Jiajing Chengming

“Because they won’t let us unify!”

Oda Nobuhide replied helplessly.

"The despicable and overbearing Ming State is too bullying!"

Oda Nobunaga gritted his teeth and asked: "Father, will our Yamato nation be completely destroyed because of this?"

“Maybe!”

"why?"

"Because once all of us Yamato nobles who are determined to fight against the Ming Dynasty are exhausted to death in this bitter cold land, the only people left in the entire Yamato land will be the nobles who are willing to obey the Ming Dynasty and be sinicized and the ignorant untouchables!"

"Father is right. I am also worried that this will happen. My only hope now is that Ming will stop expanding."

“I hope they’ll stop expanding.”

"This is a nation that places more importance on guarding against its own people most of the time, and expansionism is only rare."

"So, we must strive to live to see that day, the day when the Ming Empire stops expanding."

Oda Nobuhide touched Oda Nobunaga's head with a miserable smile on his face.

Oda Nobunaga nodded stupidly.

Sakhalin Island has astonishing coal reserves, with over 10 billion tons in open-pit coal mines alone.

But it is indeed extremely cold here, especially during this era when the Little Ice Age was raging.

Hundreds of Oda Nobuhide and his entourage had died before they had the chance to start mining after being taken to Sakhalin Island.

However, in order to reduce the number of free laborers, the Ming Dynasty court provided these people with free winter clothes.

However, the severe cold weather would still make it easy for the relatively weak Japanese to die from complications caused by diseases such as colds.

The reason why they are relatively weak is that most of the exiled Japanese were from the upper class of Japan, and their supply of meat, eggs and milk was relatively sufficient. In addition, Japan was in the Warring States Period when there was a great chaos within the country. Therefore, the Japanese who survived, even the upper class, were not so weak.

Because of this, many Japanese were exiled to Sakhalin Island.

Oda Nobunaga listened to Oda Nobuhide's words. He did not complain about being exiled here, nor did he rebel because the Ming army who supervised them were very harsh on them. Instead, he was very respectful and conscientious in completing the mining tasks assigned to him by the Ming army.

But Oda Nobunaga's resentment grew deeper and deeper.

The hard work of mining, as well as the fact that more and more of his companions were beaten to death or died of exhaustion due to their lack of enthusiasm in mining, sometimes made him want to burst into tears.

Whether at home or abroad, the old aristocrats and gentry suffered greatly because of Emperor Zhu Houcong's hard work and dedication to governing the country.

Needless to say, people in China have basically been disciplined and have to be careful with what they say and do.

Some even dared not drink alcohol, for fear that one day they would forget their tempers and say what was really on their mind, which would then be known to Zhu Houcong.

As for foreign countries, anyone who still wants to dominate and start a war will be severely punished.

Mo Dengyong failed to usurp power and establish himself as emperor.

Before Oda Nobunaga of Japan had the chance to "go to Kyoto", he became a criminal mining coal for the Ming Dynasty on Sakhalin Island.

When Zhu Houcong went out of the city to offer sacrifices to the heaven, he felt very happy when he saw the cartloads of coal shipped in from outside the Great Wall and the boatloads of cotton cloth shipped from the south.

Because these coals were mined by the Japanese nobles in Owari.

Cotton cloth is woven from cotton picked by the Annamites.

Add to that new and efficient means of transportation, such as the horse-drawn train, and new and efficient textile machines, such as the flying shuttle.

So, the prices of these coals and cotton cloths are very low.

The number of common people who could afford to wear cotton and use coal increased dramatically.

In the early years of the Jiajing reign, a large number of refugees who fled to the capital would freeze to death every winter.

There is no way. The entire north is too cold under the influence of the Little Ice Age.

The price of coal, also known as charcoal by the people, has not decreased. For the people who don't even have a complete pair of pants, cotton-padded clothes are naturally a luxury to keep warm. They might as well hope to find more straw to wrap themselves in.

Therefore, many people froze to death in the early Jiajing period.

But now, according to the report from Shuntian Prefecture, as of the 25th year of Jiajing, there had been no people frozen to death among the newly fled refugees from the capital for many years.

Because coal and cotton cloth became easier to obtain than food.

The Japanese daimyo were forced to cease fire due to the Ming Dynasty's determination to maintain peace and the dignity of etiquette.

Takeda Shingen had to give up conquering the Takato clan and chose to come to the Ming Dynasty with Uesugi Kenshin and Shimazu Takahisa.

They very much hoped that the Ming Dynasty would give them hereditary official positions and guarantee their safety.

After all, the Ming Dynasty's determination to maintain peace and the dignity of etiquette forced them to give up their ambitions for hegemony and choose to be content with being a small country.

But they were afraid that if they stopped striving for progress, they would lose their authority and their retainers would rebel against them.

Because during the Warring States Period in Japan, it was very common for the inferior to defeat the superior.

Once the head of the family cannot bring sufficient profit growth to his retainers, he will be replaced by a powerful retainer, or even destroyed, and the powerful retainer will become the new head of the family.

Previously, the head of the Ouchi clan, Sue Harukata, was dissatisfied with the head of the clan, Ouchi Yoshitaka, who was no longer proactive and aggressive, and launched a rebellion.

However, after the incident, Zhu Houcong sent troops to suppress Tao Qingxian and had him executed by slow slicing. This practical action showed that he, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, would not allow Japan's behavior of "overthrowing the superior" to escalate.

Zhu Houcong's reason for opposing this was naturally: "The behavior of the inferior overthrowing the superior is against the dignity of etiquette and morality, and is a great rebellion. As the ruler of the world, I must punish the disobedient!"

Because of this, daimyos such as Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, and Shimazu Takahisa still believed that the Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao would agree to their requests.

But when daimyo such as Takeda Shingen arrived in Dinghai, which is Ningbo in later generations, they behaved very humbly, without any arrogance as in the Japanese tribute incident in the second year of Jiajing in history. Even when they saw that the entire Dinghai County, both the gentry and the common people were very happy, they couldn't help but feel that it would be great if they, the Japanese, could live in such comfort and peace.

"You want a hereditary title, I can give it to you, but you need to sign some treaties to show me your actual actions of loyalty to the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Houcong knew that unifying Japan would require a long process, which might take several generations of emperors to complete. In his lifetime, the most important thing was to keep Japan divided but not in a war-torn state.

Because history has proven that once Japan was unified during the Warring States Period, it would have invaded the Ming Dynasty. Even if it had not been unified, the years of war in Japan would have made it difficult for the Ming Dynasty's maritime borders to be peaceful, because there would always be failed Japanese ronin who would become pirates.

Furthermore, the continuous wars in Japan had caused many Japanese businesses to go bankrupt, which provided the Westerners around the Ming Dynasty with enough cheap labor to hire as their own thugs. Historically, the Portuguese who occupied Macau hired many Japanese to resist the attacks of the Dutch, and the Dutch also hired many Japanese to resist the attacks of the Zheng family.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong needed a peaceful Japan.

What's more, the self-sufficient natural economic power of the Ming Dynasty is still very strong. The nascent industry and handicrafts with improved productivity still need a large-scale export economy to support them.

Only a war-free Japan can become a better market for Ming Dynasty's commodity dumping, and only then can Japan have the energy to mine and farm, and then exchange its own labor and food for Ming Dynasty's commercial goods.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong agreed to the requests of Takeda Shingen and other daimyo for hereditary titles, but only asked them to sign some treaties that prioritized the interests of the Ming Dynasty.

Takeda Shingen and others were quite happy because, as they had expected, Emperor Zhu Houzhao was willing to grant them hereditary titles for the sake of peace in their country of Japan.

This even caused them to develop a sense of guilt deep in their hearts.

Because they discovered that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty actually cared more about the lives of their people than they did.

When Takeda Shingen and others saw the content of the treaty provided by the Ming court, they did not find it difficult to accept, and they became more convinced that the Ming court seemed to just want to do business with them peacefully and did not want them to start a war.

Even though some conditions were unfair to Japan and even had the intention of undermining Japan's interests, they were not excessive for people like Takeda Shingen, who always admired the strong.

The content of the treaty that Zhu Houcong asked Takeda Shingen to sign only involved the opening of trading ports, most-favored-nation treatment, and extraterritoriality. Even if there were territorial demands, they were all island ports that were not in their core areas. It seemed that there was no intention to destroy Japan.

Takeda Shingen and others signed the treaty readily and returned to Japan with their respective chieftains such as envoys and governors.

After Takeda Shingen and other daimyo, other Japanese daimyo came to the Ming Dynasty to meet Zhu Houcong, and they all received hereditary titles because they signed the treaties readily.

All of a sudden, many Japanese daimyos were granted hereditary titles.

After returning to their country, these Japanese daimyos did not launch wars for hegemony again, but instead began to actively develop domestic production or indulge in decadence.

As a result, many Japanese were no longer involved in the war, and were able to begin reclaiming abandoned land and focus their energy on production.

As a result, Japan's demand for Ming Dynasty goods began to increase dramatically.

As a result, the mineral output of Iwami Silver Mine and Sado Gold Mine increased dramatically.

Of course, many samurai and foot soldiers who were used to getting rich through plundering in wars were not used to creating wealth through labor.

Therefore, many samurai and ashigaru would still rebel and force their lords to continue the attack.

However, these samurai and foot soldiers were often severely punished by the Ming Dynasty.

Many ambitious people were taken back to the Ming Dynasty and tortured to death.

This also means that those forces that want to cause chaos in Japan again cannot cause any big waves.

However, the rebellion of Nagao Masakage, a minister of Echigo province, still prompted Zhu Houcong to issue an imperial decree, which was that in order to prevent the continuous occurrence of Wa rebellion in Wa, the Wa daimyo were not allowed to make armor, and all existing armor had to be handed over, and their domestic security would be the responsibility of the Ming Empire.

Nagao Masakage also learned of this imperial decree while being escorted to the capital, and became even more furious. He shouted at the execution ground:

"I am the true ruler of the world, the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom is not the Emperor, but a thief who has usurped the throne of the Emperor. You have no right to manage the affairs of the Yamato Kingdom!"

No matter how much Nagao Masakage shouted, it was of no use, and he was eventually skinned alive in the market.

But what he said is also true.

As an island nation, the ruling class of Japan has always regarded itself as the center of the world in its national consciousness, so they have their own emperor.

Zhu Houcong naturally could not admit it, and he also believed that other people's claiming to be emperor was a serious violation of the dignity of etiquette and was an act of treason.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong sent an additional army led by Yu Dayou and Tang Kekuan to conquer Kyoto in Japan, and eventually captured the royal family and ministers alive. He then learned from Huang Chao and trampled all the ministers in Kyoto.

Even the Ashikaga clan, who had been crowned as a king by the Ming Dynasty, was executed along with their entire clan and deposed for being two-faced and submitting to the traitors behind the country's back.

Of course, many daimyos who were descended from the Japanese royal family and nobles also launched rebellions and even united to attack the Ming Dynasty.

But because the Ming Dynasty was too powerful, its weapons and equipment were too advanced, and they were not unified, they were basically suppressed, either killed or exiled to the far north of Nurgandusi to mine.

Many Japanese warriors who were dissatisfied with the Ming Dynasty's denial of the dignity of the Japanese royal family and nobles, and even its physical elimination, chose to flee.

Because they felt that the Ming Dynasty had actually destroyed their country, and the Japanese still living in Japan were slaves of a conquered country and people who betrayed their own Yamato.

Some Japanese warriors even fled to Luzon Island.

But at this time, Luzon Island was also being civilized by the Ming Dynasty.

Because the Ming army mobilized a large number of soldiers from Guangdong and Guangxi and came to Luzon, they drove out and suppressed the Western barbarians who had rashly entered Luzon Island and the natives who helped the Western barbarians oppress the Han people.

Zhu Houcong also followed the example of the Yongle Dynasty, abolished the name of Luzon, re-established the Governor-General of Luzon, and appointed Zhu Wan, the first minister who was ordered to go to Luzon, as the Governor-General of Luzon.

After Zhu Wan took office as Governor-General of Luzon, he mainly did three things.

One is to establish new laws and regulations so that a new order can emerge in Luzon, especially a new trade order.

Another thing is to recruit workers to go to various places in Luzon to mine and cut down trees, bringing more raw materials to the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time bringing more cheap goods to Luzon itself, making Luzon more prosperous.

Zhu Houcong was already planning to make an industrial division of labor between the Ming Empire's homeland and overseas spheres of influence.

For this reason, Zhu Houcong specially summoned Yan Song and Xu Jie to the imperial study and said: "I am thinking that since the etiquette and law require the distinction between heaven, earth, emperor, parents and teachers, the order of respect and inferiority, then the country of the father and son and the land of the ministers should also be distinguished in terms of nobility and inferiority."

When Zhu Houcong said this, Yan Song and Xu Jie were stunned.

They understand that there are differences in high and low-class properties.

Farming is definitely more noble than singing for money.

For example, the brothel industry is definitely lower than the teahouse industry.

But when Zhu Houcong linked this with the current country of father, son and ministers, they became a little confused.

Even Yan Song had to ask, "Your Majesty, please explain clearly."

"I'm thinking of moving some lowly and unsuitable local industries out, and only letting people from Luzon, Japan, and Jiaozhi do them!"

"For example, prostitution and gambling. In addition, there are parts of an industry that do not require high skills. For example, in weaving, weaving and spinning can be given to others. Our people will only be responsible for making looms and spinning machines. In the future, we will only develop looms and spinning machines locally, and leave the manufacturing part to them as well."

"After the land tax system was implemented and officials and gentry were required to pay taxes, the landless people were no longer burdened with taxes, and the gentry could no longer live on tribute. If some low-quality or low-value industries were transferred to vassal states at this time, and the money earned from them was used to promote local education and encourage local scholars and people to study and develop new skills, then it would be a case of everyone having their own specialties, and the world would definitely be more orderly."

Zhu Houcong said this and looked at the two of them: "What do you two elders think?" (End of this chapter)