Edo Castle, Imperial Palace.
"Baga! How dare Zhuge Weidao make such a request? Does he want me, the Tokugawa Shogunate, to be a lackey of their Zhuge family? Even if I am a dog, I should give more meat to eat. When I am full, I can Help them bite the British and foreigners... But how can they not let us develop heavy industry, military industry, and shipbuilding? How can they even control Japan's currency issuance? If there is no heavy industry, there will be no currency issuance With only a few textiles and toys, when can Japan rise above the sea and become a great power that can keep pace with the Ming Dynasty and Great Britain? Do they want me, the Tokugawa family, to be pawns for generations to come?"
The one who is angry is of course Tokugawa Iezai, the general who conquered the barbarians and is unwilling to be a dog. Oh, he is unwilling to be a hungry ghost dog that cannot have enough to eat.
Tokugawa Qiaki, the leader of the shogunate navy, has returned to Edo on a communication ship of the shogunate navy with the "Twenty-One Guidelines for Tomorrow" written by Zhuge Weidao himself. After returning to Edo, he didn't even return home, but went straight to Edo Castle to request a private summons from the Lord.
As soon as the Tokugawa family saw these "twenty-one items", they became angry.
Because according to these "twenty-one principles", Japan has to be a dog but cannot develop and grow, so it can only be a skinny dog tied by an iron chain from generation to generation, neither eating enough nor starving to death.
Of course, if these "twenty-one measures" are really implemented, life will still be better for Japan's middle- and lower-level samurai and low-level untouchables.
Samurai have the opportunity to go abroad to fight and perform meritorious service. Ming Dynasty can block Japan's development prospects, but it will not block the military pay and rewards of these cannon fodder... What if they go to the battlefield and become boring?
Siluke
The light industries that Ming Dynasty allowed Japan to develop were all labor-intensive. Although they could not provide high wages, they could create a large number of jobs. at the same time. After Japan liberalized its agricultural product market, cheap agricultural products from Ming Dynasty, Siam, Annan, and Myanmar poured in, making it easier for the people at the bottom of Japan to eat and drink.
Once the Ming Dynasty defeats Britain and becomes the world's hegemon, Japan will still be able to obtain a higher "caste" because of their appearance and culture - no matter what, Korea, Annan, and Siam in the East Asian race and Eastern Confucian circles Romania and Japan, in the future, even if they are not able to achieve the status of the "Ming Dynasty version of the Five Eyes Alliance", they can still be regarded as "old Europe", oh, it should be old Asia. Although Japan is at the bottom of the Eastern Confucian circle, outside the circle, it is also a hawk of heaven!
But Tokugawa Ieki is still angry... He is a descendant of the god Ieyasu, and the Tokugawa family is the "guardian of the gods" who has protected Japan for generations. How can he easily be a dog to the Zhuge family of the Ming Dynasty next door? ? Moreover, the Zhuge family does not intend to feed the Tokugawa family and Japan.
If Tokugawa Ieki easily agrees to the "Twenty-one Proposals for Tomorrow" that will cost him his power and humiliate his country, then he will immediately be regarded as a traitor to the enemy by his subordinates. How can this general continue to be a general?
Moreover... Japan can still struggle a little now. If it struggles a little, maybe it can get a little more dog food.
But struggling is risky!
Thinking of this, Tokugawa Ieqi said to Tokugawa Saiaki: "Did Zhuge Weidao already know that the instigator behind the Jiyin Waterway incident was Satsuma Shimazu's heir Qi Liang?"
"Already know," Tokugawa Saiaki replied, "Charlie Yilu, chief staff officer of Yingyi's squadron, was captured. Through interrogation of Charlie Yilu, Zhuge Weidao already knew that Shimazu Sailiang had single-handedly created this incident. incident."
Tokugawa Ieki asked with a worried look on his face: "Did Zhuge Weidao ask Shimazu to commit seppuku?"
Tokugawa Saiaki sighed: "That is natural...I am afraid that in the end it will not be just one Qi Liang who will commit seppuku, but the entire Shimazu clan!"
The Tokugawa family also sighed: "I never expected that the Shimazu family, a famous family in Kyushu, would become extinct because of a woman..."
After saying this, Tokugawa Kiaki stood up and left the royal room, leaving Tokugawa Kiaki alone in the huge room to think quietly.
...
"We should not have pinned our hopes on the Tokugawa shogunate from the beginning! It seems that the only ones who can lead Japan to power on the sea and spread its weapons everywhere are me and other enlightened reformers!"
The person speaking was none other than Saigo Yoshibei Takamori, who became the leader of a pirate group called the Kaito Team after breaking away from Satsuma Domain. He didn't know when he had arrived in Osaka, Japan's most prosperous commercial city, and hid in a closed down house near Osaka Port. Looking out from the room where he was now, he could see the battleship Revenge moored feebly on the dock waiting for repairs.
The person listening to him was Shimazu Sairyo, the naval staff officer of the shogunate. He did not wear the Japanese-Western shogunate navy military uniform, but a clean black kimono with the Shimazu family's Maruchi family crest on it. Sitting on his knees in a Japanese room, a katana beside him.
"Saigo-kun is right. Today's Japan is like Mount Fuji that is about to erupt. There is too much internal dissatisfaction and resentment, including dissatisfaction and resentment against the weak Tokugawa shogunate and the oppression of Japan. Ming’s resentment!”
"Yes! As long as someone dares to stand up and break this century-long situation in which Japan has been living without hope. As long as the beacon of respect for the king and the Ming Dynasty comes together, then the whole of Japan will be excited. Japan's friends and enemies, You will see our power!”
"My lord, the Shimazu family must not sit still and wait for death. The shogunate has suppressed and feared the Shimazu family for a long time. This time, they will definitely take advantage of the situation and completely eradicate the Shimazu family!"
"My lord, the Satsuma family is not the only one that has been suppressed by the shogunate. The Choshu Maori family is also deeply suspicious of the shogunate. The loyal people in the family have long been eager to overthrow the shogunate and save the country!"
"Sir, let's do it! Instead of sitting back and waiting for death, it's better to fight to the death!"
"Sir, please lead us and raise the flag of justice!"
It seems that among the wave warriors of this group of sea waves, there are not only those from the Satsuma Domain, but also those who want to break away from the feudal clan from the Choshu Domain and other powerful vassals in the southwest. Most of these powerful vassals outside the southwest evolved from the Western army daimyo in the Battle of Sekigahara that established the Tokugawa world more than 200 years ago. Most of them were famous martial arts families with a long history, and they all had a period of glory during the turbulent Warring States Period.
Because our ancestors were once rich, the number of retainers was very large. Later, the territory was reduced and the income was reduced, but the retainers were not able to be laid off, so they had to tighten their belts and live a hard life together.
And two hundred years of peace caused the number of warriors in these powerful vassals to increase sharply. The vassal could not arrange them at all, so a large number of ronin were produced. The various rogue groups in Japan are filled with poor samurai from various vassals in the southwest.
Shimazu Qi Liang's face was livid, and he just nodded stiffly: "Gentlemen, Japan has indeed reached its most dangerous moment. If we and other patriots cannot rise up, Japan will fall to the status of North Korea and Annan... ..This is something we will never tolerate! However, we cannot confront the shogunate in Kinai. After all, this is the focus of the shogunate’s control over the world. The Tokugawa family has stationed heavy troops here, and it is not something we can defeat."
After all, the current Tokugawa shogunate launched the Reform and Founding of the Nation. Although its strength cannot be compared with the Meiji government in history, the authority of the shogunate cannot be challenged by a few rogue groups.
"Sir, what should we do?" Saigo Yoshihei Takasaki asked loudly.
"Let's... go to Kyushu!" Shimazu Qi Liang said, "Kyushu is where the reformers gather! Moreover, the shogunate also transported a large number of arms aided by the British and barbarians to Nagasaki for storage, and also sent the newly established airships to Nagasaki for storage. The team has also been deployed in Nagasaki... We can sneak into Nagasaki, seize the airships and munitions there, and raise our troops in Nagasaki to fight against the enemy!"
