The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 561: Respect the King and Expel the Barbarians, on board

People from Satsuma Domain had indeed arrived. Just when Tanuma Ochi was still hesitating whether to surrender at the speed of light, Shimazu Shigehiro had already made the decision.

Of course it had to be done quickly, because the Satsuma clan had no ability to resist at all, or rather, they could struggle a little, but there was not much need to struggle.

There are so many benefits to joining China and becoming a guide. Moreover, their family is an immigrant, so there is no psychological burden in joining China.

And the shock they suffered along the way was even greater than that of Tanuma Ichiro and the shogunate representatives.

Because most of what Tanuma Ichi and others saw was what Mo Zibu wanted them to see.

The representative of the Shimazu family, Mo Zibu, did not impose any restrictions except requiring them to report wherever they went, so they saw the current situation of China more realistically.

There are textile companies with hundreds to thousands of employees, and the largest ones even have more than 10,000 employees. The silk and cotton produced by these factories each month alone would take Japan at least a year to produce.

Although the steel mills and gun factories opened by the Jiangnan gentry group in Songjiang, Suzhou and other prefectures were despised by Mo Zibu as having not been beaten by the market, their scale still shocked the people of Satsuma Domain.

Of course, what scares them the most is the complete education that Dayu has received along the way.

Every county, even every town, has a primary school, and every county has at least one high school.

Among the four prefectures of Songjiang, Suzhou, Changzhou and Zhenjiang, Songjiang and Suzhou have their own Imperial Colleges, while Changzhou and Zhenjiang, which do not have one, can also go to Nanjing Yingtian Prefecture to study.

This is horrifying, because many things in Mo Zibu's elementary school-high school-imperial college model are based on the education methods of later generations.

For example, queue training, obedience, collective honor and so on.

These things actually came from Europe. Initially, they were used to train line infantry on a large scale that had a solid foundation and could be deployed to fight.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Satsuma delegation, these were not schools but military camps.

While receiving cultural education, those students also received marching training and obeyed orders from a young age. When the emperor needed them, every sixteen-year-old boy could become a qualified and relatively elite line infantryman, and even become an officer after a little training.

There were tens of thousands of such students in the five prefectures of Songjiang, Suzhou, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, and Nanjing Yingtian alone, exceeding the number of all the samurai in the Satsuma domain.

Considering that Jiangnan is only a small part of the empire, the Chinese Empire's terrifying reserve force and mobilization capabilities have no rivals in the Eastern world.

Well, how should I put it, the Satsuma clan did not make a mistake in their estimation. The mistake was that they took Jiangnan, the richest area in the empire, as a common phenomenon in this vast empire.

In fact, China now feels very divided.

Fujian, Guangdong and Southeast Asia look like they are from the colonial era.

Jiangnan looks like capitalism is about to take off.

But in other places, especially places like Hexi, Longyou, Lingwu and Yansui, there is not much difference from a thousand years ago and they are still in the old era.

If the whole country could reach the level of Jiangnan, there would be no need for the Japanese to surrender. Mo Zibu would have taken out weapons of war and flattened the whole world long ago.

. . . .

Five miles outside Tangshan Hot Spring Palace, at the foot of the palace mountain, is the temporary resting place for the Satsuma delegation.

Yamamoto Gorozaemon, a Satsuma samurai with a weight of 40 koku, burped slowly and very vigilantly without being noticed by others. The lunch was too rich and he ate a little too much.

"The Great Chinese Nation is too extravagant. The food provided in the cafeteria of the Purple Mountain's top university is actually better than what our master eats.

I will never forget that rich, delicious oyakodon."

The so-called "don" is actually rice with toppings on top. It refers to the sound made by a stone falling into a well.

However, in Japan, it was inexplicably extended to mean pottery filled with food, and eventually became a reference to rice bowl.

Oyakodon is a rice bowl with grilled chicken and eggs. The Japanese believe that chicken is the mother hen and egg is the son, so the combination of them is called Oyakodon.

It's really hard to describe. The Japanese are the only ones who can give such shocking names to delicacies.

"Yes, yes. Only after arriving in China did we realize what kind of life we lived in Japan. The so-called samurai had worse food and clothing than the common people. It was really shameful."

"Don't be ashamed, Kuroda-kun. China is a country of China, and its people are all Chinese. They are different from the farmers, eda, and non-humans in our country of the rising sun. They are actually superior people with quasi-samurai qualifications."

Well, this can be considered a victory for the sake of self-esteem. The people from Satsuma regarded all Chinese as samurai to make up for the huge gap and impact on their own status.

Yamamoto Gorouzaemon originally wanted to say something, but when he heard the conversations of the people around him, he suddenly felt something and suddenly became enlightened. However, before he could express his opinion, the controversy began.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" Shimazu Tadamichi, the prince of Sadowa clan who was the first to defect to Dayu and led the Chinese fleet to attack Choshu clan, opened his hands to signal the samurai who were discussing to stop talking.

“In our Land of the Rising Sun, the so-called Yamato and Amaterasu actually originated from the Yamatai Kingdom and the mysterious Queen Himiko.

It sounds extraordinary, but those of us from Queen Himiko's hometown know that this queen is actually the descendant of Xu Fu. Even many of us still have Xu Fu's blood flowing in our bodies.

Back then, this half-ancestor of ours was sent by the First Emperor to cross the sea to the east with 3,000 boys and girls in search of the immortal mountain.

He didn't find the sacred mountain, but he did come to the Land of the Rising Sun and became its king. His descendants then unified the Land of the Rising Sun from west to east, usurping the title of emperor and god.

After Shimazu Tadamichi finished speaking, there was a dead silence at the scene, and everyone knew what Shimazu Tadamichi meant by this.

This is to bring down the emperor's divinity!
If the first generation of Amaterasu was actually Himiko, and the cultural source of the Land of the Rising Sun was Xu Fu who sailed eastward, then no matter how high their status in the Land of the Rising Sun was, it must be far lower than that of the Emperor of Middle-earth.

But God, or this kind of supreme God, cannot have a superior. Once he has a superior, he will be no different from a minion.

Therefore, after the emperor lost his divinity, he was left with only the identity of an earthly emperor, and he could be held accountable for the crime of usurping the throne for thousands of years.

At the same time, the Tokugawa family's claim to power was even lower, as Tosho-jin, who could only govern the Kanto region, was even less worthy of mention.

Several warriors from the Jinsilu faction looked at each other and quickly stood up to express their agreement.

"That's indeed the case. This matter has long been passed down orally in my country of the rising sun. Now that relevant records have been found in China, it is even more certain."

"Yes, my family has a genealogy to prove that we are descendants of Xu Fu!"

Hearing what the Jinsilu faction said, Shimazu Qixuan, who was guarded by several members of the Shimazu clan's family, stuck his head out and looked around curiously.

One of the members of the Shimazu clan, Katsura, stood in front of Shimazu Narinori with great vigilance. He took a deep breath and asked:
"You all should be aware of the risks of doing this, so what are the rewards? What kind of benefits would make the Shimazu clan work so hard?" Shimazu Tadamichi was furious when he saw them and snorted coldly, "Don't you think it's the Emperor who needs the Shimazu clan, rather than the Shimazu clan needing to protect themselves?

Still wanting benefits, the Shimazu clan and the entire Satsuma domain should now think about how to gain the favor of the great emperor in order to survive this crisis of genocide.

If there is any benefit to this, it is that it ensures that we can return to our ancestral identity and become subjects of the Great Emperor."

The identity of the ancestors mentioned by Shimazu Tadamichi refers to the fact that the Shimazu clan were immigrants, that is, a group of people who crossed the sea from the Korean Peninsula and settled in Japan.

The Shimazu clan originated from the Koremune clan, and the Koremune clan was an immigrant who called themselves Qin and said they were descendants of Qin Shi Huang. When they first arrived in Japan, they took Qin as their surname.

Some people also say that they were part of the royal family of Former Qin who crossed the sea to Japan over several decades to avoid the war after the collapse of Fu Jian's Former Qin Empire in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Of course, they could not provide any evidence to prove all this. The only thing that could be relatively confirmed was that the ancestors of the Shimazu clan did indeed cross the sea to Japan from Lelang County, and at that time Lelang still belonged to China.

The Katsura family was severely criticized by Shimazu Tadamichi and was speechless for a moment, because what Shimazu Tadamichi said was the current situation of the Satsuma domain.

Either you are loyal to the Kingdom of the Rising Sun and perish together with your enemies, or it would be more appropriate to say that you leave no one alive.

Or they would frantically emphasize their identity as immigrants to provide psychological comfort for the guides.

At the same time, they obtained the recognition of the Emperor of China, who recognized them as his own people and could lead them with confidence, thus preserving the Satsuma Domain and even gaining greater benefits than being loyal to the shogunate.

"I am deeply concerned for Satsuma and the Land of the Rising Sun because, in such an urgent situation, many people still cling to outdated ideas that prevent us from embracing a brighter future.

We all know what the so-called emperor is. Ishitaka is similar to my Sadowa clan, and his living standards are far worse.

Why should we, warriors who have diligently trained for decades in both civil and martial arts, risk our future, and even our lives, for a beggar-like so-called emperor?

Shimazu Tadamichi's words were powerful, but the emperor at that time had not been identified as a king who respected the emperor and expelled the barbarians by the various schools of Zhu Xi's school, such as the Guwen School, Mito Han School, Kinshiroku School, and Fugetsu Society, so he had little power at all.

"Yes, the Satsuma samurai never ate a grain of rice from the emperor, nor received a penny of Kan'ei Tsūho as reward. Why should we give him everything?"

Saigo Yoshibei was completely defeated. He was not afraid of death, but he was unwilling to die inexplicably under the gun without being able to display all his skills.

"That's right! Respect the king and expel the barbarians, respect the king and expel the barbarians, the great emperor is the true Lord of the world!" Saigo Yoshibei's son Saigo Takamitsu roared, and became more and more excited.

"If you and your family cannot carry out the strategy set by the Major General, then get out of the way." Several people were infected by him and suddenly became excited.

These people clamored and slowly approached the eight-year-old Crown Prince of Satsuma, Shimazu Yoshinori, who was being guarded by his Ichimonshu.

Katsura Jiro, the leader of the Ichimonshu, saw that Shimazu Tadamichi and Saigo Kichibei both reached for their waists, which was a sign that they were about to draw their swords and perform Iaijutsu.

A string of sweat instantly appeared on his forehead. After a few breaths, Katsuragijiro suddenly sighed and waved to the people around him, signaling them to move aside.

Originally, the feudal lord Shimazu Shigehiro had instructed him to try his best to ensure the independence of the Satsuma domain and not to be easily dragged into the position of serving the Chinese emperor as a dog.

But now it seems that this hesitant strategy of being a dog but not willing to be a dog completely has no market among warriors.

Shimazu Tadamichi was overjoyed when he saw Katsuragi and other members of the Imon clan making way. He walked forward and picked up Shimazu Yoshinori, who was sitting on the bed, and then carried him to the side where there were a large number of Kinshiroku sect warriors.

"Respect the king and expel the barbarians! Ship aboard! Ship aboard!" The warriors of the Jinsilu faction were extremely excited and roared loudly.

"If so, do you know what to do when you meet the emperor?" Shimazu Tadamichi shouted loudly and asked Shimazu Qixuan.

Shimazu Yoshinori was only eight years old at the time. The wind and waves on the sea almost took away half of his life. Now he was frightened by Shimazu Tadamichi. How could he say anything? It was good enough that he could hold back his tears.

"I, I don't know!" Shimazu Yoshinobu looked at Katsura Jiro in horror. Seeing that the latter turned his face away, he could only answer Shimazu Tadamichi's words truthfully.

"It doesn't matter if you don't know, I'll teach you!" Shimazu Tadamichi shouted even more excitedly.

"In that case, once you enter the Imperial Palace and meet the Holy Lord, you will prostrate yourself on the ground and offer everything you have in Satsuma. Then let the Great Emperor decide!"

. . . .

At Tangshan Hot Spring Palace, Mo Zibu was already prepared to receive the visitors from Japan, and with the help of dozens of Hanlin scholars from the Imperial Academy, he had also made a deep analysis of the characteristics of the Japanese.

Many people in later generations thought that the Japanese were loyal by character, but on the contrary, even after Bushido was transformed into militarism, the loyalty of Japanese soldiers could not be said to be particularly high, so much so that there were a series of very strange surrender incidents during World War II.

So rather than saying that their character is loyal, it is better to say that they are obedient.

They like to obey and follow the strong, and their unconditional obedience to the strong can reach a level that makes ordinary people dumbfounded.

This kind of character is related to the Japanese people's original mixed Austronesian culture.

In this culture, the people who call the shots in the clan are not the experienced elders, but the young men who are strong and capable of fighting and killing.

In Kyushu and Ryukyu, they were called Shuwaka, which means young people. There are still many Shuwaka organizations in Satsuma Domain, which are very influential among the samurai of Satsuma Domain.

To put it bluntly, this is the same as the ghost fire boys in Guangxi. The only difference is that the warriors are definitely more educated than the ghost fire boys who make up the wolf soldiers, so they can often accomplish something.

This is also similar to the evil young men in Chang'an that appeared in the history of the Central Plains.

However, this kind of young and hot-tempered boy who values trust over life and death and is willing to kill people in the street if he disagrees with something, just happens to like to respect the strong as the leader.

So they are not loyal, but young people admire the strong and like to recognize the leader. When they find that the leader is getting old and weak, they tend to think about replacing him.

"Let the representatives of the shogunate, the Satsuma clan, and the Ryukyu king come in together!" One sheep is killed, and a flock of sheep is also killed. Mo Zibu prepared to stew them with a spoon.

Liang Guozhi, the Cardinal Minister of the Inner Court, who was already very old and ready to retire, looked at Mo Zibu with a smile and said, "Your Majesty, wouldn't it be better to meet them separately and defeat them one by one?"

Mo Zibu waved his hand domineeringly, "Prime Minister Liang, you don't understand these Japanese. When dealing with them, the more powerful you appear, the more convinced they will be.

To put it bluntly, if you can slap them in the face, you won’t curse them, and if you can curse them in person, you won’t curse them behind their backs.”

Liang Guozhi was a little surprised. "It's been over a thousand years since the Tang envoys returned, how come they still act like barbarians who fear power but not virtue? Are they born to be mean?"

"Hahaha!" Mo Zibu laughed loudly. "Then don't be in such a hurry to leave, Prime Minister Liang. I'll show you the faces of these Japanese."

(End of this chapter)