The Emperor, without acknowledging the bewildered scholars, stated with a smile, "There's a European proverb, 'All roads lead to Rome.' But have you fools ever considered that many are born directly in Rome?"
"Zhu Jianying, the eldest son of the Great Ming, is not as talented in literature as you scholars who have studied for over a decade, nor as skilled in martial arts as the veterans in the First Division of the Imperial Guard. However, from the day he was born, he was destined to be the Crown Prince of the Great Ming, the future emperor. He wasn't born *in* Rome; he *owns* Rome."
"Of course, you might say there's only one Zhu Jianying. But I urge you to think properly." At this point, the Emperor suddenly pointed to a scholar, "If his family owns a thousand acres of fertile land and immense wealth, wouldn't he be able to hire a highly educated great scholar to tutor him from childhood? What about you?"
When the Emperor finished speaking, the scholars present were all utterly stunned. Some scholars began to look at their companions with complex emotions, while others harbored hidden resentment towards the Emperor.
The scholars who secretly harbored the wish for the Emperor's sudden death did not do so because the Emperor was vulgar and repeatedly called them fools or idiots. It was because the Emperor's few sentences had exposed a cruel reality – different foundations meant different outcomes, and thus different starting points.
However, as the scholars fell into contemplation, Zeng Cheng could not help but laugh, "Your Majesty, I consider myself to be somewhat learned. I personally oversaw the early education of my grandson. Although my child is not particularly outstanding, being able to recite the Thousand Character Classic, the Three Character Classic, and more than half of the Analects at the age of three is indeed much better than many children."
Liu Hemming, standing beside Zeng Cheng, added, "Reporting to Your Majesty, while I am not as learned as Elder Scholar Zeng, my family is also quite well-off. Hiring capable teachers is not difficult. Moreover, I come from a military background, so I have also taught my children martial arts. Although they are not exceptional, they can be said to be accomplished in both literature and martial arts."
The testimonials from Zeng Cheng and Liu Hemming struck the scholars' hearts like heavy hammers.
As the saying goes, a drum sounds when struck, and clarity comes from speaking. Before the Emperor, Zeng Cheng, and Liu Hemming laid everything bare, the scholars might still have harbored hopes of leveraging their educational advantage to give their children a head start towards success. But once the Emperor and the two officials spoke so plainly, the scholars' perspectives shifted.
Yes, the Emperor was right that there was only one Zhu Jianying, and no one intended to compare themselves to a prince. After all, their future paths were entirely different, and there was essentially no room for competition. But what about the children of high officials like Zeng Cheng and Liu Hemming?
Even these scholars themselves had made plans. If they could persuade the Emperor to reinstate the so-called "ancestral system," their children would gain a significant head start towards success, surpassing others. If the "ancestral system" were truly reinstated, the children of high officials like Zeng Cheng and Liu Hemming would need little study of literature to achieve success due to the tradition of "bestowing titles upon wives and heirs," putting them far ahead of anyone else.
More critically, the children of prominent officials like Zeng Cheng and Liu Hemming were in competition with scholars from across the empire. With a limited number of official positions, every additional slot taken by the children of noble families meant one less opportunity for scholars who pursued officialdom through the imperial examinations!
Fairness?
On the surface, all scholars in the Great Ming started from the same starting line. However, this starting line was not fair to everyone. Instead, the fairness was artificially propped up by the state's public power.
While Tokugawa Ienari was troubled by the refusal of Kōkaku and Kan'nomiya to adopt surnames, Kōkaku and Kan'nomiya were also troubled by a series of actions taken by the shogunate.
The crux of the matter, however, was that some individuals were already calling for Tokugawa Ienari to seize the throne.
Kan'nomiya, Kōkaku's son, shook his head slightly, "There is no news back yet. After all, Japan and India are separated by a vast distance, and it is uncertain whether the messenger has even reached India."
Receiving this answer, which was both expected and unanticipated, Kōkaku sighed again, his face etched with decadence and helplessness.
Japan, after all, was not the Great Ming.
In the context of a rapidly changing battlefield, speed of information transmission, even a mere fifteen minutes faster, could decide the outcome of a major battle. What then of days?
To give a simple example.
Suppose the Emperor of the Great Ming suddenly decided to attack Japan, and the army's advance was unstoppable. If Japan happened to intend to delay the process through a feigned surrender.
From Japan to the capital of the Great Ming, a round trip would take at least a month, wouldn't it? Would Japan not have gained a month's time?
While envious, Kōkaku also harbored a degree of resentment.
"Although I normally refer to myself as the 'Ten Thousand Kings' in private, when it comes to dealing with your Great Ming Emperor, I, Kōkaku, have always acted as a loyal subject!
Now, your Great Ming ambassador to Japan is colluding with that traitor Tokugawa Ienari and riding roughshod over me. Does your Great Ming Emperor bear no responsibility for this?"
As anger surged, and with it, malice, Kōkaku, feeling increasingly displeased, naturally began to consider ways to vex the Great Ming.
After a moment of thought, Kōkaku instructed Kan'nomiya, "Go find personnel from Kōga. Tell them to arrange for some individuals to impersonate samurai from the shogunate and travel to the Great Ming."
Kōkaku let out a cold snort and raised his hand, signaling Kan'nomiya to be quiet, "When did I ever say I would dispatch Japanese pirates to the Great Ming?"
Kan'nomiya was immediately stunned.
However, Kan'nomiya could not think of any good ways to vex the Great Ming, including the Japanese pirates he had just mentioned.
What is this?
This is useless! They can't even catch up to the hot soup after eating shit!
After thinking for a long time without coming up with a solution, Ishikawa Iin bowed to Kōkaku and asked, "May I ask Your Majesty, concerning the Tottori domain..."
Kōkaku seemed to be suddenly awakened. "Oh, oh." He then looked at the assembled daimyo and asked, "Do you lords have any good solutions?"
As Kōkaku's words fell, the assembled daimyo and lords all adopted an attitude of looking at their noses and their noses at their mouths; no one answered Kōkaku's question.
This was not the agreed-upon script!
Or rather, the problem currently faced by the Japanese imperial court was no longer how to solve the problem of lepers, but rather how to deal with the large number of civilian patients pouring in from the shogunate.
Since Tokugawa Ienari dared to drive the lepers near the Tottori domain to Tottori domain, it meant he dared to drive more civilian patients from other domains to domains that were close to the imperial court.
When a large number of civilian patients flooded into domains close to the imperial court, it would be followed by immense shortages of food and medicine, as well as security risks.
The more he thought about it, the angrier Kōkaku became. He wished he could immediately kill that bastard Tokugawa Ienari. This was a classic case of using the Japanese imperial court's path to leave the court with no path to follow, you scoundrel!
Ishikawa Iin then continued, "I believe that instead of passively responding, it would be better to... better to actively accept the civilian patients from the shogunate?"
The other daimyo and lords also began to point fingers at Ishikawa Iin.
On the contrary, Kōkaku slammed the table and shouted, "Be quiet, all of you! Lord Ishikawa, please continue?"
After some private deliberation, Kōkaku gritted his teeth and said, "I will find a way to solve the issue of food. You only need to focus on the treatment of those lepers."
However, to Ishikawa Iin and Todo Takayoshi's surprise, Kōkaku smiled and waved his hand, "No, we have overcomplicated this matter."
Upon hearing Kōkaku's words, the assembled daimyo and lords were even more bewildered.
However, compared to the bewilderment of Ishikawa Iin and Todo Takayoshi, Kan'nomiya had figured out Kōkaku's strategy.
For the current Japanese imperial court, whether the problem of leprosy could be solved was not that important, as it was an obviously unsolvable problem.
Compared to that, how to compete with the shogunate for popular support, and how to win over more Japanese civilians and commoners to the imperial court, was more important.
Taking Kōkaku's strategy as an example, the biggest benefit of this approach was that it could allow for the diversion of Japan's young and strong workforce, taking advantage of the Great Ming's need for a large number of laborers and supervisors.
It is well known that whether it is a regular army or a rebel army, its main force must be composed of young and strong individuals. As long as a large number of young and strong individuals are diverted, it essentially means that the greatest source of instability has been resolved. Even if Kōkaku allowed the remaining old, weak, sick, and disabled to die quietly, they could only lie at home and wait for death, with no other options.
The second benefit was to gain some reputation for the imperial court and Kōkaku. Tokugawa Ienari, as the Shogun, only drove away the civilians and commoners under his rule when facing leprosy, whereas the Japanese imperial court and Kōkaku, who had been suppressed by Tokugawa Ienari all along, were trying to find a way for the civilians and commoners of Japan to survive. In contrast, the difference in status was clear.
After Kan'nomiya explained a few points, Ishikawa Iin and Todo Takayoshi and the other daimyo also reacted.
However, understanding Kōkaku's tactics was of no use. No matter how well Kōkaku promised, they were just promises. Even if that old coffin lid found a way to export laborers and supervisors to the Great Ming, that was something for the future. However, the civilian patients driven by the shogunate were right in front of them, and the consumption of resources and medicines for each domain was a tangible reality!
Ikeda Yoshio, the head of the Ikeda family of the Tottori domain, the first to suffer, even cried out, "Your Majesty, please reconsider! I know Your Majesty's intention to love the people, but the Tottori domain is ultimately a small domain. Not to mention whether the food can be sustained, simply managing the commoners and outcasts from the shogunate is beyond our capabilities!"
Todo Takayoshi also bowed and said, "Adding a cup of water to a wooden basin will not cause it to overflow, but filling a cup with a basin of water will definitely cause it to overflow. Currently, if we calculate solely by the number of commoners and outcasts, the Tottori domain is like a cup, and the shogunate is like a large basin. The Tottori domain simply cannot bear it!"
Even Ishikawa Iin, who had initially proposed to receive a large number of commoners and outcasts from the shogunate, sided with Ikeda Yoshio and Todo Takayoshi, saying, "Your Majesty, please reconsider! This approach is too risky!"
Kōkaku, however, wore a gloomy expression and snorted coldly, "Do I not know that this is a risky undertaking? But the shogunate is powerful now, with vast lands and a large number of samurai and foot soldiers under their control. The domains in the Kinai region are adjacent to those that are close to the shogunate. If we simply continue to defend, how long can we last?"
Ishikawa Iin and the other daimyo and lords wished they could crack open Kōkaku's skull and see what was inside his head.
Because they could not defend, they decided to take a gamble by accepting the civilians and outcasts driven by the Tokugawa shogunate?
This is utter nonsense!
Especially Kōkaku's so-called strategy of gaining reputation, which Ishikawa Iin considered to be the height of absurdity.
Because Tokugawa Ienari would not allow Kōkaku to buy reputation. As long as Tokugawa Ienari was not completely foolish, he would definitely cause trouble the moment Kōkaku began to curry favor.
In fact, most of the power in Japan was currently held by the Edo shogunate. If Tokugawa Ienari was determined to block information or even smear Kōkaku, the scene of "all people flocking to him" that Kōkaku envisioned would only remain a fantasy. It was even possible that he would be cursed by the short, stumpy commoners and outcasts of Japan.
At that time, let alone competing with Tokugawa Ienari by gaining reputation, if Kōkaku was not overthrown and killed by those short, stumpy people of Japan, it would be considered a blessing from his ancestors!
After Ishikawa Iin and Todo Takayoshi had indirectly advised him a few times, Kōkaku had to abandon the idea of attacking Tokugawa Ienari through reputation.
Kōkaku, with a gloomy expression, frowned and said, "Since we cannot accept the commoners and outcasts from the shogunate, will the shogunate not win without a fight?"
The situation had returned to square one. If they could not accept the commoners and outcasts driven by the shogunate, it meant that the imperial court and the daimyo and lords close to the imperial court could only respond passively. They could no longer gain the reputation they might have otherwise, but they still had to prepare medicine, physicians, and food.
If this problem could not be solved, the shogunate would not even need to drive out lepers to throw the imperial court into disarray. At that time, Kōkaku would still lose without fighting.