Bringing the Railway to Daming

Capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Imperial Palace, Fengxian Hall.

Liu Kuan, along with several cabinet ministers and Grand Councilors, stood in the hall to discuss the postwar treatment of Japan.

It is worth mentioning that Liu Kuan was not summoned by Zhu Yuanzhang this time, but participated as a Grand Councilor. Before the start of the war against Japan, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an imperial edict, giving Liu Kuan the additional role of Grand Councilor.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang originally wanted Liu Kuan to join the cabinet, but firstly, he considered that Liu Kuan was still a bit young, and secondly, he considered that if he joined the cabinet, he would have to take on many tasks, which would delay the work of the Imperial Workshop. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang gave up this idea.

"Let's first talk about how to deal with the Southern Court of Japan."

Although Zhu Yuanzhang felt his energy waning after Empress Ma's funeral, he still maintained a vigorous appearance in front of his officials, and his gaze still carried a powerful pressure when he looked at them.

Minister of Rites Zhan Hui stepped forward first and said, “Your Majesty, since the Southern Dynasty of Japan has submitted a letter of surrender, I believe we can refer to the methods used to deal with the Goryeo Kingdom.”

Minister of Revenue Yang Jing followed up, "I also believe that we can refer to the methods used by Goryeo in dealing with this matter."

Wang Dun, the Minister of Personnel, followed up, "I second that opinion."

Upon seeing this, Liu Kuan quickly stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, I object!"

Liu Kuan's objection immediately drew the attention of Zhan Hui, Yang Jing, and others, who all looked puzzled.

Zhu Yuanzhang: "Liu Kuan, tell me what you're thinking."

Liu Kuan said with a serious expression, "Your Majesty, the Japanese are different from the Koreans. They have a stronger sense of national cohesion and a higher sense of identity with Japan, especially the nobles and samurai class."

"If we follow the same approach as we did with Goryeo and relocate those nobles to cities in the interior of the Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid it will not only be difficult for them to integrate into our Ming Dynasty quickly, but it will also create a group of gentry and wealthy people in the Ming Dynasty who are loyal to Japan."

"A hundred years from now, when the imperial court's control over the local areas weakens, I fear that these people will become the source of chaos!"

Although the cabinet ministers and military councilors all knew that Liu Kuan was a favorite of Zhu Yuanzhang, and even had speculations about Liu Kuan's background, some still couldn't help but question his remarks.

Zhan Hui frowned and said, "Isn't Chief Physician Liu exaggerating? How many noble families does the Southern Dynasty of Japan have? It's less than half the number of noble families in Goryeo in the past. How could it become the source of chaos?"

Liu Kuan said, "Minister Zhan, did I not explain myself clearly? The Japanese are different from the Koreans. They have a stronger sense of national identity, which can even be said to be much stronger than that of the Koreans."

"To use an imperfect analogy, would Minister Zhan easily abandon the Han language, script, and customs just because China is ruled by a foreign race?"

"If one day the power of foreign rule weakens, wouldn't Minister Zhan's descendants plot to restore the legitimate Chinese calendar?"

Zhan Hui frowned deeply upon hearing this.

Because Liu Kuan's problem was clearly a trap.

If he said he would abandon the Han language and script, and that his descendants would not think of restoring the orthodox Chinese calendar, then he would lack backbone, and could even be suspected of wanting to submit to the Mongol rule of the previous dynasty, which would be a political mistake.

If he says no, wouldn't that just confirm Liu Kuan's theory that "the Japanese are the root of all evil"?
He was so angry that his beard bristled, and he didn't know what to say.

At this moment, Minister of Revenue Yang Jing spoke up, "Then what does Grand Secretary Liu think we should do about the Southern Court of Japan? They have taken the initiative to surrender, and our Great Ming cannot make things too ugly, can it?"

Liu Kuan faced Zhu Yuanzhang and said, “Your Majesty, I believe that since the Southern Dynasty of Japan has submitted to the court, the court should be responsible for the people of the Southern Dynasty of Japan—this people refers not only to the nobles and warriors, but also to the common people without surnames.”

"Therefore, please send an imperial envoy composed of the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to deal with the illegal activities of the Southern Court of Japan."

"According to the laws of our Great Ming Dynasty, those who should have their homes confiscated will have their homes confiscated, those who should be exiled will be exiled, and those who should be beheaded or have their entire clan exterminated will be beheaded or have their entire clan exterminated!"

Upon hearing Liu Kuan's words, Zhan Hui, Yang Jing, and the others were all horrified.

Immediately, Zhan Hui hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, you must not do this! Throughout history, there has never been a case of holding someone accountable for crimes committed before surrendering. If the court really does this, it will surely incite the nobles and samurai of the Southern Court of Japan to rise up in rebellion!"

Yang Jing and the others echoed, "We urge Your Majesty to reconsider!"

The hall fell silent for a moment. Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be thinking things over, but after only a dozen seconds, he said, "Do you all think that if the nobles and warriors of the Southern Dynasty of Japan were to rise up in rebellion, our Great Ming Dynasty would not be able to quell it?"

Zhan Hui and the others were taken aback by Zhu Yuanzhang's question and shook their heads in turn, saying, "Of course not."

Zhu Yuanzhang then asked, "Then let me ask you, is it more important for our Great Ming Dynasty to have a solid foundation and long-term stability, or for the lives of those Japanese nobles and samurai?"

Zhan Hui looked bitter, but had no choice but to reply: "Of course, it is more important for the Ming Dynasty to have a solid foundation and long-term stability."

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and said in a loud voice, "What's wrong with killing a group of Japanese nobles and samurai? I'm not afraid to tell you that if I weren't worried about damaging the reputation of the court, I would have directly issued an edict to confiscate the property of all the nobles of the Southern Court of Japan, behead the men, and exile the women! All the samurai will also be exiled!"

Ministers like Zhan Hui were horrified. They hadn't expected Zhu Yuanzhang, at his advanced age, to be so radical and ruthless. So, in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, Liu Kuan's radical advice was actually too conservative?
With that in mind, no one dared to voice any objections for a while.

"Liu Kuan, please continue."

"Yes." With such strong support from Lao Zhu, Liu Kuan was even more motivated. "We certainly don't need to be polite to those Japanese nobles and samurai who have committed crimes. We can even deal with them severely."

"As for the very few Japanese nobles and samurai who have not committed any crimes, or whose crimes cannot be found, I believe that they can be relocated to the interior of the Ming Dynasty."

"But their families must be split up to the extreme. If there are several brothers who are adults, only one of them is allowed to support their parents. The rest must live separately and move to different prefectures."

"Furthermore, it is stipulated that they must change their Han Chinese names, learn Chinese within a specified period, and are forbidden from wearing Japanese clothing. In addition, no items related to Japanese culture are allowed in their homes. If any of these are found, they must be severely punished!"

Although Liu Kuan felt that, according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, there were probably very few nobles and samurai in the Southern Court of Japan who had never committed a crime, he still took extremely strict precautions against them. If there were a legitimate reason, he would have suggested that all male nobles and samurai in Japan be convicted of hard labor.

Zhan Hui and others felt that if Liu Kuan's method was followed, it would be too harsh on the Japanese, and they feared that it might provoke the Southern Court of Japan to surrender and then rebel again.

Or perhaps Liu Kuan's aim was to incite a rebellion in the Southern Dynasty of Japan?

What deep-seated hatred did Liu Kuan have for the Japanese that drove him to want to kill Japanese nobles and samurai?

'Could it be that this person was banished to the mortal realm because they were framed by the gods of the Sun Kingdom in the celestial realm?'

'Or perhaps, in a previous life, this person was reborn in Japan and suffered mistreatment at the hands of Japanese nobles?'

Seeing that they could not change Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, Zhan Hui, Yang Jing, and others began to speculate wildly about the reasons behind Liu Kuan's suggestion.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao both knew why Liu Kuan hated the Japanese so much.

Although Zhu Biao also felt that dealing with the nobles and samurai of the Southern Dynasty of Japan as Liu Kuan suggested was too harsh, tantamount to forcing them to rebel, he also understood that if the matter of Japan was not handled properly, it would leave considerable trouble for the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, he and Zhu Yuanzhang ultimately agreed to follow Liu Kuan's advice in dealing with the nobles and samurai of the Southern Dynasty of Japan.

As for the Japanese Northern Court and Yamato Kingdom, which were conquered by the Ming Dynasty, the nobles and samurai there were no need to worry about dealing with them.

The nobles of the Northern Court in Japan were all subjected to confiscation of their property, beheading of adult men, and exile of women and children.

All samurai who participated in the war against the Ming Dynasty were sentenced to hard labor, sent to mines and build roads—as for those who did not participate in the war against the Ming Dynasty? You say they didn't participate? Japan was about to be destroyed, how could samurai possibly stand up?

Therefore, as long as one was a samurai, one would inevitably participate in the war against the Ming Dynasty!
The Yamato nobility was already small; even if a few families surrendered to the Ming Dynasty in time, they could be dealt with in the same way as the Southern Court nobles and samurai of Japan. It's estimated that none of them would survive…

After the joint meeting of the Cabinet and the Grand Council adjourned, Liu Kuan was kept behind by Zhu De and Zhu Biao.

"Liu Kuan, discussing matters with those people sometimes takes up too much time, so we'd like to hear your detailed explanation of how to handle the matter concerning the Japanese people."

Liu Kuan said, "Even if Your Majesty did not ask, I would still offer my advice on this matter—although the Japanese people are uncultured and few can even read, they are still influenced by Japanese customs and culture, so we must be wary of them."

"My idea is that even if it takes twenty or thirty years, we should relocate the Japanese people and make them all change their names to Chinese names. This is both to make them forget their Japanese ancestors and to do them a favor, since most of the Japanese people do not have surnames at present."

Zhu Biao had no objection to the relocation of the Japanese people, and upon hearing this, he asked, "Then, brother-in-law, where do you think the Japanese people are suitable to relocate to?"

Liu Kuan pondered for a moment, "After all, there are millions of Japanese people. The more dispersed they are when they migrate, the better, so as to prevent them from banding together and affecting naturalization."

"Therefore, I believe that we can migrate more to places like Gansu, the northern desert, Jilin, and the Western Regions; and secondly, to the three southwestern provinces of Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi, which require human development."

“We can also have a group of people relocated from various overseas domains—nowadays, all overseas domains need people, so it shouldn’t be a problem to share over a million Japanese citizens.”

"Finally, a few people may migrate to the provinces in the interior of the Ming Dynasty, like scattering sesame seeds, but there must be no more."

"Furthermore, after these Japanese people migrate, we must pay close attention to the education of their next generation."

"The next generation of Japanese men must go to school to learn Chinese characters; the next generation, regardless of gender, must speak Chinese, and they are even prohibited from speaking Japanese!"

After listening, Zhu Biao nodded, then couldn't help but say, "There are so many Japanese people, it would be difficult to prohibit them from speaking Japanese in just one area."

Upon hearing this, Liu Kuan revealed a rare, somewhat sinister smile and said, "Your Highness, this matter is simple. At that time, we only need to imply that local schools are discriminating against Japanese students."

"Even without implying it, these Japanese who migrated there were likely to face discrimination. And to avoid such discrimination, they would inevitably try generation after generation to hide their Japanese origins."

"If this continues for several generations, perhaps they themselves will forget that their ancestors migrated from Japan." (End of Chapter)