1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 993 The Ever-expanding Qiri Trade

September 1682, 10, Edo.

The invasion of Qi State in the third year of Yanbao (1675) caused a violent shock throughout Japan.Whether it is the royal family headed by the emperor, the head of the shogunate headed by the Tokugawa clan, or even the vassal states of various places, they have never thought that a "barbarian country" tens of thousands of miles away would really dare to Organized an expeditionary fleet, invaded the Japanese territory, and defeated tens of thousands of shogunate troops in a row, and finally forced the shogunate to cede territory for peace.

You know, more than 1000 years ago, although Japan was defeated by the Tang Empire at the time of Baijiangkou in Korea, it was entirely because of its own lack of strength, and it was impossible to fight against the Tang Dynasty in its heyday.Even so, after the destruction of Baekje, Datang did not send troops to punish Japan, but continued to maintain contact with it.Later, Japan was even allowed to send a large number of envoys to the Tang Dynasty to comprehensively study the advanced culture and politics of the Tang Dynasty, as well as the advanced experience and technology in the economic field, which in turn greatly promoted the development and progress of Japan's overall society, which can be described as a blessing in disguise.

More than 400 years ago, in order to conquer Japan, the barbaric Mongol Empire attacked across the sea twice. It was so fierce that Japan almost faced the danger of national subjugation.But the gods are sorry, God bless Japan, two "Kamikaze" came, completely destroying the enemy army, saving Japan from the disaster of destroying the country.

In the Battle of Qingcho and Wenlu that broke out more than 90 years ago, the Ming government army fought bravely and defeated the Japanese army many times, allowing Toyotomi Hideyoshi to enter Korea and then conquer the mainland. His desire to conquer the mainland was completely shattered. This grand war ended without a problem, and the curtain came to a hasty conclusion.

Looking at the above-mentioned foreign wars, although Japan had two major defeats, it also had a brilliant victory.Moreover, during these wars, Japan has not suffered large-scale invasion of the mainland, let alone the humiliating experience of ceding land and paying compensation.

However, in the "Battle of Yanbao", Qi State not only captured Japan's largest commercial center - Osaka, but also sent troops into the Gyeonggi area, broke Nara, captured Kyoto, captured the Emperor, and finally in Osaka, Shangzong Kingdom ( Today's Chiba City, Japan), defeated the shogunate army twice, and came to Edo.

Unable to fight any more, the Tokugawa shogunate could only be forced to seek peace with the Qi State, and then signed the "Edo Treaty" that humiliated the country and humiliated the country, thus causing the Kingdom of God to fall into "darkness" and "sinking".

In the next few years, a large number of industrial products from Qi State swarmed into the Japanese market, almost destroying the Japanese handicraft industry in its "infancy", causing a large number of handicraft workers in the city to fall into bankruptcy and become vagrants and beggars.

Before the war, Japan's exports and imports were only 75 Hanzhou silver dollars and 68 Hanzhou silver dollars respectively, and the overall trade volume was only more than 140 million Hanzhou silver dollars.

In the second year after the war, Japan exported 180 million Hanzhou silver dollars and imported 190 million Hanzhou silver dollars.And last year, the export increased sharply to 540 million Hanzhou silver dollars, and the import was 610 million Hanzhou silver dollars.In the past six years, exports have increased by 7.2 times, imports have increased by nearly 9 times, and the total trade volume has increased by 8 times.But what worries Japan is that with the increase in trade volume, Japan's trade deficit has gradually increased, and the outflow of gold and silver has continued to increase.

Since the opening of the port, raw silk has always occupied the first place in Japan's export commodities, accounting for [-]% to [-]% of the entire trade export volume, the second is tea, accounting for [-]% to [-]%, and the third is Although the export volume of sulfur is huge, it only accounts for [-]% of the export value because of its low price.

In fact, in Japan, there is another invisible export, namely gold.Japan's gold-silver exchange rate deviated seriously from the "international market", which led to the outflow of a large number of gold coins (small sentences).However, two years ago, the shogunate discovered this trade loophole in time, and through currency recasting, the exchange rate of gold and silver has become equal to the "international market", which made many currency speculators feel sorry.

Facing the influx of foreign goods and the drastic changes in the country, Japanese literati, scholars, ministers, daimyo and other officials had many arguments and opinions on how to deal with foreign relations.But in general, there are three viewpoints.

First, to fight against China and against barbarians.The so-called "repulse of China and exclusion of barbarians" means "maintain the old scriptures of Dongzhao and Daji (that is, Tokugawa Ieyasu), and never let the Chinese bandits (ie Qi) and barbarians approach. If the Chinese bandits and barbarians want to invade God country, we must repel them without hesitation and make them suffer so much, so as to promote the might of our divine kingdom overseas."

For this reason, as a way to drive away the Chinese bandits and barbarians, we should try our best to strengthen the armament of the iron gun ships, with the emperor as the banner and the public (shogunate) as the leader, all people will work together to protect the kingdom of God.

Although this point of view has not specifically combined "resisting China and barbarians" with "respecting the king", many people of insight have such expectations in their hearts. , to arouse the desire of the people to "respect the king".

The second is to passively open the country, to wait for changes, and to plan slowly.This point of view holds that "it can be advocated to trade with Chinese invaders, barbarians and Didi, so as to avoid the danger of the kingdom of God being invaded by enemies for no reason. For the time being, we should agree to trade with other countries to appease them. During this period, we should strengthen our kingdom of God. When you have the power to contend with it, stop the trade and drive it away by force."

Many Japanese scholars believe that this view is nothing more than a delaying tactic, the purpose of which is to restore the original strictest state of isolation.

Some radical samurai even called this point of view "creating the illusion of peace and tranquility in front of our generation is actually an excuse for cowards", and criticized: "To get close to Huakou and Yidi and to trade with them, you must It makes the hearts of my gods scattered, and it is difficult for me to have a strong day."

Third, actively open up the country, embrace the "outside world", rectify and innovate, and learn from others to strengthen themselves.This kind of point of view is to change the traditions and ancestral system of the Kingdom of God, completely cancel the lock-up order, and allow trade with Chinese invaders and barbarians.Take a gentle approach to all countries in the world, form friendship with them, and actively exert the influence of the Kingdom of God.

However, many conservative literati and scholars in China have criticized this view. They believe that trade activities are just buying a lot of useless luxury goods, which is unnecessary for a self-sufficient Japan.They also particularly emphasized that trade would infect the frivolous and shallow-thinking Japanese with "the customs of Chinese bandits and barbarians", which was an approach that "has a lot of harm but no benefit".Once infected with the customs of Chinese bandits and barbarians, they will lose the patriotism and loyalty of the people of the country, and open the door for the enemy country to invade again.

"No matter what viewpoints there are in Japan, as long as we can help the Tokugawa Clan try to maintain the shogunate rule and help them suppress those powerful vassals in the country, we will be able to continue to maintain our Qi State's commercial interests in the Japanese islands." Qi Huang Tingrong, the Chinese ambassador to Edo, put the briefings of public opinion from all over Japan collected and organized by the black guard on the table, picked up a precious pipe, put it in his mouth, took a deep breath, and then comfortably Spit out a few smoke rings.

"The minister means that the loan of 100 million Hanzhou silver dollars proposed by the shogunate can be agreed and processed as soon as possible?" Wang Zongxian, the counselor of the Ministry of Foreign Commerce of Qi State in Japan, immediately agreed.

"Yes, the shogunate is very short of money now." Huang Tingrong nodded and said: "The new shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi planned to visit Nikko Toshogu Shrine (Tokugawa Ieyasu's mausoleum) as usual last year, but it failed. Although The shogunate stated that it was out of concern for the power of the people and did not want to aggravate the fatigue of the people, but in fact it was because the shogunate could not even pay for this. Directly under the Central Government), targeting the more affluent areas within a [-]-kilometer radius around Osaka and Edo."

"Although, when the shogunate explained the decree, it stated that it was only following the previous example for the convenience of supervision. But its purpose was to obtain the private territory of the daimyo with a high annual tribute rate and the banner, and to supplement the extremely difficult shogunate finances. Of course , This move is also to solve the complicated situation in the territory of Edo and Osaka, and to strengthen the rule of the shogun."

"Most of the objects targeted by the Shangzhi Order this time are genealogy daimyos. Feudal lords above five hundred stones were transferred to territories with low annual tribute rates, and those below five hundred stones were converted at the rate of ten taels of gold per hundred stones. This aroused strong opposition from the daimyo and flagmoto. In their view, their ancestors followed Tokugawa Ieyasu to conquer the world, and how could the land passed down from generation to generation be transferred without guilt due to military exploits. Look, those who have been wronged The daimyos and banners are bound to cause some trouble. If the shogunate has no money in their pockets, how can they suppress the runaway daimyos and banners?"

"If there is turmoil in the areas under the jurisdiction of the shogunate, I am afraid that those places that are ready to move will take advantage of the opportunity to make trouble." Wang Zongxian said worriedly: "None of the three families of Sendai, Changzhou, and Satsuma is fuel-efficient. lamp!"

"If you want to make trouble, you have to weigh whether you can withstand the counterattack of the Tokugawa Clan!" Huang Tingrong said contemptuously: "In order to restore the prestige of the shogunate, the Tokugawa Clan would like to have a leader first, so that they can kill chickens and scare monkeys and start anew." Intimidate all the vassals in the country. Furthermore, which of these three families is not a big vassal with hundreds of thousands of stones. If the Tokugawa family is allowed to find an opportunity to destroy the vassal state, in addition to fiefdoms, maybe the shogunate can return a mouthful of blood and increase A little strength."
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On November 11, Hengguan (today Shimonoseki, Japan).

Hara Zensaburo ran hard on the mountain path, and the accompanying escaped companions were sometimes exhausted or tripped by tree roots and fell to the ground, screaming, but he was unmoved and stepped over their path The body continued to run towards the south.

Behind these fugitives is a team of more than 200 Changzhou warriors chasing troops.If they catch up with them and bring them back to Changzhou, they will definitely suffer the cruelest torture. In the end, they will either be burned to death or buried alive, so as to warn all farmers and townspeople not to leave the territory without permission to avoid paying rent and class service. obligation.

In recent years, as the Changzhou domain has increasingly oppressed the farmers and townspeople in the territory, more and more farmers have fled.As early as decades ago, unbearable refugees would take the risk of driving a small boat or sampan to the sea, fleeing to Ryukyu, North Korea, the mainland, or even distant Luzon.

The rudimentary navigation tools are often overturned by huge waves within a few days after entering the sea, and then buried in the vast ocean.Even if you are lucky, if you encounter merchant ships on the way, you will be taken to the Indochina Peninsula or the Southeast Asia region, where you will be slaves for life.

Even at the risk of a narrow escape, there are endless escape incidents, increasing every year.Not only in the Changshu domain, but also in other domains in Japan, in addition to heavy taxes, farmers also have a lot of school labor.

All farmers who failed to pay the annual tribute were bound, tortured, and imprisoned without exception. Not only did they disperse their cattle, horses, livestock, fields, and family property, but they also sold their wives and children to pay taxes and annual tribute.The so-called water prison is to dig a hole in the ground, fill it with water about three feet deep, and soak the unpaid farmers in it for several days in the twelfth lunar month of winter.

Although, Toshogu (Tokugawa Ieyasu) Shangyi has been passed down as a famous name in the world, "the amount of annual tribute collected should be just right, so that the rural people will be half dead."

But in fact, in this period when rice and miscellaneous grains were still the mainstay and productivity was low, the farmers who had most of their harvests expropriated would often die of starvation when they encountered a few disasters or bad years. The last drop of food in the family will be squeezed out.

Since the summer of this year, the territory of the Changzhou Domain has encountered a rare drought. Large areas of crops have withered and died due to lack of water. There is a high probability that food production will decrease.Even some villages with severe disasters will face large-scale crop failure.However, no matter whether it is the village head (similar to the village head), the head of the group, or the feudal lord and Feng Xing in the city, they have not expressed any intention of giving relief, and the news from different channels does not show any reduction in the established annual tribute.

As a result, in this catastrophic year, there will inevitably be countless small farmers' families who will be forced to death by village officials or starved to death.

Hara Zenzaburo and countless poor farmers simply gritted their teeth and fled the village in a dark night, wrapped in simple packages, in order to have a chance to survive.

Seven years ago, the state of Qi from the southern New World invaded Japan and defeated the shogunate. It is located in the southernmost long and narrow peninsula area of ​​the Changzhou Fan - Shimonoseki, and was ceded to the state of Qi by the shogunate after the war.

I heard that the Qi people implemented a very loose agricultural tax collection policy in the Xiaguan area. After each farmer gets the land allocated by the Qi people, he only needs to pay [-]% of the output every year, and he can enjoy the rest of the land to his heart's content. harvest.Moreover, the people there can also eat rice that only samurai and feudal lords can enjoy.

If you escape to Xiaguan, you will survive!
With this idea in their hearts, countless fleeing farmers avoided the main road, burrowed into the mountains, headed south, and began to trek across mountains and rivers, struggling to run.

At this moment, Yuan Zensaburo only felt that his legs were sore and weak, and his whole body began to flutter, as if he was going to collapse from exhaustion in the next moment.But he continued to grit his teeth, holding on to his last breath, and kept running away.Once he stopped, the ferocious Changzhou Fan warriors behind him would immediately knock him to the ground and cut off his tendons to prevent him from escaping further.

There were countless shrill howls from behind, all from the poor refugees who were intercepted.Their tragic fate seemed to be a shot in the arm, stimulating Hara Zensaburo not to stop.

After running for more than a hundred meters, Yuan Shansaburo had already seen the watchtower set up by the Qi people on the border, and two Qi soldiers on duty were holding up binoculars and seemed to be looking in their direction.

"Gentlemen, come on!..."

More than a dozen Japanese-origin soldiers in earth-gray military uniforms had already pushed aside the Jumas on the border, waving their arms, and eagerly shouted to the refugees.

"Ah!..." Hara Zenzaburo mustered his last bit of strength and rushed forward.

The moment he stepped over the rejected horse, he immediately collapsed on the ground, and then panted heavily.

"You are safe!" A thin Japanese soldier squatted beside Yuan Zensaburo and patted him on the shoulder. "As long as you reach the territory of Qi State, you will be blessed!"

"Jie Jie..." Yuan Zensaburo raised his head, panting violently, while looking back at the team of Changzhou feudal warriors stationed outside the border, grinning, making a strange sound like crying , It seems to be smiling, and it looks extraordinarily creepy.

(End of this chapter)