Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 372 Anne
In Kanto, Japan, under the scorching sun, several samurai passed by on the post road. All the samurai wore wakizashi on their waists and carried the Satsuma cross family flag on their backs.
On the Tokaido, the Japanese people along the way saw the samurai group coming on horseback and gave way.

In order to facilitate the daimyo's visit to the capital, the Edo Shogunate built five main roads, namely Oshu Road, Nikko Road, Nakasendo Road, Koshu Road, and Tokaido Road, with Edo as the center, connecting the various domains of the country.
These five post roads are called the Five Roads. The Tokaido is close to the southern coast, runs through Kyoto and Edo, and is the most prosperous of the five post roads.

The Satsuma samurai passed by Shinagawajuku, changed horses there, and then without stopping, he crossed the Edo Bridge, entered the castle town, and galloped towards the Imperial Garden.
The Gyoen Castle Tower, with the third shogun of the Edo shogunate, Tokugawa Iemitsu, sitting at the top, and the shogunate's senior ministers Sakai Tadakatsu, Matsudaira Nobunaga, Abe Tadaki, Ota Sukemune and other senior officials of the shogunate below

Tokugawa Iemitsu looked pale, leaning on the throne above. Beside him was a thick stack of papers, all densely covered with Chinese characters. On the top sheet of paper, there were several large characters printed on it: Xingming Times.
Tokugawa Iemitsu was flipping through the newspapers in his hands, while several senior officials were kneeling below with solemn expressions. The room was extremely quiet, with only the rustling sound of flipping papers.

Everyone in the room was silent. After an unknown amount of time, Tokugawa Iemitsu finally put down the newspaper in his hand and sighed.

"The ensemble of zither and flute, the sound of mountains and flowing water, what an elegant thing, but it is ruined by the hypocritical people in this world, what a pity"

"The bell of Gion Temple rings. The affairs of the world are impermanent. Fifty years of life are fleeting, like a dream or an illusion. If I could find such a soulmate, I would also like to retire from politics and devote myself to the mountains and rivers from now on. Why would I bother to ask what is right and wrong?"

The elder Sakai Tadakatsu below heard this and spoke in a deep voice

"I beg your pardon. Right is right and wrong is wrong. The two are clearly distinguished and cannot be confused."

Tokugawa Iemitsu looked at the serious Sakai Tadakatsu below, but he chuckled and said

"Master Sakai is still so serious, it's really boring"

"I only know how to sacrifice myself for the public good and be loyal to my master"

Tokugawa Iemitsu looked at Sakai Tadakatsu who responded in a deep voice, and then he smiled and said

"Then tell me, elder, who is righteous and who is evil in my shogunate?"

When the elders below, including Matsudaira Nobunaga, heard this, their faces tightened, but Sakai Tadakatsu did not hesitate at all and spoke directly.

"Those who follow the laws of my samurai family are righteous, and those who disobey the laws of my samurai family are evil. All the evil demons who are rebellious and rebellious should be annihilated and punished, and no pardon will be given to show the majesty of the laws of my shogunate."

Upon hearing this, Tokugawa Iemitsu also looked approving and sighed softly.
"You are upright and loyal, and you are truly the backbone of our Tokugawa family. With you and the other elders assisting Takechiyo, I can rest assured even if my soul returns to the kingdom of God to pay homage to Tosho Daigongen."

Sakai Tadakatsu, who had been calm all along, finally changed his expression and said in a deep voice:
"The general is our Tokugawa lord, born to command all the people in the world, and will surely be blessed by the gods. Our shogunate still needs the general to lead the prosperity and prosperity. Why does the general say such discouraging words?"

"All people in the world are human beings. Life is like a dream. Their names are recorded in history, and their successes and failures are forgotten. To heaven, they are all fleeting."

"I have grown old, but now I understand that Lord Nobunaga is truly a hero who can see through illusions."

Sakai Tadakatsu looked at Tokugawa Iemitsu with a look of emotion, and his heart became heavier. But before he could open his mouth to persuade him, Tokugawa Iemitsu had already sat up straight and said softly:
“Let’s start the meeting.”

"What is the situation in the Central Plains? Did the Ming people really defend the south?"

Upon hearing this, Sakai Tadakatsu's face straightened and he said

"Yes, after the Ming court was defeated by the Qing Dynasty, the Prince of Gui, a member of the imperial clan, took over the position of regent of the Ming court."

"This Gui Regent is the grandson of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty. According to Ming newspapers, after Gui Regent ascended the throne, he personally led the army to defeat the Qing army. Over the past few years, the Ming army has killed nearly 100,000 Qing soldiers and recovered lost territory one after another."

"Now the Ming people have occupied Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Lake Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and other eight southern provinces, and have become a north-south divide with the Qing people in the north."

"I have summoned many Ming merchants in Nagasaki and verified the information published in newspapers. The Ming court has indeed established a firm foothold in the south at this time."

Tokugawa Iemitsu frowned when he heard this and said

"A few years ago, Ming envoys came to my shogunate and begged for troops, but now, in just a few years, they have killed 100,000 Qing people. The Ming royal family has ruled the world for hundreds of years, and it is indeed not easy to destroy it."

"What is the situation of the eight provinces occupied by the Ming people now? How do these eight provinces compare to our country of Japan? How high are they?"

Sakai Tadakatsu's expression froze, and he exchanged a glance with Matsudaira Nobunaga and the others below before he spoke.

"According to the data collected in the country, the eight provinces occupied by the Ming people are as large as the entire territory of Japan."

The Edo Shogunate claimed to have 300 feudal domains in the world, and the land was 8 million koku. It sounds very impressive, but in fact, the total area of ​​​​Wakoku is only the size of Yunnan Province.

Japan did not control Hokkaido at this time. Among the eight provinces controlled by the Ming Dynasty at this time, any one of them was enough to crush the shogunate at that time.

"The Central Plains is so rich. The two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty are all as large as our country. How unfair it is that the Ming people have monopolized so much good land."

"It's a pity that Taiko failed to occupy Korea and led his troops to Ming Dynasty."

Tokugawa Iemitsu's eyes flashed with envy, but he quickly shook his head and said

"How many soldiers did the Ming Dynasty send to Ryukyu this time?"

"According to the report from the Satsuma family, the Ming people sent three 40-meter-long ships this time. These Ming ships are similar in shape to the Dutch red merchant ships, but with more powerful firepower. A single ship is equipped with more than 50 thousand-jin heavy cannons."

"Although there were only a thousand soldiers on board, they were all elite Ming warriors wearing heavy armor."

"In addition, the new king of Ryukyu, Shang Zhi, has also surrendered to the Ming people and has been recruiting civilians in the country. According to Satsuma, the king of Ryukyu, Shang Zhi, has recruited nearly 10,000 soldiers, who are under the leadership of the Ming people and are guarding the island day and night."

Matsudaira Nobunaga and several other shogunate elders also looked solemn when they heard this. One hundred and fifty large iron cannons, one thousand elite iron-clad Ming soldiers, and ten thousand Ryukyu troops

If the shogunate wanted to wipe out the Ming army on the island, it would probably have to dispatch 30,000 people and 300 to 400 warships to truly gain an advantage in Ryukyu.
"Shang Zhi, this damn bastard, if it weren't for the kindness of my Tokugawa family, the Ryukyu Shang family would have been destroyed by the Shimazu family long ago. Now that the Ming people have come, he dares to betray me with his entire country. These traitors..."

Tokugawa Iemitsu had an angry look on his face, but halfway through his speech, he suddenly started coughing violently.

Tokugawa Iemitsu bent down and placed his hands on the tatami mat. The waiter beside him looked frightened and hurried forward to pat his back. He also gave Tokugawa Iemitsu a pill, and only then did he stop coughing.
Although Tokugawa Iemitsu stopped coughing, he could no longer maintain his kneeling posture. His forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he sat back on the soft couch at the back.

"General..."

Sakai Tadakatsu looked at the pale Tokugawa Iemitsu, but before he could finish, Tokugawa Iemitsu reached out to stop him.
"Nothing, it's just an old illness, I'll be fine after a rest"

Tokugawa Iemitsu leaned back in his chair and breathed softly. Sakai Tadakatsu and Matsudaira Nobunaga and several other family elders looked at each other, their faces becoming more and more worried.
Tokugawa Ietsugu's health had been poor for several years. Although these matters were top secret in the shogunate, they were not concealed from the family elders such as Sakai Tadakatsu. Or perhaps it was because Tokugawa Iemitsu clearly informed several family elders of this matter that made them even more worried.
Tokugawa Iemitsu leaned back in his chair and rested for a while before saying in a cold voice:

"The Ming people sent only a thousand soldiers and wanted to seize Ryukyu. If Takechiyo was not young, I would have recruited warriors from all over the world to kill these arrogant Ming people and bring Ryukyu back to the Tokugawa family."

Tokugawa Iemitsu had a cold expression on his face. Takechiyo was the nickname of the successor to the shogun. Tokugawa Iemitsu's nickname was Takechiyo, and Tokugawa Ieyasu's nickname was also Takechiyo.

Anyone who can get this nickname in the Tokugawa family is basically the next generation of heirs designated by the Tokugawa family. The Takechiyo that Tokugawa Iemitsu is talking about at this time is his eldest son Tokugawa Ietsugu.

Tokugawa Iemitsu was very aware of his own health. Although Edo Castle seemed to be peaceful now, in fact, Tokugawa Iemitsu had already begun to arrange the handover of the position of Shogun in secret.
Although Tokugawa Iemitsu boasted of his outstanding skills, the problem was that Tokugawa Ietsugu was less than ten years old and was too young.

Although the Shimabara Rebellion ten years ago was suppressed by the shogunate, the shogunate recruited 120,000 soldiers in this battle, but they only barely defeated a group of peasant rebels in Shimabara.

Although the Battle of Shimabara was won, it also made the daimyo of the country realize the weakness of the shogunate.
After the Battle of Shimabara, Tokugawa Iemitsu immediately issued a national isolation order. The purpose of the national isolation order was to ban foreign religions, but in fact it was to monopolize maritime trade and cut off the maritime trade revenue of the southwestern feudal domains of Kyushu Island.

After issuing the seclusion order, Tokugawa Iemitsu immediately ordered all the feudal domains in the country to strictly implement the Sankin-kotai system.

The so-called Sankinkotai was a system where the shogunate ordered all the daimyo of the feudal states to visit the shogunate in Edo regularly in the name of assisting government affairs.
The Sankin-kotai was not something that the daimyo of each domain could do by simply packing up lightly and riding a horse to Edo to report.

According to the Sankin system, daimyo of different rank had to bring a specified number of attendants with them when they went to Edo.

If a daimyo brought fewer people than the stipulated number, he would be severely punished by the shogunate for disrespect, and in serious cases, his fiefdom would be reduced.

Take the Kaga Domain as an example. The Kaga Domain had to bring 3,000 to 4,000 people with them for a pilgrimage. The daimyo had to pay for the food, lodging and wages along the way. It would cost 20,000 to 30,000 taels of silver to complete a pilgrimage.
Under this system, the people who suffered the most were naturally the daimyo who had a high koku number but lived far from Edo. The high koku number meant that they had to bring more followers, and the distance from Edo meant that they had to spend more money along the way.

The one who best met this criterion was naturally the Satsuma Domain, which ranked second in the shogunate's domains and was located on the southwestern border of Kyushu.

The shogunate's sankin mission was not held once every few years or decades, but almost every year. For an ordinary daimyo to complete a sankin mission, it would basically cost him a year's worth of money and grain from his empty domain. Some even had to borrow money to complete the sankin mission.

The real purpose of the shogunate was to use the system of sankin-kotai to drain the finances of the feudal domains throughout the country in order to ensure the stability of the shogunate's rule.
All the money of the feudal domains was spent in the process of participating in the military service, so naturally no one could recruit troops to rebel against the Tokugawa shogunate.
Although the shogunate has been weakening the feudal domains in recent years through various means, Tokugawa Iemitsu still cannot rest assured.
There are still many daimyo who participated in the Battle of Osaka in the various domains. Tokugawa Ietsugu is too young, and no one knows whether the prestige of the shogunate can suppress these unruly daimyo in the country.
Tokugawa Iemitsu thought of this and said in a deep voice

"What is the current situation in Satsuma Domain?"

"Kamata Sakyo, the Ryukyu magistrate sent by Satsuma, received a notification from the pro-Satsuma ministers in the Ryukyu court in advance, and withdrew his troops to Amami Oshima before the Ming people arrived, without meeting the Ming people."

"Shimazu Mitsuhisa sent a letter to the shogunate, saying that the Satsuma clan has begun to recruit samurai from the clan. As long as the shogunate's army gathers, the Satsuma clan is willing to lead the lord and take the lead in attacking the Ming army."

Tokugawa Iemitsu sneered when he heard this.

"Hey, be the vanguard for me. How could I not know when this Samoyed became so loyal?"

"The Shimazu family must be impatient now, waiting to drive out the Ming people and completely swallow up Ryukyu."

Matsudaira Nobunaga below also spoke up

"Ten years ago, during the Shimabara Rebellion, the Satsuma army led by Shimazu Mitsuhisa waited and watched, spying on the shogunate's military strength. The Satsuma clan must not be trusted."

"Satsuma now has a land area of ​​over 700,000 koku, making it the second largest domain in the country. The current lord, Shimazu Mitsuhisa, is also a shrewd and patient person. The shogunate must not allow Satsuma to expand its power any further."

A cold light flashed in Tokugawa Iemitsu's eyes. Although he was sitting on the couch with a pale face, he looked more and more like a beast sitting on the throne. His face was cold and fierce.

The policy implemented by the three Tokugawa shoguns was to cut off the maritime trade revenue of the southwestern domains such as Satsuma and Hirado on Kyushu Island, and the Sankin-kotai and Tenka-pusho were to completely drain the financial resources of these remote and powerful domains.

After the Battle of Sekigahara and the Battle of Osaka, most of the feudal lords on the main island of Japan had been defeated by the Tokugawa family.

However, due to various reasons, the southwestern feudal domains such as Kyushu were not liquidated at the beginning, which was also the biggest concern of the Tokugawa family at that time.
The shogunate's defense against Satsuma and other powerful southwestern clans was not wrong, because in later generations, it was the Satsuma, Choshu, and Doi clans that took the lead in overthrowing the shogunate and eventually ended the Tokugawa family's rule.
Tokugawa Iemitsu narrowed his eyes and said in a cold voice

"Send a message to the Shimazu clan, and have them immediately withdraw all the Satsuma foot soldiers from the Ryukyu main island and Sakishima Yaeyama and other places back to the domain. Strictly warn the Satsuma domain not to clash with the Ming people!"

"Also, order the Lord of Satsuma, Shimazu Mitsuhisa, to come to the capital immediately to attend the memorial ceremony, and order him to go to Edo in person to report the situation in Ryukyu to the shogunate."

Upon hearing this, Sakai Tadakatsu nodded and said

"My lord, the situation is very good. The Shimazu family is now thinking of taking this opportunity to annex Ryukyu. In order to prevent the Shimazu family from provoking a war with the Ming people without authorization, we must not allow Shimazu Mitsuhisa to stay in the Satsuma domain at this time."

During the assessment, Tokugawa Iemitsu discussed with several senior officials and decided to give up Ryukyu. At the same time, he ordered the Satsuma clan to withdraw their troops from Ryukyu.

For the Tokugawa family today, the most important thing is to maintain internal suppression and stability to ensure that the position of the Tokugawa shogun can be smoothly handed over.
Tokugawa Ieyasu was extremely cunning. Although the shogunate ordered Satsuma to capture Ryukyu, it left a loophole and still let the Ryukyu royal family continue to pay tribute to the Central Plains. At this time, Ryukyu was still a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, the shogunate gave up Ryukyu, at most it was considered to have lost a tributary state, but it could not be considered to have abandoned the territory of Japan, and it could explain the past internally.

In Tsurumaru Castle, Shimazu Hisamitsu looked at the letter from the shogunate and sneered.

"Hey, Tokugawa family"

Although Tokugawa Iemitsu was extremely arrogant and domineering, the shogunate's policy of contraction in recent years was seen by the daimyo in the country.

If Tokugawa Iemitsu was really as ambitious as he showed in front of others, how could he have ordered the closure of the sea and the isolation of the country?

Shimazu Mitsuhisa knew Tokugawa Iemitsu very well. He was a very suspicious person.
If Satsuma tried to dissuade the shogunate from sending troops at this time, the shogunate might still hesitate, but if Satsuma actively requested war, the shogunate would never send troops to start a war.

Shimazu Mitsuhisa looked at Shimazu Hisamichi beside him and said

“Is the participating team ready?”

"It has been prepared in advance. The samurai in the domain are ready to set off with the lord at any time."

"Then let's set off for Edo to meet our Shogun."

Shimazu Hisamitsu chuckled, threw the letter in his hand casually on the table, and then walked out the door.
In the Satsuma Domain, more than a thousand Satsuma samurai quickly formed a team and marched out of the Satsuma territory. When Shimazu Mitsuhisa and others set off, a ship full of copper materials also quietly sailed out of the Satsuma Domain and set sail for Ryukyu.
(End of this chapter)