There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 490 Accepting Him as a Dog
Although Tokugawa Ienari had no political ambitions and only enjoyed luxury, the idea of ​​leading the shogunate to submit to the Han Dynasty and become its vassal was still unacceptable to him.

Tadahiro Aoyama keenly sensed Ienari's thoughts and said tactfully, "The Shogunate appreciates the Celestial Empire's good intentions, but whether or not to accept the Celestial Empire's investiture and seal of office requires detailed discussion between the Shogunate and the Emperor..."

"Emperor? What emperor is this?"

Xu Mingyu forcefully interrupted, saying, "Under the whole heaven, there is only one sage emperor, the Emperor of our Great Han Dynasty. Your Japan is merely a vassal state of China, yet you dare to be so arrogant and call yourselves emperors?"

These words were rather blunt, and even with the translator's embellishment, they still infuriated Tokugawa Ienari and his close retainers.

However, despite their anger, the more arrogant Xu Mingyu acted, the less the shogunate dared to make any rash moves.

There was no way around it; the shogunate wasn't stupid. The Satsuma Domain knew about the intelligence about China they obtained through Nagasaki, and of course, the shogunate knew about it too.

Even among this vast amount of intelligence, there is a large amount of rumor, exaggeration, and distorted information.

The purpose of this exaggeration was, of course, for the southern merchants to use the power of the Japanese to deter the nobles and daimyo from extorting them at will.

Tokugawa Ienari was genuinely angry with Xu Mingyu, but under the subtle hints of his senior advisors, he dared not show it, not even letting his anger show on his face.

Matsudaira Nobuaki broke the awkward silence by speaking first, saying, "Japan has not accepted investiture from the Chinese Celestial Dynasty since the Manchu invasion. The current Great Han Dynasty is a newly established nation, so Japan is not a vassal state of the Great Han Dynasty."

The implication is that Japan was not a vassal state of the Han Dynasty, so the existence of an emperor in Japan was none of the Han Dynasty's business and did not constitute disrespect to the Celestial Empire.

Xu Mingyu was too lazy to waste words on this kind of word game and said, "My Great Han can let bygones be bygones, but now that Japan has been granted the title and seal of my Great Han, there can be no more emperors. From now on, Japan will only have kings."

Matsudaira Nobuaki seized the opportunity to interject: "The shogunate cannot act arbitrarily; this matter must be..."

Xu Mingyu interrupted again: "I will say it again, this is the imperial edict of investiture from the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty. You can only choose to accept the edict or not. If you accept the edict, Japan will henceforth be a vassal state of the Great Han Dynasty and will be under the protection of the Great Han Dynasty."

"What if you don't accept the imperial decree?" Tokugawa Ienari couldn't help but press.

Xu Mingyu suddenly laughed and retorted, "Not a vassal state, yet unwilling to open the seas, and calling yourself emperor. Such treason! What do you think our Emperor of Han should decide? The decision? Of course, it's to fight!"

The Mongol-Japanese War of that year was caused by the Kamakura Shogunate's insistence that Japan submit to the Yuan Dynasty, which displeased Kublai Khan, who then sent troops across the sea to conquer Japan.

Although the Mongol army was nearly wiped out by typhoons in both Mongol-Japanese wars, Japan even developed a legend of "divine wind" protecting the country.

However, the real truth here is that the Mongols deliberately chose to wage war in the autumn when the horses were fat and strong. And this autumn, when the horses were fat and strong on land, was also the period when typhoons were most likely to occur at sea.

Moreover, these two major battles also cost the Kamakura Shogunate dearly. Kublai Khan's army, which was conquering Japan, twice reached the Japanese mainland. However, the Kamakura Shogunate's mobilized samurai forces used their superior numbers to push them back, and they were finally wiped out by a typhoon on their way back to Korea to rest.

After these two battles were over, the rule of the Kamakura Shogunate came to an end. The two major wars that mobilized the whole of Japan caused the Kamakura Shogunate's finances to be depleted instantly, leading to the collapse of the shogunate.

Therefore, faced with Xu Mingyu's blatant threat of war, Tokugawa Ienari and his senior retainers were somewhat hesitant to act rashly.

Before Tokugawa Ienari, during the reform era of Tanuma Otsugu, although the shogunate was also facing financial difficulties, the reforms still significantly increased its revenue.

Furthermore, Matsudaira Sadanobu's Kansei reforms, although a step backward in history, alleviated the deteriorating financial situation of the shogunate to some extent by restoring the rice standard system.

If we grit our teeth, we should be able to afford to fight a war, but we'll definitely run out of money after the war, and there might even be a large-scale famine.

But things are different now. Tokugawa Ienari first used Matsudaira Sadanobu to overthrow the Tanuma Reforms, and then, because the Kansei Reforms had too many problems, he forced Matsudaira Sadanobu to leave to give an explanation to the people.

After that, Tokugawa Ienari was freed from any constraints, seized power, and continued to enjoy a life of luxury for ten years.

The shogunate and the national treasury have long been squandered by this guy. At most, in a few years, Mizuno Tadatsune, who succeeds Aoyama Tadahiro, will begin to recast koban gold.

The shogunate's fiscal deficit was alleviated by reducing the gold and silver content in the koban gold coins.

Because the gold and silver content of small gold coins decreased, their value dropped, exacerbating inflation and indirectly increasing the circulation of metal currency among the people.

Instead, the failed Tanuma Reforms briefly revived among the Japanese public and brought about a false period of urban prosperity.

In short, the shogunate is now out of money.

Not only did they have no money, they also owed a huge amount of government debt, roughly equivalent to at least tens of thousands of taels of gold.

Even if Tokugawa Ienari immediately resumed a frugal lifestyle, it would still take at least five years to pay off a debt of over 100,000 taels of gold.

Left with no other option, the shogunate could only use the pretext of discussing with the emperor to request that the Chinese envoy stay for a few more days.

Xu Mingyu wasn't in a hurry. He was on a mission to Japan by imperial decree, and even if he died in Japan, it wouldn't be a problem, let alone staying for a month or two.

After all, Han envoys have always been consumables. If a vassal state is obedient and timid, then it's best to take them in as dogs, which can be considered as making a contribution.

If a vassal state disobeys, then force them to be executed. His Majesty the Emperor will avenge them and use this as an opportunity to bestow honors and titles upon his descendants.

Xu Mingyu not only understood this principle well, but also deduced that the emperor seemed to have a strong interest in Japan. Therefore, his attitude towards Ryukyu, Satsuma Domain, and the Shogunate was extremely arrogant and unrestrained.

Ryukyu has been conquered. Although there is still a king, it is only a matter of time before it is annexed and established as a prefecture.

After the Satsuma Domain fought a battle, they were basically subdued. The rest was just a matter of negotiation and protracted struggle, and he no longer needed to personally intervene.

Only the Japanese shogunate still has some doubts. If the shogunate can obediently act as a dog, then there will naturally be no problem.

But if they don't listen... hehe.

The first meeting between the shogunate and the Chinese envoy ended hastily, and the envoy was accommodated in the nearby Nishimaru Palace to rest. To prevent the envoy from feeling slighted or angry, Tokugawa Ienari specially sent two "beautiful" concubines to accompany him during his rest.

Xu Mingyu was unusually startled when he saw the concubines that Tokugawa Ienari had sent out.

It wasn't because the other party was too promiscuous, actually offering women to him, but rather because the women he offered were rather frightening.

Her face was painted completely white and her teeth were all stained black late at night. Even with the lights on in the room, it still terrified Xu Mingyu, who thought he had encountered a Japanese ghost.

Before the two "beautiful" concubines could finish speaking, Xu Mingyu rudely kicked them out of the room.

Japanese pirates are indeed Japanese pirates; their aesthetic sense is completely different from ordinary people. White face and black teeth are actually considered "beauty"—it's unbelievable!
Meanwhile, in the inner sanctum of the citadel, Tokugawa Ienari was holding a late-night meeting with his trusted retainers.

Matsudaira Nobuaki spoke first: "General, I believe that the imperial edict of investiture and the golden seal of the Grand General brought by the Han envoy are not unacceptable."

Tokugawa Ienari frowned slightly and asked, "Do you want me to submit to the Han Kingdom?"

Matsudaira Nobuaki sensed Tokugawa Ienari's displeasure and quickly explained, "Shogun, this submission is not a humiliation. Japan has always been a vassal state of China since ancient times. Back in the time of Shogun Ieyasu, we accepted investiture from the Ming Dynasty, and Shogun Ieyasu was proud to be a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty."

Aoyama Tadahiro interrupted, saying, "Matsudaira-kun, since the Ming Dynasty was captured and destroyed by barbarians, Japan has long ceased to be a vassal state of China. Even if the Han Dynasty was not of barbarian origin, at most it was an equal to Japan. If the shogunate were to submit to the Han Dynasty so easily, how would the shogunate govern the various samurai families and domains of the country in the future?"

Matsudaira Nobuaki suddenly chuckled and said, "Aoyama-kun, you're the one who's wrong. Submitting to Han is not the Shogunate's business. The Shogunate is merely His Majesty the Emperor's Shogunate, so submitting to Han should be His Majesty the Emperor's submission, and the Shogunate is merely following His Majesty the Emperor's edict. What's wrong with that?"

Hmm... Hmm? You can do that?
Tadahiro Aoyama was somewhat stunned, seemingly not having considered so much for the moment.

Matsudaira Nobuaki, seeing Tokugawa Ienari also deep in thought, immediately pressed his advantage, saying, "Shogun, the shogunate doesn't need to do the shogunate's thing of submitting to Han. As long as the Emperor intervenes, even if all the samurai families are worried and indignant, that will be His Majesty the Emperor's responsibility, and it has nothing to do with my shogunate."

"Furthermore, if the Emperor represents Japan's submission to the Han Dynasty, then there will be no more Emperors, only the King of Japan. The Emperor's legitimacy will be diminished, while the Shogunate's legitimacy will be elevated. Isn't that a good thing?"

The first half of the sentence is just an explanation; the second half is the key point.

If the Emperor submits to the Han Dynasty, he will no longer be the Emperor, but will become the King of Japan.

Although the king was still the nominal monarch of Japan, the shogunate also had the golden seal of a great general bestowed by the Han Dynasty, which would rapidly diminish the legitimacy of the Japanese king.

The king's legitimacy was reduced, but the shogunate received a ribbon from a great man, so the legitimacy remained unchanged.

With this shift in power, the shogunate's influence will only increase, and its legitimacy will become even stronger.

This was certainly a good thing for the shogunate.

Moreover, this was only one of them; the Han envoy also requested that Japan open its sea trade.

"Closed-door policy is our ancestral national policy; how can we easily open the seas?" Tokugawa Ienari said with a serious expression.

In fact, this is not just about so-called ancestral national policies, but also involves many other factors.

In the early years of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan also attempted to open the seas to increase fiscal revenue and enhance its overall strength.

However, during the process of opening the seas, the Tokugawa shogunate discovered that most of the increased fiscal revenue from the opening of the seas was earned by the coastal daimyo.

With the increased power of these coastal daimyo, the Tokugawa shogunate found itself somewhat unable to maintain control.

Furthermore, the opening of the seas increased comprehensive exchanges between the West and Japan. This might seem like a good thing, but what followed was not only Western goods and wealth, but also Western religions that resembled cults.

The spread of Western religions in Japan ultimately led to the famous Amakusa Jushiro Rebellion, which shocked the shogunate.

Therefore, the shogunate began to severely crack down on Western religions and completely closed the country off from the outside world, retaining only limited foreign trade through the port of Nagasaki.

Matsudaira Nobuaki naturally understood Tokugawa Ienari's concerns, and he could only advise him: "Shogun, it is no longer a matter of whether the shogunate opens the sea or not, but that China has already fully opened the sea. With China fully opening the sea, Chinese merchants are flocking to the Japanese coast for trade. The port of Nagasaki opened by the shogunate is completely unable to meet the needs of these Chinese merchants."

"Many Han Chinese merchants simply bypassed Nagasaki Port and traded privately with the daimyo lords along the coast. These trades were unregulated; they were smuggling in reality, and many daimyo lords along the coast were happy to profit from them, and some even actively participated in smuggling."

“If this continues, the daimyo and feudal lords along the coast will only become more powerful in smuggling, while the shogunate will only become weaker.”

Tadahiro Aoyama frowned and said, "Since it's smuggling, then it should be strictly prohibited. All smuggling daimyo should be punished."

Matsudaira Nobuaki shook his head and said, "It's not that easy. There are more than just a few daimyo involved in smuggling, and with the expansion of trade along the coast of Han, smuggling will only become more and more serious, and the number of smuggling daimyo will only increase. Even you gentlemen here, if your domains are also on the coast, can you resist the urge to participate in smuggling?"

“Smuggling cannot be prohibited, nor can it be completely eradicated. There was no problem before because the Qing Dynasty was also closed off from the world. But now the Qing Dynasty is about to fall, and China is opening its seas to the world. Japan’s policy of isolationism will only exist in name only.”

"If that's the case, why not simply cooperate with the Han Kingdom to open up the seas? Open more ports, all of which will be controlled by the shogunate, and conduct normal trade with the Han Kingdom. The profits obtained in this way will also be the profits of the shogunate. This will not only reduce smuggling but also make up for the shogunate's financial deficit."

Hearing this, Tokugawa Ienari was somewhat convinced, because the shogunate was indeed short of money, and he loved to squander it.

The combination of these factors meant that while Tokugawa Ienari wasn't particularly keen on opening the seas, he didn't insist on resisting it either.

After Matsudaira Nobuaki's analysis, it seemed that opening the seas would actually benefit the shogunate and his future life of luxury and decadence.

Tokugawa Ienari was at a loss for what to do.

Five days later, the shogunate suddenly received an urgent message.

Tokugawa Ienari was somewhat puzzled. He took the letter from the messenger and read: "The Satsuma Domain is at war with the Han Kingdom. The Amami Yashima Islands have been lost, and the Satsuma Domain fleet has been completely annihilated. We request the intervention and support of the Shogunate!"

(End of this chapter)