ps: Do not subscribe! This chapter is still a placeholder chapter. The author is still suffering from a high fever and is expected to return to normal tomorrow.
None of the assembled daimyo and feudal lords expected Tokugawa Ienari to be so generous. Although Japan is not a large country, it has been divided into quite a few domains. The number of envoy missions to the Great Ming was fixed. Originally, each domain could only get one or two spots. Now, Tokugawa Ienari actually said he would give five spots to each domain?
Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobunobu felt increasingly uneasy as they thought about it.
Tokugawa Ienari, who was usually as sharp and slippery as greased chicken gizzards, might have found ways to collect envoy spots from the various feudal lords. However, for him to actively offer envoy spots to the various domains seemed a bit fantastical. After all, giving more spots to the domains meant fewer spots for the shogunate or the imperial court.
If this were before Tokugawa Ienari planned to usurp the throne, it could be understood as taking spots from the Japanese imperial court. But now that Tokugawa Ienari was ready to usurp the throne, if successful, these spots would be a real loss.
After racking his brains for a long time without getting any answers, Shimazu Hisamitsu directly asked, "May I ask the General, are there any requirements for these spots?"
However, to the surprise of Shimazu Hisamitsu and the other feudal lords, Tokugawa Ienari shook his head and sighed, "There are no conditions, or rather, the only condition is to ensure that those selected must have a talent for learning."
Tokugawa Ienari was speaking from his heart.
As early as the fifth year of An'ei, the fortieth year of Qianlong in the Great Qing, Hiraga Gennai, the teacher of Shiba Kōkan, had already improved the Leyden jar and even created Japan's first friction generator. However, Japan was in a state of self-imposed isolation at the time, and "Rangaku" scholars like Hiraga Gennai were naturally considered fringe.
Especially since Hiraga Gennai had also written "The Theory of Farting": "Sounds are divided into three grades. A 'pu' sound is the highest grade, shaped round; a 'po' sound is the middle grade, shaped flat; a 'si' sound is the lowest grade, shaped thin and long." After elaborating on the shapes of fart sounds, Hiraga Gennai cited a performer of fart sounds in Edo at the time (who played a duet of shamisen and rooster crowing) as an example, praising him, "In all of history, East and West, there has never been another who conceived of such an idea and put so much effort into it."
Being a fringe figure, coupled with writing an absurd essay like "The Theory of Farting," Hiraga Gennai became increasingly disillusioned.
Later, Hiraga Gennai even said with a hint of self-deprecation, "I engage in matters not understood by the masses. Since the friction generator, I have invented many things that were previously unknown in Japan. Some people called me a swindler. I exhausted my mind and energy but was met with criticism. Buying wine with good intentions turned out to be unsatisfactory. ... I might as well rename the 'Erekiteru' (friction generator) to 'Harekiteru' (fart generator) and become a disciple of the fart man myself."
The main reason for this situation was that Hiraga Gennai came from a lower samurai family in the domain of Takamatsu.
In the seventh year of An'ei, the forty-third year of Qianlong in the Great Qing, Hiraga Gennai's method of making the friction generator was stolen by a craftsman. He also developed severe paranoia and persecution complex, which eventually led to a tragedy. In the eighth year of An'ei, the forty-fourth year of Qianlong in the Great Qing, Hiraga Gennai took on a garden renovation project for a daimyo. During this time, he drank all night with two carpenters who visited him. When Gennai woke up in the middle of the night and wanted to relieve himself, he found that the important architectural design drawings he had kept in his bosom had disappeared. Hiraga Gennai thought the workers had stolen his construction plans, so he interrogated the two carpenters. Neither side would back down. Hiraga Gennai, his eyes red with anger, accidentally stabbed and killed the workers.
After the misunderstanding was cleared up, Gennai regretted it immensely and wanted to commit seppuku to atone, but he was stopped by his disciples. In the end, Gennai was imprisoned for this incident. A month after entering prison, Hiraga Gennai died in prison. One theory is that he contracted tetanus, while another is that he went on a hunger strike to atone for his sins and eventually died of weakness. He ultimately killed two people.
However, the architectural drawing was not in Gennai's bosom but had slipped out from a gap in his waistband. Gennai subsequently lost his sanity and died in the cold prison of Kodenmacho.
Hiraga Gennai's funeral was attended by his only good friend, Sugita Genpaku. Genpaku inscribed the following line on Gennai's tombstone: "Alas, an extraordinary man, who loved extraordinary things and acted extraordinarily, why did he meet such an extraordinary death?"
The so-called "extraordinary death" refers to the fact that Hiraga Gennai should not have died for killing two carpenters.
Shiba Kōkan, who studied under Hiraga Gennai, was also not accepted by mainstream Japanese society at the time. Even though Shiba Kōkan became an envoy to the Great Ming and successfully replicated a steam engine, it was of no use. The Japanese court still did not value Shiba Kōkan. Forced into a corner, Shiba Kōkan eventually chose to defect to the shogunate. Tokugawa Ienari basically got a great bargain for free.
Tokugawa Ienari, who had personally visited the Great Ming, was well aware of the importance of steam engines.
However, what was frustrating was that while Hiraga Gennai, from a lower samurai family, could produce a fart generator, and Shiba Kōkan could replicate a steam engine, the high-ranking nobles selected by the Japanese court and the shogunate couldn't produce anything worthwhile. All they did was compose poems and seek out prostitutes. Their presence or absence made no difference.
As the saying goes, one's position determines one's thinking. If Tokugawa Ienari had not intended to usurp the throne, then the envoy spots would have been a tool to trouble the feudal lords and daimyo. But now that Tokugawa Ienari had decided to usurp the throne and establish himself, the envoy spots were naturally not just a tool to win over the feudal lords and daimyo.
However, Tokugawa Ienari also knew in his heart that the distribution of envoy spots could never be fair and just.
After a silent sigh, Tokugawa Ienari surveyed the assembled feudal lords and daimyo again and said solemnly, "..."
Simply put, Japan, which was praised to the heavens by countless incurable people, was actually similar to the situation in India. India had a caste system, and Japan also had a class system.
For example, why would those ronin samurai who had lost their masters remain ronin instead of finding jobs?
This meant that if Tokugawa Ienari wanted to complete the blockade, he first had to deal with those ronin.
The feudal lords of Chikuzen, Chikugo, Buzen, Bungo, Hizen, Tsushima, Hyuga, and others also responded enthusiastically, while the other feudal lords and daimyo couldn't help but frown.
This geographical difference naturally led to imbalanced development between the domains. Some domains were relatively wealthy, while others were extremely poor. The difference in wealth would directly reflect the number of ronin in each domain. The poorer the domain, the more ronin it had.
More importantly, the Satsuma domain and the domains of Chikuzen, Chikugo, and others also had a common designation: the Kyushu domains. These domains originally operated on the island of Kyushu. The Satsuma domain had even sent troops to capture the Ryukyu Islands, forcing the Ryukyu King to submit and pay tribute to Japan.
While they were certainly unwilling, Shimazu Hisamitsu and the feudal lords of Chikuzen and Chikugo had considered resisting, at least to get a better location, right? Then Shimazu Hisamitsu and the others quickly moved to Ezo, completely giving up the island of Kyushu.
More importantly, who should these samurai and ashigaru obey? If they were to obey the orders of their feudal lords and ignore Tokugawa Ienari, what would the shogunate think? If they kept hindering each other and arguing, how could they clear out the ronin? If they were to obey the orders of Tokugawa Ienari, wouldn't that be equivalent to handing over military power? This was even more unacceptable to the feudal lords than directly providing money to support Tokugawa Ienari!
When Tokugawa Ienari finished speaking, the assembled feudal lords breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, they couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious. As everyone knew, besides his lust, Tokugawa Ienari's biggest flaw was his greed. The insatiable greed of his sons and daughters was entirely inherited from Tokugawa Ienari. Now, this greedy and lustful man had not chosen to heavily extort the domains but instead stated that the shogunate would send people directly, and the domains only needed to "slightly" prepare some provisions and a few guides?
While the feudal lords and daimyo were hesitating, Shimazu Hisamitsu glared fiercely at the other feudal lords and shouted, "Baka! You damnable fools! Is this the time to quibble over a few samurai and ashigaru? If we don't cooperate with the General to eliminate those ronin, when Mitsuhito and Hiroshige-no-miya succeed, how will they let us off?"
Upon hearing Shimazu Hisamitsu's scolding, Matsudaira Nobunobu, the head of Kawagoe domain among the Kanto Musashi domains, was about to retort, but he inadvertently saw Tokugawa Ienari glaring fiercely at Shimazu Hisamitsu, and then his expression returned to a smiling, yet insincere, calm. Matsudaira Nobunobu immediately became vigilant. Shimazu Hisamitsu, this Ezo fool, who was as poor as a dog, was still sending samurai and ashigaru to help Tokugawa Ienari, and now he was the first to jump out and scold the other feudal lords, acting like a loyal dog who would shed his last drop of blood for the Edo shogunate. Yet Tokugawa Ienari seemed displeased? After some thought, a flash of inspiration struck Matsudaira Nobunobu's mind. In the best-case scenario, Tokugawa Ienari might genuinely want to eliminate those samurai, and his interaction with Shimazu Hisamitsu was just an act to lure the other feudal lords into a trap. In the worst-case scenario, Tokugawa Ienari's true intention might not be to completely eliminate those ronin, but to target them, the feudal lords! Once the shogunate's samurai and ashigaru entered the domains in large numbers, anything could happen afterward! Thinking of this, Matsudaira Nobunobu's expression turned grim. He then glanced at Shimazu Hisamitsu and said loudly, "Lord Shimazu is absolutely right. This is a crucial moment for us to unite and overcome difficulties. We cannot afford to hesitate now!" Following the lead of Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobunobu, the other feudal lords were left with no retreat. Whether they understood or not, they had to follow Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobunobu in expressing their willingness to send samurai and ashigaru to help the shogunate eliminate those ronin.
As Matsudaira Nobunobu had surmised, the reason Tokugawa Ienari proposed that the shogunate send samurai and ashigaru to eliminate those ronin was, on the one hand, to truly eliminate those ronin to avoid any unexpected incidents during the subsequent blockade. However, on the other hand, Tokugawa Ienari intended to use the feudal lords to pressure the imperial court. If Mitsuhito and Hiroshige-no-miya dared to send people to cause trouble in Tokugawa Ienari's territory, Tokugawa Ienari planned to first kill a few minor feudal lords and daimyo in the Kinai regions, thus causing chaos in the territories of Mitsuhito and his son. As for sending ninjas or people infected with leprosy to harm Mitsuhito and his son's territory, Tokugawa Ienari did not have such thoughts for the time being. This was because Tokugawa Ienari was clearly in an advantageous position, and the possibility of successfully ascending to the throne was high. Tokugawa Ienari, who had already begun to dream of being a national ruler, naturally did not want leprosy to spread near Kinai, because no matter how much of a poverty disease it was, the transmissibility of leprosy was undeniable, and no one could guarantee they would escape it. xxs Unfortunately, Tokugawa Ienari's well-laid plan was now ruined by these two fools, Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobunobu. Tokugawa Ienari cursed inwardly, but he forced a smile and said, "Then it's settled. For those ronin who are causing trouble, it is imperative to conduct a thorough crackdown. If you are unable to do so, you can always send people to seek help from the shogunate. Do not force yourselves." After the feudal lords thanked him, either willingly or unwillingly, Tokugawa Ienari changed the subject and began to talk about his previous experiences in the Great Ming. "As you all know, Ienari has visited the Great Ming before, and I stayed there for a long time." The assembled feudal lords and daimyo were somewhat bewildered, not knowing what this fool Tokugawa Ienari wanted to say next. Tokugawa Ienari continued on his own, "During my time in the Great Ming, what Ienari felt most deeply was the knowledge of the Ming people. Even young children, they knew a few characters, and even the elderly during the Great Qing could mostly write their own names, let alone the young people." The assembled feudal lords and daimyo were still bewildered – the Great Ming was the superior nation, Japan's father, wasn't this as it should be? Shimazu Hisamitsu tentatively asked, "What does the General mean?" Tokugawa Ienari did not directly answer Shimazu Hisamitsu's question, but instead clapped his hands and ordered outside the door, "Bring it here!" Tokugawa Ienari continued on his own, "During my time in the Great Ming, what Ienari felt most deeply was the knowledge of the Ming people. Even young children, they knew a few characters, and even the elderly during the Great Qing could mostly write their own names, let alone the young people." The assembled feudal lords and daimyo were still bewildered – the Great Ming was the superior nation, Japan's father, wasn't this as it should be? . Heavenly Emperor's Noble Lineage reminds you: Remember to collect after reading.