The emperor’s grace is so great!
When Tokugawa Tsunayoshi read "The Great Ming Dynasty - Japan's Goodwill Pact" brought to him by Tagawa Nanasaemon, the only words left in his heart were "the emperor's grace is so great".
Because this "agreement of goodwill" is quite friendly to the defeated Tokugawa family.
According to this treaty, first of all, Japan will be divided into East and West countries with the Aifa Pass on the Hokuriku Road, the Fuwa Pass on the Nakasendo Road, and the Suzuka Pass on the Tokaido Road. The West Country will be ruled by the King of Japan, and the East Country will be ruled by the King of Japan. The shogun ruled.
Secondly, the Tokugawa shogunate's Tenryo, Shin-han, and Shodai-han in the Western Kingdom must be evacuated, and the vacated land will be handed over to the King of Japan for redistribution.
Third, the Tokugawa shogunate must surrender to the King of Japan and the Ming Emperor at the same time. The shogunate must accept the canonization of the Japanese king, but the retainers of the shogunate no longer need to surrender to the king, and only need to be loyal to the shogunate.
Fourth, the Tokugawa shogunate had to set aside a territory of about one million koku from the three countries of Mino, Owari, and Ise (parts of Mino and Ise belong to Saigoku) east of Suzuka Pass and Suzuka Pass as the king. of hiding place.
Fifth, both the Japanese king and the shogun must submit to the Ming Dynasty and accept canonization. Among them, the Japanese king is granted the title of prince, and the shogun is granted the title of county prince.
Sixth, the shogunate is not allowed to station Ming-style armies in the four countries of Mino, Owari, Ise, and Echizen (north of the Aiha Pass). The feudal lords entrusted to the Tokugawa shogunate in these four countries must also transfer their titles and leave, and They must also accept the supervision of the Chinese garrison. .
Seventh, the shogunate leased Owari Nagoya Castle and the surrounding ten miles to the Ming Emperor, and the Ming Emperor funded the construction of Nagoya Tenno Castle near Nagoya Castle as a free commercial port.
Eighth, the Ming Dynasty will garrison troops on Japan's Ezo Island to protect Japan from invasion by Spain, the Netherlands, England and other countries. Therefore, it is necessary to enclose land and farmland on Ezo Island. However, the Ming Dynasty's Ezo garrison would not enclose land from the shogunate's vassals, but would only enclose undeveloped land.
Ninth, the Ming court would directly recruit samurai and ronin into the army within Japan, and neither the Japanese king nor the shogun would be able to stop it.
Tenth, Japan’s land will be limited to Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, Ezo and its affiliated islands. The ownership of the "Daiming Concession", including Nagoya Tennojo Castle and the Ezo Cantonment, still belongs to Japan.
The above ten points are called the "Ten Points of Goodwill for Tomorrow" by later generations. They are a guarantee for Japan's long-term peace and stability. They are also a sign that Japan has officially shed its status as an "East Asian orphan" and joined the prosperous, wealthy and progressive family of the Great Tomorrow.
At the same time, Japan's acceptance of the "Ming Dynasty-Japan Goodwill Covenant" also marked Japan's complete abandonment of efforts to build the Japanese Empire and instead accepted its position as a part of the Ming Dynasty.
The concepts of sovereign states, equality between countries, nation-states, etc. actually all originated from the Treaty of Westphalia signed after the Thirty Years' War in Europe. In the East in the 17th century, or even in other areas outside Europe, this set of ideas simply did not exist.
For Japan, it must either build its own Celestial Dynasty; or it must close itself off and cut off ties with the Chinese civilization circle in East Asia; or it must recognize the status of the Chinese Celestial Dynasty as its suzerain.
In fact, the Emperor of Japan has always played the role of a Chinese emperor. In its original history, when Japan rose rapidly through a series of internal reforms and external wars such as the Meiji Restoration, the Sino-Japanese War, and the Russo-Japanese War, they really began to work hard to establish a Japanese dynasty...
Historically, before Japan was forcibly opened by Westerners, its foreign policy was a long-term seclusion--in fact, Japan has a long history of seclusion. After the collapse of the Tang Dynasty in China, Japan The country began to be closed. Although it was briefly opened due to war and other reasons, Japan remained closed for most of the time.
And when Japan's closed-door policy was broken by the Ming Dynasty, rather than by the West, there was only one way in front of it - to recognize the status of the Ming Dynasty as the suzerain and join it!
As the top members of the Tokugawa shogunate that ruled Japan, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Tokugawa Mitsuhiro, Tokugawa Mitsusada and others all knew that this day would come sooner or later - the reason why Japan was able to seclusion for hundreds of years It worked because the Chinese dynasty did not have enough sea power to pry open Japan's door. What truly protects Japan is not Japan's own national power, but the ocean surrounding Japan.
And when the Ming Dynasty's warships could easily sail around Japan, Japan's isolation was actually unsustainable.
Once the isolation is broken... besides joining the Chinese Empire, does Japan have any other choice?
Japan, which has no navy of its own and no financial resources to build a powerful navy, is simply impossible to resist the Ming Dynasty, let alone counterattack. If it does not join, it will only be beaten all the time.
And it is impossible to win if you keep getting beaten.
In addition, joining the Celestial Dynasty and recognizing the emperor's status as suzerain would not be too bad for Japan's feudal lords and people.
Just when Tokugawa Tsunayoshi felt the emperor's grace, the same "Daming-Japan Goodwill Covenant" was also sent to the Emperor of Japan who was about to become the king by Ichijo Fuyutsune and Aoi Anton. Ren's hands.
Chihito had been playing the role of the emperor for a long time and was a little bit into the role, so after learning that he could actually only get half of Japan, he was still a little dissatisfied.
"Isn't this going to divide Japan into two? The western kingdom belongs to me, not me. It is a kingdom of few people, and the east is the shogunate of the Tokugawa family..."
Hearing Shiren's words, Ichijo and Aoi were speechless. You, a "playing emperor", now own half of Japan, and you are also the sect leader of the other half of Japan. You also have a hiding place of two million koku, and you can still be dissatisfied with the beauty pageant in half of Japan that you lead. !
Is the Japanese king going to be replaced by someone else?
Ichijo and Aoi looked at each other and decided to give this Shiren one last chance, otherwise they would have to replace him.
"Your Majesty," Ichijo Sutra said, "without the power of the Celestial Saint, we would not even be able to control the governor of Kyoto, let alone the country of Japan!"
Aoi also said: "Your Majesty, this treaty is actually to protect you and not the Tokugawa family. Although the Tokugawa family lost the Battle of Tataragawa, they still have a large number of territories and retainers. Now Tokugawa Tsunayoshi has Surrender to the Great Tomorrow. If you don't obey the Great Tomorrow, then the next step will be a war between you and Tsunayoshi! What will you do to defeat Tsunayoshi?"
"I am..." Shiren is still a little confused.
A winter sutra loudly said: "Your Majesty, now Tokugawa Tsunayoshi has surrendered to the Emperor of Heaven and accepted the title of Prince of Edo! If you are unwilling to accept Tsunayoshi's surrender, then the Emperor of Heaven will replace you. Became the only master of Tsunayoshi and the Tokugawa Shogunate!
At that point, you will have nothing! "
I have nothing... I can't even become an actor!
No, I can’t even be a human anymore!
Although Shiren has a tough character, he is not stupid. Otherwise, how could he have died a good death under the rule of the relatively strong Tokugawa shogunate?
After feeling the murderous intent of Guan Bai Ichidong Sutra and Ming Dynasty envoy Anton Aoi, he immediately backed down in recognition of current affairs.
"If you think about it carefully, it would actually be good to split it into two." Shiren nodded and said, "Those Bando warriors have always been barbaric and rude, and I get annoyed when I see them. Why not let the Tokugawa family deal with it?" .
By the way, when can I move into Nijo Castle? In addition, the widow's harem...and the widow's expenses..."
It is indeed the Ming Lord!
Ichijo Fusuke smiled and said: "Your Majesty can move into Nijo Castle today!"
Aoi Anton said: "My youngest daughter A Liang is quite beautiful and can be presented to the king...and my eldest daughter A Zhen is also the concubine of the emperor."
"That's great!" King Shiren smiled, "That person will be a relative of the Emperor of Heaven from now on..."
