The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 144 His Royal Highness King Wu is here to save the Japanese people

On September 15, the 38th year of the Ming Dynasty's Xianning reign, 28 Ming warships approached the Japanese port of Nagasaki.

Leading the way were four sailing warships with a displacement of 2,500 tons, and four steam paddle-wheel warships of the same tonnage.

Then there were eight sailing warships with a displacement of 1,500 tons and four steam paddle-wheel warships of the same tonnage.

Finally, there were eight steam paddle steamers of about one thousand tons.

The large fleet remained on the sea outside Nagasaki Port, and two 1,000-ton steam sailing ships entered the port.

Fei Chun, secretary of the Secretariat of the Wu Kingdom of the Ming Dynasty, and Lin Jianxing, staff member of the Staff of the Duke of Min of the Ming Dynasty, boarded the Nagasaki Port dock accompanied by a dozen guards.

Although Japan implemented a "maritime ban" like the Qing Dynasty, it did not completely cut off its overseas ties.

Nagasaki was Japan's foreign trade port during the Edo period.

In the past, Japan's main foreign trading partners were Qing Dynasty, Korea and the Netherlands.

In this world, the Netherlands was driven out of China, so the world became divided into four parts: the Ming Dynasty and its subordinate Minguo Mansion, the Qing Dynasty and its vassal state, the Kingdom of Korea.

The Dutch in Japan were asked to live on an artificial island.

As for countries like Portugal, Britain and Russia, they directly banned their ships from approaching the coastline.

The defenders in various places were allowed to open fire and drive them away.

The Ming people were subject to the least restrictions of all foreigners, but were also required to live in designated Tang people's houses.

It is surrounded by walls and trenches, and is managed by special personnel, and all entry and exit must be registered.

At the same time, it also limits the number of merchants coming to Japan each year, the number of trading ships and the amount of goods traded.

This time, Fei Chun and Lin Jianxing are here to break these rules.

At the port, the two men claimed to the guards that they had orders from His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu, and demanded to speak directly to the "Nagasaki Bugyo".

"Bugyo" is the general manager official sent by the shogunate to the local area. Nagasaki Bugyo is also responsible for foreign relations.

Now, there are more than twenty large warships wandering back and forth on the sea outside Nagasaki Port, and the total number of cannons on these warships exceeds 1,500.

The guards at Nagasaki Port did not dare to make any move. They politely accompanied Fei Chun and the other man, and immediately reported the situation to their superiors.

The current magistrates of Nagasaki, Tsuchiya Masanobu and Toda Ujimune, were also shocked when they received the report.

The two of them asked their subordinates to go and invite him without much hesitation.

Japan's mentality towards the Central Imperial Dynasty at this time was completely different from the situation after the 20th century in Zhu Jianxuan's previous life.

Although the Japanese are far less submissive than Korea, they will not regard the Ming or Qing dynasties as their actual overlords.

But Japan has always taken it for granted that the Ming Dynasty is the big brother in the Chinese cultural circle, and that the Japanese are the second brothers.

Even in the history of the Qing Dynasty, after it was defeated by Britain in the Opium War, the Japanese wrote a lot of stories fantasizing about the Qing Dynasty's victory and even the occupation of Britain.

It was not until they realized that the Qing Dynasty could no longer stand firm that they wanted to break away from Asia and join Europe and replace the Qing Dynasty in their circle.

The current Ming Dynasty is still the Celestial Empire in Japan.

Two magistrates, Tsuchiya Masanori and Toda Ujimune, were waiting outside the magistrate's office, which was equivalent to a government office.

When Fei Chun and Lin Jianxing got off the carriage, they hurried over to greet them, smiling and bowing:
"I am the Nagasaki Magistrate Tsuchiya Masanori and Toda Ujimen, honored to meet you two great men of the Celestial Empire. Please follow me into the room and take a seat."

Tsuchiya Masanobu and the other man spoke the elegant language of the Ming Dynasty, and their accents were not very authentic, but Fei Chun and the other man could understand them.

Fei Chun and Lin Jianxing followed Tsuchiya and the other man into the house and sat down in the main seat in the living room of the magistrate's office.

Tsuchiya Masanobu asked the servant to serve tea, and then carefully asked Fei Chun and the others why they came:

"May I ask the two angels, what advice do you have for me since you have visited my country?"

Fei Chun is now familiar with his king's personality and has become more efficient in doing things.

At this time, he took out Zhu Jianxuan's letter and handed it over, saying:

“This is a letter from our Highness the King of Wu, the King of Japan. Please arrange for someone to deliver it to Edo as soon as possible so that your King can prepare to receive it in advance.

"Your Highness's envoy will go to Edo in a month to discuss with the King of Japan the issue of relief for the four peoples of Japan."

Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Edo Shogunate, once pledged allegiance to the Ming Dynasty and was crowned King of Japan by Emperor Wanli.

Although the Ming Dynasty knew that Japan actually had an emperor, it was politically impossible to recognize the concept of a Japanese emperor since this emperor had no authority anyway.

In the political discourse system of the Ming Dynasty, the King of Japan was a nominal vassal of the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty wanted to deal with the Japanese court, it would of course have to go directly to the "King of Japan" instead of the Shogun.

The shoguns of the Edo Shogunate basically did not use this title in Japan, and only used it when dealing with the Ming Dynasty or Korea.

Tsuchiya and the other man were obviously stunned for a moment before they realized that the king was referring to their own general.

After Tsuchiya and the other two understood this, they were still filled with astonishment and confusion about the rest of Fei Chun's two sentences:

"I don't fully understand what you mean. Are you talking about helping... the four people of Japan?"

Lin Jianxing explained very seriously:
"Yes, Your Highness King Wu heard at the beginning of the year that Japan has been suffering from famine in the past two years.

“People were displaced and the dead and injured were everywhere. It was truly a horrific sight.

"Our Highness is kindhearted and could not bear to see the Japanese people suffer from famine, so he decided to provide relief.

“However, Japan’s exchanges with Ming Dynasty were limited to Nagasaki in the past, so even if His Royal Highness Prince Wu wanted to rescue, he couldn’t do so.

"We now ask the King of Japan to lift the restrictions and allow His Majesty's ships to enter various ports in Japan to facilitate the rescue of the Japanese people."

Tsuchiya Masanori thought about it for several times before he finally figured out the purpose of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu of the Ming Dynasty.

This is not to rescue the Japanese people! This is to open up Japan to the world!
Tsuchiya Masanobu continued to analyze for a few seconds, and asked and confirmed it with some reluctance:
"May I ask the angel, how is His Royal Highness the King of Wu going to help the Japanese people?"

This time it was Fei Chun who explained with a smile:
“As the saying goes, it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. Giving food and money directly can only help for a short time, but it cannot help for a lifetime.

“So His Royal Highness the King of Wu will recruit Japanese disaster victims to open up wasteland and cultivate land overseas, just like he did with the disaster victims in the Ming Dynasty.

“However, the overseas lands suitable for farming are not truly uninhabited areas, and most of them are inhabited by barbarians.

“So the Japanese people we recruit should be brave and capable of suppressing and subduing the barbarians overseas.

“In order to facilitate the relief and recruitment of Japanese refugees, Your Highness intends to arrange special envoys to recruit refugees in major ports in Japan.

"I am mainly responsible for recruiting Japanese disaster victims and restraining the Ming people active in Japan.

“At the same time, the King of Japan should issue an order to allow the people of Ming and Japan to travel freely.

"Japan originally set up a maritime ban mainly to prevent the Portuguese, Spanish, British and other Westerners from causing trouble.

"Now that the Western Barbarians have been driven away by the Ming Dynasty, the maritime ban is no longer meaningful.

"At least the restrictions on the people of Ming Dynasty should be lifted."

Fei Chun put forward two conditions: that the residents of Ming Dynasty and Japan could travel freely between the two countries, and that Japan would grant consular jurisdiction to Ming Dynasty.

After hearing this, Tsuchiya Masanobu asked uncertainly:

"Are these all the plans of His Royal Highness the King of Wu?"

Fei Chun said without hesitation:

“Yes, that’s all His Royal Highness Prince Wu has in mind, and it’s all for the sake of saving the Japanese people.

“We know that you two cannot decide these matters, so you should write them down and send them to Edo along with the letter from our Highness.

“Our Highness’s official envoy will visit Edo in a month.

"In order to facilitate the recruitment of Japanese disaster victims as soon as possible, the official delegation will lead more fleets to Edo Bay."

Tsuchiya Masanobu and Toda Ujimeng were both somewhat surprised after hearing this:
"You said... more fleets heading to Edo? How many exactly?"

Fei Chun Fei Chun said casually:

"There should be sixty ships of more than one thousand tons, which can transport more than thirty thousand people at a time."

Tsuchiya Masanobu and Toda Ujimenge were both completely stunned.

There were sixty large ships of over one thousand tons, carrying more than three thousand guns.

With such a large fleet and so many cannons placed in Edo Bay, I'm afraid they could directly destroy a city.

Is the Ming Dynasty here to transport disaster victims, or to use artillery to threaten?
Now coming to Nagasaki specifically to inform me of this matter and ask me to report it to the general is in itself a form of pressure.

Both Tsuchiya and the other had very complicated feelings and felt that the shogunate would probably accept such conditions.

Unless the Qing Dynasty can give its full support, Japan will not be able to become the enemy of the Ming Dynasty.

Tsuchiya Masanobu bowed to Fei Chun with a heavy heart and said:
"Thank you for your understanding, angel. I will convey your message to the general... the king."

(End of this chapter)