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Tokugawa Ienari's happiness did not last long. Watanabe Uemon, the head of the shogunate's mission to Ming envoys, delivered bad news to Tokugawa: "Your Excellency, although most of the commoners and贱民 (jianmin - low-born people) near Tottori Domain have been cleared, the Ming merchants there have become a big problem. Many 贱民 are hiding near the Ming merchants' residences, and it is very difficult to drive them away now."
Tokugawa Ienari's face immediately darkened.
The commoners and 贱民 of Wōguo (Japan) were actually easy to deal with. If they wanted to drive them away normally, they would do so. Those who were disobedient could be dealt with violently. A mere few low-ranking commoners and 贱民 could not cause any significant trouble.
However, it was different when Ming merchants were involved.
No matter how easygoing or how well-behaved the Ming merchants were on the surface, and no matter how well they conducted business, they were still Ming merchants, and the shogunate could not afford to offend them.
This was because Ming merchants were not subject to Wōguo's laws. No matter how serious the offense they committed, they could only be handed over to the Ming Embassy in Wōguo or the Governor-General's Office on Kyushu Island for handling. The shogunate not only had no right to try them but not even the right to arrest them.
Moreover, the Ming Emperor was known for being protective of his people. There had been more than one or two instances of the Ming navy being dispatched because their people were bullied overseas. Even in Wōguo, there had been cases where ronin samurai provoked Ming merchants, leading to the Kyushu garrison arresting the ronin samurai and beheading them as a warning!
Now that Wōguo's commoners and 贱民 were hiding near the Ming merchants, what could the shogunate do?
If they angered the Ming merchants and provoked them to draw their swords and confront the shogunate, the shogunate would be the one to suffer!
As his thoughts grew more troubled, Tokugawa Ienari frowned and asked, "Have you negotiated with those Ming merchants? Aren't they afraid of contracting leprosy?"
Watanabe Uemon bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Excellency, Matsushita Ichiban has visited those Ming merchants again, but... but judging from their current reactions, they do not seem to care much about leprosy."
"Why?" Tokugawa Ienari asked, utterly bewildered. "Don't they know how contagious leprosy is? Or do they have a way to solve leprosy?"
Watanabe Uemon shook his head foolishly and replied, "According to Matsushita Ichiban, it's not that the Ming merchants don't care about leprosy, but rather that they haven't received any evacuation notice from the Ming Embassy in Wōguo. Therefore, while they do care about leprosy, they don't take it too seriously."
Tokugawa Ienari was completely numb. Caring about it, yet not taking it seriously. What kind of attitude was that?
Seeing Tokugawa Ienari fall into a daze, Watanabe Uemon tentatively asked, "Your Excellency, do we still need to prepare some medicinal herbs for those Ming merchants?"
Tokugawa Ienari couldn't help but frown, his face filled with indecision.
To prepare or not to prepare, that was the damn question.
Preparing medicinal herbs for those Ming merchants would mean that the shogunate's already strained resources would become even tighter. Giving more medicinal herbs to a Ming merchant would mean that more civilians and 贱民 might die under the shogunate's rule.
But if they didn't prepare medicinal herbs for the Ming merchants... what if some unfortunate person died because of it? What if the Ming Ambassador to Wōguo, Chen Yan, pursued the matter? Even if Chen Yan didn't pursue it, would the Governor-General's Office on Kyushu Island pursue it? Would the Ming Emperor pursue it?
The more he thought about it, the more his head ached. Tokugawa Ienari waved his hand and said, "Prepare enough medicinal herbs for them. It's better to have too much than too little. This is a critical time for our Wōguo. We absolutely cannot offend the Ming people over some medicinal herbs."
As he spoke, Tokugawa Ienari suddenly sighed again, "Our Wōguo, in the end, still has to rely on the Ming. Our Wōguo, in the end, still has to do business with the Ming."
Watanabe Uemon also fell silent.
Watanabe Uemon suddenly recalled a dish he had eaten before.
Garrison Stew.
This was a dish that did not require any sophisticated cooking skills. The ingredients often depended on what kitchen scraps were available from the Ming garrison's local cooks. The cooking method was to collect all sorts of scraps and throw them into a pot to stew.
This was a dish first created by the Japanese and quickly popularized. Outside of the Ming and France, this dish had traveled the world with the Japanese auxiliary forces.
As for the taste of this dish... Watanabe Uemon, having personally tasted Garrison Stew, could not honestly say it was delicious. After all, no matter how much it was cleaned or stewed, the smell of swill could not be removed.
Watanabe Uemon knew very well that it was not that the Japanese inherently liked the taste of swill, but that the Japanese were not qualified to refuse the taste of swill. Ming civilians could be picky, and many Ming children would even spit out if they ate a little fatty meat. But what did the Japanese have to be picky about?
In Wōguo, even commoners were not considered truly human. Even some low-ranking samurai families relied on Garrison Stew to improve their lives. Only the high-ranking nobles like Daimyo or above, the "Huaizu" (Chinese nobility), could refuse Garrison Stew.
In such a humble Wōguo, disregarding its own commoners and 贱民, and spending some effort to prepare medicinal herbs for the Ming merchant lords, was this not a reasonable matter?
Watanabe Uemon lowered his head and bowed, replying, "Hai! I will have people prepare enough medicinal herbs for the Ming merchants!"
...
As a Ming merchant, Qi Feng had been deeply involved in Wōguo's medicinal herb market for nearly ten years.
During these ten years, Qi Feng's mindset had gradually shifted from making money to enjoying life. Doing business in the Ming required all sorts of caution, and one might accidentally violate Ming law at any moment. Moreover, Ming taxes were very heavy. However, it was different in Wōguo. Firstly, Wōguo's officials did not dare to interfere much with merchants from the Ming. Secondly, the young women of Wōguo were particularly fond of merchants from the Ming.
Who could bear to refuse those charming and very cheap Wōguo women?
In any case, Qi Feng could not bear to refuse.
In the more than ten years he had been in Wōguo, Qi Feng had taken ten concubines, averaging one a year. Each concubine cost about dozens of yuan.
Of course, dozens of yuan was the price for girls from "commoner" families in Wōguo. For girls from samurai or ronin families, it would be more expensive, costing several hundred to a thousand yuan. If it were girls from Daimyo families, the price might reach tens of thousands of yuan.
Enjoying such a wonderful life, did those short and ugly Wōguo people come to persuade Qi Feng to leave, saying that Wōguo was going to break out with some leprosy?
Qi Feng slowly rolled two walnuts and instructed his housekeeper in a sarcastic tone, "Next time any short and ugly people come to persuade us to leave, have them beaten out with sticks. They've all gotten into bad habits. A bunch of short and ugly people dare to meddle in the affairs of your lord?"
This was not because Qi Feng was particularly arrogant, but because the short and ugly people of Wōguo were indeed a bit hard to describe. The arrogant samurai and ronin on the streets of Wōguo might dare to bully the short and ugly people of Wōguo, and even dare to test their swords on "贱民" with "kannuki giri" (a cutting test), but when facing Ming merchants like Qi Feng, those samurai and ronin groups would not be so arrogant. Even Wōguo's officials would be a little intimidated when facing Ming merchants like Qi Feng.
Qi family's housekeeper immediately responded with a smile and then asked, "Sir, if leprosy really spreads, I'm afraid we won't be able to escape it, will we?"
Qi Feng let out a cold snort. "Escape what? Our family is in the medicinal herb business. With leprosy rampant in Wōguo now, it's a great opportunity for us to make a fortune. You're thinking of escaping at a time like this?"
After thinking for a moment, Qi Feng simply ordered, "Have someone inventory all the alcohol in the warehouse. Set aside what's needed for home use, and seal the rest. Don't sell it for now. Also, send someone to invite Mr. Chen, Mr. Hu, and the others. Tell them your lord has a big business to discuss with them."
The Mr. Chen and Mr. Hu that Qi Feng mentioned were all Ming merchants who had been working in Wōguo for many years, just like Qi Feng. Their business scopes were different. For example, Mr. Chen was in the business of funeral services, and Mr. Hu was in the grain business. There was no competition between them, and they had a good relationship.
In the era of rampant rolling-on-the-floor patients in later generations, the dogs raised by the cunning Eagle always used "This country why, blame the system" to complain.
The problem was that Emperor Zhu himself was trapped in the "system" question.
What kind of path should the Ming take?
Should it adopt the European so-called separation of powers and freedom system?
Actually, this kind of idea could only be imagined. If this way of playing were implemented in the Central Plains, it would be courting death.
To deeply analyze the specific reasons behind this would be too complex, but in the final analysis, it all came down to the word "interest."
You choose.
In fact, this was also why Europeans and the cunning Eagles, those barbarians, were generally more open-minded.
This was because Europe had never had a truly unified dynasty. The barbarians were also accustomed to the mindset of small countries with small populations, and they were also accustomed to small court systems.
The same was true for the Russian Bear. Was Bolshevism good? Yes! The key was that humans had desires!
This way of playing was naturally not a problem in normal times, as even the common people in the Central Plains seemed to be the same, and there seemed to be no difference.
However, once disasters became frequent, like during the Little Ice Age, or when the people genuinely could not survive, the difference between large and small courts would become apparent.
The cunning Eagle was no better than Europe, otherwise, Comrade Biden would not have ascended the throne, nor would there have been such a huge joke of infighting within the cunning Eagle starting with Little Ukraine.
However, even Bolshevism, which was also a large court system, might not work if directly transplanted.
Directly copying Bolshevism had a huge hidden danger, which was that the Ming did not currently have the environmental conditions for that theory to survive.
How many years had it been since the Great Qing fell?
Of course, it cannot be said that this theory was wrong, because all countries in the world propagated it in this way.
Was it not better to strive for the merit of destroying the dragon and eliminating the bandits, rather than wholeheartedly serving those peasants?
At that time, the Central Plains had not yet experienced the pain of impending complete national extinction.
Especially as the Emperor gradually delegated power, the Grand Secretariat could even replace the role of the Emperor.
This was because Emperor Zhu had directly clarified the status of the Grand Secretariat in the "jianghu" (a metaphorical term for the political or social sphere).
However, regardless of power, the actual ranking of the Grand Secretaries who led the Six Ministries was not high. The so-called leadership of the Six Ministries was also not legitimate or proper, and there was also the supervision of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
The Censorate was nothing to mention. Their main responsibility was to criticize people. The Emperor and all the civil and military officials were their targets of supervision.
The final interpretation of the Great Ming Law rested with the Ministry of Justice.
In short, there were all sorts of messy departments, each with clear responsibilities. They had to support each other, but also restrain each other.
Did he want to regain power by changing his minister?
However, Emperor Zhu knew very well that such perfection was basically bullshit.
Even the system of the Rabbit was not flawless!
Whether it was executing the two Ma Su with tears in his eyes, or later becoming rich first but unwilling to help the poor and even wanting to extend his hand to the court, these things were objectively real!
Thinking of this, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but smile self-deprecatingly.
No matter how great he was, he was not a god, how could he possibly solve those ancient matters?
"And those officials who are foolishly seeking death, do I need to say more about how to deal with them?"
Of course, Emperor Zhu did not need to say more, because Emperor Zhu had used the word "朕" (Zhen - the imperial "I").
After Zeng Cheng, Liu Heming, and a group of other big shots bowed in agreement, Emperor Zhu's gaze then fell on Zeng Cheng, "Cheng Qing, you have been serving as Prime Minister for almost thirty years now, haven't you?"
Of course, the Great Ming had always treated meritorious officials well. Although he was no longer the Grand Secretary, all his treatment was still handled according to the Grand Secretary, and he even received a noble title.
Now that Emperor Zhu suddenly mentioned that he had been the Grand Secretary for almost thirty years, did he want him to step down?
Qi Feng let out a cold snort. "Escape what? Our family is in the medicinal herb business. With leprosy rampant in Wōguo now, it's a great opportunity for us to make a fortune. You're thinking of escaping at a time like this?"
After thinking for a moment, Qi Feng simply ordered, "Have someone inventory all the alcohol in the warehouse. Set aside what's needed for home use, and seal the rest. Don't sell it for now. Also, send someone to invite Mr. Chen, Mr. Hu, and the others. Tell them your lord has a big business to discuss with them."
The Mr. Chen and Mr. Hu that Qi Feng mentioned were all Ming merchants who had been working in Wōguo for many years, just like Qi Feng. Their business scopes were different. For example, Mr. Chen was in the business of funeral services, and Mr. Hu was in the grain business. There was no competition between them, and they had a good relationship.
(End of this chapter).
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