The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 234 The King of Japan is Sick
On November 27, the 43rd year of the Xianning reign of the Ming Dynasty, a very rare heavy snowfall occurred in the Edo region of Japan.

The Japanese King Tokugawa Ieharu of the Ming Dynasty was infected with a cold again. The servants around Tokugawa Ieharu immediately went to ask for the miracle doctor from the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, according to the original history, Tokugawa Ieharu died three years ago.

But in this world, Zhu Jianxuan opened the door to Japan in order to attack Africa and began to recruit vassal troops from Japan.

The Ming court re-enthroned Tokugawa's shogun as the King of Japan.

Tokugawa Ieharu began to fall ill at the same time in history, and the elder Nakatanuma Okitsugu, whom Tokugawa Ieharu trusted, sent people to seek medical treatment everywhere.

In order to maintain the stability of the situation in Japan, Zhu Jianxuan and the Ming Dynasty arranged for doctors to treat Tokugawa's illness, using allicin and Ming Dynasty medicines to treat him.

Therefore, Tokugawa Ieharu did not die as quickly as in history, but lived for more than three more years.

But now Tokugawa Ieharu, who is in his fifties, is in poor health and has been ill on and off for more than three years.

Doctors from the Ming Dynasty had no way to leave Edo and usually lived in the yamen of the Ming Dynasty's Edo Recruiting Envoy.

Whenever Tokugawa Ieharu fell ill, he would immediately arrange for his servants to go and fetch him.

Qu Xian, a senior military doctor specially assigned to Edo by the Wu State, was drinking and chatting around a stove with several off-duty junior officers in the officers' quarters arranged by the Recruiting Envoy's Office.

The guard of the Recruiting Envoy's Office pushed the door open and reported:

"Is Mr. Qu here? The King of Japan is ill again. Please go and see him."

Qu Xian also sighed, stood up and put on his fur coat, then bowed to the other officers:

"Excuse me, Qu."

Doctors are always very popular, and several junior officers around them also stood up to see them off:

"Take care, Mr. Qu. We'll talk again when we get back..."

After Qu Xian left, several junior officers started discussing:
“How many times has this happened this year?”

"Who remembers this? It's happened several times anyway."

"How old is the king? Can he survive this winter?"

"I heard he's only in his fifties, but his health isn't very good. I don't think it's safe..."

"I heard that the king has no son yet."

"There were children, but none of them survived to adulthood."

"Now there is only one adopted son in the family, and he has grown up."

Qu Xian himself also doubted whether Tokugawa Ieharu could survive this winter.

Qu Xian braved the cold wind, stepped on the squeaking snow, walked out of the gate, and got on the Tokugawa family's carriage.

When the carriage slowly arrived at Edo Castle, Tokugawa Ieharu's most trusted elder, Nakatanuma Okitsugu, was already guarding there.

Tanuma Okitsugu followed Qu Xian into the place where Tokugawa Ieharu lived to check on Tokugawa Ieharu's condition.

Tokugawa Ieharu was lying on the bed with his back facing up, covered with a thick quilt. His consciousness was a little fuzzy, but he was not unconscious.

Seeing a familiar doctor coming in, I greeted him:

"Mr. Qu... hehe..."

Qu Xian took out the allicin extracted in the morning and gave it to Tokugawa Ieharu to drink first, and then took his temperature and pulse.

Feeling that Tokugawa Ieharu had a slight fever, he was given another dose of salicylic acid.

After taking the medicine, Qu Xian asked Tokugawa Ieharu to continue resting, and he and Tanuma Okitsugu left the room.

After going out, I found that people from the three major families such as Matsudaira Sadanobu had also arrived.

Before Tanuma Okitsugu could speak, Matsudaira Sadanobu came up to him excitedly and asked:
"How's the general doing?"

When Qu Xian heard this name, he couldn't help but frown:
"What general?"

Qu Xian knew that the general they were talking about was Tokugawa Ieharu, but as an official of the Ming Dynasty, he could not recognize this title.

Tokugawa Ieharu is the King of Japan and cannot have any other identity that is not recognized by the Ming Dynasty:

Matsudaira Sadanobu immediately changed his words:

"May I ask, Mr. Qu, how is our king's condition?"

Qu Xian was satisfied, then he glanced at Tanuma Oji and said without comment:

"Your king just has a cold and a fever. This disease was difficult to diagnose before, especially for the elderly, but it is nothing now.

"I have used the elixir given by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Your King should be well again soon. You just need to serve him well."

This was obviously good news, but after hearing it, Matsudaira Sadanobu's reaction did not show much joy, and he even seemed to be a little disappointed.

But in the end, he still managed to smile deliberately:

"I'm glad I'm fine, I'm glad I'm fine, thank you very much, the great doctor of Ming Dynasty for your treatment..."

Qu Xian waited in the Edo Imperial Garden for an hour, then took Tokugawa Ieharu's temperature and found that his fever had begun to subside. Tokugawa Ieharu was also more awake:

"Thank you, Mr. Qu. I feel much better now."

Qu Xian smiled and comforted him:
"My king, have a good rest. It's cold now, so try not to go out. It will be fine after winter."

Tokugawa Ieharu thanks again:

"Thank you for your reminder, Mr. Xie. I am really old..."

Qu Xian took his leave and left the room, saying goodbye to Tanuma Okitsugu, Matsudaira Sadanobu and others.

Matsudaira Sadanobu just bowed slightly and said, "Goodbye."

However, Tanuma Okitsugu politely escorted Qu Xian out the door.

Arriving at the door, Qu Xian looked around, lowered his head and whispered in Tanuma Oji's ear:
"Be prepared..."

Tanuma Okitsugu was originally quite happy, but upon hearing this meaningless reminder, the smile on his face froze:

"Sir, what do you mean by that?"

Qu Xian looked around again and explained in a low voice:
"Have you ever used an oil lamp, Mr. Tanuma? If the oil is not exhausted, even if the flame is weak, it can be adjusted and repaired.

"But if the oil in the lamp is gone, even if the candle is still burning, it may go out at any time..."

Tanuma Okitsugu understood everything and his heart sank completely.

When the cold wind blew outside, Tanuma Okiji also started coughing and making a noise.

When Qu Xian saw this scene, he immediately began to worry.

Qu Xian is not just a doctor. As someone who has close contact with the Japanese king and is always aware of the Japanese king's health status, he is also an extra-staff intelligence officer.

Whenever there was any major change in Japan, Qu Xian would report it directly to the envoy who would then send it to the Ming mainland.

Qu Xian realized once again that the man in front of him, Tanuma Okitsugu, was already 71 years old.

Although he still looks strong and can move around freely, he is already at an age where he could die at any time.

Although Qu Xian did not know the history of Japan, he knew that the death of the monarch would inevitably lead to changes in the political landscape.

Tanuma Okitsugu was highly regarded by Tokugawa Ieharu and carried out commercial reforms in Japan, which made him many political enemies, so much so that his eldest son was inexplicably killed.

In the past three years, he has gone a step further and supported the complete opening of industry and commerce to the Ming Dynasty. I don't know how many people wish he would die immediately.

By the time Tokugawa Ieharu died, Tanuma Okitsugu would almost certainly be purged by his political enemies.

If the two died one after another, would the newly appointed generals and ministers change their relationship with the Ming Dynasty?
Japan must have ministers who are against the Ming Dynasty and hope to change the current situation.

They will definitely take advantage of this opportunity to do something.

The Ming Dynasty must make preparations as soon as possible and arrange a new generation of agents in advance to suppress the Japanese ministers who resist the Ming Dynasty and are disgusted with Tanuma's policies.

Qu Xian sighed in his heart and took out two small bottles of medicine from his medicine box:
"Mr. Tanuma is the pillar of Japan, so please take care of your health.

"If you have a cold or fever when you go back, take these two bottles of medicine.

"If it's not healed in two hours, you can send someone to call me."

Tanuma Okiji subconsciously took the medicine bottle and nodded in thanks without comment:

"Thank you sir, I will pay attention to it."

After Qu Xian said goodbye to Tanuma Okitsugu and returned to the yamen of the Recruiting Envoy, he had no time to drink.

He immediately wrote down his judgment, then went to meet the envoy in person to explain his findings during the treatment and hand in the report.

"I feel that Tokugawa Ieharu is running out of steam and will have a hard time surviving the winter.

“Although Tanuma Okitsugu is still in good health, he will most likely lose power once Tokugawa Ieharu dies.

"The situation in Japan is bound to change, and Your Highness should be reminded to prepare in advance."

The envoy felt that this piece of news was worth reporting separately, so he arranged for a steamship to send it back to the Ming Dynasty.

Eight days later, on December 6, the 43rd year of Xianning, Zhu Jianxuan had just finished a meeting on water conservancy project planning when he received news from Japan.

After reading it, Zhu Jianxuan sighed in his heart:

"It seems that Tokugawa Ieharu is really in trouble.

"Even with antibiotics to kill bacteria and disinfect, and salicylic acid to relieve pain and reduce fever, it can only delay the time of death slightly.

"I have to worry about the situation in Japan again..."

The Japanese Archipelago is the Great Wall of the Shenzhou Continent on the sea and a forward base leading to the ocean and North America. It must be controlled as much as possible.

Zhu Jianxuan thought about it for a while and arranged for someone to summon Tian Yiming to Beijing.

(End of this chapter)