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However, Tokugawa Ienari's joy did not last long. Watanabe Uemon, the leader of the Shogunate's envoys to Ming, delivered bad news to Tokugawa: "Your Excellency, although most of the good and common people have been cleared from the area near Tottori Domain, the Ming merchants there have become a big problem. Many commoners are hiding near the Ming merchants' residences, and it is now very difficult to drive them away."
Tokugawa Ienari's face immediately darkened.
The good and common people of Japan were actually easy to deal with. They could be driven away normally, or dealt with violently if they didn't comply. A few low-class good and common people could not cause any significant trouble.
However, involving Ming merchants was different.
No matter how amiable and law-abiding the Ming merchants seemed on the surface, they were still merchants of the Ming Dynasty, and the Shogunate could not afford to offend them.
This was because the Ming merchants were not subject to Japanese law. No matter how serious the offense, they could only be handed over to the Ming Embassy in Japan or the Governor's Office of Kyushu Island for处理. The Shogunate did not even have the right to arrest them, let alone try them.
Moreover, the Ming Emperor was famously protective of his people. There were more than one or two instances where the Ming Dynasty sent out its navy to deal with incidents where their citizens were bullied overseas. Even in Japan, there were cases where ronin samurai provoked Ming merchants, resulting in the Kyushu garrison apprehending the ronin samurai and beheading them as a public example!
Now, with the good and common people of Japan hiding around the Ming merchants, what could the Shogunate do?
If they angered the Ming merchants and provoked them to draw their swords and confront the Shogunate, the Shogunate would be the one to suffer in the end!
The more he thought about it, the more troubled Tokugawa Ienari became. He frowned and asked, "Have you tried to negotiate with those Ming merchants? Aren't they afraid of contracting leprosy?"
Watanabe Uemon bowed his head and replied, "Reporting to you, Your Excellency, Matsushita Ichiban has visited those Ming merchants again, but... but from their current reactions, they do not seem very concerned about leprosy."
"Why?" Tokugawa Ienari asked, completely bewildered. "Don't they know how contagious leprosy is? Or do they have a way to deal with it?"
Watanabe Uemon shook his head foolishly and replied, "According to Matsushita Ichiban, those Ming merchants are not indifferent to leprosy. It is simply that they have not yet received a notice of evacuation from the Ming Embassy in Japan. Therefore, while they are concerned about leprosy, they are not taking it too seriously."
Tokugawa Ienari felt completely numb—concerned yet not taking it seriously, what kind of attitude was that?
Seeing Tokugawa Ienari fall into a daze, Watanabe Uemon tentatively asked, "Your Excellency, should we also prepare some medicinal herbs for those Ming merchants?"
Tokugawa Ienari could not help but frown, his face filled with indecision.
To prepare or not to prepare, that was the question.
Preparing medicinal herbs for those Ming merchants would mean that the Shogunate's already tight resources would become even tighter. Giving a few more medicinal herbs to a Ming merchant would mean that a few more commoners or low-class people under the Shogunate's rule might die. However, if they did not prepare medicinal herbs for those Ming merchants... what if some unfortunate soul died because of it? What if the Ming Ambassador to Japan, Chen Yan, pursued the matter? Even if Chen Yan did not pursue it, would the Governor's Office of Kyushu Island pursue it? Would the Ming Emperor pursue it?
The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. Tokugawa Ienari waved his hand and said, "Prepare enough medicinal herbs for them. It is better to have too much than too little. This is a critical moment for our Japan, and we must not offend the Ming people over some medicinal herbs."
As he spoke, Tokugawa Ienari suddenly sighed again, "We Japan, in the end, still have to rely on the Ming Dynasty. Japan still has to do business with the Ming Dynasty."
Watanabe Uemon also fell silent.
Watanabe Uemon suddenly recalled a delicacy he had tasted before.
Garrison Stew.
This was a delicacy that did not require any sophisticated cooking techniques. The ingredients often depended on whatever kitchen scraps were available from the Ming garrison in Japan. The cooking method was to pick up various scraps and throw them all into a pot to stew.
This was a delicacy first created and quickly popularized by the Japanese. Apart from in the Ming Dynasty and France, this delicacy had traveled the world with the footsteps of the Japanese auxiliary troops.
As for the taste of this delicacy... Watanabe Uemon, having personally tasted Garrison Stew, could not honestly say it was very delicious. After all, no matter how much it was cleaned or stewed, the smell of swill could not be removed.
Watanabe Uemon knew very well that it was not that the Japanese were naturally fond of the smell of swill, but that the Japanese were not qualified to refuse the smell of swill. The common people of the Ming Dynasty could be picky, and many Ming children would even spit out if they ate a little fatty meat. But what did the Japanese have to be picky about?
In Japan, common people were not even considered true human beings. Even some low-ranking samurai families relied on Garrison Stew to improve their lives. Only the Daimyo or the noble families of Daimyo rank and above could refuse Garrison Stew.
Given the extreme humility of Japan, it was quite reasonable to disregard Japan's own good and common people and spend some effort preparing medicinal herbs for the noble merchants of the Ming Dynasty.
Watanabe Uemon lowered his head and replied with a bow, "Hai! I will have people prepare enough medicinal herbs for the Ming merchants!"
…
As a Ming merchant, Qi Feng had been deeply involved in the Japanese medicinal herb market for nearly ten years.
During these ten years, Qi Feng's thoughts had gradually shifted from making money in the beginning to enjoying life. Doing business in the Ming Dynasty required great caution, as one might violate Ming law at any moment, and the tax rate in the Ming Dynasty was also very heavy. However, it was different in Japan. Firstly, the Japanese government did not dare to interfere much with merchants from the Ming Dynasty, and secondly, the young ladies of Japan were particularly fond of merchants from the Ming Dynasty.
Who could bear to refuse the charming and inexpensive Japanese women?
In any case, Qi Feng could not bear to refuse.
In the more than ten years he had been in Japan, Qi Feng had taken ten concubines, averaging one per year. The price of each concubine was only a few dozen yuan.
Of course, a price of a few dozen yuan referred to girls from "good" families in Japan. The price for girls from samurai or ronin families would be more expensive, costing a few hundred or a thousand yuan. If it were girls from Daimyo families, the price could be as high as tens of thousands.
Enjoying such a wonderful life, and yet these short and ugly Japanese people dared to persuade Qi Feng to leave, claiming that leprosy was about to break out in Japan?
Qi Feng slowly rolled two walnuts and instructed his steward with a sarcastic tone, "Next time some short and ugly people come to persuade us to leave, beat them out directly with sticks. They've all got such bad habits. A bunch of short and ugly people dare to interfere with the affairs of a master like me?"
This was not because Qi Feng was particularly arrogant, but because the short and ugly people of Japan were truly hard to describe. The arrogant samurai and ronin on the streets of Japan might dare to bully the short and ugly people of Japan, or even use "commoners" to test their swords, performing tests like "three-body cut." However, when facing Ming merchants like Qi Feng, those samurai and ronin could not be so arrogant. Even the Japanese government would be a bit more timid when facing Ming merchants like Qi Feng.
Qi Feng's steward immediately smiled and agreed, then asked, "Master, if this leprosy really spreads, I'm afraid we might not be able to avoid it, right?"
Qi Feng snorted coldly, "Avoid what? Our family is in the medicinal herb business. Now that leprosy is rampant in Japan, it's a good opportunity for us to make a fortune. Are you thinking of avoiding it at this time?"
After thinking for a moment, Qi Feng simply ordered, "Have someone inventory all the alcohol in the warehouse. Set aside what we need for the household, and seal the rest. Do not sell it for now. Also, send someone to invite Mr. Chen, Mr. Hu, and a few others over. Tell them that Master has a big business to discuss with them."
The Mr. Chen and Mr. Hu that Qi Feng mentioned were Ming merchants who, like Qi Feng, had been working in Japan for many years. Their business scopes were different. Mr. Chen was in the funeral business, and Mr. Hu was in the grain business. There was no competition between them, and they had a good relationship.
In the era when patients with rolling and chirping diseases were rampant in later generations, the dog sons raised by the cunning Eagle always brought up "This country, why, it's the system."
The problem was that Emperor Zhu himself was caught in the dilemma of "system."
What kind of path should the Ming Dynasty take?
Should it adopt the so-called European tripartite separation of powers and freedom system?
In fact, such an idea could only be thought about. If this method were implemented in the Central Plains, it would be a death sentence.
Analyzing the specific reasons in depth would be too complicated, but ultimately, it all boiled down to interests.
You choose.
This was actually why people in Europe and the cunning Eagle were generally more confident.
This was because Europe had never had a truly unified dynasty, and the barbarians were accustomed to the mentality of small states and small populations, and also accustomed to the system of small courts.
Russia was similar—Bolshevism, good! Good! The key is that human beings have desires!
This way of doing things was certainly fine during normal times, as even the common people in the Central Plains seemed to be the same, with no apparent difference.
However, once disasters like the Little Ice Age occurred frequently, or when the common people truly could not survive, the difference between large and small courts became apparent.
The cunning Eagle was not much better than Europe, otherwise, classmate Bai Zhenhua would not have ascended to the throne, nor would the great joke of the cunning Eagle's internal conflict have started with Little Ukraine.
However, Bolshevism, which also adopted the system of a large court, might not necessarily work if directly transplanted.
Directly copying Bolshevism had a huge hidden danger, which was that the Ming Dynasty did not have the environmental conditions for that set of theories to survive.
How many years had it been since the Great Qing collapsed?
Of course, it could not be said that this theory was wrong, because all countries in the world propagated it.
Was it not much better to achieve the merit of "supporting the dragon and destroying the bandits" than to wholeheartedly serve those mud-legged people?
At that time, the Central Plains had not yet experienced the pain of impending total national extinction.
Especially with the emperor gradually delegating power, the Grand Secretariat could directly replace the role of the emperor.
This was because Emperor Zhu had directly clarified the status of the Grand Secretariat in the martial world.
However, despite the authority, the actual ranks of the Grand Secretaries who led the Six Ministries were not high. The so-called leadership of the Six Ministries was also not legitimate and not proper, and there was also the supervision of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
There was nothing to say about the Censorate. Their main duty was to criticize people. The emperor and all civil and military officials were objects they had to monitor.
And the final interpretation of the Ming Law belonged to the Ministry of Justice.
In short, there were all sorts of messy departments, with clear responsibilities. They had to support each other, but also restrain each other.
Did you want to regain power by changing the prime minister?
However, Emperor Zhu knew very well that such perfection was basically bullshit.
Even the set of rules adopted by the Rabbit was not perfect!
Whether it was cutting down two Ma Su with tears in his eyes back then, or later becoming rich first but being unwilling to lead the poor, and even wanting to extend their hands into the court, these were objective facts!
Thinking of this, Emperor Zhu could not help but laugh at himself.
No matter how hard he tried, he was not a god. How could he possibly solve those long-standing issues?
"And those officials who jumped out to court death, do I need to say how to deal with them?"
Of course, Emperor Zhu did not need to say more, because Emperor Zhu had already used the word "朕" (I, the Emperor).
And after Zeng Cheng and Liu Hemming, along with a group of big shots, bowed in agreement, Emperor Zhu's gaze then fell on Zeng Cheng, "Qing Zeng, you have been serving as prime minister for nearly thirty years, haven't you?"
Of course, the Ming Dynasty's treatment of meritorious officials had always been good. Although he was no longer the Grand Chancellor, all his treatment would still be handled according to the treatment of a Grand Chancellor, and he would even be granted a noble title.
Now that Emperor Zhu suddenly mentioned that he had been the Grand Chancellor for nearly thirty years, did he want him to step down?
Qi Feng snorted coldly, "Avoid what? Our family is in the medicinal herb business. Now that leprosy is rampant in Japan, it's a good opportunity for us to make a fortune. Are you thinking of avoiding it at this time?"
After thinking for a moment, Qi Feng simply ordered, "Have someone inventory all the alcohol in the warehouse. Set aside what we need for the household, and seal the rest. Do not sell it for now. Also, send someone to invite Mr. Chen, Mr. Hu, and a few others over. Tell them that Master has a big business to discuss with them."
The Mr. Chen and Mr. Hu that Qi Feng mentioned were Ming merchants who, like Qi Feng, had been working in Japan for many years. Their business scopes were different. Mr. Chen was in the funeral business, and Mr. Hu was in the grain business. There was no competition between them, and they had a good relationship.
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Heavenly Emperor's Noble Lineage reminds you: Remember to collect after reading.