Dominate the Country

Tokugawa Nariasa never thought that Japan had the possibility to challenge China. But he was also proud of the bravery of Japanese samurai. Otherwise, why would the Chinese hire samurai from Japan?

Since the friendship between China and Japan has been strengthened, the resistance to the security forces and the volunteer team in Japanese society has quickly subsided.

This has become a symbol of the bravery of the Japanese.

Even the Chinese recognize the bravery of Japanese samurai.

Just like in the last life, when something in China was praised by the beacon country, the locals immediately felt proud of it.

Look, the Americans all said we are good.

Today's Japanese have the same emotion.

Look at Korea, look at Annan, look at so many lands conquered by China, did the Chinese recruit soldiers from them specifically?

No.

Only Japan and Japanese samurai have this honor.

Then the security team and the volunteer team are no longer a shame for Japanese samurai, but a sign that the bravery of Japanese samurai has been recognized by the powerful China.

In order to make this mark more brilliant, the Japanese intentionally or unintentionally guided the wind direction, pushing China towards the status of a true heaven and a country above.

On the world map sold in Japan, the huge red of China makes the small Japanese Islands look like a small fish in the sea. After seeing the current world map, the proud Japanese samurai have to admit the irreparable gap between China and Japan.

Their so-called "spreading martial arts all over the world" is just a small fish in China's inner lake [Pacific Ocean].

In Japan, when the world map was first introduced, the Japanese samurai who saw this map even drew out their samurai swords and wanted to chop the owner on the spot, and then he had a leg broken by a hand gun.

Later, all the fear and anger in Japan's heart went with the wind, and they truly recognized the whole world.

Today's Japan is like Japan after the Battle of Baekgang more than a thousand years ago. It only has the most humble respect and humility towards China, positioning itself as a student, instead of claiming to be a "small China" like Korea and Annan, but instead regards mainland China as a barbarian.

Although the Tokugawa shogunate has never seriously expressed this sense of superiority, the Chinese in Japan, the descendants of the Chinese who fled from the mainland at that time, clearly revealed that period of history.

This may also be one of the reasons why the Japanese were slightly "unruly and disobedient" at the beginning of Sino-Japanese exchanges. Anyway, they are obedient now.

But the influence of Confucianism in Japan is still very deep.

After all, Japan at this time is not the Japan after the black ship attack in the original time and space. They don't have a teacher who has been around for thousands of years as a target, and now they show what it means to "have the country opened by strong ships and powerful guns."

Today's Japan is still bullied by China. The total strength of the new army of the current Tokugawa shogunate is approaching 50,000. The entire Japanese army equipped with smoothbore muskets and smoothbore cannons is not 100,000, but at least 80,000 or 90,000. Even if the Europeans were asked to invade, they would not be so unlucky.

Is it China that makes the Japanese suffer?

It is really hard to say whether the impact and shock are greater or less than the impact of the "Opium War" [China] and the "Black Ship Attack" [This is Japan] in history.

But the reality is that many Japanese still hold on to Zhu Xi's Confucianism. The previous reforms must have had an impact.

The overall situation in Japan is still swinging between "left" and "right".

But it is true that Japan has been developing very slowly in recent years.

Japan's development speed made Chen Ming think that he saw the late Qing Dynasty in the original time and space. The biggest change was in military force, not in the system. Such a Japan, God knows how disappointed the international students who have opened their eyes.

Besides, the world map is there. How big was China's territory in the past, and how big is it now? How much effort did China spend to seize these territories? How many times are these territories larger than Japan's...

From Tokugawa Nariaki's point of view, isn't this all obvious? The benefits are obvious. Although Japan is small and it is impossible to open up alone, and America is likely to be a meal for China, although the vast America is really very big, just following China's tail will always bring benefits. A fly can reach a thousand miles by following the tail of a horse!

But Japan did nothing.

Whether it was the shogunate or the local daimyo, the only thing they did was to collect higher taxes, buy second-hand guns and cannons from China, and train a pure firearms unit.

Using precious funds to send samurai to Chinese military academies, some daimyo not only engaged in the army, but also actively developed the navy. Tokugawa Nariaki was really fed up.

China has reaped so many benefits from foreign countries, which is 30, 50, or 100 times the land area of ​​Japan. He wondered why the shogunate and local daimyo were not tempted at all?

It may be that Tokugawa Nariasa's status is too low. Although his father has a high status, he is not his father's eldest son, or even his legitimate son. His legitimate brother is alive and well, with sons and daughters. A bastard like him is really not taken seriously by his father.

Life and status can be guaranteed to a certain extent, but there is no political rights at all. Otherwise, why would the close descendants of the Tokugawa family go to America to make a living?

Now the Second American War between China and Spain has been going on for several months. I wonder how much the Spaniards will suffer this time.

Many students in Hanlin University are discussing this matter, thinking that Mexico may be the last one to be obtained by the imperial court.

That's a real treasure. The Spaniards may have received too much gold and silver benefits from there in the past two hundred years.

But Japan remained indifferent, and even the shogunate made no move at all, not even thinking of contacting his in-law King Ju. Although it is unlikely that the Kingdom will ask the shogunate to send troops to the New World, how can we know the result if we don't try?

Tokugawa Saimasa is very self-aware. He is not a powerful figure like Wang Anshi and Zhang Juzheng, and his future destiny will not be as powerful as Wang Anshi and Zhang Juzheng. He may become a member of the Japanese reformists and then their leader. He must have his own plans. But as a single, independent person, Tokugawa Saimasa also had his own independent thinking and his own plans.

His eyes went beyond all the twilight of Japan before and looked at the two novelties of trains and ships.

The novelty means that Japan can also be in a relatively fair starting condition.

Comparing the role of trains and ships, as an island native, Tokugawa Saimasa naturally paid more attention to ships.

This is a magical invention that can add a pair of wings to the future maritime trade. With ships that can move by themselves only by burning coal, the current sailing ships will become a thing of the past.

The 'distance' between the East and the West will be shortened several times, and natural trade will become more prosperous and frequent.

Japan has brave warriors and a territory of thousands of miles. No matter what, it is larger than the tiny territory of the Netherlands and stronger than Portugal.

Although the continent separated by the water is unparalleled, Japan would never dare to have the idea of ​​becoming the second Kingdom of Great Britain, but under the wings of the Great Kingdom, Japan can also become a small power - small but strong.

The term "great powers" is a new invention of the Chinese. It comes from "Zhongyuan Daily". I heard that it is not unrelated to the emperor.

Generally speaking, it refers to the powerful countries in the world today.

In the Eastern world, only China meets this definition, and in its self-definition, China is still a superpower and the world's hegemon. In the Tianfang world, only the Ottoman Empire can reach the level of a great power. In the Western world, there are Britain, France, Austria, and Russia. Cover five countries. The overall strength of Westerners is amazing!

Spain and the Netherlands are second-rate powers, that is, second-rate powers.

The top five powers and the Ottoman Empire are the top powers in the world today.

The "Zhongyuan Daily" at that time also introduced the rise of these countries and their current glory in lengthy articles.

In this series of reports, "Zhongyuan Daily" also mentioned Japan and Siam, and bluntly said that Japan's military force is better than Siam, and its national bravery is also better than Siam. It is the country in the Eastern world most likely to become a world power.

Therefore, Tokugawa Saimasa is very confident that as long as Japan can embark on the right path, then their Yamato nation will surely find its place in the new world order.

Regardless of the size of the territory, the Ottoman Empire today is only comparable to Japan in terms of population.

In Europe, except for Russia, which is really inferior, there is no gap with France and Austria, the two most populous countries.

This was the source of the tone that Tokugawa Saimasa was holding in his heart.

With so many people, why can Westerners enjoy hot and spicy food, while the Yamato people can only huddle on these dangerous islands, suffering endless grievances?

What changes destiny is power. There is a Chinese saying that knowledge is power and talent is the future.

If you want to change Japan's destiny, it is like letting more and more Japanese people have knowledge. Tokugawa Sai was extremely envious of China's education system, which really amazed him.

Even though the area covered by compulsory education is still very small, even if compulsory education only extends to primary schools, it is enough.

In Tokugawa Saimasa's view, elementary school education is enough to satisfy countless ordinary people with the knowledge they need throughout their lives.

Whether it is reading, writing, or doing mathematical calculations, it is enough.

It's a pity that he himself has no desire to devote himself to education. Rather than teaching and educating people, he prefers rumbling machines to becoming a saint like "Zhu Shunshui".

In the little more than a year since Tokugawa Saimasa came to Hanlin University, he has exaggeratedly praised China's industrial achievements countless times with his own admiring voice.

The Japanese seem to be very excited. Nanjing City, which has undergone urban reform and construction, and Shanghai City, which has always been a new city module. Many buildings and new things are so exciting in their eyes, and it seems that every object can amaze them. People often marvel that "this is the world's first-class building" and "this is the world's most civilized traffic rule"...

In this regard, the Koreans and Japanese from Anton and Lelang provinces can be said to be good candidates when they meet their opponents. They are all characters who like to go overboard and exaggerate, but they cater well to the preference of some Chinese people to save face. Although Chinese people often feel modest and embarrassed when faced with this scene.

Tokugawa Saimasa was of high origin, but he also had this habit. In front of Huang Dan, he didn't know how many times he praised the advancement and incredibleness of the steam engine with so many wonderful words. Now that he saw the clearly printed ship in the newspaper, he was so excited that he couldn't control himself.

"Tokugawa-kun, this is indeed a miracle of science and technology, a brilliant crystallization of civilization, but you don't need to be so excited, right?" Huang Dan has actually become accustomed to Tokugawa Nariasa's exaggerated praise. From the initial happiness and laughter to the current speechlessness and shame - I feel it is very embarrassing to have such a friend, whenever Tokugawa Nariasa opens the praise mode in front of others.

But many Chinese people do not know how many Japanese people are holding a sour and envious mentality behind these humble and admiring smiles.

But just like the ratio of China's territory to Japan's territory, Japan's power is too weak to face China.

Many Japanese students have turned this envy into a firm idea. These Japanese youths studying in China, holding the idea of ​​"studying for the rise of Japan", are also working as hard as Chinese students studying abroad in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China in the original time and space.

It's just that the conservatism of Japanese society, the solidification of the political class and the "indifference" of the upper class, I don't know how many Japanese aspiring people will be sad in the future.

Some Chinese people are just complacent about the exaggerated praise of the Japanese. But this is the complacency of the strong, and the weak can only bear the burden of working hard.

Perhaps this is the same feeling as those students who went abroad by government or private in Germany, Britain, and the United States in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. But when this news was reported to Chen Ming, Chen Ming felt more satisfied than other Chinese people, because he came from the original time and space more than 200 years later, and he remembered the century-old history of humiliation of China in his heart.

"Mr. Huang, Mr. Tokugawa, did you visit Zhongshan Academy of Natural Sciences today? How did you feel?"

Just when Tokugawa Qizheng and Huang Dan were watching the excitement of "Science Daily", a familiar voice came. This is also a Japanese, from Ida Qiyi of Sendai Fan, Japan. This is a distant branch of the Ida family of Sendai Fan, but he is very smart and studies hard.

"Visiting Zhongshan Academy of Natural Sciences?" Huang Dan and Tokugawa Qizheng looked at each other, "Why don't we know?"

"Did Professor Jiao notify us after the second class in the morning?"

The teacher Jiao mentioned by Yida Qiyi is Jiao Xun, a genius. He is just 34 years old this year, but he has been an associate professor at Hanlin Academy University for three years. He is from Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, and is a new generation representative of the Yangzhou School. He has deep research in Yixue, various philosophers, calendar calculation, and history.

He is an academician of Zhongshan Academy of Natural Sciences, and he and Ruan Yuan, who is the same age as him, can be said to be a pair of dazzling twin stars.

Huang Dan and Tokugawa Qizheng looked at each other, and Yida Qiyi immediately understood, "Did you two skip class?" His eyes were full of regret. Academy of Sciences, that is Zhongshan Academy of Natural Sciences, where Chinese science and technology experts gather, and there are many foreigners.

"We didn't skip classes. We just didn't have much interest in math, so we went to the Department of Mechanical Engineering."

"Then you are so unlucky. Professor Jiao is an academician of the Academy of Natural Sciences. He personally took us to Zhongshan. We even had a meal there at noon. Mr. Tokugawa, Mr. Huang, it's a pity that you couldn't go with us today. I have never seen such a spectacular research room. Although we couldn't enter their central laboratory, we visited the research rooms, exhibition rooms and laboratories in the outer area. There I also saw a very realistic super-large sand table. From Gesu to the Central Plains, the geographical topography of the Yellow River's nine bends is all clear at a glance. We also personally operated a train and a ship..."

For someone who had only rushed to the ship with regret before, he vomited blood and died suddenly.