I'm really not doing business

Chapter 826 If the banquet is not included, then the tripod is the offering

Wang Chonggu once intended to teach people how to be officials in his book "On the Self-cultivation of the Five-Step Snake". He was afraid that some people would get bored after reading his long speech, so he summarized it in four sentences.

Two of them are: Keep sympathy and concern for the group; keep vigilance and distance from the individual;

Your Majesty has also made a similar description, saying that the people have the power to change the world, but they never know how to release and use this power. The limitation of the peasant movement is that it is difficult for them to gradually correct their mistakes during the movement, but instead they go further and further in their mistakes.

Once scholars participate in the movement, the limitations will gradually be corrected in the movement, such as Zhu Yuanzhang got Li Shanchang and Liu Ji Liu Bowen.

The reason why this phenomenon occurs is very simple.

Generally speaking, most people do not judge the pros and cons of society or its system from the perspectives of system, structure, concept, spirit, or human nature, but rather from their daily lives, or from their stomachs rather than their brains.

Due to the huge gap in economic and social development between the Ming Dynasty and Japan, the Japanese saw the appearance of the Ming Dynasty and wanted to become like the Ming Dynasty. They did not learn to be three-tenths human, but seven-tenths of animality were deeply rooted. The most important thing in animality is admiration for the strong, and they will follow whoever is strong.

Due to the geographical reasons of Japan, such as its long and narrow territory, extremely small depth, and frequent natural disasters, the Japanese people have a natural yearning for vast territories with great depth and less frequent natural disasters.

This natural yearning is reflected in the reality of Japan, where the literati of Japan deliberately created a concept that there is no China after Yashan, which is the trend of "entering Tang and replacing it" from Oda Nobunaga to Hashiba Hideyoshi. They even called the Ming Dynasty the Tang Dynasty, believing that the Ming Dynasty was not the legitimate one, deceiving themselves and the people in order to create the legitimacy of entering Tang Dynasty.

The invasion of Korea took place, and when the Korean royal family was overthrown in a month, the ambitions of Japan from top to bottom began to expand. Two years later, it was completely driven out to the sea by the Ming army. The reason why it was so slow was because the Ming court was implementing the goal of eliminating the young and middle-aged people of Japan.

During the entire Korean War, more than 80,000 samurai and foot soldiers escaped, were captured, or died by Japanese pirates who entered Korea. Even several daimyo died on the Korean battlefield.

At this point, the story of entering the Tang Dynasty to replace Japan naturally could not continue. From the nervousness of invading, to the joy of winning by chance, to the confusion after the defeat, this huge gap eventually led to the current situation of Japan.

The division of opposition escalated to the point where Japan wanted to destroy Japan.

Gao Qiyu, the Minister of Honglu Temple of the Ming Dynasty, took a boat to the Osaka Bay Garrison, which was stationed in the heart of Japan. This place was called Sakai City, which was located at the junction of Settsu, Kawachi, and Izumi. Many merchants gathered here, and it gradually became the maritime gateway to Kyoto of Japan.

Because it is located at the junction of three countries, it has long been highly autonomous. Everyone wants to control it, but no one can do anything to others. Since Oda Nobunaga took over here, the highly autonomous environment ended, and the merchants of Sakai City began to move to Osaka to live and gradually declined.

Since the Osaka Bay Garrison Headquarters was established here, the port has become busy again, crowds of people have gathered again, and life has gradually returned to normal.

In the early morning, the port of Sakai City was shrouded in salty sea fog, and the dragon flag was fluttering on the mast of the fast sailing ship Yulong.

The Youlong was His Majesty's official ship. When the Celestial Empire's envoys went to visit vassal states, they would inevitably board this huge vessel. The sails, which covered the entire ship, were slowly lowered, and the barges towed it slowly into the harbor amid the sound of horns.

In theory, Wakoku was still one of the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, and Oda Nobunaga was the king of Wakoku appointed by the Ming Dynasty.

Gao Qiyu clutched his palm-sized pocket watch and looked at the time. It was just six o'clock in the morning. The warm current from the Pacific Ocean and the cold current from the north met in the Seto Inland Sea to form a thick sea fog, but the dock was already filled with laborers crawling like ants.

The smoke of war in Korea has not yet dissipated, and the port of Sakai has become a microcosm of the dramatic changes in Japan: the shogunate's Ataka ships are moored side by side with the huge Ming ships, forming a sharp contrast. The flash of samurai swords and the hot and cold interweaving of muskets are changing every corner and every aspect of Japan.

Gao Qiyu saw a group of Japanese women welcoming the angels. The hems of their kimonos were mixed with the Ming Dynasty's cross-collared skirts, which looked particularly twisted, just like the attitude of the shogunate.

On the one hand, Oda Nobunaga issued an order to hold out and resist to the end, and on the other hand, he celebrated and welcomed the arrival of the Ming angel.

The cheeks of these Japanese women were frozen red, but they still jumped with their hands raised, showing festive faces. In this weather, with such thin clothes, a cold wind might take their lives and no one would care.

Gao Qiyu stood at the bow and tightened his cloak. It was a New Year's gift from His Majesty during the New Year. Every official in the capital of the Ming Dynasty received one, and each had a different pattern. Gao Qiyu's cloak had a pattern of clouds and geese, flying in an orderly manner, with spring going and autumn coming, assisting the emperor in the order of the four seasons.

The Grand Herald stood at the bow, looking at the Japanese women shivering with cold but still wanting to welcome him, and suddenly remembered a question that the Confucian scholars in the capital had discussed: Will those who lag behind definitely get beaten?
This question was raised by Li Zhi during a gathering. Li Zhi said that it was Mr. Huang Zhongxing who asked the question. This caused a very widespread discussion. There were more than 8,000 articles in miscellaneous newspapers alone, discussing various aspects such as morality, politics, and military strength.

Traditional scholars always used moral narratives to try to prove that those who fell behind would not necessarily be beaten, but a group of scholars led by Li Zhi firmly argued that those who fell behind would definitely be beaten.

Gao Qiyu's mouth twitched, and he whispered, "Your Majesty said: The Age of Exploration has arrived, and a global trade network is being established. In future international relations, if you are not sitting at the table, you will appear on the menu. The reason why you are not on the menu is only because the diners at the table did not order this dish."

This menu theory first appeared in the tenth year of the Wanli reign, when Wan Shihe was discussing maritime trade. The original words were:
[The sea voyages began, and commercial networks gradually formed in all directions; the world was connected, and the nations competed with each other. If you are not a butcher, you are the fish. It is like planning a banquet. If the banquet is not held, the dishes will be prepared. A good night's sleep is not because the chef has not prepared enough, but because the guests have not needed it. In the current world situation, you either eat others or you are eaten. Only those who sit on the high seat can be the masters of the tripod.]
If the banquet is not included, then the tripod and the table are the offerings, which means that even if you don't sit at the table, you are the one being cooked in the pot.

Oda City immediately said loudly: "The Book of Changes says: One yin and one yang is the way. How can there be simple confrontation without cooperation? Mencius also said: To do small things with great wisdom, to do big things with small things with benevolence. The Han Dynasty offered five baits and three petitions to the Nanyue Kingdom, and the Nanyue Kingdom surrendered. The Laozi also said: The big country should be inferior to the small country, and then it will conquer the small country. The Ming Dynasty even established a tribute trade with the countries that were not conquered during the Hongwu period."

"This is not in line with the etiquette and laws of the Ming Dynasty and the laws of our ancestors! This is not the case. This is absolutely not the case."

Oda City was obviously very proficient in Confucianism. After arriving in the Ming Dynasty, she did not stop her progress. She quoted classics and combined historical examples to refute the dining table theory. What she said really made sense.

Gao Qiyu remained silent, quietly looking at the dock of Sakai Port. Facts always speak louder than words.

The docks of Sakai Port were filled with coolies. These coolies moved the cargo while shouting slogans, while the supervisors whipped those who were slow. The coolies remained silent after being whipped, but only quickened their pace.

In addition to the women arranged by the shogunate, there were also some Japanese compradors who came to welcome Daming. These compradors held the beautiful tea girls in their arms, and stood on tiptoe, hoping to see the details of Daming's ships. They also excitedly told the people around them, as if to say loudly that their choice was not wrong;
The authority of the shogunate was gradually collapsing and being dismantled by the commodities and banknotes of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty's round dragon flag pierced the sky above the garrison and flew high, its shadow just covering the slightly faded family crest flag of the Azuchi shogunate.

The plight of the samurai class was fully exposed in the hustle and bustle of the port dock. They no longer had any weapons, having probably pawned their ancestral wakizashi (short swords) and tachi (long swords) to merchants. The samurai uniforms they wore were already tattered and far less gorgeous than the merchants' clothing. The family crest embroidery and the bun on their hair were the last signs of their stubbornness.

"Those are members of the Paradise Cult. You don't know much about the Paradise Cult, right? After all, when you left, this evil wasn't rampant yet. The people of the Ming Dynasty didn't know what was happening in Japan, did you know that? You don't know either." Gao Qiyu looked at the most special group of people at the dock.

These Japanese were followers of the Pure Land faith. They waved with all their might a round dragon flag embroidered by themselves to welcome the arrival of the Ming Dynasty. The embroidery was very poor, and it was obviously imitated from the round dragon flag flown by the garrison commander. In such a cold weather, they exposed their feet. There were words tattooed on their ankles, which could not be seen clearly from a distance, but Gao Qiyu had heard it more than once. It was the word "Ming".

Except for those who were waving the flags, the rest of the believers knelt on the ground devoutly, prostrating themselves to welcome the arrival of the Ming angel.

"I... don't know anything about the Paradise Cult." Oda City was a little dazed, and she finally admitted that she had been away from Japan for too long, making Japan so familiar and yet so strange to her.

Gao Qiyu smiled and said, "In fact, the miscellaneous newspapers have reported many times on the various illegal activities of the Paradise Cult. The Ming Dynasty designated it as an evil spirit a year ago. Governor Shen Shixing expelled all the followers to Southeast Asia on the grounds that they were not pious enough."

"Look, you don't really care about Japan."

These words, seemingly ordinary, broke through Oda City's last psychological defense. She knew very well that she was no longer willing to be a Japanese again.

She had become accustomed to everything in the Ming Dynasty: the bustling markets that had everything, the dazzling array of books in the bookstores, the stable society where there was no need to worry, and so on.

Compared to Rigashi's frankness, Oda City seems a little pretentious. In fact, she has already accepted this change both physically and mentally, but she just refuses to admit it.

Gao Qiyu thought of Wan Shi and Wan Zongbo again. Wan Zongbo once discussed that people who have been away from their hometown for a long time will inevitably have localization problems.

Envoys like Legashi, Shah Mammut, and Oda City were influenced by the local culture and inevitably became locals. They thought about problems more like the locals.

"Even more cruel things are still happening. Nagasaki Governor Xu Wei told me that in Hiroshima and Osaka, one bird gun was equal to one Japanese woman, which was equal to a farmer's annual supply for ten years. One pound of gunpowder was equal to ten Japanese slaves. One box of opium was equal to three hundred prostitutes and five hundred Japanese slaves. One bottle of quinine could be exchanged for one thousand Japanese women." Gao Qiyu's mouth twitched.

The difference between Japanese women and prostitutes is that one is from a good family and the other is a prostitute.

Before his mission, he had tried his best to understand the changes in Japan. However, when he encountered such cruelty, it still had a huge impact on his deeply rooted traditional moral values. People were sold at a fixed price, and everyone was used to it.

Oda City was somewhat collapsed. She squatted on the deck, covering her face and crying. At first there were some sounds, but later there was no sound. As the Japanese people bowed in worship, the 33-meter-long Youlong stopped steadily at the berth. This giant sea beast brought great shock to the Japanese.

Not to mention the ignorant Japanese, His Majesty was also extremely shocked when he saw the Youlong for the first time when he participated in the naval review in Tianjin. Of course, as the Son of Heaven, showing joy on his face would make the ministers feel that he was unstable. His Majesty did not show that shock too much, and the dukes of the Ming Dynasty also widened their eyes in great shock.

Human beings have a natural worship of giants, and the Ming Dynasty had eighteen such fast sailing ships.

Oda City finally stopped crying, her eyes were red. She got off the boat and followed the samurai of the Oda family directly to Kyoto. Gao Qiyu became extremely busy. He rejected the idea of ​​the Paradise Cult to request a meeting. This was an evil spirit recognized by the Ming Dynasty and must not be contacted. However, these local compradors in Japan were too enthusiastic.

They flattered Gao Qiyu madly in their broken Chinese, which gave him goose bumps. The room where Gao Qiyu stayed was filled with all kinds of luxurious gifts such as beauties, gold, silver, jewels, etc.

"If the Grand Herald doesn't take it, how can future envoys take it, and how can our family take it?"

"If we don't take it, then Governor Xu and Envoy Sun can't take it either. No one can take it, not even the merchants from the Ming Dynasty." The governor's eunuch Huang Bin checked the gifts and divided them into three parts: large, medium and small. He saw that Gao Qiyu's sense of morality was at work and he didn't want to accept these bribes.

Gao Qiyu was not an inflexible person. He knew very well that these Japanese compradors were probably looking for a certification from the Ming Dynasty. If he really did not take it, it would be difficult for these compradors to lobby the daimyo behind them to let Oda Nobunaga agree to peace talks.

"The big share will go to the noble lady, I'll take the small share, and Governor Xu and Envoy Sun will take the middle share." Gao Qiyu proposed a new distribution plan.

Huang Bin smiled and said, "Well, the big share belongs to the Grand Herald, the middle share belongs to our family, we will take it back to the palace, and the small share will be given to Governor Xu. They don't need this little bit of filial piety on a daily basis, and giving it to them is just a gesture of respect."

"Your Majesty has taught us that the emperor does not want hungry soldiers. It is a shame to let soldiers charge into battle with empty stomachs unless the country is destroyed and the family is ruined." "The Grand Herald is thinking of your Majesty's kindness. Take what you deserve. Otherwise, who will do such a life-threatening business in the future? The risks of diplomatic missions are extremely high, including astronomical phenomena, plagues, injuries, and so on."

The literati of the Ming Dynasty were a pampered class of meat-eaters, and were the elected official class second only to hereditary officials.

There were waves three feet high even when there was no wind. Gao Qiyu had been on a diplomatic mission to the West once before, but he still vomited all the time and felt dizzy and couldn't sleep all day. If he encountered strong winds and waves again, an outbreak of plague on the ship, or harassment by foreigners, it would be dangerous.

Being an envoy is a life-threatening mission. If the envoys want to work sincerely in the future, the emperor will pretend not to see these benefits even if they really take them.

"Let's not take these Japanese women anymore. Bring them back to Ming Dynasty and send them to Prince Lu's Mansion. I'm mainly concerned about safety. We still have to take the danger next to our pillow into consideration." Gao Qiyu finally refused part of the bribe for the sake of safety.

The Japanese women here were all carefully selected from good families, and some were even the daughters of daimyo and daughters of Kyoto nobles. Sending them to Prince Lu was the safest choice. Prince Lu lived a very free and easy life, doing whatever he wanted, and was not bound by feudal etiquette at all. No court officials impeached or criticized him.

Because Prince Lu’s brother is the emperor.

The people behind these Japanese brokers and compradors are not simple people. At the very least, they are daimyo who rule a certain area.

The current situation in Japan is by no means the fault of Oda Nobunaga alone, but is the choice of the majority of people in Japan.

"The recent surge in rice prices is due to the Japanese compradors who placed heavy bets on Japan's victory in Korea and lost a lot of money. Then they raised the price of rice and made the Japanese bear the loss."

"The most unacceptable thing is that these compradors are still exporting rice in exchange for enough treasure notes to offset the losses when the rice supply in Japan is tight." Li Chengli rushed to Sakai Port and finally understood why the price of rice was so high.

This is also the fact that the coastal defense inspectors finally confirmed after collecting intelligence from various sources.

The compradors lost money and made all the people in Japan bear the burden together. When they made money, they would not give a single cent to the Japanese.

After the Korean War broke out, there was a gambling table in the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office. The banker was a merchant from Fujian. There were many items in the gambling table. Both Ming Dynasty merchants and Japanese merchants placed heavy bets on the final outcome of the Korean War, and some even bet on the other side to win.

Ever since the news of the Busan victory spread throughout the world, Japanese merchants have lost a lot of money.

During the transaction, there was even a fight between the merchants and their servants. If the soldiers from the Nagasaki Governor's Office had not been dispatched to suppress the fight, there would have been a major chaos.

Japan was short of food, and the compradors not only did not try every possible means to find food, but instead tried every possible means to sell the already scarce food in exchange for banknotes, and then used the banknotes to recover the losses from the poor laborers.

If this kind of comprador were to be placed in the Ming Dynasty, His Majesty the Emperor would definitely lead his troops to attack them personally and tell them that there is only one king in the Ming Dynasty, and that is His Majesty!

"Wait a minute, ah, no wonder these powerful and wealthy people have been petitioning for donations, but His Majesty has refused, and they have been urging him. It seems they are waiting here?!" Gao Qiyu suddenly realized that he had thought too highly of these powerful and wealthy people.

Li Cheng thought about it and shook his head, "It's not entirely for the sake of winning money, but mostly for revenge. There are many rich kids in the garrison. They came all the way to Japan, not to win anything, but for revenge."

"There are 330 of the 1,500 guardsmen, all of whom are from wealthy families, such as local gentry, powerful officials and wealthy people."

Li Chengli thought Gao Qiyu was too arbitrary. His statement did not conform to the basic idea of ​​the contradiction theory and simplified the matter. Winning money is winning money, revenge is revenge. Three hundred and thirty powerful disciples, this ratio is really very high. These people have plenty of ways out. They joined the army just to come to Japan to harm the Japanese.

It would be great if you could win money while taking revenge.

"What you said makes sense." Gao Qiyu frowned slightly, then relaxed his brows and agreed with Li Chengli's statement.

Huang Bin took out chess pieces one by one, laid them out one by one and said, "We have discovered that the poor coolies in Japan do not want to fight. If they continue to fight, the price of rice will rise three times a day. The foot soldiers and samurai in Japan do not want to fight. Now they all know that the firearms of the Ming Dynasty are extremely powerful. Without armor, they will die. "

"The merchants in Japan don't really want to fight. If the war breaks up the trade routes, they will have to hoard goods at a high price. How can they make money faster than if the goods are circulated quickly? If the goods are not circulated, there is no way to make money. The daimyo in Japan don't really want to fight either. Anyway, the gold, silver, copper and iron mines will eventually be sent to the Nagasaki Governor's Office to exchange for Ming treasure notes."

"So, the main obstacle to peace talks is still Oda Nobunaga's wishful thinking."

The daimyo seemed to agree with Oda Nobunaga's order to defend, but they sent various compradors to welcome the envoys of the Ming Dynasty, which looked a bit strange. These daimyo did not really agree with the order to defend and resist to the end, but they were afraid of Oda Nobunaga's authority and had no choice but to agree.

Most of the time, it’s what people do rather than what they say. It’s normal for people to say things they don’t mean.

The daimyos suffered huge losses on the Korean battlefield and they no longer wanted to fight.

Gao Qiyu took a deep breath and said, "I will try to persuade Oda City and let Oda City lobby Oda Nobunaga. If Oda City refuses, then we will fight him until he surrenders."

"Great Honglu, it doesn't matter if Oda Nobunaga disagrees. We can contact other daimyo and send troops to garrison his mines. As for whether Oda Nobunaga agrees or not, it's his business. It's OK as long as the daimyo and we reach a consensus, isn't it?" Huang Bin leaned to one side and said with a smile, "Things can be adjusted."

"Wakoku is not our Ming Dynasty. In Wakoku, there are many daimyo who rule over the country. We don't listen to Oda Nobunaga in everything."

Huang Bin had been advising Gao Qiyu to accept the gifts from the merchants from the very beginning. His purpose was actually this: talk to Oda Nobunaga first. If he disagreed, he would talk directly to the daimyos. Whoever agreed would naturally not be attacked by the Ming army and navy. If he was shameless, the Ming firearms would not be at a disadvantage.

Divide and conquer each one.

Gao Qiyu is becoming more and more like Your Majesty, and there are many other ways to do this, so he hurriedly rushed to overturn the table. Some of them could also achieve the result that the Ming Dynasty wanted by taking a detour.

"That makes sense!" Gao Qiyu and Li Chengli's eyes lit up. They obviously thought like people from the Ming Dynasty. All diplomatic affairs had to be decided by His Majesty, but the framework of Japan was fundamentally different from that of the Ming Dynasty.

Gao Qiyu and Li Chengli were also dominated by the collective consciousness of the Ming Dynasty. When thinking about problems, they did not fully consider the previous situations.

Amid the chaos in Japan, a new power network is quietly taking shape.

The Fujian merchants were bold and ruthless, and their main business was selling Japanese slaves and Japanese women. The Zhejiang merchants were more calculating, and they used their abacus to plan to use compound interest to drain every Japanese person, and then sell them to the Fujian merchants. The Ningbo merchants set up a gold bank in Japan, helping the Japanese to store gold and silver, and issuing gold and silver notes to exchange at the Nagasaki Governor's Office.
The Japanese daimyos used merchants to manipulate prices to make huge profits, and the followers of the Paradise Church were quickly giving up everything they could, hoping to reach the other side of the Ming Dynasty. The prostitutes in the corridors secretly deposited the silver, gold, and banknotes paid by the guests in the Ningbo Gang's gold bank, and regarded the saved silver bills as their only hope of escaping from the corridors.

This is actually a heart-wrenching transformation, and it is the last remnant of the shogunate. If Japan can survive the sudden change, it may be able to usher in a new life and the first ray of dawn in a new era.

Oda Ichi rushed to Kyoto and lived in Honnoji Temple, which had been renovated and there was no longer any trace of the raging fire that had caused the Honnoji Incident.

She walked in Honnoji Temple, feeling a little lost. If she had not left Japan and Oda Nobunaga was burned to death here, what would have happened to her? She might have married a daimyo who was loyal to her brother in order to protect herself, and then died in the war when other daimyo attacked her.

As the sister of Oda Nobunaga, this was probably the most dignified way to die.

"The general is looking for you." Mori Ranmaru found Oda Shi who was in a daze by the well in the temple, and invited Oda Shi to come in and talk.

Oda Nobunaga still liked to live in Honnoji Temple. Of course, he now had a lot of troops under his command and would no longer be forced into a desperate situation by rebels like Akechi Mitsuhide.

"Are you here on behalf of yourself or the Ming Dynasty?" Oda Nobunaga asked coldly as he looked at his sister who saluted him.

Oda City closed his eyes for a moment before speaking: "Let me speak for myself. The Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire and has no intention of making things difficult for a woman like me. They sent me here this time probably to find someone who is familiar with my brother."

"I tried my best, but after the Battle of Incheon and Seoul, Ming stopped communicating, and I couldn't meet with officials from the Ministry of Rites."

"No, actually you are here on behalf of the Ming Dynasty." Oda Nobunaga suddenly laughed and said, "Sit down, don't be shy, the Ming Emperor sent you back, it doesn't matter what you say, as long as I see you, I will understand what the Emperor means."

"You haven't aged, which proves that you are living well in Ming Dynasty. Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire after all. It keeps its word and has the tolerance of a great country."

"Are you using me to threaten your brother to make an unwise decision?" Oda City asked anxiously.

Oda Nobunaga shook his head and said, "No, an individual cannot influence the competition between the kingdoms, and you are not such an important individual. Even if I do not agree to hand over the mining rights, the emperor will not do anything to you. At most, he will send you back."

"Brother, are you going to agree to peace talks?" Oda City asked absentmindedly.

"I don't know." Oda Nobunaga shook his head and said, "I originally thought that the Ming Dynasty's letter was just talk. Since they had already taken Tsushima Island, why wouldn't they attack? That's why I issued an order to defend, but the Ming Dynasty suddenly sent an envoy to negotiate."

"It disrupted all the arrangements."

Oda Nobunaga thought that the Ming Emperor's manifesto was just talk. Emperor Chengzu Wen even said that he wanted to purge the court of evil rulers, but Emperor Jianwen disappeared without a trace for unknown reasons.

The emperor's dispatch of the envoy put Oda Nobunaga in a difficult position. He was in a dilemma whether to agree or not.

(End of this chapter)