I

Fuzhou, Fujian.

Chen Ji, the son of a maritime merchant, welcomed Lin Wenyuan off the ship at the dock and asked in a low voice: "Brother Kuidou, how is Nanjing doing?"

Lin Wenyuan said excitedly: "It's done. Your Majesty really supports sea trade."

"That's good, that's good!" Chen Ji clenched his fists.

Japan's Tokugawa shogunate would never fully open its seaports to China. Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu would never take the initiative to contact the Nanjing court.

Lin Wenyuan, or in other words, the Fujian maritime businessman who pushed Lin Wenyuan out to do things, was so audacious and fooled both sides!

They first reached a consensus with Matsudaira Nobutsuna, who would take down the Tokugawa shogunate, while Fujian maritime merchants would go to Nanjing to take down Zhao Han.

If the Tokugawa shogunate is compared to the imperial court, then Matsudaira Nobutsuna is similar to the prime minister of the shogunate.

Behind Matsudaira Nobutsuna, there were also many feudal lords who were pro-shogunate, as well as Confucian and Shinto forces in Japan.

The rebellion triggered by Amakusa Shiro was not completely suppressed until this year!

Amakusa Shiro was just the beginning. Due to the poor repressive performance of the shogunate army, a large number of local lords who did not believe in Christianity also joined the war against the shogunate's rule. Almost all the lords of Kyushu were fighting for independence.

Last year, the shogunate mobilized a large army and the war continued.

By the end of this year, the fight was finally completed.

After learning from the painful experience, Tokugawa Iemitsu decided to change his governance policy and ordered Matsudaira Nobutsuna to take the lead in studying the policy with scholars.

Fujian maritime merchants learned of Zhao Han's attitude and immediately sailed to Japan on a sea ship to deliver the news to Matsudaira Nobutsuna.

Matsudaira Nobutsuna then met with Tokugawa Iemitsu and presented his reform plan.

Tokugawa Iemitsu did not look through it himself, but asked: "Please pick up the main ones and tell me."

Matsudaira Nobutsuna replied: "It is impossible to completely close the country. In the previous battle, the rebels had a large number of Western-style artillery, and their firepower was even more fierce than that of the shogunate army. Therefore, after collective discussion, the shogunate ministers believed that they should set up various Trade zone. Foreign merchants are not allowed to trade with local daimyo, but they can trade with the shogunate."

This policy of opening a large number of ports has been successfully adopted historically, but it was rejected after a period of implementation.

Japan is closed to the outside world, and religious chaos is only one of the reasons.

In the early days of the Tokugawa shogunate's rule, various vassals were encouraged to open ports for trade because it could enhance Japan's strength. Gradually, the shogun discovered that sea trade increased the strength of each vassal and was not conducive to centralized rule.

Therefore, a semi-treaty port was established in Nagasaki, which was under the direct jurisdiction of the shogunate.

Chinese and Dutch merchants were only allowed to trade with the shogunate, not with local lords!

In Tokugawa Iemitsu's later years, he closed the country, opened up, and closed the country again, repeatedly changing policies, all based on the principle of maintaining the rule of the shogunate.

Tokugawa Iemitsu asked without comment, "What else?"

Matsudaira Nobutsuna continued: "The reasons for the rebellion between the daimyo and the common people are very complicated. Ministers and scholars believe that enlightenment should be used. We can learn from China's experience and set up local schools. The shogunate should provide money for the schools so that they can The samurai have been educated since childhood and know the principles of loyalty to the emperor and the principles of supporting the shogunate. In addition to using Confucianism to deal with Western religions, they also need to use Japanese Shinto to deal with Western religions."

Tokugawa Iemitsu finally became happy: "This method is very good."

This is how Bushido thought was formed!

Matsudaira Nobutsuna added: "The entire Kyushu no longer has daimyo. From now on, Kyushu will be under the direct jurisdiction of the shogunate, and the shogunate will select officials to serve in Kyushu."

Tokugawa Iemitsu became increasingly satisfied: "You are all the pillars of the country and can formulate very good national policies."

Matsudaira Nobutsuna continued: "China's Ming Dynasty has been destroyed by the rebels..."

"What? Did the Ming Dynasty, which was so powerful, also fall? Who is the new emperor of China?" Tokugawa Iemitsu was shocked. This was the first time he had heard of it.

Matsudaira Nobutsuna replied: "In the new China, there are three emperors. One is the Datong Emperor Zhao Han, the second is the Dashun Emperor Li Zicheng, and the third is the Qing Emperor Fulin. In fact, there are two more, both of whom are members of the Ming Dynasty clan who escaped. One has been destroyed, and the other is in Yunnan."

Tokugawa Iemitsu sighed: "China has entered the Three Kingdoms era again. Tell us about these emperors."

Matsudaira Nobutsuna said in detail: "Emperor Zhao Han of Datong had his capital in Nanjing, China. He was the most powerful and owned the richest province in China. Emperor Li Zicheng of Dashun had his capital in Taiyuan, China. He also destroyed the Ming Dynasty. Li Zicheng led the troops. After attacking Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty hanged himself..."

"This guy Li Zicheng is very bad," Tokugawa Iemitsu interrupted, "As a people, you should not betray your emperor."

Matsudaira Nobutsuna added: "Emperor Fulin of the Qing Dynasty made his capital in Shenyang, China. They are the barbarians of the Later Jin Dynasty, a group of savages who are ignorant of education, but they are said to be very brave in fighting. After Li Zicheng overthrew the Ming Dynasty, the barbarians of the Later Jin Dynasty quickly sent troops and almost defeated them. Li Zicheng was eliminated."

"Wait a minute," Tokugawa Iemitsu asked in confusion, "Why has no one decided to capitalize on Beijing, China?"

Matsudaira Nobutsuna explained: "The barbarians of the Later Jin Dynasty once established their capital in Beijing, but were defeated by Emperor Datong of Nanjing and returned to Liaodong with their population and food. Even the leader of Korea has now become a vassal of the barbarians of the Later Jin Dynasty."

Tokugawa Iemitsu shook his head and said: "No, no. Li Zicheng who betrayed the emperor is not good, nor are the uncivilized barbarians. If someone unifies China, it must be the Emperor of Datong. What is the name of Emperor Datong?"

Matsudaira Nobutsuna said: "My name is Zhao Han. I heard that he is a descendant of the royal family of the Song Dynasty."

Tokugawa Iemitsu praised: "Only a descendant of the royal family can truly become an emperor. How did he become so powerful?"

Matsudaira Nobutsuna said: "There were natural disasters in the Ming Dynasty. Zhao Han's family starved to death. Only three brothers and sisters were left. The eldest sister was also sold. Zhao Han and his sister begged and went to the south to work as slaves for a Confucian scholar. He was very smart and was more than ten years old. If he was admitted as a scholar, he could have been an official. People from the same hometown were very jealous of Zhao Han's talent and learning, so they colluded with the magistrate's staff to frame him and lured him to the county government office to kill him."

This was already like a legendary story. Tokugawa Iemitsu was immediately interested and asked, "How did he escape?"

Matsudaira Nobutsuna said: "Although this clever Emperor of Datong was only a young man at the time, he had already understood the enemy's plot. He did not choose to escape, but carried a long gun and went to the county government office alone to question his staff. The magistrate's staff colluded. County government officials, hundreds of people besieged him. But the Emperor of Datong was an unparalleled general. He held a gun alone, killed all the enemies, burned the county government office, and then fled to a distant place."

"What a hero!" Tokugawa Iemitsu praised.

Tokugawa Iemitsu grew up with a golden key in his mouth and never experienced the sufferings of the people. At the same time, he was ambitious, ruthless, and dictatorial with an iron fist, and became a bit dim in his later years. If I insist on making a metaphor, it is similar to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in China (only in terms of character and methods).

Matsudaira Nobutsuna continued: "Emperor Datong was wandering in a foreign land, and greedy officials and landowners made it impossible for him to make a living. So he took some ronin warriors and raised an army in Jiangxi, China. To this day, Emperor Datong has never fought He lost the battle and destroyed hundreds of thousands of enemy troops. I heard that he now has an army of 500,000 and will be able to unify China in the next few years. Moreover, the Emperor of Datong and the Nanman have fought several times. He and us They are all restricting the spread of Western religion."

What the Japanese call Nanman refers to European colonists.

Tokugawa Iemitsu asked: "Are there many Western Christians in China?"

Matsudaira Nobutsuna said: "Compared to Japan, it's just a lot more."

Tokugawa Iemitsu slapped his knees: "Western religion is really a serious problem for me in the East. Emperor Datong did the right thing. Western religion should not only be restricted, but should also be expelled and exterminated!"

Matsudaira Nobutsuna said: "According to the news from Chinese businessmen, the Emperor of Datong admires the general's style very much."

Tokugawa Iemitsu suddenly stared into Matsudaira Nobutsuna's eyes and said with a playful smile: "Emperor Datong has also heard of this general?"

"Of course I have heard of it," Matsudaira Nobutsuna said flatteringly. "The general's civil and military skills have long surpassed those of his predecessors and have spread to China and North Korea."

Tokugawa Iemitsu was dubious about this, but he was inevitably proud and had a cheerful smile on his face.

Matsudaira Nobutsuna took the opportunity to say: "Emperor Datong of China wants to resume diplomatic relations with Japan. The grudges between Japan and Ming Dynasty have nothing to do with Emperor Datong. Sir Shogun, Emperor Datong will soon unify China. If the shogunate has a good relationship with him, it will It is also extremely beneficial. Once the Southern Barbarians cause trouble in the future, the shogunate and China can join forces to deal with the Southern Barbarians."

Tokugawa Iemitsu remained silent, thinking about the pros and cons of this matter.

Matsudaira Nobutsuna added: "The daimyo and the common people rebelled, and some people shouted slogans to respect the king. You can ask the Chinese emperor to grant the Japanese king's seal, and then grant the shogunate's seal. In this way, the shogunate's rule will be more legitimate."

Tokugawa Iemitsu sneered: "Are you asking me to surrender to that Emperor of Datong?"

Matsudaira Nobutsuna said: "China has always been the suzerain. There is nothing wrong with this and it will not affect the reputation of the general. China is as big as ten Japan and has as many people as ten Japan. Being friendly with China will only make people The shogunate is more stable. Envoys can be sent to China to contact Emperor Datong first. As a show of goodwill, several ports can be opened to Chinese merchants."

This suggestion represents the interests of many people.

The pro-shogunate daimyo, officials of the shogunate, Japanese Confucian scholars, and those Chinese maritime merchants. They connected with each other and planned together for a long time, which was nothing more than deceiving Zhao Han and Tokugawa Iemitsu to expand trade.

As for Japanese Shintoism, it is still relatively weak at this time and needs to be integrated and developed with Japanese Confucian scholars.

It was the religious chaos in the past few years that led to the decline of Japanese Buddhism.

Especially in coastal areas, Christians burned a large number of temples - Shinto shrines. Because they had little incense and little influence, even the rebellious Christians were too lazy to burn them.

After thinking carefully, Tokugawa Iemitsu said: "Send an envoy to Nanjing first."