"Awe of power but not moral?"
Zhu Hengjia thought for a while and said: "Then I directly decree that the fourth generation of the Edo shogunate's conquest general Tokugawa Ietsuna is the king of Japan, and order him to add Hyuga, Shimonoseki, Hirado, Kochi, Osaka and other places, and
How about I trade?"
During this period, the kings of Guangnan, King Annan, and the king of Korea were successively enfeoffed. They couldn't help but feel proud of the heavenly dynasty and rule over all nations, and they couldn't help but want to enfeoff the Japanese again.
"Absolutely not!"
Unexpectedly, Huang Zongyi, Zhou Hezhi, and Zhou Lingao all opposed it.
"Gentlemen, why is this?"
Huang Zongyi said: "Your Majesty, the Japanese have always been arrogant. Back then, Emperor Wanli defeated the Japanese army in Korea and sent an envoy to confer Toyotomi Hideyoshi as the king of Japan. Toyotomi Hideyoshi actually refused to accept the order and threw the edict on the ground. Now our military strength is strong
When it was still less than Wanli, the strength of the Tokugawa clan exceeded that of the Toyotomi clan. I am afraid that the Tokugawa family Tsuna may not be willing to accept the imperial title, but will lose the dignity of the Celestial Empire."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Hengjia sneered in his heart, sooner or later I will make the Japanese kneel down and beg for my imperial seal.
For a while, no one spoke, and the atmosphere was a little cold.
"Your Majesty," Zhou Lingao, the son of Pingyi Marquis Zhou Hezhi, suddenly said: "I think there is another reason why the Toyotomi clan refused to accept the Ming Dynasty. Japan's state system is different from ours, the Ming Dynasty. It is a country that believes in Shinto. Their names
The king above was neither the Toyotomi nor the Tokugawa clan, but the emperor. The emperor was said to be a descendant of Amaterasu. Although he had no power, his status was lofty. Although the Toyotomi clan controlled Japan at the time, if he accepted
The imperial edict issued by the King of Japan offended the emperor's dignity, and he was afraid that big names from all over the country would attack him, so he did not dare to listen to it."
So, Zhu Hengjia vaguely knew that the Japanese emperor had been passed down for more than two thousand years since the first Emperor Jimmu. He was indeed very influential among the Japanese.
After thinking for a while, he asked: "Who is the Emperor of Japan now? Can I designate this Emperor as the King of Japan? Can I designate the Tokugawa clan as the Duke of Japan?"
Zhou Lingao said: "Today's Emperor of Japan is the 110th generation Emperor Guangming. This is very difficult! The Emperor of Japan claimed that he was a descendant of God and refused to submit to others. Back then, Meng Yuan had an expedition to Japan and failed;
Emperor Gao, the great ancestor of our dynasty, also sent envoys to persuade him to surrender. At that time, Japan was in the period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Prince Huailiang of the Southern Dynasties actually beheaded his envoys. The sea was vast, and Taizu was helpless."
After Zhu Hengjia heard this, he frowned deeply, "So, it is impossible to let the Japanese increase trading ports?"
Zhou Lingao said with a smile: "That's not necessarily true. The Japanese like to make trouble the most. Why don't Your Majesty send someone to contact the powerful vassals in Japan and ask them to unite and force the Tokugawa clan to agree to increase trading ports?"
"Making a fuss? What is a 'yikui'?"
"Your Majesty, the Japanese don't understand etiquette, and they are different from our royal dynasty. They have no superiority or inferiority, and they like to suppress the superiors. The word 'yikui' originally means working together and uniting. Later it means those with low status, forming cliques.
In Japan, it is common for lower-level samurai to fight against their elders, for their elders to fight against daimyo, and for daimyo to fight against generals.
After listening to Zhou Lingao's words, Zhu Hengjia asked: "How does Zhou Qing know so clearly about Japan?"
Zhou Lingao said: "Your Majesty does not know something. My father has a long history with Shimazu Mitsuhisa, the lord of the Satsuma Domain of Japan. He once ordered me to worship Shimazu Mitsuhisa as his adoptive father, so he knows a lot about the affairs of this country."
"Oh?"
Zhu Hengjia became interested, stared at Zhou Hezhi with a smile, and asked: "How old is Marquis Pingyi and the Lord of Satsuma Domain, Shima Tsumitsu?"
"When I was forced to make a living and drifted on the sea, I did have a long history with Shimazu Mitsu," Zhou Hezhi blushed and replied. The so-called "forced to make a living and drifted on the sea", to put it bluntly, is to be a pirate. It comes naturally.
A little embarrassed.
"Okay, okay!"
Zhu Hengjia clasped his hands and laughed, "In this way, it will be left to the Pingyi Marquis and his son to contact the powerful vassals in Japan and force the Tokugawa clan to agree to increase trading ports. You must be careful in handling your errands and don't let me down!"
??
Japan is a strange country. It is not a big place but has many vassals. During the Edo shogunate period, more than 500 vassal states appeared. On average, there were about 270 vassals in each era, so
There is a saying that there are "three hundred feudal lords of the Edo shogunate".
However, although there are many vassal states, not many are worthy of the word "strong vassal". Satsuma Domain is definitely one of them. Until Japan invaded China in later generations, Satsuma warriors dominated Japan.
The Shimazu clan of the Satsuma Domain has always dared to fight, not afraid of the sky or the earth, and dared to confront the strong.
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi was at the height of his power, almost no one in Japan dared to stroke his beard. Shimazu Yoshihisa, the sixteenth generation head of the Shimadzu family, did not dare.
This Shimazu Yoshihisa is a fierce man. After inheriting the throne, he raised troops from a small place and successively conquered Satsuma Kingdom, Hyuga Kingdom, Ohsumi Kingdom, Higo Kingdom, Hizen Kingdom, Chikuzen Kingdom, Chikugo Kingdom, except
The Otomo clan of Bungo Kingdom conquered almost the entire Kyushu Island.
At this time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had become Kanbai (an ancient Japanese official, equivalent to the prime minister). At first glance, Shimazu was very crazy and wrote to him, asking him to cease the war. He refused to listen and continued ambitiously.
Attack Bungo Kingdom and plan to unify Kyushu Island.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi became angry and sent troops to intervene. The first time he sent 6,000 people, he was defeated; the second time he sent 150,000 people, he won.
Shimazu Yoshihisa was forced to become a monk, and passed the title of head of the family to his younger brother, Shimazu Yoshihiro, the seventeenth generation head. The Shimazu family's territory only left parts of Satsuma Kingdom, Osumi Kingdom and Hyuga Kingdom.<
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Shimazu Yoshihiro was also a fierce man. When he saw Toyotomi Hideyoshi's power, he immediately surrendered and followed Toyotomi Hideyoshi to make many military exploits. Toyotomi Hideyoshi went to Korea and fought against the Ming army. Other Japanese armies were defeated, but this island
Tsuyoshihiro and his son Shimazu Tadahashi defeated the famous Ming Dynasty general Li Rusong in the Battle of Sichuan in the Battle of Keichang.
Tokugawa Ieyasu saw that the Shimazu family was good at fighting, so he won over them and made Shimazu Tadashi the first generation lord of the Satsuma Domain. From then on, Carp Leap Dragon Gate became not only the lord, but also the lord of the feudal clan.
Each generation has become stronger than the last. The current lord of the Satsuma Domain is Mitsuhisa Shimazu, the son of Tadashi Shimazu. This man is ruthless and talented in politics. He is not only capable of fighting, but also attaches great importance to the development of finance and internal affairs. Under his rule, the Satsuma Domain has
It became a powerful vassal in Japan.
This man was so vicious that none of his relatives recognized him. Because of his struggle for power, he even killed his brother-in-law Shimazu Hisaki (the head of the branch clan) and Shimazu Hisakei (the elder of the family).
This man has political talent. The territory of the Satsuma Domain has many volcanoes and few arable fields. In order to survive, it has to engage in foreign trade and business. Unexpectedly, the Tokugawa shogunate implemented a national lockdown order, which suddenly greatly reduced the Satsuma Domain's income and reduced its finances.
Difficult.
Most people are often helpless when encountering this kind of situation, but Shimazu Mitsuhisa had a solution. He dealt with it in three ways: first, to reclaim wasteland and reward farming; second, to suppress the Ryukyu Kingdom and pass on the economic crisis; third, to exploit the Nagano gold mine.
We got through the difficulty quickly.
It's a shame that the Tokugawa shogunate seemed to be deliberately trying to overthrow the Satsuma clan, and actually banned the mining of the Nagano gold mine on the grounds that mining of too much gold and silver was not conducive to trade.
At this time, Satsuma Domain's finances were tight again. Shimazu Mitsuhisa had to call his retainers Shimazu Hisumichi and Kaguyama Hisamori for discussion.
"Jiutong, what is the output of illegally mined gold now?"
Shimazu Hisamichi knelt on the ground, not daring to raise his head, "My lord, the Tokugawa clan sent people to monitor day and night, and the output illegally harvested was less than one-tenth of the past."
"Jiushou, can we collect more taxes from the Ryukyu people?"
Huashan Jiu Shou also knelt on the ground and said, "Lord, the taxes we have levied are already very high. If we impose more taxes, I'm afraid the Ryukyu people will instigate them."
"Alas", Mitsuhisa Shimazu frowned deeply and sighed, "Is the Shimazu clan about to decline?"
This chapter has been completed!