After passing through Otemon, Shi Heng and Shi Qiao in Tsurumaru Castle, Zhou Hezhi and Zhou Lingao were welcomed into the quiet room.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa and Shimazu Tsunahisa knelt down to greet them.
"Kneeling" is called "seiza" in Japan, which is the most formal way of sitting. Kneel down on both knees, put your buttocks on your heels, and keep your thumbs and even the soles of your feet overlapping.
This sitting posture is very similar to the sitting posture in the Qin, Han and Jin dynasties of China. After the Five Husties, stools were introduced to China. By the Ming Dynasty, kneeling was no longer popular. People in the Ming Dynasty sat on stools in daily life and formal occasions.
"Brother, Gao'er, please sit down quickly. Come and serve the tea." Mitsuhisa Shimazu was very polite and ordered the tea to be served.
In fact, before the Muromachi period, the Japanese, like the Koreans, did not sit on their knees, but in the cross-legged position. With the popularity of the tea ceremony, because tea needs to be tasted in a small quiet room, kneeling is most suitable.
Two tea boys, one each, served Zhou Hezhi and Zhou Lingao to taste tea.
At this time in Japan, Matcha tea ceremony was popular among the upper class nobles.
The tea boy lights a charcoal fire, bakes and dries the cake tea on the fire, grinds it into powder with a natural stone mill, and pours it into the tea bowl. Then boil water, pour it into the tea bowl, stir it thoroughly with a tea spoon to produce foam, and you can drink it.
Ordering tea, making tea, brewing tea, and serving tea, the whole process is very complicated.
In fact, the original process was more troublesome, so troublesome that people didn't want to drink it. At the end of the 16th century, the Japanese tea sage Sen no Rikyu simplified the tea ceremony process and focused more on the spirit of "harmony, respect, purity, and silence". Thanks to him, it became more convenient.
Many.
Tea boys have received special training, and all their postures are beautiful.
Zhou Hezhi and Zhou Lingao secretly praised that they are both "Japanese experts" and know how to drink Japanese tea.
Skillfully take the tea with both hands, express thanks, turn the tea bowl three times, taste it lightly, drink slowly, and return it. Although the posture is slow, the time is not long. I finish it in three sips, and drink the last sip to show that it tastes good, and order again at the end.
Drink half a sip of water to show your love. After drinking the tea, you have to taste the tea set for a while. Then the guests and hosts talk about business.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa spoke: "Brother, come to our Tsurumaru Castle, but do you want to borrow troops and horses to restore the Ming Dynasty?"
Zhou Hezhi straightened his back and said with a smile: "Today is different from the past. My dear brother is well-informed. You should know that our Ming Dynasty has recovered the entire great rivers and mountains south of the Yangtze River. Now we have strong soldiers and horses, and are preparing to expedition to the north to conquer the Qing Dynasty and drink in the Central Plains.
There is no need to borrow troops from Japan."
"Oh", Shimazu Mitsuhisa suddenly became three points more humble. The Japanese are like this. They are very polite on the surface, but if you are not as good as him, he will look down on you. If you are better than him, he will be willing to be your little brother.
"Then what's the matter with brother coming here?"
"My Majesty, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, ordered Brother Yu to go to Japan and ask General Tokugawa Ietsuna to open additional ports such as Hyuga, Shimonoseki, Hirado, Kochi, and Osaka to trade with our Ming Dynasty. Brother Yu thought that this matter would be very beneficial to my brother, so I came here.
Please help me, dear brother."
Mitsuhisa Shimazu said with a smile: "Brother is joking. Although the Tokugawa clan implemented the Seclusion Order, our Shimazu clan actually controls the Ryukyu Kingdom. We can trade with the Ming Dynasty, North Korea and other countries through the Ryukyu Kingdom to avoid the impact of the Seclusion Order. At present, Japan
China's foreign trade is actually in the hands of the Tokugawa family and I, the Shimazu family.
If so many ports are opened at once, Amami Oshima (which belongs to the Ryukyu Kingdom and was invaded by the Satsuma Domain) will no longer have exclusive rights. Wouldn’t it be better to share a piece of cake with everyone?”
Zhou Hezhi laughed loudly, "Brother Yu, please don't try to trick me. The Tokugawa clan is closed to the country in order to monopolize the benefits of foreign trade. How can they allow my Satsuma clan to trade with foreign countries through Ryukyu? As far as Brother Yu knows, the shogunate only allows
In the merchant ship trade between Xiandi and the Ryukyu Kingdom, all merchant ships from non-Ryukyu countries were transferred to Nagasaki, which was under the direct jurisdiction of the shogunate, and a huge commercial tax was levied. As a result, Xiandi's income was greatly reduced, and he had to mine the Nagano gold mine. I heard that even the gold mines are now closed.
I won’t let my good brother mine anymore. Hahaha!”
Shimazu Mitsuhisa was furious, "My brother traveled across the ocean to come to Satsuma Domain, is it just to make fun of my little brother?"
Zhou Hezhi said sternly: "How could I make fun of my dear brother? I came here specifically to point out a clear path for my dear brother. If the Tokugawa shogunate wants to strengthen the shogunate's weak vassals, my dear brother should unite the strong vassals to fight against the shogunate. Just then I proposed
Among those ports, Hyuga Port is in Kendi's territory, Shimonoseki Port belongs to Choshu Domain, Hirado Port belongs to Hizen Domain, and Kochi Port belongs to Tosa Domain. If your four families unite, the Tokugawa clan will not dare not agree. Ken
My brother's Hyuga Port is closer to the Ming Dynasty and it is a deep-water port. Merchant ships are more willing to come to my brother's port for trade. Once successful, the Satsuma Domain will definitely dominate Japan. Please think of it, my dear brother!"
The sentence "Dominating Japan" touched Mitsuhisa Shimazu. He has always been an ambitious person. He would kill relatives and friends for power, so he was naturally moved.
"What my brother said is very reasonable. I immediately invite the feudal lords to come to Tsurumaru Castle to discuss the matter."
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In the main hall of Tsurumaru Castle, Shimazu Mitsuhisa summoned more than a dozen forces including the lord of the Choshu lord, Tsunahiro Mori, the lord of the Hizen lord, Katsushige Nabeshima, Tadayoshi of the Tosa lord, Yamauchi Tadayoshi, the lord of the Uwajima lord, Date Hidetada, and the lord of the Sendai lord, Date Tadamune.
Larger appearance name.
The so-called foreign daimyo, to put it bluntly, are the daimyo who opposed Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Battle of Sekigahara. Because they were on the wrong team, and their status was not that of the third family, the Tokugawa clan's hardcore daimyo were incomparable.
It was the target of surveillance and suppression by the Tokugawa shogunate.
These foreign daimyo that Shimazu Mitsuhisa was looking for had their own foreign trade ports before the Tokugawa shogunate's seclusion order. After the seclusion order, their ports were no longer allowed to be used, and all goods had to be shipped to Nagasaki Port, which was directly under the shogunate's jurisdiction.
, not only have to pay huge commercial taxes, but also increased transportation costs. Therefore, they are very dissatisfied with the national lockdown order.
The most dissatisfied is Nabeshima Katsushige, the chief of the Hizen Domain. He is seventy-three years old this year and is the oldest among the people present. The Hizen Domain originally had four good ports: Nagasaki, Hirado, Goto, and Omura. The country is locked down.
The shogunate banned trade in Hirado, Goto, and Omura, and placed the port of Nagasaki under the direct jurisdiction of the shogunate. All of a sudden, the Hizen clan, which was originally fat and oily, became skinny.
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"Nabeshima Katsushige will support to the death the establishment of additional foreign trade ports," the old man shouted first.
Tsunahiro Mori, the lord of the Choshu Domain, and Tadayoshi Yamauchi, the lord of the Tosa Domain, looked at Nabeshima Katsushige with disdain. Yes, contempt. This Nabeshima Katsushige is known as a famous general, but he has no integrity. He joined the Western Army at the beginning of the Battle of Sekigahara.
, attacked Tokugawa Ieyasu, but was bribed, and then turned against his comrades in the Western Army. Therefore, no one is ashamed of him. But now everyone is in the same boat. The Choshu Domain has Shimonoseki Port, and the Tosa Domain has Kochi Port, so they have common interests.
Therefore, we all agreed.
"We oppose it," Uwajima Domain Lord Date Hidetada and Sendai Domain Lord Date Tadamune said in unison.
They are brothers, both from the powerful Sendai clan in northeastern Japan. In order to divide these disobedient foreign daimyo, Tokugawa Ieyasu deliberately transferred Date Hidetada, who was from the northeastern Sendai clan, to Uwa in the southwest.
When the Dao Clan became the lord, it provoked discord between the Northeastern Clan and the Southwest Clan.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa's heart sank as he looked at Date Tadamune. It was just the Uwajima Clan. The Sendai Clan occupied the vast Mutsu Kingdom, and its strength was only slightly worse than his own. If he objected, things would be in trouble! Ordinarily not.
Yes, the Sendai Domain is rich in abalone and sea cucumbers. Before the Seoguo Period, a large amount of seafood was shipped from Ishinomaki Port of the Sendai Domain to Ming Dynasty and sold in North Korea every year. They would suffer huge losses after the Seoguo Order was issued, so there is no reason to object!
Date Tadamune said loudly: "We oppose it. We demand that the Ishinomaki Port of the Sendai Domain and the Uwajima Port of the Uwajima Domain be added to the trading ports."
"Yes," Shimazu Mitsuhisa breathed a sigh of relief and immediately agreed.
The other small vassals were all vassals of these powerful vassals, so they naturally had no objections and quickly reached an agreement.
This chapter has been completed!