Zhu Jishi's eyebrows suddenly trembled, and it could be seen that he was a little unhappy. Before long, he turned his gaze to the large map hanging in the main hall, and adjusted his breathing. Akiko must have been obedient and reverent to herself...... However, since she had become Japan's "female princess" by chance, she could not help but consider Japan's interests, so it was inevitable that she would have dealings with Britain and other powers. However, this does not mean that Japan will become a pawn of Britain to contain China, because until Japan gets rid of the shackles of the monopoly of wealth and power of the samurai giants, Japan will not have the strength to confront the Ming Dynasty.

"Robert, do you have any proposals?"

"Yes, there is a little bit of a preliminary assumption. The first is the issue of Hawaii, and in return for the Ming and Japanese troops, you can continue to emigrate there. But the independence of the Kingdom of Hawaii must be guaranteed, by the Anglo-American-French Tomorrow Five. Qiu Fatzi said.

These conditions may seem good, but it is 1853, not 1953, and no developed and powerful country has restricted the inflow of immigrants. Britain didn't, the United States didn't, and the Ming didn't. And the Kingdom of Hawaii, a small country with a population of less than 100,000, of course, has no restrictions on immigration. So Qiu Fatzi's words are tantamount to.

Oh, and it's not exactly. At least the independence of the Kingdom of Hawaii is guaranteed!

"Independence of the Kingdom of Hawaii...... This is good and in the interests of all powerful countries. Zhu Jishi said in his heart that this is the only way to do this at the moment, first ruling out the possibility of the United States annexing Hawaii, and then using immigration and investment to Sinicize Hawaii......

Then there was the Anglo-Japanese Agreement. Before discussing this, I want to be sure of one thing. Is Japan an independent country? Qiu Fatzi frowned. For this issue. He's not sure. Because the relationship between tomorrow at the moment is very special, really special.

"Yes, Japan is an independent country. But...... There is a special friendship and alliance between China and Japan! Zhu Jishi said lightly, "And the Japanese leaders know very well that once they lose the support of the Emperor and the Ming Dynasty, Japan's independence cannot be guaranteed, and the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate cannot be maintained either." ”

Fat Qiu nodded: "This is a fact, and we think so too." But now Japan's domestic market is only open to China. They even made HSBC, which you controlled under His Majesty the Emperor, the central bank of Japan. This is what the British Empire does not want......"

"There are so many things that the British Empire does not want to see!" Zhu Jishi said coldly, "For example, the Bonaparte family regained power in France, such as Russia's march into the Balkans and Asia Minor, such as the rapid rise of the United States. ”

Hearing Zhu Jishi say this, Qiu Fatzi put on a cold expression: "Yes, the British Empire can't do whatever it wants, but she is still the overlord of this world and the ruler of the sea!" Without our support, the Ming Empire would never have been able to become the master of Eastern Siberia. ”

"We don't need support from the UK. Because we have been planning to fight for Eastern Siberia for 100 years! Zhu Jishi was-for-tat. He knew that the "Sino-Russian Hundred Years War" was in line with Britain's interests. So there is no need for him to make concessions on the Japanese issue.

Fat Qiu was silent, looking at Zhu Jishi with a gloomy face.

The scene was a little awkward, and everyone didn't speak. In the end, it was Zhu Jishi who broke the silence: "Japan is ready to develop the five ports of Nagasaki, Osaka, Yokohama, Nagoya and Ezo. I think this could be part of the Anglo-Japanese Agreement. But outside of the five, it is better for the British not to go, otherwise they will bear the consequences. This should also be written in the treaty! ”

The British "explorers" were very fond of wandering around the land of other countries. There are also conflicts with local residents from time to time, and now most of the provinces (prefectures) directly under the Ming Dynasty are open, so there are many British people wandering around in the land of the Ming Dynasty. Conflicts, of course, are indispensable. For this reason, Churchill had to go to the Ming Ministry of Foreign Affairs every once in a while to negotiate theories.

Fortunately, the Chinese are basically mild, and there are still royal laws in the provinces directly under the jurisdiction of the Ming court. Although the people are somewhat xenophobic, murders rarely occur. However, the Japanese samurai are not so reasonable, they have the right to cut human rights (samurai cut civilians is not illegal)! If you cut a few Britons every once in a while, Japan and Britain will have to fight!

Therefore, the Tokugawa shogunate did not dare to open up like the Ming Dynasty, so it could only build a few ports, and at the same time implement a relatively open policy on the sparsely populated Ezo Island.

"Britain needs extraterritoriality, negotiated tariffs and free trade ......"

"It can't be!"

"Your Majesty the Emperor, isn't this good for Da Ming?" Qiu Fatzi said, "Daming's goods, aren't they also blocked out of Japan now?" ”

Zhu Jishi ignored Qiu Fatzi's protest and continued: "Japan will implement import and export quota management, including the Ming Dynasty, the United Kingdom, and other countries in the world to import goods to Japan, must have an import license issued by the shogunate. This matter is not up for discussion! ”

Of course, Emperor Zhu negotiated with Qiu Fatzi from the standpoint of maintaining the feudal rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, there is no doubt about this.

Although Japan is rich in precious metals such as gold, silver, and copper, it is not a "gold country", and the annual production of gold, silver, and copper is equivalent to about four or five million silver dollars after being minted into currency. Since Japan exports very few fist products, only sea cucumbers, abalone, etc., and their trade has been in deficit for hundreds of years (mainly to China), so these four or five million are Japan's main source of currency. If Japan's trade deficit is greater than the amount of coinage, then there will be less currency in Japan and deflation will occur.

For a long time, the income of the samurai in Japan was linked to rice, and once the price of rice fell due to deflation, the income of the samurai would fall. Some of the low-level samurai may fall into poverty, and many feudal clans will also go bankrupt. The rule of the shogunate was naturally unstable. Therefore, since more than 200 years ago, the Tokugawa shogunate began to implement the "silk cut" system, which strictly restricted the outflow of precious metals. And this policy has been implemented until now.

Historically, the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the turmoil at the end of the shogunate had a lot to do with the outflow of gold and deflation - the monetary system practiced in Japan at that time was very poor, and the difference between the gold and silver prices of its official gold and silver coins was two or three times that of the international market. However, at this time and space, with the help of Emperor Zhu and HSBC, Japan has completed a round of currency reform and implemented a monetary system in line with international standards. As a result, the rule of the shogunate was strengthened.

However, once Japan fully opens up its imports, there will be a large outflow of gold and silver from its custody. At that time, as soon as the domestic currency was in trouble, the rule of the Akiko and Tokugawa shogunates would probably not be maintained.

Historically, after the Meiji Restoration, Japan also experienced a large outflow of gold and silver due to investment in industrialization and military expansion. As a result, the value of the banknotes issued by the Japanese government was seriously depreciated, and the value of the government bonds issued by the Japanese government to redeem the samurai class also plummeted, causing turmoil in Japan for a time, and even the assassination of Prime Minister Okubo Ritsu.

As a digression, even though Japan has paid a great price for industrialization. However, before the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan's industrialization was still very rudimentary and did not have a hematopoietic function. Japan's economy was still based on agriculture, and its domestic gold and silver reserves were insufficient, and the paper money base was weak (the yen was convertible paper money at the time). If the First Sino-Japanese War were to be prolonged and protracted, Japan's financial and monetary stability would inevitably be unmaintainable.

And at the moment, the Japanese shogunate's financial resources are also unable to support the expenses of the long-term war against Russia.

Therefore, Emperor Zhu immediately proposed the issue of Japan's war bonds: "Robert, in order to pay for the war against Russia, the Japanese shogunate needs to issue bonds in Shanghai, and in order to make the bonds sell smoothly, I hope that the British government or the East India Company will fund the purchase." (To be continued......)