ps: Do not subscribe to this chapter! Still occupying a pit!
After understanding the twists and turns, Ishikawa-in and Todo Takayoshi looked at Kōkaku-kenjin as if he were an idiot.
What is this?
This is a waste, a waste that can't even catch up with the heat when eating shit!
Kōkaku-kenjin and Kōmi-kenjin also had extremely grim expressions.
Kōkaku-kenjin scanned the attending feudal lords and daimyo, and said with a dark face, "Now that things have come to this, do any of you have any good solutions?"
However, none of the feudal lords and daimyo present answered Kōkaku-kenjin's question.
Compared to the Edo Shogunate, which was better prepared with supplies, medicine, and doctors, the current Imperial Court could not even cope with the lepers from Tokugawa Ienari's side, let alone the lepers under its own jurisdiction!
Seeing that all the feudal lords and daimyo were feigning ignorance with their eyes on their noses and their noses on their mouths, Kōkaku-kenjin became even more angry, and couldn't help but snort, "Do none of you have any solutions? If so, won't the Imperial Court be defeated without a fight, and the Shogunate win without a fight?"
Ishikawa-in and Todo Takayoshi exchanged a subtle glance and bowed slightly, saying, "Reporting to Your Majesty, your humble servant believes that since the Tokugawa clan has already made this move, the feudal lords of Tottori must not use the same tactics." xxs壹贰
Kōkaku-kenjin thought to himself, this is bullshit—since Tokugawa Ienari made the first move, the Imperial Court naturally cannot use the same tactics. Otherwise, what would the common people think? What would the samurai think? What would the Ming ambassador to Japan think? What would the Ming Emperor think?
Ishikawa-in then continued, "Your humble servant believes that instead of passively responding, it would be better to... it would be better to proactively accept the common patients from the Shogunate?"
As soon as Ishikawa-in finished speaking, the attending feudal lords and daimyo erupted in an uproar. Even Todo Takayoshi, who had just been on the same side as Ishikawa-in, was furious, "Gabah! Ishikawa-kun, has your brain been damaged by drinking?"
Ikeda Yoshio, the head of the Ikeda family of Tottori Domain, said sarcastically, "If Ishikawa-kun is willing to accept the common patients from the Shogunate, our Tottori Domain can not only provide you with a batch of medicine and doctors, but even send you our lepers from Tottori Domain."
The other feudal lords and daimyo also turned their attention to Ishikawa-in.
On the contrary, Kōkaku-kenjin slammed the table and shouted, "Everyone be quiet! Ishikawa-kun, please continue?"
Ishikawa-in replied with a "Hai" and continued, "Your Majesty, it is true that leprosy is highly contagious, and its impact on the feudal domains is indeed significant, but leprosy is not fatal—the more common people we accept, the fewer common people there will be on the Shogunate's side. If it's one or two domains, it might not be much, but when all the lepers in Wa are driven by the Edo Shogunate to the Imperial Court's jurisdiction, and when all the lepers in Wa know that following the Imperial Court means survival, then it doesn't matter if we can cure leprosy or not. With the entire Wa alienated from the Shogunate, even the Ming Emperor would have to consider whether it is right or wrong to hand over Wa to a Shogunate that does not care about the lives of its common people!"
Kōkaku-kenjin nodded thoughtfully, but Ikeda Yoshio snorted, "Ishikawa-kun is right, but please tell Ishikawa-kun, how will we feed so many common people? Can the Imperial Court produce so much grain now?"
Ishikawa-in was suddenly stunned, and even Kōkaku-kenjin, who had been thoughtful, stopped thinking—as Ikeda Yoshio said, it was easy to strike the Shogunate by accepting lepers from the Shogunate, but what would those lepers driven out of the Shogunate's territory eat or drink? Tokugawa Ienari would not be so kind as to arrange food and drink for them!
After pondering for a moment, Kōkaku-kenjin said through gritted teeth, "I will find a way to solve the problem of food. You only need to take care of the reception of those lepers."
Ikeda Yoshio was shocked and said, "Your Majesty the Emperor, please think twice! Even if we can solve the problem of food and drink for those lepers, who can guarantee that there are no people sent by Tokugawa Ienari to cause trouble among those commoners? Even if one person in ten thousand is determined to cause trouble for the Imperial Court, the feudal lords' plan to quarantine lepers will be greatly disrupted!"
Todo Takayoshi also bowed and said, "Your Majesty the Emperor, please think twice! As the saying goes, there are a thousand days to be a thief, but not a thousand days to guard against one. If we accept lepers from the Shogunate without any discrimination, then the Tokugawa rebels only need to send a few death warriors among them, and the Imperial Court will no longer be able to control those lepers, and they will surely become a disaster in the future!"
Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobunobu found it increasingly wrong as they thought about it.
After thinking for a long time and not coming up with an answer, Shimazu Hisamitsu simply asked, "Excuse me, General, are there any requirements for these quotas?"
Tokugawa Ienari also spoke from his feelings.
Due to his unconventionality and the writing of absurd essays like "On Farting," Hiraga Gennai became increasingly unsuccessful.
The main reason for this situation was that Hiraga Gennai came from a lower-class samurai family in Takamatsu Domain.
However, the architectural drawing was not in Gennai's possession, but was revealed from a gap in his belt. Gennai subsequently lost his mind and died in prison in Komamachi in the cold.
The so-called "died an unnatural death" refers to the fact that Hiraga Gennai should not have killed two carpenters and...
Tokugawa Ienari, who had personally visited the Great Ming, was well aware of the importance of the steam engine.
As the saying goes, one's position determines one's thoughts. If Tokugawa Ienari had not intended to usurp the throne, the quotas for envoys to Ming would have been a powerful tool to harass the feudal lords and daimyo of various regions. However, since Tokugawa Ienari had already decided to usurp the throne and establish himself, the quotas for envoys to Ming were no longer simply a tool to win over feudal lords and daimyo.
However, Tokugawa Ienari also knew in his heart that the distribution of quotas for envoys to Ming could never be fair and just.
After sighing inwardly, Tokugawa Ienari looked around at the feudal lords and daimyo again and said solemnly, ""
In short, Wa, which was praised to the heavens by countless incurable patients, was actually similar to the situation in India. India had a caste system, and Wa also had a class system.
For example, why do ronin samurai who have lost their masters remain ronin and not find a job?
This meant that for Tokugawa Ienari to complete the blockade completely, he had to deal with those ronin first.
The feudal lords of Chikuzen, Chikugo, Buzen, Bungo, Hizen, Tsushima, Hyuga, and other domains also responded, while the other feudal lords and daimyo couldn't help but frown.
This difference in geographical location naturally led to uneven development among the various domains, with some domains being richer and others being very poor.
The difference in wealth levels would directly reflect in the number of ronin within each domain.
The poorer the domain, the more ronin it had.
More importantly, Satsuma Domain and Chikuzen, Chikugo, and other feudal lords shared a common designation: the Kyushu Domains.
These domains had originally been mixed up on the island of Kyushu. Satsuma Domain had even sent troops to capture the Ryukyu Islands, forcing the King of Ryukyu to submit and pay tribute to Wa.
As for being willing, they were certainly not willing. Shimazu Hisamitsu and the feudal lords of Chikuzen, Chikugo, and others had not thought of resisting, at least to get a better place, right?
Then Shimazu Hisamitsu and the others quickly moved to Ezo, completely handing over the island of Kyushu.
More importantly, who would these samurai and ashigaru obey?
If they were to obey the orders of the feudal lords and ignore Tokugawa Ienari, what would the Shogunate think? If they hindered each other and argued, how could they clear the ronin at all!
If they were to obey the orders of Tokugawa Ienari, wouldn't that be equivalent to handing over military power?
This was even more unacceptable to the feudal lords than directly providing money to support Tokugawa Ienari!
After Tokugawa Ienari finished speaking, the attending feudal lords breathed a sigh of relief while also feeling a little suspicious.
As everyone knows, besides being lustful, Tokugawa Ienari's biggest flaw is his greed for money. The greed of his sons and daughters is entirely inherited from Tokugawa Ienari.
Now, this greedy and lustful fellow has not chosen to extort the various domains on a large scale, but instead stated that the Shogunate would send people directly, and the domains only needed to "slightly" prepare some food and a few guides?
As the feudal lords and daimyo hesitated, Shimazu Hisamitsu glared fiercely at the other feudal lords and cursed, "Baka! You damned馬鹿! Is this the time to quibble over a few samurai and ashigaru? If we don't cooperate with General-sama in clearing out those ronin, how will Kōkaku-kenjin let us off if he wins?"
Upon hearing Shimazu Hisamitsu's scolding, Matsudaira Nobunobu, the head of Kawagoe Domain among the Kantō Musashi Domains, was about to retort, but he inadvertently saw Tokugawa Ienari glare fiercely at Shimazu Hisamitsu, and then returned to his calm, smiling, and unsmiling appearance.
Matsudaira Nobunobu's heart was immediately alerted.
Shimazu Hisamitsu, this Ezo baka, is so poor that he's like a dog, yet he still sends samurai and ashigaru to help Tokugawa Ienari, and now he's the first to jump out and curse the feudal lords, acting like a loyal dog who would spill his last drop of blood for the Edo Shogunate, and Tokugawa Ienari seems displeased?
After pondering for a moment, a flash of inspiration struck Matsudaira Nobunobu's mind—thinking optimistically, Tokugawa Ienari might truly want to clear out those samurai, and his actions with Shimazu Hisamitsu were just a play to lure the feudal lords into the trap.
If he thought pessimistically, it might be that Tokugawa Ienari's true intention is not to completely clear out those ronin, but to target them, the feudal lords! Once the Shogunate's samurai and ashigaru enter the territories of the various domains in large numbers, anything that happens later will be difficult to say!
Thinking of this, Matsudaira Nobunobu's expression couldn't help but become grim, and then he glanced at Shimazu Hisamitsu again and said loudly, "Shimazu-head is absolutely right. Now is an important time for us to unite and overcome difficulties. We cannot be hesitant at this moment!"
With the subsequent statements of Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobunobu, the other feudal lords had no way out. Whether they understood or not, they had to follow Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobunobu in stating that they would each send samurai and ashigaru to help the Shogunate clear out those ronin.
Just as Matsudaira Nobunobu thought, the reason Tokugawa Ienari proposed that the Shogunate send samurai and ashigaru to clear out those ronin was, on the one hand, to truly clear out those ronin to avoid any accidents during the subsequent blockade.
However, on the other hand, Tokugawa Ienari intended to use the feudal lords to pressure the Imperial Court. If Kōkaku-kenjin and Kōmi-kenjin, these two bastards, dared to send people to Tokugawa Ienari's territory to cause trouble, Tokugawa Ienari planned to first kill a few minor feudal lords and daimyo in the Kinai domains, to cause chaos in Kōkaku-kenjin's father and son's territory.
As for sending ninjas or some lepers to plague Kōkaku-kenjin's father and son's territory, Tokugawa Ienari really didn't have this idea for the time being.
Because the current situation was clearly in Tokugawa Ienari's favor, and the possibility of successfully ascending the throne was high. Tokugawa Ienari, who had already begun to dream of being a ruler, naturally did not want leprosy to spread in the vicinity of Kinai. After all, no matter how poor the disease was, the transmission power of leprosy was there, and no one could guarantee that they would definitely escape it.
Unfortunately, Tokugawa Ienari's well-planned plan was now being disrupted by these two bastards, Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobunobu.
Tokugawa Ienari secretly resented, but forced a smile, "Then it's settled. For those ronin who are causing trouble in the region, it is imperative to clear them out forcefully. If you are unable to do so, you can always send people to the Shogunate for help, and do not force yourselves."
After the feudal lords thanked him, either willingly or unwillingly, Tokugawa Ienari changed the subject and talked about his experiences in the Great Ming, saying, "You all know that I, Ienari, have been to the Great Ming before and stayed there for a long time."
The attending feudal lords and daimyo were a little confused, not knowing what this bastard Tokugawa Ienari wanted to say.
Tokugawa Ienari said to himself, "When I was in the Great Ming, what I felt most deeply was the knowledge of the Ming people. Even young children could recognize a few characters, and even old people from the Qing Dynasty could mostly write their names, let alone the young people."
The feudal lords and daimyo continued to be confused—the Great Ming was the suzerain, the father of Wa, wasn't this natural?
Shimazu Hisamitsu tentatively asked, "What does General mean?"
Tokugawa Ienari did not directly answer Shimazu Hisamitsu's question, but instead clapped his hands and ordered outside the door, "Bring it here!"
Tokugawa Ienari said to himself, "When I was in the Great Ming, what I felt most deeply was the knowledge of the Ming people. Even young children could recognize a few characters, and even old people from the Qing Dynasty could mostly write their names, let alone the young people."
The feudal lords and daimyo continued to be confused—the Great Ming was the suzerain, the father of Wa, wasn't this natural?
(End of this chapter)