Wild North America 1846

Chapter 626 Meiji's Ambition

In 1875, the Lunar New Year Festival was particularly grand and grand. Emperor Meiji of Fuso Kingdom went to Chang'an, the imperial capital, to meet His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Among them, the national gift "108 Dancers congratulating His Majesty the Holy Emperor" presented by Emperor Meiji is the most exquisite and ingenious, and has been highly praised by His Majesty the Emperor.

These 108 dancers are all made according to the traditional Fuso doll technique, dressed in gorgeous kimonos, located in different scenes such as townhouses, palaces or manors, dressed in Japanese hairstyles and traditional Japanese dresses as decorations, the images are lifelike, and they are exquisitely crafted .

This is a collection of more than 770 skilled craftsmen from all over the country in Fusang State. They are divided into carpenters, painters, jewelers, silk craftsmen, porcelain craftsmen and traditional lacquerware craftsmen. .

These life-size dolls are all exquisitely crafted, lifelike, and every detail is meticulously crafted, which can be called a masterpiece of art.

It shows the rich and colorful social life of the people in Fusang society. Puppet art is a kind of folk art in Fusang cultural tradition with a long history of inheritance.

The most common ones are palm-sized dolls. The 108 full-length dancer dolls enshrined by Emperor Meiji are the first ones, and they won a lot of applause as soon as they appeared.

Daming Palace passed down the decree;
"At the New Year's Garden Party in 1875, I deeply felt the heart of the Meiji Emperor, and it was enough to comfort me. I should enjoy the spring with the Meiji Emperor's imperial garden, and the emperor will give you hundreds of gold coins and tons of food as encouragement."

In terms of specifications, the dignitaries of various countries are all treated with national courtesy, but some are cordial and some are distant.

Like the statues dedicated by some South American countries Venezuela, Emperor Li Cha just nodded lightly after seeing them.Daming Palace's treasury has piled up like a mountain, and museums around the world also have a lot of stock, so it's not uncommon at all.

The oracle rewarded 100 gold coins, ten pieces of silk, ten pieces of cloth, and one horse as rewards.

This is very different from the heavy rewards that the Fusang Kingdom received. To put it bluntly, it is to send beggars.

The Tang Empire didn't rub the sand in its eyes. During the New Year's Great Court Meeting, the congratulatory gifts were perfunctory, and the rewards were even more face-slapping. It was a complete humiliation.

The so-called courteous to others, there must be something to ask for.

Emperor Meiji of Fuso Kingdom is 23 years old. He has been in power for more than 8 years, but he has been in an unembarrassed state, and it is difficult to actually control the power of the country.

The Tang Empire gave a lot of military aid to the shogunate, which caused the domestic situation in Fusang to deviate from the original historical trend. The reformers who "respected the king and fought against the barbarians" did not win the civil war, but were beaten back and forth.

The "Meiji Restoration" did not appear as expected, and was replaced by a new pattern of coalition government.And produced the first and second cabinet governments that honored the emperor in name.

This was a product of political compromise, which actually emptied the emperor's power.

The shogunate represented by the samurai regime has now retreated behind the scenes because of its unpopular rule.Transformed into a party dominated by conservatives, the second government Prime Minister Shinyuki Matsuda is its representative.

After the Matsuda Shinnei cabinet came to power, many innovative policies of the previous government were banned, and the stance of change has regressed significantly, and the Emperor Meiji was regarded as a puppet and ignored.

All kinds of difficulties forced the reformist forces in Fusang and the Emperor Meiji to turn their attention to the suzerain country for help, and this is the reason for this Spring Festival pilgrimage.

The other palace located in San Francisco Bay is now the temporary residence of Emperor Meiji Fuso, which was bestowed by His Majesty the Tang Emperor himself as a temporary residence for the emperor and his party.

From here, you can overlook the beautiful scenery of the entire bay area, and to the west is the blue and vast Pacific Ocean. The magnificent scenery is too beautiful.

Emperor Meiji stood in the corridor of the palace with his hands behind his back, looking at the bay with a melancholy expression.He was flanked by Minister of Foreign Affairs Yuki Suzuki and Imperial Minister Takayuki Yamamoto, both of whom were mainstays of the reformist faction and close confidants of His Majesty the Emperor.

"The prosperity of the Tang Dynasty is magnificent and tens of thousands of miles in size. It really is the grandeur of a big country!" Emperor Meiji's eyes flashed with envy, and he couldn't help admiring in his mouth.

In the 19th century, most of the Fusang royal family and the upper-class Chinese received complete Chinese education from childhood, and were able to skillfully use the Chinese language, sing wandering sentences, calligraphy, go and piano skills, and regarded it as an activity that was elegant and free from low-level fun.

Most of the middle and lower class and ethnic townspeople who do not understand Chinese are regarded as low-level vulgar and low-level people, so-called;

Summer insects cannot speak of ice, and well frogs cannot speak of sea creatures.

now in history
Fusang Kingdom's comprehensive westernization movement has gone completely out of shape. Sincerely admiring Tang Tianwei, the trend of Sinology has become more and more intense, and the Great Tang Empire is regarded as the target of imitation everywhere.

Emperor Meiji expressed his emotion from the bottom of his heart. Foreign Minister Yuki Suzuki and former Imperial Minister Takayuki Yamamoto stood on the top of the mountain overlooking the spectacular scenery of the Bay Area. Why not?

The wide San Francisco Bay looks like two giant arms deep into the Pacific Ocean. Giant ships gather in the bay, and thousands of seagulls fly in the sky, forming a magnificent picture under the blue sky.

The architectural styles of the cities on the shore are different, spreading far to the end of the sky.This is Chang'an, the second imperial capital in the world, a super metropolis with a population of over 360 million.

How can this situation not be shocking?

"What Your Majesty said is very true. It's hard to believe that 30 years ago, this place was just a small port town with a population of 3 to [-] people. It developed too fast and changed too much."

"Yamamoto-kun, this is the power of modern industry. The classic example of the success of the Tang Empire has guided us the way. The first is to vigorously colonize and expand, and the second is to fully develop the industrial economy. This is the foundation of Fusang's strength. .”

"What Suzuki-kun said is very good. My Yamato nation wants to rise among the nations of the world. Comprehensively learning the advanced culture and technology of the Tang Dynasty, and even all aspects of the education system is the only way to become strong."

"It's hateful... Prime Minister Matsuda is a stubborn conservative. After he took office, he went against the grain and hindered my Fusang Kingdom's various innovations to learn from the Great Tang Empire. It is a big step backwards in history. We, the reformist cabinet ministers, speak lightly, and we are really heartbroken. !"

"Yeah, watching the European and American powers grow stronger and stronger, and the world's aggressive expansion and colonization, I can't help but feel extremely anxious. There is not much time left for the Yamato nation."

"Yo Xi, what the two love ministers said is very true." Emperor Meiji slowly exhaled the foul breath in his belly, nodded in agreement, and continued;
"The most important thing today is to establish an unshakable imperial lineage. It is the most correct thing to know the superiority and inferiority, set the upper and lower levels, and use the brain to direct the four limbs to act in unison!

I have carefully studied the history of the Great Tang Empire's prosperity over the past few decades, and what runs through it all is the wise and powerful decisions of the Great Tang Emperor, which have been fully implemented.

There is no internal friction, there is no obedience to others, and there is no deception by listening to one thing and doing another. This is the foundation of governing the country.

The center is stable, and the world is safe.

I have never seen someone who is not clear-headed and can achieve great things. The old shogunate in the country is a cancer that hinders the "return of the great government". I think deeply about it. "

The young Emperor Meiji was unwilling to be a puppet. There was another sentence before the so-called "return of the great government", which was called "resignation and accepting the land".

"Returning the great government" means to establish the imperial country based on the rule of His Majesty the Emperor, and the shogunate should hand over the power in their hands and return the great government.

"Resignation and Nadi" is aimed at the last shogun Tokugawa Yoshiki, who must resign from all positions, hand over power, hand over Edo Castle and the shogunate domain, and retire to the mountains and forests.

now history has changed

After the Tang Empire intervened, none of these goals were achieved.

In order to avoid falling into the disastrous situation of long-term civil war, a coalition of conservatives and reformers was formed, with many internal contradictions and accumulated disadvantages.

Hearing the words of Emperor Meiji, Minister of Foreign Affairs Suzuki Yuki frowned and his face was solemn. Even with his meager efforts, he could not change the current situation of serious internal friction in Fuso.

I could only sigh, and said;
"At this time when the internal affairs are in turmoil, Suzuki can only advise His Majesty the Emperor; please be calm and calm down, and slow down the big plans.

The power of the old shogunate is deeply entrenched and has ruled Fusang for hundreds of years. How can it be eradicated in a short while?

If one move is not careful, the civil war will start again.

I can only hope that His Majesty the Holy Emperor of the Tang Dynasty will take pity on me and the suffering of the people in Fusang, and support the emperor's "return of the great government" is the only way out for today's internal affairs!
It's just that the Holy Emperor of the Tang Dynasty is unpredictable, and we can only wait patiently, hoping that all our efforts will be rewarded, right? "

Emperor Meiji was not satisfied with Minister of Foreign Affairs Yuki Suzuki's ambiguous words, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Although the emperor of Fusang Kingdom is known as the line of eternal life, he is actually a puppet enshrined in a high place. For hundreds of years, he has neither his own army, nor his own imperial farm, nor a civil servant team.

Everything depends on the support of the vassals, who regard him as a representative figure against the rule of the shogunate.

under these circumstances
Emperor Meiji wanted to become a dictatorship like the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Wouldn't that mean he wanted to eat farts all day long?
Even if the reformist vassals achieved the goal of "returning the great government" and established the rule of the imperial country headed by the emperor, they would not allow the emperor to implement dictatorship.

Isn't that making wedding clothes for others?
The purpose of the reformist feudal vassals to launch the downfall movement was to fight for power, implement innovative measures to eliminate long-standing abuses, learn advanced cultural systems and industrial technologies from the Tang Empire and the West, and develop the country, not to clear obstacles for the emperor to take power.

These are two completely different things and should not be confused with each other.

Today's domestic situation in Fusang is a bit like the Beiyang period in history. The last emperor in the Forbidden City is a puppet, and basically he can't ask anything.

However, the decrees of the Beiyang government could not reach the whole country, and the warlords from all over the country went their own way, some were conservative, some were innovative, and some were reversing the process of historical restoration.

The same is true for Fusang now. The reformist forces, led by the four powerful domains in the southwest, Satsuma, Nagashima, Hizen, and Tosa, have made great efforts in reform and are far ahead of the policies launched by the Fusang government.

In some conservative vassals, it seems that they have returned to the closed shogunate era.

The entire Fusang Island is divided. The innovative measures introduced by the cabinet will be implemented by some feudal town daimyos, some feudal town daimyos will ignore them, and some feudal town daimyos will strongly oppose them.

vice versa.

Once this situation breaks out into a civil war, it may split into a warlord separatist regime, repeating the regrettable historical stage that once appeared in the history of China.

It can be said

Fusang is now standing at the crossroads of peace and division, further vigorously promotes innovative measures, strengthens the country and rejuvenates the people, and gradually grows into one of the world's great powers.

If you take a step back, you will fall apart and fall into the chaos of warlord separatism...

It may be an illusion caused by the strong support of Zhu Qiang, Emperor Meiji actually felt that he could do it.

With this honorable status, one can harvest the greatest fruits of political struggle, and then implement the dictatorial imperial rule.

The young Emperor Meiji even dreamed countless times of being admired by all the people, leading Fusang to glory one after another, just like his idol, the Holy Emperor of the Tang Dynasty...

Every time I wake up from the dream, I often feel lost...

Is this a dream or reality?

It was no secret that Emperor Meiji, who dreamed back at midnight, was always unclear, crying and laughing in the bedroom, which made people mistakenly think that there was something wrong with his nerves.

Former Imperial Minister Takayuki Yamamoto glared at Yuki Suzuki with dissatisfaction, then bent down and bowed at 90 degrees and said;
"It is an unreliable extravagant hope to try to get alms from the Holy Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. You have to rely on yourself to change the court situation, and you must control your destiny in your own hands.

To mobilize loyal people to punish the country's traitors, including Prime Minister Shinyuki Matsuda, they are all spokespersons for the interests of General Tokugawa Yoshiki, and they must commit seppuku to thank His Majesty the Emperor.

There are also those stubborn and conservative vassal lords, the several big families that have controlled Guan Bai in history, they are all national thieves, and they should all be killed.

Only the blood of loyal people can wake up the numb citizens, and serving the imperial country is now, not some slow plan.

Before I left, I had already explained to the students and the patriotic and loyal people in the government and the opposition; it is now, right now.

I really hope that before returning to Fusang, I can hear the good news of those national thieves conferring heads! "

Emperor Meiji and Suzuki Yuki were not surprised by the radical remarks made by former imperial minister Takayuki Yamamoto, but they all turned their expectant eyes to the far west.

Takayuki Yamamoto belonged to the radical reformers, and if placed in later generations, he would be an extremist who caused social unrest.

Their faithful believers will wear white cloths on their heads, wear white kimonos, hold samurai swords and shout "kill the country thief" to kill people in the street, and will not run away after killing people.

Instead, sitting on knees in front of the severed bloody heads, and committing suicide by caesarean section to thank His Majesty the Emperor, they are all utterly dangerous elements.

Don't be surprised, it's self-defeating.

Emperor Meiji now has a kind of expectation in his heart;
If this can be done, beheading Prime Minister Shinyuki Matsuda would be a good way to break the situation.

Physical destruction is the simplest and most direct method. Although it is widely criticized in civilized countries and rarely occurs, this obviously does not include Fusang country.

Radical reformists are synonymous with dangerous elements. They not only killed those stubborn old-fashioned ministers, but also killed newspaper reporters, social celebrities and civilians who supported the shogunate, setting off a bloody storm in Edo City. .

Say another

After the establishment of the first cabinet, Edo Castle was designated as the capital, and is now renamed Tokyo.

(End of this chapter)