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However, Tokugawa Ienari's happiness did not last long. Watanabe Uemon, the leader of the shogunate's envoys to Ming, delivered bad news to Tokugawa: "Your Excellency the Shogun, although most of the commoners and untouchables near Tottori Domain have been cleared, the Ming merchants there have become a big problem. Many untouchables are hiding near the residences of Ming merchants, and it is very difficult to drive them away now."
Tokugawa Ienari's face immediately darkened.
The commoners and untouchables in Japan were actually easy to deal with. They could be driven away normally, and those who disobeyed could be dealt with by violence. A mere few low-class commoners and untouchables could not make much of a stir.
However, it was different when Ming merchants were involved.
No matter how amiable and proper the Ming merchants appeared in their daily dealings, they were still Ming merchants, and the shogunate could not afford to offend them.
This was because Ming merchants were not subject to Japanese law. No matter how serious the offense, they could only be handed over to the Ming Embassy in Japan or the Governor-General's Office of Kyushu for handling. The shogunate had no right to arrest them, let alone try them.
Moreover, the Ming Emperor was known for protecting his own people. There were more than one or two instances of the Ming Dynasty deploying its navy to retaliate against overseas bullying of its citizens. Even in Japan, there were cases where ronin samurai had provoked Ming merchants, leading to the Kyushu garrison apprehending the ronin samurai and beheading them as a public warning!
Now that the Japanese commoners and untouchables were hiding around the Ming merchants, what could the shogunate do?
If they angered those Ming merchants and provoked them to draw their swords and confront the shogunate, the shogunate would be the one to suffer in the end!
Worried and increasingly conflicted, Tokugawa Ienari frowned and asked, "Have you negotiated with those Ming merchants? Aren't they afraid of contracting leprosy?"
Watanabe Uemon bowed and replied, "Reporting to Your Excellency the Shogun, Matsushita Ichiban has once again visited those Ming merchants, but... but judging by their current reaction, they do not seem to care much about leprosy."
"Why?" Tokugawa Ienari asked, completely bewildered. "Don't they know how contagious leprosy is? Or do they have a way to deal with it?"
Watanabe Uemon shook his head foolishly and replied, "According to Matsushita Ichiban, those Ming merchants do care about leprosy, but they have not yet received a notice to evacuate from the Ming Embassy in Japan. Therefore, they care about leprosy, but they do not take it too seriously."
Tokugawa Ienari was utterly numb—caring yet not taking it seriously, what kind of attitude was this?
Seeing that Tokugawa Ienari was in a daze, Watanabe Uemon tentatively asked, "Your Excellency the Shogun, do we still need to prepare some medicinal herbs for those Ming merchants?"
Tokugawa Ienari couldn't help but frown, his face full of indecision.
To prepare, or not to prepare, that was the question.
Preparing medicinal herbs for those Ming merchants would mean that the shogunate's already strained resources would become even more so. Giving more medicinal herbs to a Ming merchant meant that more commoners and untouchables might die under the shogunate's jurisdiction. However, if they didn't prepare medicinal herbs for those Ming merchants... what if some unfortunate person died because of it? What if the Ming Ambassador to Japan, Chen Yan, pursued the matter? Even if Chen Yan did not pursue it, would the Governor-General's Office of Kyushu pursue it? Would the Ming Emperor pursue it?
The more he thought about it, the more his head ached. Tokugawa Ienari simply waved his hand and said, "Prepare enough medicinal herbs for them. It is better to have too much than too little. This is a critical juncture for our Japan, and we must not offend the Ming people over some medicinal herbs."
As he spoke, Tokugawa Ienari suddenly sighed again, "Our Japan, after all, still relies on Ming. Japan still has to do business with Ming."
Watanabe Uemon also fell silent.
Watanabe Uemon suddenly remembered a delicacy he had tasted before.
Garrison Stew.
This was a delicacy that did not require any sophisticated cooking skills. The ingredients often depended on whatever kitchen scraps were available from the Ming garrison in Japan. The cooking method was to pick up various scraps and throw them into a pot to stew.
This was a delicacy first created and quickly popularized by the Japanese. Outside of Ming and France, this delicacy had accompanied the footsteps of the Japanese auxiliary forces to the entire world.
As for the taste of this delicacy... Watanabe Uemon, who had personally tasted Garrison Stew, could not conscientiously say it was delicious, because 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 naturally liked the taste of swill, but that the Japanese had no right to refuse the taste of swill. Ming citizens could be picky, and many Ming children would even spit out if they ate a little fatty meat, but what could the Japanese be picky about?
In Japan, commoners were not even considered truly human. Even some low-ranking samurai families relied on Garrison Stew to improve their lives. Only the daimyo or the Hua ethnic lords of daimyo rank and above could refuse Garrison Stew.
Given Japan's卑微 (bēiwēi - humble/lowly) status, it was not unreasonable to disregard Japan's own commoners and untouchables and spend some effort to prepare medicinal herbs for the esteemed Ming merchants.
Watanabe Uemon lowered his head and bowed, replying, "Hai! I will have people prepare sufficient medicinal herbs for the Ming merchants!"
...
As a Ming merchant, Qi Feng had been deeply involved in the Japanese medicinal herb market for nearly ten years.
During these ten years, Qi Feng's thoughts had gradually shifted from making money to enjoying life. Doing business in Ming required all sorts of caution, as one might inadvertently violate Ming laws, and Ming tax rates were also very heavy. However, it was different in Japan. Firstly, the Japanese government did not dare to interfere much with merchants from Ming. Secondly, the young women in Japan were particularly fond of merchants from Ming.
Who could bear to refuse those charming and very cheap Japanese women?
Qi Feng, for one, could not refuse.
In the more than ten years he had been in Japan, Qi Feng had taken ten concubines, averaging one per year, at a price of around a few dozen yuan each.
Of course, the price of a few dozen yuan referred to girls from "commoner" families in Japan. 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 could reach tens of thousands of yuan.
Enjoying such a wonderful life, the short and stumpy people of Japan actually came to persuade Qi Feng to leave, saying that Japan was going to have a leprosy outbreak?
Qi Feng slowly twirled two walnuts and instructed his steward with a sarcastic tone, "Next time any short and stumpy people come to persuade us to leave, have them beaten out with cudgels. They've all gotten into bad habits, and a bunch of short and stumpy people dare to interfere with the master's affairs?"
This was not because Qi Feng was particularly arrogant, but because the short and stumpy people in Japan were truly indescribable. The overbearing samurai and ronin on the streets of Japan might dare to bully the short and stumpy people of Japan, and even use "untouchables" to test their swords, performing tests like "three-body cut," but when facing Ming merchants like Qi Feng, those samurai and ronin could not act tough. Even the Japanese government would show some deference when facing Ming merchants like Qi Feng.
Qi family's steward immediately smiled and agreed, then asked, "Master, if leprosy really spreads, we might not be able to avoid it, right?"
Qi Feng let out a cold snort, "Avoid what? Our family is in the medicinal herb business. Now that leprosy is rampant in Japan, it's a great opportunity for us to make a fortune. Are you thinking of avoiding it at this time?"
After thinking for a moment, Qi Feng simply instructed, "Have someone inventory all the alcohol in the warehouse. Keep what's needed for home use, and seal the rest. Don't sell it for now. Also, send someone to invite Master Chen, Master Hu, and a few others over. Say that the master has a big business to discuss with them."
The Master Chen and Master Hu mentioned by Qi Feng were Ming merchants who had been working in Japan for many years like Qi Feng. Their business scopes were different. For example, Master Chen was in the funeral business, and Master Hu was in the grain business. There was no competition between them, and they had a good relationship.
In later eras when patients with滚着叽歪 (gǔnzhe jīwāi - a slang term implying degeneracy/perversion) were rampant, the dogs of that foolish eagle (referring to the US) always talked about "This country, why is it like this?"
The problem was that Emperor Zhu himself was caught in the dilemma of "定体" (dìngtǐ - a political term implying the established system/structure).
What kind of path should the Ming Dynasty take?
Should it adopt the so-called separation of powers and liberal governance of Europe?
Actually, this idea was just wishful thinking. If this approach were implemented in the Central Plains, it would be courting disaster.
To deeply analyze the specific reasons behind this would be too complex, but in the final analysis, it all boiled down to the word "interest."
It's your choice.
In fact, this was also why Europeans and those barbarians from that foolish eagle generally had big hearts.
This was because Europe had never had a truly unified dynasty, and the barbarians were accustomed to the mentality of small countries with small populations, and also accustomed to the system of small courts.
The same was true for Russia. Was Bolshevism good? Yes! The key was that human beings have desires!
This way of doing things was naturally not a problem in normal times, as it seemed to be the case even for the people in the Central Plains.
However, once disasters like the Little Ice Age occurred frequently, or when the people truly could not survive, the difference between large and small courts would become apparent.
That foolish eagle was not much better than Europe, otherwise, Comrade Biden would not have ascended the throne, nor would the huge joke of an internal conflict in that foolish eagle have started with the second Ukraine.
However, Bolshevism, which directly adopted the system of a large court, might not work.
Directly copying the Bolshevik system had a huge hidden danger, which was that the Ming Dynasty did not have the environmental conditions for that set of theories to survive.
How many years had it been since the Qing Dynasty collapsed?
Of course, it could not be said that this theory was wrong, because all countries in the world promoted it.
Was it not much better to strive for the merit of "following the dragon and灭贼 (mièzéi - exterminating bandits)" than to wholeheartedly serve those commoners?
At that time, the Central Plains had not yet experienced the pain of impending complete national subjugation.
Especially when the emperor gradually delegated power, the Grand Secretariat could even replace the emperor's role.
This was because Emperor Zhu directly clarified the social status of the Grand Secretariat.
However, despite the power, the actual status 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 they were also subject to the supervision of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
There was nothing to say about the Censorate. Their main responsibility was to criticize people. The emperor and all civil and military officials were targets they had to monitor.
And the final interpretation of the Great Ming Laws rested with the Ministry of Justice.
In short, there were all sorts of chaotic departments, and their responsibilities were also very clear. They had to support each other, but also restrain each other.
Want to regain power by changing ministers?
However, Emperor Zhu knew very well that such perfection was basically nonsense.
Even the system of the Rabbit (referring to China) was not flawless!
Whether it was weeping and beheading two Ma Su's, or later, those who became rich first but were unwilling to help the poor become rich, and even tried to extend their reach to the court, these were all objective facts!
Thinking of this, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but laugh at himself.
No matter how he tried, he was not a god, how could he solve those long-standing problems?
"And those officials who jumped out and courted 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 already used the word "朕" (zhèn - I, used by emperors).
And after Zeng Cheng and Liu Hemming, along with a group of big shots, all bowed in agreement, Emperor Zhu turned his gaze to Zeng Cheng: "Minister Zeng, you have been serving as Prime Minister for nearly thirty years now, haven't you?"
Of course, the Ming Dynasty always treated its meritorious officials well. Although he was no longer the Grand Chancellor, all his treatment was still in accordance with that of a Grand Chancellor, and he even received a noble title.
Now that Emperor Zhu had suddenly mentioned that he had been the Grand Chancellor for nearly thirty years, did he intend to dismiss him?
Qi Feng let out a cold snort, "Avoid what? Our family is in the medicinal herb business. Now that leprosy is rampant in Japan, it's a great opportunity for us to make a fortune. Are you thinking of avoiding it at this time?"
After thinking for a moment, Qi Feng simply instructed, "Have someone inventory all the alcohol in the warehouse. Keep what's needed for home use, and seal the rest. Don't sell it for now. Also, send someone to invite Master Chen, Master Hu, and a few others over. Say that the master has a big business to discuss with them."
The Master Chen and Master Hu mentioned by Qi Feng were Ming merchants who had been working in Japan for many years like Qi Feng. Their business scopes were different. For example, Master Chen was in the funeral business, and Master Hu was in the grain business. There was no competition between them, and they had a good relationship.
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Heavenly Emperor's Noble Lineage reminds you: Remember to collect after reading.