The Japanese have many flaws, such as their tendency towards insubordination and biting the hand that feeds them. In short, they are riddled with all sorts of messy faults. To describe them as having even a semblance of humanity would be to exaggerate, but the Japanese do have one redeeming quality: once they are properly subdued, these short, squat individuals become loyal dogs. Right and wrong cease to be considerations for them; they don't even value their own lives.
Coincidentally, Japan at this moment is precisely in such a subdued state. A simple naval engagement saw the Great Ming destroy most of Japan's warships. The few remaining small, decrepit vessels hold symbolic significance far exceeding their actual utility—comparable, perhaps, to the existence of the Mongolian navy.
Given this context, the Japanese have been exceptionally well-behaved. When Tojo Kojiro requested an additional ten thousand Japanese samurai to oversee the recruitment of laborers, Tokugawa Ienari readily provided them.
"We must prioritize our Great Ming father," they thought.
Compared to Tojo Kojiro, Howard and Overstraaten seemed somewhat lacking.
As Howard had stated, England was currently occupied with cooperating with France to confront the Habsburg family, and the Dutch were busy re-establishing their nation. They simply lacked the spare military strength.
More importantly, Howard and Overstraaten were engrossed in studying the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
The more Howard and Overstraaten read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the more they marveled at its profound depth, becoming increasingly captivated. They even persistently tried to involve Tojo Kojiro in their studies. Tojo Kojiro, while not particularly interested, took the approach of leading them astray whenever the opportunity arose, telling Howard and Overstraaten, "This book teaches strategy; a brief overview is sufficient. The truly engaging works are Water Margin and Journey to the West."
In addition to leading Howard and Overstraaten astray, Tojo Kojiro was now more concerned with the recruitment of laborers. With the limited manpower he could currently command, recruiting all the barbarians of Tianzhu as laborers was pure fantasy. However, Tojo Kojiro had to consider the attitude of the Great Ming.
The Great Ming required a large labor force. The origin of these laborers, or where they were sourced from, was not a primary concern for the Great Ming.
The Great Ming also would not concern itself with how much effort Tojo Kojiro, or rather Japan, put into recruiting laborers. The Great Ming only cared whether Tojo Kojiro had successfully completed the task.
If Tojo Kojiro performed his duties well, he might not receive any rewards from the Great Ming, perhaps only a few scraps from the Edo Shogunate.
But if Tojo Kojiro botched the job… the Great Ming would not punish him, but the Edo Shogunate certainly would not let him off the hook. Dying with a modicum of dignity would be considered a great blessing from his ancestors.
Tojo Kojiro was well aware of this.
Therefore, after the ten thousand Japanese samurai dispatched by the Edo Shogunate arrived in Tianzhu, Tojo Kojiro began to formulate a plan.
While the number of barbarians might seem insignificant compared to the vastness of Tianzhu, these were fifteen thousand Japanese samurai. Tojo Kojiro had never commanded such a force in his life. Fortunately, no matter how inflated his ego, Tojo Kojiro did not delude himself into believing that fifteen thousand Japanese samurai could handle the two hundred million barbarians of Tianzhu, nor did he dare to defy his Great Ming father. Tojo Kojiro's plan was to accelerate the support for certain Brahmin monks.
After gathering the samurai leaders under his command, Tojo Kojiro spoke directly: "I believe General Tokugawa has informed you of our purpose here in Tianzhu."
"Unfortunately, Tianzhu is home to two hundred million Tianzhu barbarians, several times the number of our entire native Japanese population."
"This means our initial plan to resolve the Tianzhu labor issue within three months will be… "
As soon as Tojo Kojiro finished speaking, Yamamoto Nijuhachi, the second samurai leader seconded by Tokugawa Ienari, frowned and exclaimed, "Baka! As Japanese samurai, we must swiftly recruit enough laborers for our Great Ming father!"
The third samurai leader, Takeshita Saemon, glared and declared, "Are we, fifteen thousand Japanese samurai, unable to handle two hundred million Tianzhu barbarians?"
"Japanese samurai are meant to..." Yamamoto Nijuhachi and Takeshita Saemon were both taken aback. The implication that they, with fifteen thousand men, were expected to deal with two hundred million was shocking. Takeshita Saemon was instantly dumbfounded—so that's how the number two hundred million was calculated? Each samurai would have to deal with ten thousand Tianzhu barbarians? He had initially thought they only needed to kill one Tianzhu barbarian each. Yamamoto Nijuhachi was also somewhat bewildered.
It must be admitted that at this time, Japan truly lived up to its name of being a land of the short. The vast majority of Japanese had no concept of numbers exceeding ten thousand. Yamamoto Nijuhachi and Takeshita Saemon had confused the units of ten thousand and one hundred million. After reprimanding Takeshita Saemon, Tojo Kojiro turned his gaze to Yamamoto Nijuhachi: "Yamamoto, I know you haven't always respected me, but that's fine. I don't blame you. But please understand one thing—regarding the recruitment of laborers in Tianzhu, all samurai must follow my command."
"In Tianzhu, I expect you both to set aside your arrogance and your insubordinate tendencies. Honestly obey my orders, otherwise…" Yamamoto Nijuhachi glared resentfully at Tojo Kojiro, but ultimately said nothing, returning to his seat in silence.
Tojo Kojiro was not wrong.
Tokugawa Ienari had repeatedly instructed Yamamoto Nijuhachi to obey Tojo Kojiro's orders. After all, among these samurai leaders, only Tojo Kojiro could read Chinese characters, speak Mandarin, and had thoroughly studied the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. "We can discuss it further after we return to Japan. What do you say?"
Yamamoto Nijuhachi snorted and nodded, "How do you plan to resolve the Tianzhu issue?"
Takeshita Saemon echoed, "Indeed, two hundred million Tianzhu barbarians. How can we possibly clear them out in a short time?" At this point, Takeshita Saemon's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said, "Tianzhu is, after all, a landmass. Not only is it much larger than Japan, but crucially, it has two hundred million Tianzhu barbarians. If—" Tojo Kojiro's expression immediately darkened, and he asked Yamamoto Nijuhachi, "What is your opinion, Yamamoto-kun?"
Yamamoto Nijuhachi snorted, "My opinion? My opinion is to quickly deal with those Tianzhu barbarians and turn them into laborers for our Great Ming father. As for Tianzhu itself, it should naturally also belong to our Great Ming father."
Only then did Tojo Kojiro nod, "That's right, Yamamoto-kun is still quite clear-headed."
After praising Yamamoto Nijuhachi, Tojo Kojiro then looked at Takeshita Saemon and said, "Takeshita-kun, please abandon your foolish and extremely dangerous idea."
"This place is much larger than Japan, and it does indeed have two hundred million barbarians. If your idea could be realized, it would indeed be a great thing."
"But don't forget, the Tianzhu barbarians here have already been designated as laborers by His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming. The land here will also belong to the Great Ming Emperor and the Great Ming court in the future."
"As for Japan, staying obediently on its home soil might be for the best. If they rashly stir up trouble in Tianzhu, and thoroughly enrage our Great Ming father, who could bear the consequences?" Being questioned by Tojo Kojiro, Takeshita Saemon was rendered speechless.
After all, as a leader capable of commanding five thousand samurai, Takeshita Saemon possessed some intelligence. He was well aware that Japan could not afford to provoke the Great Ming at this time, and his idea of conquering Tianzhu seemed like a joke.
After a moment of silence, Tojo Kojiro continued, "My plan is that we must foster several Brahmin monks and have them establish a new Tianzhu government."
Yamamoto Nijuhachi asked, looking bewildered, "Foster Brahmin monks?"
Tojo Kojiro nodded and roughly explained the caste system of Tianzhu to Yamamoto Nijuhachi and Takeshita Saemon. He then continued, "As long as we can deal with those Brahmin monks and have them establish a new Tianzhu government, the original Tianzhu government will be nullified."
"I believe you can all guess what should be done next, can't you?"
However, to Tojo Kojiro's surprise, Yamamoto Nijuhachi and Takeshita Saemon both shook their heads and replied in unison, "We don't know."
Tojo Kojiro felt a surge of frustration. After a good while, he finally spoke, "Foster Brahmin monks who are favorable to us, so that those Tianzhu barbarians will eagerly go to the Great Ming to become laborers."
"They are Tianzhu barbarians, after all. We can agree to anything they want now. Once they are on the ship and at sea, they will no longer be able to have any other thoughts."
Yamamoto Nijuhachi and Takeshita Saemon were stunned. Takeshita Saemon tentatively asked, "According to your plan, with two hundred million Tianzhu barbarians in all of Tianzhu, how much good can fostering a few Brahmin monks do?"
Tojo Kojiro shook his head, "The usefulness is immense! In Tianzhu, the Kshatriyas tend to favor the Brahmin monks, and the Vaishyas, Shudras, and Dalits regard Brahmins as divine beings."
"Perhaps you don't know this yet, but those Shudras and Dalits, considered untouchables, would even carefully avoid Brahmins and Kshatriyas when traveling, to prevent those noble Brahmins and Kshatriyas from stepping on their shadows."
"But that doesn't make sense either. If the Shudras and Dalits don't want Brahmins and Kshatriyas to step on their shadows, then it should clearly be the Shudras..." Tojo Kojiro shook his head and said, "On the contrary, all the barbarians in Tianzhu believe that Brahmins are supreme, followed by the Kshatriyas who control the army, governance, and wealth. They believe that all commoners, especially the lower classes like themselves, must show sufficient respect to Brahmins and Kshatriyas. Avoiding Brahmins and Kshatriyas stepping on their shadows is considered..."
"Because, in Tianzhu, if high-caste Brahmins and Kshatriyas step on the shadows of lower-caste individuals, it means the high-caste have been defiled by the low-caste."
"Oddly enough, if a noble from a high-caste steps on the shadow of a low-caste贱民, the high-caste noble would consider it a great disgrace, and the low-caste would not thereby gain status comparable to the high-caste."
The more Yamamoto Nijuhachi listened, the more confused he became. Eventually, he directly asked, "These Tianzhu barbarians accepted such rule, and it has continued for thousands of years without interruption?"
Tojo Kojiro let out a cold laugh and said, "I've been in Tianzhu for several months now, and I can tell you definitively that these Tianzhu barbarians have indeed accepted this caste system."
Takeshita Saemon mumbled in a low voice, "If it were me, I would definitely step on a few noble's shadows."
Hearing Takeshita Saemon's words, Tojo Kojiro's expression turned grim. "To prevent such things from spreading, those Brahmins and Kshatriyas would likely choose to beat to death any untouchables who stepped on their shadows. Takeshita-kun, do you still want to step on anyone's shadow?"
Takeshita Saemon immediately shook his head like a rattle, "Of course not. I was just joking, a joke."
Tojo Kojiro let out another cold laugh and said meaningfully, "That's for the best, Takeshita-kun. Some things can be thought about, while others cannot even be thought about, or it could easily bring disaster upon yourself and your Takeuchi family."
Being addressed thus by Tojo Kojiro, Takeshita Saemon gave a sheepish laugh and lowered his head, ceasing his nonsensical talk. Tojo Kojiro again let out a cold laugh, "Takeshita-kun, I hope this is the last time. Do you understand? Don't give those European barbarians something to laugh about!"