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Compared to these scholars, who were considered Jinshi lords or even manifestations of the God of Literature, Commander Chen, who had only finished his studies at the county school and then joined the army, could at least be classified as semi-literate, if not entirely illiterate.
Ancestral system?
He had occasionally heard the term "ancestral system" mentioned when he was studying at the county school, but he had no further understanding of it.
However, Commander Chen, whose mind was not particularly sharp and who had only managed to complete his studies through rote memorization, remembered a few key points with exceptional clarity, to the point where he would never forget them, even if he were to die.
The different household registrations, such as artisan households, common households, military households, merchant households, and base households, were passed down through generations. The children of military households could only serve in the army, and the children of artisan households could only continue to be artisans. The common people, while farming, also bore the heaviest tax burden, whereas the merchants, while making profits, only paid a very small portion of commercial tax.
Commander Chen did not care about clauses such as the strict prohibition of commoners and merchants from seafaring trade, and the monopoly of all sea-related trade by the government. However, Commander Chen was particularly concerned about the clause that children of military households could only serve in the army, and the clause that common people had to bear taxes.
If the ancestral system were strictly enforced, wouldn't his own children only be able to become soldiers like him, and wouldn't his parents and relatives have to bear heavy taxes?
Yes, becoming a soldier was indeed a good thing, and for many, it was a way out. Serving in the army was also a way to repay the great kindness of His Majesty the Emperor. However, people were selfish. Commander Chen believed that he could sell his life to the Zhu Emperor without hesitation, but Commander Chen did not wish his children to...
As the saying goes, even ants wish to survive, and the short, scrawny devils of Wa (Japan) naturally did not wish to sit idly by and await death.
However, when the majority of these short, scrawny devils could not survive, it was pure nonsense to rely on samurai and ashigaru to suppress them, because samurai also had families, and ashigaru also had families. Those samurai and ashigaru also did not want to see their families die.
Therefore, a large number of samurai and ashigaru were found to be listening to orders but not obeying them. No matter how loudly the shogunate, the lords, and the daimyo shouted until their voices were hoarse, those samurai and ashigaru still refused to cooperate with the shogunate's blockade order.
Tokugawa Ienari was also extremely troubled. If the villages with leprosy patients were not completely sealed off, it would mean that leprosy could not be controlled and would soon spread throughout Wa, and then rage outwards. To seal off those villages would inevitably affect the families of a large number of samurai and ashigaru, and those samurai and ashigaru would not cooperate.
Wasn't this a vicious cycle?
Tokugawa Ienari was no longer worried about whether he could solve the leprosy problem, nor did he even care about whether he could replace Kōkaku Tennō as the new Heavenly Emperor. Tokugawa Ienari was more worried about what the Emperor of Da Ming would do to Wa if the shogunate failed to complete the blockade and the leprosy spread to Da Ming.
Were the vassal states of Joseon, Burma, Nan Yue, and many others that had already disappeared into history, perhaps precedents for Wa?
The more he thought about it, the more troubled he became. Tokugawa Ienari simply looked at Watanabe Uemon, Matsushita Ichiban, and others and asked, "Regarding the problem of the samurai and ashigaru not cooperating, what are your thoughts?"
...Upon being asked by Tokugawa Ienari, Watanabe Uemon, Matsushita Ichiban, and others felt a sense of exasperation.
As envoys to Ming who had studied in Da Ming, Watanabe Uemon and Matsushita Ichiban both knew about the military system of Da Ming and that Da Ming used soldiers from different regions. Soldiers from Shandong would be replenished to garrisons in any other provincial administration, but absolutely not to the garrisons in Shandong. Watanabe Uemon and Matsushita Ichiban also knew that this was the best way to solve the problem.
Watanabe Uemon and Matsushita Ichiban also clearly understood that although Da Ming's answer was right there, this homework could not be directly copied.
This was because Da Ming's army was controlled by the Five Chief Military Commissions, not by any individual general or noble. The provincial administrations in various regions also had no power to interfere with garrison affairs. However, the samurai of Wa belonged to the daimyo, not to the imperial court or the shogunate of Wa. Those ashigaru also belonged to the feudal lords, not to the imperial court or the shogunate of Wa.
If the samurai and ashigaru all belonged to the imperial court of Wa, the imperial court of Wa would probably have eliminated the shogunate long ago.
Conversely, if the samurai and ashigaru all belonged to the shogunate, the shogunate would probably have eliminated the imperial court of Wa long ago.
Further deduction proved: If the shogunate wanted to reclaim the samurai and military power held by the local lords and daimyo, it was likely that those lords and daimyo would immediately turn to the imperial court of Wa.
Therefore, this matter also fell into a vicious cycle.
After a long silence, Watanabe Uemon frowned and said, "If the existing samurai and ashigaru cannot complete the blockade, why doesn't Your Excellency the Shogun recall the samurai from Tenjiku (India)? Their families have already gone with them to Tenjiku, which means they will have no reservations."
However, as soon as Watanabe Uemon finished speaking, Matsushita Ichiban could not help but retort, "To recall the samurai from Tenjiku, it is necessary to first conscript a group of samurai from Wa to go to Tenjiku. This will also greatly reduce the number of samurai and ashigaru that the shogunate can directly control, making it even more disadvantageous for the shogunate, won't it?"
Matsushita Ichiban's analysis caused both Watanabe Uemon and Tokugawa Ienari to fall into silence.
In Wa, not knowing Chinese characters and not being able to speak fluent Da Ming official dialect would be collectively mocked by all nobles, lords, and daimyo.
In other words, those lords, daimyo, and the like were considered elite groups in Wa. How could they not see through the deceptions of Inukai Bunhō and Nojiri Seikei?
Yet, the reality was that they had also been fooled by Inukai Bunhō and Nojiri Seikei.
"With the name of the Ming Emperor at the forefront, no one in Wa, from top to bottom, believes that Inukai Bunhō is wrong. Naturally, they will not doubt the truth or falsity of anything else he says."
"The situation with Nojiri Seikei is similar. On the surface, both of them are completely considering the interests of Wa and its common people. Many lords and daimyo have been fooled by them."
Kōkaku Tennō was somewhat dumbfounded, even disbelieving his ears.
Could this really work?
The Ming Emperor could call upon the people of Da Ming to feed more eggs to Da Ming's children because Da Ming was currently feeding on the entire Earth and drawing resources from it, thus having no shortage of eggs.
...The Ming Emperor could promote the rural doctor plan in Da Ming because Da Ming had enough scholars, and the Central Plains region had always had the tradition of being either a good prime minister or a good doctor. Many scholars who could not achieve fame in their studies did indeed choose to practice medicine. Therefore, the Ming Emperor could do this.
But what did Wa have?
With Wa being this poor, why should commoners and base people be able to feed eggs and duck eggs to their children? With air?
The rural doctor plan was the same. Wa had very few scholars, and medical skills were passed down like witchcraft. And they wanted to implement a rural doctor plan?
Go to hell!
The more he thought about it, the more annoyed Kōkaku Tennō became. He simply snorted and said, "Send people to tell those lords and daimyo who are loyal to the court, and tell them that all difficulties are temporary. As long as the threat of the shogunate is resolved, our Wa will one day be able to have children eat eggs and duck eggs, and have doctors in every village, just like Ming."
...
While Kōkaku Tennō and Hiro-no-miya Ene were troubled by Inukai Bunhō and Nojiri Seikei, Tokugawa Ienari and the entire shogunate were also vexed by Inukai Bunhō and Nojiri Seikei.
Moreover, just like the problem that troubled Kōkaku Tennō, Tokugawa Ienari also knew very well that Inukai Bunhō and Nojiri Seikei were both spokesmen pushed by Da Ming merchants, and he also could not find a way to deal with them. After all, Inukai Bunhō and Nojiri Seikei, to put it nicely, were spokesmen, but to put it bluntly, they were dogs.
As the saying goes, when hitting a dog, one must consider its owner. Tokugawa Ienari had a thousand and one ways to kill Inukai Bunhō and Nojiri Seikei, but Tokugawa Ienari had no way to deal with the Da Ming merchants behind them.
Or, it could be said: In front of the Da Ming merchants, Inukai Bunhō and Nojiri Seikei were dogs. And what were those Da Ming merchants to the Da Ming court? They were fat pigs raised by the court!
When hitting a dog, one must consider its owner. Do you not need to consider the owner when killing a pig?
Don't be foolish, the sin of killing a pig is even greater!
Tokugawa Ienari knew very well that if he dared to touch those Da Ming merchants today, the Da Ming garrison in Wa would tear down the entire shogunate tomorrow to avenge those "pigs."
At that time, perhaps his and Kōkaku Tennō's foolish heads would both be displayed on a mound of skulls to dry in the wind.
The thought of a mound of skulls, such a terrifying existence, made Tokugawa Ienari sigh, "Ambassador Chen, Ambassador Chen, you have given me a great challenge!"
Of course, Da Ming's envoy to Wa, Chen Yan, was currently sleeping with a Wa courtesan and was not at the shogunate, so Tokugawa Ienari was only venting his resentment to Watanabe Uemon and Matsushita Ichiban and others.
If they wanted the feudal lords and daimyo to cooperate with the shogunate in the blockade of leprosy, each of them feigned ignorance until Tokugawa Ienari, the noble Shogun, offered terms before agreeing to cooperate.
Seeing that the feudal lords and daimyo had cooperated and the leprosy could be blocked, but then Inukai Bunhō and Nojiri Seikei jumped out again!
Thinking of the countless difficulties that lay ahead, Watanabe Uemon could not help but exchange a glance with Matsushita Ichiban, then bowed to Tokugawa Ienari and said, "Your Excellency the Shogun, Wa is currently subject to others everywhere, and the shogunate is also subject to those feudal lords and daimyo everywhere. It is time for change!"
...When he heard that the shogunate was subject to those feudal lords and daimyo everywhere, Tokugawa Ienari was immediately enraged. However, after hearing the phrase "it is time for change," Tokugawa Ienari's anger completely dissipated.
If Tokugawa Ienari merely wanted to be the Shogun, then Watanabe Uemon's words would have been very taboo. Was it saying that the shogunate was at the mercy of the feudal lords and daimyo, meaning the shogunate was incompetent? Wasn't this indirectly saying that he, Tokugawa Ienari, the Shogun, was incompetent?
But Tokugawa Ienari was no longer content with merely being the Shogun. He had already set his sights on the throne of the King of Wa.
For Tokugawa Ienari, who wanted and felt that he was about to become the King of Wa, Watanabe Uemon's words were worth pondering.
The Emperor of Da Ming could issue decrees that were followed and could establish and abolish dynasties. Did he, Tokugawa Ienari, not want to truly control Wa and become the supreme ruler of Wa, second only to heaven?
Vaguely guessing some of Watanabe Uemon's thoughts, Tokugawa Ienari suppressed his excitement and asked in a deep voice, "Watanabe-kun, what do you mean by that?"
Upon hearing the words "Watanabe-kun," Watanabe Uemon's somewhat apprehensive feelings immediately stabilized.
After all, as an envoy to Ming who had studied in Da Ming, Watanabe Uemon naturally knew that his words were taboo. However, the fundamental reason why Watanabe Uemon spoke such taboo words was that Watanabe Uemon was gambling, gambling that Tokugawa Ienari wanted to become the true ruler of Wa!
Suppressing his excitement, Watanabe Uemon bowed his head and said, "Your Excellency the Shogun is well-read and must know about the enfeoffment system that was implemented in the history of the Central Plains region?"
Tokugawa Ienari hummed and looked at Watanabe Uemon with great curiosity, asking, "Enfeoffment system? Isn't that what our Wa is currently using?"
Watanabe Uemon said "Hai" and bowed his head, saying, "Yes, what our Wa is currently using is indeed the enfeoffment system that was used in the history of the Central Plains region, but not entirely."
"Compared to the enfeoffment system used in the history of the Central Plains region, what our Wa is currently using actually includes the military governor system of the Great Tang period, the military governor system of the Song Dynasty, and even some of the Wei Suo system of the Ming Dynasty."
"However, whether it is the enfeoffment system, the military governor system, the military governor system, or the Wei Suo system, they have all become history. What the current Da Ming uses is completely different from previous dynasties."
"Your Excellency the Shogun, times have changed. Since Da Ming can make changes, naturally our Wa should also make changes."
Tokugawa Ienari became more and more certain of his guess. Watanabe Uemon said these things mainly because he was displeased with the feudal lords and daimyo and intended to promote Wa to enter a true system of counties and prefectures or a system of centralized imperial power. And under a system of centralized imperial power, who would benefit the most?
It was neither those feudal lords and daimyo, nor those samurai, rōnin, commoners, or base people, but the King of Wa, or the future King of Wa, Tokugawa Ienari!
Tokugawa Ienari had to take a deep breath, suppressing his excitement, and said, "The strength of Da Ming is evident to all. Our Wa is but a small island nation, how dare we compare ourselves to Da Ming?"
After quietly observing Tokugawa Ienari, Watanabe Uemon performed a kowtow, bowing five times, and said, "For the sake of the nation of Wa, for the sake of the people of Wa, please Your Excellency the Shogun make a decision and establish the national polity as soon as possible!"
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