In the name of the Japanese Okadōshogun, send an envoy to China? Isn't that the beginning of "Tonghuaxia"?

Tokugawa Mitsukoku's expression was slightly gloomy, but he gritted his teeth and smiled, quietly looking at his teacher Zhu Shunshui. In the eyes of he, a master of China, Japan, and history, if Japan wants to maintain its independence and not become a vassal of China, it must implement the national policy of "eliminating China" as much as possible! Even if you want to hug the thick legs of Western Baiyi for this, it is worth it.

After all, the West is far away and China is near! And the civilization of Japan. Its roots are in China!

Therefore, no matter how pro-Western Japan is, it is impossible for Japan to be absorbed by the West. And once Japan gets too close to China, it is very likely that it will eventually integrate into the Chinese world! Moreover, integration into China means inevitable weakness for Japan!

Because the "Edo and Osaka" of the Chinese world cannot be in Japan, only in China.

Now samurai all over Japan yearn for Edo, and merchants all over Japan yearn for Osaka. When Japan was integrated into the Chinese world, Japanese samurai and merchants would yearn for the great generals of Nanjing and the prosperity of Suzhou, Guangzhou, and Ningbo.

At that point, Japan will be dead in name!

But the current situation is such that Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the elder, has to temporarily pass through Huaxia.

A hint of iron blue flashed on Tokugawa Mitsukoku's face, and he calmed down as usual in a blink of an eye. Picked up a Chinese-style teacup and took a sip.

"Since the teacher has said so, then I will let my brother Lai Chong go to Nanjing, he is now living in seclusion in the Takamatsu Mansion in Edo, and it should be enough for him to represent the Tokugawa family, right?"

Tokugawa Mitsukuni's brother was named Matsudaira Yorishige. Although these two brothers have two surnames, the elder brother's surname is Matsudaira, and the younger brother's surname is Tokugawa, but there is nothing to say about their feelings.

This Tokugawa Mitsukuni has a son of his own, but the family business is not passed on to his son, so he adopted Matsudaira Yorishige's son as an heir. And Matsudaira Yorishige also had a domain, which was the Takamatsu domain on the island of Shikoku, with only 120,000 koku, although it was not as good as the Mito domain, but it was also stronger than nothing. So Matsudaira Yoshige took in Tokugawa Mitsukuni's own son and became the heir of the Takamatsu Domain, and he didn't wait for his life to die, so he gave up his seat to this adopted son in advance.

This time, Tokugawa Mitsukuni sent his brother Lai Zhong to Daming to meet General Li, which can be described as full of sincerity. But he just asked Yorishige to represent the Tokugawa family and not the Tokugawa shogunate!

This shows that Guangguo is still unwilling to break the national policy of "Peerless China" that Japan has implemented for 700 years!

Of course, Zhu Shunshui understands Tokugawa Mitsukoku's thoughts - he has been in Japan for so many years, and he has also been a teacher of Kokoku, can he still not know Japan's national will to destroy China?

But the problem is that now China has become a maritime power!

The distance of the ocean could not stop the national will of China to enter the New World eastward.

And to cross the ocean to the east and enter the New World, you must pass through Japan, so Japan's self-extinction China and China's eastward expansion of the New World have collided fiercely!

Thinking of this, Zhu Shunshui also knew that he sighed: "Zilong (Tokugawa Guangguo Zilong), it is impossible to change the determination of the Ming Dynasty to enter the New World in the east, and the Ming Dynasty also has the strength to achieve this goal After all, Spain only has a population of more than 6 million, and the Ming Dynasty now has a population of more than 60 million. After the Ming Dynasty recovers the Central Plains and Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu, the population may be able to break 10,000! Is this something that Spain can resist? ”

Tokugawa Mitsuki said firmly, "Although Japan has a Chinese population of only 20 million, it has never surrendered to any strong enemy since ancient times, not even as strong as Mongolia!" ”

"Yield." Zhu Shunshui could only shake his head, "Zilong, how do you know that General Li wants Japan to submit?" A Japan that is divided by a group of heroes may be what he wants! ”

Tokugawa Mitsukuni was stunned for a moment, and Zhu Shunshui on the opposite side had already put down the chess pieces in his hand and stood up: "Let's stop here today, I'm a little tired as a teacher, go and rest first!" ”

Without waiting for Tokugawa Mitsukoku to react, he staggered out of Mitsukoku's study.

By the time Tokugawa Mitsukoku reacted, Zhu Shunshui was gone, and he hurriedly coughed: "An needle!"

"Your Highness, you called me?"

The little surname of Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the shogunate flag from Nagasaki, the fourth-generation Miura Yasushi answered, and immediately came up.

"Prepare a sedan chair and go to the Takamatsu Domain!"

"Hay!"

The Takamatsu Castle was located two blocks away from the Mito Domain. However, "Tokugawa Ziryu" did not go to the Takamatsu Domain to discuss with his brother about the envoy to the Ming Dynasty, but to meet with Spearman, the governor of Batavia of the Dutch East India Company, in the Takamatsu Domain.

Recently, the news coming back from Kyushu is very worrying, because the Chikuzen Kuroda family strictly implemented the "One Country, One City Order" issued by Tokugawa Ieyasu, so in the entire Chikuzen country, there is only one castle, Fukuoka Castle!

You must know that in the Warring States Period, there were not 100 or 80 large and small castles in Chikuzen Province, and a dense defense system was formed. In the late Kamakura shogunate, when the Genko attacked, a large number of forts were built in northern Kyushu to defend against the Mongols. This allowed the Kyushu samurai to suppress the invading Yuan army on the beachhead. Wait for the kamikaze!

And now. The entire Chikuzen Castle is a Fukuoka Castle, and it is also located near the beachhead by the sea. After the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Kuroda Tsunasa, Fukuoka Castle was not defended at all, and it was directly broken by the Korean soldiers.

Of course, the Kuroda family and Chikuzen Kunichu's only castle are very important! The 500,000 koku savings, grain, grass, armaments, and even the account books of the 500,000 koku territory of the Fukuoka Domain are all stored in Fukuoka Castle!

All these things belong to Yang Qilong!

And the Kuroda Tsunamasa, who lost the Kuroda family for decades in a battle, was still a shameful Japanese samurai, and he committed suicide by seppuku after escaping to the Mikazuki Mountains!

His suicide, coupled with the Kuroda family's losses in the first battle of the Kubara beachhead and the destruction of Fukuoka Castle, almost swept away the high-level backbone of the family! Even the heads of the two clans were killed in battle. As a result, the dignified Chikuzen Kuroda actually fell into the predicament of a group of dragons without a leader, and the entire Chikuzen was swept away by the invading Korean army!

And next door to Chikuzen Fukuoka Domain is the Karatsu Domain of the Okubo Tadashi Dynasty, but the Karatsu Domain only has a territory of 83,000 stones, and there are many people and samurai who secretly believe in Catholicism, and more than 30 years ago in the "Shimabara Rebellion", the Catholics in the Karatsu Domain also participated, so afterwards the lord of the Karatsu Domain, Terasawa Tentaka, was reduced to 40,000 stones, and later because he was humiliated, he committed suicide in the Kaizenji Temple in Edo, and as a result, because he had no son, even the Karatsu Domain disappeared for a time, It was not until 1649 that Okubo Tadashi, the adoptive father of Okubo Tadashito, took over the ownership, and it was reopened.

However, this series of events still seriously affected the internal stability of the Karatsu Domain, resulting in a large number of Catholic ronins living in its territory, and the relationship between the Karatsu Domain authorities and the people was also relatively tense.

Yang Qilong had already found out the inside story of the Tangjin Domain by catching the Japanese merchants in the Kuyangpo Wakan, so after the capture of Fukuoka Castle, he immediately sent two battalions of the Korean New Army to march to the Tangjin Domain under the banners of "Cross Flag" and "Heavenly Brother Descends", pretending to be a Catholic crusader.

As a result, all the retainers who remained in the Karatsu domain of the Okubo Tadashi Dynasty were deceived, and they really thought that the invasion was a "crusader", and immediately ordered the suppression of the Catholics in the territory, causing a great chaos, and then Karatsu Castle could not be defended, and was soon broken by the army sent by Yang Qilong.

At the same time, Yang Qilong's army also captured many islands in the sea off the north of Kyushu, including Tsushima Island, Iki Island, Genkai Island, Shika Island, and Eagle Island, which also fell into the hands of Yang Qilong's Korean army!

There is no doubt that this invasion organized by Yang Qilong was much more successful than the Yuankou invasion hundreds of years ago!

The invading Koreans have gained a foothold in northern Kyushu. The Tokugawa shogunate, on the other hand, was a little helpless.

Although Okubo Tadashi has rushed to Kyushu to dispatch troops, can those ill-intentioned Kyushu daimyo listen to the words of this shogunate veteran who has not even kept his own territory?

Satsuma's Shimazu, Choshu's Mori, and Yonezawa's Uesugi have all been a little ready to stir lately, and the Tosa Domain of Shikoku is also a bit of a commotion!

In addition, the ronins gathered in Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto are not very stable, and it seems that all sides are preparing for a major chaos that is about to change the power structure in Japan.

"Lord, with all due respect, the current predicament of Japan and the Tokugawa shogunate is in fact the fate that Japan will inevitably face as an island nation next to the mainland!"

The Dutchman Spearman who was discussing the "fate of Japan" with Tokugawa Mitsukuni in the Takamatsu Domain, spoke Dutch, and of course Tokugawa Mitsukuni did not understand. However, the fourth generation of his new surname, Miura Yasushi, is fluent in Dutch because he has been a general minister in Nagasaki for generations, and he will act as a translator today.

"Fate?" After listening to Miura's translation, Tokugawa Mitsukuni frowned, "What fate?" ”

"In Europe, an island nation or a country on the periphery with island-like topography, such as England and the Netherlands, fears the continent to be ruled by a power! Because once such a power appears, then the island country and the country with a similar terrain on the edge will lose its own independence and thus become a vassal of the continental power! It is for this reason that for many years we in the Netherlands and the English in Britain, as well as Sweden on the Nordic peninsula, have been opponents of the powerful Habsburgs. We will do everything we can, even at the cost of bloodshed, to resolutely prevent the Habsburgs from turning Germany into a unified state. Luckily, our efforts have been successful! ”

Europe has been in constant strife since the weakening of the Roman Empire, and it can be regarded as having eaten the geopolitical set thoroughly!

And the Dutch are one of the veteran players. Although they are not really island nations, they have turned themselves into a "quasi-island nation" by digging canals and blowing up seawalls if necessary.

In addition, the Dutch were committed to opposing the unification of the Habsburgs until the end of the Thirty Years' War.

And after they boiled the Habsburgs to the brim, they immediately changed their position, and seemed to turn themselves into allies of the Habsburgs against France, regardless of the bloody feud of the 80-year war.

As for England, the "beloved relatives and friends" who are related to the Netherlands, they are even more masters of playing with continental powers, and when they were against Habsburg, they were the backbone, and even made such a strange thing as "royal pirates".

And now that the Habsburgs are coming to an end, Louis the Great is rising, and the enemies of the British are gradually changing from Habsburg to France. In order to fight France, Britain is even preparing to form an alliance with its own rival Netherlands!

Properly in order to prevent European unity, English profiteers can "hate money"!

"But we in Japan are facing a China that has been unified since ancient times!" Tokugawa Mitsukuni already understood what Spearman meant, and then he frowned deeply.

"Since ancient times?" Spearman said coldly, "But there is no unification in China now!" Elder . Now that China has not yet been unified, Japan is already feeling the tremendous pressure from the East Asian continent, right? If they really complete the reunification, then Japan will always be trampled underfoot! ”

"Governor, I know more about Huaxia than you!" Tokugawa Mitsukuni shook his head, "It's not like they haven't been unified in the past!" ”

"But this time it's different!" Spearman said, "Now, the sea between Japan and China can no longer stop the Chinese navy and merchant ships, which belong to China, no, it belongs to the whole of East Asia, and now it has come!" ”

"Mr. Governor-General, do you think that with the national power of Japan, it is possible to prevent their unification?" Tokugawa Mitsukuni asked worriedly.

"No, Japan is not alone!" Spearman shook his head and said, "The Netherlands, England, Spain, Portugal, and Germany will be with Japan, and perhaps Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia will join in!" ”

"But they're all far away!" Tokugawa Mitsukuni said, "And the Koreans have landed!" ”

It's a bit of a difficult question. North Korea has landed in Japan, and Mei Dad. Not yet established!

"Elder," Spearman said with a smile, "Elder, although we are far away, we can provide muskets, artillery, and gunpowder, which can help Japan train its army, and we can also directly hire troops in Japan!" Japan is the most lacking. It's a samurai! If I'm not mistaken, Japan has a population of more than 20 million! And there is an eternally long military tradition that if there is enough money and armaments, an army of millions can be organized! ”

"You mean, Western countries pay for Japanese samurai to fight the Ming Dynasty?"

"That's right! This was a war between the Western countries and the Ming Dynasty. We must contain the Ming in order to defend our overseas colonies! ”

"I see."

What Tokugawa Mitsukuni didn't realize that what Spearman was telling him was actually another fate of Japan - that the country could become a cannon fodder producer! Provide cannon fodder for Westerners to contain the Ming Dynasty, or for the Ming Dynasty to counterattack the West!

If the situation is ideal, when the Ming Army and the British Army are in India or elsewhere in the future, the guns on both sides may be Japanese!

This overseas zero-yuan purchase actually relies mainly on mercenaries to do it.

After all, this job has been gone for many years, and at least it is still a "five deaths, five lives", "four deaths and six lives" job, and if you are not careful, you will die in a foreign land.

Therefore, governments are not afraid to use their own descendants to risk their colonies, and it is ideal to spend some money to hire foreigners to send heads. Even if you use natives, you have to spend money to hire them, and it is easier to use. Even if the losses are relatively large, they are not afraid of the people in China making trouble.

When the Europeans pioneered the British Empire, which was the most ferocious colony, did not implement compulsory military service when they fought the Napoleonic Wars, they continued to spend money to hire soldiers, and even hired foreign troops to help them fight the emperor.

And the Netherlands is all over the world to rob colonial strongholds, and when they are coachmen at sea, they mainly rely on mercenaries, especially foreign mercenaries, to fight! Even their homeland is protected by foreign mercenaries.

Otherwise, it will rely on the Netherlands' own 3 million people, what is enough?

Although the population of the Ming Dynasty is sufficient, the land of the Ming Dynasty is also fertile, the industry and commerce are particularly developed, and there are many policies to suppress annexation, so the 60 million people and the people are living well, and the price of engaging in mercenaries in the local area is very high, which is also the reason why Li Yat-sen has not been able to go outside to rob the colony.

If he wants to forcibly send a large number of national troops to do this, and suffer a large loss, then the foundation of his rule will be unstable.

Therefore, the army sent by Li Yat-sen to occupy the island in Nanyang was not only mercenaries, but also hired in the name of the "Yuehai Trading Company", and cleaned up the Ming court and the general's mansion

(End of chapter)