The emperor glared at Liu Huaiwen, who had fallen into the trap of money, and then said with a frown, "No, the intelligence from the Embroidered Uniform Guard is not comprehensive enough. Japan must be agitating for more than just the auxiliary troops from India and the Ottoman Empire. There might be other matters behind it."
Ke Zhiming was slightly taken aback and bowed, "Your Majesty, the intelligence from the Embroidered Uniform Guard is all there is. I would not dare to conceal anything."
Emperor Zhu waved his hand and said, "I am not saying you are concealing anything, nor am I saying that the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Japan is not diligent."
After gesturing for Ke Zhiming to sit down, Emperor Zhu continued, "Japan has always prided itself on its unbroken imperial line. Those short, stout people are accustomed to hardship, and with Tokugawa Ienari controlling the Japanese army, Japan would not easily fall into chaos, nor would anyone entertain the idea of abdication in favor of another."
Zeng Cheng stroked his beard and added, "Then, Your Majesty's meaning is that the current unrest in Japan is due to other matters?"
Emperor Zhu grunted and instructed Ke Zhiming, "Send a message to Japan. Have them shift their focus from Tokugawa Ienari to Emperor Kōkaku and those who advocate for abdication. See if there is any necessary connection between them, and also find out why those people are thinking of urging Tokugawa Ienari to abdicate."
The matter was as Emperor Zhu had guessed.
Japan's current Emperor is Emperor Kōkaku, the great-grandson of Emperor Higashiyama. He is the sixth son of Prince Kan'in'ō, and his mother was Iwamuro Akiyoshi. His original name was Morihito, but for some unknown reason, perhaps a bump on the head or a kick from a donkey, he later changed his name to Kan'hito.
Kan'hito was fostered in the home of Prince Shōren'in, Ryūyo Nyūdō, from a young age, with the intention of becoming a priest of Shōren'in upon reaching adulthood.
This meant that Kan'hito originally had no chance of becoming Emperor. However, by sheer coincidence, Emperor Go-Momozono, Kan'hito's adoptive father and future father-in-law, suddenly passed away, leaving behind only Princess Taishi, who was still an infant. If no one were to step in, the imperial lineage would risk becoming extinct.
Thus, this situation fulfilled the famous saying: "Just as I was craving a dorayaki, a sticky bean bun fell from the sky." Kan'hito found himself acquiring Princess Taishi, who was still an infant, as his wife, and by inheriting the imperial throne as the adoptive son of Emperor Go-Momozono, he became known as Emperor Kōkaku.
Emperor Kōkaku's life was actually quite peaceful. Like most of his predecessors, he was essentially a figurehead. His presence or absence made little difference, and his main role was to continue the imperial lineage.
Although Emperor Kōkaku is described in Japanese history as being of a gentle disposition, devoted to learning, and talented, he is not famous for his scholarship or gentleness, but rather for the Japanese equivalent of the Great Rites Controversy.
Much like the Great Rites Controversy in the Great Ming, Emperor Jiajing of the Great Ming was determined to bestow the title of Emperor upon his father. Similarly, Emperor Kōkaku was wholeheartedly focused on securing the title of Emperor for his own father as a display of filial piety.
After three years of contention with the officials of the Great Ming, Jiajing succeeded in bestowing upon his father the posthumous title of "Emperor Feng'an Gongmu Xian" and upon his mother the title of "Empress Ci Xiao Zhen Shun Ren Jing Cheng Yi An Tian Dan Sheng Xian." Along with this, he also sent Yang Tinghe and other officials back to their hometowns.
... After much back and forth with the Edo Shogunate of Japan, Emperor Kōkaku's compromise was that the Shogunate would agree to increase the stipend of Prince Kan'in'ō by one thousand koku. However, during Emperor Kōkaku's lifetime, he was ultimately unable to secure the title of Emperor Emeritus for his father.
Of course, according to the usual practice of those short, stout Japanese, they would certainly claim that Emperor Kōkaku had to compromise for the sake of Japan. However, Emperor Kōkaku's requests and debates with the Shogunate also indicated that the Japanese court at the time had a more assertive side, and Emperor Kōkaku could not be simply viewed as a figurehead.
As for the history that Emperor Zhu had modified...
Emperor Kōkaku remains a figurehead.
Or rather, because Emperor Zhu had unprecedentedly adopted the labor system, conscripting a large number of Japanese laborers for supervision and recruitment, Japan was also severely affected. Emperor Kōkaku is now even struggling to be a figurehead.
However, what displeased Emperor Kōkaku the most were the envoys to the Great Ming, whom Emperor Kōkaku and Tokugawa Ienari had arranged to study in the Great Ming. Under normal circumstances, even if Emperor Kōkaku and Tokugawa Ienari were foolish, they would not have sent people who disapproved of them to study abroad. They would have surely sent their confidantes to ensure their control over Japan. Moreover, the Great Ming had not specifically targeted those Japanese students. Therefore, those so-called Japanese envoys to the Great Ming should not have been displeased with Emperor Kōkaku.
The problem precisely lies in the fact that the Great Ming did not specifically target those Japanese envoys.
As everyone knows, the common people of the Central Plains do not often boast about their lineage. After all, with thousands of years of heritage, who hasn't had an emperor or a famous person in their ancestry? If a person surnamed Wang were to stand up and speak of their family's illustrious history as one of the five surnames and seven clans, a person surnamed Wu would retort that their ancestor was the one who made them history.
But Japan is different. Despite Japan being a rather unremarkable place, it has no shortage of complex customs. While surnames like Inoue, Watanabe, and Matsushita are somewhat better, as they are recognized names, some like Kurofu and Kuroda belong to low-status commoners.
This division of status based on surnames can be considered a lasting poison in Japan. Even when Emperor Kōkaku and Tokugawa Ienari dispatched numerous envoys to the Great Ming to study, this situation could not be avoided.
The only difference was that Tokugawa Ienari, as the de facto leader of the Edo Shogunate, actually controlled Japan. Therefore, the students who aligned with Tokugawa Ienari were mostly high-ranking nobles. On the other hand, Emperor Kōkaku, being a mere figurehead with no real power, saw most of the low-ranking nobles and even commoners align with him.
Thus, while the Great Ming finally adopted the posture of a suzerain state and did not openly treat these envoys like dogs, the envoys themselves started to quarrel!
Envoys of noble birth found each other displeasing, nobles and commoner envoys found each other displeasing, and even commoner envoys found each other displeasing!
It was somewhat better when they were in the Great Ming, as the officials of the Great Ming did not indulge those short, stout fellows. Anyone caught brawling or causing trouble would be soundly beaten, then imprisoned for a few days, and those with serious offenses might be directly repatriated.
... However, after returning to Japan, the conflicts between those envoys erupted completely!
"I dared not cause trouble in the Great Ming, but I am not afraid to cause trouble in Japan!"
Coincidentally, the envoys who favored Tokugawa Ienari generally had good lives in Japan, and upon returning, they would be highly regarded by Tokugawa Ienari and their respective families. Therefore, the envoys who returned to Japan were mainly from the Tokugawa Ienari faction.
On the other hand, Emperor Kōkaku's faction of envoys mostly came from humble backgrounds. Those who returned earlier were not only ostracized by Tokugawa Ienari, but their own families, due to Tokugawa Ienari, dared not promote them either.
As fate would have it, Emperor Kōkaku, this human stamp, made a bold move at this time. Emperor Kōkaku greatly promoted the envoys of the Kōkaku faction who came from better backgrounds. As for the envoys of the Kōkaku faction from humble backgrounds, it wouldn't be accurate to say he ignored them, but he did not give them the treatment they deserved. At least, they received much less compared to the envoys from higher backgrounds.
This greatly displeased those envoys from humble backgrounds.
The Emperor of Japan is now reduced to the title of Tenno, which in terms of status is equivalent to the son of the Emperor of the Great Ming, correct?
The status of commoners in Japan is lower than that of the common people in the Great Ming, not much different from the status of the French, but much better than that of commoners from other barbarian countries, correct?
Therefore, you, a Japanese Emperor who is not even equivalent to a son, what right do you have to not take us envoys seriously?
In the Great Ming, where your dad doesn't really care about status based on birth, you, a mere Japanese Emperor, still hold onto such things?
Then, a large number of displeased envoys began to ponder how to change Japan.
As everyone knows, the best way to change Japan is not to start with the Emperor, but with the Shogun. The Emperor is merely a human stamp whose words carry less weight than farts. On the other hand, the Shogun holds the real power in Japan and his words are very impactful.
Moreover, Emperor Kōkaku is not particularly close to the Great Ming. In recent years, there have been no reports of the Emperor of the Great Ming bestowing any gifts upon him, nor has he actively paid homage to the Great Ming. However, Shogun Tokugawa Ienari has paid homage many times and received numerous gifts.
What does this indicate?
This not only shows that Tokugawa Ienari is far more favored by the Emperor of the Great Ming than Emperor Kōkaku, but it also indicates that Tokugawa Ienari admires the Great Ming. And this, in turn, means that Tokugawa Ienari is likely to learn from the Great Ming in a comprehensive manner, completely breaking down the closed-door policy of Japan.
What's more, the supervisors and auxiliary troops that the Great Ming has withdrawn from Japan are genuinely receiving high salaries. These people earn Great Ming Dragon Yuanbao. As long as they can save money, they can live comfortably in Japan. However, the Emperor intercepts a portion, the Shogunate intercepts another portion, and then the various daimyo or officials intercept further portions. In the end, the amount of Dragon Yuanbao that reaches the hands of those supervisors and auxiliary troops is significantly reduced!
This has also made those supervisors and auxiliary troops very displeased.
As it happens, Tokugawa Ienari also blamed Emperor Kōkaku for this... Therefore, the current chaos in Japan is not at all because the supervisors and auxiliary troops are earning higher wages, but rather because the short, stout Japanese have become extremely dissatisfied with the current situation.
...
Tokugawa Ienari knelt foolishly on the tatami, looking at the group of students before him with confusion.
The students who favored Tokugawa Ienari were mostly from old noble families. They had not yet started urging this general to usurp the throne and ascend, yet these envoys, who were practically commoners, were causing trouble?
But no matter how confused Tokugawa Ienari was, it did not change the fact that the envoys were urging him to take the throne.
Watanabe Shichiemon earnestly advised, "All children in the Great Ming, from the day they are born, have the right to enter school. The common people of the Great Ming have their own land. The living standards of the common people of the Great Ming are hundreds, even thousands, of times better than our Japan. Why is this?"
After speaking, Watanabe Shichiemon did not wait for Tokugawa Ienari to answer and continued on his own, "Because the Emperor of the Great Ming has experienced the hardships of the common people. He knows what the lives of the common people of the Great Ming are like, and he knows what the people need."
"But what does the Emperor of Japan know? He knows nothing!"
"Raised in the deep palace by women since childhood, ignorant of the people's suffering, and lacking ambition, how can such a person be the Emperor of Japan?"
"If the Shogun wishes for Japan to be prosperous and strong, if the Shogun wishes for the people of Japan to live in abundance, then please, Shogun, ascend to the position of Emperor of Japan!"
"Once the Shogun assumes the position of Emperor of Japan, the entire country will undoubtedly unite behind the Shogun!"
"..."
Watanabe Shichiemon's words left Tokugawa Ienari utterly stunned.
Tokugawa Ienari really wanted to ask Watanabe Shichiemon, "You scoundrel, do you have any idea what Japan was like before? Do you know that Japan has experienced a Northern and Southern Dynasties period in its history?"
"Damn it, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu finally managed to unify the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Japan. If this general usurps the throne, won't Japan fall back into the situation of the Northern and Southern Dynasties?"
Tokugawa Ienari frowned slightly and said sternly, "Let this matter not be mentioned again. If there is a next time, I will show no mercy!"
After saying this, Tokugawa Ienari stood up and left the room, leaving the envoys looking at each other in bewilderment.
After a while, Watanabe Yuemon said solemnly, "Gentlemen, the Shogun fears that Japan will fall into chaos, and thus has not agreed to our request. However, the Shogun has forgotten that even if Japan falls into chaos, it will only be a temporary pain. But if no change is made, it is likely to become incurable sooner or later. What then? You must know that Japan's illness is already in its skin. To remove old ailments, one must first remove the rotten flesh!"
After Watanabe Yuemon's words fell, the envoys, who had been somewhat dejected, suddenly came back to life, shouting that they should persuade Tokugawa Ienari to ascend to the position of Emperor of Japan again.
However, Watanabe Yuemon said profoundly, "Are you gentlemen perhaps forgetting the idiom of 'three refusals and three concessions'?"
Matsushita Ichiban, standing beside Watanabe Yuemon, was taken aback and asked, "Three refusals and three concessions. The Shogun has already refused once. It won't be difficult to persuade him two more times, but this 'concession'..."
Watanabe Yuemon chuckled and shook his head, "Indeed, it is 'three refusals and three concessions.' The so-called 'three refusals' means the Shogun will refuse repeatedly, but 'three concessions' does not mean we will persuade him three times. It means..."
Matsushita Ichiban frowned, "How can he be willing to 'concede' three times?"