New Shun 1730

When the ship arrived in Nagasaki, the first people to board were those who checked banned books.

The four Japanese who were in charge of the inspection were all dumbfounded when they saw the boxes full of books.

These boxes of books were collected by Liu Yu at a great cost to "give" to the Japanese.

His careful selection is commendable.

Geometry's Elements with Christian mottos, Exorcism, Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism's sectarian rituals, and Hannibal's translation of On Government and On Free Will...

Either they were carefully selected dregs, or they were deliberately combining Christianity with practical studies such as Geometry's Elements, and some enlightenment ideas that could scare the feudal shogunate into a cold sweat.

A few years ago, a man named Nakane Motoki made a bold suggestion to the shogunate: All calendars in the Tang Dynasty were incomplete and difficult to use. After the Western calendar was introduced to the Tang Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty, many things were clarified. This country strictly prohibits Christianity. All books with texts such as Catholicism and Matteo Ricci were burned in Nagasaki. There are very few books that are helpful for calendar research. If you want to make the calendar of this country accurate, you can first relax the strict ban.

After this suggestion was adopted, a large number of books on Western learning entered Japan.

In addition, after the chaos at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Dashun Dynasty did not use Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism, but learned more Western practical learning.

It is precisely because the east is brighter than the west, and the flowers bloom inside the wall are fragrant outside the wall. Many rigid and inflexible Zhu Xi Confucian scholars fled to Japan, and Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism has become more and more prosperous in Japan in recent years.

However, with the lifting of the ban on Ogyū Sorai's exegesis, practical learning, and Western books, Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism has also been greatly impacted in Japan.

Liu Yu "could not bear" to see that Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism was also impacted in Japan, and he also felt "regretful" that Japan lifted the ban on books such as "Elements of Geometry" and "Western Water Law". This time, in addition to bringing food to fill his stomach, he also brought a lot of spiritual food to the Japanese.

Especially after the lifting of the ban on thought in recent years, there have been many reflections on the moral decline and hedonism caused by the lifting of the ban on thought in the late Ming Dynasty. Liu Yu carefully selected some of the extreme moralistic etiquette books of Dashun and sent them to him.

Then there are books on government theory and free will theory that make the shogunate full of fear of the West.

These books are not available to ordinary people. They will definitely be sent to Edo first and evaluated by Confucian scholars in Edo. Liu Yu does not have to worry about enlightening their thoughts.

Although it is not possible to make the local indigenous people "get the Bible and lose the land" like the European colonization, Liu Yu is happy to see the rigid Zhu Xi Neo-Confucianism spread in Japan.

After all, it can mess up Japan: Zhu Xi Neo-Confucianism is an ideology, so the legitimacy of the shogunate is very problematic.

As long as Dashun can continue to move forward, it is so close that it can completely bring Japan back to the chaotic era. The shogunate lost power and the daimyo became independent, and sufficient external forces can maintain this balance.

Those more radical books by John Locke were written to scare the shogunate and make it more closed.

The people who checked the banned books were already familiar with Liu Yu's fleet, and they joked with Lin Yunwen that they might have to study hard for several months with so many books.

These ships did not have trade letters, but they were allowed to enter the port first because they were familiar with it.

Not long after, Nagasaki Bugyo seized Liu Yu's boxes of books.

After meeting Liu Yu, he arranged for someone to accompany Liu Yu to Edo Castle.

This route was the route the Dutch took to visit Edo every year, and the time was just right. The Dutch set out in February of the Gregorian calendar every year and returned around May, which was just the opposite of Liu Yu's time.

He did not want to deal with the Dutch for the time being, nor did he want to have any conflicts.

The Dutch were good at spreading rumors, and there was another opportunity to visit Edo every year. Who knows how they would ruin themselves with the shogunate.

The Dutch were much more addicted to gambling than Liu Yu, and they were also more courageous than Liu Yu in gambling.

In the Pingshan Changchen incident during the Tianqi period of the previous dynasty, the Dutch dared to directly seize Japanese ships, betting that there were Spanish Catholic missionaries hiding on them.

Risking the risk of being attacked for "piracy and seizing Japanese ships", they won the bet in one fell swoop, took the opportunity to explain the merger of Spain and Portugal, and made Japan cut off trade with Portugal.

Whether it was the grasp of opportunities or the gamble of daring to bet everything, Liu Yu was full of vigilance against the Dutch. At least now he did not want to conflict with the Dutch-before the Pingshan Changchen incident, the Portuguese had been talking about the Dutch's piracy. If the Dutch lost the bet that time, there were no missionaries on the ship, and basically the Netherlands would have no chance to trade in Japan.

After all, it was a Japanese ship. If it was seized and inspected casually, the Japanese shogunate must have wondered: What the Portuguese said was right, this is not a pirate, what is it?

However, the bet was won.

Now, after more than a hundred years of wind and rain, the Dutch can go to Edo every year. It is said that the shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune was also an open-minded person. When he met the Dutch, he did not separate them through the bamboo curtain, but asked a lot of questions about navigation.

Liu Yu knew that if he had a conflict with the Dutch now, he would definitely not have an advantage. Seeing each other every year is not the same as having to go to great lengths to see each other once.

After passing Kokura, the group changed boats and sailed along the sea from Kokura to Osaka. After landing in Osaka, they went to Edo by land.

Along the way, Mantou and others pretended to be servants. Mantou was skilled in his business. The samurai who accompanied Liu Yu and monitored Liu Yu did not see any problems, but praised him for "the Tang people's servants are much more respectful and delicate than the Japanese."

Some sensitive observations along the way, such as ordnance, morale, artillery, and key points, were also recorded by Liu Yu and others in Chinese pinyin that the Japanese could not understand.

Maps of the coastline, routes of the Seto Inland Sea, reefs, islands, etc. were also drawn on white paper with onion and ginger juice.

After arriving in Edo, Liu Yu went directly to Shi Shiyong's home.

This child army spy who is skilled in bow and horse is now doing well in Edo. As a "royal" samurai instructor, he teaches some samurai hatatos in Edo Castle how to ride and shoot.

There is a special residence in Edo City. Shi Shiyong was sent by Liu Yu after all, so it is natural to live here.

When they met, Liu Yu was overjoyed.

Shi Shiyong was wearing a kimono, with a Japanese sword hanging from his waist. Except for not shaving his Tsukiyo head, he looked like a samurai.

"Brother Heisei!"

"Brother Shouchou!"

Although he had lived in Edo in the past few years, the emperor believed that his trustworthiness was not up to standard and his quality was useless, so he asked his wife to live with him.

Western women were not allowed to live in Edo Castle, and Western women were not allowed to follow them, but women from the Tang Dynasty were not included in this list, especially Shi Shiyong, who had earned a status enough to live here with his wife through his own talents. The two of them usually spoke in Chinese. There were also some Confucian scholars who fled here in Edo City, and they finally did not forget their local accent.

Shi Shiyong was extremely excited to see Liu Yu, but he did not express all his excitement. There were outsiders around, so he only expressed the excitement of meeting acquaintances.

"Brother Morishune, why are you here in Edo?"

"Ah, let's take a look at the shogunate. I will stay with Brother Heisei for the time being, and I will return in about half a month. How is Brother Heisei here?"

"Okay, very good."

Shi Shiyong smiled and asked his wife to serve tea, and then told him about teaching knights how to ride and shoot.

A smart person knows what to say, and without being too straightforward, he tells the story of the armaments collected by Shi Shiyong.

The speaker was thoughtful and the listener was interested. The two chatted for a while, and news came from Japan, asking Liu Yu to meet with the general in three days.

As soon as they left, Liu Yu said: "Brother Heisei, this is also my first time coming to Edo. I wonder if I can wander outside the city? If possible, you might as well go out and see the scenery."

Shi Shiyong heard what Xian meant and knew that it was inconvenient to talk in the room, so he took Liu Yu out for a walk.

Knowing that someone would be following and watching, Shi Shiyong first took Liu Yu to see the elephant that was popular in Edo City recently. A few years ago, the Vietnamese Ruan family sent Japan the first elephant in Japan's history. In order to allow the elephant to "visit the emperor", the elephant was given the title of "Four White Elephants from Guangnan".

According to Liu Yu's understanding, maybe only fourth-rank officials are qualified to see the emperor? He was the most ruthless and told the story of "Wei Yigong loves cranes", which made Shi Shiyong laugh wildly.

After laughing, he led Liu Yu around again until he chose an empty place with no one. Shi Shiyong said casually: "I wonder if I should tell you everything I know and just describe it? Or should I ask questions and answer them?"

"Let me ask you an answer. From what you see, how do the Japanese feel about us?"

Shi Shi shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Not good. Some people who fled here back then still think that our dynasty is a rogue bandit who won the country unfairly."

Liu Yu also laughed and said: "This is all bullshit. The Japanese believe that the Ming Dynasty has achieved national justice, and they do not dare to attack North Korea and capture the Ming Dynasty without seeing the Renchen Year. It's okay to deceive fools, don't worry about this."

Shi Shiyong sighed, extremely helpless.

"Having said that, there are also many Japanese people who are very worried about the fact that they did not agree to the Puppet Ming's begging for teachers. When Emperor Taizong followed Zheng Beke's Duan in Yan, he never completely destroyed the Puppet Ming and borrowed troops from the Puppet Ming. "

"Furthermore, the merchants who went to Nagasaki to trade said anything in order to obtain trade letters. Naturally, they praised the Japanese fiercely, and their words often contained 'transgression', which further encouraged the Japanese's arrogance."

Shi Shiyong was not a businessman, but a spy. He looked at the problem from the perspective of the imperial court. What's more, because he was someone close to the emperor, he took things like "transgression" very seriously.

The people he interacts with on daily basis include many descendants of Confucian scholars who fled here, and they can be regarded as starving to death without eating Zhou Su.

This hidden hostility can be clearly felt through contact.

The relationship between Dashun and Japan is very poor.

There is no official exchange at all, and there is some unofficial trade in Nagasaki.

Back then, for the sake of legitimacy, Dashun used Zheng Bo and Duan Yuyan's methods. It was clear that Nan Ming could be destroyed first, but it was not destroyed just to force Nan Ming to borrow troops from foreign countries.

Borrowing troops from foreign countries cannot be treated in the same way.

Asking about the borrowing of troops from Ryukyu, Burma, and Korea, it is understandable that the feudal lords are fulfilling their feudal obligations.

But asking Japan and the Holy See to lend troops can be used to make a big fuss.

Taking advantage of the borrowing of troops, he used radical ideology to criticize Nanming verbally and writtenly, and coupled with the ideology of the Yongjia Yongkang school deliberately supported by Dashun, completely destroyed Nanming's legitimacy.

This is political wisdom.

Huang Zongxi once said that when the Song Dynasty fell in the past, Zhang Shijie sent envoys to borrow troops, and Chen Yizhong also went to Champa to borrow troops. Therefore, the situation at that time was no different from that in Song Dynasty. Moreover, the Tang Dynasty also borrowed Uighur soldiers, and the word traitor needs to be reconsidered.

At that time, some people in the Southern Ming Dynasty said: "If Japan succeeds, then cut off the islands to it. The sea and the sky are not as dry as the Yangtze River. Even if the islands are cut off, how can they compete with me for the Central Plains?"

It is difficult to evaluate this matter. At the end of the road, naturally we cannot expect a feudal dynasty that controls the world to have any national consciousness.

Liu Yu was well aware of the shamelessness of the ruling class and did not think it was anything to make a fuss about.

But several subsequent letters of borrowing troops raised a big question.

"I compliment Japan, a great country, whose people value justice, are brave, train with bows and swords, and are accustomed to sailing. It is adjacent to the Buddhist country, and the king knows the weather... I would like to imitate the Seven Days' Cry and ask for 3,000 soldiers."

"I secretly admire Japan, whose prestige is so great that it covers all nations. I respectfully submit a petition to ask for 3,000 soldiers: one to strengthen the friendship between us, and the other to avenge the king and father. I respect your virtue and send troops to help you."

At that time, there were many letters asking for troops, and different attitudes were held towards different countries.

For vassal states like Ryukyu, the attitude was to ask vassal states to fulfill their feudal obligations.

And these letters asking for troops used three very taboo words.

"Great country".

"Friendship between us".

"I would like to imitate the Seven Days' Cry".

The former is easy to say, but the latter, friendship between us and the Seven Days' Cry, is equivalent to comparing the relationship between Japan and China to that between Qin and Chu.

This made Japan very inflated, and it believed that it was on an equal footing with China.

Of course, just in terms of this matter, Liu Yu's "equal diplomacy" seems to be similar, not to mention the eldest brother.

In terms of traditional ideology, Liu Yu is not wronged to be labeled as a "traitor" and "Qin Hui" for equal diplomacy.

But there is actually another thing.

There is no equal diplomacy within the East Asian system, because they are all within the Chinese cultural circle.

The reason for engaging in equal diplomacy with France, Russia, and Britain is that they are not countries within the Chinese cultural circle, so even if they are equal, it can't be a big deal, because they can't take away the "orthodoxy".

The tribute system can be transformed into the Westphalian system, but within the scope of the tribute system, there can only be one orthodox emperor, and this orthodox emperor cannot be a Westerner.

The equal diplomacy between China and Japan also involves the issue of "orthodoxy".

If everyone is a prince, Japan thinks that since the Celestial Empire recognizes that they are "following the seven-day cry" and are the relationship between Qin and Chu, then why is China the orthodox emperor?

In foreign relations, the title of Dashun is "Son of the Emperor".

In other words, it was not China that interacted with Western countries, but the entire empire of China and its surrounding vassal states that interacted with Western countries.

The emperor of Korea was the emperor of China, and the emperor of Ryukyu was also the emperor of China. When interacting with foreign countries, the entire Chinese cultural circle was squeezed into a ball.

When the treaty with Russia was signed, Liu Yu also wrote very clearly: vassal states were not qualified to directly negotiate and contact with Russia. When signing the treaty with Russia, Liu Yu included Japan, and Russia accepted it. Anyway... Russia was out of reach, and it was also very straightforward when it signed.

Although Japan could not compete for orthodoxy for the time being due to its strength, the idea of ​​"I am also orthodox" was very popular within the country.

In addition, some Confucian scholars who fled at that time settled in Japan, which added a few arguments to this truth. On the one hand, Dashun "gained the country unjustly" and gained the country through the uprising of hungry people; on the other hand, Dashun abandoned Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism and added a lot of Western learning content, which made Dashun lose its "orthodox" qualifications.

There were also many old people who fled here and advocated "orthodoxy in Japan". Japanese Confucian scholars gradually accepted this idea. Although they were unable to invade, they closed the door and enjoyed themselves.

Liu Yu had been planning a war against Japan, on the one hand to make money, and on the other hand to make Dashun transform from a tributary system to a Westphalian system, and the scope of this vassalage included Japan.

What Shi Shiyong said was exactly what Liu Yu wanted. He hoped that Shi Shiyong would be very dissatisfied with this and add fuel to the fire when he returned in the future.