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Does Ezo matter?

Significant!

Maybe not important, at least not as much as Japan. www.biquge.info The reason why Japan included Ezo as a "permanent knowledge" was actually to prevent Lucia from going south, and on the issue of developing Ezo, it insisted that "if you open up Ezo, the number of people in the country will increase, but it will be easy to cause trouble. Ezo Island, Japan's refuge from fire, ".

In fact, the core is to use Ezo as a natural barrier to defend Russia's southward movement. More than 50 years ago, under the intensification of the Russian threat, it was announced that the East Ezo Land, that is, the "Upper Knowledge", was taken from the Matsumae Domain and placed under the direct jurisdiction of the Shogunate, and later due to the frequent Russian attacks in the north, the West Ezo Land was included in the direct jurisdiction of the Shogunate, and 33 years ago, when the pressure on Russia weakened, the Shogunate and the feudal domain that was responsible for the garrison were overwhelmed economically and militarily, and the Shogunate returned the Ezo Land to the Matsuzen Domain.

For the shogunate, Ezo as a barren land, although nominally "forever known" land, but in fact it is a "land outside the world" that can be abandoned at any time, for the perennial only a few hundred people stationed in the Ezo land at all, only Ezo raw area, Abe and others naturally do not have any feelings, compared to the Ezo land, they value Japan more, is the future of the shogunate.

If the country can be closed again, then it will naturally end everything, everyone can close the door and continue to live happily, as for the Westerners, well, since China is willing to ask for this trouble, then Japan is also happy to be idle.

That's why Abe has the problem he has now. He was more concerned about how the Chinese were going to block the foreign Yi, and in his opinion, since the black ships of the United States could be completely annihilated for them, he thought that they could do it, and in fact he had other plans.

"How is China going to stop the West from destroying the West?"

Abe's question made Wei Yuan smile in his heart, and Jiang Litao looked at the thoughtful Abe and other shogunate officials, knowing that Mr. 's words made their hearts move, and then he really admired Wei Yuan, what is the real clever diplomacy? This is precisely the reason why the soldiers who do not fight - understand what the other side wants, and then set a trap for them.

Just like the trap set by Wei Yuan now, although the Japanese know that it is a trap, compared to their schemes, Ezo seems to be not worth a row.

"Korea has ceded Jeju to China, and the fleet will also visit Ryukyu, a vassal of China, on its return journey, and at that time, the fleet will be set up in the two places, and it will be reported that foreign ships will not be allowed to enter the country from the north of the two places, and as for Ezo going north, the Lu people will knock on the border for a long time, and our governor's office has decided to expel the Lu people from the north, and the Japanese will no longer have to worry about the foreign people."

When Wei Yuan laid out China's future plans one by one, Abe and the others were all contemplative, they seemed to be weighing the pros and cons, and Wei Yuan looked confident.

In fact, this plan did not come from him, but completely according to the orders of the Han Governor, at first he had doubted, after all, such a threat alone could cause Japan to "cede" tens of thousands of square kilometers of land, it was really unbelievable, but now, he no longer doubted, because he clearly felt that the Japanese were excited, or rather, the dark tide in Japan was surging, and the shogunate needed to re-isolate the country, and it needed to implement this policy with the help of China, so that they could live their quiet life behind closed doors again. Otherwise, the founding of the country would even have the possibility of shaking the foundation of the shogunate's rule, and Wei Yuan, who was familiar with history books, was naturally very aware of this, and because of this, he believed that the Japanese would agree to his request.

"So ......"

After thinking about it for a long time, Abe, who was now facing a crisis in the shogunate, looked at Wei Yuan and said.

"How is China prepared to help us drive out the country?"

Despite sensing the disgruntled gaze from Masamu Hotta, Abe made the decision to ask for opinions from the public, daimyos, scholars, and even ordinary people last year on the founding of the country. As a result, the emperor and his courtiers, daimyo and his retainers took the opportunity to express their opinions, and the political situation in Japan became more and more chaotic day by day, and the rule of the shogunate was being shaken...... Although Abe also supported the founding of the country, it was in a situation where there was no way, and as for those who supported the founding of the country like the Satsuma Domain, it was not in his consideration, just as he knew that the Ryukyu vassals belonged to Satsuma and did not say anything when he heard that China had set up a fleet in the Ryukyus, because Satsuma had been using the Ryukyus to trade with the Lan people for many years, which was the loophole of the shogunate's lock-up - the shogunate's lock-up of the country, but did not restrict the Ryukyus.

Now, if the Ryukyus, which is also a Chinese vassal of China, is controlled by China, such as the Satsuma, they will naturally have to live their lives behind closed doors, and the shogunate will be able to survive the current difficulties.

It's not a big deal at all about ceding Ezo land, although it is a place of "eternal knowledge", but apart from the Matsumae Domain, how many daimyo in the world know about that place, and who cares about it?

Under the "Lockdown of the Country", a piece of land that is already a land of people, who will be almost.

The most important thing now is how to "close the country and conquer the country", according to the agreement of the peace treaty, the two ports of Shimoda and Hakodate have been opened, especially Shimoda, there are already trading houses built by foreigners, there are hundreds of Westerners, and if the country is closed again, they must be driven out of Japan.

"After the treaty is signed, our righteous army fleet will go to Xiatian to order Yangyi to withdraw, and all foreign affairs will be negotiated between the governor and the Westerners.

"So, what if China goes behind Japan's back and signs a treaty with the Western Lords to betray Japan?"

In the process of founding the country, he advocated "improvisation and active communication", and asked Naobi I. As a descendant of the Tokugawa family commander Naomasa Ii, he was naturally more concerned about the future of the shogunate, and he was equally aware of the crisis that the shogunate was facing after the arrival of the Americans. Although he was not opposed to exchanging Ezo land for peace in Japan once and for all, he was worried that China would betray Japan.

"Clauses may be agreed upon in the treaty to ensure Japan's interests and preserve Japan's seclusion! I wonder what you think? ”

Wei Yuan took Abe and others on the road of "locking the country" little by little, in fact, he didn't know why Han Du treated Japan like this.

"They have the right to choose their own way of life!"

In the words of Han Du, the Japanese not only have the right to lock up their country, but also as their neighbors, as "Greater China" China, they are their protectors, and they should not only protect them from the invasion of Western powers, but also have the obligation to help them lock up their country.

"Of course, we can talk about the specific terms slowly......"

"It's ridiculous, and now that treaties with foreign countries have been signed, Japan can't go back on it, and it should work hard to strengthen itself in the future, and how can it ......?"

Without waiting for Hotta Masamu to finish speaking, Abe said sharply.

"Hotta!"

His sharp voice made Hotta Masamu's expression soothe, and he hurriedly lowered his head and stopped speaking,

"Today, the ghost beast of the United States came to the door during the Spring Festival, led a warship to force each other, at that time General Zhengyi had just died, he ignored the etiquette of our East, forced Japan to open the country by force, such a treaty, how can Japan be willing, but it is only a temporary compromise, now, it should be abolished!"

Without waiting for the Japanese to find a reason for themselves, Wei Yuan gave them a reason, and when he gave this reason, he completely forgot that in Edo Bay, there were still 7 rebel warships moored, and hundreds of cannons were also pointed directly at Edo City, if the Japanese did not agree, I am afraid that Shen Ming would not mind using force to force the Japanese to make concessions.

However, this is not what Wei Yuan needs, for Wei Yuan, to be precise, for Han Du, what he needs is not to "blow up" Japan, but to use real threats to make Japan make another choice - ostrich. Allowing Japan to continue to lock itself off under the "protection" of China, which is willing, is the most in line with China's interests.

Now, Wei Yuan's job was to fulfill this expectation of the Han Governor, and at the same time to lure Japan back into a tighter lockdown than it had been more than 200 years ago, while "reclaiming" Ezo as a horse breeding ground for the rebels. The Japanese could not do it, and the Chinese fleet did not mind helping them to do it.

Although people such as Hotta Masamu felt that Wei Yuan was not well-intentioned, they had to admit that Wei Yuan's words went to the bottom of their hearts, for them who also believe in Confucianism, the "rude and arrogant" of the Americans regardless of the general's death has been stabbing their hearts, and now when Wei Yuan said this, everyone's faces were full of sadness, and in addition to secretly feeling sad, Abe looked at Wei Yuan and said.

"So, in Mr. Mingtu's opinion, should Japan be closed again, after all, Abe also visited Mr. 's "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" day and night, and Mr. said in the book that he should learn the long skills of the master to govern the country, and now if he is to lock the country, how can he master the long skills?"

Although he hoped to maintain the shogunate with the lock of the country, on the other hand, the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" also made Abe see the West, see the power and technology of the West, even if Wei Yuan once advocated the use of Yi long skills to control the country, so why did he persuade Japan to lock the country now?

"If Britain and other countries lead hundreds of thousands of troops to the country, what will happen to Japan?"

Faced with this question, Wei Yuan did not answer directly, but asked rhetorically.

"Those who are skilled in learning from Yi need time and national strength, how can Japan have these? At this time, the Japanese should really close the country to prevent the invasion of the West! Instead of opening the country and luring the wolf into the house! (To be continued.) )