New Shun 1730

He raised his cup high, and Zhao Baiquan raised his cup cooperatively and waited.

People here in Japan didn't know for a moment whether they should force a smile and raise a glass to "celebrate the blessings of the people" or refuse to drink this glass of wine.

People's correct ideas do not fall from the sky. Whether it is Dashun or Ming Dynasty, they have never thought about the issue of "silver outflow". Because they have no practical experience, no matter how imaginative the officials are, they cannot imagine such a thing as a silver outflow. In the eyes of pragmatic people, there must be something wrong with people who are unfounded and worried.

But Japan is different.

Since more than a hundred years ago, there has been a crazy outflow of gold and silver. This, coupled with the transformation to increase the content of precious metals, eventually led to the largest deflation in the years of security.

Arai Shiraishi had noticed the outflow of precious metals decades ago, not because he had a more strategic vision than the officials on the Dashun side, but because the officials on the Dashun side really did not have the opportunity to practice and gain true knowledge. Even North Korea is a second-rate dealer and can transport five to six tons or seven to eight tons of silver to Busan a year, not to mention the Netherlands and China.

Now that Liu Yu had jumped out of this moment, he was clearly targeting Japan's gold and silver, but he still wanted to say something like "the common people are blessed". Akihito, Matsudaira Terusada and others really didn't know what to say.

In later generations, these words would be described as bandit logic. I'll beat you up and say it's for your own good.

But now, it's just that the daddy taste is too strong.

However, as long as it is within the tributary system, too much daddy taste is a situation that the market will face. This is a situation that will always be faced.

These people were all waiting for Zhaoren's attitude. Zhaoren paused for a moment and could only raise his glass and drink the bitter wine.

Drinking this glass of wine actually tacitly agreed to counter-sign the treaty. Since the treaty had to be signed, and he wanted to numb Dashun's side and make him appear submissive, Matsudaira Terusada also let go of the feeling of shame and swallowed the hard-to-swallow drink.

The taste was very bitter, so bitter that these people were speechless.

Liu Yu put down his wine glass with great interest and said: "When I mentioned the change of Yuan Dynasty just now, I thought of the Dutch who were moved away from their merchant houses in Hirado because of the Era incident. Westerners use Jesus to mark the year, which is inconsistent with the Celestial Dynasty. system."

"Although Japan has been closed to the country for a long time, it still has Nagasaki, so it should know the world's affairs. There are big Kyushu, small Kyushu, and even Kyushu Island in the world. The Chinese Empire is just a corner of the big Kyushu."

"The power of the Westerners is growing, and Japan also knows about it. The Spanish preached everywhere, the Portuguese bombarded Hirado, and the British tried to open up trade. I also heard about Swedes living in Japan; Arai Shiraishi interrogated Italy The missionary also knew Rome."

"Therefore, today, like the Spring and Autumn Period, we should respect the king and fight against the barbarians, so that the dynasty and the vassals can prosper together and break the momentum of Western expansion."

"It is also beneficial for Japan to pay tribute. If Imjin is old, Korea is a vassal, and is invaded by Toyotomi, wouldn't the Celestial Empire send troops to rescue him?"

"By paying tribute to the Celestial Empire, you can still protect the ancestral temple and protect the folk customs. But if the southern barbarians invade, the country may be destroyed. In the past, when I traveled to Edo, I once asked General Yoshimune. During this period, there were many Westerners who destroyed the country and massacred them."

“I would like to ask, in today’s world, who can compete with the West?”

"The emperor is benevolent and righteous. The emperor ordered me to negotiate peace. The conditions he proposed are not for profit. They are just seeking justice for Ryukyu, plus some military expenses for sending troops. It is really not much."

"But you think that I am the kind of person who values ​​profit over righteousness. I feel really sad in my heart. What I want is just a strip of water, a land with wind and moon in the sky, which can resist the Western invasion and protect the civilization for thousands of years. This is true righteousness. ”

"It may be like the big country of America, with a population of tens of millions and hundreds of thousands of people wearing armor. Now that the country is destroyed, the whole family is gone, and even the writings of the ancestors, no one in the future generations can recognize them."

"It can serve as a lesson."

"Only by surrounding the Celestial Empire and protecting the world together can we crack it. I don't want to imitate others' ambitions and destroy my own prestige. Even if the Celestial Empire has warships, they are not as good as those of Westerners."

"During the Wanli period of the previous dynasty, Westerners only had a slight foothold in Nanyang. Now, for more than a hundred years, the sun has gone up and down, and now it is too big to lose."

"Faced with strong ships and powerful artillery, the Japanese navy was even defeated by Dashun's navy. How could it alone defeat Western warships that were hundreds of times larger?"

The so-called co-prosperity of "Greater East Asia" is nonsense, and a slightly different explanation illustrates the importance of paying tribute to the Celestial Dynasty.

He mentioned the power of Western warships intentionally or unintentionally. It sounded like a threat, but it actually had a deeper meaning.

When Zhao Baiquan heard Liu Yu's words, he thought that Ying Suobo's words were not very good. This dynasty was able to win so smoothly because of the advantages of naval ships.

Nowadays, it is said that the Westerners also have ships, which are even a hundred times stronger than the Chinese. Although this is to scare the Japanese, I am afraid that the Japanese have other ideas and even go all out to build ships.

I was thinking about whether I should say something or think of a way to remind Liu Yu, but I didn't have any other ideas for a while. All he could think of was nothing more than some nonsense that the government could say, which was both destiny and etiquette. However, the events in Ryukyu, Korea, and Tsushima in the past two years had greatly affected his outlook on life. Shocked, I began to doubt whether this set of things was really useful.

Little did he know that Liu Yu was not afraid of Japanese shipbuilding at all, but was eager for Japan to try to build ships. Throw limited money on a fleet that is bound to fail.

After talking about the great significance of paying tribute for a long time, even though they knew he had ulterior motives, the people on the other side listened to some of it.

Whether it is Dashun or Japan, at this time, they behave like a paramecium to the outside world, and can only have a stress response: from the opening of the Longqing Gate to Japan's isolation; from the prohibition of religion to trade, they are all feedback after being stimulated.

It's just that considering the distance is too far, by the time they occupy India and Southeast Asia and really have the ability to stimulate East Asia, it will be too late.

At this time, the stimulation of Westerners is not too great.

What Liu Yu has been doing is that since Westerners can't come for the time being, then imitate a Westerner.

Let Dashun see if Westerners can resist if they are now capable of going to war with Dashun with their warships and firearms.

The purpose of fighting Japan for the government is to use the people they have trained to forge a visible and tangible stimulation from Westerners.

This stimulation is effective.

It is effective for both Dashun and Japan.

Zhaoren was lost in thought after listening to Liu Yu's words. Although he had some doubts in his heart whether Liu Yu exaggerated the scale of the Western navy - the navy of Dashun forced Japan to be unable to defend, what would it be like if it was a hundred times larger - he did get some feedback after the stimulation.

But Liu Yu's words seemed a bit forced.

However, Liu Yu's next words shocked Zhaoren and others.

"The Celestial Empire went on this expedition with the intention of destroying the country. It was only because the emperor was kind and took the overall situation seriously that he continued to fight. The purpose was to fight against the West in the future."

"Maybe you don't believe it, but that's it. Doesn't the Celestial Empire know the political situation in Japan? If we take history as a mirror, what kind of situation have we not seen?"

"Choshu Domain is not Kagoshima, why do we have to attack Choshu Domain? It's just to intimidate the southwestern domains."

"Intimidating the southwestern domains is just to keep the shogunate stable. Otherwise, there may be a Warring States chaos, with people bleeding and rivers of blood, or each domain may make friends with the Western barbarians and govern itself. "

"In the past, Takayama Shigetomo, as a daimyo, gave up everything and went to Luzon just to believe in religion. For example, Date Masamune, Konishi Yukinaga, and Otomo Sorin were all Christians of the Kirishin. "

"If the shogunate loses its authority and the Warring States chaos reappears, not only will the people shed blood, but there will also be the disaster of colluding with the Western barbarians. "

"Therefore, the Celestial Empire has never fought with the shogunate's hatamoto, nor has it ever fought with the shogunate's hatamoto. I have never insisted on abolishing the shogunate, which has become a ritual, and it is all for the greater good. "

"You do not understand the painstaking efforts of the Celestial Empire, and you only think that the Celestial Empire wants to accuse you. Now, there are royal family members, ministers, and elders and scholars of the shogunate, and there are no outsiders, so I do not need to hide the truth. "

"It is the best for the shogunate and the court to negotiate peace at this time. Does the Celestial Empire have no talents? Is it true that no one has proposed to support the southwestern feudal domains, disband the shogunate, and return the royal government? "

"The court is eager for war I don't know how many people have been involved. I fought for this condition despite being insulted by everyone. But you still have many concerns. Don't you think about how many officers are counting on this battle to be promoted and given a title? In a battle like the one at Hagi Castle, there is only victory and no defeat. Who among the ministers of the Celestial Empire doesn't want to make merit? Since the beginning of the war, there have been only a few hundred casualties. Is it really impossible to continue fighting? "

After speaking, Matsudaira Terumasa was shocked. Thinking back to the various actions of Dashun since the beginning of the war, it seemed that this was really the process.

Could it be that because of the closed country, we can only get news about the outside world from Dutch storytelling, and we don't know as much as Dashun after all?

Perhaps, has the situation in the outside world really reached this point? That's why the Celestial Empire wants to integrate the surrounding forces to confront?

I want to say something, but I can't say a word.

In Matsudaira Terumasa's opinion, every word of these words is true.

Indeed, peace talks are most beneficial to the shogunate now. Even after capturing Emperor Akihito, the Dashun did not immediately ask for peace talks, but fought a battle with the Choshu domain. Isn't this giving the shogunate a way out?

In the end, it was the southwestern domains, not the shogunate, that asked for peace talks; the domains also unanimously believed that the emperor's northern expedition was not the shogunate's fault, and they wrote documents to prove it; it was also the domains that unanimously demanded that a new emperor should not be established to continue fighting.

And the turning point of all this was the Battle of Hagi Castle.

Before the Battle of Hagi Castle, the southwestern domains were all waiting to see the shogunate's prestige fall to the ground, and maybe they really hoped that the Dashun would weaken the shogunate.

The Battle of Hagi Castle also proved that Dashun was fully capable of defeating the Okayama domain's troops in Yonago and then annihilating the shogunate's direct samurai in Osaka Castle, but Dashun did not do so.

It sounds like that's what happened.

But Matsudaira Terumasa still had many vigilances in his heart. Liu Yu deceived the shogunate back then. According to what Tokugawa Yoshimune said privately, the coinage reform did alleviate Japan's money shortage problem, but it seemed to be a preparation for future compensation; the sweet potato famine relief did save many people in the Kyoho famine and stabilized the uprisings in various feudal domains, but I am afraid it was still for the purpose of paying rice in the future when there was no money to pay.

This kind of person is the most terrible.

Matsudaira Terumasa thought to himself, if it is a lie, it is not a lie. Whether it is coinage or sweet potatoes, they are actually alleviating the problem.

But when alleviating the problem, what he thinks about is the claim a few years or even ten years later.

If it is just a simple deception like Zhang Yi's inch tongue, he can always recognize it at a glance; the fear is that this kind of deception is really for your own good and you have indeed benefited from it. The benefit you get today may be returned several times in the future.

Carefully recalling the more than 30 conditions proposed by Liu Yu, Matsudaira Terumasa thought to himself, which of these conditions is the most terrible?

But he couldn't figure it out. None of these conditions were the most terrible. Whether it was opening the gate, paying compensation, or paying tribute, none of them were the most terrible.

The most terrible thing was hidden in the result that Matsudaira Terusada and the Tokugawa shogunate wanted the most - Dashun would protect the shogunate system.

However, this kind of horror was for Japan.

Matsudaira Terusada was not Japan, the Tokugawa shogunate was not Japan, and Akihito was even less so. In this case, they naturally could not see that the result they wanted the most was the heaviest chain for Japan in the future.