The Tokugawa shogunate really intended to directly govern Kyushu, just like the opening of a large number of ports after the retreat.

But it's one thing to want to do it, it's one thing to be able to do it, and it's another thing to do it.

The first step was naturally to cut the feudal domain, and small feudal lords such as the Karatsu clan were eliminated.

Some feudal lords were lobbying everywhere, and naturally they wanted to organize Tokugawa Iemitsu.

Tokugawa Iemitsu finally gave up the direct administration of Kyushu, and in addition to the great local resistance, another reason was the beginning of the "Kanei Great Famine".

Amakusa Shiro's rebellion was able to bring in a large number of peasants precisely because of the famine in Japan.

And just this year, an even greater famine broke out, and it will continue for several years: the Great Famine of Kanei in Japan. In the face of famine, Tokugawa Iemitsu, who had always advocated dictatorship, was forced to loosen his control over the local area, and the Karatsu Domain, which had been under the direct jurisdiction of the shogunate, was also redivided.

In the era of the Xiaoice River, no one was better.

There was a famine in the Ming Dynasty, a famine in Europe, and a famine in Japan.

The Tokugawa shogunate has even decided to issue a decree in the first month of next year: ban the sale of land throughout the country, and prohibit the division of peasants with less than 10 people, so as to protect farmers and agricultural production.

In the first month of the new year, before the Spring Festival, Lin Luoshan led a delegation to visit China.

Lin Luoshan is Japan's "imperial teacher", who has educated two shoguns in a row, and is already educating the third and fourth generations.

Throughout the Edo period, the ideological system that Hayashi Rayama constructed was the main ideology of Japanese society, and it was not abandoned until the Meiji Restoration.

This person is a crazy supporter of Zhu Xi, criticizing Lu Wang's Xinxue while absorbing Xinxue thoughts. He fused the science of mind with science, and he fused science with Shinto, redefining Shinto in Japan. He also advocated the rejection of Buddhism and the expulsion of Yahism, making Shinto the official religion of Japan.

This time, the Tokugawa shogunate set up an official school, and the whole set of plans came from the hands of Lin Luoshan!

According to tradition, the Japanese envoy to China had to be a monk. But Lin Luoshan hated monks very much, not only were most of the envoys Confucian, but also none of the monks were brought.

From Edo to Nagasaki, and from Nagasaki to Ryukyu by boat, Lin Luoshan traveled to Fuzhou.

Looking at the giant city of Fuzhou and witnessing the bustling port, Lin Luoshan not only sighed: "This is really the kingdom of the Heavenly Empire!" ”

After resting in Fuzhou for three days, Lin Luoshan took a boat to Ningbo. On the way, he encountered the patrol of the Fuzhou Naval Division, and Lin Luoshan said: "The giant ship is not inferior to the Nanban (Holland), and it must not be defeated." ”

All the way to Shanghai, they were finally received by local officials and sent a ship to Nanjing.

When Lin Luoshan disembarked in Nanjing, he was already numbed by the shock along the way. He was arranged to be sent to the foreign embassy hotel, and after staying in the hotel, he could not calm down, and asked the guards around him, "What did you see?" ”

The guard was called Yagyu Jubei, and his father, Yagyu Muneki, was the intelligence chief of the shogun.

At the age of thirteen, Yagyu Shibei was already an attendant of Tokugawa Iemitsu. When he became an adult, he was sent to various places to monitor and inquire about the words and deeds of local daimyos, and belonged to Tokugawa Iemitsu's absolute henchmen.

"Sir, I see abundance." Yagyu Jubei replied.

Lin Luoshan smiled: "China can be so rich because of Confucianism. As long as Japan also governs the country with Confucianism, supplemented by Shintoism, sooner or later it will be able to resemble China. ”

Yagyu Shibei said, "Mr. Takami. ”

Both of them knew in their hearts that although Lin Luoshan was the chief envoy of the envoy corps, Yanagi Shibei represented General Tokugawa.

Lin Luoshan's words were not only for Yagyu Shibei, but also for Tokugawa Iemitsu.

Lin Luoshan pushed open the window and looked at the big tree in the courtyard: "If Japan wants to be rich, it must not only govern the country with Confucianism, but also make friends with China. Trade with China, learn Chinese skills, learn everything about China. This is also the will of Ieyasu! ”

Yanagi Shibei nodded: "It is true that we should trade with China." ”

In the second year after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, Tokugawa Ieyasu wanted to restore diplomatic relations with China. In order to show goodwill, he also sent a boat to escort the captured Ming general Mao Guoke all the way to Fujian to return it.

The Ming court also responded, sending two merchant ships to Japan, wanting to make contact in an unofficial form first.

As a result, the two Chinese merchant ships were looted by Japanese pirates.

Although Tokugawa Ieyasu captured the pirates and put the pirate leader to death, the channels of communication between the two countries were severed.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was helpless, and conveyed goodwill through Korea, and the king of Korea said: Fuck you!

Immediately afterwards, Tokugawa Ieyasu asked Ryukyu to act as an intermediary. It just so happened that there was a Ming envoy group in Ryukyu, and Xia Ziyang and Wang Shizhen were inquiring: The Ming Dynasty sent two merchant ships to Japan, why did those two merchant ships disappear?

I don't understand this!

Eventually, Tokugawa Ieyasu sent an official letter to Daimei. It claims that Japan is the "country of Puer" and China is "the Ming Dynasty", "your country", and "China". Japan is willing to take the Ming Dynasty as its suzerain, and asks the Ming Dynasty to "take big things and small things", and Japan will definitely "take small things as big things".

There are Confucian diplomatic standards in "Zuo Biography": small is a big thing, and faith is also; Big is so small, benevolent.

That is, when a large country has diplomatic relations with a small country, it is necessary to have benevolence; Diplomatic relations between a small country and a large country must be honest.

The attempt to restore diplomatic relations with China continued throughout Tokugawa Ieyasu's career as a shogunate. And gradually the effect is received, but every time the relationship improves, there will be a raid by the Japanese robbers. The Ming monarchs were angry, and Tokugawa Ieyasu was even more angry, eager to personally drive the ship to kill those Japanese pirates.

It was not until Tokugawa Iemitsu came to the throne and was busy consolidating the rule of the shogunate, and the Ming was also busy dealing with the Manchus, that the two countries completely broke off communication.

"Knock knock!"

"Invite the messenger to dine."

The hotel handyman brought the meal, which was a very regular official working meal.

Yagyu Shibei picked up his chopsticks and ate slowly. After the handyman left, there was no stranger in the room, and the servant immediately buried his head and devoured the meal, even the grease at the bottom of the plate was wrapped in rice.

Lin Luoshan deliberately left a little bit and reminded: "How many times have you said it, pay attention to the daily micro-ends." If you eat the food cleanly, won't it expose that there is not enough food in Japan? Even the ministers of the shogunate couldn't eat delicious meals? ”

Yagyu Jubei said: "It's just that the Chinese food is so delicious that I can't help but eat it clean." ”

A high-ranking samurai like Yagyu Jubei actually had a good life, and he could see fish and meat every day. The lower-level samurai were very miserable, soaking rice in white water and eating pickles.

The Great Famine of Kanei is breaking out, in order to ensure the supply of food. The shogunate forbade peasants to buy and sell freely, and could only sell grain to regular merchants, who then transferred it to the shogunate and daimyos, and the price of grain had to be set by the shogunate.

Yagyu Shibei said: "My lord, I see that China has a lot of grain, and after the resumption of trade, it is better to buy grain from Chinese maritime merchants." Wouldn't this be the solution to the famine in Japan? ”

"No," Lin Luoshan waved his hand, "The diplomatic relations between the two countries are a big deal. Even if millions of peasants starved to death, it would not damage Japan's national prestige or break the face of the shogunate. If the Chinese Emperor knew that there was a famine in Japan, the Chinese monarchs and ministers would inevitably think that the shogunate was not benevolent. Heaven and man sense, only the unkind king, the heavens will send disasters. ”

Liu Sheng Shibei wanted to speak and stopped, and said in his stomach: If you say this, isn't it a general who is also an unkind king?

The meal had already been eaten, and the Yanagi Shibei wanted to go to the courtyard to practice swords, but Lin Luoshan asked, "I taught you Chinese etiquette, have you practiced them all?" ”

Yanagi Shibei said: "After practice, it is to kneel, bow and bow. ”

Lin Luoshan said: "Call everyone here, let's practice a few more times." It was customary for Chinese officials to teach foreign envoys etiquette. But we practice in advance so that we will not be ridiculed by the officials of the Ministry of Rites. ”

Seeing China's prosperity and wealth along the way made Lin Luoshan feel even more inferior, and he was even more unwilling to be looked down upon by Chinese monarchs and ministers.

Two days later, an official of the Ministry of Rites came: "Please send a messenger with me to His Majesty the Emperor." ”

Lin Luoshan was surprised: "Don't you train the etiquette of the audience?" ”

The official of the Ministry of Rites smiled and said: "At the beginning of the dynasty, Vientiane is renewed, and Your Majesty does not like red tape." ”

Lin Luoshan muttered in Japanese: "This ritual is also broken!" ”

Halfway through, Lin Luoshan asked again: "Your Majesty the Emperor of Datong of China, doesn't you live in the Forbidden City?" ”

An official from the Ministry of Rites explained: "The country is in ruins, and in recent years it has suffered from a major drought. His Majesty is benevolent and does not want to disturb the people, and the imperial city has not been repaired. Now that construction has begun, in a year or two, His Majesty will be able to move into the Forbidden City. ”

Lin Luoshan said with emotion: "With all the people in mind and not building civil engineering, the son of Datong Tianshu lives here, and he is really not a benevolent monarch!" ”

After walking more than 100 steps and walking through several corridors, the Japanese envoys met the emperor.

Lin Luoshan took the lead in kneeling: "Lower courtiers, meet His Majesty the Emperor of the Heavenly Empire!" ”

"Flat, give a seat!" Zhao Han said with a smile.

Before Yanagi Shibei could stand up, he secretly looked at the emperor. Mighty and tall, the momentum is extraordinary, and he is worthy of being the son of heaven in China.

On Zhao Han's table, there was a list of members of the envoy corps, and he glanced at everyone: "Who is the Yanagi Ten Soldiers?" ”

Lin Luoshan understood Chinese, and hurriedly said, "The emperor called you!" ”

The Yanagi Shibei, who had just sat down, left his seat again, ran forward, knelt down and bowed: "Yanagi Shibei, meet Your Majesty!" ”

Zhao Han was a little disappointed, the famous Yanagi Shibei did not have the mighty image in the game at all. Although he was still strong, he was so short that he knelt there like a half-grown child.

Zhao Han said: "You are the chief of guard of the Japanese mission, and you want to be proficient in martial arts. Where are the weapons? ”

Lin Luoshan hurriedly translated.

Yagyu Shibei replied, "When I met His Majesty, I was taken away by the female officials and guards. ”

Zhao Han was full of evil taste: "And bring his weapon, I heard that Japanese swordsmanship is quite unique, so I will learn a few tricks from my guards here." ”

Lin Luoshan hurriedly admonished: "You have to go all out, you can't fall into the majesty of the shogunate, but you can't kill or injure the guards of the Chinese emperor." ”

So how to fight?

Yagyu Shibei was immediately confused.