"Back to His Highness the General, I believe that there is nothing wrong with Lord Matsudaira's preventive and handling methods. But if possible, we should be more inclined to 'peace is the most important', and it is better not to fight this battle if we can. "At this time, the elderly Nishio Tadashi stood up and saluted and replied.
Tokugawa Ieshige did not say anything when he heard the words, but nodded to indicate to Nishio Tadanobu to continue.
"Your Highness also knows. In the fifth year of the Horeki Period, the 'Ichiku' turmoil occurred in the Junjo Domain. The shogunate spent a lot of money and material resources to calm the matter down. For this reason, the shogunate's finances have only improved slightly now that they know about it. , and this is due to the rice trade that has been carried out with China in the past two years. The rise in rice prices has led to an increase in our tax revenue, and the main target of our trade is this Yi Dynasty."
"If the two of us go to war, let's put aside the social unrest it will cause. The point is that we are now in a completely unknown situation regarding the true strength of the Yi Dynasty's army."
"And judging from the news from the Manchu and Qing Dynasties and the Satsuma Domain, they can defeat the Manchu and Qing Tatars and defeat the entire Southeast Asian countries, so the strength of the Yi Dynasty will definitely not be weak." Seeing that no one interrupted him, Nishio Tadanobu continued Talking about his worries.
"So I believe that before we know everything about the Yi Dynasty clearly, it is not a wise choice to go to war with them and consume national power."
"Most of the dynasties in the Central Plains are good-looking. As long as we lower our posture and persuade them with some nice words, they are unlikely to go to war with us."
"Our Japanese focus should be used to deal with Ezo Island. Only by annexing more land can the shogunate gain higher strength and gain more possibilities for the future." After finishing speaking, Nishio Tadanobu turned to the Tokugawa family. He saluted again, indicating that he had said everything he wanted to say.
Seeing this, Tokugawa Ieshige also waved his hand for Nishio Tadanobu to retreat, and said again: "Nishio-sama is right, I wonder if you have any other different opinions?
"Your Highness the General, I have something to ask Nishio-sama. Is it okay?" At this moment, Masaaki Kuroda, who had just been sitting quietly aside, suddenly spoke up.
Tokugawa Ieshige looked at Nishio Tadashi and signaled, Nishio Tadashi followed up and said: "Kakuda-sama, please speak."
"Master Nishio, I think your analysis is very reasonable. It is indeed disadvantageous for Japan to go to war with China. But you seem to have overlooked one issue. The key to the war is not us, but that they are coming to fight us. What should we do? What to do?" Suddenly, Masaaki Kuroda changed his humble attitude just now and asked sharply.
"If they are unwilling to agree with us that peace is the most important thing, should we just tolerate and compromise our own interests to satisfy them?"
"I remember that Su Xun, a great scholar from the Song Dynasty in China, said this in his "On the Six Kingdoms": 'To serve Qin with the land, we still hold firepower to put out the fire. If the firepower is not exhausted, the fire will never be extinguished.' If in order not to start a war, If we continue to endure and sacrifice Japan's interests, will Japan also enter such a vicious cycle?"
Although Masaaki Kuroda was also an old man at this time, his words seemed to reveal his aggressive pursuit of the samurai in his heart.
At the same time, it can be said that Masaki Nishio's words did not give Nishio Tadashi any face at all. He wanted to put him on the fire and force Nishio Tadashi to make a choice between "war" or "peace".
However, if Nishio Tadanobu continues to maintain the concept of "mainly peace talks," he will be suspected of betraying Japan.
"Kakuda-sama is right. Maybe I didn't think it through well. So what should we do based on Kuroda-sama's wishes?" It can only be said that Nishio Tadanobu is not a fuel-efficient lamp. He kicked the ball back easily. .
Suddenly being challenged by Nishio Tadashi, Hakuda Masaaki couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth, but if he continued to push the problem back to Nishio Tadashi, he would appear to be inferior to Nishio Tadacho.
Therefore, Masaaki Kuroda had no choice but to organize his thoughts and said: "First of all, I think the methods Matsudaira-sama said are correct. Since time is tight, we need to issue letters of credence to question Yi Dynasty or prepare for war. It’s going on at the same time.”
"Secondly, compared to what Mr. Nishio said about "maintaining peace" with Yi Dynasty, I personally prefer to end the war with war."
"It is undeniable that China has a vast territory, rich resources, and strong strength. But that is only in their country. In Japan, across the sea, they are not."
"From ancient times to the present, no matter how powerful the Chinese dynasty is, it has not been able to land in Japan to fight and influence Japan's national politics. Why?"
"First, our Japan is barren. Even if they attack us, it will be useless, so they will not use too much force to attack us;"
"Second, Japan is located overseas and does not pose a big threat to them. War is about the right time, place and people. They have to cross the sea from a long distance to fight. It is not easy to mobilize personnel and materials. Naturally, there is no way to come and attack us with all your strength."
"If they still insist on coming to fight us under such circumstances, then they have put all the initiative in starting a war in our hands. The timing is with me, the right location is with me, and the harmony is with me. I, Japan Why should we be afraid of them?"
"Since ancient times, blindly giving in will only make others push forward. So when the enemy dares to punch us, we have to punch back. In the future, they will not think that Japan is easy to handle."
As soon as Masaaki Kuroda said this, I saw a rare smile on Tokugawa Ieshige's face. Even Matsudaira Takemoto, Sakai Tadayo, Inoue Masamune and Akimoto Ryotomo and other seniors on the side also nodded in approval. .
Only Nishio Tadano and Matsudaira Terugao still looked calm.
Seeing the affirmation of his ideas by many people around him, Masaaki Kuroda felt greatly encouraged, and he continued to say:
"The mighty and invincible Mongols failed to make Japan surrender, and the powerful Ming Dynasty failed to make Japan bow its head. Could it be that a new regime in the Central Plains that could not even drive away the Manchu and Qing Tartars came with a few ships and scared them? Are you trying to scare us, just to make Japan bend over? This is absolutely impossible, otherwise how will future generations record the unbearability of people like us?"
"So I propose that when questioning credentials, Japan should show a tough attitude. Tell them directly that as long as they dare to come, we dare to go to war and kill them all. Don't let Zhang Rui think that Japan is a good person. Bullied.”
Note ①: The Laozhong of Japan's Edo shogunate is similar to the cabinet, mainly serving as pro-shogunate daimyos with more than 20,000 koku. In history, when Japan carried out the overthrow movement, the most loyal and staunch support for the shogunate came from them.
