Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 457 Honorary Ming Dynasty Person

"The Japanese... can't we just take them all?"

As soon as Li Ming began to mutter, he was immediately met with vehement objections from the two prime ministers.

"No, no, Your Majesty, you seem to be going a bit too far."

"I know, I know, I'm just thinking about it..." Li Ming said, scratching his head apologetically as he pondered.

"Besides, you really can't kill them all, right? It's like a locust plague. You can crush a whole bunch with one step, but killing them all is basically impossible, hahaha~"

"Hehehe..." The two old ministers chuckled in agreement, wondering why Emperor Li Ming, who had always been tolerant of foreign races, was so resentful of the Japanese who had been exterminated.

Although it was half-joking, how to deal with the remaining Japanese on the island is indeed a rather thorny issue.

Killing them all seems a bit extreme and not feasible.

Staying on the Japanese islands is not an option either.

Because if those "five poisons" are thrown into the isolated poisonous insect jar on the Japanese island, sooner or later they will be used to create the most poisonous Gu worms.

So, this problem, after going around in circles, returns to the classic issue of governing barbarian tribes.

The Central Plains dynasties might be able to temporarily defeat the barbarians, but they could hardly stop the barbarians from harassing them repeatedly.

Because compared to the barbarians in the wilderness, the problem lies with the land itself.

Due to factors such as productivity and natural environment, even if pure-blooded Chinese people were to immigrate there, they would quickly become barbaric within a generation.

The saying goes, "Han people speak the language of barbarians, yet they curse the Han people from the city walls."

"So, if we prevent people from living in that place, we can prevent disasters from happening there."

Li Ming slapped his forehead and said.

"Since the Japanese cannot stay on the Japanese islands, we cannot throw them all into the sea."

"Then let's relocate them all to the mainland."

What? Let all those Japanese into the Ming Dynasty?
This is really...

That makes perfect sense.

Neither Fang Xuanling nor Changsun Wuji had any objections.

Because migrating people was a traditional skill of the Central Plains dynasties.

Just a few years ago, Emperor Li Ming's father, Emperor Li Shimin, had just relocated the remnants of the Turkic tribes to farm south of the Yellow River.

Our Great Ming Chamber of Commerce President, Zhishibuzhen, once belonged to this branch of the Turks.

"Yes, Your Majesty is wise." Changsun Wuji stroked his chin, offering his usual compliments.

"Where does Your Majesty intend to place them?"
"I have an idea: we can relocate the Japanese to the southwest."

“The constant harassment from the southern barbarians is truly detestable, and it’s too hot there, so there aren’t many Han Chinese.”

"It's a good opportunity to send the Japanese over to strengthen the border."

Fang Xuanling stroked his beard and added:
"The Western Regions and the northern deserts are also a good place for exile."

"The remnants of the Neo-Turkic tribes were influenced by the 'new' Eternal Heaven religion, and the tribes gradually decayed, which conveniently created vacant positions."

"We can allow Japanese people to immigrate there, settle down, and defend the border."

In the sweltering heat of southern Xinjiang and the freezing cold of northern Xinjiang, the two prime ministers certainly didn't treat the Japanese as human beings.

However, after listening to their opinions, Li Ming had his own plans.

"We can get some from the Western Regions, and we can also get some from the Southern Frontier..."

"Then we can get some from the Central Plains, Guanzhong, Liaodong, and Jiangnan."

Li Ming drew a picture on the map, and then added a stroke with his brush.

"No need for all that trouble, let's draw lots."

“Each state receives a share, so the benefits are evenly distributed. Where the Japanese are exiled depends entirely on luck.”

Oh?
Changsun Wuji was puzzled by this arrangement:
"Your Majesty, the Western Regions and the Southern Frontier are harsh and wild lands that few people of the Ming Dynasty are willing to set foot in."

"Wouldn't it be perfect to let the Japanese go there to populate the area and strengthen the border defenses?"

Use it to the extreme as long as it doesn't kill you.

It would be such a waste not to use such high-quality filler characters to fill the frontier lines of the Japanese.

Fang Xuanling, however, did not rush to agree. Instead, he stroked his beard in thought, as if he had thought of something. He glanced at Emperor Li Ming and slowly said:
"Perhaps His Majesty does not trust the Japanese?"

Li Ming's lips curled into a smile:
"No one understands me better than my father, the prime minister."

"To concentrate the Japanese in one place, especially in a remote and difficult-to-control border region."

"Wouldn't that be equivalent to giving them a piece of land, far from the emperor's reach, and letting them become independent?"

Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji understood.

"So, we scattered them across the country, preventing them from connecting with each other and uniting against us."

Li Ming said slowly.

"In the end, when their bloodline is completely integrated into Chinese culture, there will be no more Japanese people in this world."

"And this is the way to completely eliminate the Japanese people."

It wasn't just the Japanese.

Li Ming also used the method of "integration" to make other ethnic groups completely lose their independent national identity and gradually become part of the Chinese nation.

Turks, Xianbei, Fuyu, Mohe... every ethnic group is equal and deserves the same treatment as the Han people.

If everyone becomes Han Chinese, wouldn't there be no more discrimination and division?
After all, His Majesty the Divine Emperor is not some sentimental saint; he has always been highly vigilant towards foreign races.

They may not have the intention of equality for all, but they certainly do have the intention, and a great deal of it, to carry out slow genocide under the guise of equality for all.

The Japanese are certainly annoying.

However, after beheading the rampaging emperor and his high-ranking officials.

Its common people remained docile and exemplary subjects, and could be easily incorporated into the rule.

This conformist agricultural people may even be more obedient than nomadic peoples like the Turks.

The premise is to transport them out of the Japanese island where they are raised and disperse them to various parts of the mainland, so that they cannot form independent and closed circles.

Under the powerful assimilation effect of Chinese civilization, people like the Qiang and Jie people were assimilated into the torrent of civilization.

"Therefore, this method should be used to deal with Japanese civilians."

Li Ming stood up, put his hands behind his back, and said.

Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji immediately picked up paper and pen and carefully wrote it down word by word.

"Commoners were loaded onto ships and transported back to the Ming Dynasty. They were then unloaded evenly at various ports along the coast and temporarily resided in the port areas."

"At the same time, based on the population density distribution of various prefectures and counties across the country, these Japanese people were exiled to various places in the same proportion."

They're talking about it as if it were merchandise.

The two also noticed that His Majesty did not use words that mitigated the severity, such as "as much as possible" or "best."

The implication was that, whether they liked it or not, any living Japanese would be transported back to the mainland.

The only ones allowed to remain in their homeland were the dead Japanese.

Changsun Wuji asked:

"Are you going to classify them as lowly and make them slaves?"

Li Ming paused, thought for a moment, and shook his head, saying:
"No. The Ming Dynasty no longer has a system of social classification for the lowly. If we separate the Japanese, wouldn't that be giving them special treatment and indirectly strengthening their national identity?"
"Let them enjoy the same rights and fulfill the same obligations as other citizens of the Ming Dynasty."

"Until their ethnic characteristics are completely erased, and they become completely indistinguishable from the Han people."

Changsun Wuji thought it made a lot of sense and nodded heavily.

Li Ming continued:

"The Japanese who were exiled to the countryside were incorporated into various production teams to cultivate the land."

"If there is not enough land, let them reclaim wasteland and allow them to cultivate the wasteland they have reclaimed."

"As for the Japanese exiled to the city, the government will first arrange manual labor that is in short supply. Male Japanese will start as porters and laborers, while female Japanese will start as weavers and sweepers. Those with skills can also enter factories as craftsmen. "There are no restrictions on occupations or intermarriage. How far these individual Japanese can develop depends entirely on their own fortune and abilities."

"As long as the concept of 'Japan' disappears as a whole in the end, that's fine."

It must be admitted that this is an extremely clever strategy for governance.

Without bloodshed or a sound, a potentially hostile nation was eliminated.

Not only does it not cost money, it can also increase the labor force of the entire society.

In agricultural societies with low productivity, there was no such luxury as "overproduction" to worry about, and labor was always a precious asset.

Turning "others" into "our own people"—that's the ultimate art of governing barbarians.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Changsun Wuji couldn't help but admire him; this time, it was a genuine compliment.

Fang Xuanling pondered for a moment and asked:

"If there are no restrictions on career paths, then can Japanese people also become officials?"

The question was so tricky that Li Ming was speechless.

In theory, since there are no restrictions on any profession, Japanese people can naturally also become civil servants.

But can those islanders govern the mainland well? They're probably even worse than the Turks and Xianbei, those barbarians.

After all, nomadic peoples may be a bit wild, but they are still local people from the mainland.

"If there are indeed talented people among the Japanese who can pass the test, then... it's not necessarily a bad thing..."

Although Li Ming said this, his tone was not very certain.

They were originally there to deal with the Japanese, but instead, they let the Japanese come to our Great Ming Dynasty to become officials.

Can this be tolerated?
Even if the common people can tolerate it, Li Ming still feels disgusted.

"Therefore, we still need to categorize people like them into different classes, and we can't open up all professions to them."

“Besides holding official positions in government offices, some respectable jobs, such as soldiers or shopkeepers, also had to be restricted to the Japanese.”

Fang Xuanling said this.

Changsun Wuji then raised an objection:

"As Your Majesty just said, we cannot treat the Japanese differently, we cannot let them have a sense of self-awareness as 'different from others,' or let them feel that they are different from other ethnic groups."

"But Prime Minister Fang, isn't what you're doing going against His Majesty's thinking?"

Fang Xuanling forced a slight smile to his stiff lips:
"This is where the secret lies."

"It's not impossible to appoint people of Japanese blood to official positions, but they themselves cannot be appointed; they must be their descendants."

"Moreover, they cannot be descendants of Japanese people, but rather offspring born from intermarriage between Japanese and Han people."

Oh?
This idea made Changsun Wuji raise an eyebrow.

Even Li Ming's attention was drawn to it.

"Regardless of gender, the offspring of Han people are all Han people."

"There shouldn't be any problem with Han Chinese becoming officials, right?"

Fang Xuanling's smile widened.

Changsun Wuji slapped his forehead:
"Wonderful, wonderful!"

"Using incentives to entice the Japanese to intermarry is indeed a brilliant move!"

Use a little carrot to tempt the Japanese to forget their roots.

Prime Minister Fang is so wicked, I love him!

Li Ming, however, thought about something even deeper.

Yes, Fang Xiang reminded me.

Why should the Japanese enjoy most of the rights and benefits that the subjects of the Ming Dynasty enjoyed?

Do the Japanese still have any value in going door-to-door for dipping?

This is unfair not only to the hundreds of millions of hardworking people in our country.

Moreover, since it came too easily, the Japanese wouldn't cherish this status as an "honorable Ming citizen."

That's how humans are; they take the most precious things for granted and only know how to cherish what they can't have.

Referencing the discipline imposed on people by some modern, beautiful countries.

"Therefore, some rights are not inherent to Japanese people, such as the right to own land, the right to do business, the right to buy a house, the right to education..."

"They must prove their worth to China and make certain contributions before some rights and benefits can be granted to them accordingly."

"Some rights that Han Chinese are born with."

Li Ming rubbed his hands together, looking just like an unscrupulous boss who habitually manipulates his subordinates.

As the boss, one naturally has a unique secret weapon.

That's KPI assessment.

"Father Fang, please take charge of establishing a points system with corresponding rewards and punishments."

"It is stipulated that certain rights can be granted to a Japanese person based on how much contribution they have made to society and how much wealth they have created."

"For example, if you are good at farming, you can build a house or buy a home; if you do a good deed, you can take up a position in the government, and so on."

"Correspondingly, if they commit crimes, violate laws and regulations or public order, or even fail to learn Chinese within a certain period or speak Hu language in public, points will be deducted accordingly."

Fang Xuanling immediately replied:
"I accept your order."

Lee Min then turned to another prime minister.

"Imperial Uncle, please take charge of the population registration work and create a file for every Japanese person. The local government should be responsible for assessing each person's score."

Changsun Wuji cupped his hands in greeting:

"The minister obeys the order."

Almost simultaneously, the two lowered their heads and began to write.

Whew… Li Ming let out a breath.

In this way, whether it is the Japanese in the future or the Japanese now, they are all clearly arranged by this system.

The Japanese who came from the island were essentially born with a "test score" owed to the Ming Dynasty, a debt they had to repay for the rest of their lives.

They would certainly cherish the fragments of "civil rights" that they had worked so hard to obtain, and strive to be exemplary citizens of the Ming Dynasty, daring not to act recklessly.

Otherwise, the sunk costs incurred so far will truly be sunk.

Although it is illogical, it is very much in line with the practices of a certain major immigrant country across the ocean in the 21st century.

This "citizen assessment law" is more effective in enhancing their obedience and sense of belonging than granting them the same rights as citizens of the Ming Dynasty upon arrival, or even giving them preferential treatment.

Refer to Runren.

As for the Japanese in the future.

Once someone intermarries with the Han Chinese, they automatically become a Han citizen. Since they aren't even Japanese, the issue of being Japanese is even less relevant.

A comprehensive approach that addresses both the symptoms and the root cause.

"Alright, proceed accordingly. Have Li Shiji load the Japanese people onto a ship and transport them over."

As Li Ming was giving instructions, he suddenly remembered something and slapped his forehead:
"Oh right, there's one more thing I almost forgot to mention."

"The above policies apply only to Japanese civilians."

"As for those Japanese soldiers who faced the swords of our Great Ming Dynasty as prisoners of war..."

He extended his right hand, thumb down.

"Then it is not included in this list."

(End of this chapter)