As Emperor Kōkaku watched Gennin Mitsunori, the Heavenly King, become more compliant, Tokugawa Ienari's expression softened. He let out a cold哼, then sat down again, watching the Heavenly King nervously write his memorial.
After a long while, the Heavenly King, dripping with sweat, finally finished the memorial. He then held it out with both hands to Tokugawa Ienari and tentatively said, "This humble one, this humble one's scholarship is not refined, I ask that the Shogun help refine it for me?"
Tokugawa Ienari once again let out a cold哼, then took the memorial written by the Heavenly King and began to read it.
"Your subject, the little king of Wa, Gennin, respectfully asks His Imperial Majesty the Great Ming Emperor, Grandpa, for peace and well-being... Touches head, bows a hundred times."
Tokugawa Ienari felt that what the Heavenly King had written was very good.
The opening first greeted Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of Great Ming, wishing His Imperial Majesty the Great Ming Emperor, Grandpa, peace and well-being, then greeted the Emperor of Great Ming's relatives for health and happiness, and even asked about the well-being of Zhu Jinsong's dog.
With such an obedient attitude and such fluent writing, why didn't you just present it earlier? Did you have to tear down the facade?
As for Emperor Kōkaku Gennin, seeing Tokugawa Ienari nod in approval, his hatred for Tokugawa Ienari deepened.
If one were to speak of it, Emperor Kōkaku Gennin's attempt to get a title of Retired Emperor for his father had not succeeded, and Tokugawa Ienari had also tried to get a title of Ōgosho for his godfather Tokugawa Ieshige, which also failed.
In terms of wanting to elevate the treatment of their own fathers or godfathers, Emperor Kōkaku and Tokugawa Ienari were quite similar in their shared misfortunes.
Therefore, why should brothers in misfortune make things difficult for each other?
After thinking about it, Emperor Kōkaku couldn't help but whisper, "Since you want some samurai to take their families to Tianzhu, you must have your own ideas?"
Tokugawa Ienari glanced at Emperor Kōkaku and sneered, "Of course I have my ideas, and my ideas are truly for the sake of Wa."
"As for you..."
"Although you should also be for Wa, your words and actions are truly too dangerous!"
"On this small broken ball, our Wa can provoke any other country wantonly, but we absolutely cannot provoke the Great Ming father!"
"Because, if we provoke other countries, those countries will endure it for the sake of the Great Ming father, but once we anger the Great Ming father, no one on this small broken ball can protect our Wa!"
Speaking of this, Tokugawa Ienari suddenly sighed and said, "Your Majesty, you should really study more. As the saying goes, reading makes people wise, and reading more is never harmful."
Being told this by Tokugawa Ienari, Emperor Kōkaku fell into silence.
From the moment Tokugawa Ienari revealed his plan, Emperor Kōkaku had already vaguely guessed what Tokugawa Ienari was planning.
However, Emperor Kōkaku was also blinded by anger...
After another period of silence, Emperor Kōkaku finally looked up and said to Tokugawa Ienari, "I want to dispatch some samurai loyal to the royal family to Tianzhu!"
Tokugawa Ienari also fell silent.
Just as Emperor Kōkaku had guessed that Tokugawa Ienari had other ideas, Tokugawa Ienari also guessed that Emperor Kōkaku had other ideas.
However, whether Emperor Kōkaku's plan was good or bad for Wa?
If it could succeed, then there would be nothing to say, and Wa would gain a large overseas territory, and even if the major islands of Wa could no longer be lived in in the future, there would not be a complete loss of retreat.
But what if it failed?
If it were just a simple plan failure, it wouldn't be anything, it would be similar to the current situation.
But if the Great Ming father saw through Gennin's plan and thus angered the Great Ming father...
After careful consideration, Tokugawa Ienari finally shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, your plan is too dangerous and could bring about the disaster of annihilation for Wa."
Emperor Kōkaku's expression changed, and he said in a low voice, "But what if it succeeds, Wa will gain immense benefits!"
Tokugawa Ienari sneered again and retorted, "What if it succeeds? You also said it was a 'what if'. What if there is no 'what if'? How much confidence do you have?"
Speaking of this, Tokugawa Ienari sighed again and said, "Toyotomi Hideyoshi back then could not be said to be weak; he even ambitiously wanted to invade Great Ming."
"If he had succeeded, it would be Wa, not Great Ming, dominating the four seas now."
"Unfortunately, where are there so many 'what ifs'?"
"Toyotomi Hideyoshi failed. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who unified the entire Wa with the title of 'Tenka Bito' for the first time since the Muromachi Shogunate and was known as one of the three great men of the Sengoku period in Wa, is gone, and Tokugawa Ieyasu then established the Tokugawa Shogunate."
"More importantly, even though Toyotomi Hideyoshi held real power over the entire Wa, he was only the Taiko of Wa."
"The Taiko of Wa can fail; at worst, he can be arrested and handed over to the Great Ming father to vent their anger."
"Just as I can propose the request for Wa samurai to take their wives to Tianzhu – even if the Great Ming father is angry, it will only be directed at me, Tokugawa Ienari, and should not involve the entire Wa."
"But you are the Heavenly King of Wa; if the Great Ming father discovers that you have disloyal intentions, the entire Wa will suffer!"
Speaking of this, Tokugawa Ienari earnestly persuaded, "Your Majesty, the so-called Sengoku period of Wa, in the eyes of the Great Ming father, is as laughable as a skirmish in a few villages."
"The so-called three great men of our Wa, let alone comparing them to His Imperial Majesty the Great Ming Emperor, Grandpa, or comparing them to Great Ming's Grand Tutor Zeng Cheng and Commander Liu Heming, even Governor Jiang Xinlong of Kyushu Island before, is not ten thousand times stronger than our so-called three great men?"
Emperor Kōkaku looked at Tokugawa Ienari deeply and asked in a low voice, "Have you made up your mind?"
Tokugawa Ienari hummed and said, "If things can succeed, then there is nothing to say. If they cannot succeed and anger the Great Ming father, then the next Shogun will be Tokugawa Ienari."
After thinking about it, Tokugawa Ienari added, "I remember there was a saying in Joseon, that being able to be the dog of Great Ming is the greatest honor for Joseon – now it seems that any Joseon person who can say this is definitely a wise person among Joseon people."
Emperor Kōkaku was stunned and asked, "Are you saying that being the dog of Great Ming is also the greatest honor for Wa?"
Tokugawa Ienari chuckled, but the smile on his face was uglier than crying.
Tokugawa Ienari said, "How can anyone be the dog of the Great Ming father?"
"Look at who on this small broken ball is fighting to be the dog of the Great Ming father?"
"England, France, Russia, the United States."
"To put it nicely, the four of them are the five great benefactors of this small broken pot, but to put it bluntly, aren't they also the dogs of the Great Ming father?"
Emperor Kōkaku fell into silence again.
It was true that the Tokugawa Shogunate had been busy with the policy of seclusion, but that was before Great Ming had thoroughly suppressed Wa.
Since Great Ming had violently beaten Wa because of Joseon, Wa was no longer isolated.
At the very least, the tribute every three years was punctual.
Coupled with the existence of the Kyushu Island Governor-General's Office, and the "Great Ming Daily" beginning to circulate in Wa, Emperor Kōkaku was no longer ignorant of the changes on the small broken ball like previous Emperors.
Emperor Kōkaku knew very well the current situation on the small broken ball where Great Ming was supreme.
Tokugawa Ienari continued, "Even if they are dogs of the Great Ming father, those four great benefactors are still living fat and happy, aren't they? Including our Wa, haven't we also gained countless benefits from being dogs of the Great Ming father?"
"Or to put it more directly – apart from those four great benefactors and our Wa, what other country has the qualification to be the dog of the Great Ming father?"
Emperor Kōkaku remained silent, and Tokugawa Ienari simply stood up, walking towards the exit, saying, "Give up your ridiculous ideas!"
...
The memorial that Tokugawa Ienari had asked Emperor Kōkaku to write was soon sent to Emperor Zhu Jinsong of Great Ming through the Kyushu Island Governor-General's Office.
However, Zhu Jinsong was shocked by the ideas of these Wa slaves.
According to the glorious traditions of Wa, such as Matsushita, Inoue, Watanabe... if these Wa samurai took Wa women to Tianzhu, wouldn't they create another Wa tribe in just over ten years?
Of course, the glorious traditions of the Wa slaves were not important; what was important was that this scoundrel Tokugawa Ienari dared to use the method of letting samurai take their wives to Tianzhu to seek land in Tianzhu, and even used intimidation to stop Emperor Kōkaku, who wanted to court death, and had already thought of the next Shogun, which made Zhu Jinsong very displeased.
Casually throwing the intelligence to Zeng Cheng, Zhu Jinsong sneered, "I said back then that Wa is a wolf that cannot be tamed and can always bite its owner."
Zeng Cheng picked up the intelligence and looked at it for a few moments, then couldn't help but frown, secretly pondering what those short and stout fellows of Wa were thinking in their heads...
If you say they are not honest, the Rōnin and samurai of Wa are diligently recruiting laborers for Great Ming in Tianzhu, and the Wa slaves working as supervisors in Great Ming are also considered obedient and well-behaved.
But if you say they are honest... these Wa slaves always come up with new tricks!
Just like now.
If the short and stout fellows of Wa directly said that the main islands of Wa were not suitable for habitation due to earthquakes, tsunamis, and other messy reasons, and that the Wa slaves felt very insecure, Zeng Cheng felt that he would persuade Emperor Zhu Jinsong to allocate another piece of land for them.
For example, allocating a large amount of empty land from the United States to the Wa slaves? Or perhaps allocating a piece of land in Europe to the Wa slaves?
This could solve the insecurity problem of the short and stout fellows of Wa, and at the same time plant a nail in the backyard of the United States or in Europe.
But who would have thought that those short and stout fellows of Wa would have such nerve as to scheme against Great Ming in Tianzhu?
This is truly self-inflicted and unforgivable!
Thinking of this, Zeng Cheng couldn't help but sigh slightly and said, "Your Majesty, this humble one believes that since Gennin harbors resentment and Tokugawa Ienari has many disloyal intentions, why not send them on their way directly?"
However, to Zeng Cheng's surprise, Zhu Jinsong chuckled and retorted, "Why send them on their way directly?"
Zhu Jinsong stood up from his chair, paced slowly, and said leisurely, "If Gennin is gone, another Gennin will appear in Wa. If Tokugawa Ienari is gone, how can you guarantee that the next Shogun will not be the same as Tokugawa Ienari?"
"Moreover, Gennin and Tokugawa Ienari now only have a bold idea – as long as they do not put these ideas into practice, they remain only surface-level ideas."
"If we Great Ming were to send Gennin and Tokugawa Ienari on their way directly because of this, it would also be considered as punishing them without teaching them."
Zeng Cheng and the other big shots all looked at Zhu Jinsong with bewilderment.
Speaking of punishing without teaching, Great Ming had done this quite a bit. For example, Joseon back then, and also vassal states like Burma and Jiaozhi, were basically conquered with any excuse.
Now, what is this about punishing without teaching?
Isn't this talking nonsense!
After thinking about it, Zeng Cheng bowed slightly and asked, "What if Wa is directly designated as a Buzheng Division?"
Zeng Cheng's words were like poking a hornet's nest – before Zeng Cheng's words had even finished, and before Zhu Jinsong had said yes or no, Liu Huaiwen directly jumped out and exclaimed, "What about those Wa slaves? Whether to give them Great Ming household registration or slaughter them all, how will our Great Ming supervisors handle it?"
Zhu Jinsong smiled and waved his hand, signaling Liu Huaiwen to sit down before saying, "Wa absolutely cannot be designated as a Buzheng Division at this time."
"Besides the supervisor issue mentioned by Uncle Huaiwen, there is another very important reason, which is that Great Ming still needs the vassal army of Wa to serve as cannon fodder."
Speaking of this, Zhu Jinsong slowly paced back to his chair, sat down, and continued, "It can be foreseen that the population of our Great Ming will double in the next thirty years, from the current approximately 400 million to about 800 million."
"A population of over 800 million basically means that Great Ming has enough population to migrate outwards."
"Or, the population pressure of over 800 million will force Great Ming to expand outwards."
"And no matter which direction we expand, we will eventually have to fight a real battle with swords and guns on the battlefield – in this situation, Great Ming naturally needs a vassal army."
"Perhaps you think other countries are sufficient to serve as vassal armies, such as France? Or any small European country?"
"However, I want to tell you that no other country on this small broken ball is more suitable than Wa!"