Wild North America 1846

Chapter 385
"Huh... Only those guys who stay at home every day and don't know the situation in the world will shout the "Respect the King and Fight the Barbarians" movement all day long. Let me lead a whole company, and I will have the confidence to capture the entire city of the lord of Changzhou. The old Fuso samurai who wield a samurai sword and bark are nothing but poor wretches who shot one by one." Shinsaku Takasugi said with a contemptuous expression.

After Okubo Toshimichi heard this, his expression became serious, and he stared at the other party with sharp eyes and said, "Gaosugi-kun, is this what you really think in your heart? The Fusang Islands are now coveted by world powers, and patriots are I want to seek an innovative way to save the nation and survive. But in any case, you should not despise the poverty and backwardness of the Yamato nation, it is our mother!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Dajiu Baojun. It is precisely because of this that I feel extremely anxious and fearful when I see the prosperity and strength of the Tang Empire. The entire European and American world is undergoing tremendous changes with each passing day. , and the Fusang Islands are still sleeping, I can't wait to change all this, I can't bear it anymore."

"Do you have a plan?"

"I'm going to apply for retirement immediately, and maybe I can get a thousand-acre ranch in Kansas Province, but unfortunately I have to give up these preferential treatment. Try to raise as much money as possible, return to the Fusang Islands with a batch of weapons and equipment, and form a team A full set of new-style troops imitating the military training of the Tang Empire."

"Is this a hasty decision?"

"No, Okubo-kun, this idea has been brewing in my mind for a long time. Today's Datang Empire has no enemies in North America at all. Its expansion has almost reached the extreme. In the short term, it is impossible to see the annexation of the Confederate States of America or going north with England. It is a waste of time to stay any longer because of the possibility of the country going to war." Shinsaku Takasugi raised his head emotionally, glanced over the table full of food and drink, and said in an extremely envious tone;

"It's time to go back. The stimulation of the National Day military parade today has accelerated my decision, and I will apply for retirement immediately. Maybe... I won't be able to eat such rich dishes for many years in the future. I really regret it!"

"I very much support your decision, Takasugi-kun. I will apply for retirement as soon as possible, and I will try my best to raise funds from people of Japanese descent. I hope this will help." He picked up a large piece of beef and chewed it in his mouth, enjoying the deliciousness of the fat and tender gravy, and said with longing;
"It's really delicious beef. I hope that one day I can taste such delicious beef in the Fusang Islands. If ordinary people can add a piece of pork belly to the rice balls, it will be very happy. The rise of the Tang Empire is only a short period of time. In 16 years, as long as we catch up, I believe that it will not take long for the Dahe nation to prosper again, and even rival the Tang Empire."

"Okubo-kun, have you lost your mind and lost your mind?" Takasugi Shinsaku blurted out this sentence, looked at Okubo Toshimichi as if he was looking at an idiot, and said with a short-tempered smile;
"You only saw the rise of the Tang Empire for 16 years, but you didn't see that North America, the chosen land, is covered with river valley gold, a steady stream of inexhaustible oil, unimaginably vast pastures and fields, and possesses the world's largest land. It has the largest reserves of copper and silver mines, as well as endless coal and iron ore resources.

All these are huge advantages that the barren Fusang Islands cannot imagine.

The Tang Empire was able to distribute more than 180 acres of meritorious land to a retired lieutenant officer, and he could enjoy a preferential tax rate of 10% tax for life, but we can only guarantee that the soldiers have one pickled rice ball for each meal. This is the gap!
The huge capital needed to develop industry is not a simple matter that Mr. Okubo just said. The treasury of the shogunate will not exceed 100 million Tang Yuan wealth. The so-called powerful vassal daimyo can come up with 10,000+ Tang Yuan. up.

Many of the poor feudal lords in remote corners couldn't even afford a few thousand dollars, they were just feudal lords in name, and the poor almost went to beg for food.

And those powerful big capitalists in the Tang Empire can spend tens of millions at every turn, and the rich class with more than 10 properties exceeds tens of thousands of households. Of course, there are excess profits brought about by war and plunder, but it is different from this piece of land. It is inseparable that the selected land is extremely rich in products.

before coming to North America

Have you and I ever seen the spectacular scene of tens of millions of bison migrating freely in the vast wilderness, and have you ever imagined that you can pick up gold by bending down?

When the cavalry of the Tang Empire rushed down the Colorado plateau in groups and plundered those white villages and towns, it was using war to forcibly occupy the development achievements of the Yankees for tens of hundreds of years, so as to amass huge wealth.

This situation is completely irreproducible. Looking around the surrounding areas of the Fusang Islands, there is no such a wealthy and resource-rich place! "

Takasugi Shinsaku is such a serious person. Originally, Okubo Toshimichi's original intention was to boost morale, boost confidence, and look forward to a bright future.

As a result, he was so slapped on his head and face, and suddenly became wilted.

People are more dead than people, and goods are thrown away.

The Tang Empire is now at the peak of its prosperity and prosperity. The domestic economy has not been affected by the North American War. Instead, stimulated by the war demand, it has shown a good momentum of rapid progress.

This led to the emergence of a large number of war economists within the Tang Empire, who interpreted the role of war in stimulating the economy from various angles. This kind of speech was endorsed by many people, which further aroused the people's militant sentiment and enthusiasm for colonization .

The GDP of the Tang Empire exceeded 1861 billion Tang yuan at the end of 23. This is an extremely astonishingly huge figure, which has reached 65% of the annual economic output of the British Empire and surpassed the annual economic output of the French Empire.

As for the Fusang Islands, there is not even a fraction of it.

nowadays

The economic development of the Tang Empire was getting better and better, rumbling forward like a high-speed steam train, and its momentum was unstoppable.

Seeing that others are running at high speed, while the Fuso Islands are still sleeping in the ignorance of seclusion, no matter how thick-skinned Okubo Toshimichi is, at this moment he can no longer talk about the high-profile door comparable to the Datang Empire.

After living in the Tang Empire for so many years, the two of them didn't even cover a quarter of the empire's territory. They could only stare at the map on weekdays, full of envy and hatred in their hearts.

Later, I couldn't afford the slightest comparison.

From the perspective of land area, the vast territory of the Datang Empire of 1013 million square kilometers is 37.8 times that of the Fusang Islands of 26 square kilometers.

From the perspective of feudal rule, the Tang Empire is a highly unified feudal capitalist system with central authority. The country's top and bottom government orders are accessible, administrative efficiency is high, the business environment is good, the economy is thriving, and development is in the ascendant.

Its military strength has entered the ranks of world-class powers and is generally recognized by the European and American world.

But now the Fuso Islands are at the end of the shogunate rule, dozens of vassal lords in the country are independent, political corruption is dark, and the system is rigid. There are a large number of stubborn conservatives who are hostile to innovation, especially the "Ansei Great Prison" that has the greatest impact on Fuso society.

In 1858 (the 5th year of Ansei), I Naosuke, the real power in the shogunate, carried out a major suppression of the movement of respecting the king and eliminating barbarians.This was due to the fact that the Hitotsubashi faction and the Zunran faction had intensified the opposition movement on the issue of the signing of the "Japan-Tang Friendship and Trade Treaty" and the issue of the succession of generals.

In April 1858, Ii Naosuke of the Nanki faction took office as the head of the shogunate. He was a tough conservative figure with extremely rigid and conservative thinking, and opposed any institutional innovation that did not follow the ancestral etiquette.

Ii had an ambiguous attitude towards the conclusion of the treaty and the dispute over Iemo’s shogunate succession. Mito former feudal lord Tokugawa Nasaki, Mito feudal lord Tokugawa Keitoshi, Owari feudal lord Tokugawa Yoshikatsu, Fukui feudal lord Matsudaira Keinaga and other dignitaries criticized Ii’s conservatism policy.

For this reason, Naosuke Jingyi imposed punishments such as retirement and confinement on them.

In August 1859, the Mito Domain, which planned to take forceful action against the imperial court, had their agreed "Secret Edict of Wuwu" found and leaked.

at the same time
The mediator of the shogunate, Kujo Naotada Sekibaku, was dismissed from his post. For this reason, in September, Tadyoshi Sakai, the head of the former Central Bureau Liaison Office, started the suppression operation with the arrest of Umeda Kumohama.

Those who were captured in Kyoto were sent to Edo, some were captured in Edo, and some were even captured from the feudal domain.

After being unfairly tried in the prison in Denmacho, Edo, they were executed by severe punishments such as suicide by caesarean section or death penalty.

In the "Ansei Great Prison" set off by the conservatives, including Tokugawa Naizaki, Hitohashi Yoshiaki, Matsudaira Keinaga, Tokugawa Keishu and others of the Hitotsubashi faction, the public officials, daimyo, shoguns, and others were implicated. There are more than 100 volunteers.

The "Ansei Prison" caused a strong backlash from the Fuso reformers, and finally the Sakurada Gate Incident occurred on March 1860, 3 (the first year of Wanyan).

With the assassination of Ii Naosuke outside the Sakurada Gate, this bloody massacre also ended. However, the intricate internal struggle is still not over.

The current situation of the Fusang Islands is that "the temple is small and the demon is strong, and the water is shallow and the king is eight." No matter what kind of goods, they can take advantage of the opportunity of the times to rush to the stage and perform. Foreign forces such as Britain, France and Tang often point fingers, This exacerbated the current political chaos.

In front of Takasugi Shinsaku, Okubo Toshimichi and other passionate young people who are determined to save the Yamato nation, it is simply the beginning of hell.

For some unexplainable reasons, they are still unable to ask for help from the Tang Empire, because these two are hiding their ethnicity and nationality, pretending to be Chinese immigrants and naturalizing in the Tang Empire, so they can develop smoothly in the army Shun the water.

Ordinary Japanese people are discriminated against here, most of the women are reduced to brothels, and a small number of good-looking ones can be redeemed by benefactors and taken as concubines, which is simply a blessing in eight lifetimes.

Men can only do the hardest, most tiring, and cheapest tricks, because they do not have legal residence status, so they can neither engage in business nor join the army, hovering at the bottom of society.

It is because of various factors
The number of Japanese immigrants is very small, no more than 1 in total, most of whom are women who have fallen into prostitution.

If Shinsaku Takasugi and Toshimichi Okubo dared to disclose their identities, what awaited them was not selfless help, but strict military sanctions, and losing their heads would probably be light.

Maybe because they were preparing to go back to China and put down their guard, Shinsaku Takasugi and Toshimichi Okubo both drank a little too much, and they called the hotel owner to check out with heavy drunkenness.

"Hi, sir, do you need anything else?"

"That's good, checkout."

"The two officers spent a total of 6.56 yuan, and the shop wiped out the change for the officer, and the favor was 6.5 yuan."

"Nani, why is it so expensive?"

"Excuse me, sir. The two of you drank a total of four cents (note, tin wine vessel) of liquor. Each cent of liquor costs 21 cents, and together with the vegetable gold, the total is 6.56 yuan."

"Sudsney, Yoshi!" Shinsaku Takasugi shook his drunken head, but he didn't notice the pale face of the owner of the small hotel.

Okubo Toshimichi, who was standing on the side, saw it clearly, and suddenly woke up from the drunkenness. He hurriedly took out 7 yuan from his pocket and threw it on the table, and pulled Takayama Shinsaku to turn around and run away.

in the restaurant

The boss held two banknotes in his hands with a puzzled expression. He stood there hesitating for a moment, then turned his head and told the shop assistants: "Look at the shop, I'll come to the street police station."

He could tell that the lieutenant officer spoke Japanese, but could the fuso kid also become a widely respected imperial officer?
As a commoner, he is not sure about this.

But seeing the two officers leave in a hurry, it was obvious that they had ghosts in their hearts, which made the restaurant owner suddenly suspicious.

(End of this chapter)