New Shun 1730

Finally, Shi Shiyong's emotions were slightly relieved. Liu Yu thought to himself, who can be spared in this great era?

So this horse-riding and archery horse lance will not be used in the future, and how much of what I learned in the imperial examination can be used in the future? Such a sigh, I just hope that a few people can understand his voice and use the mind that was originally used in the imperial examination eight-part essay on practical learning.

Although Shi Shiyong was slightly relieved about his own affairs, he still couldn't understand why Liu Yu insisted on retaining a complete shogunate in terms of policy towards Japan.

As far as he knew, Liu Yu was definitely not the kind of person who was conservative and unchangeable. He also knew that the "benevolence and righteousness" that Liu Yu promoted in Tosa had a purpose, but he felt it necessary to remind Liu Yu.

"Eagle Sobo, the affairs of Japan are decided by important officials like you, but when I was in Edo, I heard about this incident."

"There is a great scholar named Yamazaki Ansai among the Japanese. His disciples asked him: If the Tang Dynasty appoints Confucius as the general and Mencius as the deputy general, and leads 10,000 cavalry to attack our country. What should we, the followers of Confucius and Mencius, do?"

"Yamazaki Ansai replied: If we are unfortunate enough to encounter such a disaster, our party will be armed with armor and weapons, and capture Confucius and Mencius in one battle to repay the country's kindness."

"When our dynasty was founded, there was still a debate about whether our dynasty was a thief and whether the Eastern Tartars were seeking revenge for the Ming Dynasty. But the attitude of Japanese scholars is generally like this. Even if Confucius and Mencius came in person, they would still be armed with armor and weapons to capture them."

"That day in Tosa, those Japanese also said that they would rather be Bi Gan than Wei Zi Qi. I don't know the decision of the people, but I think it's better to remind them. "

Liu Yu nodded, but his face was not serious. He smiled and said, "Brother Shi, you worry too much. Before Sarhu, everyone believed that the Chinese and the barbarians could not coexist. If you go to the capital and ask someone, I guarantee that no one will say that the barbarians can also be the masters of the Central Plains. They are all loyal ministers. After Sarhu, it's different. "

"Besides, the Japanese themselves haven't figured it out. The shogunate is just a thief. If the thief can't be eliminated, how can we talk about repaying the country? There will be chaos in the future in the affairs of Japan. This is just the beginning. "

"You don't think I'm the kind of person who wants to be educated purely by virtue, right? Brother Shi is insulting me. "

Shi Shiyong laughed and thought to himself that even if I believe you will rebel in the future, I don't believe you are the kind of person who is educated purely by virtue. I have already said that I am not as good as you in terms of knowledge, so there is no need to ask.

After that, there was no more talk. The fleet passed the Cape of Wakayama, followed the Kuroshio Current, and passed north of Izu Oshima in a few days. It stopped at a river in Izu and avoided the wind and rain.

A heavy rain made it impossible to distinguish the distance between the mountains, all dyed white. The small river in front of it became turbid, turned yellow, and roared.

Liu Yu handed the letter he had written to the two Tosa retainers who were caught on the boat and let them get off the boat.

"This place is not far from Edo, you two can go to Edo now. You can say whatever you want. But this letter is for the Shogun. I have met him several times. As long as I mention my name, he will know."

"My fleet will rest here for three days. If you ride a fast horse, you can reach Edo in one day. Tell General Erbang that my fleet is going to Uraga. If he intends to defend the enemy outside the coast, I will give him two days to gather the navy and fight with me in Uraga."

"If two days are not enough, just give him more time, I will wait."

"If you don't want to fight the navy, you can ask someone to reply to me quickly, don't delay. As for the conditions, I have written them in the letter."

After letting the two people go ashore, returning their swords, and watching them leave, the fleet rested for a day and set sail for Edo Bay the next day.

He did not rush to enter the bay that could lead directly to Edo, but drifted on the sea for a day, asking people to record the tide time, ocean current, and daily wind direction changes to ensure that he could get in and out.

He wandered for a while between the two peninsulas of Edo Bay, observing the terrain here.

At that time, the British Miura Anjin suggested that the British put the trading house here, and the area near here was still the fief of Miura Anjin, but the British did not agree.

In later generations, the terrain here was dangerous, strangling the throat of entering and leaving Edo, and later named Yokosuka.

However, in Miura Anjin's era, even if the trading house was put here, it would be useless. Britain had no scarce goods to provide to Japan, and was squeezed out by the Netherlands, and would withdraw sooner or later.

After an investigation, I think if I can rent a piece of land here in the future and trade here, maybe the shogunate will really agree.

It is better for the shogunate to directly control the trade than to be traded and smuggled by those foreign daimyo such as Kagoshima. But this place is too close to Edo. It depends on how well the army's big brothers fight on Kyushu Island. If they can hurt them, there is hope.

There is not much the navy can do. After Japan closed its doors to the outside world, ships with a weight of more than 500 koku were prohibited. According to the calculation of 150 kilograms per koku, ships with a weight of 70 to 80 tons were allowed at most.

The imaginary enemy of the navy in Weihai is not even the Netherlands, but the British fleet in India in the future. That's why they are willing to exchange technology for French battleships, but they never take Japan seriously.

Until they saw samurai gathering on the shore, it seemed that the shogunate had finally received the news.

After confirming that the officers had roughly grasped the tides and currents of Edo Bay, Liu Yu finally ordered the fleet to enter Edo Bay.

…………

Edo Castle.

Tokugawa Yoshimune looked at Liu Yu's letter, but before he read it carefully, he just glanced at the beginning and became speechless, feeling suffocated.

The scene of seeing Edo in the past is still vivid in his mind. Liu Yu was the first Tang national to go to Edo to "visit" and almost influenced all his reforms. How could such a person not remember it deeply?

The words "A cunning rabbit has three holes" are still in my ears, but now in front of this letter, everything is just a lie.

Not only Liu Yu, but also Shi Shiyong, who taught riding and archery in Edo, were all lies.

When Shi Shiyong came to Edo, Tokugawa Yoshimune had no doubts about Shi Shiyong. Riding and shooting are naturally useful. If the Tang people were spies, how could they be stupid enough to show their true abilities?

It was Shi Shiyong who connected many subsequent events together.

War horses, horned bows, medicinal materials, armor, intelligence, military books...these goods that ordinary people could not get, just like the "samurai" that the Tang Dynasty could not export, were continuously sent to Nagasaki by Liu Yu and exchanged for one Another trade letter.

And when Liu Yu came to Edo, he even used the reason that a cunning rabbit has three holes, and as long as he has money, he will hide everywhere, which made Tokugawa Yoshimune lose the last bit of doubt.

Because there was trade in Nagasaki, and Liu Yu only wanted trade. Even if Liu Yu was sent by the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, it would be nothing.

Since then, the Tang trade in Nagasaki has been completely monopolized by Liu Yu. From the storybook given by the Dutch, it is difficult to know the specific situation of Dashun.

Now that something has happened, it can be expected that there is really no need to read the story given by Dashun Maritime Merchant, it must be all lies.

In fact, a few days before this incident, Tokugawa Yoshimune had missed Liu Yu and thought that the Celestial Empire was indeed a great country with outstanding people and there was such a figure.

In any case, all the reforms he implemented were inextricably related to Liu Yu. Even if this incident hadn't happened, he would still think of the Tang Dynasty who came to Edo from time to time.

Talented but without virtue, this was Tokugawa Yoshimune's evaluation after hearing Liu Yu's saying that "a cunning rabbit has three burrows, and a rich man has burrows everywhere."

Talented, really talented. No virtue, really no virtue.

The disaster lasted for 16 years, with millions of victims affected. It was Liu Yu who sent the technology of sweet potato cultivation and preparation, which made Tokugawa Yoshimune's rule much more stable.

At that time, he was prepared to deal with a possible disaster. These sweet potatoes finally gave the people a way to survive. Compared with eating radishes all day long, their lives were actually improved.

It doesn't matter if rice is smuggled in Nagasaki, the quantity is not too much after all. However, as a special place directly under the jurisdiction of the shogunate, Nagasaki was also one of the areas with the most serious famine that year. The rice smuggled into Nagasaki did ensure the stability of Nagasaki.

In the subsequent coinage reform, Liu Yu also sent analysis on "deflation", which made this reform very successful. It not only stabilized the market, but also increased the price of rice. Under the Lumi system, low grain prices not only hurt farmers. , and also hurt those samurai. As the shogun, he knew very well who was the basic base that helped him rule.

Not only did the price of rice increase, but with the help of this successful recasting, the shogunate collected a large amount of seigniorage and deposited millions of gold and silver.

The originally embarrassing financial situation has been alleviated, and at least for decades it will not return to the situation of giving up pilgrimage exchanges in exchange for daimyo rice.

Later, when the Eagle Hunting Order was restored, the historical Celestial Archery also improved the samurai's skills, and they learned some traditional archery techniques and some special riding techniques of the Tang Dynasty. Coupled with some war horses smuggled over by Liu Yu, the shogunate really had some really good horses in its hands.

Liu Yu also fully supported Zhu Zixue and collected a large number of books and sent them to him.

Tokugawa Yoshimune felt that his reforms were so smooth, and the Tang Dynasty man named Liu Yu really helped a lot. Not only was he grateful, but he would think of it from time to time.

But everything... is different.

Two retainers of the Yamauchi family came to Edo and told what happened in Tosa. The entire shogunate was shocked.

They were not surprised that the Tang Dynasty came to accuse them of the Ryukyu incident. Since they dared to do it, they had already expected that the Tang Dynasty might interfere one day.

They know this well, and the fire cannot be contained in the paper. It was unexpected that the Satsuma clan could deceive the great powers of the Celestial Dynasty for more than 130 years, from the Wanli year to the Taixing year of the new dynasty.

In the Nagasaki trade before Liu Yu, both Dutch and Tang style storytellers told about the situation of Dashun coastal defense and warships. They seemed to be slightly better than the shogunate side, but they were just that. Something happened.

At that time, I thought, even if they fight, is it possible that the Tang Dynasty can really attack Ryukyu? Moreover, with Meng Yuan Yinjian, it is estimated that the Tang people really did not dare to cross the sea to attack.

However, after the two retainers of the Yamauchi clan talked about Tosa, it completely exceeded all expectations.

Benevolence and righteousness?

Acting for heaven?

What is this for?

Even if the Tang Dynasty went to Kagoshima, it would be understandable, and even if he came directly to Edo, it would be understandable. The problem is that going to Tosa to engage in benevolence and justice is really difficult to understand.

Picture what?

Tokugawa Yoshimune put down the letter in his hand, but no one else was allowed to read it, not even the people around him.

"How many people did Liu Yu of the Tang Dynasty bring? Although the warship is large, it cannot sail on land. You only said how many people he landed?"

"Five hundred at most."

There are important ministers of the shogunate who want to rebuke, but a mere five hundred people can't win? However, Tokugawa Yoshimune stopped any possible scolding in advance and gradually calmed down his irritable mood.

The retainers of the Yamauchi clan told everything about Tosa.

"The large ships were all of southern barbarian style. Before the ships approached, thousands of cannons fired and they were crushed to dust. The Tang people boarded the old city of Urado, and we besieged them, with hundreds of casualties. We then retreated to Kochi Castle to defend it."

"The Tang people did not harm anyone, posted notices to reassure the people, and raised the banner of benevolence and righteousness to deceive the people. The people were all bandits, and they followed the Tang people, carrying soil and pulling cannons for the Tang people in the northwest corner. Kochi could not be defended, so we took it with wisdom and tricked the Tang people to leave Tosa."

After listening to this, Tokugawa Yoshimune sighed deeply.

Five hundred people roamed around Tosa, and there was nothing to be afraid of.

In a dozen days, the people were all bandits, and Yingliang Jingcong cut wood to make soldiers, which was really scary.

Considering that Shi Shiyong and Liu Yu were both spies, I am afraid that they had long been thinking about attacking Japan. They knew me but I didn't know them, and they could contact the people to lead the way, and they also had strong ships and powerful cannons... It was really impossible to compete with them.

Defeat was inevitable.

But what conditions would the Tang Dynasty ask for?

Would it be asking Shimazu to commit suicide to apologize?

Or... a more humiliating hostage or tribute?

As for benevolence and righteousness, Tokugawa Yoshimune was not stupid enough to consider it. That was to deceive the people.

He thought that the humiliation would only be the tribute, so he opened Liu Yu's letter again and continued to read.