Japan, Edo Castle, Central Austria.

Zhu Jianyu gently walked into the Japanese room where Tokugawa Iekei was, his current Japanese name has been changed to Matsudaira Jianyu, looking at this "Matsudaira" surname, you can know that you have gone to good luck - this is the original surname of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and there are still a lot of big people surnamed Matsudaira in Japan, most of whom are relatives of the Tokugawa family. Zhu Jianyu got the surname Matsudaira only because he became the son-in-law of a high-ranking samurai surnamed Matsudaira, and he also inherited the 6,000 stone family roku, becoming the second only to the feudal lord. Of course, this is all the reward and value of Tokugawa Iekei, and of course, there is also reuse. In addition to the Matsudaira surname and 6,000 Shijialu, he also received the official position of "side employment". This is the highest position of the general's close attendant, responsible for conveying the general's orders to the old middle, and conveying the report of the old middle school to the general, that is, the secretary general and chief of staff in later generations. It is also the highest position that a flag warrior can get, theoretically on the same level as Lao Zhong, if he encounters a strong general, the power of the side can even overwhelm Lao Zhong. However, Tokugawa Iekei is not such a general, so Matsudaira Jianyu's power is far inferior to that of Lao Zhong.

The shogun sat cross-legged, seemingly closing his eyes and pretending to sleep, when he heard footsteps, and Tokugawa Iekei opened his eyes. Seeing that it was Matsudaira Jian Yu coming, he sighed tiredly: "Jian Yu, you are here, Abe just left." Things are never done these days, so why are there so many things? Isn't it good to live a peaceful life? Alas, sometimes I really don't want to be this general, how good it would be if I were a feudal lord, and I wouldn't suffer from this in this position. ”

Tokugawa Iekei was indeed a mediocre man, and he was very old. Poor spirits. I just want to live a peaceful life. But Japan is not a country that is always peaceful. Inside, there are hundreds of thousands of samurai who have no way out, and there are Western powers who are aggressive outside, and with the help of Zhu Jishi in the past two years, they have been quite stable. But who would have thought that the Russians would suddenly send a large fleet to the door again? This fleet is said to be unable to deal with even the Ming Navy, let alone Japan?

Matsudaira Jianyu knelt down in front of him, saluted, and said with a smile: "Lord Shogun is the pillar of Japan, if you don't support the situation." How can Japan have the revival it is today? ”

He looked at the general who was depressed there, only shook his head and didn't speak, and then asked, "Abe Laozhong came here, are you still talking about negotiations with Russia?" Abe still wants to put the blame on His Majesty the Emperor? ”

The general sighed: "The war in the Ryukyus is together, but many people have fallen into the arms. They are all clamoring to defend the Ryukyus, but how can this Ryukyus be kept? The warships of the Lucians have completely blocked the sea route to the Ryukyus, and our men will not be able to cross at all. Now the only way to keep the Ryukyus is to negotiate...... The warships of the British and the Mi have already sent a letter to force us to open the country, and we must conclude a treaty! ”

Treaties are, of course, unequal! There is no doubt about it. Britain and the United States put forward such terms as the opening of treaty ports, one-sided most-favored-nation treatment, tariff agreements, concession of Japanese ports to the Russian navy, compensation of 5 million silver dollars for military expenses, and restrictions on the number of troops stationed in the Ryukyus as conditions for Japan to retain suzerainty over the Ryukyus.

However, if these terms are rejected, not only will the Ryukyus not be able to recover them. The fleets of Russia, the United States, and Great Britain will also hit the Japanese mainland! Not to mention whether Japan can hold the fleets of the Three Kingdoms, it is enough for Tokugawa Ieke to drink a pot of Ryukyu for the crime of losing the Ryukyus.

If the shogunate agrees to these terms. That is to lose power and humiliate the country, that is, to betray the country to seek glory, and to be a traitor to the country! Therefore, Tokugawa Iekei was in a dilemma, and Masahiro Abe proposed to play the emperor based on this situation and let the emperor make the decision.

Matsudaira Jian Yu frowned slightly: "Since the beginning of my own Kanggong, Japanese politics has always been decided by the shogunate...... Shogun, this is both the power and responsibility of the shogunate, how can the shogunate pass it on to His Majesty the Emperor? To do so is to betray the trust of His Majesty. ”

It seems that this Matsudaira Jianyu's mind is much clearer than that of Masahiro Abe, and he said to Tokugawa Iekei eloquently: "Now that the public opinion of the whole country is inclined to the rebellion, the shogunate's hesitation on this issue has caused a lot of dissatisfaction, and if you ask the emperor for instructions again, everyone will definitely think that the shogunate lacks determination on the issue of rebellion." Moreover, the imperial court has not been involved in major politics for more than 200 years, and once a precedent is set now, I am afraid that it will become a common practice in the future, and in the long run, the authority of the shogunate will be swept away, and the authority of the imperial court will rise...... Therefore, the general should decisively give the order to fight to the end with Lucia! ”

Of course, Tokugawa Iekei had thought about the authority of the shogunate, and he hesitated: "But how can Japan alone compete with the three great powers of Lucia, England, and Millican?" ”

Matsudaira Jianyu said categorically: "There is also the Ming Dynasty and Japan standing together, the Ming Yanping King Zheng Hong has brought a military advisory group to Japan, and is coming to Edo, the Yokohama feudal lords who live in the Ming Dynasty have also returned, and the shogunate still has 20,000 new army, and we Japan have the capital to fight!"

Japan's enemies are not the three kingdoms of Luyingmi, but only Lucia! England and Millican did not have a strong navy and army in the Far East, and England signed a cooperation treaty with the Ming Dynasty, and Millican's national strength was inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty, so he was not qualified to speak in East Asia at all.

And the relationship between England and Lucia is not harmonious, Lucia wants to expand in Europe and the Near East, to the detriment of the interests of England, England is desperately trying to prevent it, if Lucia in East Asia and the Ming Dynasty, Japan and the war is in the hands of England, they are just fanning the flames now, and they will never jump into the fire pit themselves. ”

Matsudaira Jianyu's words were well-founded, and his words were fast and fast, and Tokugawa Iekei nodded silently. In fact, Masahiro Abe came to him just now, and the meaning of what he said was similar to Yang Du. Originally, Masahiro Abe advocated retreating, but now Daming's attitude of supporting is becoming more and more obvious, and he also feels that he can fight. The Ming Dynasty and France are allies, and Britain is also a quasi-ally, as long as the Ming Dynasty is involved, Britain and France will definitely be neutral together, as for the United States, it is originally coaxing, and if it really fights, it will definitely retreat. So that there is only one Russia left, what is there to be afraid of? The worst thing is that Russia occupies the Ryukyus, anyway, the Ryukyu Kingdom is a vassal of the Satsuma Domain, and the shogunate does not have much interest there, and if it is lost, the Satsuma Domain will suffer.

However, Abe still felt that he should ask the emperor to come out and say something before the war with Lucia, on the one hand, in case it was not fought well, and the responsibility was shared between the imperial court and the shogunate; On the one hand, it is also due to the fact that Japan's feudal politics is really not suitable for this new era, and it is necessary to carry out major reforms, but such reforms cannot bypass the hurdle of the imperial court. If we can't do that, we will not be able to unify Japan's domestic decrees, and we will not be able to produce a strong central government that can unite the strength of the whole country.

In Japan today, there are many middle- and lower-class samurai who yearn for a series of changes in China, and they all hope that there can be a Ming monarch like Zhu Jishi, who will twist the loose Japan into a rope and let Japan also embark on the road of prosperity and strength.

And to produce such a Ming monarch, there are no more than two ways, one is that the shogunate and the imperial court will fight, and one party will eat the other, just like the Ming Dynasty killed the Qing Dynasty! But the shogunate is a courtier of the imperial court, and the shogunate general is sealed by the emperor, unlike Zhu Jishi, who has the title of the Ming Dynasty, and it is reasonable to oppose the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty. If the shogunate kills the imperial court, and the people of the world are not accused of being rebellious ministers and thieves? Tokugawa Ieyasu didn't have the courage to do so back then, let alone Tokugawa Iekei?

The second was the convergence of the shogunate and the imperial court, turning the two into one to form a strong central government that was justifiable, and then integrating the various feudal domains to truly unify Japan. This approach seems to be more reasonable, so now many people are advocating some kind of "combination of public and military", and Masahiro Abe also wants to test this aspect. However, if you want to "combine the public and military", you can't send a slap in the face of the shogunate, and you have to cooperate with the imperial court, so Abe wants to use this opportunity to ask the imperial court to make a decision, so that the imperial court can start to participate in politics partially.

Tokugawa Ikei stood up, patted Matsudaira Jianyu on the shoulder and said, "This time...... I won't bother the emperor, but I'm afraid the imperial court will have to get involved in politics after all. Jian Yu, use your brains more and think about any good ways to promote the reform of Japanese politics, whether it is possible to combine the public and the military. (To be continued......)