"Akiko, you are Takechiyo's adoptive mother, do you think you can let Takechiyo be the heir?"

Just when the old men in the room were arguing, the general on the sickbed actually asked Tokugawa Akiko's opinion. It seems that after the stroke, his brain is not very normal.

"Ah......" Tokugawa Akiko was stunned for a moment, but what she thought of was how Emperor Zhu would answer. Yes! Although Takechiyo is young, she will grow up and have unlimited possibilities in the future, which is the first choice for heirs! ”

She felt that Zhu Jishi must want Takechiyo to become a general, so she replied like this.

"But the imperial court ......" Masahiro Abe disagreed with Tokugawa Akiko's opinion, and he was worried that the imperial court would use the Tokugawa family to change the heir. After all, Tokugawa Ieding's brain-dead doesn't look very powerful, and he can still be a general or a prime minister. But letting a baby in his arms be a general, I'm afraid it will make people laugh off their big teeth.

"But Takechiyo is now a general! The Great Tomorrow appointed him as the commander of the samurai legion, and he was the commander of more than 40,000 samurai in the Ming army. ”

Tokugawa Akiko really didn't give Abe a lot of face, and he came weakly to say this.

"Yes, yes, yes...... Akiko is right! Chiyo Takeri is already a general. Jiaqing hurriedly took over the words and said, "Isn't the so-called general of Zhengyi going to Zhengyi?" Isn't it true that the Lucians are gone? Now that Takechiyo has led 40,000 samurai to conquer the country, why can't he be the general of the expedition? ”

"This, but if the imperial court and the feudal clans are not satisfied...... "It's rare for Naobi to reach a consensus with Masahiro Abe.

When Tokugawa Iekei heard this, he snorted heavily: "When will the imperial court and the feudal domains be qualified to talk about the issue of the heir to the shogunate?" This matter was decided, and I decided to immediately give way to Takechiyo, and I became the Great Imperial Palace. Let him be a general. ”

His gaze swept majestically around the room. took out the momentum of the bloody battle of Osaka Bay: "If any feudal clan dares to object." Then confiscate and change! If there are traitors in the court who dare to make irresponsible remarks, they will be exiled to Ezo Island! If they want to go to war, then send in the new shogunate army to destroy them all! ”

He took a deep breath: "Japan needs a shrewd and capable general, not an idiot general. As Akiko said, although Takechiyo is young, there are infinite possibilities in the future, and if Ieda becomes a general...... It was destined to become a disgrace to the Tokugawa family. The whole world will laugh at the stupidity of the family, and the prestige of the shogunate and the Tokugawa family will be completely destroyed in his generation. Such. In 20 years, there may no longer be a Tokugawa shogunate! So, now that I have Takechiyo, I won't let Iedai take on this heavy responsibility that he simply can't bear. ”

Not to mention, Jiaqing's words are a bit similar to the situation in history. If the original historical trajectory is followed, the shogunate will return to the government 14 years later, in 1867, and it will not be able to support it for 20 years.

"But...... The adoptive father of Takechiyo is the son of Da Ming, and he still has a marriage contract with Princess Daming. Masahiro Abe said the truth, "If Takechiyo Gongzi succeeds as a general before he becomes an adult, he will inevitably be ...... by the Ming Dynasty Effect. ”

"But it will also get the support of Daming!" Jiaqing said lightly, "If the combination of public and military forces is postponed for 20 years." Then Japan needs to be quiet for the next 20 years, and there must be no more incidents such as open ships. Neither the family nor the adult Takechiyo can cope with it. So I can only ask for the support of Daming. I decided to let Chiyo Takeshi get an education in China. Don't return to China before the age of 16 to pro-government, and the shogunate is decided by the five elders of Qi Zhao, Keiki, Masahiro, Naobi and Masamu.

In addition, after Yu Qin's party was decorated, he went to China to take care of Takechiyo with Akiko. Then Matsudaira Jianyu and Sakuma Xiangshan served as Takechiyo's teachers and protectors of Chinese culture, and accompanied him to receive education in the Ming Dynasty. ”

"A public party educated in a foreign country, this and this ......"

The old and middle school looked at each other, and they didn't know what to say. However, they all understood in their hearts that the general was worried that Takechiyo would not be able to grow up smoothly in Japan! For a one-year-old baby, Edo City is far less safe than the Forbidden City and the Old Summer Palace, otherwise how could only one of the more than 30 children of General Jiaqing grow up?

Seeing that everyone did not oppose it anymore, Jiaqing suddenly changed his firm voice: "Such a decision, presumably Ieyasu will also agree, I will soon go to see Ieyasu, if I leave Japan and the Tokugawa family to an idiot, I really don't know how to be blamed by Ieyasu." If you don't have a choice, forget it, now you have a healthy and smart child...... If I lose the world because of the stupidity of my family, I will be the biggest sinner of the Tokugawa family. ”

In an instant, everyone understood the general's thoughts. In Jiakei's heart, the Tokugawa family is the first! Japan's future and destiny can only be ranked second to the Tokugawa family.

If the world is left to the family, before the family dies or resides in seclusion, Japan will be full of uncertainties. The samurai of the imperial court, the feudal clans, and even the middle and lower classes will definitely think about changes and want to promote the integration of public and military forces as soon as possible. And it was difficult for a demented general to retain the power of the Tokugawa family in a complicated situation. But if Takechiyo succeeds to the throne, the people of the world can only wait! Because Takechiyo has the support of the Ming Emperor behind him, he must be prepared to be intervened by the Ming Dynasty when he opposes Takechiyo. And the consequence of Ming intervention is likely to be the loss of Japan's independence, which is a consequence that no one wants to bear.

……

"Takechiyo's succession to the throne should be fully supported, and if money is needed to facilitate this, an overdraft of 1 million yuan can be made to the Japanese branch of HSBC. In addition, the matter of Japan sending troops to the war must be handled as soon as possible. Military expenses can also be lent by HSBC Japan Branch, and in principle, the total amount cannot exceed 10 million yuan. ”

In the Yuanmingyuan Diligent and Virtuous Palace, Zhu Jishizheng wrote a letter to Tokugawa Akiko and summoned several Japanese retainers. Saigo Takanaga, who served as a staff officer of the samurai corps, Lao Katsu Kaishu of the Yokogawa clan who came from Japan to deliver a letter to Zhu Jishi, Yoshida Shoin, who was selected to serve in the imperial study after being selected for the second imperial examination in the eight southeastern provinces, and John Manjiro, a Japanese who was sent back by Zeng Guoquan, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, are now in the main hall.

Zhu Jishi put down the brush, looked up at the few Japanese in front of him, and said lightly: "The issue of the general's succession is an internal affair of Japan, and I will only respect General Jiaqing's decision." If General Iekei wants His Excellency Chiyo Takechiyo to be educated in China, I will guarantee that he will be treated in the same way as my prince - he will be educated with my prince in the best Imperial City School in the Ming Dynasty. ”

"However, it is not appropriate to change the fact that Japan will send troops to the war, because the war with Russia will be a world war. Powerful countries including Britain, France, Turkey and the Ming will participate. If Japan enters the war, it will become an ally of Britain and France, which will help Japan to engage in diplomacy with Britain and France in order to seek equal treatment. ”

Although the founding of Japan was postponed, this did not prevent Japan from conducting diplomacy with the great powers and signing treaties. If Japan enters the war, we will facilitate the signing of a treaty between Japan and Britain and France after the war has begun. In fact, the conclusion of the treaty is not the same as the founding ......"

"In addition, participating in the war against Russia will also help Japan to acquire territory, and if it can land in the Aleutian Islands and the Kuril Islands, it will also be extremely beneficial to increase the prestige of the shogunate, and it is an opportunity that should not be missed."

Zhu Jishi said eloquently, listening to what he said, it seemed that he was an old friend of a Japanese samurai, all of whom were planning for Japan.

In fact, Emperor Zhu did not have any ambitions for Japan, he knew that this country was not easy to conquer, and it would take at least seven or eight years to invest hundreds of thousands of troops to fight. At that time, Britain and France may intervene, and compared to the potential threat from Japan, Russia and the United States are the real big bosses. If we can't take advantage of this time to drive Russia back to the west and take advantage of the Civil War to divide the United States in two, we will have big trouble in the future. Before the end of the American Civil War, the Ming Dynasty did not have much energy to deal with Japan. So he is still carrying out a policy of supporting the Tokugawa shogunate. (To be continued......)