Zhou returned to the governor's residence not far away, a trial that was an unusual one, not even more difficult than the conflict between immigrants and indigenous people that he had tried during his tenure in Taiwan.

However, for the citizens of Osaka and the feudal clans of western Japan, the impact of this case was extremely shocking. After all, the ideas such as the theory of equality of all peoples, which had been spread from the Ming Dynasty, were only circulating among a few Japanese elites at this time, and most civilians did not believe that they could communicate with the samurai on an equal footing.

But as the case spread, a rift appeared between the lower middle class and the upper class of Japanese society. In the past, the upper class took and took the lower middle class for granted, but now it is beginning to be questioned by the middle and lower classes.

It was not only the common people who were included in the middle and lower classes, but also those middle and lower class samurai who had a meagre income. Especially in a more commercially developed Japanese city like Osaka, it was barely possible for samurai to support their families unless they were able to secure a position in the governor's palace or take up other occupations.

For this reason, the commoners and middle- and lower-ranking samurai under Osaka were the most opposed, and when the Taiko shogunate was established, several elders copied the various shogunate regulations and social hierarchical regulations established by Edo.

This rigid medieval feudal system had a serious impact on the daily lives of these commoners and lower- and middle-class samurai, as well as their pursuit of progress.

After all, in a city like Osaka, where the shogunate system that followed the old rules and the shogunate that emphasized enlightened government coexisted, the two sides were bound to be constantly compared. Although the shogunate system was that the Japanese feudal lords themselves were in charge, and the governor's office was run by foreign Ming people, the people of Osaka preferred the Governor's Office headed by the Ming people, and constantly made jokes for the Taiko shogunate.

The reason for this phenomenon is that from the very beginning of the establishment of the Osaka Governor's Office, it was regarded as a pilot for political reform in the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the Osaka Governor's Office not only implemented the civil service system, salary reform and pension system earlier than in Japan, but also broke the segregation of social classes and selected the elite of the common people to serve in official positions.

The Shogunate of Western Japan, which was located in the same city as the Governor's Palace, seemed a little dead from the beginning of its establishment. The five elders completely regarded the Taiko shogunate as a place to share the spoils of power, and they strictly formulated the hierarchy of the shogunate, not to mention that commoners could not enter the shogunate, even samurai who were not from the five old feudal lords could hardly obtain an official position in the shogunate.

They even strictly followed the rules on the appointment and dismissal of official positions established by Edo, and it was difficult for a low-ranking samurai to rise even if he did a good job, while an incompetent high-ranking samurai could obtain a beautiful position without doing anything.

If it weren't for the fact that the appointment and dismissal of the five commissioners had to be approved by the governor's office, the five elders even wanted to replace the five commissioners with their own people. If there was no comparison between the Governor's Office and the Governor's Palace, the Japanese might have been able to endure it.

However, it was precisely because of the existence of such an enlightened and tolerant governor's palace that the citizens of Osaka had a particularly difficult time to endure the pedantry and conservatism of the Taiko shogunate. Even the low-ranking officials in the shogunate, after comparing the salaries of their colleagues in the shogunate, were dissatisfied with the five elders and their own lords.

This was the last rally of the citizens of Osaka against the Kumamoto feudal lords shooting at the citizens, and it dealt a major blow to the prestige of the five elders of the Taiko shogunate.

The Philippine Overseas Chinese Protection Campaign, planned by the Fifth Shogunate, not only protected the Japanese expatriates who went south to work in the Philippines, but also ceded a large piece of land from the Spaniards. According to the news from the Philippines, the land there is not only more fertile than Japan, but also cultivates three times a year, which really stimulates the national self-confidence of the Japanese and expands their worldview.

However, there was a fierce dispute over how to distribute the land ceded by the Spaniards, and the feudal lords of western Japan, led by the five elders, and the representatives of the five commissioners and merchants, who represented the citizens of Osaka.

The Five Great Elders and the lords of each domain believed that the overseas land should be distributed according to the size of each domain, and that each domain should develop it on its own. On the other hand, the representatives of the Gojo and the merchants believed that it was necessary to set up an overseas reclamation company for development, as was the case in the Ming Dynasty, and to give a certain amount of shares to all the people in order to gain the support of the people for the overseas colonization activities.

Although the Five Elders were in charge of the shogunate, the Five Shogunates, with the support of the Governor's Office, firmly controlled the administrative power in the Osaka region, and the shogunate officials and troops were also faintly standing behind the Five Shogunates, making the dispute over land distribution a tug-of-war of equal strength.

However, with the outcome of the Aizu Domain's case, there was a sudden rise in the voices of the citizens of Osaka against the improper power of the lords, which was exploited by the Gojo and the merchants of Osaka. Kosuke Yoshikawa then took advantage of the power of the citizens of Osaka to put forward a request for the reform of the shogunate system.

In imitation of the Illumination Kingdom, a commoner's house was established in which samurai and commoner representatives participated in politics to assist the shogunate in handling some matters related to civil affairs, and to supervise whether the feudal lords had violated the law and imposed punishments indiscriminately.

Before the establishment of the Taiko shogunate, a feudal assembly had been established in which the feudal lords participated, and after the establishment of the shogunate, it was renamed the House of Nobles to check and balance the power of the five elders of the shogunate.

Therefore, Yoshikawa Kosuke proposed the establishment of the Commoners' House, and the five elders and the lords of the domains knew very well who the Commoners intended to target, which naturally met with the opposition and condemnation of the five elders and the lords of the domains.

However, due to the previous suppression of the citizens in Osaka, the five elders have lost their control over the armed forces in the Osaka area, so the feudal lords cannot do anything to Kosuke Yoshikawa and the citizen representatives of Osaka other than condemnation.

However, Yoshikawa Kosuke and Osaka merchants, who held the financial power of western Japan, did not shy away from criticizing the backwardness and conservatism of feudal politics through the newspapers and other public opinion tools in their hands, believing that these old feudal lords were the biggest obstacle to Japan's progress towards civilization and enlightenment.

At this time, Osaka was not only the economic and political center of western Japan, but also the birthplace of public opinion. The rigid system of the feudal domains was difficult to compete with the public opinion offensive launched by Yoshikawa Kosuke, so the angry lords, who were scolded by the newspapers, tried to end the debate by force.

The chief writer of the Osaka Times, the wealthy businessman who financed the Osaka Times, and Yoshikawa Kosuke himself were attacked by the samurai, and Yoshikawa Kosuke was lucky enough to suffer only a few minor injuries, but the chief writer of the Osaka Times and a businessman were killed by the samurai.

The attack did not intimidate Kosuke Yoshikawa, but rather attracted the attention of the Osaka Governor's Office. Zhou personally summoned the five elders of the shogunate, demanded that they hand over the murderers, and made a promise not to attack government officials again, otherwise the governor's palace would personally investigate the attack.

The five elders of the shogunate had to order the seventeen samurai who participated in the attack to go to the governor's palace to confess their guilt, and in fact, they cut their stomachs in front of the governor's palace, which was considered to have resolved the matter. On the other side, a group of ronin, influenced by the idea of revering the king, formed the Tianzhu Party and carried out assassination operations against the lords who opposed the reform of feudal politics.

After Kuroda Kazunari, the head of the Sannagi Kuroda family, who was rumored to be the mastermind behind the attack on Kosuke Yoshikawa, was intercepted and assassinated by the Tenju Party, resulting in serious injuries and death, the attitude of the various feudal clans against the reform suddenly softened a lot.

Yoshikawa Hiromasa, the lord of the Choshu Domain, went to Osaka to have an in-depth conversation with Yoshikawa Kosuke in order to eliminate the risk of civil strife, and then became the first lord to support the establishment of a civilian house.

Under the mediation of Yoshikawa Hiromasa, the Choshu Domain first changed its mind and supported Yoshikawa Kosuke's reforms, and then the Kishu Domain... It's like dominoes, when the first domino falls, a group falls.

After a year of stalemate, Yoshikawa Kosuke finally launched a reform of the feudal system in 1640.

However, for the people of Osaka at this time, they did not realize that a greater change was about to take place around them. They were just excited that Osaka's laws were able to defeat the powerful feudal lords and save a group of weak women.

Well, in the process of Ye Yuxuan's governance of Osaka, the Osaka Governor's Office has always appeared as the representative of Osaka, rather than the power of outsiders. In addition, the Governor's Office absorbed a large number of Osaka people as officials, so the citizens of Osaka have always regarded the Governor's Office as their own people, and the Taiko Shogunate and the Edo Shogunate as representatives of the lords.

Naturally, the citizens of Osaka saw the Governor's Palace's decision as their victory, and they cheered and the city seemed to be jubilant.

When Zhou Kangen returned to the governor's palace, he could still hear the sound of celebration coming from the city. However, before he could sit down, he heard people from the palace come to report to him, saying that Xu Xinsu had come to visit him.

As Xu Xinsu, who is the patrol envoy of the East China Sea, has always been the most powerful helper of the Osaka Governor's Office, Zhou Kangeng naturally invited him in immediately, and beckoned his subordinates to get some cold drinks to come over so that he could go to the summer of Osaka in June.

However, after Xu Xinsu saw him, he motioned for him to send his subordinates away, as if he wanted to talk to him privately.

Zhou Kangen did so, and after watching his subordinates leave, he asked Xu Xinsu: "Xu Xunyue, but what do you have to tell me?" ”

Xu Xinsu looked extremely respectful in front of the governor of Osaka, who was born in a big family, and he didn't sell it, but said straightforwardly: "There is a person on my ship, and I want to ask the governor to arrange one or two." ”

Zhou Kangen suddenly frowned, looked at the other party with some suspicion and said, "Arrange a person?" What position do you want to be placed in the Governor's Palace? ”

Xu Xinsu hurriedly shook his head and said, "It is not arranged in the Governor's Palace, but in the Central Bank of Japan." It's not to be arranged as a Ming person, first of all, to arrange for him to be from Japan, preferably able to get in touch with the minister in Kyoto, and then enter the Central Bank of Japan as a Japanese. ”

Zhou Kangeng's heart became even more suspicious, he was silent for a while, and then continued to ask, "Who is this?" Is it your own meaning or the meaning of the imperial court? ”

Xu Xinsu replied without hesitation: "Naturally, it is Your Majesty's intention, how dare I make such an impertinent request to my lord." As for this man's past..."

Xu Xinsu obviously hesitated for a moment before continuing: "Anyway, adults are not outsiders, so I'll tell the truth." This person's name is Fan Yongdou, and he was originally a Jin merchant who colluded with Jiannu to defect, but now, he has defected from Houjin again.

He can be regarded as having made a little contribution to the Ming Dynasty, so His Majesty does not intend to continue to pursue the past, but he also does not want him to swagger in the country. That's why I'm going to send him to Japan..."