The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 558: Immaturity and Maturity - Big Boss Sen in Chaos

"Your Highness, I, a humble foreign official, truly do not understand why your country would allow so many coachmen to wield sharp weapons like fist guns. This is extremely dangerous, especially for important figures.

Furthermore, when everyone has weapons that can kill at any time, it becomes difficult to protect the interests of the warriors."

Asen had indeed come for the secret delegation from Japan. As he was almost eleven years old, he could already take on some responsibilities in some aspects.

As the first heir to a huge empire, Arsen matured at a very fast speed.

When others were still climbing trees to catch birds and going to rivers to catch fish at the age of eleven, he had already understood many secrets of political operations.

Therefore, after hearing Tanuma Ochi's question and seeing the humble attitude of this Japanese man, Asen quickly realized that this was a weak target who could be manipulated.

Even if we cannot catch him in the end, we can probably get first-hand information about the Japanese upper class through him.

"Mr. Tanuma, I really don't like you using the word 'your country'. Although Japan is independent of China, it is also a country deeply influenced by China. Your culture is completely derived from China.

So I think Mr. Tanuma should address China as the Celestial Empire or the Great Country, rather than your country."

Tanuma Yichi felt his mouth was a little dry. He didn't expect that he would hit a snag with his first sentence.

This is a means to suppress his small inner consciousness that Japan is superior to North Korea and should be a country outside of China, creating a tacit understanding that Japan is equivalent to North Korea.
Tanuma Ochi's father was a senior councilor of the shogunate, which is equivalent to the prime minister in China.

Moreover, his father, Tanuma Okitsugu, grew up under the care of the current Shogun, Tokugawa Ieharu, and holds a very respected status in Japan.

After seeing and hearing what he saw, Tanuma knew that he could understand what the still immature Asen meant by this statement.

Moreover, if an ordinary person had said this to him in such an aggressive and lecturing tone, Tanuma would have definitely refuted it on the spot.

But facing Arsen, Tanuma Ichi was a little afraid. Even though the other party was only eleven years old, in Tanuma Ichi's view, he was a nobleman who was almost a god!
"Yes, Your Highness, I partially agree with you." Tanuma Ichi spoke very slowly, obviously carefully considering his words.

"However, the Land of the Rising Sun has never been a vassal of China. I feel that it is appropriate to call China your noble country."

"No?" Asen narrowed his eyes and looked down at the Japanese envoy who was in his forties but shorter than him.

"The Geography of the Han Dynasty records that there were Wa people in the Lelang Sea, divided into more than a hundred nations, who came to pay tribute every year.

In the second year of Jianwu Zhongyuan, the Wa Kingdom came to pay tribute from thousands of miles away. Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty appreciated their respect and granted them a golden seal and named the country Wa.

From the end of the Later Han Dynasty to the time of Cao Wei, Himiko, the queen of Yamatai, first submitted to the Gongsun clan of Liaodong, and later to Cao Wei, and was named the pro-Wei King of Wa.

During the Eastern Jin, Song, Qi, Liang and Chen dynasties, the five kings of Wa came to the court one after another and returned with rewards from China.

During the Tang Dynasty, envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty braved the waves and the sea, and fourteen or sixteen of them died along the dangerous journey. If they were not subjects, why were they so attentive to them?
When he arrived in the Ming Dynasty, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu knelt before the angels, accepted the title of King of Japan, and sent a tribute mission to the Ming Dynasty. Isn't this a vassal state?

Tanuma Yizhi was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that Arsen knew so much about it. He only had a superficial understanding of many of them, but now thinking about it, it should be true.

Seeing that Tanuma Yizhi's momentum was overwhelmed, Asen became more certain that he was a coward, so he looked at Tanuma Yizhi with a more stern look.

"The messenger said this in front of me. Does he think I'm just a child and easy to fool?"

There was a chilling tone in these words, and Tanuma knew that he was indeed not a tough guy, so he was scared.

If Emperor Guangzhong was here, he wouldn't be too afraid, but the eldest prince was only eleven or twelve years old, and could barely be considered a naughty child. He would be ruthless if he really ordered himself to be killed, that would be too unfair.

More importantly, he was on a secret mission, and few people in either Japan or China knew he was here. If he were really killed, the shogunate would probably only be able to announce a sudden death and give him a cenotaph, which would be considered fair to him.

"I, Your Highness, beg for your forgiveness for my words."

"Well, it's good that you admit your mistakes, it's good that you admit your mistakes, ah, hahaha!" Asen didn't expect that this guy was so soft-hearted. After all, he was just a child, and he couldn't hold it back for a moment.

Then, after failing to hold back, Asen felt a little awkward again. Before he could figure out how to avoid a dull moment, Lin Shuzhai, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly said:
"Your Highness, although the great nation of China is different from the small nation of Japan and has long passed the era of relying on warriors and suppressing people at all levels, it does seem inappropriate to allow civilians to wield guns on such a large scale."

Lin Shuzhai is fifteen years old this year, only four years older than Asen, so the two have a common language and can talk to each other.

Hearing Lin Shuzhai's words of help, Asen gave him an appreciative look and said with a smile, "The deputy envoy used a good word, and that is the era.

The times are different now. Today, the Chinese people need to expand into all directions and carve out a vast territory for future generations, which naturally requires some martial virtues.

China is a superior country, and everyone is a scholar, so it is not surprising that everyone carries a gun.

However, please note that Japanese people are currently not allowed to legally own guns. Even if they are legally allowed to own guns, they can only own hand guns, not long-barreled firearms."

This is half true and half false. The true part is that there is indeed a requirement to maintain martial ethics, and everyone traveling to Southeast Asia must be able to use a gun.

The false part is that the emperor and his ministers, from top to bottom, actually wanted to control the flow of weapons into the civilian population, but they were unable to do so because these weapons were too rampant in Dayu.

This proliferation was caused by the emperor. He wanted to develop industry, especially to catch up with Europe's military industry in a short period of time, so he had to encourage the manufacture of guns and artillery.

After this thing was manufactured, the army could not digest it at all, and the army had relatively high technical and quality requirements, so it usually only purchased it from a few arsenals of Fuxing Company and a small number of other factories.

If strict gun control is implemented under such circumstances, those who invested money in the early stages to develop industry with Emperor Mo will lose everything, and no one will dare to invest in industrial construction that mainly involves guns and artillery.

Therefore, Mo Zibu had no choice but to show some leniency. While trying his best to control the effective range of the long gun, which was often one or two hundred meters, he also lifted the restrictions on the hand cannon, which could only shoot a few dozen meters.

This has resulted in a large number of shoddy products from the public flowing into the market, and the quantity is so large that it is impossible to strictly manage it.

Now, except for a few cities such as Beijing Shuntian Prefecture, Nanjing Yingtian Prefecture, Nandu Chengtian Guangzhou Prefecture, as long as you don't use a pistol in your hand to scare people, or parade through the streets with a long spear, the government generally won't care.

However, Arsen's words were obviously high-sounding, and the two Japanese below listened to them, but they had their own ideas.

Tanuma knew this and saw an even more dangerous future.

Because Japanese samurai currently possess only katanas, they frequently injure shogunate officials. If surplus Chinese guns and cannons were to infiltrate the Land of the Rising Sun, this would be even more problematic. Lin Shuzhai believed that dissolving the samurai class, gradually transitioning all citizens to samurai, and then respecting the king and expelling the barbarians was the right path forward, opening up greater space for the ethnic group.

"The Great Emperor is truly a great ruler!" Lin Shuzhai exclaimed with heartfelt admiration, "He is even willing to sacrifice his own interests for the sake of future generations. He is the epitome of a sage ruler throughout history, a true ruler of humanity!"

After hearing this, Tanuma Ichi's face showed a lot of expression. As a Confucian scholar who had studied Zhu Xi's philosophy since childhood, he could understand Lin Shuzhai's feelings very well and basically agreed with Lin Shuzhai's views.

But it was precisely this that made him feel uneasy.

Because originally the so-called true ruler of Japan was either the Tokugawa Shogun or the Emperor, but now, there seems to be one more choice, a dangerous choice.

"Ayao, you see, it's so difficult to break the old and decadent ideas. Even the great English engineer, Mr. Watt, is about to come to China, but our scholars still regard the steam engine as a heresy.

If this continues, will we, the Chinese of the East, really fall behind those Westerners? And how can we, as Your Majesty demands, keep up with the times?"

The A Yao that Asen mentioned was the fat man who was defeated by the steam engine explosion and made a bet with others that he would eat three pounds of shit.

He was the second son of Wu Rang, Marquis of Songcheng, and the younger brother of Wu Wenhui, who killed people in Japan.

Unlike his elder brother who came from a military family, Wu Wenyao was chubby since he was a child. When he practiced boxing, kicking, sword and gun, he suffered countless beatings, but he still didn't have many outstanding skills. The only thing he could do was study. Others might not be able to succeed even if they used 100% of their strength, but he only needed to use 30% of his strength.

Therefore, although Wu Wenyao is only fifteen years old this year, he has already gained some knowledge of steam engines. With just some drawings and incomplete introductions, he can understand the general principles of steam engines and basically restore them.

"Master, I have heard Your Majesty mention this item many times, so I am determined to develop it and prevent China from falling behind the Westerners in any aspect."

Calling Asen "Big Brother", or simply "Big Brother Sen", is a power that not everyone can have. Only the children of the most core vassal and noble families in Fujian and Guangdong can have it.

Because in the Cantonese context, above the boss is the dad.

Historically, the early National Revolutionary Army, which was mainly composed of people from Guangdong, called Xu Chongzhi "big boss" and Mr. Sun Yat-sen "dad".

“It’s a good idea, but as you’ve seen today, it takes more than just a few people to stay ahead in order to avoid falling behind.

Instead, we need to enlighten the people, broaden their horizons, and enable everyone to move forward together. And your steam engine, Ayao, is the best example of promotion.

As long as your steam engine can achieve a stable range of over thirty miles and surpass the speed and load of five horses, the world will know your majesty's foresight and why steam engines are the future."

After listening to this, Wu Wenyao felt excited and had an indescribable feeling.

He knew that Big Boss Sen had not told the whole story, because behind the steam locomotive shaped like a big tripod that Wu Wenyao had made, there was actually a struggle between the Fujian and Guangdong nobles and the Jiangnan gentry.

These two parties can be said to be the largest local forces, or political forces, in Dayu at present.

Now the two sides have started competing in all aspects, especially regarding the future. They both want to win the steam engine, the predetermined future star, for the emperor and enhance their own voice.

So while Wu Wenyao was working on the steam locomotive, Qian Yi, the nephew-in-law of Liang Guozhi, the Cardinal Minister of the Imperial Court and the son of Qian Dazhao, the Governor of Northern Zhili, was also working on it.

The reason why Wu Wenyao's steam engine looks like a big tripod is because Qian Yi had already made a square steam engine, so he wanted to make a different one, at least in appearance.

There are even several large gun factories and steel mills in Jiangnan now. These are the result of the Jiangnan gentry's insistence on taking them regardless of the cost. They feel that these things cannot all be controlled by the Fujian and Guangdong nobles in Guangnan and Guangdong.

Well, Mo Zibu can ignore the gun factory and the small steel mill, or actually the larger steel workshop. No one will invest money in them because they are losing money, so he naturally can't continue to gamble.

But the steam engine is not a good option. The country has not cultivated many such talents. This kind of internal friction is not what Mo Zibu wants to see.

"I'll organize a party in a couple of days at the Tangshan Hot Spring Palace. I'll invite all the sons of our meritorious officials in Nanjing and the best students from the Imperial Academy. We'll have some fun together, and you and Qian Yi can have a few more drinks then."

Asen is smart enough. Although the big men behind Wu Wenyao and Qian Yi can provide money, manpower and various resources, the specific research still needs to be done by these two people. As long as they can persuade them, the rest will be easy to solve.

"Boss, I will listen to you." Wu Wenyao only thought about it for a moment and immediately agreed. Who would dare not give face to the future crown prince?

"Hahaha, okay!" Asen laughed, then turned to look at Lin Shuzhai on the other side of the carriage.

"Matsudaira-kun, I'll send a carriage to pick you up when the time comes, so you can meet the good men of China."

"Ah? What? Okay, okay!" Lin Shuzhai was so shocked that his brain even froze for a second or two. He had never expected that the future crown prince would actually invite him.

In excitement, this Japanese man who had been studying Zhu Xi's philosophy since childhood knelt down on the carriage with a thud.

"This is an honor for me, and a great honor for the Iwamura Matsudaira clan. I respectfully await your invitation."

Tanuma Ichi smacked his lips twice, his eyes filled with envy.

If this were to spread to the Land of the Rising Sun, I wonder what a sensation it would cause.

By then, everyone will regard Matsudaira Jōheng (Lin Shuzhai), who was invited by the future crown prince to attend a banquet for the sons of meritorious officials upon arriving in China, as a genius, and will spread this incident as a miraculous thing.

At the same time, Tanuma Okitsugu understood more clearly that after learning Zhu Xi's teachings, it would be difficult for him and Lin Shuzhai, the orthodox ones, or the ancient school and the Kinsiro school in Osaka and the southwest, which they regarded as heretics, to resist the temptation of China.

Platforms are extremely important, especially the Confucian platform for self-cultivation and peace in the world. Japan does not have any of them, unless it creates one.

"Your Highness, some of the victorious soldiers of the Indian Expedition Army have arrived at Xiaguan Wharf and are marching to Beijing to be reviewed by His Majesty. His Majesty has specially ordered Your Highness to greet them at Xiaguan Wharf."

While Tanuma Ichi was still hesitating, a group of Jinyiwei Palace Front Division generals suddenly came in front of them. Leading them was the Nanjing Imperial City Envoy, a eunuch who had just returned from Japan.

"Quick, bring me the uniform of my Imperial Guards, I'll go and greet them right away!"

Asen, who had been pretending to be calm, suddenly became excited after hearing this. He hurriedly asked the eunuch to bring the military uniform, and at the same time turned around and nodded apologetically to Tanuma Yichi and Lin Shuzhai.

"Everyone, I should have sent you to the Imperial City, but now it's too late. Please come with me."

(End of this chapter)