Dominate the Country

In a side room of Dabaoen Temple, Tanuma Ici sat cross-legged on the couch, with smoke rising from the incense burner beside him and a faint tea fragrance coming out of the spout of the Sanyuan purple clay teapot in front of him. Tanuma Ici was enjoying a rare quiet time.

The tranquility in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the crowd was nurturing a kind of Zen. Although Tanuma Ici did not believe in Buddhism, it did not mean that he did not understand any Buddhist principles. Buddhism is still widely spread in Japan. His boss, Tokugawa Ieharu, also believed in Buddhism. Tanuma Ici's intention to come to Dabaoen Temple was simply to see the magnificent glazed tower again.

It was really magnificent and breathtaking. Such a magnificent and charming pagoda can only appear in a country like China. In Japan, Tanuma Ici could not believe it. But what he did not expect was that in this side room of the Buddhist temple, he was suddenly touched by the Zen of quietness in the hustle and bustle.

Tanuma Ici had not been so relaxed for many years. He started as a low-ranking samurai in Kishu Domain, followed Tokugawa Yoshimune to Edo, and climbed up all the way. His salary increased from 600 koku to 10,000 koku, and he became a royal servant. Then he was promoted to elder by Tokugawa Ieharu. For many years, his brain was constantly filled with all kinds of things, and he no longer had to think about how to solve and deal with all kinds of things.

Now his brain can finally rest. Take that great silence in the big noise, just like the brilliance of the sun, there are also black spots in it that cannot see the light. Absolute silence cannot be found, but if you can calm your mind and ignore the noise, you can recognize your heart more clearly.

Xiang Kexiang once again stood in front of the archway of Confucius Temple at this moment, looking at the lively scene of people coming and going, his eyes were full of excitement. Especially the two big hot air balloons floating on the Qinhuai River, the six dynasties of mountains and rivers, the nine bends of scenery, that is the most conspicuous and attractive advertising slogan.

Since the advertisements were published in newspapers, the small advertisement business has spread rapidly in China.

Many businesses suddenly found that they had a new way to promote themselves. They only needed to print a batch of small advertisements that did not need to be very exquisite, and then post them everywhere in the streets and alleys. The publicity effect was much better than word of mouth. The business philosophy that good wine is not afraid of deep alleys was abandoned by more and more people. Especially when it came to the temple fair, these people also learned by themselves and sent people to distribute small advertisements at the intersections where people gathered to promote their own business.

Xiang Kexiang just stood under the archway, and two "distributors" with thick and large coarse cloth bags on their bodies surrounded him. One was a hired person from Qinhuai River next to Confucius Temple, and the other was from Wu Ji Tangbao next to Da Baoen Temple. What's more amazing is that the small advertisement even printed a preliminary map of instructions.

Waving the small advertisement of the soup dumpling shop in his hand, Xiang Kexiang said to the followers behind him, "Let's go to Dabaoen Temple."

Xiang Kexiang, who likes painting, has the greatest wish in his life to paint a famous painting like "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". Before, he wanted to "paint" "Shuri Scenery". The sad little country of Ryukyu can record everything in the form of paintings. This is Xiang Kexiang's hope. But with the emergence of China, Japan is no longer a threat. Although there is a voice in Ryukyu that China will annex Ryukyu sooner or later, what's the matter? It's as if Japan doesn't want to annex Ryukyu.

Compared with the arrogant and greedy Japan, isn't China, which is strong and rich and has been benevolent to Ryukyu for hundreds of years, a better choice? Even if it is really annexed, it is better than being swallowed by Japan. Look at that Sulu Hou, his life is too comfortable now.

Xiang Kexiang has forgotten all his previous "wishes". He feels that he has the conditions and ability to put his "wishes" higher now. For example, his "wish" now is to draw the whole city of Nanjing, and the Da Baoen Temple with a 20-foot-high glazed pagoda outside Nanjing is a place he likes to go to.

Every time he goes out, he goes to the Confucius Temple; every time he comes to the Confucius Temple, he goes to the Da Baoen Temple. It's just that although the Da Baoen Temple never closes its doors to visitors, the glazed pagoda is not accessible to everyone who wants to climb it. Xiang Kexiang hopes that he can just happen to climb the pagoda, and then he can overlook the whole Nanjing from the top of the tower.

The whole city of Nanjing is now in a peaceful atmosphere, which is a kind of gestation before the arrival of a grand festival. Xiang Kexiang is looking forward to the arrival of the Chinese New Year, and his brain can't imagine how lively Nanjing will be at that time. Compared with the authentic "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" he saw in the Huaxia Museum, Xiang Kexiang feels that Nanjing at this time is more prosperous and rich than the Tokyo Bianliang City in the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".

In Chaotian Palace, Shang Xi finally met Zhang Cunyi. Zhang Cunyi was so happy about the sudden request from the King of Ryukyu that he couldn't control his expression. It was like a pillow was delivered when he was dozing off. He agreed on the spot and promised not only to send a Taoist master to Ryukyu, but also a direct descendant of their Zhang family. Shang Xi's face was full of joy. He picked up the teacup and was about to moisten his mouth comfortably, but at this moment!

Tanuma Otsugu in Da Baoen Temple was still resting with his eyes closed, and Xiang Kexiang outside Da Baoen Temple scooped up a soup dumpling with a spoon and was carefully biting the skin.

The people in the Prince's Mansion were writing and reviewing memorials, and Chen Hui in the palace continued to cultivate his character...

"Boom..."

A huge noise came from Nanjing City.

Tanuma Ichi, who was sitting cross-legged on the couch, rolled down, not because of the shock, but because of the fear. The sound was so loud that he subconsciously wanted to stand up, but his legs were crossed, so Tanuma Ichi rolled off the couch to the ground;

Xiang Kexiang was screaming, and the huge noise made him shiver reflexively. The soup flowing out of the broken hole splashed on his face. Xiang Kexiang didn't think about why there was such a loud explosion in his mind. He screamed and grabbed the handkerchief at hand and wiped it violently;

In Chaotian Palace, Zhang Cunyi's clothes were all covered with tea. He was drinking tea, and his hand shook, and the whole cup of tea fell on his body. Shang Xi was wiping his face with a handkerchief. He had already picked up the tea, so the whole bowl of tea fell on his face. Fortunately, the tea was no longer hot, otherwise he would have suffered a lot.

The three of them were not the only ones who were "unlucky" by the huge noise. There was also Chen Hui in the palace, the queen playing mahjong, the queen mother chanting Buddha, and Chen Ming in the prince's mansion who was reviewing the memorials.

He was reviewing the memorials when his hand moved, and the pen in his hand drew a long straight line on the memorial. "What's going on? Go check it out." Chen Ming was furious. He didn't feel the ground shaking, so this was not an earthquake. It was an explosion.

Was it man-made? In the northwest or the northeast?

Chen Ming put down his pen and stood up, with endless anger in his eyes, like a volcano about to erupt. If it was really a terrorist attack by the remnant of the Qing Dynasty, Chen Ming would definitely let the remnants of the Qing Dynasty feel the terribleness of his anger. When the spring thaw came, he would let the navy attack southern Liaoning.

...

In the No. 2 Arsenal in Nanjing, a large courtyard was like being swept by a storm, with broken bricks and tiles everywhere, and a few scattered bloodstains outside the broken courtyard wall.

This is a very lonely large courtyard, surrounded by playgrounds, and only three small bungalows were built in the center of the courtyard. Now these three bungalows have been completely "shattered to pieces". It must be very easy to rebuild.

No. Not only these three bungalows, but also the railings outside the bungalows, the wooden tables and chairs for rest, and a well, were completely destroyed. Only the bare wellhead was left in the well, and the previous wheel frame was gone, and even the blue bricks stacked by the wellhead were beaten by flying bricks and tiles.

Chen Jia, who is now the chief officer of the military industry, rushed to the No. 2 Arsenal as quickly as possible. Looking at the scene in front of him, an angry expression appeared on his face. Such courtyards are all gunpowder test sites, which are the most dangerous places in the entire military factory. According to the regulations of the Fu Han Army, it is not allowed to stockpile large amounts of dangerous goods, which means that only test products can be brought in little by little.

But the scene in front of him clearly told Chen Jia that these experimenters must not have followed the rules and regulations. If it was just a little test product, how could such a big mess happen?

"Zhang Xiao, tell me, how much picric acid is stored here?"

Chen Jia was about to explode. He was about to be conferred a knighthood, but his subordinates actually caused such a mess for him. Did they fail at the critical moment? He wanted to chop up Zhang Xiao, the person in charge of the military factory, and feed him to the dogs.

Before Chen Jia arrived, Zhang Xiao had already arrived at the scene. The four precious experimenters could not even find their bodies, and his eyes were full of regret and bitterness. Why did he neglect this aspect? And no one expected that the explosive power of picric acid would be so great.

This thing was obtained by Chen Han from the British this year. It has just been invented in the UK for three years. The inventor P. Wolfe is a yellow crystal, which is used as a yellow dye in the UK.

No one knows how the prince knew that this thing could be used with thunder and mercury, and the power is really huge. Look at the scene in front of you, even if the heavy fire dragon bomb exploded, it would not be like this.

"Sir, it's really just a barrel." Zhang Xiao said that the picric acid brought into the yard was a barrel, and he didn't know whether it was five kilograms or ten kilograms. Chen Jia didn't even bother to look at Zhang Xiao. This guy can't be used anymore. The attitude is not good! Such a "serious and responsible" attitude must never sit in the position of the military factory again! [Don't think that the explosion power of a few kilograms of picric acid is small, the power is 100 times the explosion power of black gunpowder]

Even if Zhang Xiao is Chen Jia's old subordinate, Chen Jia will not protect him this time.

After leaving the military factory, when Chen Jia took a carriage to the prince's house, he was still distressed about the death of four experimenters on the way. Even if the military industry system of the Fu Han Army has developed very well, these experimenters are all treasures. Four of them were lost today.

When Chen Jia met Chen Ming, Chen Ming already knew the reason. He severely reprimanded Chen Jia, who made Chen Jia the leader of the entire military industry system? You should know how bad the impact of the explosion was on Nanjing and how much panic it brought to the people. The garrison troops were all urgently assembled.

"This incident should be used as a warning. When you go back, immediately check the military factories in various places and strictly prevent any violations of rules and regulations from repeating. Once found, they will be severely punished. As for the director of the No. 2 military factory, let him go to retirement."

Where is there a safe place in the military industry system for retirement? Chen Jia would never transfer Zhang Xiao under his nose. When he received the order in silence, he already had a place in his mind to arrange Zhang Xiao-the Disabled Persons' Federation.

There are many casualties and disabled people in the military industry system. Whether they are normal people or deaf-mute people, these disabled people must be properly placed. I won’t say much about the dead, their families are naturally arranged properly. For those disabled people, the military industry system also has to comfort these meritorious officials during festivals and holidays. So who will take care of this matter? The Disabled Persons’ Federation!

The Disabled Persons’ Federation of the military industry system.

Whatever Zhang Xiao reacts to this is not only a matter of importance. Just when Chen Jia came to Chen Ming to apologize, large and small notices were posted all over the streets and alleys inside and outside Nanjing. Simply reduce this matter, that is, the military factory exploded, and the sound was a little louder.

After Chen Ming dealt with the matter, he also got up and rushed to the palace. According to the news from the palace, the queen mother was frightened by the explosion, as well as his father and his mother who was inviting people to play mahjong and build the Great Wall.

Tanuma Otsugu left the Dabaoen Temple in a carriage with an extra notice in his hand. "Wow, the Chinese firearms are so powerful." It was just an experiment, but the explosion shook the entire city of Nanjing!

Tanuma Otsugu, who had a certain understanding of Chinese history, immediately thought of the Wanggongchang explosion in the sixth year of Tianqi in the late Ming Dynasty, but the explosion in Nanjing this time was far less destructive than the explosion in Beijing.

Tanuma Otsugu did not gloat over the misfortune, and he even envied such a big explosion. Because from another perspective, isn't this a sign of the Chinese people's strength? Nanjing City No. 2 Military Factory is just one of many military factories in China.

Tanuma Otsugu even thought of 170 years ago, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi used all the elite Japanese to attack Korea. The Ming Dynasty of China was obviously in the late stage of the dynasty, but only tens of thousands of people were used to make the great wish of the Kanpaku-sama regret Korea. That wish lies in firearms. The artillery of the Ming army is simply not something the Japanese can resist.

And now...

More than a hundred years have passed, and the gap between China and Japan in firearms has not only not narrowed, but has widened. Let's not talk about other places, just talk about the muzzles of the black cannons on the walls of Nanjing City. Tanuma Okitsugu sent a special person to inquire about this news. In Nanjing City, the Chinese deployed more than 300 cannons on the top of Nanjing City alone. This is a number that shocked all Japanese.

Tanuma Okitsugu also thought of the strength of China's national strength. The strength of military force is not a manifestation of militarism, but a manifestation of China's wealth. He thought of everything he saw after entering China. The Chinese did not restrict his whereabouts. As long as he did not make trouble, Tanuma Okitsugu and his team could travel around the south and north with the certificates issued by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Although Tanuma Okitsugu stayed in Nanjing all the time, some people in his delegation had gone north to Jianghuai and south to Fujian and Zhejiang.

These people also sent him some letters one after another.

After leaving Nanjing and heading north, although the cities in Huanghuai were not as beautiful and rich as those in Jiangnan, the endless farmland on the vast Huanghuai Plain was a manifestation of the most important foundation of a country. The farmlands are cut by roads of different sizes, and rows of trees stand in the farmlands. Although they have no green leaves, they are neatly measured as if they were measured with a ruler, just like the Chinese soldiers on the walls of Nanjing. The fields on the great plains described in the description made Tanuma Ichi feel awed.

The vast and boundless farmlands, the fertile plains that are even vaster than the entire Edo Bay, are something that Japan, with its many mountains and narrow land, cannot imagine.

Agriculture is the best measure of national strength in traditional oriental countries!

No agriculture, no stability! For a truly great country, these four words are always inseparable. The vast plains of Huanghuai are obviously strictly planned, and the irrigation system is also covering the entire plain area bit by bit. Tens of thousands of farmers are lured out of their homes by Chinese officials with food and wages during the slack season, and use their labor to improve the entire irrigation canal to attack the city. When all this is completed, the output here can be imagined.

Starting from Nanjing and moving along the Grand Canal, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Huzhou, Wuxi, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Ningbo and other cities are not far apart. These cities of all sizes form an extremely large urban agglomeration. Together with Shanghai at the estuary, it can be said that the essence of the entire Yangtze River Basin in China is gathered here. This is also the largest urban agglomeration in the world today. If you go up the river, after Nanjing, there are Wuhu, Chizhou, Anqing, Jiujiang, and Wuhan to the west, which are also prosperous places in China.

Tanuma Otsugu himself did not realize that as these "investigations" came one by one, the Japanese delegation members who stayed in Nanjing with him also unconsciously completed a change of mind.

Many Japanese people felt that although China was large, it was not necessarily much richer than Japan. After all, Japan under the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate had been generally stable for more than a hundred years, in the middle of a "dynasty", and the accumulation of social wealth was not bad. Even if they had seen Shanghai before, they did not believe that what they saw was all true. They all suspected that this was a face-saving project of the new Chinese dynasty, just like Emperor Yang of Sui wrapped trees with brocade, making the important city of Shanghai magnificent and splendid to decorate the facade.

But the facts told him that the Chinese were not pretending to be rich at all, and the prosperity of Shanghai was the natural result of the development of Chinese society.

At that time, the famous places and thousands of delicacies in Nanjing did not interest the Japanese. But as time went by, although it was winter and the south of the Yangtze River was cold and gloomy, the hearts of people like Tanuma Otsugu were boiling like hot magma.

“Learn from China again. China’s policies can also be used in Japan!”