Odawara Castle, Honmaru.
Zhuge Weidao shook his feather fan, and together with Zheng Guoxian, followed by Tokugawa Qiaki and Okubo Tadama, they swaggered up the stairs.
Zhuge Weidao was quite curious about this famous city, but after actually entering the castle of Odawara Castle, he was very disappointed - it was a half-shattered building that had been in disrepair and looked dilapidated everywhere. It had long lost its former glory. castle. Of course, considering that the Odawara Domain is just a small domain with a territory of more than 80,000 stones, it is not surprising that it cannot maintain the large city of Odawara Castle.
However, when the sliding door of the Honmaru Palace was opened, Zhuge Weidao still felt a little bit of grandeur - it was quite big. Many retainers must have gathered here to discuss how to deal with the unlucky Hojo clan. Hideyoshi's army of more than 200,000 people, right? It seems that those Hojo retainers and the Kazu clan faced an overwhelming enemy and could not come up with a solution at all. They just held endless meetings, so that the "Odawara Evaluation" later became a joke... I hope this one Go back, Tokugawa Ieki can make the right choice quickly!
If he also does an "Odawara assessment", it will still be a bit troublesome.
Zhuge Weidao, who walked into the imperial palace with this in mind, suddenly saw a familiar face smiling at him... This was not Daikoku Kong, oh, it was Tokugawa Kong now! She is actually here. It seems that Tokugawa Jiaqi is ready to compromise.
Zhuge Wei thought to himself: "Tokugawa Jiaqi should have known that Ming Dynasty and Great Britain have reached a compromise on the Japanese issue, and the British Empire will no longer aid Japan... They have already accepted their losses and left, giving up Japan's potential ally! Without the support of Britain, the Tokugawa shogunate would not be able to survive the war with the Ming Dynasty. Even if Japan can rely on long guerrilla warfare to drive away the Ming army, the long-declined Tokugawa shogunate will not be able to assumes the responsibility of leading Japan to resist the Ming Dynasty, so compromise is actually the most beneficial to the Tokugawa shogunate. And the strategy adopted by the Ming Dynasty also makes it easy for Tokugawa Jiaqi to choose to compromise..."
Zhuge Weidao had already followed Tokugawa Noriaki and Okubo Tadama to a place not too far away from Tokugawa Ieqi who was sitting on his knees. Zhuge Weidao looked at Tokugawa Jiaqi under the dim light and found that he was an elderly, pale, somewhat obese man who looked very tired and worried.
No need for an introduction, Zhuge Weidao also knew that the person sitting in front of him must be Tokugawa Ieki, so he cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Your Excellency, General, the foreign minister Zhuge Weidao is polite!"
Zheng Guoxian, who was next to him, was wearing the military uniform of the Ming Dynasty Army, so he gave a military salute and then stood upright in front of General Tokugawa.
"Sit, sit," Tokugawa Jiaqi said in blunt Chinese, "quickly, get stools for Military Advisor Zhuge and Lieutenant Colonel Zheng."
Xiao Xing, who was standing by, quickly brought two foldable stools and asked Zhuge Weidao and Zheng Guoxian to sit down - these two stools were probably used by Japanese military generals when they went to the battlefield. They were not comfortable at all. .
"Your Majesty General," Zhuge Weidao waved his fan and looked confident, "we, the Ming Dynasty Navy and Army, with 220,000 soldiers, came to Edo Bay just for your word!"
"220,000" was Toyotomi Hideyoshi's total force when he fought the Odawara Formation. Zhuge Weidao now falsely claims that the Ming Dynasty Army and Navy also came with 220,000 troops. Of course, this is to give Tokugawa Iensai a psychological hint - His current situation is the same as that of the Hojo family back then. He cannot resist the general trend of the world. If he stubbornly resists, the result can only be destruction!
"Yours, do you want me to surrender?" Tokugawa Ieqi seemed to have misunderstood Zhuge Weidao's meaning. His face immediately darkened and he continued to speak in Japanese Chinese, "My, the Japanese shogunate, Ning You will not surrender until you die!”
Zhuge Weidao couldn't help but laugh after hearing the Japanese general's words, "Your Excellency, General, you don't know anything about the good-neighborly and friendly policy pursued by our Ming Dynasty, right? How could our Ming Dynasty want you, the Japanese?" Where will the general surrender?"
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Zheng Guoxian, who could speak a few words in Japanese, smiled and helped: "Yao Xi, Yao Xi, our Ming Dynasty is here to help Japan, and there is no need for the general to surrender."
Tokugawa Ieki breathed a sigh of relief: "Then...you, the Ming Dynasty, want my Japanese vassal to work?"
Promise? Zhuge Weidaoxin said: "You are so beautiful... The dogs of the Ming Dynasty, no, they are vassals. How can you, Japan, be like you?"
"Your Excellency, General," Zheng Guoxian explained in unfamiliar Japanese at this time, "Japan, your country, does not meet the requirements of our Ming Empire to accept vassal states, and you cannot be a minister of the Ming Dynasty."
Tokugawa Jiaqi was stunned and said to himself: "I am a great nation in Japan, how come I am not even qualified to be a dog for Ming Dynasty?"
Tokugawa Qi Zhao on the side quickly explained: "Master Gongfang, the vassals of the Ming Dynasty are quite wealthy, and the per capita income is almost half to two-thirds of the Ming Dynasty, close to that of Britain and France. But we, Japan, are relatively poor. The per capita income is less than one-tenth of that of the Ming Dynasty, and the gap between the rich and the poor in the country is too large. The rich can defeat the country, while the poor sell their children and daughters... Therefore, Japan will not be accepted as a vassal state by the Ming Dynasty. Yes, you can absolutely rest assured.”
Is this good news?
Tokugawa Jiaqi was also speechless. He co-authored that Japan cannot be the dog of the Ming Dynasty because it is poor!
Qi Zhao's words were roughly translated by Zheng Guoxian. Zhuge Weidao looked at Tokugawa Jiaqi and seemed a little disappointed, so he quickly comforted him and said: "General, in fact, there are many vassal states in our Ming Dynasty, such as Korea, Annan, Chenla, Nan When they became vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, China, Burma, etc. were all very poor, even poorer than Japan. However, with the support of the Ming Dynasty, they have now become a paradise where the country is prosperous and the people are prosperous... So As long as Japan works hard enough, it will hopefully become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty in the future!"
All the Tokugawa family were speechless!
Co-author: Japan still has to work hard to be a dog to Ming Dynasty?
Zheng Guoxian said: "My Lord, becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty has many benefits! First of all, Japan can join the great market of the Celestial Dynasty dominated by the Ming Dynasty... Goods, personnel, funds, and technology can be traded between the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. There will be free circulation in all the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty without any restrictions!
Secondly, Japan, as a poor vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, can receive poverty alleviation support from the Ming Dynasty... The Ming Dynasty will provide interest-free or low-interest loans to Japan specifically for the construction of railways, roads, ports, schools and other facilities. , to help Japan develop.
Third, if Japan encounters natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and droughts, Ming Dynasty and other wealthy vassal states will provide assistance to Japan to prevent Japan from falling into famine.
Fourth, the Ming Dynasty and all the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty realized mutual defense protection and advanced and retreated together. Therefore, Japan’s national security will be very guaranteed! If Japan is willing to assume additional military responsibilities, Ming Dynasty and other vassal states will also provide Japan with financial subsidies. "
I have to say that being a dog for the current Daming is really a blessing! Those vassal states that surrendered to the Ming Dynasty did develop their economies under the support of the Ming Dynasty, and transformed from poor countries into rich countries. Now, Southeast Asia under the leadership of the Ming Dynasty is almost as wealthy as Western Europe, and maybe a little richer.
But Ming Dynasty is not a living **...otherwise Ming Dynasty will come to "help" Japan!
The Southeast Asian countries that became rich with the help of the Ming Dynasty did not have much population, but they were rich in resources and had large territories. After receiving investment from Ming Dynasty, absorbing immigrants from Ming Dynasty, and establishing the education system and bureaucracy system under the guidance of Ming Dynasty,
In fact, those Southeast Asian countries were also "rich" when they were colonized by Europeans in history. They exported large amounts of spices, sugar, non-ferrous metals, petroleum, rubber, palm oil, timber, and grain to Europe every year. But it was never rich, and the reason is self-evident... And the food in Ming Dynasty was much better than that of the European colonists.
But the situation in Japan is different. Because there are many people and few resources, it is difficult to get rich. Once it joins the big family of China, Ming Dynasty will not be able to increase Japan's per capita income in a short time. In this way, there will be a large number of Japanese Moving to the mainland of the Ming Dynasty and other vassal states will bring about a problem of reallocation of resources and land. Because once they become citizens of the Ming Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty vassal state, they are eligible to participate in the equalization of land.
Moreover, in the early years, Japan's population was 40% of that of the Ming Dynasty. Once it joins the Ming Dynasty's system, the per capita increase will be, and the population growth rate will be consistent with the Ming Dynasty. This will allow the Japanese to occupy more resources and land in the embodiment of the Ming Dynasty... ....
