Odawara Castle, Honmaru.

Zhuge shook the feather fan for the road, and Zheng Guoxian together, followed by Tokugawa Qizhao and Okubo Tadashi, and swaggered up the stairs.

Zhuge Weidao was still quite curious about this famous city, but after he really entered the castle of Odawara Castle, he was very disappointed - this is a half-abandoned castle that has fallen into disrepair, looks dilapidated everywhere, and has long lost its former glory. Of course, considering that the Odawara Domain was only a small domain with a territory of more than 80,000 stones, it was not surprising that it could not maintain the large city of Odawara Castle.

However, when the sliding door of the Honmaru Imperial Palace was opened, Zhuge Weidao still felt a little bit of grandeur - it was still quite big, and there must have been many retainers gathered here to discuss with the hapless Hojo clan how to deal with Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army of more than 200,000 people, right? It seems that those Hojo retainers and clans faced an overwhelming enemy and couldn't discuss a way at all, but just held endless meetings, so that the "Odawara assessment" became a meme later...... Hopefully, this time, Tokugawa Ieki will be able to make the right choice quickly!

If he also comes to a "Odawara assessment", it will still be a bit troublesome.

Zhuge Weidao, who walked into the palace with this in mind, suddenly saw a familiar face smiling at him...... It's not Daikokura, oh, it's Tokugawa Sora now! She's actually here, and it seems that Tokugawa Ieki is ready to compromise.

Zhuge Wei thought to himself: "Tokugawa Ieki should already know that the Ming Dynasty and Great Britain have reached a compromise on the Japanese issue, and the British Empire will no longer aid Japan...... They have already conceded and left the game, giving up Japan as a potential ally! Without British support, it was impossible for the Tokugawa shogunate to survive the war with the Ming Dynasty. Even if Japan could rely on a long guerrilla war to drive the Ming army away, the Tokugawa shogunate, which had long since decayed and declined, could not assume the responsibility of leading Japan against the Ming dynasty, so compromise was actually the most beneficial for the Tokugawa shogunate. And the strategy that Daming is now adopting also makes it easy for Tokugawa Ieki to choose to compromise......"

At this time, Zhuge Weidao had already followed Tokugawa Qizhao and Okubo Tadashi to a place not too far from the Tokugawa family who was kneeling. Zhuge Weidao looked at the Tokugawa family in the dim light, and found that it was an old, pale, somewhat obese man, who looked very tired and worried.

There is no need to introduce, Zhuge Weidao also knew that the seat in front of him was the Tokugawa family, so he arched his hand and said with a smile: "Your Excellency General, the foreign minister Zhuge is polite!" ”

Zheng Guoxian, who was beside him, gave a military salute because he was wearing the military uniform of the Ming Army, and then stood straight in front of General Tokugawa.

"Sit, sit," Tokugawa Ieqi said in stiff Chinese, "Hurry up, get a stool for Master Zhuge and Lieutenant Colonel Zheng." ”

The little surname who was guarding the side hurriedly brought two stools that could be folded up, and invited Zhuge Weidao and Zheng Guoxian to sit down - these two stools should have been sat on by the Japanese generals when they went to the battlefield, and they were not comfortable to sit up at all.

"Your Excellency General," Zhuge shook his fan for Dao, looking like he was a bamboo in his chest, "Our 220,000 soldiers of the Ming Navy Army are in Edo Bay just for your words!" ”

"220,000" is the total strength of Toyotomi Hideyoshi when he fought the battle of Odawara, Zhuge Weidao is now falsely claiming that the Daming Navy Army also came 220,000, of course, in order to give the Tokugawa family a little psychological hint - his current situation is the same as the Hojo family back then, he can't fight against the general trend of the world, if he resists stubbornly, the result can only be destruction!

"Yours, do you want the official to surrender?" Tokugawa Ieki seemed to have misunderstood the meaning of Zhuge Weidao, and immediately sank his face and continued to speak his Japanese Chinese, "My, Japanese shogun, I'd rather die than surrender!" ”

Zhuge Weidao listened to the words of this Japanese general, and couldn't help laughing, "Your Excellency General, you don't know anything about the good-neighborly and friendly policy pursued by our Ming Dynasty, right?" How could we, the Ming Dynasty, ask you, the great general of Japan, to surrender? ”

Love to read

Zheng Guoxian could speak two sentences of Japanese, and said with a smile: "Mixi, Mixi, our Ming Dynasty is here to help Japan, and there is no need for the general pavilion to surrender." ”

Tokugawa Ieki breathed a sigh of relief: "That's ...... You Daming, do you want my Japanese ministers to work? ”

Ministers? Zhuge said for the Taoist heart: "You are so beautiful...... The dog of the Ming Dynasty, no, is a vassal minister, where can you be a Japanese country? ”

"Your Excellency General," Zheng Guoxian explained in unfamiliar Japanese at this time, "your Japanese country does not meet the requirements of my Ming Empire to accept the vassal state, and you cannot be a minister of the Ming Dynasty." ”

The Tokugawa family was stunned for a moment, and said in their hearts: "I am a big Japan, why don't I even have the qualifications to be a dog for Daming?" ”

Tokugawa Qizhao on the side hurriedly explained: "Lord Gongfang, the several vassal states of the Ming Dynasty are quite wealthy, and the per capita income is almost half to two-thirds of that of the Ming Dynasty, which is close to Britain and France. Japan, on the other hand, is relatively poor, with a per capita income of less than one-tenth of that of the Ming Dynasty, and the gap between the rich and the poor in the country is too large. The rich are enough to rival the country, and the poor sell their sons and daughters...... Therefore, I will not be accepted as a vassal state by the Ming Dynasty, and you can rest assured that the princess can be absolutely assured. ”

Is this good news?

Tokugawa Ieki is also speechless, co-authoring Japan is now because it is poor, so it can't be the dog of the Ming Dynasty!

Qi Zhao's words were roughly translated by Zheng Guoxian, Zhuge Weidao looked at the Tokugawa family Qi as if he was a little disappointed, so he hurriedly comforted him and said: "Your Excellency General, in fact, many of my Ming vassal states, such as Korea, Annam, Zhenla, Nanzhang, Burma, etc., were also very poor when they became the Ming vassal states, even poorer than Japan, but with the support of the Ming Dynasty, they have now become a paradise for the people of Guotai and the people...... Therefore, as long as Japan works hard enough, there is a good hope that it will become a member of the Ming Dynasty in the future! ”

The Tokugawa family is going to be speechless!

Co-authored with me, Japan still has to work hard to be a dog for Daming?

Zheng Guoxian said: "Gongfang, becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty has many benefits!" First of all, you Japan will be able to join the great market of the Celestial Empire dominated by the Ming Dynasty...... Goods, people, capital, and technology can circulate freely in the Ming Dynasty and all the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, and there will be no restrictions!

Secondly, Japan, as a poor vassal state of the Great Ming Dynasty, could receive poverty alleviation support from the Ming Dynasty...... The Daming Society provides interest-free or low-interest loans to Japan, specifically for the construction of railways, roads, ports, schools and other facilities to help Japan develop.

Third, if Japan encounters natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and droughts, the Ming Dynasty and other wealthy vassal states will work together to provide assistance to Japan to prevent Japan from falling into famine.

Fourth, the Ming Dynasty and all the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty realized mutual defense protection and advanced and retreated together. So Japan's national security will be very guaranteed! If Japan was willing to take on additional military responsibilities, the Ming and other vassal states would also give Japan a financial subsidy. ”

I have to say that it is really very happy to be a dog for the current Daming! Those vassal states that were vassals to the Ming Dynasty did develop their economies under the support of the Ming Dynasty, and transformed from poor countries to rich countries - now Southeast Asia under the leadership of the Ming Dynasty is almost as rich as Western Europe, and maybe a little richer.

But Da Ming is not alive...... Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty will come to "help" Japan!

Those Southeast Asian countries that became rich countries with the help of the Ming Dynasty did not have many populations, and they were rich in resources and had large territories. After getting the investment of the Ming Dynasty, absorbing the immigrants of the Ming Dynasty, and establishing the education system and bureaucratic system under the guidance of the Ming Dynasty,

In fact, those Southeast Asian countries were also "rich" when they were colonies of Europeans in history, and exported a large amount of spices, sugar, non-ferrous metals, oil, rubber, palm oil, timber, and grain to Europe every year. But he is always not rich, and the reason is self-evident...... And the food of the Ming Dynasty is much better than that of those European colonizers.

But the situation in Japan is different, because there are many people and few resources, it is difficult to get rich, once you join the big family of the Celestial Empire, the Ming Dynasty does not have the ability to increase the per capita of Japan in a short period of time, so that a large number of Japanese will move to the Ming Dynasty and other vassal states, which will bring a problem of resource and land redistribution. Because once they entered the Ming Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty, they were eligible to participate in Juntian.

Moreover, in the early years, Japan's population was relatively 40% of the Ming Dynasty, once it joined the Ming system, the per capita increase, and the population growth rate would be consistent with the Ming Dynasty, which would allow the Japanese to occupy more resources and land ..... in the embodiment of the Ming Dynasty.