There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 489 Han Envoy
Edo Town.

Xu Mingyu, holding the envoy's token of the Han emperor, entered Nishimaru Castle with a troop of attendants, led by Matsudaira Nobuaki, a senior councilor of the shogunate.

Edo-cho has a large number of buildings, and the overall structure is built in the style of a spiral castle.

In addition to the main castle palace, which is the core, there are many other castle buildings such as the second castle wall, the outer castle wall, the west castle, and the north castle.

The original purpose of this architectural design was to protect the main keep located in the Honmaru Castle, but after the Meireki Great Fire, the Honmaru and the main keep were almost completely destroyed.

The shogunate made several attempts to repair the buildings, but unfortunately, due to financial difficulties, they were forced to stop and could only renovate other buildings in Edo town that had been destroyed by fire.

This was the situation during the Edo period. Fire prevention measures were almost nonexistent in the entire town of Edo, and major fires broke out every few days. As a result, the people of Edo at the time simply said: "Fire and quarrels are the beautiful sights of Edo (火事と喧哗は江戸の花)."

After the Great Fire of Meireki destroyed the main keep of Honmaru Castle, it was passed down until the time of Ienari. By then, the main keep was no longer a name, and the shogun could only reside in the Nakaoku-den (the place where the shogun rested) of Honmaru Castle.

Nishimaru Castle served as a place for the shogunate to receive foreign envoys and important officials, as well as a place for the shogun to retire and live in seclusion.

Xu Mingyu soon arrived at Nishimaru Castle, where he was greeted by Tokugawa Ienari, who had already gathered his senior officials to welcome him.

Although this guy liked luxury and enjoyment, he wasn't a complete fool. He knew that he couldn't treat the Han envoys with the same disrespect as he did the Manchu Tartars.

Indeed, the Tokugawa Shogunate had always regarded the Manchus as barbarians, and even in the Shogunate's official documents, they made no attempt to conceal this fact, referring to themselves as a "Little China of Japan."

This naturally reflects Japan's ambition to elevate its own political and legal standing, but the Tokugawa Shogunate did not actually have any clear official diplomacy with the Qing Dynasty.

The Qing dynasty made several attempts to gain the Tokugawa shogunate's vassal status and engage in normal tributary diplomacy with Japan, but these attempts were unilaterally rejected by the Tokugawa shogunate.

Xu Mingyu followed local customs and sat cross-legged on the cushion opposite Tokugawa Ienari.

This seating arrangement surprised Tokugawa Ienari, but he didn't say much. He smiled and said, "Your Excellency the Great Han has come from afar. The Shogunate was unaware of this and therefore could not welcome you in advance. Please forgive us!"

This was just a polite remark, because it was the Han Dynasty's warships that entered Edo Bay first.

This move is practically a blatant declaration of war!

But it must be said that it was indeed very useful. Decades later, the Americans used four black ships to sail into Edo Bay and force Japan to open its sea lanes.

The Japanese shogunate didn't dare utter a sound about this, and the shogunate is already pretty much finished. Tokugawa Ienari wanted to be a happy, incompetent ruler of the shogunate, so he was both wary and fearful of external forces.

Xu Mingyu didn't bother with formalities with Tokugawa Ienari and went straight to the point: "Are you Tokugawa Ienari, the shogun of the Japanese shogunate?"

These words, delivered with a strong questioning tone, caused Tokugawa Ienari's face to stiffen, but he still nodded and said, "Indeed, what instructions does Your Excellency have?"

Xu Mingyu continued, "Leaving aside your guidance for now, I only have one question, which is also what His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty wants to ask you: Can you, as the Shogun, truly make decisions and be the master of your Japanese domain?"

These words were indeed quite pointed and malicious.

As is well known, since the Kamakura period, Japan has been governed by the shogunate, which has effectively sidelined the emperor.

In more elegant Chinese terms, it's like the Japanese version of "holding the emperor hostage to command the princes."

However, the Japanese shogunate was more concerned with appearances. They would not openly bestow upon themselves a title of nobility, but would simply establish the shogunate under the name of Shogun to govern Japan.

The Emperor will remain the Emperor, and the Shogunate will not touch the Emperor's title or position.

Of course, in the early generations of the Tokugawa Shogunate, there were also shoguns who attempted to marry daughters of the Tokugawa family to the emperor's sons or grandsons, so that the daughters would bear princes with Tokugawa blood. They would then support these princes to inherit the throne, thereby achieving a further merger of power between the shogunate and the emperor.

Unfortunately, despite the Tokugawa Shogunate's elaborate plans, they ultimately fell short.

After finally giving birth to a princess with both Tokugawa and imperial bloodlines, the imperial family took advantage of the princess's young age to pass the throne to her.

The imperial lineage has a tradition that female emperors are not allowed to remarry and have children after ascending the throne. This cunning move successfully thwarted the Tokugawa shogunate's plans, and the Tokugawa bloodline was removed from the imperial family.

Now, the angel from the Great Han Dynasty arrives and asks the Tokugawa Shogunate if it can rule Japan. Isn't this clearly indicating that the Shogunate is using the emperor to command the feudal lords, which is neither legitimate nor proper?
Tokugawa Ienari looked embarrassed and was about to lash out, but Matsudaira Nobuaki coughed to remind him, "Ahem, Your Excellency, the angel is asking you a question."

Tokugawa Ienari snapped out of his daze and, suppressing his embarrassment, said, "The Shogunate... The Shogunate shares the burdens of His Majesty the Emperor. If it's not a major matter, the Shogunate can naturally make decisions on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor. Even if it is a major matter, the Shogunate will petition His Majesty the Emperor for discussion and decision-making!"

It's a beautifully worded statement, but the unspoken message is that the shogunate holds supreme power and can make all the decisions, at most informing the emperor.

Xu Mingyu nodded slightly: "If the Shogunate can make the decision, then I will speak frankly. His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty requires Japan to abolish its closed-door policy and open its seas to engage in free trade with the Great Han Dynasty from this day forward."

To put it bluntly, this is far too direct, so direct that even Tokugawa Ienari was somewhat at a loss for words.

It was the old lord Aoyama Tadahiro who hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, you are unaware that piracy has been rampant in the waters around Japan in recent years. If the shogunate does not close the country off from the world, then merchant ships from various countries will surely be plundered by pirates. At that time, not only will the merchants of the Celestial Empire suffer heavy losses, but merchants from other countries will also suffer heavy losses, which will be detrimental to the diplomacy of our shogunate."

This statement is partly true and partly false, because there are indeed a large number of pirates around the waters surrounding Japan.

Even the Hirado Domain, a local daimyo in Japan, was actually a pirate posing as a daimyo.

Of course, a significant portion of the pirates in Japanese waters have ties to the Japanese government.

When foreign merchant ships come to Japan, if they are alone and outnumbered, they become ruthless Japanese pirates.

If they were powerful and had many ships, they would transform from Japanese pirates into smugglers employed by local daimyo.

Tadahiro Aoyama used this as an excuse, taking full advantage of the fact that there had always been Japanese pirates causing trouble along the Chinese coast.

But before he could finish speaking, Xu Mingyu said without hesitation, "If there are many pirates, don't worry, our Great Han has already come up with a solution. If pirates are rampant, then our Great Han will cooperate with Japan and send out navies to encircle and suppress them. If Japan cannot afford to send its own navy, it can hire one. Our Great Han has plenty of navy personnel who can help Japan wipe out the pirates and Japanese pirates."

This is not an exaggeration; the Han Dynasty did indeed have a sizable navy.

Fujian and Guangdong have been captured, and both coastal shipbuilding sites have been acquired. The Great Han is already working on the construction of naval warships.

Adding to the Fujian naval warships captured earlier, as well as the pirate coalition fleet under Cai Qian's command, all of them together could form a sizable Han navy.

Such a large naval fleet, with its diverse personnel, needs to be integrated through warfare in order to train and organize its troops.

If we wipe out the Japanese pirates, wouldn't that be a real opportunity for combat?
Aoyama Tadahiro was taken aback by what he said. Before he could speak again, Xu Mingyu continued, "Pirates are not a problem. His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty has already decreed that Japan must open its seas this year and can no longer remain closed off from the world."

"I also have an imperial edict here for the Shogunate. His Majesty will confer upon the Shogunate the title of Shogun of Japan. Furthermore, Japan shall no longer have an Emperor; from now on, only a King of Japan will be permitted."

As he spoke, Xu Mingyu waved his hand, and his attendants brought over two brocade boxes.

Xu Mingyu opened the box: "Inside are the gold seal of the Shogun bestowed upon you by His Majesty, and the gold seal of the King of Japan. Now that you have accepted them, Japan will henceforth be a vassal state of our Great Han Dynasty..."

Xu Mingyu spoke in a condescending tone, as if it were all perfectly natural, which surprised Tokugawa Ienari.

They wanted to turn their emperor into a king and also take Japan as a vassal state of the Han Dynasty.

Although Tokugawa Ienari kept referring to the Qing Dynasty as the Celestial Empire, the Manchu Qing had occupied the Central Plains for too long, and Japan had long regarded the Manchus as barbarians, which had almost become a habit.

From Japan's perspective, the Han Dynasty was at most slightly better than the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which was considered barbaric, but legally they should be equal. However, the Han Dynasty immediately wanted to treat Japan as its dog.

Tokugawa Ienari suddenly felt as if he had been humiliated.

……

(End of this chapter)