The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 570 Fire in the Backyard
In Edo Castle, Tanuma Ochi has secretly returned from China.

As a secret envoy, he did not go to the general immediately after returning, but took the smuggling ship of the Fuxing Company and went directly to Edo.

As soon as he landed, Tanuma Ochi disguised himself as a servant of the general and secretly went to the great hall of the Shogun's Honmaru Palace to look for his father who stayed in Edo and was in charge of daily work.

That is Tanuma Okitsugu, the elder councilor of the Tokugawa shogunate at that time, who was known as the great traitor.

Outside the Ohiroma, it was just the eighth month of the lunar calendar in Edo, and the weather should have been sunny and warm, but it was unusually cold.

The sky always seems to be unclean, with a gray haze dotted with black spots. Even at noon, the sunlight looks weak.

"Not only has Mount Asama erupted, but Mount Iwaki is also active, the Azuma River has been cut off, and Naganohara Town lost all contact five days ago.

There are now reports that if the dam on the Agatsuma River breaks, floods will inundate at least five towns downstream.

The subsequent fire debris and mud will continue to block the Kinu River and Tone River, causing even larger-scale disasters and even endangering the safety of Edo."

When Tanuma Okichi came back, before he could say a word, his father Tanuma Okiji did not ask about his experience in China, but directly told him all the natural disaster reports he had received.

Tanuma Ichi was also shocked and his face turned pale in an instant.

Because according to this, if Mount Asama and Mount Iwaki stopped erupting, the situation would already be very serious, let alone they are still erupting.

As a Japanese, Tanuma knew better than anyone that such a large eruption could not be ended in a short time, and would at least take years.

"Father, we are in big trouble. This kind of natural disaster, especially one that is concentrated around Edo, will not only cause a large number of floods and droughts, but will also greatly weaken the power of the shogunate.

If the disaster is too great, especially if too many people die, as long as it exceeds tens of thousands, even the above-mentioned disasters will not be able to withstand it. If the above-mentioned disasters spread to any of our families, our family will be finished."

What these two people don't know is that the casualties caused by the great eruptions of Tianmang and their related disasters in history were not just tens of thousands, but ended with the horrific loss of life of nearly 1.5 million people.

Moreover, this time, it was not just Mount Asama and Mount Iwaki in Japan that were erupting. At the same time, Iceland's Laki volcano and others were also erupting rapidly.

The large amount of smoke and dust ejected by these active volcanoes almost covered the entire northernmost sky of the Northern Hemisphere. They blocked the sunlight, caused the temperature to drop rapidly, caused cold damage, and ultimately led to a horrific reduction in crop yields.

Among those directly affected, in addition to the Great Famine in Japan that killed more than one million people, mainland China also suffered serious disasters.

Two years later, in the 1785th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign (), a severe drought struck China. Henan and Jiangsu provinces were the hardest hit. Several counties in Henan had no harvest, and the bodies of civilians who starved to death on the roadside were left uncollected.

Yancheng, Jiangsu, was the worst hit. Not a drop of rain fell for a whole year, and nine out of ten houses were empty. In some places, even the county magistrate could not go to the county office because the people had basically either fled or starved to death, and there were few people in the county town.

In Zhucheng, Shandong, harvests failed for three consecutive years, and local officials even witnessed the tragic situation of people eating their own children.

During the severe drought around the 50th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, a conservative estimate was that 300,000 to 400,000 people starved to death in China.

Seeing that his son realized the seriousness of the situation, Tanuma Oji slowly nodded.

Because the area where the disaster was most severe was not a once-in-a-century disaster, but was mainly concentrated in the Kanto Plain, which was the location of the shogunate's main territory.

Therefore, the strength of the shogunate will definitely suffer a serious blow, and the hatamoto and low-level samurai directly under the shogunate, who are already dissatisfied with them father and son, will definitely take the opportunity to cause trouble and cause trouble for them.

But this time and space is actually a good thing for Tanuma Ichi.

Because even if there hadn't been this natural disaster, it would have been difficult for their family to settle down safely.

Because Shogun Tokugawa Ieharu is old and has no heir, it is hard to say how many more years he can protect their family.

Now that we have the emperor to back us up, it's a perfect opportunity to fully implement it.

So, Tanuma Ojiji didn't even beat around the bush and said directly to his father, Tanuma Ojiji: "Father, let's go to the Emperor. Only the Emperor can protect us."

Hearing his son say this, Tanuma Okitsugu, who was worthy of being a powerful traitor, was not surprised at all and did not show much surprise.

But he did have a lot of feelings for Shogun Tokugawa Ieharu. After all, he was raised by him. The two were teacher, friend, and father and son. Tokugawa Ieharu also trusted Tanuma Okitsugu very much.

"What will the future hold? Ever since Takechiyo passed away, there's nothing left of him."

Seeing that his father had no objection, Tanuma Ochi was immediately delighted. "Don't worry, father. His Majesty the Great Emperor has no thoughts about Shangyang. The biggest obstacle for him to conquer the Kingdom of the Rising Sun is not Shangyang, nor even our shogunate."

Upon hearing this, Tanuma Oji widened his eyes in shock and took a deep breath. "A tall tree attracts the wind. It's true. Is the Emperor going to deal with the Emperor of Kyoto?"

Tian Numa snorted coldly, "Of course, a mere puppet dares to brazenly call himself the emperor. If they don't suffer, who will?

Only when their family suffers misfortune can the people of the Land of the Rising Sun understand that there is no two suns in the sky, and no two masters for a minister, and know to whom they should be loyal."

Is the emperor who has been in power for eternity going to cease to exist?

Tanuma Oji was silent for a moment after hearing this, and a slight wave of emotion appeared in his heart. Then he immediately stopped dwelling on this direction and continued to ask after thinking for a while:
"But even so, it's still not enough to prove that the Great Emperor will let Shangyang go. After all, the benefits of defeating a shogun who can't protect himself are too great. I don't believe the Great Emperor won't be tempted." After saying this, Tanuma Okitsugu looked at his son Tanuma Ochi seriously, "If the Great Emperor won't let Shangyang go, then he won't protect us in the end.

Because severely punishing my father and me would be very popular with the warriors of the Land of the Rising Sun and would calm their anger."

Tanuma Okiji is still very self-aware, and of course Tanuma Okiji also has the same idea when he goes to the mainland to meet Mo Zibu.

He is just cowardly, not stupid. He is working so hard now because Mo Zibu has given him solid protection.

"Zhongji, I presented Chongji to the emperor!" Tanuma Yichi said in a low voice.

When he heard his son say this, Tanuma Okitsugu's face suddenly lit up and then he showed an ecstatic expression.

"Has His Majesty the Great Emperor truly agreed? Is he willing to accept a Tokugawa princess into the palace?"

This Shigehime is not from the Tanuma family, but the adopted daughter of the current shogun Tokugawa Ieharu. Her biological father is Tokugawa Munetake, Tokugawa Ieharu's uncle. She is thirteen years old this year.

Well, having my uncle's cousin adopted as my daughter is in line with the Japanese custom. It is not uncommon for a grandson to be adopted as a son by his uncle.

Of course, there are actually cases in Chinese history, mostly occurring during the Sui and Tang dynasties. For example, the puppet emperor Shi Jingtang adopted his younger brother Shi Chongyin as his adopted son.

"The Emperor is not only willing to take Shigeki into his harem, but he also promised that any prince born to Shigeki would return to Edo to continue ruling the Kanto region."

Tanuma Yichi said that apart from his cowardice, the biggest reason why he was willing to join Mo Zibu was that not only could their family escape unscathed, but they would also continue to be rich because of this merit.

"Oh, that's great, that's great!" Tanuma Oji finally smiled, "Your Majesty the Great Emperor really knows how to rule the Land of the Rising Sun. He doesn't force counties, but instead wins the hearts of the people first and then slowly builds up the system.

We Japanese have always worshipped our superior country, and this is even more so after studying Zhu Xi's teachings for nearly two hundred years.

If the Tokugawa family can climb up the high branch of the Chinese royal family, the prince with Tokugawa blood will be granted a fiefdom in the future. Even if he cannot be made a king, he can at least be made a prince of a county.

Well, King of Jiang or Prince of Edo, both are good titles!"

Tanuma Oji became more and more excited as he spoke, and it took him a long time to calm down.

"What does His Majesty the Great Emperor need us to do to ensure that all the shogunate troops going out on this expedition are destroyed?"

"No, the Great Emperor still needs these warriors. Because the competition between the East and the West is fierce, the Great Emperor is in urgent need of men in Transoxiana, Southeast Asia, India, and even North America."

Tanuma Ichi shook his head and said, "Before I came to Edo, I had already met He Shenhe, the deputy director of the Jinyiwei Palace Front Division and the vice president of the Fuxing Company.

He instructed us to submit all the information about the shogunate army without reservation, and to facilitate the purchase of grain by the Toyo Chamber of Commerce controlled by the Fuxing Company.

Of course, the most important thing is that the shogunate must report all information about the more than 20 grain storage points along the way from Edo to Owari, as well as certain important connections, or help to open up."

"The great emperor is far away in the Middle-earth, but he already knows the astronomical phenomena in Kanto?" Tanuma Oji was shocked, because this arrangement was obviously aimed at military supplies.

It is estimated that they wanted to trap the shogunate army in Osaka and Nagoya and starve them into surrender.

"It's not that it's known, but it's been planned long ago. At least three years ago, the Great Emperor has been constantly provoking the grain market in our Land of the Rising Sun."

Tanuma Ichi whispered, a look of awe mixed with a hint of fear appearing on his face.

"A true sage king born into the human world is truly unfathomable. Perhaps he truly has the ability to control ghosts and gods."

This topic is a bit like peeking into God's will. The Japanese are quite superstitious, and these two powerful father and son officials in Japan are typical examples.

So they chatted briefly for a few minutes and then didn't dare say anything more. They always felt as if there was something watching them from the dark.

After a while, Tian Numa changed the subject and said, "General Manager He Shenhe has asked us to be prepared. Upon receiving the order, we should burn all the grain."

"He is so cruel and ruthless, truly a great man!" Tanuma Okitsugu, who was also a traitor, gave high praise to his colleague Heshen.

"If we burn all the food, the army will have nothing to eat. Without food, they will have no choice but to continue extorting warriors and even farmers from all over the country.

This will only make the people below even more dissatisfied, and natural disasters even more severe. Only when China can regain control of the people's hearts will things go more smoothly."

"Father, should we keep some? After all, a natural disaster is about to come, and food will be more valuable than gold then." Tanuma Yizhi asked carefully.

Tanuma Oji was also very greedy, but after thinking for a while, he shook his head.

"Let's do it. Japan is so small, and with so many daimyos and samurai watching, there's no place to hide all that food.

Only by truly burning it can we effectively cut off our retreat and ensure the arrival of a major natural disaster."

(End of this chapter)