I

  Chapter 462 460【Fudge on both sides】

Fuzhou, Fujian.

  The son of a sea merchant, Chen Ji, greeted Lin Wenyuan to disembark at the pier, and asked in a low voice, "Brother Kuidou, how is Nanjing?"

  Lin Wenyuan said excitedly: "It's done, His Majesty really supports Haimao."

   "That's good, that's good!" Chen Ji clenched his fists.

  Japan's Tokugawa shogunate will never fully open its seaports to China. It is absolutely impossible for the shogunate Tokugawa Iemitsu to contact the Nanjing court on his own initiative.

  Lin Wenyuan, or in other words, the Fujian maritime merchant who pushed Lin Wenyuan to work, is bold and fooling around!

  They first reached a consensus with Matsudaira Nobutsuna, Matsudaira Nobutsuna will take care of the Tokugawa shogunate, and Fujian Mariners will go to Nanjing to take care of Zhao Han.

  If the Tokugawa shogunate is compared to the imperial court, then Nobuzuna Matsudaira is similar to the prime minister of the shogunate.

  Behind Matsudaira Nobuzuna, there are still many pro-shogunate feudal lords, as well as Confucianism and Shintoism forces in Japan.

  The rebellion caused by Amakusa Shiro was not completely subsided until this year!

   Amakusa Shiro was just the beginning. Due to the poor performance of the shogunate army, a large number of local lords who did not believe in Christianity also joined the war against the rule of the shogunate. Almost all the feudal lords in Kyushu were fighting for independence.

  Last year, the shogunate mobilized a large army and continued to fight.

  By the end of this year, it was finally over.

   After learning from the pain, Tokugawa Iemitsu decided to change his ruling policy and ordered Matsudaira Nobutsuna to take the lead in researching policies with scholars.

  Fujian Maritime Merchants learned of Zhao Han's attitude, and immediately sailed to Japan by sea ship to pass the news to Matsudaira Nobutsuna.

   Nobuzuna Matsudaira then met Tokugawa Iemitsu and bowed to present the reform plan.

  Tokugawa Iemitsu did not read through it himself, but asked, "Tell me about the main ones."

Matsudaira Nobuta replied: "It is impossible to completely close the country. In the previous battle, the rebels had a large number of Western-style artillery, and their firepower was even more fierce than that of the shogunate army. Therefore, after collective discussion among the shogunate ministers, they believed that it should be set up in various places. Trade zone. Foreign businessmen are not allowed to trade with local daimyo, but they can trade with the shogunate."

  The policy of opening up a large number of ports has been successfully passed in history, but it was rejected after a period of implementation.

  Japan is closed to the outside world, and religious chaos is only one of the reasons.

  In the early days of the Tokugawa shogunate's rule, they encouraged the various vassals to open ports for trade, because it could enhance Japan's strength. Gradually, the shoguns discovered that sea trade had strengthened the power of the vassals, which was not conducive to centralized rule.

  Therefore, a semi-trade port was established in Nagasaki, the territory directly under the shogunate.

  Chinese and Dutch merchants are only allowed to trade with the shogunate, not with vassals everywhere!

  In Tokugawa Iemitsu's later years, the country was locked, opened, and locked again, and the policy was changed repeatedly. Everything was based on maintaining the rule of the shogunate.

  Tokugawa Iemitsu was noncommittal and asked, "What else?"

Matsudaira Nobuta continued: "The reasons for the rebellion between the daimyo and the common people are very complicated. Ministers and scholars believe that they should be educated. You can learn from China's experience and set up schools locally. The shogunate should provide money for the schools so that The samurai received education from an early age, and knew the principles of loyalty to the emperor and the principles of supporting the shogunate. In addition to using Confucianism to deal with Western religions, they also need to use Japanese Shinto to deal with Western religions."

   Tokugawa Iemitsu finally cheered up: "This method is very good."

   Bushido thought is formed in this way!

  Nobuzuna Matsudaira also said: "The whole of Kyushu no longer has daimyo. In the future, Kyushu will be under the direct control of the shogunate, and the shogunate will select officials to serve in Kyushu."

  Tokugawa Iemitsu became more and more satisfied: "You are all the pillars of the country, and you can formulate very good national policies."

  Nobuna Matsudaira continued: "China's Ming court has been destroyed by the rebels..."

   "What? Did the powerful Ming Dynasty also fall? Who is the new Chinese emperor?" Tokugawa Iemitsu was shocked, this was the first time he had heard of it.

Nobuzuna Matsudaira replied: "In the new China, there are three emperors. One is the Datong Emperor Zhao Han, the second is the Dashun Emperor Li Zicheng, and the third is the Qing Emperor Fulin. In fact, there are two more, both of whom are the Ming clan who fled. One has been destroyed, and the other is in Yunnan."

  Tokugawa Iemitsu said with emotion: "China has entered the Three Kingdoms era again. Tell me about these emperors."

Matsudaira Nobuta said in detail: "Datong Emperor Zhao Han's capital is in Nanjing, China. He is the most powerful and owns the richest province in China. Dashun Emperor Li Zicheng made his capital in Taiyuan, China, and it was he who overthrew the Ming Dynasty. Li Zicheng led the army Invaded Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty hanged himself..."

   "Li Zicheng is very bad," Tokugawa Iemitsu interrupted, "As a citizen, you should not betray your own emperor."

Matsudaira Nobuta also said: "Fulin, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, made his capital in Shenyang, China. They were Houjin barbarians, a group of uneducated savages, but they were said to be very brave in battle. After Li Zicheng destroyed Ming Dynasty, Houjin barbarians quickly sent troops and almost killed them. Li Zicheng is eliminated."

   "Wait a minute," Iemitsu Tokugawa wondered, "How come no one sets their capital in Beijing, China?"

   Nobuzuna Matsudaira explained: “The post-Jin barbarians once made their capital in Beijing, but they were defeated by the Datong Emperor in Nanjing, and returned to Liaodong with their population and food. Even the king of Korea is now a vassal to the post-Jin barbarians.”

  Tokugawa Iemitsu shook his head and said, "Not good, not good. Li Zicheng who betrayed the emperor is not good, and neither is the uncivilized barbarian. If anyone can unify China, it must be the Datong Emperor. What is the name of the Datong Emperor?"

  Nobutsuna Matsudaira said: "My name is Zhao Han, and I heard that he is a descendant of the royal family of the Song Dynasty."

  Tokugawa Iemitsu praised: "Only a descendant of the royal family can truly be the emperor. How did he grow strong?"

Matsudaira Nobuzuna said: "Natural disasters happened in successive years in the Ming Dynasty. Zhao Han's family starved to death. There were only three brothers and sisters left, and the eldest sister was also sold. Zhao Han and his younger sister begged to the south and became slaves to a Confucian scholar. He was very intelligent. He was more than ten years old. He was admitted as a scholar, and he could have been an official. People from the same village were very jealous of Zhao Han's talent and learning, so they colluded with the county magistrate's staff to frame him, and lured him to the county government to kill him."

   This is already similar to a legendary story. Tokugawa Iemitsu suddenly became more interested and asked, "How did he escape?"

Matsudaira Nobuzuna said: "Although this intelligent Emperor Datong was only a young man at the time, he already knew the enemy's tricks. He did not choose to run for his life. Instead, he carried a long gun and went to the county government alone to question his staff. The magistrate's staff colluded County government officials, hundreds of people besieged him, but the Datong Emperor was a unparalleled general, he killed all the enemies with a gun, and then burned the county government, and then fled to another country.”

   "A true hero!" Tokugawa Iemitsu praised.

  Tokugawa Iemitsu, who grew up with a golden key in his mouth, has never experienced the hardships of the people. At the same time, he is ambitious, ruthless, and dictatorial with an iron fist, and a little faint in his later years. I insist on making a metaphor, similar to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in China (only in terms of character and means).

Nobuzuna Matsudaira continued: "Emperor Datong was wandering in other lands, and greedy officials and landlords made it impossible for him to make a living. So he took some ronin warriors and raised troops in Jiangxi, China. To this day, Emperor Datong has never fought He lost the battle, and he has wiped out hundreds of thousands of enemy troops. I heard that he now has 500,000 troops and will be able to unify China in the next few years. Moreover, the Emperor Datong and the Nanman have fought several times. He and us They are all restricting the spread of Western religion."

  What the Japanese call Nanman refers to the European colonists.

  Tokugawa Iemitsu asked: "Are there many Western Christians in China?"

   Nobuzuna Matsudaira said: "Compared to Japan, there are only a lot more."

  Tokugawa Iemitsu slapped his knees: "Western religions are indeed a serious problem in the East. The emperor of Datong did the right thing. Western religions should not only be restricted, but should also be expelled and exterminated!"

  Nobutsuna Matsudaira said: "According to the news from the Chinese businessman, the Emperor of Datong admired the general's demeanor very much."

  Tokugawa Iemitsu suddenly stared into Matsudaira Nobuzuna's eyes, and said with a playful smile: "Emperor Datong has also heard of this general?"

   "Of course I've heard of it," Matsudaira Nobutsuna said flatteringly, "Your Majesty's literary and martial arts have already surpassed those of his predecessors, and they have already spread to China and North Korea."

  Tokugawa Iemitsu was dubious about this, but he was unavoidably complacent and had a cheerful smile on his face.

Matsudaira Nobuzuna took the opportunity to say: "Emperor Datong of China wants to restore diplomatic relations with Japan. The grievances between Japan and Ming Dynasty have nothing to do with Emperor Datong. General, Emperor Datong will soon unify China. It is also extremely beneficial. In the future, if troubles arise in the Nanban, the shogunate and China can join forces to deal with the Nanban."

  Tokugawa Iemitsu remained silent, thinking about the pros and cons of this matter.

  Nobuzuna Matsudaira also said: "The daimyo rebelled against the common people, and some people shouted the slogan of respecting the king. You can ask the Chinese emperor to grant the Japanese king's seal and then the shogun's seal. In this way, the shogunate's rule will be more justified."

  Tokugawa Iemitsu sneered: "Are you going to make me submit to the Emperor of Datong?"

Matsudaira Nobuzuna said: "China has always been the suzerain. There is nothing wrong with this, and it will not affect the prestige of the general. China is as big as ten Japan, and its population is as large as ten Japan. Being friendly with China will only make the The shogunate is more stable. You can first send envoys to China to contact the Emperor of Datong. As a gesture of goodwill, you can open a few ports to Chinese businessmen first.”

  This proposal represents the interests of many people.

  Daimyo who are close to the shogunate, officials of the shogunate, Japanese Confucian scholars, and those Chinese maritime merchants. They connected with each other and planned together for a long time, nothing more than fooling Zhao Han and Tokugawa Iemitsu to expand trade.

  As for Japanese Shintoism, it is still relatively weak at this time, and needs to be integrated and developed with Japanese Confucian scholars.

   It is the religious turmoil in the past few years that has led to the decline of Buddhist power in Japan.

  Especially in coastal areas, Christians burned down a large number of temples—Shinto shrines, because they had little incense and little influence, and even rebel Christians didn’t bother to burn them.

   After careful consideration, Tokugawa Iemitsu said, "Send an envoy to Nanjing first."

  (end of this chapter)