Japan, Satsuma Domain, in the Shimizu Castle near the Shimazu family's inner city, a seven-story Japanese-style building stands tall.
A Ming-style plaque hangs at the main entrance of this building, with three large characters of "Crystal Building" in red and gold. These three characters are written in extremely standard Taige style, every stroke and every trace is impeccable.
Everyone who came to watch from a distance did not find it strange, because now everyone in Japan knows that these three characters are the only six highly pragmatic calligraphy masterpieces that have won the first prize in the Ming Dynasty for two hundred years.
This "Tang Dynasty" scholar, who was the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty and the Minister of Household Affairs at that time, was famous even in Japan. In particular, it is well known that very few of his original calligraphy works have been circulated. For some high-ranking officials and powerful people, it is a pity that they cannot take back the plaque of Crystal Tower and hang it on their own house.
The reason why they couldn't be robbed was, of course, that the Shimadzu family was not easy to mess with. The fault was that Guan Bai sent an army of more than 200,000 to fight last year. The Shimadzu family at least dominated Kyushu (island) at this time.
In today's Japan, if we don't take into account the Somoji Order (General No Matter Order), I can probably count on one hand the number of people who dare to say that they can fight with the Shimadzu family, including Tokugawa, Mori, and Hojo. Even Ida may not be very sure.
But this is not the most critical issue. After all, the first leader of the Shimazu family was taught a lesson by Guan Bai. Not only was the fiefdom greatly reduced, but the loss of troops was also considerable, and his house was very remote. It is impossible for the Jin family to pursue him.
The biggest reliance of the Crystal Building is its own identity: it is the home of the General Chamber of Commerce of the Ming Dynasty Beiyang Sea Trade Alliance in Japan.
Since it is the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance, no one dares to deny this face. There are rumors that when Guan Bai heard that the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance had established the General Chamber of Commerce in the Shimadzu family's Shimizu City, he was not only so angry that he threw several valuable porcelains, but even two of his closest family elders were Got scolded.
One thing that needs to be noted is that at this moment Toyotomi Hideyoshi has not yet issued the "Identity Control Order", and the four main strata of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce can still transform into each other (of course it is easy to turn from high to low, but it is difficult to turn from low to high), plus the so-called Japan's Warring States Period still lacks the unification of Kanto and Northeast China, so the power of businessmen is still respected. Even Toyotomi Hideyoshi will not easily target Japanese businessmen.
We are obviously talking about the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance, but why do we say that Toyotomi Hideyoshi will not easily target Japanese businessmen yet? Because the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance has a relatively special status in Japan, the only ones Toyotomi Hideyoshi can actually move are his own businessmen.
How special is the status of the Sea Trade Alliance? If I have to put it simply, Japan's current foreign trade all depends on the face of the sea trade alliance.
I mentioned before the "Southern Barbarian Trade" between Japan and Portugal and Spain. This trade had nothing to do with the Sea Trade Alliance at the beginning, but later after the Sea Trade Alliance and the Nanyang Fleet gained absolute control of the seas in the East and Southeast Asia, " "Southern Barbarian Trade" has naturally entered the "jurisdiction" of the Sea Trade Alliance.
The simplest reason is that if the Maritime Trade Alliance does not allow Portuguese and Spanish merchant ships to come to Japan, Japan will not see a single "Southern Barbarian" ship, and the "Southern Barbarian trade" will naturally disappear.
However, Nanman trade is also very important to Japan at present. Even Toyotomi Hideyoshi would not easily try the possible consequences of suddenly interrupting this trade.
What's more, in addition to the "Southern Barbarian Trade", the core deterrent force of the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance itself is the trade of tomorrow. There is no need to explain this point. Even if the relationship between the Jiangnan Business Gang and the Maritime Trade Alliance is not harmonious, being pragmatic at home may require you to consider the political impact. But around Japan... what does it have to do with me if your ship sinks?
It is difficult for Japan now to withstand the harm caused by tomorrow's trade interruption. Just like the "Ningbo Incident" mentioned before, Japan, whose trade was cut off by the Ming Dynasty, tried every means to restore trade routes but failed, leading to various series of variables. .
This is actually reflected in the original history. For example, after the Sekigahara War, or to be more precise, after the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu contacted the Ming Dynasty many times through various channels and various means, expressing his hope that the Ming Dynasty would open up. Trade, and also proposed several trade models for Ming to choose from - of course Daming ignored him.
If the imperial court's control had not weakened at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and although the Ming Dynasty officially did not open trade, private smuggling trade began to become popular again. Tokugawa Ieyasu's threat in his last contact to send troops to fight another war with the Ming Dynasty would not have been possible. Good things are about to happen.
This is the status of the Ming Dynasty in the East Asian trading system: it doesn’t matter who else I lose, and I will cry for my father and mother if I lose him.
Before Gao pragmatism came to the Ming Dynasty and began to interfere with these maritime trades, the trade between the two countries tomorrow can be roughly divided into two stages from the nature of it. Regulations were formally formed from the time of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, and the official trade ended during the Jiajing period. This is the official The trade stage; after the battle for tribute, it entered the private trade stage, that is, the private trade stage.
In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, the social situation in Japan was also very chaotic. Ronin, samurai and profit-seeking businessmen formed pirates and invaded the southeastern coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty. During the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty sent envoys to Japan to ask Japan to control Japanese pirates, so that the two countries could live in harmony. However, due to the sabotage of Prince Huairiang, this was not completed.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the shogun at that time, found that Sino-Japanese trade was profitable, and sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty in the fourth year of Yongle to express his hope to establish trade relations with the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Kanhe trade was officially established in the fourth year of Yongle.
The Ming Dynasty stipulated that the size of Japan's tribute was two ships and 200 people, and the tribute should be paid once every ten years, and no swords or guns could be brought privately. By the time of Ashikaga Yoshimochi, there was no control over coastal Japanese pirates, and trade between the two countries ended.
During the Ashikaga Yoshitaka period, Japan sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty to request trade exchanges between the two countries. Ming Renzong agreed, and at this time the size limit changed from two ships to three ships, and the number of people from 200 to 300. They were allowed to carry swords and guns, but not more than 3,000. The only thing that remained unchanged was the tribute trade once every ten years.
At this time, the trade between the two countries was in an official monopoly, and the Ming Dynasty stipulated that "no mutual trade is allowed without paying tribute." The joint trade between the two countries formed a custom, and Japan would pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty according to this scale.
Later, Japan discovered that reselling the products of the Ming Dynasty could earn huge profits, so while the two sides were conducting official trade exchanges, merchants came to China with the tribute fleet. The goods carried by Japan also exceeded the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, and the arrival time was irregular. Sometimes for three to five years, sometimes for fifteen or sixteen years, the Ming Dynasty's regulations on joint trade between the two countries were like a piece of paper, and they had almost no binding effect on Japan.
It was not until the second year of Jiajing that the "Battle for Tribute" between the Japanese lords Hosokawa and Ouchi broke out in Ningbo, marking the end of the official joint trade between the two countries.
Sixteen years after the battle for tribute, the daimyo Daiuchi once again applied for exploration and trade with the Ming Dynasty. The Ming court still reiterated the previous regulations, that is, there should be no more than 3 ships, no more than 300 people, and trade should be conducted every ten years.
By this time, however, private trade was already flourishing. "In the 23rd year of Jiajing's reign, I came back to pay tribute, but it was not in time and there was no official statement. The ministers said that I should not accept it, but they refused because they benefited from mutual trade and stayed at the seaside."
It can be seen that in the 23rd year of Jiajing, Japan came to pay tribute but did not bring an official statement, and the Ming Dynasty officials did not accept Japan's tribute. So the goods brought by Japan were traded with private merchants in Shuangyu - that is to say, Japan no longer paid attention to official trade with the Ming Dynasty at this time, but only came to the Ming Dynasty to trade with private merchants in the name of tribute, and then Seek greater profits.
This kind of trade has become the main form of tomorrow's trade. The reason for this situation is the decline of Japan's central power, the right to pay tribute has fallen from the hands of the generals to the hands of the great men, and the development of the commodity economy of the two countries has also promoted private trade. eventually replacing official trade.
With the rise of the sea trade alliance, especially after Gao Gong dominated the "Longqing Switch", the status of illegal private ports such as Shuangyu declined, and the high-pragmatic Jinghua private ports gained the status of legally going to sea, gradually making the subsequent Jinghua fleet become The mainstay of tomorrow's trade.
After Jinghua tied the Xungui Group onto the warship, this "main force position" continued to strengthen until it can almost be called a monopoly today.
As mentioned before, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's so-called unification is actually very incomplete. Regardless of Tokugawa, Mori or Shimazu, their surrender is conditional, not to mention the Hojo clan who are currently trying to fight but have not yet done so. .
This resulted in Toyotomi Hideyoshi having to assess the other party's possible reaction when dealing with matters related to them. Actions such as the interruption of trade tomorrow obviously cannot be done, otherwise how can the companies whose interests are greatly harmed be able to do so? Not angry? Who knows if they all get angry about something at the same time, will they unite and target themselves?
Toyotomi Hideyoshi is now focused on diverting Japan's internal conflicts. How could he do anything to intensify internal conflicts? It doesn't matter if he intensifies Hojo, but it would be really bad to intensify the surrendered Tokugawa, Mori, and Shimadzu. Wise.
The construction of the Crystal Building attracted the attention of all Japan from the beginning, and even incidentally promoted the Shimadzu family greatly, which greatly increased their reputation.
For this reason, the Shimazu family didn't know which tendon was wrongly connected, and suddenly did something that shocked many Japanese people: they verified the bloodline origin of their ancestors and announced that their ancestors were actually "Tang people" - —that is, the Chinese.
Walter?
But don't be surprised. Many people believe the Shimadzu family's statement. The reason is that the Japanese have always had two theories about the origin of the Shimadzu family.
Regarding the origin of the Shimazu family, the first theory is that Tadahisa, a retainer of the Konoe family, was the ancestor of the Shimazu family. However, it is said that Tadahisa's ancestor came here across the ocean from mainland China, and his name was "Yumizuki". "Jun" clan. Lord Gongyue claimed to be a descendant of the First Emperor of Qin, so he was named after Qin, and his clan was called the Qin clan.
As for another theory, Tadashi was the seventh son of Minamoto Yoritomo, the younger sister of Yoritomo and his retainer, and the son of Tango Bureau. After the Minamoto no Yori Dynasty was established, the Shimazu family became local princes. In 1193, Minamoto Yoritomo appointed Tadashi as the head of Hyuga Shimazu Sho. Soon after, he was additionally appointed as the guardian of Satsuma, Osumi, and Hyuga. After Tadahisa took office, he changed his surname to Shimazu based on the village's name, and the Shimazu family was established.
The Shimazu family suddenly jumped out and said that they were descendants of the "Qin people", which was tantamount to denying that they were born in the Genji family. Theoretically, this is an extremely dangerous move, because according to tradition, the four surnames of Genji, Taira, Fujiwara and Tachibana are the noble surnames in Japan other than the royal family. In a sense, this is the basis of rule and the source of its legitimacy.
Is Shimazu seeking death? of course not. Toyotomi Hideyoshi didn't even have a surname at first, but now he's the minister of government. Isn't he a Japanese guanbai? It can be seen that as long as the strength is in hand, bloodline is actually just that.
Of course, there is a story behind Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ability to become Guan Bai. Under the Japanese law system, the highest public position is that of the Minister of Taisheng. Looking at the Japanese official list, we can know that the Minister of Taizheng is "outstanding", "below one person and above ten thousand people", and is the highest position under the law system. officials.
This official position is defined as "the emperor's teacher", which is a very high honor that "can remain vacant if there is no suitable candidate". It is a very popular position and originally held considerable real power. However, after the emergence of the post of "Guan Bai", the political power of the Minister of Taizheng was ignored and became an "honorary title".
There is almost no blood restriction to become a minister of government. As long as the emperor is willing to appoint you, you can be one. In the samurai society, there was also someone who was appointed as a minister of government: Taira Kiyomori, the figure in "The Tale of the Taira" who single-handedly built the glory and wealth of the Taira family.
But Guan Bai is different. If you look up Japanese official watches, you will find that the word "Guan Bai" does not exist on Japanese official watches at all.
In fact, Guan Bai is a foreign official with very special attributes. Guan Bai is also known as "Zhibang" and "Bo Lu" in the Tang Dynasty (the canon is Bo Lu Xuancheng Hou Huo Guang.) The word "Guan Bai" itself also comes from the biography of Huo Guang in the Han Dynasty: "Everything is done by Guan Bai Guang first, and then Play to the Emperor."
Therefore, the "office" of Guanbai was created in the edict of Emperor Uta appointing Fujiwara Motsune in the third year of Niwa (887). Fujiwara Momotsune was also the first Guanbai in Japanese history.
Basically, if there was a regent when the emperor was young, then when the emperor grew up, the regent would be Guan Bai, and only a member of the Fujiwara family could serve as Guan Bai. To put it more strictly, Guan Bai would only be "Fujiwara Kita." Can be a "home" person. Although they all have the same surname of Fujiwara, the Kyo family, Shiki family and Nan family don't even have to think about it.
Then some people may ask: Why do the records of the Warring States Period see "Kan Haku Kujo so-and-so" and "Kan Haku Konoe so-and-so"? Didn’t it say that only people from the Fujiwara family can be?
In fact, the Fujiwara family "divided and changed their surnames" after Fujiwara Tadamichi, and was divided into five families: Ichijo, Nijo, Kujo, Konoe, and Takaji, which are the Five Photographic families. These five families all originate from the Fujiwara clan and are all qualified to be Guanbai.
In Japanese history, the only two exceptions who "were not members of the Fujiwara family but became Kanbai" were Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Toyotomi Hidetsu. However, since Hideyoshi became Sekihaku based on his relationship with Konoe Maekyu as his godfather, strictly speaking, Hideyoshi also became Sekihaku as the "adopted son of the Fujiwara family".
Since a highly respected minister can find ways to be "accommodating" in his position, it doesn't matter to the Shimazu family. At this time, this family suddenly remembered the troublesome incident of "running for official positions" decades ago. Finally decided: I don’t care if I don’t want the family status of this descendant of Genji!
----------
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward support and monthly ticket support, thank you!
Thanks to book friend "Dr. Xu Jiahui" for his support of 8 monthly tickets, thank you!
