"Matsudaira Uchizo Masamasa asks to see you."

As soon as Tokugawa Akiko left the Mito Domain and returned to his Yokohama Domain, Matsudaira Kanyu, the Tokugawa Shogun's flank, came to visit him. Matsudaira Kanyu accompanied Tokugawa Akiko from Kyoto to Edo, where he had received the Ming delegation in Kyoto as a representative of the shogunate. The specifications of the Ming Dynasty Greeting Mission are very high, and the leader is Chang Dachun, the second highest Duke of Eguo who is currently the second highest title of the Ming Dynasty. However, welcoming Emperor Zhu is not the only mission of this Xianghu tycoon to come to Japan, his other important mission is to recruit mercenaries for the Ming Dynasty in Japan. It was on behalf of the shogun that Matsudaira Kanyu went to Kyoto to negotiate secretly with him. And Tokugawa Qizhao is now an old man in the shogunate, and he is one of Zhu Jishi's fathers-in-law, so he naturally wants to participate in the negotiations with the Ming Dynasty.

"Da Ming wants to hire Japanese samurai as soldiers?" After listening to Matsudaira Jianyu's report on the requirements of the Ming side, Tokugawa Qizhao scratched his shaved head, "This thing is really embarrassing...... After all, the samurai were Japan's armed forces, and it was quite inappropriate for them to be used by the Ming Dynasty. After saying that, he sighed again—obviously, he didn't approve of this matter from the bottom of his heart, "But there are so many samurai, and since Ieyasu, I have been worried about the livelihood of so many samurai, which is really a dilemma, ah, always embarrassed." ”

Matsudaira Jian Yu carefully observed his words and expressions on the side, Qi Zhao's actions reflected nothing else, but his worries. Matsudaira had seen such worries on the faces of Lord Gongfang and several other elders. After the victory in Osaka Bay, everyone from the shogunate to the ordinary warriors believed that there was no need to worry about the attack of white ghosts for twenty years, but if Japan could not use this time to solve its internal troubles and follow the example of the Ming Dynasty to implement a new policy. Twenty years later, the crisis will not be easy to deal with! And Japan's biggest internal problem is not the politics of the feudal domain. It's that there are too many samurai!

"Abe's opinion is that I can agree. However, the Ming court should borrow troops from the shogunate and pay the shogunate. ”

"Reasonable. Now there are many Yokohama feudal lords working for the Ming Emperor, which is already a violation of the law, and such things cannot continue to develop. ”

"However, the imperial court thinks that Shugongxia can be allowed to recruit retainers in Japan, after all, Shugongxia is the queen of the Ryukyus, and she should have her own army."

"That's not bad."

"Yes. Now there are many poor ronins in Kyoto and Osaka, and it will save them a lot of trouble if they become retainers under the palace......

"But Neizangzheng, don't you think it's very inappropriate to let the Ming Emperor control a Japanese samurai army?"

"No...... Isn't it appropriate? Can't you recruit retainers and troops under the palace? So how can Shugong recover the Ryukyus? ”

"If this samurai army can be used in the Ryukyus, can't it be used in Japan?"

Tokugawa asked. Jian Yu was stunned for a moment, "Lord Quanda, do you mean that this army will become a ...... Qin Wang Jun? ”

"What nonsense! How can it be said that it is the army of the king of Qin? Could it be that the shogunate is a traitor!? ”

"I lost my words under it...... However, it is believed that recruiting some ronin under the palace is also good for Japan's domestic stability. There are too many samurai ronin who are struggling to make a living...... That's the big problem! ”

"Big trouble? Wouldn't it be a big trouble for these warriors to be controlled by Zhu Jishi? ”

"But the power is great...... The son of tomorrow is your son-in-law? ”

"Actually, I already regret giving Mingzi to Zhu Jishi!" Tokugawa Qizhao lowered his voice, a little unable to sit still. In fact, over the years, he has been collecting information related to Zhu Jishi through various channels, and he thinks that he has some understanding of Zhu Jishi's thoughts. "Haven't you noticed that Japan is gradually becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty? The Yokohama Domain and the Four Great Oceans were the tools of Zhu Jishi's quiet control of Japan, and now that there are more Shugong, there may be a Tokugawa shogun in the future......"

"General? Lord Quanda, you mean ......"

"The child in Yu Qin's belly ......," Tokugawa Qiaki's voice became lower. His expression also became solemn, "Akiko told me just now. Lord Gongfang wants Yu Qinzhifang to go to Yingtian's hospital to give birth, if it is a boy, he will be raised by Mingzi, and he will also let this child marry Mingzi's daughter Princess Yilan! ”

"But that's a good thing, isn't it? Doesn't Lord Gongfang need a healthy heir? ”

"Of course you do!" Qi Zhao couldn't help gritting his teeth, he really didn't want to openly oppose this matter. Because he is trying to seek the position of shogun's heir for his son Tokugawa Yoshiki. Although Keiki did not replace the Tokugawa family as the shogun's son, the family was destined to be the heir, and Keiki still had the opportunity to succeed the Tokugawa family as the adopted son of the family. But if the Tokugawa family must have a younger brother, Keiki will have no chance to become a general anyway. Therefore, he is against this matter now, and if Yu Qinzhifang gives birth to a son and dies in the future, Jiaqing's anger may not be bearable.

……

Just when Tokugawa Saiaki was worried about Zhu Jishi's growing influence and power in Japan. In the Sakuma Zoyama Mansion in Edo Kanda, Sakuma Zoyama and several disciples were talking in the living room with the Yokohama clan Lao Katsu Kaishu and Saigo Takanaga. After the Battle of Osaka Bay, Sakuma Zozan was generously rewarded by the shogunate, and now he is the banner book with 5,000 stone zhiyuki, which belongs to the shogunate's important ministers. Although Katsukaishu and Saigo Takanaga are still the elders of the Yokohama Domain, they are also favored by the Shogunate, and if it weren't for the internal affairs of the Yokohama Domain, they would have been important ministers of the Shogunate by now. Moreover, these samurai, who were not from famous families, were extremely prestigious among the middle and lower class samurai in Japan. In some cases, it was more powerful than the old people of the shogunate.

"Thirty million stones! It's about as much as the stone height in Japan...... The Great Tomorrow is really a generation of heroes, why don't we have such a famous king in Japan! ”

The loud-voiced Saigo Takayong sighed with emotion, and the 30 million stones he was referring to were the field output of the newly established Jiaozhou Province in the Ming Dynasty. The land of the Red River Plain is fertile and the climate is humid, and it can be three crops in one season, or at least double cropping. Although the absolute area is not as large as that of Japan, the output of land is about the same as that of the whole country. Zhu Jishi spent several months laying down a piece of territory that was even more than "Shigao" and even surpassed Japan, how could he not make these Japanese samurai who love the land madly blush?

Saigo Takanaga sighed with emotion, and his fellow countryman, Okubo Toshitsu, who is now a student of Sakuma Zozan, muttered: "If only Japan could get such a piece of land, with Japan's national strength, it can also be done to conquer Annam......

"Japan is still closed off from the rest of the country, and Japan is not a unified country, and if Japan is not unified, it will not be able to expand externally." Sakuma Zoyama turned to the Okubo Passage.

"Teacher," Okubo said with a gentle salute, "but by the time Japan is completely unified, I'm afraid that the great powers will have already divided up the world, will there still be Japan's share?" ”

"What's the solution?" Sakuma Zoyama looked at this disciple with some helplessness, and admired Okubo Ritsu's talent very much. But in today's Japan, if you want to get ahead, you don't just have talent.

"Japan is not completely reunified, what does it have to do with whether Japanese samurai can go abroad or not?"

"Yes, teacher, why can't the samurai go out of the country?" Yoshida Kinmatsu, another student of Sakuma Zozan, said, "Teacher, do you think it's better to keep the samurai in the country for a long time, or to let the Japanese samurai go out of the country and start a career?" ”

"So you're in favor of letting Shu's palace recruit retainers in Japan? But why did the Great Tomorrow Son of the Dao do this? ”

"Hmph." Yoshida Yinmatsu nodded slightly, "I don't think I have any good intentions, it's not to borrow a knife to kill people, but to cultivate a pro-Ming sect samurai!" But this is not an opportunity for us to borrow a boat to go to sea. ”

Sakuma Zoyama looked at Yoshida Yinmatsu: "Borrow Daming's ship to go to sea?" ”

Yoshida said: "Teacher, I believe that even if a Japanese samurai becomes a retainer under the palace, a Japanese heart will never change." The wealth, status, and knowledge they had acquired overseas were all about increasing Japan's power, which would be immediately available to Japan once it was founded! Even if there is a dispute between Japan and the Ming Dynasty in the future, the Japanese samurai on the territory of the Ming Dynasty will definitely return to China to serve as soon as possible!

Therefore, the students asked the teacher to lead the shogunate to support the samurai to go to sea, and to unite the Ming Dynasty! (To be continued......)