Hearing that the people from the shogunate had arrived at the martial arts dojo, Takasugi Shinsuke showed a little panic, but after a while, he calmed down and said prostrately: "Teacher, rest assured, the disciple will take responsibility and will not let the shogunate implicate the dojo." ”

After saying that, Takasugi Jinsuke was about to get up and go out, but Yoshida Matsuyo was very calm, "Takasugi, don't be impulsive, I can handle it here, you can't stay in Japan, go to Nanyang." ”

At present, although there are many problems in Japan, they have not yet reached a particularly serious point, and the daimyo who surrendered to the Tokugawa family are still very loyal, and the time is not yet ripe for the fall of the shogunate, and the power of the shogunate is still very strong, and it is not something that some low-level samurai in the south can shake.

Takasugi Shinsuke obviously had his own thoughts, "Teacher, since the matter has been revealed, and the shogunate has found the dojo again, I can't just leave, it's a coward's behavior, and the disciple must take responsibility, I'd rather cut my stomach in front of the imperial palace and awaken the consciousness of the people than live in secret." ”

Takasugi was too young and radical, and Yoshida Matsuyo listened to his words, but suddenly scolded: "A meaningless death is a shameful death." Takasugi, now that the shogunate is also reforming, and the Tokugawa family has not yet reached the point where everyone spurns, senseless suicide is the act of a coward, do you understand? ”

Yoshida Matsuyo glanced at Takasugi on the ground and slowed down his tone, "The shogunate is in contact with the Ming Kingdom's Gotoku Money, using customs duties and sulfur mines as collateral to borrow five million Ming silver dollars, with the support of this silver money, the rule of the Tokugawa family in Japan is not something you can shake." ”

The shogunate was about to sign a loan treaty with the Ming Dynasty and betray Japan's interests, and Yoshida Matsuyo was also very dissatisfied and deeply humiliated, but he knew that now was not the time to confront the shogunate.

When Takasugi heard that the Tokugawa shogunate was using tariffs and mines as collateral, he was even more angry, "Shame, the Tokugawa family is drinking to quench their thirst!" This will only harm Japan. ”

Yoshida Matsuyo looked at him and said in a deep voice, "Takasugi, do you understand now?" The career you have chosen, there is still a long way to go, the enemy you are facing is unprecedentedly powerful, I hope you can keep going, I, Yoshida's disciple, is not a reckless man who will only use death to evade responsibility. ”

At first, Yoshida Matsuyo did not approve of the actions of Takasugi Shinsuke and others, believing that the shogunate also tried to reform again, and that the samurai rebellion would only bring trouble to the Edo shogunate, which would affect the shogunate's reform and make the reform fail.

He thinks that Takasugi Shinsuke is too young and radical, and that they only propose the overthrow of the king, all based on their enthusiasm, and do not have a practical solution to the Japanese problem.

Yoshida Matsuyo apparently didn't think so, but with the failure of the Edo shogunate's reforms and the Tokugawa family's re-signing of a treaty with the Ming dynasty, Yoshida Matsuyo gradually became disillusioned with the Edo shogunate.

As he was talking, the sound of footsteps of clogs smashing on the ground suddenly came in outside the house, Yoshida Matsuyo's expression changed slightly, he glanced at Shintaro Watanabe on the side, and then said: "Taro, Shinjiro went to Nanyang, you take Takasugi to him." ”

When Shintaro Watanabe heard footsteps approaching and knew that it wasn't long-winded, he hurriedly bowed to Yoshida Matsuyo, pulled up Takasugi Shinsuke, and slipped out from behind.

Seeing that the two were gone, Yoshida Matsuyo silently picked up the katana that he had just wiped and placed it on the lap of the kneeling seat.

Suddenly, the Japanese-style shoji door was rudely opened, and more than a dozen samurai of the Tokugawa family rushed into the house, and the first person only saw Yoshida Matsuyo, who was kneeling with his back straight, and couldn't help but say sharply: "Your Excellency Yoshida, where is Shinsuke Takasugi?" ”

······

Edo Castle, Honmarunouchi, Liquor Pleasure Broad.

The Tokugawa shogunate was hosting a banquet for Wu Shizhao, the head of the Ming Dynasty's Imperial Palace, who could be said to be the representative of the Ming Dynasty in Japan and had been stationed in Edo, Japan for the past two years.

In the main hall, more than a dozen Japanese dancers are dancing in the middle, and the musicians in the corner are playing Japanese-style music, and the atmosphere is very warm and harmonious.

Wu Shizhao sat on the left in a Ming official uniform, the shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna, with a hanging crown on his head, a black Dan robe on his body, a flat waist, a fan in his hand, sitting on the tatami mat to accompany him, and on both sides of him, sat the big man and the middle man of the Tokugawa family.

After a while, everyone had a few drinks, and with a wave of the fan in Tokugawa Ieyasu's hand, the dancing girl in the middle and the musician playing in the corner withdrew one after another.

Tokugawa Ietsuna waited for them to retreat outside the hall, then raised his wine glass, signaled to Wu Shizhao, and said with a smile: "This time, I can get in touch with Wude Qianzhuang and get a huge loan of five million Ming silver dollars, I really thank Your Excellency for pulling the strings." ”

Wu Shizhao hurriedly picked up the wine glass, "Daming and the shogunate are friendly countries, and it is naturally incumbent on the Ming to help the shogunate." ”

Both of them are smiling on their faces, but between the states, the main thing is to look at their own interests.

The Tokugawa family knew that Japan's current problems had a lot to do with the Ming Dynasty, but the Edo shogunate was now financially strapped and needed a huge amount of money to stabilize the situation and continue to push forward the shogunate's reforms, so they could only smile at it.

The Ming Dynasty did not want turmoil in Japan and needed the stability of the Japanese market, and the only one who could control Japan at the moment was the Edo Shogunate, and the Ming Dynasty naturally wanted to help the Shogunate stabilize Japan's rule.

Moreover, this money is not borrowed in vain, it is to charge a certain amount of interest, and there are tariffs and sulfur ore that the Ming Dynasty needs most as collateral, which is actually a great thing for the Ming Dynasty.

The rapid development of firearms in the Ming Dynasty, but the production of sulfur is not high, only Taiwan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Qinghai and other places have a small number of sulfur mines, the sulfur of the Ming Dynasty is mainly imported from Japan, which is also one of the important reasons why the Ming Dynasty hopes that Japan will be stable and maintain good relations with the shogunate.

At the beginning of the year, Wude proposed to Wang Yan to borrow money from Japan, and Wang Yan asked Wude to write a detailed excerpt, and asked Jinyiwei to sort out the news about Japan in recent years and send it to him.

After Wang Yan and his staff studied for more than half a month, they learned that there were many problems in Japan, and there were even many voices that rebelled against the Ming Dynasty.

This made Wang Yan, who was not very interested in the Wude proposal to borrow money from Japan, change his attitude towards borrowing from Japan, and it was very necessary for the Ming Dynasty to help the shogunate stabilize the current situation.

If there is turmoil in Japan, or if the current Edo shogunate falls, it is unknown what the attitude of the new Japanese regime will be towards the Ming Dynasty and whether it will follow the treaty between the Edo shogunate and the Ming dynasty, so in order to reduce trouble, it is necessary for the Edo shogunate to exist.

Wang Yan pursued a policy of reform at home, and from the perspective of later generations, he was a representative of the advanced reformers, but in dealing with Japan, he sided with the decadent Edo shogunate, upheld the feudal rule of the shogunate, and was a complete imperialist reactionary.

However, although the Ming Dynasty helped the shogunate, but the social contradictions in Japan were not resolved, the pace of history rolled forward, when the social contradictions in Japan accumulated to a pole, it would inevitably erupt, and even with the help of the Ming Dynasty at that time, the shogunate may not be able to suppress the contradictions, and then the feudal rule of the Edo shogunate will either complete its own reform, or the rule will collapse.

The loans given by the Ming Dynasty to the Edo Shogunate also helped the Shogunate solve its immediate financial problems when it profited itself, but in fact, the loans were a symptom rather than a cure for the Edo Shogunate, and it could even be said to be a chronic poison.

The Edo shogunate may be finished in the end, but as long as he is not finished for the time being, and Japan is not in chaos at present, then the goal of the Ming Dynasty will be achieved, and one day, when the contradictions in Japan erupt like a volcano, and the Edo shogunate cannot be suppressed, then the Ming Dynasty will abandon the Edo shogunate and choose other Japanese forces to cooperate.

However, there is another problem with this, the Ming Dynasty has long been on the side of the Edo Shogunate, and has signed many treaties with the Shogunate, once the Japanese awaken, they will inevitably hate and hostile the Ming Dynasty, then Japan may become the enemy of the Ming Dynasty.

At present, there is a curtain in Japan to respect the king and resist the voice of the Ming Dynasty, which can be said to be an inevitable historical development, saying that the Japanese are awakening, and this is not what the Ming Dynasty wants to see, and it will affect the entire strategy of the Ming Dynasty.

After the old worldview was broken, Wang Yan recognised the sphere in which it was located, and divided the countries and forces above into four parts, Europa, Ottoman (Arab civilization), Mughals and Daming.

If we follow the vocabulary of the West, then these four civilizations have a strong influence on each region of the earth.

The whole of East Asia and Southeast Asia was drawn by Wang Yan in a circle, and the most influential in this circle should be the Ming Dynasty, and the surrounding countries should work together with the Ming Dynasty to fight against the other three civilization circles.

This does not allow anti-Ming voices to emerge in Japan, and the entire Far East can only have one center, which cannot be divided, and to do this, it is necessary to stifle Japan's rising national consciousness and restore Japan's worship of China during the Han and Tang dynasties.

Wang Yan specially came to him, and several ministers discussed the matter, and finally came up with a few strategies.

To sum up, it is to attack Japanese culture, tout the culture of the Central Plains, and destroy Japan's national self-confidence, so that they blindly worship Han culture, and like North Korea, they are proud to be part of the Chinese cultural circle.

This is also very simple, first of all, to buy some Japanese, make them question the history of the Japanese, question all the achievements of the Japanese in history, hit their national self-confidence, and then trumpet the Han culture and the Ming Dynasty.

This is just like what the West did to China, South Korea, and Japan in later generations, striking at national self-confidence and cultivating a style of admiring foreigners and flattering foreigners.

In this way, over time, Japan will also develop this kind of atmosphere, and after the Ming Dynasty's secret spies are not used, what books are arranged, and some Japanese will question themselves, disdain their own history and achievements, and yearn for the Ming Dynasty, and be proud to live in the Ming Dynasty and become a Ming person.

Of course, it is not easy to do this, the Ming Dynasty in the policy of treating Japan, but also to show a friendly side, and so the Ming Dynasty's handicraft industry to a certain extent, gradually give up the right to negotiate tariffs on Japan, cancel some privileges, and treat Japan with a friendly attitude, then the pro-Ming style in Japan and the worship of the Ming Dynasty will make Japan willing to follow behind the Ming Dynasty.

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(End of chapter)