New Shun 1730

The wishful thinking was well executed, but it also really grasped the weakness of Dashun.

If you want to wear the crown, you must bear the weight. Even cats, dogs, tigers and leopards know that as a leader, you must stand up and drive away foreign enemies when there is an invasion, let alone people?

Since you want to continue to be the emperor in this era when the world has become bigger, you must be prepared for a full-scale conflict with forces outside the world.

Holding this weakness, and it seems that "changes in the world" is Japan's only chance, Tokugawa Yoshimune made two preparations.

On the one hand, he dealt with the Dutch, asked Confucian scholars such as Aoki Kunyang to continue to learn Dutch, and compiled a translation manual between Dutch and Japanese as soon as possible to lay the foundation for future cooperation with the Netherlands, while expressing his attitude towards the Dutch.

On the other hand, he asked people to turn out "Western Chronicles" and "Collecting Yiyan" written by Arai Hakuseki, preparing for large-scale publication, and preparing to change public opinion to separate "technology" and "culture".

While Arai Hakuseki completely denied Western morality, culture, and religion, he recognized the technology that was stripped of moral and cultural attributes and was applicable to all countries.

The Japanese have always been very self-esteem. Even after the Battle of Baijiangkou, when the Xiongjin Governor's Office of the Tang Dynasty sent people to Japan, Japan still called the emperor.

Previously, they planned to "each call the East and the West China" and played a small tribute system. They always attached great importance to the "Hua Yi Debate". The "Da Bao Ling" in the early years clearly stated that the imperial edicts to the interior were also named as the emperor; when there was a "Hua Yi Debate", they had to call themselves the emperor.

Now that they have been slapped by the real Celestial Empire, they have completely thrown away the burden and fantasy of "the Son of the Sun", and they are no longer qualified to talk about the Hua Yi Debate, and they have the conditions to face up to the gap in technology and the excellence of Western learning.

Under the broken window effect, the emperor has been captured, so what else can't be changed?

Arai Hakuseki's "denying moral culture and morality and recognizing skills" and Dashun's "dividing the field of Western learning and practical learning" were almost the same.

However, Japan's isolationism was much more serious than Dashun's, and the Dutch had been trying to monopolize trade with Japan and prevent Western countries from interfering. So far, there is not even a Confucian scholar in the country who really understands the writing skills of Dutch.

Dashun had never banned religion before, and the system of marginalized people learning practical learning from good families was implemented since the founding of the country, which made it seem that the upper class had recognized it, but the gap in the basics was too big.

Dashun could easily find a bunch of young people who had learned the Elements of Geometry from good families, while Xu Guangqi's books were not banned in Japan until a few years ago because Xu Guangqi was a Christian.

Tokugawa Yoshimune naturally could not see the accumulation of nearly a hundred years of Dashun's founding.

I just think it seems easy to learn the technology of the southern barbarians, at least learning firearms is just a matter of buying guns and cannons and imitating them later.

But he had a psychological shadow on Liu Yu. Even though Liu Yu openly said that he could sell guns and even battleships to the shogunate, Tokugawa Yoshimune believed that there must be a back-up plan.

He told the Dutch that the Tang people should not be allowed to monopolize. Although he was fooling the Dutch to lure out their greed, it was also what he really thought.

When the first actual battleship of Dashun approached Osaka a few days later, Tokugawa Yoshimune looked at the huge hull and the gun deck as high as a building, and he was more determined to introduce "Dutch learning", the culture of the field, morality and technology.

With Japanese craftsmen, they could not build such a warship in isolation. The group of craftsmen who could build the Galen for Date Masamune had died long ago.

He knew that the Dutch should have such a warship, but he still deliberately asked someone to ask the director of the Dutch trading house who came with him.

"The warships of the Tang people are so powerful that they cannot be defeated. Does the Dutch have such powerful warships?"

The director of the Dutch trading house was a little disdainful, but he still replied respectfully: "Your Highness, sixty years ago, our seven provinces were bigger and had more cannons than this one. General, you should know that sixty years ago, we were still using matchlock guns, but now we are all flintlock guns."

The director of the Dutch trading house wanted to secretly instill an idea in Tokugawa Yoshimune that the outside world is changing, and sixty years may turn the world upside down.

And Japan has not changed at all in the past sixty years. If the samurai sixty years ago were to be resurrected now, whether they were soldiers or living, they would find that their grandchildren's lives were just a repetition of their grandfathers' lives.

Tokugawa Yoshimune asked again: "Can Japan build such warships?"

The Dutch director was delighted. The Dutch had no shortage of technology or talents, but only money. Each province was independent, and now there was not even a joint governor. As long as Japan was willing to pay, the Dutch would certainly be willing to help.

The warships of Dashun floating off the coast of Osaka also made the Dutch feel a huge pressure.

Although it is still uncertain whether Dashun's future strategic direction will be north or south, the Dutch would be happy to support a country that can contain Dashun's energy. After all, they have been a world power for a short time and have been engaged in colonial policies for so many years, so they still have some vision.

Anyway, the Japanese pay, and the Dutch have the impression that Japan has plenty of gold and silver.

"Your Highness, since the Chinese can build it, why can't your country build it? If you need it, the East India Company is happy to help."

"The Netherlands supports Japan to have its own new army and warships. This is the foundation for a country to gain a foothold in the world."

Although they did not help Japan this time, previous experience tells the Dutch that helping Japan has many benefits. Just like the Shimabara Catholic Rebellion, the Dutch sent warships to support the suppression and gained a monopoly on European trade with Japan in the future. This position allowed Batavia, which had extremely tight cash flow, to barely support it.

As for Dashun's attitude, the director of the commercial center here has not yet received news about the Sino-Dutch negotiations, so he can only use his keen sense of smell to make a decision.

After all, this kind of thing is not spending money to buy things, nor is it spending money to give gifts. It does not require the East India Company's review and troublesome report review.

If we talk about it first, it is possible that the Netherlands will have the initiative to help or not to help in the future; and if it refuses directly from the beginning, even if it wants to support Japan in the future, there will be no chance.

If competition and disputes between China and Japan can be maintained, it can at least ensure that Dashun will not have the energy to go to Southeast Asia. The number of Chinese in various parts of Southeast Asia has made the Dutch quite worried.

Since the Dutch do not want to and do not have the guts to start a war with Dashun, they can only choose to support a containment. This is in the interests of the Netherlands: spending the least money to achieve strategic goals is an established way of thinking for the Netherlands, which is a commercial country. .

The Dutch were looking forward to Tokugawa Yoshimune's answer, but Tokugawa Yoshimune only asked this question. After receiving the answer, he did not continue to ask further, but looked into the distance.

Many people in Osaka flocked to the beach to see the army that scared Osaka into panic a while ago. Compared with distant overseas countries, China is the country that Osaka people are most familiar with, even if what this country is like is vague.

It's just that this kind of large ship that is completely different from the Japanese merchants and navy has made the people of Osaka a little dizzy.

The China they imagined should be similar to their daily lives, but seeing this fleet now did not produce any sense of familiarity. On the contrary, it shattered the China they imagined in their hearts.

After the lockup, no foreign ships appeared in Osaka. But the foreign ship that came to Osaka for the first time had this strange feeling, as if a person looked at an orangutan. He knew it was a ship, but he really didn't expect the captain to look like this.

A chaotic crowd gathered, and some engineers in civilian clothes disembarked from a boat docking in the distance. They didn't wear military uniforms or carry weapons. They had already obtained all the benefits they wanted, so there was no need to slap them in the face with extraneous matters.

Maritime merchants also inspected the port, determined the location of the future opening of the port, and the leased land, as well as surveyed and inspected the stone height and paid annual rent in the future.

Tokugawa Yoshimune, who was watching all this silently from a distance, asked the Dutch one last question. It was not so much a question as the bait and temptation on display.

"Hyogotsu opened a port for trade, and other ports have also opened. How did Tang choose these locations? Are they suitable places for trade?"

The Dutch thought that the Chinese had done what the Dutch had dreamed of but had never had the chance to do. These locations were all places where the Dutch had always wanted to carry out trade.

But now the Dutch are also very conflicted.

Don't say bad things about Dashun, I feel uncomfortable.

Even if Japan agrees that the Dutch can do business at these five ports in the future, there will definitely be a competitive relationship between China and the Netherlands.

Although the Dutch have always felt that Dashun was quite stupid. They allowed the Dutch to resell Dashun's raw silk and buy it to Japan. They obviously could monopolize trade with Japan with a little control, but they didn't care at all.

But I guess I can't stay stupid forever. Now it seems that I have woken up, and there will definitely be competition in the future.

But it's not good to say bad things about Dashun.

No matter what the process was, the result was that Japan opened its ports.

We can't be schizophrenic, thinking about expanding trade while taking advantage of the opening of the port, and at the same time talking about the disadvantages of opening the port.

No matter what, I can't find a reasonable reason: Dutch trade, good! China trade, bad!

Whether it is cultural affinity, anti-religious attitude, Chinese people’s perception, or the compatibility of goods and commodities, the Dutch can’t find any reason why opening a port for trade is good but not doing business with China.

After pondering for a while, the Dutch had no choice but to bring out the "ancestral teachings".

"Your Highness the Shogun, when Lord Ieyasu was the Shogun, both our country and the British had commercial offices in Hirado. Under the Hirado Commercial House were four branches."

"Osaka Branch, Edo Branch, Tsushima Branch and Nagasaki Branch."

"Ieyasu even allowed us to open agencies in Kyoto, Fushimi, and Otsu; as well as Suruga, Uraga, and Misaki in Edo."

"When Hidetada arrived, he was strictly ordered to trade only in Hirado and closed all branches. At that time, we also hoped to entrust Hirado's Matsuura Takanobu-sama and hoped that Hirado's merchants would help take the goods elsewhere. But because Lord Matsuura Takanobu respects the shogunate’s decree and strictly prohibits it.”

"Now it seems that the Chinese just want normal trade, and they respect the shogunate very much. The location they chose is very suitable for trade. They also did not choose to open a port in places like Uraga near Edo."

"This kind of trade, the exchange of what is needed, is beneficial to Japan. If China had closed itself off like the Ming Empire before, how could it have built such a warship?"

"His Royal Highness the General is disgusted with Catholicism. We Dutch are not Catholics, and the Chinese are also banning Christianity. I think that on the issue of banning Christianity, His Royal Highness the General can be absolutely assured. If after the opening of the port, Spanish missionaries want to get closer, we The Dutch can guarantee that they will definitely sink the Spanish ship.”

"The Hirayama Tsunechen incident and the Shimabara rebellion have proven that we Dutch are absolutely anti-Catholic."

"Our country has always respected the laws of the shogunate. Since we were reprimanded for using the Gregorian calendar last time, our trading houses have been using your country's reign. We have never smuggled any missionaries, and your own merchants often smuggle missionaries."

"Your Highness, please consider our request. We will not be as rude as China in proposing lease conditions. We just hope to be able to sell goods at the port like them."

After weighing the pros and cons, the Dutch did not slander Dashun in this matter. After all, considering that there was still a glimmer of hope for sharing the benefits, it cannot be said that opening a port is a bad thing at this time, but only a good thing.

Moreover, at this time, they also brought up Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had long been reduced to ashes, saying that they could open branches in Edo and Osaka when Tokugawa Ieyasu was in power. Since Orientals respect their ancestors, bringing up Tokugawa Ieyasu simply means that the policy of opening trading houses everywhere at that time was right, and the policy after that was wrong.