Before arriving at the倭国王宫 (Wa Kingdom's Imperial Palace), Chen Yan and Qian Chuan had prepared several contingency plans to address various scenarios.
For instance, if Tokugawa Ienari were to go mad and personally lead an attack to kill the entire family of Emperor Kōkaku, or if Tokugawa Ienari and Emperor Kōkaku directly ordered their subordinates to engage in a brawl, resulting in the imperial palace of Wa Kingdom being awash in blood.
Or, if these two scoundrels, Tokugawa Ienari and Emperor Kōkaku, were in a tense standoff, on the verge of igniting a conflict with the slightest spark.
And again, if neither of these two scoundrels had made adequate preparations, and upon Chen Yan and Qian Chuan's arrival at the imperial palace of Wa Kingdom, they were not only not fighting but presenting themselves as harmonious rulers and subjects.
Chen Yan and Qian Chuan were equally prepared for the current situation.
Upon receiving Chen Yan's signal, Qian Chuan sneered and said, "As the saying goes, 'Thunderbolts and falling rain are all heaven's grace.' The ruler of Wa Kingdom was appointed by the imperial decree of His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming. How dare you two push him around? Do you still have His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming in your eyes?"
Emperor Kōkaku secretly rejoiced and, with a thud, knelt on the ground, exclaiming, "Kenkaku deserves death!"
Tokugawa Ienari also quickly knelt and cried, "Ienari deserves death, but Ienari has never harbored any intention of usurping the throne. I hope His Excellency the Ambassador can see clearly!"
Chen Yan, however, snorted coldly and said, "If you, Tokugawa Ienari, have no intention of usurping the throne, yet Emperor Kōkaku wishes to abdicate the throne to you; and if you, Emperor Kōkaku, constantly speak of abdicating the throne, is this not great disrespect to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming?"
"His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming has repeatedly emphasized Mencius's words: 'The people are of supreme importance; the altars of the gods of earth and grain come next; the sovereign comes last.' Now, Your Highness Kenkaku and General Ienari are pushing the throne back and forth, and many envoys to Ming have committed seppuku over this matter. Do you not know when you have ever considered the thoughts of the common people of Wa Kingdom?"
Tokugawa Ienari and Emperor Kōkaku were both stunned by Qian Chuan's words. They even subconsciously glanced back at the assembled commoners and lowborn individuals of Edo.
Seeing that both were still bewildered, Chen Yan, hiding his smile, changed his expression to one of great solemnity. "Currently, there are many cases of leprosy (historically measles) appearing in various regions of Wa Kingdom. If not addressed, I fear it may spread throughout the entire Wa Kingdom."
"Since you two are so reluctant to take the throne, then you shall both be responsible for handling the leprosy throughout Wa Kingdom. If Your Highness Kenkaku handles it well, it will prove that Your Highness Kenkaku is capable of leading Wa Kingdom, and any talk of abdication should be dismissed in the future. If General Ienari handles it better, then I, this Ambassador, will co-sign the memorial requesting abdication from Your Highness Kenkaku."
As soon as Chen Yan finished speaking, Tokugawa Ienari and Emperor Kōkaku felt as if they had been trampled by a hundred thousand alpacas; their minds were completely in disarray.
Emperor Kōkaku mused, "Am I performing so diligently for you to co-sign my memorial requesting abdication? Tokugawa Ienari also pondered, 'Am I performing so diligently to solve the leprosy for those lowborn people? Is that something I can solve?'"
The more they thought about it, the more their heads ached. Emperor Kōkaku, unable to bear it any longer, tentatively asked, "Or, should I not mention the matter of abdication?"
As soon as Emperor Kōkaku spoke, Chen Yan's face visibly darkened.
Chen Yan stared grimly at Emperor Kōkaku and said in a deep voice, "In broad daylight, under the clear sky, if you, Emperor Kōkaku, say you want to abdicate the throne, do you mean it can be abdicated? Now that I, this Ambassador, am standing here, representing the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming, you, Emperor Kōkaku, have quite the gall!"
Qian Chuan then drew his Xiu Chun saber with a clang, glaring ferociously at Emperor Kōkaku and saying, "Do you wish to test the sharpness of my blade?"
Emperor Kōkaku was greatly alarmed, quickly burying his head in the ground and trembling, he stammered, "Kenkaku deserves death!"
Chen Yan snorted coldly again, looked at Emperor Kōkaku, then at Tokugawa Ienari, and said in a deep voice, "You two had best not cause any more trouble, otherwise, I will report to His Majesty the current Emperor, stating that neither of you is fit to be the ruler, nor fit to be the Shogun. Then you two will have to figure out how to explain yourselves to His Majesty the Emperor!"
After saying this, Chen Yan completely ignored Emperor Kōkaku and Tokugawa Ienari and turned to board the carriage that had brought them.
Qian Chuan sheathed his Xiu Chun saber with a clatter and, sneering at Emperor Kōkaku and Tokugawa Ienari, said, "If you two are unconvinced, feel free to take this opportunity while Ambassador Chen and I are present to rebel. Kill Ambassador Chen and me directly, and then you won't have to worry about the lives of your Wa Kingdom's people. Wouldn't that be splendid?"
The cold sweat on Emperor Kōkaku's forehead grew heavier, his head bowed even lower, and his voice trembled even more, "Kenkaku dares not!"
Tokugawa Ienari also hurriedly bowed and said, "My Lord Hundred Households, please be clear, Ienari would die ten thousand times before daring to have such treasonous thoughts!"
Only then did Qian Chuan snort coldly and turn to board Chen Yan's carriage.
After they had traveled a good distance, Qian Chuan asked, "Is that it?"
Chen Yan, holding a copy of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," flipped through it and casually replied, "What else? Actually, from the beginning, Emperor Kōkaku was destined to lose the position of ruler of Wa Kingdom. These strategies to deal with him were all planned beforehand. Is there anything wrong?"
Qian Chuan scratched his head and frowned, "It was indeed planned beforehand, but what if Emperor Kōkaku performs better than Tokugawa Ienari? Are you still going to force him to abdicate?"
Chen Yan dismissively curled his lips and retorted, "Have you forgotten what His Majesty said?"
Qian Chuan was stunned and asked, "What His Majesty said?"
Chen Yan chuckled and said, "His Majesty once said that any country cannot be separated from the support of its people. Whether it is the Emperor or the court, if they turn their backs on the people, they are not far from perishing."
Qian Chuan nodded and said seriously, "I naturally remember that."
Chen Yan continued, "Look at the envoys to Ming who lean towards Emperor Kōkaku. Most of them are nobles of Wa Kingdom, and many are related to the royal family. The envoys to Ming who lean towards Tokugawa Ienari, however, are mostly from humble backgrounds."
This is quite bizarre—because Tokugawa Ienari actually holds the great power of the entire Wa Kingdom, a large number of envoys to Ming from aristocratic backgrounds chose to ally with Tokugawa Ienari, while a large number of envoys to Ming from humble backgrounds chose to ally with Emperor Kōkaku.
In other words, those envoys to Ming from humble backgrounds should have been genuine anti-shogunate factions. If Emperor Kōkaku could have utilized them properly, these envoys alone would have been enough to trouble Tokugawa Ienari significantly.
However, the problem lies in Emperor Kōkaku's actions.
This fool Emperor Kōkaku not only failed to heavily promote those envoys to Ming from humble backgrounds but instead vigorously promoted a group of noble envoys to Ming related to the royal family, such as Minamoto Masayoshi. Those envoys to Ming from humble backgrounds not only failed to achieve their ambitions but were also constantly ostracized by the noble envoys to Ming like Minamoto Masayoshi.
In desperation, those envoys to Ming from humble backgrounds naturally defected to Tokugawa Ienari's side. Although most of Tokugawa Ienari's original envoys to Ming were from noble backgrounds, there are also ranks among the nobles of Wa Kingdom. In terms of surname hierarchy, the envoys to Ming under Tokugawa Ienari were not as high-ranking as those under Emperor Kōkaku. Therefore, accepting envoys to Ming of a lower rank was not difficult.
Then, those envoys to Ming from humble backgrounds felt the warmth of home with Tokugawa Ienari, and thus were determined to get rid of Emperor Kōkaku and force Emperor Kōkaku to abdicate the throne to Tokugawa Ienari.
Qian Chuan nodded slightly and said, "In this case, it seems Emperor Kōkaku has lost the hearts of the people?"
However, to Qian Chuan's surprise, Chen Yan actually shook his head slightly. "There is no such thing as Emperor Kōkaku gaining or losing the hearts of the people. Not all successive Emperors of Wa Kingdom were popular. On the contrary, there was even an incident where an Emperor of Wa Kingdom had his carriage overturned by samurai."
"Moreover, Tokugawa Ienari has controlled the shogunate for many years. How much has he embezzled during this time, and how extravagant has his daily life been? You should know some of it, right?"
"If we talk about losing the hearts of the people, I'm afraid Tokugawa Ienari is not much better than Emperor Kōkaku."
Qian Chuan frowned, "That doesn't make sense either—several envoys to Ming committed seppuku today. Although they were each serving their own masters, they were able to commit seppuku..."
Chen Yan let out a cold laugh, interrupting Qian Chuan's words, "Seppuku? They are just short-sighted fools conducting business they believe is wise."
If it were just a matter of some pro-shogunate envoys to Ming wanting to support Tokugawa Ienari's usurpation, it would be understandable. After all, if some supported Tokugawa Ienari's usurpation, others would support Emperor Kōkaku's anti-shogunate movement. One held actual power, while the other held the moral high ground. It would not be easy to determine who would win. It would take at least ten years, eight years, or even decades of struggle to achieve any result.
But what kind of people are these in Wa Kingdom?
They are all short-sighted, stunted individuals!
It is too much to ask them to engage in long-term strategic planning, but they are very good at engaging in short-term, quick, and crooked schemes.
For example, that envoy to Ming who was the first to step forward and commit seppuku. Was it truly because he could not bear to see Tokugawa Ienari humiliated and wanted to prove Tokugawa Ienari's innocence?
Not at all.
If Chen Yan and Qian Chuan were not present, if Watanabe Uemon and Matsushita Ichiban had not promised his family one thousand Dragon Treasure Notes, and if Tokugawa Ieyoshi had not hinted that he would take good care of his family and select two of them to study in the Great Ming, then even if Tokugawa Ienari were choked to death by Emperor Kōkaku's filth, this stunted individual would not have uttered a single word!
The few envoys to Ming on Emperor Kōkaku's side who committed seppuku were naturally in the same situation. The only difference was that the envoys to Ming who committed seppuku on Tokugawa Ienari's side did so for tangible Dragon Treasure Notes and care for their families, while the envoys to Ming who committed seppuku on Emperor Kōkaku's side did so for their families' status.
This matter is truly like the imperial court staves of the Great Ming. The officials of the Great Ming madly sought imperial court staves not because they truly feared death, nor because they adhered to their ideals and justice, but because all imperial court staves were priced in advance, either for the care of their descendants by the literati and scholars, or for other benefits.
Everything was like business.
Qian Chuan could not help but shiver. "Damn it, you scholars are truly wicked. You have so many convoluted thoughts in your minds!"
Chen Yan chuckled lightly and said, "This is just the beginning. Just watch, after this turmoil, the entire Wa Kingdom, if not severely weakened, will at least be seriously injured."
...
Chen Yan and Qian Chuan turned and left. Emperor Kōkaku and Tokugawa Ienari, who were left kneeling at the entrance of the Wa Kingdom's Imperial Palace, could only look at each other, their hearts filled with frustration.
As for the Aoi Matsuri?
With the situation having escalated to this point, what was there to celebrate!
Several envoys to Ming, who had been gathered at great expense, were now dead. Tokugawa Ienari failed to obtain the throne of the ruler of Wa Kingdom, and Emperor Kōkaku also had to write a memorial requesting abdication. In this somewhat anti-climactic farce, the imperial court of Wa Kingdom, the shogunate, and the envoys to Ming were all losers. There was no winner at all!
After ordering the surrounding Wa Kingdom commoners and lowborn people who had come to watch to disperse, Tokugawa Ienari and Emperor Kōkaku could not help but look at each other. Then, with a cold snort, they both turned their heads away. From this moment on, Emperor Kōkaku and Tokugawa Ienari officially became rivals. The next step was to see who could solve the leprosy first, or rather, who would perform better.
Because leprosy is essentially incurable, as soon as one person gets it, it can quickly infect a large area, and there are no particularly good treatment methods. The only solution is to gather and house those who are already infected or have just contracted leprosy.
However, gathering and housing those leprosy patients is not as simple as saying it out loud. Facilities, physicians, and medicinal materials—all these require money!
What is even more critical is that leprosy itself cannot be solved simply by spending money, and the series of derivative problems it brings can drive people to despair!
For example, if a village has leprosy patients, and no measures are taken, it will quickly spread throughout the entire village. This itself will occupy a large number of physicians and medicinal materials. In addition, will the land of this village also be left uncultivated? Will the grain supply be affected? Will the death rate and birth rate of the population in this village also be affected?
If this is the case for one village, it is the same for an entire country.
Moreover, Wa Kingdom itself operates between a great court and a small court, or rather, it is more akin to a feudal system. The so-called Emperor cannot wield real power. The Shogun, who truly wields real power, can barely issue orders to the local Daimyo. However, if those Daimyo are pushed too hard, those Daimyo might not even pay attention to Tokugawa Ienari, the Shogun.
So, the question arises: whether Emperor Kōkaku or Tokugawa Ienari wants to solve the spreading leprosy in Wa Kingdom, they must have the cooperation of the local Daimyo. And if the local Daimyo cooperate with Emperor Kōkaku or Tokugawa Ienari, it not only means they have to choose sides, but it also means they have to spend money.
Don't forget, leprosy also had another name: poverty disease.
(End of this chapter)
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