Wei Zaode finally understood. It turned out that the Tokugawa shogunate was planning to usurp the throne, and it also wanted to get the support of the Ming Dynasty... This was not a problem. If the Tokugawa shogunate can really change the Japanese Empire into the Kingdom of Japan and make Japan submit to the Celestial Empire, then the Celestial Empire's dominance over East Asia will be unshakable!
But once a civil war breaks out in Japan due to the Tokugawa shogunate's usurpation, Japan's door will be completely open! And this country has a samurai class that is not engaged in production, but specializes in killing people. There are many of them, and most of them are very poor... If the country is suddenly opened, this group of people may be taken advantage of by the Spaniards with ulterior motives. , became cannon fodder for their attack on China!
Thinking of this, Wei Zaode asked: "If the Celestial Empire supports the shogunate, will the shogunate launch a war against the powerful vassals in the southwest in the near future?"
"Of course!" Tokugawa Mitsukuni nodded heavily, "The powerful Southwestern feudal lords have always had ulterior motives and want to overthrow the shogunate and replace them! If the government goes further, they will definitely take the opportunity to cause chaos, so the shogunate must strike first!
The ulterior motives of the powerful Southwestern domain lie not with the domain lord and Shitsugushi, but with the feudal lords who actually control the feudal government... because the domain lord, Shitsugushi and their ilk have long been under the control of the shogunate and cannot cause any major disturbances. of. The real danger is the middle and lower class vassals and ronin. Once Japan is controlled by them, the foundation of samurai enfeoffment may not exist. By then, 20 million people and hundreds of thousands of warriors will be gathered under one court. Such a Japanese country will definitely become the mortal enemy of the Celestial Empire! "
In this era, the Japanese samurai class had actually been divided into the feudal lord and high-level banner class and the feudal and rogue classes.
The Tokugawa shogunate actually represented a group of high-level feudal lords and high-ranking bannermen. At the same time, the shogunate used the delegation system to oust the feudal lord class among senior samurai, causing them to gradually lose their strong control over the feudal clan.
Therefore, the people who could bring about the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate when they sought to usurp the throne could not be the ostracized feudal lords. They could only be the feudal lords who were actually in power and the rogues who dreamed of fighting.
And after they succeed in overthrowing, it is very likely that they will dissolve the vassals and establish a centralized and unified Japan!
Although centralization of power will eventually lead to the decline of the Japanese samurai class, in the short term it can maximize the combat effectiveness of the Japanese samurai into national strength.
If Japan continues to receive support from the West, Japan will definitely become the most tenacious enemy of the Chinese Empire before the population of hundreds of thousands of warriors is exhausted.
Therefore, the promotion of General Tokugawa to king is the most beneficial to the Ming Dynasty... It is really difficult to defeat hundreds of thousands of samurai.
Especially since the era of queuing up to be shot is coming. Who wouldn’t have a headache seeing these guys who are not afraid of death?
Of course, this is also the best outcome for the Tokugawa family and the shogunate ministers.
Sakai Tadayoshi said: "So the shogunate hopes that China can provide enough cannons and send officers to teach artillery skills! As soon as the shogunate's artillery training is completed, troops will be sent to conquer the southwest immediately!"
This Tokugawa shogunate was much more straightforward in killing people than the Tokugawa shogunate two hundred years later!
Wei Zaod asked: "How long will the war last? Will many ronin take advantage of the war to go abroad to make a living and be hired by the Spaniards?"
"Of course!" Tokugawa Mitsukuni said, "Without the control of the shogunate, the ronin in Japan can go wherever they want? Ambassador, your country will not be afraid of thousands of ronin warriors armed by the Spanish. Bar?"
"Not afraid, of course not afraid..."
Sakai Tadayoshi said: "This is not the responsibility of the shogunate... and worse things may happen!"
"worse?"
"That's right!" Tadayoshi Sakai said, "Because there are Spanish contacts, we can't rule out the possibility that Japan's Southwest vassals will join forces with China's Manchu vassal towns, Mongolian rebels, and the rogue bandits occupying Sichuan and Yunnan!"
Could such a thing happen? Wei Zaode frowned and thought for a moment, that seems to be what happened!
Tokugawa Mitsukuni smiled and said: "Now that there is the Celestial Empire, the borders of the countries in East Asia will gradually blur... The countries of East Asia will be under the same world!
Therefore, a closer relationship should be established between the Celestial Empire and the Tokugawa family! "
"More intimate?" Wei Zaode asked, "How can we be more intimate?"
Sakai Tadaki said with a smile: "Of course it's a marriage!"
"A marriage?" Wei Zaode asked again, "How should we make a marriage?"
Tokugawa Mitsukuni said: "The father-in-law is already married to Asamiya, so of course he cannot accept a princess from the Celestial Dynasty as his concubine. Therefore, he can only have a girl from the Nadugawa family of the Celestial Emperor as his concubine! Becoming an in-law with the Celestial Emperor will offset the The Chinese government recognizes the negative influence of the Japanese emperor... This is very necessary! I hope your Excellency, Ambassador, can accomplish this!"
It was Tokugawa Mitsukuni's idea to send the princesses of the Tokugawa family to the harem of the emperor of the Celestial Dynasty. The most intelligent person in the Tokugawa family did not become a student of Zhu Shunshui (Zhu Zhiyu), so his intelligence was not used in Confucianism. It's all used to plan for the Tokugawa family's world!
Because Emperor Zhu's behavior of promoting the Japanese emperor lowered the prestige of the Tokugawa family, Tokugawa Mitsukuni came up with the idea of using marriage to bring the relationship between the Celestial Dynasty and the Tokugawa family.
Wei Zaode laughed: "The emperor must like this kind of marriage! But I have something to make clear. The emperor likes beautiful and tall women. Do you have such a woman in your Tokugawa family?"
In fact, Emperor Zhu didn't particularly like Gaomei, but Wu Sanmei and Zheng Chagu were both quite tall, so Wei Zaode thought so.
Moreover, the women Grand Duke Wei saw in Japan were all too short...
"Yes! Yes!" Tokugawa Mitsukuni smiled and nodded, "His Royal Highness Aizu is tall, and his daughters are all taller and more beautiful."
There is a higher chance that a daughter will look like her father! Yasukina Masayuki is a rare tall man in Japan (I guess Hidetada also likes tall girls), and his wife and step-brothers are not relatives, and their status is not high, so his appearance is not bad.
Wei Zaode smiled and nodded: "That's good, that's good... As long as you are tall and beautiful, the marriage will be on my side!"
...
Nanjing, Laoshan Palace.
Emperor Zhu of the Great Ming Dynasty still doesn’t know that his most trusted Prime Minister Wei Zaode has turned a good diplomatic activity into a blind date... But he has also discovered that the national borders within the Celestial Circle are disappearing!
In the Huangji Hall of Laoshan Palace, Yan Yingyuan, the newly appointed military advisor of the Generalissimo's Office, was reporting to Zhu Cixiang about Dashun's invasion of Siam!
The Dashun Army targeted the invasion of Burma's Toungoo dynasty when it was at its weakest, so they successfully captured Awa and renamed Awa Anlongfu, which seemed to mean that it would be used as another basic place. .
The strategists and staff of the Generalissimo's Palace thought that this gang of bandits would carry out construction in Anlong Palace for a while, but they did not expect that they would launch an invasion of Siam before Myanmar was completely pacified. Moreover, many chieftains who originally belonged to the Toungoo Dynasty were roped in, and there were signs that Europeans were involved.
However, the Siam Kingdom has been at peace for many years, and the military aristocracy has long been decayed. Therefore, it was unable to resist the invasion of Dashun, and was soon pushed to the gate of Ayutthaya by the Dashun soldiers!
King Narei, who had just come to power, had no choice but to ask for help from his overlord, the Ming Dynasty...
Emperor Zhu felt a little helpless after receiving this news. These days, all the bandits who want to suppress rogues have to go abroad!
As soon as Yan Yingyuan's report ended, Emperor Zhu took a breath and said: "Since the Celestial Empire signed the "Treaty of Suspensions" with Siam, and the King of Siam has always abided by the treaty and never violated it, then the Celestial Empire cannot break the treaty and must Fulfilled the obligation and sent troops to protect Siam.
Military Advisor, has the Generalissimo's Office made any calculations? How many troops should be sent? "
Yan Yingyuan said: "Your Majesty, the question now is not how many troops are appropriate to send, but whether they will be attacked by the Spanish on the way!"
"what happened?"
Yan Yingyuan replied: "The advisory team of the Generalissimo's Office in Sulu has received reports that Spanish warships are concentrating on Manila!"
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