The sailing battleship Dinghai, aboard Zhu Cixiang, the great nephew of the Ming Dynasty, slowly docked at the pier of Shin-Osaka Town, south of the Yamato River in Osaka, amidst cheers in Chinese.
The so-called New Osaka Town is actually a new area centered on Zhu Cixiang's private property, Meiguo Castle, and includes Sakai and other parts of beach land, farmland, and wasteland. The specific location is on the seaside south of the Yamato River. To the south is Sakai, the commercial center of Japan during the Warring States Period. To the west is Osaka Bay, and to the east is the Ishikawa River, about 30 miles away from the Osaka Bay seaside. It is roughly a flat area that is more than ten miles wide from north to south and about 30 miles long from east to west.
The reason why such a new Osaka town appeared is of course related to the siege of Osaka that lasted for several years. The original Osaka Castle Town was located to the west of Osaka Castle, very close to the battlefield of the Siege of Osaka. And Tokugawa Yorifusa, who was surrounded in Osaka Castle, did not just defend, but would organize counterattacks from time to time. Because Osaka Castle Town was the transportation and storage place for supplies for Emperor Kouko's army, it naturally became the target of the Osaka defenders' counterattack.
Tokugawa Yorifusa even ordered people to build the Tokugawa Maru fort on the east bank of the moat outside Osaka. He mounted cannons to bombard the Osaka castle town every day, and also fired arson bombs - most of the traditional Japanese buildings are made of wood, so how could they withstand this? Arson bombardment? The result was multiple fires. The Osaka castle town was so burned that no one could live in it properly. The Osaka businessmen had no choice but to move south of the Yamato River. Zheng Zongming, Zhu Cihong's general agent in Japan, immediately seized the opportunity and launched a new Osaka plan. To the south of the Yamato River, along the Yamato River, Ishikawa River and the southern edge of Sakai Town, a ring of urban areas was built to form a new Osaka Town.
In the plan proposed by Zheng Zongming, Mingguo Castle, covering an area of about 500 towns, was cleverly arranged between the Yamato River and Sakai Town in the city center, with the port to the west. It's truly a prime location!
This plan was quickly approved by Emperor Zhu Cijiong and Emperor Xingzi, and these two people also asked Zheng Zongming to come up with a more specific construction plan for New Osaka!
Of course Zheng Zongming was not polite and quickly came up with a plan that was most beneficial to Mingguo City. Mingguo City was planned to become a financial city! Not only the Japanese branch of the Daeming Salt Bank and the top ten Ryotaiya in Osaka have moved into Daming City, but also the head office of the Bank of Japan, the head office of Kobu Ginza (Mint), and the Osaka Ryotai Guild have all moved in. Meiguo Castle in Shin-Osaka Town.
In a very short period of time, Mingguo City has become a place where every inch of land is precious. The land rent is the highest in Japan - the land rent for the Bank of Japan Head Office and Xingwu Ginza Head Office is of course symbolic, but for other people who live in Ming Dynasty, the land rent is symbolic. For Japanese apartments in the city, high rents must be paid. However, being able to move into Mingguo City itself means the strength and status of this replacement house in the industry. What does the higher rent mean?
Of course, it is currently impossible to own real estate in Mingguo City - land in Japan is not yet a commodity and can only be granted, donated or bestowed, and cannot be bought or sold.
In addition to the financial district of Meiguo Castle, Zheng Zongming also divided the remaining Shin-Osaka Town into three areas. The first is Sakai Town, which is the port area and commercial district; the second is Yamatogawa Town, which is the inland port area and commercial area. District, and the third is Ishikawa-cho, which is Osaka's handicraft industry district. Among them, the three areas of Sakai Town, Meiguo Castle and Yamatogawa Town are not large in area, and they are close together, making them very prosperous. Ishikawa Town is more like an independent area. It is a bit far away from Sakai Town, Meiguo Town, and Yamatogawa Town, and there is a lot of wasteland in the middle... I don’t know what it is for?
The pier where Zhu Cihong disembarked is under the jurisdiction of Sakai Town (Sakai Town, Mingguo Castle, Yamatogawa Town, and Ishikawa Town all have their own agents). It is a newly built pier that is leased to Pacific Shipping Line, run by Zhu Cihong's own family.
At this time, the pier was already crowded with people who came to welcome the nephew of the Ming Emperor. In addition to the figures representing the Japanese court, most of them were expatriates from the Ming Dynasty, and some were Japanese businessmen settled in Osaka. There were thousands of them. The pier was crowded.
The soldiers of the Northern Army of the Japanese imperial court maintained order at the scene. They used their bodies to block a passage to Osaka Castle. Osaka Castle had been repaired long ago and now belongs to Emperor Zhu Cijiong and Emperor Xingzi. . The two of them regard themselves as the samurai family, and of course they will not live in the imperial palace in Kyoto. So when they were in Kyoto, they lived in Nijo Castle, in Osaka they lived in Osaka Castle, and when they arrived in Edo, of course they lived in Edo Castle.
Now Emperor Kouko is still preparing for the abdication ceremony in Nijo Castle in Kyoto - after abdicating, she will be the Emperor and Empress of Japan...
Zhu Cijiong, the "Emperor's Man" who was about to ascend the throne, was currently on board the Dinghai, talking to his brother Zhu Cixiang.
Zhu Cijiong is so proud... He will be emperor soon! The emperor was not part of the Ming Dynasty's tribute system, so after Zhu Cijiong became emperor, he was no longer a minister of the Ming Emperor.
Theoretically, he is the same age as Zhu Youjian!
But this is not what makes Zhu Cijiong the happiest... What makes him happiest is that Emperor Xingzi has promised Zhu Cijiong to have a concubine after he ascends the throne!
From now on, if you get along well with Meng Genqiqiqie, you won't have to be sneaky anymore.
"Second brother, because the Emperor of Japan is not a vassal of the Ming Emperor, you can no longer be the Ning Prince of the Ming Dynasty... Your title and title of Prince Ning will be passed on to your son."
Zhu Cixiang looked at his proud brother and decided to give him a bowl of cold water first.
"Okay!" Zhu Cijiong said with a smile, "My son and Ban will take the throne of Prince Ning."
Zhu Cijiong did not have many legal sons, only three, all of whom were born to Emperor Xingzi. Among them, the eldest son Nitaka, who has no surname or Miao character, will inherit the Imperial family; the second son will inherit the surname Zhu, and this is Zhu Heban, and will inherit the title and estate of Prince Ning; the third son will inherit the million-koku family fortune of Echigo Prime Minister Uesugi. , now named Uesugi Xingkatsu, has become the governor of the Uesugi family.
In addition, he and Meng Genqiqige also raised several illegitimate children, all of whom now live in Busan, North Korea. Emperor Xingzi also knew of their existence, but they were not allowed to set foot in Japan before Zhu Cijiong became emperor. After Zhu Cijiong ascended the throne, they also could not become members of the Imperial family and could only join the Uesugi family.
"Is the reign name ready?" Zhu Cixiang asked again, "Japan is not a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, so it naturally needs its own reign name."
"It's time to call!" Zhu Cijiong nodded, "Meiji! I will be Emperor Meiji from now on!"
"What? Ming, Meiji?" Zhu Cixiang was startled when he heard this, thinking: What do you want to do? You are Emperor Meiji, what about me? Do you want to be Emperor Guangxu?
Zhu Cijiong didn't realize anything was wrong yet, he just smiled and said: "I am a prince from the Ming Dynasty. Now I accept the abdication of the emperor's wife and become the emperor of Japan. Isn't it the prince Ming who governs Japan? What's wrong with using the Meiji era name?"
Such a Meiji!
Zhu Cihong said in his heart: Then I can't be called Guangxu. I am a filial son, so I should use the title of Xiaozhi...
"Is that what you said on the surface?" Zhu Cixiang thought for a while and asked again.
"Of course it's impossible," Zhu Cijiong said. "The words in "Zhouyi·Shuo Gua" say that the sage turned south to listen to the world and rule toward the Ming Dynasty."
"Oh," Zhu Cixiang nodded, "That's okay..." He saw that his brother's brows were already frowning, "Second brother, what's wrong with you?"
Zhu Cijiong sighed: "Boss, I, Emperor Meiji, am so poor!"
