New Shun 1730

This time, to show his trust, Li Gan, after joking, directly handed the Japanese peace letter to Liu Yu.

Liu Yu had previously asserted that after the Battle of Hagi, the Japanese would have to negotiate.

After explaining the constraints and contradictions between the Japanese political system and the shogunate daimyo, the emperor could easily understand.

As an emperor, he is a master at doing this kind of thing. If you think about it from another's perspective, you can know what the Tokugawa shogunate is thinking.

But to be on the safe side, the emperor still asked.

"How? Do you really want to make peace? Or is it a delaying tactic?"

Liu Yu listened to the four words "delaying tactic" and thought to himself, what's the delay?

Give the Tokugawa shogunate half a year, even if he has everything ready, he can't build a navy.

This thing can't be made by just finding a few pieces of wood, and whether it can control the sails after it is made is also a problem.

In terms of land warfare, in the whole of East Asia, the only family that can make its own flintlock rifles is the Dashun family.

If you want to buy from Westerners, even if Japan really has mountains of gold and silver, it will take a year or two for the news to reach Amsterdam and then be shipped back.

After seeing that Dashun had assembled 5,000 troops in Xiaobin, the Dutch were directly scared: the Dutch looked down on Dashun's few broken ships, and also looked down on Dashun's navy without actual combat experience, but the Dutch really couldn't gather about 5,000 troops in East Asia to carry out large-scale operations.

Spain had already gone to war with Britain because of Jenkins' ears, and Luzon was busy at this time. Portugal didn't dare to say anything because of Macau.

Japan didn't have any allies that could be pulled in. Relying on those tens of thousands of samurai and a few broken ships with less than 500 stones, it was useless to slow down.

"Your Majesty, I think the Japanese really want to talk this time. I have discussed this before. There is really no need to talk too much about the peace talks with Japan."

"It's just that...from ancient times to the present, the affairs of the Celestial Empire have always been about learning from history. It is nothing more than because the Celestial Empire has always been strong, and dynasties have risen and fallen. Learning from history, the gains and losses of dynasties can always be based on something."

"However, today we attacked Japan, the navy defeated the enemy, and the speed of our troop transport made the Japanese passive everywhere. Please record it as history for future reference."

"The navy's affairs must not be stopped."

Speaking of the navy again, although it has been said more than once, the meaning of saying it now is very different from what it said before.

Now, Liu Yu can be said to be "absolutely selfless".

Because not only has the military power been handed over, but after the establishment of the Navy Department, Liu Yu will not be able to interfere in the construction of the navy.

Speaking of these words at this time, it sounds like a warning before leaving, and the meaning of it makes the emperor a little moved.

After comforting Liu Yu and saying that this matter should be written on the screen for future reference, he talked about the peace talks.

Regarding the peace talks, no matter if the Japanese side insisted on talking to Liu Yu, the court also decided to let Liu Yu preside over the negotiations.

This time the Japanese sent a letter for peace talks, just a formality and formal appointment.

"Your Majesty has entrusted me with an important task, and I will definitely live up to your trust. But, may I ask your Majesty, what is the bottom line?"

The emperor held up two fingers.

"My bottom line is nothing more than two points."

"First, tribute."

"Second, Satsuma must apologize."

"Beyond the bottom line, the court knows your ability, you can do whatever you want."

"But you insist on going to Shimonoseki with the power of a great victory, so you should be careful of the Japanese "righteous men" who will assassinate you."

"I think it is better to talk in Busan. When it comes to signing the contract, if you insist on going to Shimonoseki, then it is okay to go to Shimonoseki."

"The details of the negotiations with Japan will be discussed by the people of the Li government in the capital. You just need to talk about some practical matters. I think you have been thinking about today's matter ten years ago. I am relieved that you can do it."

The emperor was really worried about Liu Yu's safety. Although he could not fully understand why Liu Yu insisted on going to Shimonoseki to sign the contract, it was not difficult to understand from the perspective of this moment.

It was nothing more than the victor showing off his power.

Thinking that Liu Yu might have been thinking about this ten years ago, it was a dream for ten years, and now the dream finally came true, how could he not be excited?

Going to the Japanese land to show off his power is understandable.

He was not afraid that Liu Yu would do something like Li Zongcheng during the Wanli period of the previous dynasty. Unlike Li Zongcheng, who inherited the title because of his father's influence, Liu Yu was a count who fought for himself. Not to mention going to Maguan, he dared to go to Edo.

But it was precisely because of this that he was worried that Liu Yu's oppression was too harsh, so that some Japanese who felt humiliated might assassinate him.

Put yourself in their shoes. If Dashun was forced to negotiate and surrender, but the enemy deliberately came to places like Tianjin and Songjiang to show off their power, there would be a few bloody people standing up.

Liu Yu was not worried, thinking that he would have to go to Maguan after all.

This time, the emperor did not arrange someone from the Li government as a deputy envoy, but only asked Zhao Baiquan, who was still in Busan, to assist, but he was not a deputy envoy.

Because there was something very embarrassing in this negotiation.

It is said that a king does not rule over barbarians, and does not refuse those who come and does not chase those who leave. In general, people come to pay tribute and become vassals on their own initiative. I have never heard of anyone forcing others to pay tribute.

Even if we talk with Japan, after discussing the issue of paying tribute, it is the Japanese side that takes the initiative to send people to the capital.

Submit a petition and ask for a title, and then the Li government on the Dashun side will come forward to accept it, and according to the manpower on the Japanese side, all the important people will be given an official title.

The emperor did not allow the people of the Li government to intervene at all, which also showed that he wanted to make a lot of money from Japan. He probably tasted the sweetness of making money from the war, and there were rumors that Japan had a lot of gold and silver, which must have tempted him.

As for other ideas, occupying Japan, sealing Japan, disintegrating Japan, or retaining the shogunate, these four ideas have been debated more than once since Liu Yu asserted that Japan would take the initiative to negotiate in the Battle of Hagi.

In the end, the emperor made the decision and recognized Liu Yu's idea of ​​"retaining the shogunate system" as the tone of the peace talks.

Now Liu Yu was given full authority to negotiate, and the emperor did not think he should give any more instructions. He just asked Liu Yu to go back and prepare and set off for Busan as soon as possible.

After returning to the Earl's Mansion, Hetian Zhenyi lingered for a night. The next day, he assigned homework to the orphan students who followed him from Weihai to the capital, and then set off for Tianjin.

Along the way, the emperor sent fifty imperial guards to follow him, and the navy and army would escort him when he arrived in Busan.

In Tianjin, a new French-style 74-gun battleship was waiting there.

Before the French craftsmen arrived last year, Weihai had already had experience in building 64-gun battleships. They spent a lot of money to train a group of craftsmen to practice, and built an old slow battleship that could only stay in Bohai Sea and was not suitable for activities in East Asia.

A large amount of wood had been stockpiled long ago, and the arsenal had produced enough cannons for the planned battleship early on. It was finally built after more than half a year, but it did not catch up with the opportunity to bombard Hagi Castle.

The first appearance was as a deterrent force during negotiations. Two cruisers and four light sailing speedboats followed, forming a fleet and arriving in Busan along the route that the navy had already taken.

At this time, the convenient negotiation delegation of Japan had also arrived, including the King of Wa here, whose level was enough.

The King of Wa represented the court, Hayashi Nobumitsu recognized the cultural circle, and Matsudaira Terusada represented the military family. In fact, it was Matsudaira Terusada who really presided over the negotiations.

Liu Yu was straightforward and didn't talk nonsense. Instead, he gave the conditions he listed.

The King of Wa gave up his title of emperor and called himself king; the shogunate was not allowed to call itself the great lord or king, but was instead conferred by the Celestial Empire to ensure that the shogunate remained hereditary.

Ezo, Oki Island, and Tsushima Island were ceded to Dashun.

Five ports were opened in Kyushu Island, Shikoku Island, near Osaka, and in the Karatsu Strait.

Dashun proposed a tariff of 5% of the value of goods, which could be collected by the shogunate. However, after collecting the tariff, no other taxes could be levied on goods sold in Japan.

The artillery batteries in the Shimonoseki Strait were removed, and artillery batteries were never allowed to be built on both sides of the Shimonoseki Strait.

The northern islands of Ryukyu were returned, and the "Fifteen Articles of Okitsu" signed that year were abolished.

The lord of Satsuma Domain must personally go to Ryukyu to apologize and worship at the Ryukyu ancestral temple.

Since the Wanli period, for more than a hundred years, Satsuma Domain has encroached on Ryukyu's tribute trade, equivalent to 10,000 taels per year, and the principal and interest totaled 2 million taels of silver.

Compensation for the treasures plundered from Ryukyu in those years, valued at 3 million taels. If they can pay tribute, they will all become vassal states, and the Celestial Empire can make decisions for Ryukyu and exempt the interest.

Compensation for the military expenses, war losses, pensions, logistics, etc. of the Dashun Army, totaling 5 million taels.

Abolish trade with the Netherlands, and do not trade with countries outside the Celestial Empire system without the permission of Dashun.

Abolish trade with Korea, and do not trade with countries within the Celestial Empire system without the permission of Dashun.

Do not prevent merchants from trading at ports.

Present the "Great Japanese History" to the court, and the court's etiquette government will delete the words of usurpation.

The King of Wa and the Shogun of the Shogunate shall inherit the throne and be conferred by the Celestial Empire...

There are more than 30 conditions in total. The Celestial Empire has only rights but no obligations, but some obligations are self-evident.

After joining the tribute system, the Celestial Empire naturally has the obligation to protect them from threats from forces outside the Celestial Empire. The vassal joining the Celestial Empire system itself is a right.

Matsudaira Terumasa also knows the bottom line of the shogunate. After seeing these conditions, he was actually very calm.

It was very calm to begin with. After the defeat, they were helpless and could only let the Dashun side make conditions.

Now Liu Yu has come, and brought a huge warship that has never been seen before, which makes Matsudaira Terumasa even calmer.

Scanning through the many conditions proposed by Liu Yu, he calculated the bargaining opportunities one by one.

It is still easy to cede the Ezo land. It was originally a wild land and its value is not too great.

The vassal castles here and there have been broken by the Dashun army, and most of the samurai were killed, wounded or captured. In fact, there is no need to consider the opinions of Fukuyama Castle.

And since they are paying tribute to the Celestial Empire, they naturally no longer need a general. The Celestial Empire's government will solve this problem.

The Oki Island is not big, only a few thousand stones high, and it is not a place that must be fought for.

The opening of the trade is expected.

The only thing is that the total compensation of 10 million taels of silver is really too high.

Excluding the total of 10 million taels of silver, the remaining conditions are still good, which shows the sincerity of Dashun.

Thinking of the four words "bargaining" that Tokugawa Yoshimune reminded him, Matsudaira Terumasa said: "Your country's request for compensation of 10 million taels of silver is really too much."

However, Liu Yu's answer was simple and straightforward.

"I am here to propose conditions, not to negotiate conditions."

"Either accept it."

"Or continue the war."

"Can you make a decision on behalf of the shogunate? If you can, I need a reply within ten days. If not, it shows that the shogunate has no sincerity, so there is no need to talk. Just go to war."

"The details and specific measures can be discussed. As for the general treaty, I am a straightforward person and I am too lazy to bargain."