ps: This chapter is also not for subscription for now. It's a placeholder for quick cash, expected to be modified into normal content in three days. Chapters 512 and 522 have already been completed.
Old Master Chen, Old Master Hu, and others stared at Qi Feng, who was speaking eloquently, with blank expressions, unable to believe these words were coming from Qi Feng's mouth.
However, Qi Feng did not care about the gazes of others. Instead, he looked at Old Master Chen, Old Master Hu, and the others and said, "What do you say? If you are willing to do this with me, Qi, we will do it together. If anyone is unwilling, you can leave. As long as you don't cause trouble for me, Qi, we will still be good brothers in the future."
Old Master Hu couldn't help but frown and said, "Brother Qi's idea is good, but where can we find a prominent figure willing to cooperate with us? According to Brother Qi's words, this prominent figure should not have too much power, should not be too smart, and should not be too foolish. Crucially, he must also be able to fool those short, dark Japanese. It's not easy to find such a prominent figure, is it?"
Qi Feng chuckled and said, "A three-legged toad is hard to find, but aren't there plenty of two-legged people? To tell you the truth, I have already identified a prominent figure. This person also studied in Daming for a period and has a superficial understanding of medicine, which is enough to deceive those short, dark Japanese."
Old Master Hu's eyes lit up, and he asked, "The person you are talking about, is it Zhang Wenhong from the Kinai regions?"
Qi Feng stroked his beard and nodded, smiling, "That's right, it's him. This person was originally an orphan without parents. He was lucky enough to climb the shogunate's ladder and was granted the name Ken'yo Wenhong. Later, because he served Tokugawa Ienari's daughter well, he got the opportunity to study in Daming."
"Judging from his service to Tokugawa Ienari's daughter, Ken'yo Wenhong cannot be considered foolish. However, his performance during his studies in Daming was extremely poor. He was caught cheating several times in exams and only managed to obtain a graduation certificate. Yet, no one expected that Ken'yo Wenhong, after returning to Japan, would transform himself into a minor daimyo of Japan."
Old Master Chen, Old Master Hu, and the others present smiled silently, their faces tinged with amusement, showing meaningful expressions. Tokugawa Ienari's daughter was notoriously unrestrained, and the fact that Ken'yo Wenhong could satisfy her demonstrated his capabilities.
To put it bluntly, Japan, which was praised to the heavens by countless incurable patients, was actually similar to the situation in Tianzhu. Tianzhu had a caste system, and Japan also had a class system.
For instance, why would ronin samurai who lost their masters remain ronin instead of finding jobs?
It was precisely because of Japan's damnable class system that ronin were a huge source of instability. Currently, Japanese ronin dared not become pirates. The number of supervisors needed by Daming was limited. The vassal troops from Tianzhu and the Ottoman Empire were all under the control of the shogunate. If they stayed in Japan and couldn't find masters willing to take them in, these ronin naturally had to find ways to support themselves.
To give a simplest example: If the Ito family and the Mori family were at war, and the Mori family was defeated, the samurai who originally depended on the Mori family could become ronin. They could not find jobs nor had income sources. The only way to support themselves was to go to the Ito family's territory to rob, robbing civilians and low-borns. The samurai raised by the Ito family would naturally strike at them, but because the ronin were too mobile, the Ito family's samurai could not clear them out. Therefore, the Ito family's territory naturally became less stable.
This meant that if Tokugawa Ienari wanted to complete the blockade completely, he had to deal with the ronin first.
Shimazu Hisamitsu, the head of the Satsuma domain, was the first to respond: "Your Excellency the Shogun can rest assured. Our Satsuma domain will send as many samurai and ashigaru as possible within our capabilities to assist the shogunate in clearing out those ronin."
The lords of Chikuzen, Chikugo, Buzen, Bungo, Hizen, Tsushima, Hyuga, and other domains also responded one after another. However, the other lords and daimyo couldn't help but frown.
In Japan, domains were not the same. For example, the Kanto domains and the Kinai domains were closer to Kyoto, Japan. The Ou domains, Kyushu domains, and Shikoku domains were farther away.
This difference in geographical location naturally led to imbalanced development among the various domains. Some domains were relatively wealthy, while others were extremely poor.
The difference in wealth and poverty was directly reflected in the number of ronin in each domain.
The poorer the domain, the more ronin it had.
More importantly, the Satsuma domain and the lords of Chikuzen, Chikugo, and others actually shared a common designation: Kyushu domains.
These domains originally lived on the island of Kyushu. The Satsuma domain even sent troops to capture the Ryukyu Islands, forcing the Ryukyu king to pay tribute to Japan.
However, with the rise of Daming, the island of Kyushu was leased to Daming. The Kyushu domains that were originally on the island of Kyushu naturally had to move. At that time, some good places near Kyoto were already occupied by other domains, so these Kyushu domains could only be collectively relocated to Ezo.
It was certainly not a matter of willingly accepting this. Shimazu Hisamitsu and the lords of Chikuzen, Chikugo, and others had considered resisting, or at least getting a better place.
Unfortunately, Daming did not give them time to resist. When the notice of leasing the island of Kyushu was sent to Japan, the Daming East Sea Fleet directly sailed to the island of Kyushu, expressing its willingness to help Shimazu Hisamitsu and others move.
Then Shimazu Hisamitsu and the others quickly moved to Ezo, completely giving up the island of Kyushu.
At that time, Ezo was a poor place in Japan. The lords and daimyo who were relocated to Ezo, even if they were not as poor as dogs, their living standards dropped sharply. The ronin within their domains gradually increased, and the lives of civilians and low-borns in their domains also became difficult.
However, for the Kanto and Kinai domains, responding to Tokugawa Ienari's call was definitely not a good thing. To clear out the ronin, a large number of samurai and ashigaru had to be dispatched, which meant enormous expenses and the need to spend actual money.
If they disobeyed their lord's orders and ignored Tokugawa Ienari, what would the shogunate think? If they mutually obstructed and haggled, how could they possibly clear out any ronin!
This was even more unacceptable to the lords than directly spending money to support Tokugawa Ienari!
Seeing that apart from the lords of Satsuma, Chikuzen, Chikugo, and others, all the other lords appeared to be minding their own business, Tokugawa Ienari, while harboring resentment, said with a forced smile, "Actually, for the clearing of these ronin, the shogunate will directly dispatch samurai and ashigaru to carry out the operation, and there is no need for you lords to send samurai and ashigaru. You only need to prepare some provisions and a few guides."
When Tokugawa Ienari finished speaking, the lords present, while secretly relieved, couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious.
As everyone knew, besides his lust, Tokugawa Ienari's biggest flaw was his greed. The greed of his sons and daughters in accumulating wealth was entirely inherited from Tokugawa Ienari.
Now, this greedy and lustful fellow did not choose to heavily extort the various domains, but instead stated that the shogunate would send people directly, and the various domains only needed to "slightly" prepare some provisions and a few guides?
As the lords and daimyo hesitated, Shimazu Hisamitsu glared fiercely at the other lords and cursed, "Baka! You damn fools! Is this the time to quibble over a few samurai and ashigaru? If we do not cooperate with His Excellency the Shogun to clear out these ronin, what will happen when Mitsukuni Kōkō wins? Will he let us go!"
Upon hearing Shimazu Hisamitsu's scolding, Matsudaira Yorinobu, the lord of Kawagoe domain in Musashi, Kanto, was about to retort, but he inadvertently saw Tokugawa Ienari glare fiercely at Shimazu Hisamitsu, and then he resumed his usual bland, forced smile.
Matsudaira Yorinobu immediately became vigilant.
Shimazu Hisamitsu, this Ezo fool, was so poor he was like a dog yet still sent samurai and ashigaru to help Tokugawa Ienari, and now he was the first to jump out and scold the lords, acting like a loyal dog willing to shed his last drop of blood for the Edo shogunate. And Tokugawa Ienari seemed displeased?
After pondering for a moment, a flash of inspiration struck Matsudaira Yorinobu. Looking at it optimistically, Tokugawa Ienari might genuinely want to clear out those samurai, and his current performance with Shimazu Hisamitsu was just an act to lure the lords into a trap.
Looking at it pessimistically, perhaps Tokugawa Ienari's true intention was not to completely clear out the ronin, but to target them, the lords! Once the shogunate's samurai and ashigaru entered the territories of various domains in large numbers, what would happen afterward could be difficult to say!
Thinking of this, Matsudaira Yorinobu's expression turned grim. Then he glanced at Shimazu Hisamitsu again and said loudly, "Lord Shimazu is absolutely right. This is a crucial moment for us to unite and overcome difficulties. We cannot be hesitant at this time!"
With Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Yorinobu stating their positions one after another, the other lords were left with no retreat. Whether they understood or not, they had to follow Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Yorinobu and declare that they would each send samurai and ashigaru to help the shogunate clear out the ronin.
Tokugawa Ienari, however, harbored deep resentment.
As Matsudaira Yorinobu had thought, the reason Tokugawa Ienari proposed that the shogunate should send samurai and ashigaru to clear out the ronin was, on the one hand, to truly clear out the ronin to avoid any unexpected incidents during the subsequent blockade.
However, on the other hand, Tokugawa Ienari intended to use the feudal lords to pressure the court. If Mitsukuni Kōkō and Tomihito (Prince Tomohito) dared to cause trouble in Tokugawa Ienari's territory, Tokugawa Ienari planned to kill a few minor lords and daimyo in the Kinai regions first, thus causing chaos in the territories of Mitsukuni Kōkō and his father.
As for sending ninjas or people who already had leprosy to cause harm in the territories of Mitsukuni Kōkō and his father, Tokugawa Ienari did not have such thoughts for the time being.
This was because the current situation clearly favored Tokugawa Ienari, and his chances of successfully ascending to the throne were high. Tokugawa Ienari, who had already begun to dream of being a national ruler, naturally did not want leprosy to spread in the Kinai regions. After all, no matter how much of a poor person's disease it was, the transmissibility of leprosy was evident, and no one could guarantee they would escape it.
Unfortunately, Tokugawa Ienari's well-laid plans were now disrupted by these two fools, Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Yorinobu.
Tokugawa Ienari harbored deep resentment, but he forced a smile and said, "Then it's settled. For those ronin who are causing trouble, it is essential to vigorously clear them out. If you find it difficult, you can always send people to the shogunate for help. Do not force yourselves."
After the lords thanked him, some willingly and some unwillingly, Tokugawa Ienari changed the subject and began to talk about his previous experiences in Daming. "As you all know, I, Ienari, have been to Daming before and stayed there for a long time."
The lords and daimyo present were somewhat bewildered, not knowing what this fool Tokugawa Ienari wanted to say.
Tokugawa Ienari continued on his own, saying, "When I was in Daming, what Ienari felt most deeply was the knowledge of the Ming people. Even young children could read a few characters, and even old people from the Great Qing era could write their names, let alone the young people."
The lords and daimyo present were still bewildered. Daming was a suzerain state, the father of Japan. Wasn't this only natural?
Tokugawa Ienari looked at the bewildered lords and daimyo and sighed, "Our Japan has always been known as the 'Little China of the Sea.' Looking at the entire small broken planet, it can be called the biological son of the Great Ming Empire. Yet, there are very few literate people in Japan, and it is full of blind, illiterate people. In this way, are we not letting down the great kindness Daming has shown to our Japan?"
Shimazu Hisamitsu tentatively asked, "What does Your Excellency mean?"
Tokugawa Ienari did not directly answer Shimazu Hisamitsu's question. Instead, he clapped his hands and ordered someone outside the door, "Bring it here!"
When a servant brought in a tray, Tokugawa Ienari pointed to the items on the tray and said, "This is the Japanese steam engine made by our Japanese envoy to Ming, Shiba Kōkan, imitating the Daming steam engine. If we can replicate and produce more of it, our Japan can also have its own steam engine."
"Unfortunately, Shiba Kōkan is ultimately just one person. It is fine for him to imitate one steam engine, but when it comes to imitating more things, he is insufficient."
"Therefore, we in Japan still need to increase the number of envoys to Ming."
"What I, your General, am telling you today is for you to be mentally prepared. Later, you should each select suitable candidates to study in Daming. Each domain is limited to three people, and another two will be selected from the commoners in your domain, meaning each domain has a total of five envoy slots."
When Tokugawa Ienari finished speaking, the lords and daimyo present became excited.
(End of this chapter)