Time passed by slowly, and just as scholars throughout the Ming Dynasty were enthusiastic about reading and studying crazily due to the decree of the Ministry of Education, a far-reaching conversation also took place in Japan.

Honshu Island, Edo Castle, Nishinomaru.

This is the residence of the Grand Imperial Palace Tokugawa Hidetada. Since Tokugawa Ieyasu abdicated the throne early and lived in Nishinomaru, calling himself the Grand Imperial Palace, the Tokugawa Shogunate began to implement a dual political model.

Today, the general Tokugawa Iemitsu and the imperial palace Tokugawa Hidetada have such a model, which is similar to the dual politics of the Changle Weiyang Palace in the Han Dynasty.

In the warm room, the father and son were sitting on the floor. On the table in the middle, there was a piece of bright imperial-colored silk cloth with densely written small characters. If Shen Yourong were here, he would definitely exclaim, this is not... Was it something he left to a local merchant?

"Is this the document left by the Ming Dynasty?" Tokugawa Hidetada asked.

"Yes." Iemitsu nodded, "When I led the troops to Nagasaki, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty had already left. Only a group of businessmen came to me with this silk cloth and asked me to compensate for their losses."

"Then did you pay compensation?" Xiuzhong asked gently.

"Compensation!" Iemitsu nodded again, "After the compensation was completed, I came back with this document written on silk and gave up the attack on the Satsuma Domain. I think this matter is the top priority."

"You are right. The Ming Dynasty is a powerful opponent and an invincible opponent. Any opinions they have must be taken extremely seriously, not only those of the Ming Dynasty merchants, but also those of the Ming Dynasty soldiers." Xiuzhong said with great solemnity.

"This... you are saying that the destruction of Nagasaki was caused by the other side's soldiers without authorization? The same goes for this letter of credence?" Iemitsu asked in disbelief.

Although he had this consideration in compensating the Ming merchants for their losses, he just did not want to offend these merchants. Japan was closed to the country, and many urgently needed commodities could only be obtained from these merchants, so he did not dare to completely offend his father. If so, there is a hint that this letter of credence was created by the soldiers or businessmen themselves.

"I hope this incident was done by soldiers or businessmen on their own." Xiuzhong smiled bitterly and shook his head, "But unfortunately, there is a very high possibility that the emperor of Ming Dynasty was behind this incident."

"This..." Iemitsu was confused and looked puzzled.

"You are still too young." Xiuzhong shook his head and said, "If businessmen united with the generals of the Ming Dynasty to sack Nagasaki for silver and obtain compensation, then this time it would be just a simple act, only once, and there will be no second time. , and there won’t be a third time.”

"However, if there are instructions from the Ming Emperor behind this operation, then now is just the beginning!" Hidetada looked up to the sky and sighed, "Pay tribute, remove the title of Emperor, and change it to the King of Japan. The current Ming Emperor is really ambitious. ah!"

Although Japan has begun to adopt a closed-door policy, it still retains two ports for foreign trade, Nagasaki and Edo. These two places are under the direct jurisdiction of the shogunate, so a lot of overseas information comes from Portugal for trade here. , passed over by Spanish businessmen.

There are rumors about the power of the Three Kings of the East China Sea, about the Ming Dynasty conquering the Three Kings of the East China Sea with Yang Wei overseas, about the Ming Dynasty having a fleet that even Western merchants were afraid of, about how Macau was occupied by the Ming Dynasty, and all the Portuguese on it were driven away Xiuzhong has heard all the information.

But it is precisely because of this that Hidetada's fear of Ming Dynasty has deepened. Japan's fear of Ming Dynasty has not been relieved from the war of invading Korea. Not to mention that now, according to various rumors, Ming Dynasty is even more powerful.

.

"Then...are we still going to pay tribute?" Iemitsu asked with some pain. Now the new tribute rules of the Ming Dynasty have been passed down from Annan. There is no need to pay tribute, it is purely about taking.

"Go, why don't you go." Xiuzhong said resolutely, "How can you understand the Ming Dynasty if you don't go? How can you know the emperor's specific thoughts if you don't go. Next year, we will send tributes to the Ming Dynasty during the Lantern Festival next year."

"What about calling yourself the emperor? Should you continue to use the title of emperor, or should you change it to the king of Japan?" Iemitsu continued to ask. He, a young general who conquered the barbarians, really didn't know how to decide on these things.

"Change it to the King of Japan." Regarding the issue of title, Hidetada thought for a while and said inexplicably.

"King of Japan?!" However, Iemitsu didn't seem to understand the deep meaning. He was just shocked by these four words. The oldest one looked at his father with a look of disbelief. This was to get rid of the emperor.

status?

Looking at his son who was shocked and even showing a hint of panic, Hidetada said meaningfully, "Don't forget, we also have the canonization of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. You... can also be called the King of Japan."

At this moment, in the capital hall, the Minister of Rites, He Ruchong, was communicating with the Shimazu family's envoys.

"Messenger Shimazu, Your Majesty has conveyed the message that Tokugawa Iemitsu has withdrawn his troops from Satsuma Domain, and your territory is safe." He Ruchong said with a smile.

"Is it true?" The Shimazu family messenger stood up in surprise and asked in disbelief.

The Ming Dynasty was so powerful. It didn't take long for the Tokugawa army to retreat. It was simply a miracle.

"Asshole, this is your Majesty's personal letter, how can it be false?" Hearing the other party's question, He Ruchong became furious.

"My lord, please calm down. My lord, please calm down. I don't doubt what my lord said, I just can't believe it." The envoy explained again and again. Seeing He Ru Chong, he was still angry. He gritted his teeth in distress, took out a brocade box and said, "My lord.

, it’s really the villain who offended me, this is the Pearl of the East China Sea, I should apologize to you.”

Passing the brocade box over, the envoy bowed respectfully.

"Forget it, those who don't know are not guilty, and I will not embarrass you. However, don't forget the million taels of silver tribute you promised His Majesty the Emperor. Otherwise, under the iron hooves of the big army, the small Satsuma Domain will be defeated.

It became a ruin." After He Ruchong took the brocade box, he did not forget to beat the envoy.

Hearing the tribute of one million taels of silver, even though it was not his own money, the envoy couldn't help but ache a few times. This was a huge sum, and he didn't know if the entire Satsuma clan could collect it. However,

At that time, the Satsuma clan was in a critical situation, and naturally they were hungry. No matter how big Ming's appetite was, they would agree first.

"Yes, yes, I remember, when I return home, Satsuma will definitely be presented to me with both hands." The envoy promised with sweat on his brow. After finishing speaking, he secretly glanced at a middle-aged man in the corner, and saw that the other person had no trace of anything.

He said, feeling relieved.

The middle-aged man was standing in the shadows in the corner, dressed in black, and he was completely silent. If you were not paying attention, you would obviously not be able to find him. He Ruchong was one of them. Did you know that there was a third person in the room?

The existence of three people.

"This is the best." He nodded with satisfaction, kept moving his hands, and put the brocade box into his sleeves. He did not forget to remind him, "Next year's Lantern Festival, the court will hold a great court meeting. I hope to see Satsuma by then.

Envoys and tributes from the domain."

"Definitely, definitely." Ambassador Shimazu said with a smile.

"So, my mission is completed, let me take my leave." He Ruchong bowed his hand and walked away without caring about the other party's reaction. He did not take Ambassador Shimadzu seriously at all.

Ambassador Shimazu didn't care. He just breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was sweating so much in this winter, which showed how serious the panic was.

After regaining his composure a little, he turned around, walked to the middle-aged man in the corner, knelt down with a bang, folded his hands in front of him, touched his forehead on them, and said respectfully, "Master, next year, will we

Send the tribute on time."

The head of the family? This man turned out to be the contemporary lord of the Satsuma Domain, Shimazu Tadahashi! He was so bold that he abandoned the critical Satsuma Domain and ran to the Ming Dynasty for help. No wonder the envoy just looked at his face when he spoke.

"Come on, you have to get it, and the tribute must not be less. Search the entire Satsuma Domain and collect the money. If you don't have enough money in Satsuma, go to Hinata, go to Osumi. If you don't have enough here, go to grab money from Nagasaki, and then go to Nagasaki.

If you don’t have enough, go grab Ishimi Yinshan.” After closing his eyes and thinking for a moment, Shimazu Tadahashi suddenly opened his eyes and said fiercely.

"Yes, yes." Shimazu Tadahashi's power was so powerful that he scared the world and kowtowed.

"Go down." Zhong Heng waved his hand and asked the envoy to retreat.

"Yes." The envoy did not dare to say a word and slowly backed away.

"Da Ming, Daming!" Shimazu Tadahashi looked out the window, sighing endlessly.

After He Ruchong met the Shimazu envoy, the Samurai warriors packed their things and left the next day. Now that the crisis had been resolved, it was useless for them to stay here. They might as well go back and prepare tributes. They were only a few meters away from the Lantern Festival.

There are only a few months left, and if we don’t hurry up, there won’t be enough time.

With the sinking rolling, a delegation of dozens of people headed for Tianjin along the concrete road, where their ships were moored. Along the way, Shimazu Tadahashi, as the actual host, kept looking intently at the scenery on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the neatly planned farmland.

, the angry farmers, the children with rosy faces and endless play.

These scenery all made him intoxicated, and also made his greedy heart flourish. The Ming Dynasty was really too rich. In comparison, Satsuma was as barren as a desert, which made people despair.

At this moment, he finally understood why those ancestors pounced on the Ming Dynasty without hesitation, plundering and killing people everywhere. Without him, they would be too rich, and the rich would make people jealous.

It seemed like a robbery. Such an idea quietly appeared in Shimazu Tadashi's mind, but it was shattered before it lasted long.

On the large campus near the Tianjin port, tens of thousands of soldiers were training. Countless people shouted slogans, neatly and loudly, and countless people stood upright like benchmarks. Their majestic appearance caught the attention of Shimazu Tadashi who happened to be passing by.

I was dumbfounded and extremely shocked.

Can he really offend such a great Ming Dynasty? Shimazu Tadashi was silent, but he had a vague answer in his heart.
Chapter completed!