While Zhu Cijiong was busy dealing with the aftermath of Chahar Mongolia, the Japanese general Tokugawa Iemitsu was convening a group of officials in the shogunate to discuss whether to agree to the Treaty of Osaka proposed by Chongzhen.
After reading the text brought back by Tokugawa Yoshinao, the hall became noisy.
The hardliners headed by Matsudaira Nobutsuna advocated confronting Ming to the end.
The Huairou faction headed by Horita Masamori advocates sacrificing interests for peace.
"Your Majesty, General, the Ming Dynasty's national power is ten times or even a hundred times greater than that of Japan. There is no chance of victory in a head-on confrontation with the Ming Dynasty. Instead, it will only bring disaster." Masamori Horita said in a sincere tone, "The conditions proposed by the Ming Emperor are really harsh.
, but then again, it’s not like Japan can’t afford it.”
"Baga, what nonsense are you talking about?"
"What we jointly ceded was not your Horita family's fiefdom, was it?"
"You, the Horita family, ceded Osaka away just by talking with each other. It's really a good thing."
"Not just Osaka? There are also five million taels of gold, fifty million taels of silver and one hundred million catties of copper. Where did you collect all these gold, silver and copper? From the treasury of your Horita family?"
The other Huairou sect did not dare to say a word.
They were afraid of confronting Ming, but they also didn't want to spend money.
Matsudaira Nobutsuna then said to Tokugawa Iemitsu: "Your Majesty, the Yamato nation is invincible. The Ming emperor wanted to conquer Japan with just 20,000 navy troops and 20,000 infantrymen. This is a wishful thinking. We only need to conquer all 260 Japanese troops."
Gathering all the daimyo together with more than 80,000 banners will be enough to crush the invading enemy!"
"Lord Matsudaira is right, the Yamato nation will never be conquered."
"It is absolutely impossible to surrender to the Ming Dynasty. This is unacceptable."
"It is even more impossible to cede territory and pay compensation. I would rather die in battle than to cede territory and pay compensation."
"Opening up coastal ports for trade will cause endless harm, and will shake the foundation of the Tokugawa shogunate's rule."
As soon as Matsudaira Nobutsuna finished speaking, several of the main combatants, such as Waka Nian Ji, Shi Xing, and Omatosuke, started making noise again, as if they could drive the Ming army away from Osaka Castle as long as they roared a few times here.
However, Tokugawa Iemitsu was not a young man in his early twenties after all.
Tokugawa Iemitsu was already in his forties and had been a general who conquered barbarians for more than twenty years.
Therefore, Tokugawa Iemitsu neither adopted the opinions of the war-fighting faction nor the soft-hearted faction, but instead turned his attention to Inaba Masato, who was originally stationed in Osaka.
Among the dozen subordinate officers present, only Tokugawa Yoshinao and Inaba Masato had actually fought against the Ming army.
But Tokugawa Yoshinao tends to be gentle, so his opinions are not trustworthy. Only Inaba Masato and Matsudaira Nobutsuna grew up with him and would never lie to him.
So Tokugawa Iemitsu wanted to hear Inaba Masato's opinion.
"Inaba-kun, what do you think? War or peace?"
The Huairou faction headed by Horita Masamori and the main war faction headed by Matsudaira Nobutsuna all looked over.
Inaba Masato did not avoid the question and said seriously: "Your Excellency, General, I believe that a battle is necessary!"
Hearing this, Tokugawa Iemitsu frowned slightly, while Matsudaira Nobutsuna and other leading militant factions looked excited.
However, Inaba Masato changed the subject and continued: "However, it is definitely not now. If a war starts with the Ming Dynasty now, Japan may not even have a chance of winning."
"Inaba-kun, what do you mean?"
Matsudaira Nobutsuna suddenly became a little unhappy.
"Matsuhira-kun, my meaning has been made very clear." Inaba Masato said solemnly, "The firearms level difference between our army and the Ming army is too great. There is no chance of winning in the war now."
"So the top priority is to compromise with the Ming Dynasty and stabilize the Ming army first."
"After the Ming army is stabilized, we will vigorously develop armaments. At the same time, we will purchase firearms from the Hongyi, especially the Hongyi cannon. This is the key to defeating the Ming army!"
After a pause, he added: "So, we must sign the Osaka Treaty."
Tokugawa Iemitsu nodded silently, finally hearing a reliable statement.
Then he turned to Tokugawa Yoshinao and said, "Uncle Ninth, and Senior Horita, I would still trouble you to go to Osaka Castle and sign the Osaka Treaty with the emperor of the Ming Dynasty."
"Osaka can be ceded to the Ming Dynasty garrison."
"The Emperor of Japan can also destroy the Emperor himself."
"All coastal ports can also be opened."
"It doesn't matter, I can promise them everything."
"The so-called treaty is just a piece of paper and can be torn up at any time."
After a pause, Tokugawa Iemitsu continued: "There is only one thing, five million taels of gold, fifty million taels of silver and one hundred million jins of copper as compensation. We must strive for enough years, preferably fifty years."
!”
In fifty years, the only things that have to be paid a year are one hundred thousand taels of gold, one million taels of silver and two million jins of brass or copper, so the pressure is not that great.
"Hai!" Tokugawa Yoshinao and Horita Masamori stood up and paused.
After seeing off Tokugawa Yoshinao and Horita Masamori, Matsudaira Nobutsuna asked again: "Your Excellency, the General, even if you pay it off in fifty years, the amount you have to pay every year is extremely huge, not to mention the interest. Where does this payment come from?"
Out? Should we tax the daimyo and the flags led by the shoguns in various places, or should we tax the common people across Japan?"
Everyone pricks up their ears because this concerns their vital interests.
Tokugawa Iemitsu said solemnly: "Tax merchants, especially the Sumitomo family."
…
In Beijing, Zhu Cixiang summoned several cabinet elders, the Minister of the Six Ministries and other nine ministers, as well as the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Ma Mingluan, Ruan Dacheng, Chen Zilong and more than a dozen others at Huangjimen.
If the Grand Council is compared to the National Committee, then the meeting in front of us is the Standing Committee.
This is not what Chongzhen wants, at least he will not create the Standing Committee early at this time.
Therefore, this Standing Committee was organized by Zhu Cixiang, the prince who oversees the country. He is really quite talented in politics. He knows how to get a vent to the Standing Committee first and basically reach an agreement before it is voted on at the General Assembly. In this way,
It can avoid fierce quarrels and even stalemates at the court meeting.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Of course, this is also a sign of not being confident enough in yourself.
If you are confident enough in yourself, there is no need to do anything extra.
Zhu Cixiang obviously did not have the prestige of Chongzhen, nor did he feel that he had the appeal of his father, so he preferred to discuss matters with civil servants and military officers when encountering problems.
"First of all, I would like to apologize to everyone here."
"I summoned you all to Huangjimen at the beginning of the first year of the lunar month, so that you can't spend time with your family at ease. This is not true of being alone, but being alone is also helpless. Something big has happened."
Zhu Cixi apologized when he came up, but his attitude was very low.
Zhang Shenyan quickly said: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince made serious remarks. It is the duty of ministers to share the worries of the king and father and relieve the country's difficulties, so there is no need to apologize."
The other Pavilion elders and Jiu Qing also agreed.
Ma Mingluan and more than a dozen people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs said nothing to Zhongzhong, and even seemed a little impatient, because these people had already adapted to Chongzhen's style, and their principle of dealing with others was not to say anything useless.
Don't talk nonsense, don't do meaningless and useless things, talk about things and go straight to the topic.
What Zhu Cixi just said was obviously nonsense.
Fortunately, Zhu Cixi quickly got to the point.
"Since ancient times, border troubles from the north have always been a close concern of the Central Plains dynasty!"
"There are too many dynasties that perished due to the Hu cavalry from the north going south. During the Yingzong Dynasty, our Ming Dynasty almost made the same mistake as the Hu cavalry going south. Fortunately, Yu Shaobao was able to turn the tide."
"Even so, the border troubles from the north still consumed more than half of the Ming Dynasty's national power."
"The establishment of the nine-sided strategic town almost brought down the Ming Dynasty's finances, which gave Jiannu the opportunity to become powerful."
"However, throughout history, there are many Chinese ancestors who defeated the Mobei Huqi. In the Han Dynasty, there were Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, in the Tang Dynasty, there were Li Jing and Li Ji. In this dynasty, there were also Emperors Xu Da, Lan Yu and Cheng Zuwen who whipped the Mongols many times.
, however, it is easy to defeat Hu Qi, but it is extremely difficult to conquer or even effectively rule the Mobei Grassland."
Speaking of this meal, Zhu Cixi asked his soul: "Why?"
Zhu Guochang, the censor of Zuodu, immediately said: "If they are not of my race, their minds must be different. The reason why our Central Plains Dynasty cannot implement effective rule over the Mobei Hu people is because they are not of the same kind, that's all."
"It's hard for me to agree with Zuo Duxian's words." Zheng Jinxuan, the Imperial College Superintendent of Beijing who was honored to attend this Standing Committee meeting, said disapprovingly, "Jiannu is a Jurchen and is not the same kind as the Mongolians, but why can he treat him like a Jurchen?"
Why did Horqin, Chahar and Tumut Mongolia implement effective rule?"
General Affairs Minister Wang Yingxiong said: "Perhaps they are frightened by the force of Jiannu."
"Wang Yintai said this, but I don't dare to agree with it." Ruan Dacheng, who was in the mission department, stood up and said, "The military force of Jiannu may be better than that of other Mongolian tribes, but it is far inferior to the Jingying camp led by Emperor Chengzuwen of this dynasty.
, the prosperity of the capital camp is not enough to deter the Mongolian tribes, but it is far inferior to the slaves in the capital camp, but it can actually deter the slaves. Isn't it a strange thing?"
After saying these words, Ruan Dacheng shook his sleeves hard again, and finally let go of the bad breath in his chest.
"Ruan Jiejian is sophistry." Liu Shizhen, the Minister of Punishment, retorted, "As the saying goes, one time and another time, how can the Mongolian tribes during the reign of Emperor Cheng Zuwen be compared with the Mongolian tribes today?"
Just when the two sides were arguing, a voice suddenly sounded: "Don't fight anymore. Although the slave-building force is strong, it can't be stronger than the three camps led by Cheng Zu. No matter how weak the Mongolian tribes are now, they will not be any better than the Mongolians back then."
Weak, there is only one reason why Jiannu can gain the allegiance of the Mongolian tribes in Monan, and that is marriage!"
Zhu Cixi couldn't help but follow the voice and look over, because this person said what he wanted to say.
However, something that went beyond Zhu Cixiang's expectation was that the person who said this turned out to be Zhang Shenyan, the chief assistant.
"What does Shoukui mean by this?" Unsurprisingly, Zhang Shenyan's words immediately attracted the siege of the ministers. Even as the chief minister of the cabinet, he was still unable to escape. "Does Shoukui want to get married? Sacrifice women in exchange for the border.
