The attendance of domain lords and daimyos were all surprised by Tokugawa Ienari's unexpected generosity. Although Japan was not a large country, it was divided into quite a few domains, and the number of envoys sent to study in the Great Ming was fixed. Originally, each domain could only get one or two slots. Now, Tokugawa Ienari claimed to offer five slots per domain for envoys to the Great Ming.
Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobunobu found it increasingly unsettling the more they thought about it.
Tokugawa Ienari was usually as slippery and cunning as a greased goose gizzard. It was more plausible that he would find ways to seize the envoy slots from various domain lords. However, him voluntarily offering envoy slots to the domains seemed rather fantastical. After all, more slots for the domains meant fewer slots for the shogunate or the imperial court.
If it were before, when Tokugawa Ienari hadn't planned to usurp the throne, it could have been understood that the slots were seized from the Japanese imperial court. But now that Tokugawa Ienari was preparing to usurp the throne, these slots would represent a substantial loss if successful.
After pondering for a long time without any resolution, Shimazu Hisamitsu directly asked, "May I ask, Shogun, are there any requirements for these slots?"
However, what Shimazu Hisamitsu and the assembled domain lords and daimyos did not expect was for Tokugawa Ienari to shake his head and sigh, "There are no conditions, or rather, the only condition is to ensure that the selected individuals must have a talent for learning."
Tokugawa Ienari also spoke from personal experience.
As early as the fifth year of An'ei, which was the forty-first year of the Qianlong Emperor of the Great Qing, Hiraga Gennai, the teacher of Shiba Kōkan, had already improved the Leyden jar and even created Japan's first friction generator. However, Japan was in a state of seclusion at the time, and "Rangaku" scholars like Hiraga Gennai were naturally considered outsiders.
Especially since Hiraga Gennai had also written "On Farting": "Sounds are divided into three grades. The sound 'pu' is the best, its shape is round; the sound 'pu' is the middle grade, its shape is flat; the sound 'si' is the lowest grade, its shape is slender. After elaborating on the shape of farting sounds, Hiraga Gennai cited a contemporary Edo fart-singing comedian (who performed a duet of shamisen and crowing) as an example, praising him: 'In all of ancient and modern times, no one else has ever conceived of such an idea and put so much effort into it.'"
Being an outsider, coupled with writing an absurd essay like "On Farting," Hiraga Gennai became increasingly frustrated.
Later, Hiraga Gennai said with a hint of self-mockery, "I engage in things not understood by the masses. Since the friction generator, I have invented many things that were not previously in Japan. Some people called me a swindler. I racked my brains and worked hard, only to be criticized; I bought wine with good intentions but was still met with dissatisfaction. ... I might as well change the name 'Erekiteru' (friction generator) to 'Herekiteru' (fart generator) and become a disciple of a farting man myself."
The primary reason for this situation was that Hiraga Gennai came from a low-ranking samurai family in the Takamatsu domain.
In the seventh year of An'ei, the forty-third year of the Qianlong Emperor of the Great Qing, Hiraga Gennai's method of creating the friction generator was stolen by an artisan craftsman. He himself developed severe paranoia and persecution complex, ultimately leading to a tragedy. In the eighth year of An'ei, the forty-fourth year of the Qianlong Emperor of the Great Qing, Hiraga Gennai accepted a garden maintenance project for a daimyo. During this time, he drank all night with two carpenters who came to visit him. Gennai woke up in the middle of the night, intending to go to the toilet, only to discover that his important architectural design drawings, which he had kept in his chest, had disappeared. Hiraga Gennai believed the workers had stolen his construction drawings. He then pressured the two carpenters, and neither side would yield. Hiraga Gennai's anger flared, and he accidentally stabbed and killed the workers with a knife.
After the misunderstanding was cleared up, Gennai was filled with remorse and wanted to commit seppuku to apologize, but he was stopped by his disciples. Ultimately, Gennai was imprisoned for this incident. A month after entering prison, Hiraga Gennai died in prison. One account says he contracted tetanus, while another says he starved himself to death as an apology, eventually dying from weakness. He had killed two people in total.
However, the architectural drawing had not been in Gennai's chest but had slipped out from a gap in his belt. Gennai subsequently lost his mental faculties and died in the cold prison of Kōma-chō.
Hiraga Gennai's funeral was attended by his only good friend, Sugita Genpaku. Genpaku inscribed the following on Gennai's tombstone: "Alas, an extraordinary person, who delights in extraordinary matters and whose actions are also extraordinary, why then did he meet such an extraordinary death?"
The so-called "extraordinary death" refers to the fact that Hiraga Gennai should not have died for killing two carpenters.
Shiba Kōkan, who studied under Hiraga Gennai, was also not accepted by the mainstream of Japan at that time. Even though Shiba Kōkan became an envoy to the Great Ming and successfully replicated a steam engine, it was of no use. The Japanese imperial court still did not value Shiba Kōkan, and Shiba Kōkan, forced into a corner, eventually chose to defect to the shogunate. Tokugawa Ienari essentially gained an immense advantage for free.
Tokugawa Ienari, having personally visited the Great Ming, was well aware of the importance of steam engines.
But what was truly frustrating was that while Hiraga Gennai, from a low-ranking samurai family, could produce a fart generator, and Shiba Kōkan could replicate a steam engine, the high-ranking nobles selected by the Japanese imperial court and shogunate produced nothing, indulging only in composing poetry and seeking pleasure. Their presence or absence made no difference.
As the saying goes, one's position determines one's perspective. If Tokugawa Ienari had not planned to usurp the throne, the envoy slots would have been a tool to control the various domain lords and daimyos. But now that Tokugawa Ienari had decided to usurp the throne and declare independence, the envoy slots were naturally no longer just a tool to win over domain lords and daimyos.
However, Tokugawa Ienari also understood in his heart that the distribution of envoy slots could never be fair and just.
After inwardly sighing, Tokugawa Ienari surveyed the assembled domain lords and daimyos again and said solemnly, "..."
To put it bluntly, Japan, which was lauded by countless incurable patients, was quite similar to the situation in India. India had a caste system, and Japan also had its class structure.
For instance, why did those samurai who lost their masters remain ronin instead of finding jobs?
This meant that if Tokugawa Ienari wanted to complete the blockade, he first had to deal with those ronin.
The domain lords of Chikuzen, Chikugo, Buzen, Bungo, Hizen, Tsushima, Hyuga, and others also followed suit in response, while the other domain lords and daimyos couldn't help but frown.
This difference in geographical location naturally led to imbalanced development among the various domains. Some domains were relatively wealthy, while others were extremely poor. The difference in wealth and poverty was directly reflected in the number of ronin within each domain.
The poorer the domain, the more ronin it had.
More importantly, the Satsuma domain and the domain lords of Chikuzen, Chikugo, and others also shared a common designation: the Kyushu domains.
These domains originally operated on the island of Kyushu. The Satsuma domain even sent troops to capture the Ryukyu Islands, forcing the King of Ryukyu to pay tribute to Japan.
To say they were resigned would be an understatement. Shimazu Hisamitsu and the domain lords of Chikuzen, Chikugo, and others had not ceased to think of resisting, at least to secure better territory.
Then, Shimazu Hisamitsu and the others swiftly moved to Ezo, completely relinquishing the island of Kyushu.
More importantly, who would these samurai and ashigaru obey?
If they were ordered to obey their domain lords and ignore Tokugawa Ienari, what would the shogunate think? If they tripped over each other and engaged in endless wrangling, how could they possibly "cleanse" the ronin?
If they were ordered to obey Tokugawa Ienari, wouldn't that be akin to handing over military power?
This was even more unacceptable to the assembled domain lords than directly providing money to support Tokugawa Ienari!
When Tokugawa Ienari finished speaking, the assembled domain lords, while breathing a sigh of relief, couldn't help but feel a sense of suspicion.
As everyone knew, besides his lust for women, Tokugawa Ienari's greatest flaw was his greed. The avarice of his sons and daughters was entirely inherited from Tokugawa Ienari.
Now, this greedy and lecherous fellow had not chosen to heavily plunder the various domains. Instead, he stated that the shogunate would send people directly, and the domains only needed to "slightly" prepare some provisions and a few guides?
While the assembled domain lords and daimyos were hesitating, Shimazu Hisamitsu glared fiercely at the other domain lords and roared, "Baka! You damned idiots! Is this the time to quibble over a few samurai and ashigaru? If we do not cooperate with the Shogun to clear out these ronin, how can Kōkaku-gen'in possibly spare us once he triumphs!"
Upon hearing Shimazu Hisamitsu's scolding, Matsudaira Nobunobu, the lord of Kawagoe domain in the Musashi domains of the Kanto region, was about to retort. However, he inadvertently caught Tokugawa Ienari glaring fiercely at Shimazu Hisamitsu before returning to his usual bland, smiling expression that didn't reach his eyes.
Matsudaira Nobunobu immediately became vigilant.
Shimazu Hisamitsu, that Ezo fool, was so poor he was like a dog, yet he still sent samurai and ashigaru to help Tokugawa Ienari. Now he was the first to jump out and scold the other domain lords, acting like a loyal dog willing to shed its last drop of blood for the Edo shogunate. And Tokugawa Ienari seemed displeased?
After pondering, a flash of insight struck Matsudaira Nobunobu's mind. In the best-case scenario, Tokugawa Ienari might genuinely want to clear out those samurai, and his interaction with Shimazu Hisamitsu was merely an act to lure the other domain lords into his trap.
In the worst-case scenario, Tokugawa Ienari's true objective might not be to thoroughly eliminate those ronin but to target them, the domain lords! Once the shogunate's samurai and ashigaru were allowed to enter the domains in large numbers, anything could happen afterward!
With this thought, Matsudaira Nobunobu's expression turned grim. He then glanced at Shimazu Hisamitsu and declared loudly, "Lord Shimazu is absolutely right. This is a crucial time for us to unite and overcome difficulties. We cannot afford to hesitate now!"
With Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobunobu having spoken first, the other domain lords were left with no retreat. Whether they understood or not, they had no choice but to follow Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobunobu in declaring their willingness to dispatch samurai and ashigaru to help the shogunate clear out the ronin.
Just as Matsudaira Nobunobu had surmised, the reason Tokugawa Ienari proposed that the shogunate send samurai and ashigaru to clear out the ronin was partly to genuinely eliminate the ronin, to avoid any unexpected incidents during the subsequent blockade.
However, on the other hand, Tokugawa Ienari was aiming to "hold the feudal lords hostage to pressure the court." If Kōkaku-gen'in and Kan'nomiya Kagehito, those two good-for-nothings, dared to send people to cause trouble in Tokugawa Ienari's territory, Tokugawa Ienari was prepared to first eliminate a few minor domain lords and daimyos in the Kinki region, thereby causing chaos in the territories of Kōkaku-gen'in and his son.
As for sending ninjas or causing trouble with lepers in the territories of Kōkaku-gen'in and his son, Tokugawa Ienari temporarily had no such plans.
This was because the current situation clearly favored Tokugawa Ienari, and his chances of successfully ascending to the throne were high. Tokugawa Ienari, who had already begun to dream of becoming a national leader, naturally did not wish for leprosy to spread in the vicinity of Kinki. After all, no matter how much of a "poor man's disease" leprosy was, its transmissibility was undeniable, and no one could guarantee they would escape it.
Unfortunately, Tokugawa Ienari's well-laid plans were now being disrupted by those two good-for-nothings, Shimazu Hisamitsu and Matsudaira Nobunobu.
Tokugawa Ienari harbored secret resentment, but he forced a smile on his face, saying, "Then it is settled. For those ronin who are causing trouble locally, it is imperative to carry out vigorous suppression. If you find yourselves unable to cope, you may send people to the shogunate for assistance at any time. Do not force yourselves."
After the domain lords thanked him, either willingly or unwillingly, Tokugawa Ienari changed the subject, discussing his recent experiences in the Great Ming. "You all know that Ienari visited the Great Ming and stayed there for a considerable period."
The assembled domain lords and daimyos were somewhat bewildered, not knowing what else this good-for-nothing Tokugawa Ienari wanted to say.
Tokugawa Ienari, however, continued on his own, "During my time in the Great Ming, what impressed Ienari the most was the learning of the Ming people. Even young children knew a few characters, and even the elderly during the Great Qing era could mostly write their names, let alone the young people."
The assembled domain lords and daimyos continued to be bewildered. The Great Ming was the superior nation, Japan's father. Wasn't this to be expected?
Shimazu Hisamitsu tentatively asked, "What does the Shogun mean?"
Tokugawa Ienari did not directly answer Shimazu Hisamitsu's question. Instead, he clapped his hands and ordered towards the outside, "Bring it here!"
Tokugawa Ienari, however, continued on his own, "During my time in the Great Ming, what impressed Ienari the most was the learning of the Ming people. Even young children knew a few characters, and even the elderly during the Great Qing era could mostly write their names, let alone the young people."
The assembled domain lords and daimyos continued to be bewildered. The Great Ming was the superior nation, Japan's father. Wasn't this to be expected?
(End of this chapter)
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