palace.
Huang Zongyi was surprised when he saw that he and Zhou Hezhi and his son were summoned together. He thought to himself: I am a civil servant and they are military generals. They are unrelated. Why did the Holy Master summon us together?
Unlike Huang Zongyi's secret thoughts, Zhou Hezhi was a straight-tempered person. He directly asked Cui Gui, the director of rituals and edicts who delivered the order, "Eunuch Cui, why has the Holy Father called me to do this?"
Cui Gui smiled and said, "How can our family (pronounced: "za" and "jia") know the thoughts of His Majesty?"
Zhou Lingao was more humane and sophisticated than his father Zhou Hezhi. He took out a piece of broken silver and secretly stuffed it into Cui Gui's sleeve, "Please ask my father-in-law for advice."
Cui Guile said, "We really don't know what the Holy Father is thinking. When Eunuch Ma asked us to summon him, we eavesdropped. It seems to have something to do with Japan."
The three of them suddenly realized that it was about Japan!
When they were under the command of Lu Jianguo, Huang Zongxi and Feng Jingdi went to Japan many times to beg for help; Zhou Hezhi also had a very good relationship with the Japanese when he was a pirate, and once asked his son Zhou Lingao to recognize King Sasma of Japan (the lord of Satsuma Domain in Japan) Shimazu Mitsuhisa was his adoptive father and also borrowed troops from Satsuma Domain many times.
It can be said that these three people are all "Japan experts" in Ming Dynasty.
Knowing what Emperor Guangwu wanted to ask them about, the three of them felt confident and came to Dongnuan Pavilion calmly and calmly.
During this period, Zhu Hengjia has been actively preparing for the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains. To defend the river, he must defend the Huaihe River, at least to conquer the Huaihe River Basin.
Before the soldiers and horses move, food and grass go first. When fighting a war, silver is the only thing to be fought. Although the major granaries of the Department of Supervision and Reserves of the Ministry of Household Affairs are now full, and the amount of silver in the national treasury has reached more than three million taels, when a big war starts, , those who are rich in gold and silver, need a lot of money.
Zhu Hengjia felt that it was necessary to think of ways to get more money, so he thought of Japan. Yes, Japan. Japan in this era was extremely rich, a bit similar to Saudi Arabia in later generations. However, they did not produce oil, but gold and silver. In Japan at that time, daimyo from all over the world developed more than 50 gold mines and more than 30 silver mines. Among them, silver production accounted for a quarter of the world's total.
The more money you have, the more confidence you have! Back then, Lu Jianguo sent people to Japan to beg for help. The Japanese were unwilling to send troops, but they were willing to give money. The gold and silver in their treasury could not be piled up, and there were many broken copper coins that had no place to put them, so they gave them away. Lu Jianguo's financial pressure has been slightly relieved.
Zhu Hengjia thought, if he exchanged Chinese silk and porcelain for Japanese gold and silver, wouldn't it be able to greatly enrich the Ming Dynasty's treasury? In history, it seems that Zhu Chenggong did this.
As soon as I got to know them, I realized that doing business with the Japanese was not that simple. At this time, Japan had already begun to implement a national lockdown order.
Seoguo, which actually means the same thing as the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban, was the foreign policy implemented by the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan's Edo period. Since the first seclusion order was issued in 1633, five consecutive seclusion orders have been issued.
The country is under lock and key. If you want to do business with the Japanese and make money from them, it will be difficult!
The Japanese currently only do business with specific countries and in specific places. Only the Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty, and the Dutch are allowed to trade in Nagasaki; the Tsushima Domain trades with Korea; the Satsuma Domain trades with the Ryukyu Kingdom; the Matsumae Domain trades with Ezo
.Other than that, no foreign merchant ships are allowed to enter other parts of Japan for trade, and they will be sunk.
There are two main reasons why the Tokugawa shogunate implemented the lockdown order.
First, externally, in order to prevent the spread of Catholicism. Since the Dutch came to Japan to do business, many Japanese have begun to believe in Catholicism. Even some daimyo (Japanese call lords lords, and big lords are called "daimyos", which is equivalent to China's
princes), such as the Daimyo Otomo Sorin of Bungo Kingdom, who also converted to Catholicism. His Buddhist name was Sorin, and after converting to Catholicism, his baptismal name was: Puran Shijiku. How is this possible? It doesn’t sound like Japanese at all.
!Forgetting one’s ancestors after reading the classics seriously threatens the rule of our Tokugawa family. We must lock down the country and reduce contact with foreigners.
Second, internally, it restrained the strength of the southwest vassals. The southwest vassals were close to the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, and North Korea, so they benefited more from foreign trade. The huge commercial taxes gave them money to recruit troops and fight against the shogunate.
For example, the Satsuma Domain controls Satsuma Kingdom, Osumi Kingdom, parts of Hyuga Kingdom, and the Ryukyu Kingdom; the Choshu Domain controls Shufang Kingdom and Nagato Kingdom; the Hizen Domain controls Hizen Kingdom; and the Tosa Domain controls Tosa Kingdom.
, all of them have strong soldiers and horses.
If these daimyo have a good relationship with the Tokugawa family, then that's fine. The problem is not. When Tokugawa Ieyasu ended the Warring States Period and was named the first general to conquer the barbarians, Japan entered the Edo shogunate era from the Azuchi-Momoyama era. He was an old man.
The feudal names were assigned according to the quality of their relationship. Those with good relationships, such as the "Gosan Family", were granted a title near Edo; those with a bad relationship were granted a title far away from Edo. The southwestern vassals were thousands of miles away from Edo.
, the relationship with the Tokugawa Shogunate can be imagined.
If relations are not good, how can we make them rich and raise troops? Therefore, this country must be locked up.
Zhu Hengjia asked the three people: "I called all the ministers here to ask about trade with Japan. I want to send envoys to Japan to ask the Tokugawa clan to open more ports besides Nagasaki to trade with Japan.
I trade. I use my silk, porcelain, and tea from the Ming Dynasty in exchange for gold and silver from Japan for military pay. What do you think?"
Huang Zongyi frowned and replied: "Your Majesty, this matter is estimated to be difficult to handle. The Tokugawa shogunate despises our court very much, so it may not agree to it!"
"You despise our Ming Dynasty? Didn't I hear that the Tokugawa family has always been very respectful to our Ming Dynasty since the first shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. How can you despise our Ming Dynasty?"
Zhu Hengjia was stunned. Before time travel, he was a history buff. He knew that the Tokugawa shogunate had been friendly to the Ming Dynasty since Tokugawa Ieyasu and was not very fond of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Why did Huang Zongyi say that they despised the Ming Dynasty? Are historical records inaccurate?
Tokugawa Ieyasu was completely different from Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After the victory in the Battle of Sekigahara, he began to rule all of Japan. As soon as he came to power, he devoted himself to restoring diplomacy with the Ming Dynasty and restoring the joint trade. It can be said that he took great pains.
He released the Ming Dynasty hostages He Yingchao, Wang Yang, Chen Wendong, Wang Jiangong and others who were detained in Japan, and submitted a peace proposal letter with very respectful language; in 1606, he instructed Shimazu Yoshihisa to write a letter to Ryukyu King Shangning, asking him to help
In mediating between the Ming Dynasty and Japan, the book mentioned that "China and Japan have not been able to trade ships for more than thirty years. My general is worried and wants to keep my family in talks with your country, and every year
Merchant ships are in your country, and the currency wealth of Ming and Japanese merchants"; in 1610, Honda Masazumi wrote to Chen Zizhen, the governor of Fujian, and left the word "Ming" and "Zhonghua" blank in the letter.
, even wrote "the emperor of tomorrow" on a new line to show respect. In the letter, he called the Ming Dynasty "China" and "Da Ming", and called Japan a "bang" and "a small country"; in 1611, the order
The King of Ryukyu sent an envoy to the Ming Dynasty; in 1612, he again ordered Ryukyu to communicate with Fujian to discuss trade matters between Japan and the Ming Dynasty; in 1613, he ordered Iehisa Shimazu to write to the governor of Fujian in the name of the King of Ryukyu, requesting trade with the Ming Dynasty.
These all express the Tokugawa family's respect for the Ming Dynasty. How could they despise the Ming Dynasty?
Huang Zongyi blushed when he heard Zhu Hengjia's question. This was all caused by going to Japan to beg for a teacher!
The Ming Dynasty has always been regarded by the Japanese as a sovereign state. However, Lu Jianguo sent envoys to Japan many times to beg for reinforcements, but the reinforcements were not received. Instead, the Ming Dynasty was completely disgraced.
The Japanese underestimated the Ming Dynasty.
Huang Zongyi clearly remembers that that year, he and Feng Jingdi went to Japan to beg for help. Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third shogunate of the shogunate, placed them in the residence. Feng Jingdi refused to stay and cried in court for fourteen days.
, day and night. This is a scene imitating Shen Baoxu's crying at the Qin court. I thought it would arouse the sympathy of the Japanese. Unexpectedly, the Japanese believe in strong men and hate the tears of grown men. When they see this, they all laugh.
Of.
Tokugawa Iemitsu reported the matter to his father Tokugawa Hidetada. Tokugawa Hidetada said: "In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Hu Weiyong rebelled. Our country was not involved in it, but the Ming Dynasty actually thought that our country was colluding with it and falsely accused me of going too far. Now Ming Dynasty
If the dynasty is destroyed, what does it matter to Japan? Now that the country is stable and the people are happy, why bother to cross the sea to start an army?" Tokugawa Iemitsu told Feng Jingdi with these words.
I mean, I have to return to China.
"Your Majesty, the Japanese are afraid of power but not moral. The reason why they despise our country is because they went to Japan to beg for help." Huang Zongxi said with a red face.