October 9, 1727, Nagyeong (formerly Ninju, present-day Sapporo, Hokkaido)

The night was already dark, and in the back house of Ji Qitang, the first assistant of the Beiming Cabinet, several young Korean maidservants were dancing.

In the sound of silk and bamboo wind music, Ji Qitang squinted his eyes, leaned on the soft collapse, and comfortably held the wine glass, quietly admiring.

A Japanese maid knelt in front of the collapse and gently beat his waist and legs for him.

Changning, which has entered autumn, is a little cold at night. But in Ji Qitang's back house, it was as warm as noon in early June.

The spacious hall is home to an intricately designed fireplace and underfloor heating, which burn in before the cold winter arrives, bringing a cosy and welcoming warmth.

In the furnace outside the temple, the coals were burned red.

In Yunzhou, there is a lot of coal, and with the respect of the prime minister, the cost here is not distressing.

Without him, he is old and a little afraid of cold.

An attendant squatted outside the hall to observe, add or subtract coals at any time, so as to maintain the temperature inside in a comfortable range for Ji Qitang.

This is the bearing of the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty.

Just this one hall, this night heating, silk and bamboo orchestra, drinking and dining, may cost several silver dollars, enough to pay for half a month of ordinary people.

But the Ji family wouldn't even blink.

Because, the Ji family has enough profligacy, the generous treatment as the first assistant, the public service money of the senior cabinet ministers, the rewards of His Majesty the Emperor on the daily festivals, as well as the farms opened in Zhenzhou, Kuye Island and other places, as well as the share dividends of a number of trading companies, can bring the Ji family a lot of income every year, and all the expenses here, including the servants and maidservants in the mansion, should not be unbearable for the prime minister.

“…… On July 18, at 4:20 p.m., Emperor Taiping of Daqi suddenly felt unwell and was rushed to Chang'an Royal Medical College for treatment. After several days of diagnosis and treatment, His Majesty the Emperor has made a preliminary recovery. However, in view of the need for time to recuperate after illness, the imperial family and cabinet government of Daqi announced that the emperor would undergo a three-month recuperation. During the period when His Majesty the Emperor was not in office, the crown prince acted as the agent of all domestic affairs and supervised the state on his behalf. ……”

"Oh?" Ji Qitang opened his eyes and looked sideways at the maid who was reading the newspaper for him, "Can the Great Qi Emperor's condition be explained in detail?" Is he recuperating in the palace, or is he in that ...... Chang'an Royal Medical College continues to diagnose and treat? ”

"Back to the university, the newspaper did not describe it in detail." The maid looked down at the newspaper carefully, then shook her head and said.

"After a three-month recuperation and failure to perform political duties, it means that the condition of the Great Qi Emperor should be very serious." Ji Qitang muttered in his mouth: "Perhaps, there will be a change in the royal family of this Qi country. …… Well, write it down, and I am ordered to be the minister of the Ming Dynasty in Chang'an, the Jinyi Guard, the scholars and officers studying in Qi, and try my best to collect all the information about the prince of Qi, including his personality, habits, hobbies, as well as his philosophy of governance of domestic affairs, as well as his views on foreign policy, especially his views on the Qin State and my Ming Dynasty. ”

"Oh, there is another thing, that is, I ordered Honglu Temple to select a number of high-grade ginseng and deer antlers, and send a special envoy to accompany the fast boat to Hanzhou, and immediately send it to Chang'an, in order to express my Ming Dynasty's condolences to the emperor of Qi."

When the maid heard this, she immediately picked up a pen and wrote, recorded the matters explained by Ji Qitang, and then folded it into a paper strip and placed it next to the bookcase.

Tomorrow, when the university scholar joins the cabinet council, he will bring these reminders with him so that he can hand them over to the cabinet secretary to handle them.

The maid of the "University Scholar ......" put down her pen, saw that Ji Qitang did not have any more words to explain, and looked at the stacks of newspapers on the bookcase, not knowing whether to continue reading the newspaper.

"Well, go ahead." Ji Qitang closed his eyes slightly, chose a comfortable position, and continued to sit on the soft floor.

After a busy day in the court, when I returned to the mansion, my whole body and mind still couldn't rest.

After dinner, take a short rest, relax a little, and call a beautiful maid to read the newspapers collected every day for her, and learn about the world's major events and domestic folk news, as a reference for the evidence of the administration of the government.

The dream of the literati through the ages, the red sleeves add fragrance to the night reading, and the swaying can also decide the world's major events, which is done by famous people!

"On August 15, a fierce clash broke out between the Qin state of Uszang Kalun (minister, Zaifu), and the Kalun Polo Nai from Houzang was killed, and the other three Kalons engaged in an armed clash in the city of Lhasa, killing and wounding a lot of people, plunging the entire snowy region into turmoil. After hearing the report, the Qin army stationed in Xining sent 1,200 soldiers to Tibet urgently to quell the rebellion. ……”

"Oh, there's a civil strife in Uszambi." Ji Qitang smiled and said softly: "I don't know how big this mess is, and how much energy can it involve Pseudo-Qin?" …… recorded it, and immediately ordered Jinyi Wei to investigate the matter in detail. Well, if possible, go to the black-clothed guards of the Qi State to probe the wind, they should have a detailed information explanation there. ”

When the maid heard this, she put down the newspaper and took up a pen to take notes.

"On June 5, the Qi Expeditionary Fleet again inflicted heavy losses on the navy of the Kingdom of England in the English Channel, destroying and damaging more than 20 British ships, capturing more than 30 large and small merchant ships, and killing and wounding more than 1,800 British naval officers and men. After suffering successive defeats, the Kingdom of England could no longer afford to fight, so it launched armistice peace talks with Qi through the Netherlands. It has been learned that the terms of the armistice proposed by the two sides are very different and are still in the process of fierce disputes. ”

On August 1, the fifth batch of Qi's rotating fleet for Europe set sail from Guizhou (present-day Perth) to Europe, preparing to exert greater military pressure on the Kingdom of England. ……”

The maid who read the newspaper glanced at Ji Qitang, who was lying on the soft collapse, and saw that he didn't say anything, still closing his eyes and recuperating, thinking that he was not very interested in this news, so she continued to read the next one.

Also, the Qi State has been fighting abroad for decades, and there are few defeats, even if the Kingdom of England is tens of thousands of miles away in Europe, with the strength of the Qi Navy, it is not difficult to win.

“…… On August 12, Qiu Shuxun, a senior researcher at the Chang'an Royal Academy of Sciences of Qi State, announced that after decades of continuous research and experimentation, he had successfully invented a highly effective anesthetic, which can effectively eliminate physical pain and provide the most favorable tool for the operation and treatment of surgical trauma. ……”

“…… The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Trade announced that after a five-year transition period, the trade monopoly rights of the Indian and Bangladeshi trading companies will be formally abolished from next year, and the ports, cities, and bases of the two trading companies will be transferred to the management of the Ministry of Overseas Colonial Affairs, and the coinage, judicial, diplomatic, and military rights owned by the trading companies will be abolished. ……”

"On September 5, the army of the Dashun Kingdom brazenly crossed the Rajang River and invaded the territory of the Kingdom of Brunei Sultan, once again triggering a fierce armed conflict between the two countries. ……”

"Huh?" When Ji Qitang heard the news, his eyes suddenly opened, revealing a strange look, "Shun Guo attacked Brunei, how did Qi Guo react?" ”

“…… The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qi asked both sides to exercise the necessary restraint and not to plunge the local situation into violent turmoil and harm Qi businessmen and civilians who travel to the region. The maid looked down and quickly looked at the second half of the news about the Qi State, "In addition, in order to protect the normal trade and shipping in this sea area and region, the Luzon fleet of the Qi State sent four warships to the waters of Brunei. ”

"Hehe......" Ji Qitang couldn't help but smile when he heard this, "Qi Guo is preparing to pull the shelf again!" If Shunguo suffers a loss, he will bring Sulu, Weiguo, Luzon and other countries to threaten Brunei and promote the situation for Shunguo. …… Is there any major news from the court of the Qin State? ”

The maid who read the newspaper in the "......" immediately flipped through several newspapers on the case, and then pulled out the "Jinling Di Bao" from the Qin State, "The Empress Dowager Zhaosheng is ill, Qianyuan...... The puppet emperor ordered the ministers to gather and give the queen mother the nickname......"

"Heh, this old queen mother of Pseudo-Qin is finally going to ...... went. Ji Qitang sat up from the soft collapse, took the "Jinling Mansion Newspaper" in the maid's hand, and muttered: "In this way, I'm afraid that the pseudo-Qin is going to cure the funeral!" Perhaps, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me Daming. Well, there are some things that need to be prepared. ”

——

October 20, Anding Province, Fushun County (today's Benjiuci City).

The autumn harvest has come to an end, but the hard-working farmers are still busy in the fields, preparing for the next planting season.

The men ploughed the land while it was still freezing, ploughing the soil deep enough to loosen it, improve its structure and remove weeds.

In some fields where conditions are still good, farmers will also sprinkle the purchased wheat seeds or rape in the fields, so that with the rainfall and the temperature after the beginning of autumn, the seeds can germinate quickly and lay the foundation for a good harvest in the coming year.

The women gathered the straw scattered on the ground and carried it home in bundles so that they could be warmed by fires during the winter months.

Although there are charcoal for sale in the town, it only takes a few big sons to buy a large pile of charcoal, which brings endless warmth to the family in the cold winter.

However, thrifty farmers are willing to spend this "spare money" to buy charcoal for heating and cooking. In the winter season, there is no income, and with this extra money, it is better to buy more cotton cloth or sew a few heavy quilts to wrap your body tightly, and you can also cope with a cold winter.

Hundreds of thousands of years have passed, how can any farmer spend money on heating?

I heard from the elders of the village that back in the days of the feudal kingdom (Morioka Domain), the low-level peasant households had no money to buy cotton cloth, sew clothes, or even buy charcoal, and even had no food every day. I can only huddle in a thatched hut with leaky wind on all sides, suffering from the cold days. After a winter, many people in almost every village will freeze to death, especially the elderly, infants and young children.

Later, the Ming Kingdom in the north attacked and defeated the Hirosaki Domain, the Hachinohe Domain, and the Morioka Domain, and took the northern region of Mutsu under his rule. It is said that the heads of the feudal clans and the samurai were ruthlessly purged, and many of them mysteriously disappeared.

In fact, in the eyes of ordinary people, there is no difference between the Ming Kingdom and the feudal lord. They still have to continue to plow the fields, take on all kinds of miscellaneous labor, and they have to pay a large part of their hard harvest for a year to these masters.

Oh, and it's not without changes.

At the very least, the taxes levied by the officials of the Ming Kingdom were much lower.

Because it was a newly conquered territory, the Ming government in order to gain the hearts and minds of the people here, it not only abolished various restrictions on the status and lifestyle of the peasants, but also greatly reduced the previous high annual tribute, and set the rent rate as "five gongs and five people (collect fifty percent of the annual harvest of the peasant households)" to benefit the people.

Less than a few years after becoming the common people of the Ming Kingdom, many poor peasants actually ate rice for the first time, put on soft cotton clothes, and lived in warm earthen houses. This made many people feel happy, but also couldn't help but burst into tears, and they all expressed their loyalty to the "head of the family" of the Ming Kingdom from the bottom of their hearts and swore to defend this "vassal country" to the death.

In Japan, only feudal lords, high-ranking samurai, and village officials such as shoya were allowed to wear silk and silk, and as an ordinary peasant, they could only wear black or navy blue cotton and linen without any patterns, and there were restrictions on the length of their sleeves and shoulders. When the peasants tied their hair, they could not even use the hair band, but only straw.

As for rice, it was only eaten by feudal lords and high-ranking samurai (but not every day), and peasants below the middle peasant level mainly fed on mixed vegetable porridge, a food made from wheat, corn, and weeds mixed with chopped dried leaves and turnips.

In the northern region of Mutsu, which was conquered by the Ming Kingdom, the life of ordinary people was even more difficult, and if you could eat bran rice made from weeds in normal times (you can't eat enough), it is already considered a first-class food.

However, the Ming government still sent many miscellaneous servants to the peasants, built cities and roads, dug ditches and reservoirs, and was conscripted as village soldiers to serve in coastal ports or southern border areas during the off-season.

However, countless Japanese people still strongly supported and embraced the Ming government, because at least they made the lives of the people at the bottom have been greatly improved - of course, this improvement is nothing more than making people barely have enough to eat, and the restrictions on various personal status and lifestyles of the former feudal state have also been greatly relaxed, so that people no longer feel the infinite despair of life before.

After more than 40 years of rule, it cannot be said that all the people in the northern region of Mutsu have devoted themselves to the Ming Kingdom, but the vast majority of people are still relatively satisfied with their current life.

As early as thirteen years ago, the Ming government abolished military control in the Mutsu region and replaced it with the establishment of the Anding Prefecture, which governed the four counties of Guan (present-day Hirosaki City), Shohwa (present-day Hachinohe City), Imjin (present-day Odate, a city in the northern part of the country), and Fushun, officially annexing the region and bringing it under the rule of the Ming Kingdom.

As a result, the agricultural tax policy of more than 200,000 people in the Mutsu area, oh, which should be in Anding Province, will also be reduced from 50% to 20% in the core areas such as Yunzhou and Zhenzhou.

In addition, if you can be selected into the army, you can not only get a lot of military salary, but also get ahead, have the opportunity to win military merits and be promoted to middle and high-level officers, and let the whole family enjoy a high political status. According to the preferential treatment policy for soldiers in the Ming Kingdom, as long as you become a senior non-commissioned officer, you can make the children of your family have the official selection qualification examination that only Han people have, and at the same time, you can also reduce half of the family's agricultural taxes.

"So, I'm going to join the army to make a name for myself and my family." Tian Yuxiang knelt down in front of his parents with a somewhat resolute look on his face, "This time, His Majesty the Emperor and the military issued an edict to recruit five thousand recruits into the army, and the number of soldiers in our Anding Mansion is one thousand, and the competition is extremely fierce. But I am confident that with my excellent physical condition and military skills, I will definitely be able to get this place. ”

"Go, for your future and for the glory of your family, go and join the army, fight on the battlefield for His Majesty the Emperor, and promote the prestige of our Ming Kingdom outside the territory." Tian Dalin said solemnly: "When Shiro has made great achievements in the army, your descendants can be very proud to bear the name of Bingwei. ”

As a former low-level Japanese citizen, if Tian Dalin and his family were still under the rule of the vassal state, they would not have a surname at all.

Fortunately, the Ming Kingdom conquered this land, and when the hundreds of thousands of people here were included as its people, all people were required to have surnames, and they were registered and recorded in fish scales.

In order to make it easier for these obedient Japanese people to choose their surnames, they also turned out the "Hundred Family Names" and let them choose freely, which was to give names to the official family.

In later generations, Japanese surnames have a certain origin and meaning. Among them, the surname of the place name is a major feature. For example, some people who live at the foot of the mountain take "Yamashita" or "Yamamoto" as their surname; Some people live on the edge of the paddy fields, so they are called "Tanabe". Many Japanese surnames end in the word "village", such as Nishimura, Okamura, Morimura, Kimura, etc., which were originally derived from the name of a place or village.

In addition, there are many surnames that denote natural phenomena, social life, and ideology. From the sun, moon and stars, down to flowers, birds, fish and insects, from professional residence to religious beliefs, almost all of them can be surnamed. For example: Takasaki, which means the protruding part of the island, and the large garden, which is the square in front of the palace, and the white bird and bear are animals; Wakamatsu and Takasugi are plants; Takahashi and torii denote buildings; Onodera and Saionji Temple indicate religious beliefs; Hattori and Qin are the surnames of naturalized people (i.e., immigrants) who settled in Japan from Asia and around the world in ancient times.

For the Northern Ming government, which was interested in encroaching on Japanese territory to strengthen itself and believing that it would become the dominant mainland in the Central Plains in the future, the best way to obtain enough Han immigrants was to naturalize as much as possible the aborigines of the conquered territory, the Ainu people in Yunzhou, the indigenous people in Zhenzhou, the savages on Kuye Island, and a larger number of Japanese.

Speaking Chinese, learning Chinese customs, and naming Chinese names, while trying to suppress the civilization attributes of the aborigines, became the inevitable choice of the Northern Ming government to assimilate and subjugate other ethnic groups.

And Tian Dalin's father obtained a surname for the first time after the Northern Ming Dynasty invaded Mutsu. However, due to his lack of education and his lack of understanding of Chinese, when he declared his surname, he followed the most primitive idea in his heart and took the cultivated field as his surname.

In Japan, there are many samurai who call them "bei" or "left (right) emon". These names originated in ancient times, and most of the people who gave them this name were soldiers who served in the prefectures (in the 8th century, there were five military institutions in the Emperor's court that were responsible for defending the emperor and the court, namely the Emon Palace, the Left and Right Guards, and the Left and Right Guard Offices, collectively known as the Goefu), and some were the immediate family members of these soldiers, and everyone heard and respected their names.

Recently, the Ming Governor's Office issued a recruit order, recruiting 5,000 recruits in various territories within the territory, which made countless minorities who want to win fame and change their destiny see a precious opportunity, so they have signed up to participate in the selection.

The blade of the Ming Dynasty has slowly come out of its sheath.

(End of chapter)