The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 585 Japan - The Living Hell of East Asia

In the mist of the early morning of June 1857, 6, the whistle of the British steamship "Albatross" tore open the veil of Nagasaki Bay.

Standing on the deck, Moore took off his foggy monocle and saw the national flags flying on the flagpoles of the six "countries within a country" on the shore: China, North Korea, Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States.

Near the dock of the Chinese Concession in Nagasaki, twenty carts were delivering rice bags with the words "Saga Domain" printed on them to the steam merchant ship "San Francisco". The samurai from the Hizen Domain who were in charge of the escort all had their hands on the hilts of their swords and were wearing wooden clogs. As they moved forward, they looked at the steam sailing ships from various countries on the dock.

"Welcome to Japan." Sir Alsop Sutton, the British Consul in Nagasaki, knocked his cane on the dock planks, startling a few mice that were gnawing on fish bones. His gray eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses suddenly narrowed - not far away, three samurai from the Saga Domain were pinning a rice transport coolie to the dock next to the "San Francisco". The cold light of the sword flashed, and a section of his arm had been cut off. The skinny coolie screamed and rolled on the ground, covering the wound of his broken limb.

This scene was also seen by Moore who was observing around. This great thinker who had witnessed the fight between armed Chinese immigrants and indigenous people in Johor and a True John uprising in Batavia was stunned for a moment.

What happened? Why did they hack people in the street? Is the public security in Japan so bad?

Sir Sutton was used to it. He sighed and said to Moore, "The coolie might have been too hungry and secretly ate some raw rice, and was discovered by the warriors in charge of escorting him!"

"Just because of a mouthful of raw rice." Moore found it a little hard to believe. Although some "advanced countries" in Europe these days would arrest poor people and lock them up in kilns for stealing a piece of bread, there was still a judicial procedure, and they would not chop off a person's hand for a piece of bread - how could they exploit surplus value if their hands were chopped off?
"This is Japan," Sir Sutton said with a wry smile, "the living hell of East Asia!"

Moore looked back at Bai Siwen, the former Qing envoy to Britain, France, Prussia, Austria and the Holy See. He was now dressed in a Western dress, a top hat, and holding an expensive Cuban cigar. Seeing Moore's look, he exhaled the smoke and said with a smile, "I've said that Japan is a bit too feudal!"

When the feudal aristocrats and bureaucrats of the Qing Dynasty felt that Japan was too feudal, Japan was probably already an incurable patient of the "late feudal stage".

Sir Sutton shook his head and said, "Feudalism is only one aspect. Japan's biggest problem is that the population is too large and the arable land is too small. This island country is full of mountains, and there is very little land that can be used to grow food. However, their population is around 30 million, and there is simply not enough food! And hundreds of thousands of feudal warriors are sucking the blood out of the peasants, which only makes Japan more like hell."

Bai Siwen added: "In Japan, samurai are always samurai, and peasants are always peasants, and it is almost impossible to change from generation to generation. In China, the samurai-like class did not exist two thousand years ago, so beggars also have the opportunity to become emperors!"

Friedrich took out his pen and notebook and wrote down: "The feudal system in Japan is similar to that in Europe. Samurai are similar to knights, while peasants are miserable serfs. Moreover, due to the large population and small land area, the pressure of survival is extremely great, so the oppression is even more severe!"

At this time, Yoshida Shigesuke, an official of the Nagasaki Bugyosho who came to greet the British delegation, arrived. This Japanese samurai, who looked a little malnourished, bowed 90 degrees to the foreigners on the dock and said in English with a flattering look: "I have prepared a welcoming banquet. I sincerely invite the distinguished guests from the superior country to come."

"Those crazy North Koreans are promoting their land distribution and the abolition of feudal hierarchy!"

Consul Sutton led everyone in the British Consulate's four-wheeled carriage and passed through the Korean Concession next to the Chinese Concession. He pointed his cane at the newly built notice wall and said, "This will destroy the existing order in Japan!"

The carriage stopped for a while near the notice wall, and a priest dressed in black with a cross on his chest and holding a Korean version of "True Testament" in his hand handed Bai Siwen a leaflet and shouted, "Long live His Majesty the King of the East of the Kingdom of Korea!"

Bai Siwen took the flyer and looked at it. It was an article written in classical Chinese, "The Heavenly Father's Order to Equalize Fields". He read in a low voice: "The Heavenly Father, the God of Heaven, has mercy on us, and the King of the East is wise and enlightened. Now I have observed that the people of Korea have long been trapped by clerks, and all the fertile land has been given to the two classes. I have specially promulgated a new system to eliminate the old abuses. All of us, regardless of our status, are the flesh and blood of the Heavenly Father. In the past, Jizi Chen Hongfan emphasized food and goods; Zhou Gong established the well-field system to ensure equality. Now I have received the Heavenly Father's order and restored the ancient system of the Three Dynasties. All the fertile land in the fields will be given to those who cultivate them. This is not a personal favor of this king, but the great way of the Heavenly Father to save the world. Everyone should obey it and let everyone know!"

"What does it say?" Friedrich asked curiously.

He could already speak some Chinese, but the classical Chinese version of "The Heavenly Father's Equal Land Distribution Order" was still a little difficult for him. "Divide the land and overthrow the nobles." Bai Siwen paused and suddenly asked, "Yang Xiuqing invaded Korea, replaced the king of the Joseon Dynasty, and became the monarch of Korea. At the same time, he distributed land to the lower-class civilians of Korea, eliminated the nobles of the Joseon Dynasty, implemented the policy of "land to the tiller", and let the Korean people have enough food. Is his behavior considered colonial rule?"

Moore looked at the Japanese gathered in front of the notice wall - many of them were even samurai (ronin) with swords, and whispered: "He has at least liberated productivity to a certain extent. North Korea must have developed well in the past two years, right?"

Consul Sutton nodded and said, "Yes, North Korea is rising! Moreover, the Korean priests sent to Japan by Yang Xiuqing are more capable of winning over the lower classes of Japan than the Chinese priests sent by Luo Yaoguo and Wei Changhui."

Bai Siwen smiled and said, "That's for sure. The yangban of Korea are similar to the samurai of Japan, and the civilians of Korea are naturally similar to the civilians of Japan. But the Chinese are a little different. A beggar in China also has the opportunity to become an emperor!"

When the wheels of the carriage started rolling again, twenty Korean priests wearing red scarves were distributing relief food in front of the "Hyeonyu Palace of the Holy King of Dong".

The skinny townspeople lined up in a long queue, and everyone who received a bag of rice with the words "Heavenly Father's Grain" printed on it had to kneel down and kiss the toe of Yang Xiuqing's boot. Moore saw that the Japanese coolie whose arm had been chopped off by the samurai had bandaged his wound and appeared at the end of the queue with the help of his two companions.

"There will be land and food," said Father Jin, the leader, in stiff Japanese. "Remember, China and North Korea today is Japan tomorrow! Heavenly Father, Heavenly King, and Eastern King will definitely come to save the poor in Japan!"

The shouts of "The Heavenly King is on board! The Eastern King is on board!" gradually rang out. It seemed that the Korean True Prophet sect had gained a lot of believers.
At noon, an eye-catching scene occurred outside the camphor paper door of the "Qingyue'an" restaurant in the British Concession.

Yoshida Shigesuke, the official of Nagasaki Town, was kneeling and presenting a golden cake of twelve kanme. A "yellow cardinal" of the True Covenant sect, who was sitting in a large sedan chair carried by eight people, just snorted contemptuously and said in Guangxi Mandarin: "Let's spare Naomasa Nabeshima this time, so that he will remember this lesson. From now on, no True Covenant believers can be beheaded for being rude, no matter how rude they are!"

Yoshida Shigesuke also didn't understand what the True Covenant Archbishop was saying. Anyway, he just kept saying "Yi, Yi" and agreed.
"Last month, samurai from Saga Domain chopped off a farmer who was blocking the lord's ceremonial procession to appeal for a reduction in annual tribute. In Japan, this is called 'rude demand' and samurai have the right to kill civilians who are rude to them." Sutton took a sip from the tea bowl, then pointed at Yoshida Shigesuke outside and said, "This kind of thing is nothing and is very common in Japan, but the person who was chopped to death was a follower of the True Prophet sect. So the True Prophet Kyushu Archbishop Fu Xuexian immediately demanded that Naomasa Kobeshima pay a large sum of gold. After being rejected, he immediately issued an assassination order for the Kobeshima family! The Kobeshima family couldn't stand it, so they had to ask Yoshida to mediate and pay a large sum of gold."

After Yoshida Shigesuke sent away Archbishop Fu who had received the compensation, the reception banquet at the Nagasaki Town Bugyosho finally began.

Several Japanese waitresses dressed in exquisite kimonos brought them food boxes painted with gold lacquer, which looked like works of art.

But the moment the food box was opened by the Japanese waitress, Friedrich's fork and spoon stopped above the food box - the thin slices of puffer fish were arranged in the shape of a chrysanthemum on the mother-of-pearl dish, and each slice was only as translucent as a cicada's wing; the cracked glaze patterns of the pottery used to steam the matsutake mushrooms in the dobin looked extremely elegant, but the soup inside was only enough for one sip.

Yoshida Shigesuke knelt outside the camphor gate to demonstrate dining etiquette. His withered fingers held the three-inch long maple chopsticks, as if he was fiddling with the silk threads woven in Nishijin, Kyoto.

"The consulate has also prepared a sumptuous afternoon tea." Consul Sutton picked up a piece of puffer fish sashimi with chopsticks. The texture of the fish meat glowed with pearly luster on the Echizen celadon plate. Dozens of small sushi made of vinegar rice were served in a lacquer boat, and the small amount was pitiful.

Bai Siwen, who was used to eating and drinking lavishly, had no interest in the exquisite yet humble food of the Japanese. His eyes were always fixed on the fair skin of the Japanese girl serving him, as if he was calculating in his mind how many kilograms of rice he would need to exchange for her service for one night.

When the last dish was served, Moore counted all the ingredients: four pieces of snapper, two mushrooms, and three shrimps. These delicacies, served in exquisite tableware like handicrafts, did not even provide enough calories for a dock worker to work for half a day.

"This is actually the aesthetics of hell!" Moore wrote in his notebook that night: "This behavior of sublimating food necessary for survival into an aesthetic object cannot solve the desperate dilemma caused by insufficient total amount. This also explains why the brown rice bags of the True Testament sect can attract thousands of believers - when civilization is reduced to the Hunger Games, any way to fill the stomach is the truth."

(End of this chapter)