Cutting 1719

Chapter 419 Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
Edo, castle tower.

Tokugawa Yoshimune, the eighth-generation general of the Edo Shogunate, was burying his head in flipping through a book. On the cover were written the words "Six Edicts, Meanings and Meanings" in Japanese, which seemed to be a Confucian classic.

In fact, this "Liu Yu Yan Yi Da Yi" was originally written by Fan Hong, a scholar in the early Qing Dynasty. It was a book for teaching the people. Tsu Yoshiki dedicated to Tokugawa Yoshimune.

After receiving the book, Tokugawa Yoshimune greatly appreciated it, and ordered the Confucian scholar Shi Hatosu to translate the book into Japanese, calling it "Liu Yu Yan Yi Da Yi", and popularized it as a textbook in Terakoya. When, will also read the previous reading.

As the Tokugawa General who has been in office for eight years, Tokugawa Yoshimune has always had a good reputation among the common people. Due to the implementation of the insurance reform, the price of rice in Japan has been stabilized, so the common people are also called "Rice General".However, it is really not easy for Tokugawa Yoshimune to be able to be where he is today, and he has gone through a lot of hardships.

Tokugawa Yoshimune came from the Kii Tokugawa family of the Royal Sanzhong. He was the grandson of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the tenth son of the first general Tokugawa Ieyasu. However, Tokugawa Yoshimune's mother was born in a poor family, so his status was not high, basically similar to Yu is an illegitimate child, but fortunately Tokugawa Yoshimune has known his father Tokugawa Mitsusada since he was very young, so he has received a fairly good education.

In the early years, Tokugawa Yoshimune was not called this name, but Shinnosuke. Later, after Yuanfu, because he was not the eldest son, he was named Matsudaira Layakata.This situation continued until the second year of Baoying, that is, in the 44th year of Kangxi, when Tokugawa Yoshimune, who was only 21 years old, became the governor of Kiyi Tokugawa's family and changed his name to Tokugawa Yoshimune.

Until the sixth year of Zhengde, that is, the 55th year of Kangxi, the general's family died out, and Tokugawa Yoshimune succeeded the general as a virtuous prince and became the eighth generation general.

However, the Tokugawa shogunate that was handed over to Tokugawa Yoshimune was itself a mess. Due to financial bankruptcy, Tokugawa Yoshimune took the lead in living a frugal life. Cut down on expenses by eating only two meals, mostly brown rice and greens.

Now it is the eighth year of his succession, and it will take eight years for Tokugawa Yoshimune to implement the insurance reform. Although the shogunate’s finances have improved to a certain extent, it has not fundamentally solved the problem. Therefore, this time he sent Matsudaira Gang Ji went to Nanjing to find a solution.

For the newborn Ning Chu, Tokugawa Yoshimune still has some expectations. Judging from the news that Matsudaira Tsunayoshi sent back last time, Ning Chu himself is generally quite supportive of the Tokugawa shogunate. Of course, there are some details. On the other hand, more communication between the two parties is required.

And this time Ning Chu arranged for the prince to visit Japan with this purpose in mind, so it also inspired Tokugawa Yoshimune. Perhaps through this mission, Tokugawa Yoshimune can find a better solution for the shogunate. way.

"General! General! Ning Chu's envoys are here!"

Just as Tokugawa Yoshimune was meditating, the voice of the shogunate Tadashi Mizuno came from outside the door. He walked in excitedly, and then knelt down in front of Tokugawa Yoshimune with a bit of joy on his face.

"Oh. Are you here? Then bring it here quickly!"

Tokugawa Yoshimune breathed a sigh of relief, then called Mizuno Tadyuki who was about to leave, and said softly: "Matsudaira Tsunayoshi wrote a letter to the general, saying that the matter of the Satsuma domain must be resolved. If the matter is not resolved, I am afraid that there will be no room for discussion even if the envoys of the Celestial Dynasty come."

Hearing that it was about the Shimadzu family of the Satsuma clan again, Mizuno Tadyuki could not help but frowned slightly, and sighed: "Master General, I am afraid that I can't give a good suggestion on this matter, why don't the other three veterans Let’s call to discuss together.”

In the shogunate system, the highest official position to assist the shogun is called Da Lao, who is mainly responsible for governing all the affairs of the shogunate. He is above the old middle class, but because of the excessive power, only one person will be appointed in special periods, usually not Established, and under the elder is the old middle.

Therefore, when the Tai Laosuo was not established, the old middle school was the highest official position in the shogunate, responsible for commanding the national government affairs, and usually four to five old middlemen were set up to manage different affairs in turn by adopting a monthly rotation system. Selected from among the daimyos above the Qianshi territory, he can be called the general's confidant and think tank.

In the current Tokugawa shogunate, there are four elders in total, namely Mizuno Tadayuki, Ando Nobutomo, Matsudaira Jojo, and Matsudaira Tadashi, and Mizuno Tadashi is talking about the other three, like Matsudaira Jojo and Matsudaira Tadashi They all belong to the close branch of the Tokugawa family, and the right to speak is no less than Mizuno Tadyuki.

Tokugawa Yoshimune nodded, "Alright, arrange for the performer Banmizuno Nagahide to receive the Ningchu envoy, and hold a banquet to celebrate the envoy's arrival in the evening."

"Yes, General."

After waiting for a long time, the other three veterans also arrived one after another. They looked like they were in their fifties, and they were all seniors promoted by Tokugawa Yoshimune after he succeeded to the throne.

"I've seen the general!"

After the three of them finished their salutes, Tokugawa Yoshimune briefly talked about Ning Chu's arrival, and then he talked about the Satsuma domain, and finally sighed: "This matter is very important, please invite a few Let me tell you what you think."

Although there is no distinction between seniors and seniors, seniority still exists, so the other three still set their sights on Tadano Mizuno, who is the oldest.

Mizuno Tadyuki could only sigh softly: "The Satsuma clan lives in the westernmost part of Japan, far away from our shogunate, but after all, it is also an internal clan of our shogunate. If it is because of this, the Satsuma clan is required to apologize and pay compensation, I am afraid they will not be convinced."

Tokugawa Yoshimune hummed lightly, but he didn't speak, because Mizuno Tadyuki's words were very vague, and it's okay to understand from any angle, but he didn't really express his position.

You must know that in the Edo period, the closer the daimyo vassals were to the shogunate, the closer they were to Edo; otherwise, the farther the vassals were from the shogunate, the farther they were from Edo. Far, so the distance of the relationship can be seen.

If there is only this sentence, it can also show that Tadano Mizuno is inclined to order the Satsuma clan to pay compensation, but it is followed by the sentence that the Japanese clan will not obey these words, which means that they are afraid of offending other vassals. It will give the emperor a chance to intervene.

Seeing that what Tadano Mizuno said was impeccable, Nobutomo Ando couldn't help but feel a little helpless. Compared with other people, his opinions were much more decisive, "There are always problems with the finances of the shogunate. If we can connect with Ningchu, the income of our shogunate can be greatly increased. , can alleviate the financial shortage. Besides, dealing with the Satsuma clan is what my Tokugawa shogunate should do."

Nobutomo Ando's opinion is that there is no need to be polite to the Satsuma clan. After all, the other party is dissatisfied with the shogunate's appearance, and there is nothing wrong with taking this opportunity to attack.

On the contrary, Matsudaira Tadashi, who is a close branch of the Tokugawa family, objected, "General, if the Satsuma domain is said to be an internal problem, then my Tokugawa family can still suppress it, but if a foreign problem like Ningchu is introduced, I am afraid The world will be in chaos."

This made everyone's heart tremble, of course they understood what Matsudaira Tadashi meant, internal troubles could be resolved at any time, but if foreign troubles were introduced, it would not be so easy to deal with.

After Matsudaira Tadashi finished speaking, everyone turned to Matsudaira Chengyi. After all, the current situation is that both sides have their own way, and the other two are facing each other. The opinion of the last person becomes very important.

Matsudaira Chengyi frowned, "The envoy hasn't met yet, isn't it too early? If the other party's request is not so strict, there is room for the shogunate to deal with it slowly. If it is too strict, it can be suppressed." , will not have any effect.”

After listening to the opinions of these four people, Tokugawa Yoshimune's face did not change at all, and he said softly: "Since there is no good idea, let's see it first. As for whether it will work, you need to ask His Majesty the Emperor for approval."

As soon as this remark came out, the faces of the four people present changed. Naturally, there was sadness and joy. The prestige of the emperor and the public is not a good thing for the shogunate officials.

It's just that there is no better way at the moment, and this is the only way to go. The four senior middlemen chose to resign together and prepare to attend the dinner at night, when the answer to the mystery will be revealed.

(End of this chapter)