While Zhu Cijiong was busy with the aftermath of the Chahar Mongols, Tokugawa Iemitsu, the general of the Japanese Empire, was also convening a group of officials of the shogunate to discuss whether to agree to the Osaka Treaty proposed by Chongzhen.

After reading the text that Tokugawa Yoshinao brought back, there was a lot of noise in the hall.

The hardliners, led by Matsudaira Nobutsuna, advocated confronting the Ming to the end.

The Huairou faction, led by Masamori Horita, advocated sacrificing interests for peace.

"Your Excellency General, the national strength of the Ming Dynasty is far ten or even a hundred times that of Japan, and a head-on confrontation with the Ming Dynasty will not have any chance of winning, but will only cause trouble." Horita Masamori said in a sincere tone, "The conditions proposed by Emperor Ming are really harsh, but then again, Japan can't afford it. ”

"Yaga, what kind of are you talking about?"

"It's not your Horita family's fief that you ceded together, right?"

"It's really generous that you ceded Osaka as soon as you touched the skin of the Horita family."

"What about Osaka? There are also five million taels of gold, fifty million taels of silver, and 100 million catties of copper, where will so much gold, silver, and copper come from? Is it a from the domain of the Hitorita family? ”

Masamori Horita's statement immediately drew a collective condemnation.

The other Huairou factions didn't dare to say a word.

They were afraid to confront the Ming, but they didn't want to pay either.

Matsudaira Nobutsuna said to Tokugawa Iemitsu again: "Your Excellency General, the Yamato nation is unconquerable, the Ming Emperor delusionally wanted to conquer Japan with a naval division and only 20,000 infantry, this is wishful thinking, we only need to gather all 260 daimyo in Japan, plus more than 80,000 banners, it is enough to crush the invading enemy!" ”

"Matsudaira-sama is right, the Yamato nation will never be conquered."

"It is absolutely impossible to call the Ming Dynasty a vassal, this is unacceptable."

"It is even more impossible to pay compensation for land cession, and it is better to die in battle than to pay compensation for land cession."

"Opening up coastal ports to trade would be even more detrimental, and it would shake the foundations of the Tokugawa shogunate."

As soon as Matsudaira Nobutsuna's words fell, several of the main battle of Wakanian, Honxing, and Omefu became clamoring again, as if as long as they roared a few times here, they could bombard the Ming army away from Osaka Castle.

However, Tokugawa Iemitsu is not a hairy young man in his early twenties after all.

Tokugawa Iemitsu is in his forties and has been a general for more than 20 years.

Therefore, Tokugawa Iemitsu did not adopt the opinions of either the main battle faction or the Huairou faction, but turned his attention to Inaba Masato, who was originally stationed in Osaka.

Among the dozen or so subordinate officials present, only Tokugawa Yoshinao and Inaba Masato, who really fought against the Ming army.

But Tokugawa Yoshinao is inclined to Huairou, so his opinion is not credible, only Inaba Masato, Matsudaira Nobutsuna, a few of them grew up with him, and they will never lie to him.

So Tokugawa Iemitsu wanted to hear the opinion of Inaba Masato.

"Inaba-kun, what is your opinion? Is it war or peace? ”

The Huairou faction led by Horita Masamori and the main battle faction led by Matsudaira Nobutsuna looked at it together.

Inaba Masato, who did not evade the question, said very seriously: "Your Excellency the General, the minister thinks that he must fight!" ”

Hearing this, Tokugawa Iemitsu's brows furrowed slightly, and Matsudaira Nobutsuna and several other main battle factions looked excited.

However, Inaba Masato's words changed and continued: "However, it is by no means now, if a war with the Ming Dynasty starts now, Japan may not even have a chance of winning." ”

"Inaba-kun, what do you mean?"

Matsudaira Nobutsuna was suddenly a little unhappy.

"Matsudaira-kun, what I mean is already clear." Inaba Masato, said solemnly, "The difference between the level of firearms between our army and the Ming army is too great, and there is no chance of victory in the war now." ”

"Therefore, the top priority is to make a mistake with the Ming Dynasty and stabilize the Ming army first."

"After stabilizing the Ming army, we will vigorously develop armaments, and at the same time purchase firearms from Hongyi, especially Hongyi artillery, which is the most critical to defeating the Ming army!"

After a pause, he said, "So, we must sign this Osaka Treaty." ”

Tokugawa Iemitsu nodded silently, finally hearing a reliable statement.

At that moment, he turned his head to Tokugawa Yoshinao and said, "Uncle Jiu, and the predecessors of Horita, I still bother you to go to Osaka Castle and sign this Osaka Treaty with the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. ”

"Osaka can be ceded to the Ming garrison."

"The Emperor of Japan can also remove the Emperor by himself."

"All coastal ports could also be fully open."

"It doesn't matter, you can promise them."

"The so-called treaty is nothing more than a piece of paper that can be torn up at any time."

After a pause, Tokugawa Iemitsu continued: "There is only one item, an indemnity of five million taels of gold, fifty million taels of silver, and 100 million catties of copper, and you must strive for enough years, preferably fifty years!" ”

In fifty years, only 100,000 taels of gold, 1 million taels of silver, and 2 million catties of brass or copper have to be paid in a year, and the pressure is not so great.

"Hello!" Tokugawa Yoshinao and Horita Masamori stood up and paused.

Seeing off Tokugawa Yoshinao and Horita Masamori, Matsudaira Nobutsuna asked again: "Your Excellency, even if you pay it in fifty installments, the amount to be paid every year is extremely huge, not to mention the interest, where does this expenditure come from?" Is it to levy taxes on the daimyo and the flags personally led by the shoguns, or to tax the common people of all Japan? ”

Everyone up their ears because it's in their vital interest.

Tokugawa Iemitsu said in a deep voice, "Taxes were levied on merchants, especially the Sumitomo family. ”

……

In Beijing, Zhu Cihong summoned several cabinet elders at the Huangji Gate, the secretary of the Sixth Ministry and other Jiuqing, as well as Ma Mingluo, the director of the Internal Affairs Office, and more than a dozen people such as Ruan Dacheng and Chen Zilong.

If we compare the Great Dynasty to a National Committee, then the meeting in front of us is the Standing Committee.

This is not what Chongzhen wants, at least not to get out of the Standing Committee early at this time.

Therefore, this Standing Committee was formed by Zhu Cihong, the prince of the prison state, and he is really politically talented, and he knows that he will first get a breath at the Standing Committee, and then take it to the court meeting for a vote after basically reaching a consensus, so that he can avoid fierce quarrels and even a stalemate at the court meeting.

Of course, this is also a sign of lack of confidence in yourself.

If you're confident in yourself, there's no need to do anything else.

Zhu Cihong obviously does not have the prestige of Chongzhen, and he does not feel that he has the appeal of his father, so when he encounters things, he is more inclined to discuss with the military attaché of Wenchen.

"First of all, I'm here to apologize to you."

"At the beginning of the first month, I summoned you to the Huangji Gate, so that you can't accompany your family with peace of mind, this is lonely, but lonely, it is also helpless, and there is a big event."

Zhu Cihong came up and apologized, and his posture was very low.

Zhang Shenyan hurriedly said: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is serious, sharing the worries of the monarch and father, and relieving the country's difficulties, it is originally the duty of the ministers, so why apologize." ”

The rest of the elders and Jiuqing also echoed one after another.

Ma Mingluo and more than a dozen people from the Internal Affairs Office did not say a word, and even seemed a little impatient, because these people had already adapted to Chongzhen's style, and their principle of dealing with people was not to say useless nonsense, not to do meaningless and useless acts, and to go straight to the point when talking about things.

What Zhu Cihong said just now is obviously nonsense.

Fortunately, Zhu Cihong quickly cut to the topic.

"Since ancient times, the border troubles from the north have always been the henchmen of the Central Plains Dynasty!"

"The dynasty that died because of the northern Hu cavalry went south is also too numerous to mention, during the Yingzong Dynasty, my Ming Dynasty almost repeated the mistake of Hu cavalry going south, fortunately Yu Shaobao turned the tide."

"Even so, the border troubles from the north still consume half of Damingtai's national strength."

"The setting of the nine-sided town almost dragged down the finances of the Ming Dynasty, which gave Jiannu the opportunity to sit on the big side."

"However, throughout history, there are not a few Chinese ancestors who defeated Mobei Huqi, Wei Qinghuo went to illness in the Han Dynasty, Li Jing and Li Tao in the Tang Dynasty, and Xu Da, Lan Yu and Emperor Cheng Zuwen in this dynasty have whipped Mongolia many times, but it is easy to defeat Hu Cai, but it is difficult to conquer and even effectively rule the Mobei grassland."

Speaking of this, Zhu Cihong sent out a soul torture question: "What? ”

Zhu Guochang, the imperial history of Zuodu, immediately said: "If it is not my race, its heart will be different, the reason why my Central Plains Dynasty cannot implement effective rule over the Mobei Hu people is because it is not the same kind, that's all." ”

"Zuo Duxian's words are difficult for the officials to agree with." Zheng Jinxuan, the supervisor of Beijing Guozi, who was honored to attend the Standing Committee of the Standing Committee as an observer, said disapprovingly, "Jiannu is a Jurchen and not the same kind as the Mongols, but why can they exercise effective rule over the Mongols of Horqin, Chahar and Tumut? ”

Wang Yingxiong, the envoy of the general government, said: "Or be afraid of the force of Jiannu." ”

"Wang Yintai forgives the officials for saying this, and they dare not agree with it." Ruan Dacheng got up and said, "The force of Jiannu may be better than that of the Mongol tribes, but it is far inferior to the Beijing camp led by Emperor Cheng Zuwen of this dynasty. ”

After saying this, Ruan Dacheng shook his sleeves again, and finally let out the evil breath in his chest.

"Ruan's admonition, this is sophistry." Liu Shizhen, the secretary of the Criminal Department, retorted, "At this time and that time, how can the Mongolian tribes of Emperor Cheng Zuwen be the same as the Mongolian tribes at the moment? ”

Just when the two sides were arguing, a voice suddenly sounded: "Don't fight, although the Jiannu force is strong, it is not as strong as the three major battalions led by Chengzu, no matter how weak the current Mongolian tribes are, they will not be slightly weaker than the Mongolia of the year, and the reason why Jiannu can obtain the allegiance of the Mongol tribes in southern Mo is only one reason, that is, marriage!" ”

Zhu Cihong couldn't help but follow the voice to look over, because this person said what he wanted to say.

However, to Zhu Cihong's surprise, it was the first assistant Zhang Shenyan who said this.

"What do you mean by that?" Not surprisingly, Zhang Shenyan's words immediately attracted a siege from the ministers, and even if he was the first assistant of the cabinet, he was still not spared, "Is the first minister to be close?" Sacrificing women in exchange for peace on the frontier? ”

(End of chapter)