Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 898
After some thought, Shimadzu Hisashi agreed.

As a member of the Shimadzu family, although his blood relationship with the feudal lord was five or six generations behind, he was once a family and his connections are still there.

Furthermore, the favor of the prefect of Ryukyu is enough to make him go all out.

After leaving his house, Shimadzu Hisashira sat in the carriage, thinking about what happened just now.

"The Ryukyu Prefecture is short of food, and the Kagoshima Domain has more food. If someone is connected in the middle, it will be a lot of benefits!"

Thinking of this, he was in a good mood.

You must know that although Nagasaki is located on the island of Kyushu, all the proceeds belong to the shogunate, and the Kagoshima domain can only eat leftovers.

It is very good for the feudal government to have extra silver income.

The more he thought about it, the more feasible he felt.

As a naturalized Ming, Shimadzu Hisagi was very enthusiastic about serving the court, and the political benefits were enormous.

The next day, he had just returned from Taiwan, and immediately set off for the Kagoshima Domain.

The Kagoshima Domain, also known as the Satsuma Domain, was one of the main forces during the fall of Japan. Later, it took control of the Japanese Navy and became the de facto domain.

After the Battle of Sekigahara, the old tortoise Tokugawa Ieyasu placed the daimyo vassals who had a close relationship with the shogunate in Edo (Tokyo), and the more distant the relationship, the farther away their territories were from Edo.

Satsuma is far away in the southwest of Kyushu, and its relationship can be imagined.

After the Ryukyu Island was taken back by the Ming army, the Satsuma domain was restored to the previous height of 60 shi. Coupled with the account of participation, the fiscal revenue shrank.

When he came to the city of Kagoshima, Shimadzu Hisunari was quite sentimental.

It has not been here for several years, but Kagoshima has not changed much.

The unique separation of soldiers and peasants such as the outer city system and the gate system, coupled with the stubborn fourth-class civil system, made the entire Kagoshima like a pool of stagnant water.

Few of the common people participated in Yikui, but the brutal exploitation by the feudal government gave them no chance to breathe.

Although it was already summer, the farmers' tattered short jackets could barely cover their knees, and their jackets only had a scarf around their necks.

The short body has already been tanned by the sun, the skin is chapped, the eyes are dull, and it is full of numbness. When you meet those passing warriors, you can see their forced smiles and groveling movements.

The samurai wore vertical clothes, that is, traditional top and bottom skirt clothing, with knives on their waists, swaggering past.

However, from their expressions, they did not see much joy.

When Shimadzu Hisagi, who was dressed in bright clothes, showed up, there was a bit of a sensation for a while.

After all, although the shogunate was in business with Daming, the boys most liked to bring Nagasaki, not impoverished Kagoshima.

"Sir, do you need a guide?"

At this time, a child in his teens came up to him and spoke in blunt Chinese.

Although it is not said to be skinny, it is also very thin. It is obvious that he came from a samurai family with a poor family background.

"Thank you, no need." Shimazu Hisashi smiled slightly and said in pure Japanese, but he still generously presented a copper coin: "Go and buy a rice ball to eat!"

The boy returned disappointed, and left holding the copper coins tightly.

At this moment, a group of warriors gathered suddenly, and the leader said in surprise, "Jiucheng, Shimadzu Jiucheng, you are back."

He hugged him emphatically and thumped his back, feeling very excited.

"I'll come back to see you." Hisazu Shimadzu's eyes were slightly red.

This group of people are all samurai friends who he played with since he was a child, how can he not make people feel nostalgic?

When he arrived at his home, a group of people sat around.

The low house and the leaky roof made him a little uncomfortable.

"I thought that after you sold your ancestral home and went to the Ming country to develop, you would never see you again..."

Shimadzu Nanhiro said in a deep voice, he raised his head, his eyes were full of expectation: "Have you gotten rich recently?"

Facing everyone's expectant eyes, Shimadzu Hisagi looked down at his clothes. The fabric was worth a lot of money.

"It's not about getting rich, it's just about being able to fill your stomach."

As he spoke, he raised his head and said, "After moving to the Ryukyu Mansion, I have already given up my status as a samurai of the Shimadzu family, and then passed the examination as a scholar."

"Scholar?" A certain samurai said in surprise, "I've heard that it seems like our samurai can carry a sword and be an official, but they cannot be hereditary."

His friend Shimadzu Nanhiro heard the words, and frowned: "Jiu Cheng, for the status of a scholar, is it worth you to abandon the samurai?"

"In Ryukyu, how can it be different from Kagoshima?"

The samurai chattered one after another, disapproving of his abandonment of his samurai status.

You must know that warriors are hereditary from descendants, no matter how poor they are, they are still masters, but scholars cannot be hereditary, and being outstanding for a lifetime is nothing.

Hisashige Shimazu said seriously: "However, in Kagoshima, as a low-level samurai, my descendants will always be low-level samurai, unless the turmoil of the Sengoku period broke out."

"Obviously, now that the Edo shogunate is consolidated, there is no chance."

"In Daming, I am currently a scholar, but my descendants may be Juren or Jinshi. At that time, not only will they be able to be officials, but one day, they may even be the chief assistant of the cabinet, and they will also be the elders of the shogunate."

During the period of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the elders of the family could only be served by royal family (direct samurai) and relatives, not even the lord of Satsuma, let alone the lower-level samurai of his family.

Being an official in Japan is just the preference of the superiors and the distance of the blood. There are no imperial examinations, or even inspection examinations, which are worse than North Korea.

Obviously, in the Ming Dynasty, due to the imperial examination system, the officialdom was extremely mobile, and the class flow was not solidified, which was very different from Japan.

For the future, brighter.

When the warriors heard the words, they were silent at first, and then chattered.

But after a long time, they had to admit that the imperial examination system is good, but it is not suitable for Japan.

Because they are warriors, their butts naturally determine their heads.

Hisashige Shimadzu didn't say much with them, and then invited them to the best restaurant to get together.

Just ochazuke, a piece of sea fish, radish, and a glass of sake made this group of samurai seem to be celebrating the new year.

Seeing him for a long time, Shimadzu was filled with emotion.

At night, he sat opposite his friend Shimadzu Nanhiro, and the friend said decisively: "You turned out to be rich, and it's a big fortune."

"That's right." Hisashiro Shimadzu nodded and said, "After I became a Tang native, I started a business at sea, and my status as a scholar made everything unfavorable."

"Can you imagine? Nanguang."

"In Ryukyu, only my servants would eat ochazuke like today, and eat it every day, but in Kagoshima, even the samurai can't eat it."

Hisashiro Shimadzu said expectantly: "Nanguang, come with me to Ryukyu. When you get there, you will have ochazuke every day."

Shimadzu Nanhiro was shocked, unable to close his mouth for a long time.

It was hard for him to imagine that the delicacies that the samurai could not reach were only meals for the servants.

After thinking for a long time, he could only shake his head and said, "The status of a samurai is passed down from his family. Although I was down and out in Kagoshima, I was still a master."

"I went to Ryukyu. Although I don't have to worry about eating and drinking, I am a servant."

"So, I'd rather stay in Kagoshima."

Shimadzu Hisashira looked directly at his friend, who was not to be outdone, and looked at each other, still unyielding.

After a long time, he sighed and shook his head, feeling worthless for his friend.

But at the same time, he must respect his choice. After all, in the eyes of some people, a samurai who is hungry and full is more important than a life of food and clothing.

"I heard that you have three sons, so give the youngest son to me. I will take him to Ryukyu, let him become a Chinese, read and write, and pick you up to enjoy the blessings when he goes out in the future—"

Hearing this, Nanguang Shimadzu was taken aback, then sat down on the ground, and refused to get up for a long time.

After staying for a while, Shimadzu Hisashige let him get up: "Get up, I can only help you so far."

In Japan, the status of a samurai can be retired. Sometimes in order to allow the successor to take over the position better and take over the contacts, one of them retires early and lets his son inherit it.

Obviously, for Nanhiro Shimadzu, cultivating descendants is better than enjoying happiness for himself. This is the nature of human reproduction.

The next day, the news of Shimadzu Hisagi's dinner last night immediately spread throughout Kagoshima. Samurai, big and small, knew that he had returned with a fortune, and that he had really become a Chinese and a scholar.

For a while, there were those who envied her, and even those who looked down upon her.

However, as soon as Shimadzu Hisashige arrived at dawn, he went to visit his former relatives and friends, and then went to find a relationship, and contacted the old man of the country.

The latter also allowed to meet because of his reputation.

The so-called country man is because in the Edo period, due to the change of attendance, the elders who managed the mansions of the feudal clans in Edo were called the elders of the Edo clan, and those who managed the territory of the feudal clan were called the elders of the country.

When they met on the first day of the new year, Shimadzu Hisagi directly told about the Ryukyu Prefecture.

The latter was originally relaxed, but when he heard about the prefect of Ryukyu, he immediately sat up, tilted his head slightly, and acted as a listener.

Hisashiro Shimadzu exclaimed happily when he saw the well-known elders like this.

"Its government is equivalent to Japan (regime system, 66 countries), and the Ryukyu government is such a vulnerable country, it should be more private."

The old man stroked his beard, showing a thoughtful expression.

After a while, he immediately nodded, expressing that he agreed to such a private transaction.

In terms of price, Shimadzu Hisashira paid more attention to the identity of the middleman, but he did not lower the price, and gave each silver dollar a price of two shimi.

It looks very cheap, after all, in Edo, once rice is equal to one tael of gold, that is, four taels of silver, four thousand copper coins.

But the market price is different from the channel price, and Kagoshima is not comparable to Edo. In the few decades since the end of the Warring States Period, Kagoshima has relatively rich land and more food.

Coupled with the impact of good years and disaster years, stable and low prices are the best choice.

And it must also be considered that this is a private transaction, which is long-term and sustainable.

"By the way, do you have a cash register?"

"Take it, it must be taken." Hearing this, the old man poured out bitter water:
"After the trade in those years, a large number of Chinese products came to Japan, and our Kagoshima is no exception."

"We don't control gold and silver mountains like the shogunate, so it can only be that there is not enough gold and silver..."

On the surface, the Tokugawa shogunate controls all the gold and silver in Japan, and has mastered finance, so it has rich financial resources.

However, mines can be exhausted.

In fact, it holds 1/7 of the land, but is responsible for the fiscal expenditure of the whole of Japan, and its financial pressure is not small.

Like the Ming Dynasty, the commodity economy of the Tokugawa shogunate gradually prospered, but the collection of commercial taxes was poor. For example, in 1809, the shogunate collected only [-] taels of commercial tax from Edo, which was extremely disproportionate to the scale of the economy at that time.

After expanding the financial resources for the Kagoshima domain, the elders were quite happy, and talked with him for a long time before letting him go home.

Shimadzu Hisagi was also happy with the perfectly accomplished task. When he was about to leave, a lot of men gathered outside the courtyard.

All of them were shaking their arms, wearing shorts on their lower bodies, and their fleshy faces were full of hunger, thirst and excitement.

"what happened?"

"They all want to join you—"

Shimadzu Nanhiro said with complex eyes: "Since the agreement was signed with the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese who are waiting for leisure are not allowed to go abroad, and only the people of the Tang Dynasty can travel freely."

"It's also the same, Tang people can take people out—"

Following the conversation between the two, more and more people gathered in front of the door, each looking around, eyes full of longing for life.

Hisashiro Shimadzu was silent.

In the barren island of Kyushu, except for Nagasaki, which is relatively prosperous due to overseas trade, the rest are just poor and remote areas.

There are even some farmers who have never eaten rice in their entire lives.

Class solidification, enfeoffment system, although the Tokugawa shogunate allowed Japan to enjoy peace at this time, it also suppressed the people.

Under such circumstances, no matter how much sympathy a literati has, it is difficult to display their ambitions.

After hesitating for a moment, Shimadzu Hisagi said, "Nanguang, you can choose ten people for me, ten is enough, and I won't be able to take any more."

Shimadzu Nanhiro nodded, feeling inexplicably excited.

Seeing him carefully select his servants, Shimadzu Hisashira looked at the densely packed men and fell into thought for a moment:

In Taiwan, there is a great hunger for young men.

In Luzon, even as long as you go, you will be rewarded with [-] acres of land.

What Japan has the most is people.

Like ants, with the peace of the world, the population is increasing.

If this group of people is recruited to Taiwan, can they ask for more sugar?
If you go to Luzon, will the conditions of the Governor's Palace be better?
Thinking of this made his thoughts drift farther and farther.

At this time, Edo was the headquarters of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Tokugawa Ietsuna, the fourth-generation general conquering barbarians, has reached the age of 22 and has been in power for many years.

However, assisting his uncle Hoshina Masaoyuki and the elder Sakai Tadakatsu made the government as stable as ever.

Today, during an imperial meeting, Tokugawa Ietsuna noticed something unusual:

"It was reported from Nagasaki that in three months this spring, they actually collected 10 yuan in taxes? False and concealed reports?"

"Report to the general, the Nagasaki newspaper is correct, and the tax revenue sent is also true."

Sakai Tadakatsu said in a low voice: "In the past few years, Tang goods have become more and more popular, and the tax collection has also increased."

(End of this chapter)