Send envoys to China in the name of the Japanese general? Isn’t that the beginning of “connecting with China”?
Tokugawa Mitsukuni's expression was slightly cold, he just gritted his teeth and smiled, looking at his teacher Zhu Shunshui quietly. In his view, as a master of China, Japan, and history, if Japan wants to maintain its independence and not become a vassal of China, it must implement the national policy of "defeating China" as much as possible! Even if you have to hug the thick legs of the Western Baiyi for this, it is still worth it.
After all, the West is far away and China is close! Moreover, Japanese civilization has its roots in China!
Therefore, no matter how Japan embraces the West, it is impossible for Japan to be absorbed by the West. Once Japan gets too close to China, it is very likely that it will eventually integrate into the Chinese world! Moreover, integrating into China means inevitable weakness for Japan!
Because the "Edo and Osaka" of the Chinese world cannot be in Japan, they can only be in China.
Now samurai all over Japan yearn for Edo, and businessmen all over Japan yearn for Osaka. When Japan integrates into the Chinese world, Japanese warriors and businessmen will yearn for the generals in Nanjing and the prosperity of Suzhou, Guangzhou, and Ningbo.
By then Japan will exist in name only!
But the current situation is such that Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the elder, has to temporarily get through to China.
A flash of ashen flashed across Tokugawa Mitsukuni's face, and then it returned to normal in the blink of an eye. Picked up a Chinese tea cup and took a sip.
"Since the teacher has said so, I will ask my brother Yorishige to go to Nanjing. He is currently living in seclusion at the Takamatsu Domain in Edo. He will represent the Tokugawa family. It should be enough, right?"
Tokugawa Mitsukuni's elder brother is named Matsudaira Yorishige. Although the two brothers have two surnames, the elder is Matsudaira and the younger is Tokugawa, there is no need to express their feelings. It is a perfect "succession of sons"!
Tokugawa Mitsukuni himself had a son, but the family business was not passed down to his biological son, so he adopted Matsudaira Yorishige's son as his heir. Matsudaira Yoshige also had a feudal clan, the Takamatsu clan on Shikoku Island, which only had 120,000 koku. Although it was not as good as the Mito clan, it was still better than nothing. Therefore, Matsudaira Yorishige adopted Tokugawa Mitsukuni's biological son and became the heir of the Takamatsu clan. Moreover, he did not wait for his own death and gave up his position to his adopted son in advance.
This time Tokugawa Mitsukuni sent his brother Yori Shige to the Ming Dynasty to meet with General Li, which can be said to be full of sincerity. But he just asked Yorishige to represent the Tokugawa family instead of the Tokugawa Shogunate!
This shows that Guangguo is still unwilling to break Japan's national policy of "defeating China" that has been implemented for seven hundred years!
Of course Zhu Shunshui understood Tokugawa Mitsukuni's thoughts - he had stayed in Japan for so many years and became Mitsukuni's teacher. How could he not know Japan's national will to annihilate China?
But the problem is that China has now become a maritime power!
The vast distance of the ocean cannot stop China's national will to march eastward to the New World.
To cross the ocean eastward and enter the New World, you must pass through Japan. Therefore, Japan's self-defeat from China and China's eastward march into the New World have already collided fiercely!
Thinking of this, Zhu Shunshui also sighed: "Zilong (Tokugawa Mitsukuni's subtitle Zilong), it is impossible to change the Ming Dynasty's determination to march eastward to the New World, and the Ming Dynasty also has the strength to achieve this goal. After all, Spain only has six hundred There are more than 10,000 people in the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty now has a population of more than 60 million. After the Ming Dynasty regains the Central Plains and Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu, the population may exceed 10 million! How can Spain resist this? "
Tokugawa Mitsukuni said firmly: "Although Japan has only a population of 20 million, Japan has never surrendered to any strong enemy since ancient times, not even as strong as Mongolia!"
"Submit." Zhu Shunshui could only shake his head, "Zilong, how do you know that General Li wants Japan to surrender? A Japan divided by heroes may be what he wants!"
Tokugawa Mitsukuni was stunned. Zhu Shunshui on the opposite side had already put down the chess piece in his hand and stood up: "That's it for today. I'm a little tired, so I'm going to rest first!"
After saying that, without waiting for Tokugawa Mitsukuni to react, he staggered out of Mitsukuni's study.
By the time Tokugawa Mitsukuni reacted, Zhu Shunshui had disappeared. He quickly coughed and said, "Insert the needle!"
"Your Highness, you called me?"
That nickname of Tokugawa Mitsukuni came from the shogunate flag in Nagasaki. The fourth generation Miura Yasu responded and immediately came forward.
"Prepare the sedan chair and go to Takamatsu Domain's residence!"
"Hai!"
The Takamatsu Domain is very close to the Mito Domain, just two blocks away. However, "Tokugawa Zilong" went to the Takamatsu Domain today not to discuss with his brother about sending an envoy to the Ming Dynasty, but to meet with Spielman, the Batavia Governor of the Dutch East India Company, at the Takamatsu Domain Residence.
The recent news coming back from Kyushu is very worrying. Since the Chikuzen Kuroda family strictly implements the "One Country, One City Order" promulgated by Tokugawa Ieyasu, there is only one castle, Fukuoka Castle, in the entire Chikuzen country!
You must know that during the Warring States Period, there were not one hundred but eighty large and small castles in the Chikuzen Kingdom. They were densely packed and formed a defense system that was difficult to break through. In the late Kamakura shogunate period when the Yuan invaders attacked, a large number of fortresses were built in northern Kyushu to defend against the Mongols. This allowed the Kyushu warriors to suppress the invading Yuan army on the beach. Waiting for the kamikaze!
But now, there is only one Fukuoka Castle in Chikuzen, and it is still located near the beach. After the disastrous defeat in Kuroda Tsunamasa's battle, Fukuoka Castle had no soldiers to defend it and was directly defeated by Korean soldiers.
This is the only castle in the Kuroda family and Chikuzen Kingdom, of course it is very important! Fukuoka Domain's half a million koku savings, grain, military supplies, and even the account books of the half a million koku territory are all stored in Fukuoka Castle!
These things all belong to Yang Qilong!
And Tsunamasa Kuroda, who defeated the Kuroda family in one battle and wiped out all the wealth they had saved for decades, was still a shameless Japanese samurai. He fled to Mikazuki Mountain and committed seppuku!
His suicide, coupled with the losses suffered by the Kuroda family during the Battle of Kuhara Beach and the destruction of Fukuoka Castle, almost wiped out all the top members of the family! Even the heads of the two vassals died in the battle together. As a result, the majestic Chikuzen Kuroda fell into a leaderless dilemma, and the entire Chikuzen was raided by the invading North Korean army!
Next door to the Chikuzen Fukuoka Domain is the Karatsu Domain of the Okubo Tadashi Dynasty, but the Karatsu Domain only has a territory of 83,000 koku, and there are many citizens and samurai who secretly believe in Catholicism in the territory. "Shimabara" more than 30 years ago During the "Rebellion", the Catholics in the Karatsu Domain also participated, so the feudal lord of the Karatsu Domain, Terasawa Kendaka, had his seal reduced by 40,000 koku. Later, because he could not bear the humiliation, he committed suicide in Kaizen Temple in Edo. As a result, because of him Without a son, even the Karatsu clan disappeared for a time. It was not until 1649 that Okubo Tadashi, the adoptive father of Okubo Tadashi, took over and reopened the business.
However, this series of changes still seriously affected the internal stability of the Karatsu Domain, resulting in a large number of Catholic ronin living in the territory, and the relationship between the Karatsu Domain authorities and its subjects was also tense.
And Yang Qilong had already figured out the inside story of Dangjin Domain by catching Japanese merchants at Choryangpo Japanese Pavilion. Therefore, after breaking Fukuoka Castle, he immediately sent two battalions of the Korean New Army to display the "Cross Flag" and "Brother Tianren Surrender". "Shi" flag, pretending to be a Catholic crusade and marching towards Karatsu Domain.
As a result, all the retainers who stayed in Karatsu Domain during Okubo Tadashi's reign were deceived. They really thought that the intruders were "crusaders" and immediately ordered a suppression of the Catholics in the territory, causing chaos. Now Karatsu Castle could not defend itself, and soon it fell It was defeated by the army sent by Yang Qilong.
At the same time, Yang Qilong's army also captured many islands in the sea off the northern coast of Kyushu, including Tsushima Island, Iki Island, Genkai Island, Shiga Island, and Eagle Island. Many islands also fell to Yang Qilong's North Korean army. hands!
There is no doubt that this invasion organized by Yang Qilong was much more successful than the Yuan Kou invasion hundreds of years ago!
The invading Koreans have already established a foothold in northern Kyushu. The Tokugawa shogunate, on the other hand, was a little helpless.
Although Okubo Tadayo has rushed to Kyushu to mobilize troops and generals, can the group of Kyushu daimyo with ulterior motives listen to the words of this shogunate veteran who did not even protect his own territory?
Shimazu of Satsuma, Mori of Choshu, and Uesugi of Yonezawa are all a bit ready to stir up trouble recently, and the Tosa Domain of Shikoku is also a bit stirred up!
In addition, the ronin gathered in Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto are not very stable. It seems that all aspects are preparing for a chaos that is about to change the power structure in Japan.
"Brother, with all due respect, the predicament that Japan and the Tokugawa shogunate are facing now is actually the fate that Japan, as an island country next to the mainland, will inevitably face!"
The person who was discussing "Japan's fate" with Tokugawa Mitsukuni in the Takamatsu feudal residence was the Dutchman Spielman. He spoke in Dutch, and Tokugawa Mitsukuni certainly could not understand it. However, his newly acquired fourth-generation Miura Yasunagi can speak fluent Dutch because he has served as a general secretary in Nagasaki for generations. Today, he will act as a translator.
"Fate?" After listening to Miura's translation, Tokugawa Mitsukuni frowned, "What fate?"
"In Europe, an island country or a country on the edge with a terrain similar to an island country, such as England and the Netherlands, is most afraid of the European continent being ruled by a powerful power! Because once such a power appears, then island countries and countries on the edge with a terrain similar to an island country will The country will lose its own independence and become a vassal of the continental power! It is for this reason that in the past many years, we Dutch and English people on the British Isles, as well as people living in the Nordic Peninsula Sweden has always been an opponent of the powerful Habsburg dynasty. We have tried every means, even at the cost of bloodshed and war, to resolutely prevent the Habsburg dynasty from turning Germany into a unified country. Fortunately, Our efforts have been successful!”
Europe has been in constant disputes since the decline of the Roman Empire. It can be said that it has thoroughly understood the geopolitics!
The Dutch are even more experienced players. Although they are not a real island country, they have turned themselves into a "quasi-island country" by digging canals and blowing up sea walls when necessary.
In addition, the Dutch were committed to opposing Habsburg unification until the end of the Thirty Years' War.
And after they exhausted the Habsburg dynasty, they immediately changed their stance, seemingly ignoring the blood feud of the 1980s War, and turned themselves into allies of the Habsburgs to jointly oppose France.
As for England, the "loved relatives and friends" who are related to the Netherlands, they are even more masters at playing with the power of the mainland. They were the backbone of the anti-Habsburg movement and even created such weird things as the "Royal Pirates".
But now that Habsburg is about to end, Louis the Great has risen, and the enemy of the British has gradually changed from Habsburg to France. In order to fight against France, Britain is even preparing to form an alliance with its rival the Netherlands!
In order to prevent European unification, profiteers in England can "hate money"!
"But we in Japan are facing a China that has been unified since ancient times!" Tokugawa Mitsukuni already understood what Spearman meant, and then he frowned deeply.
"Since ancient times?" Spearman said coldly, "But China is not unified now! Boss. Now that China has not been unified, Japan has already felt the huge pressure from the East Asian continent, right? If they really completed the unification , then Japan will always be stepped on!"
"Governor, I know more about China than you do!" Tokugawa Mitsukuni shook his head, "It's not like they have never been unified in the past!"
"But this time is different!" Spearman said, "Now, the ocean between Japan and China can no longer stop China's navy and merchant ships. The era of great navigation belongs to China, no, to the entire East Asia. Now it has arrived. Got it!"
"Mr. Governor, do you think it is possible to prevent their unification with Japan's national power?" Tokugawa Mitsukuni asked worriedly.
"No, Japan is not alone!" Spearman shook his head and said, "The Netherlands, England, Spain, Portugal, and Germany will be with Japan. Maybe Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia will also join in!"
"But they are far away!" Tokugawa Mitsukuni said, "And the Koreans have landed!"
This question is indeed a bit difficult. North Korea has landed in Japan, but Mei Daddy has not yet been established!
"Boss," Spearman said with a smile, "Boss, although we are far away, we can provide muskets, artillery, and gunpowder. We can help Japan train its troops, and we can also directly hire troops in Japan! Japan is most in need. They are samurai! If I remember correctly, Japan has a population of more than 20 million! And it has a long military tradition. If there is enough money and armaments, an army of one million can be organized!"
"You mean, Western countries will pay to hire Japanese samurai to attack the Ming Dynasty?"
"Yes! This is a war between Western countries and the Ming Dynasty. We must contain the Ming Dynasty to protect our overseas colonies!"
"I see."
Tokugawa Mitsukuni did not realize that what Spielman was telling him was actually another fate of Japan-this country could become a cannon fodder producing area! Provide cannon fodder for the Westerners to contain the Ming Dynasty, or for the Ming Dynasty to counterattack the West!
If the situation is ideal, when the Ming Army and the British Army queue up to shoot in India or elsewhere, the gunmen on both sides may be Japanese!
This overseas zero-dollar purchase actually mainly relies on mercenaries.
After all, this job lasts for many years, and at least it is a job of "five deaths, five lives" or "four deaths and six lives". If you are not careful, you will die in a foreign land.
Therefore, governments of various countries dare not use their own direct descendants to take risks in colonies. It would be ideal to spend some money to hire foreigners to kill people. Even if you use local people, you have to spend money to hire them, so they can be used more smoothly. Even if the losses are relatively large, we are not afraid of the domestic people causing trouble.
The British Empire, the most ferocious European colonial empire, did not implement compulsory military service during the Napoleonic Wars. Instead, they used paid mercenaries and even hired foreign troops to help them fight the Napoleonic Empire.
The Netherlands was grabbing colonial strongholds all over the world. When they were working as sea coachmen, they mainly relied on mercenaries for fighting, especially foreign mercenaries! Even their homeland is protected by foreign mercenaries.
Otherwise, relying on the Netherlands’ own 3 million people will not be enough.
Although the population of the Ming Dynasty is sufficient, the land of the Ming Dynasty is also fertile, industry and commerce are particularly developed, and there are many policies to inhibit annexation, so the 60 million countrymen and people are living well. The cost of engaging mercenaries in the mainland is very high. This is also the reason why Li Zhongshan has never been able to take drastic measures to grab colonies outside.
If he wants to forcefully dispatch a large number of Chinese troops to do this and suffer a lot of losses, then the foundation of his rule will be unstable.
Therefore, the troops sent by Li Zhongshan to Nanyang to occupy Daozi were not only mercenaries, but also hired in the name of "Guangdong Trading Company", and they completely wiped out the Ming Dynasty court and the general's palace.
(End of chapter)
