There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 492 Shogunate Mission
The shogunate's delegation accompanied Xu Mingyu to Kagoshima.

The person in charge of the mission was Matsudaira Nobuaki, who was responsible for coming up with the idea. He was also the brother of Matsudaira Sadanobu, a senior official (equivalent to the prime minister) who had resigned many years ago.

For Tokugawa Ienari, Matsudaira Sadanobu was the culprit behind the failure of the Kansei reforms. Matsudaira Nobuaki was Matsudaira Sadanobu's brother and succeeded him as the Tairo (chief minister) after his brother's departure, so he can basically be regarded as a "retainer of Kansei".

Furthermore, Matsudaira Nobuaki had repeatedly objected to Tokugawa Ienari's appointment of members from the Tokugawa branch family, which greatly displeased Tokugawa Ienari.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Matsudaira Nobuaki was appointed as the chief diplomatic envoy to Nanjing to pay homage to the Emperor.

With Matsudaira Nobuaki gone, the position of senior leader naturally became vacant again, and it has been confirmed that the new senior leader will be Mizuno Tadashige, a senior councilor.

Mizuno Tadanari came from the Mizuno clan, a long-established family of close retainers of the shogunate. Almost every shogun had a member of the Mizuno clan serving as a senior minister (Rochu), and many even held the position of Dairo (Grand Elder).

Aoyama Tadahiro, the senior councilor who had previously clashed with Matsudaira Nobuaki, was more trusted by Tokugawa Ienari, but he was too old. Moreover, the Aoyama clan was not as powerful as the Mizuno clan, so he wouldn't be able to command respect if he became the chief elder.

Matsudaira Nobuaki arrived in Kagoshima intending to mediate the war, but upon arrival he discovered that the great war had long since ended.

Kagoshima Castle has been captured by the Han army, and almost all members of the Shimazu branch family, whether they participated or not, have been wiped out.

Shimazu Shigehiro, the Kazusa governor who held real power in the Satsuma Domain, committed seppuku when the castle fell, leaving behind only his young son, the head of the clan, Shimazu Nariaki.

After a series of major battles, the Shimazu clan was almost wiped out. The only one who could still take charge of the overall situation was Shimazu Nariaki, the former head of the Satsuma Domain who had been captured by the Han army.

Matsudaira Nobuaki had no choice but to ignore the brutality of the Han army and appease Shimazu Nariakiro. He then helped Shimazu Nariakiro regain control of the Satsuma Domain in the name of the shogunate, prioritizing stabilizing the situation first.

After nearly two days of turmoil in Kagoshima, the situation was finally stabilized.

Matsudaira Nobuaki, through his mediation, learned the amount of war reparations that the Satsuma Domain demanded from the Han army, which nearly gave him a fright.

In just two relatively minor battles, one of which was a naval battle near the coast, the Satsuma Domain had to pay a staggering 50 taels of silver in reparations.

With so much silver, even selling the Satsuma Domain wouldn't be enough to pay it back, yet Shimazu Nariaki had no choice but to agree. Matsudaira Nobuaki's political acumen was extremely sharp; he instantly realized what the Han army's purpose was in demanding such a high amount of reparations.

The Satsuma Domain certainly couldn't afford such a large indemnity, but it had to pay it anyway, as the Han army was not to be trifled with.

The Satsuma Domain can only find ways to raise money, while the Shimazu Clan currently only has three channels for doing so:
First, they further exploited and oppressed the people by inspecting and reclaiming land.

Secondly, they explored new gold and silver mines within the domain, as Kyushu itself was rich in gold and silver.

Third, they participate in smuggling trade without restriction.

……

The Satsuma Domain has been doing these three things all along, without the Han army urging them.

Previously, when the Satsuma Domain controlled Ryukyu, it launched several land surveys, constantly squeezing the income of the Ryukyu people.

The same applies to the Satsuma Domain; the gold mines within its territory have been almost completely depleted by the Satsuma Domain.

Finding new gold and silver mines depends on luck and time, so the only remaining option is smuggling.

Ryukyu had already been captured by the Han army, and the gold mines were no longer sufficient to mine. Only smuggling could generate a large amount of wealth in a short period of time.

Matsudaira Nobuaki could easily imagine that if left unchecked, the Satsuma Domain would inevitably engage in large-scale maritime smuggling in order to afford the war reparations.

Historically, there has never been any issue of reparations. In order to repay the foreign debts owed by Shimazu Shigehiro, the Satsuma Domain had already been engaging in smuggling along the coast with impunity.

Eventually, the shogunate could no longer tolerate the smuggling and severely punished the Satsuma Domain. The Satsuma Domain's chief retainer, Hiroto Tsushiro, who was in charge of the smuggling, was executed by seppuku.

Matsudaira Nobuaki had thought of it, but he didn't say it directly.

Even though the Satsuma Domain hasn't done that yet, and besides the fact that his main purpose in making this trip to the Celestial Han Dynasty was to pay homage to the emperor, he also wanted to petition the emperor of the Celestial Han Dynasty to discuss the specific matters of the shogunate opening the sea.

The Tokugawa Ienari's understanding of the full opening of the seas was not the same as the understanding of the Han Dynasty.

Tokugawa Ienari was ultimately forced to agree to open the seas, so his thinking remained the same: either not open the seas at all, adhering to the ancestral law of national isolation, or open the seas, but only to a very limited extent.

Limited opening of the seas simply meant opening a few more designated ports, with the shogunate setting trade limits for each port. Even after deciding to open the seas, Tokugawa Ienari still didn't forget to restrict maritime trade development, and this approach could very well have the opposite effect!

Matsudaira Nobuaki quickly arranged matters concerning the Satsuma Domain and then prepared to follow Xu Mingyu's official ship to the Great Han via Ryukyu.

The Han Chinese troops in Kagoshima, having received orders, also gradually withdrew from the Satsuma Domain.

Upon hearing the news, many people from the Satsuma Domain and ronin rushed to the roadside, knelt down, and kowtowed to see off the departing Han army.

This move left Matsudaira Nobuaki, the shogunate's envoy, extremely embarrassed, but he could only watch helplessly.

Because the Han army did nothing at all; they simply provided grain and recruited people from the Satsuma Domain to serve as laborers during the attack on Rokuji Castle, as was their custom.

The people of the Satsuma Domain were ordinary citizens. Under the rule of noble daimyo, they always lived under oppressive conditions and were constantly on the verge of starvation. If they managed to avoid starvation, it was considered that the daimyo was "caring for and loving his people."

As a result, the Han Chinese soldiers who came to fight in Kagoshima actually provided them with food and hired them as laborers.

Those who served as laborers for the Han army did not have to pay for their own food; the Han army provided all their rations, and they could eat until they were full.

This was just for the laborers who were fed. When the Han army arrived in Kagoshima, they purchased and replenished some fresh water and other goods, all of which were paid for in real money, but in Han copper coins.

Although the Han Dynasty copper coins were issued differently from Japanese currency, this did not affect their normal circulation in the Satsuma Domain and even in the Kyushu region.

Because the copper coins of the Han Dynasty were made of a lot of copper, although the shogunate forcibly restored the "rice standard", metal currency had already become an indispensable part of the local economic system for the powerful Kyushu Island.

After all, the Satsuma Domain was involved in smuggling. If everything was calculated using the "rice standard," would foreign merchant ships also use rice to trade?
Isn't that pure nonsense?
When the Han army arrived in Kagoshima, they did not harm the people in any way, but they did provide food, money, and laborers. Even many local ronin and vagrants who could not make a living came to help when they saw the Han army attacking Kagoshima Castle, just to get a meal.

To the ronin and commoners of Satsuma Domain, the Han army was like gods descending to earth. There was an army in the world that did not plunder or kill indiscriminately, and that even gave these lowly serfs money, allowing them to eat precious rice and eat until they were stuffed.

The heavenly soldiers of the gods had been too good to them. Now that the heavenly soldiers were leaving, all the common people and ronin knelt down and begged the heavenly soldiers to stay and continue to rule them.

The Han army was also helpless in this regard, as they had too few troops and the imperial court currently had no plans to attack Japan.

This attack on Kagoshima was an unexpected event, merely intended to teach the Satsuma Domain a lesson.

I never expected that the Satsuma Domain would be so easily defeated; it couldn't withstand even a slight attack.

Moreover, the Han army simply fought a normal war, using food to recruit Japanese laborers and ronin servants, which won over the hearts of the people of the Satsuma Domain.

Just how old must these Japanese pirates be?
It's astonishing that the people under its rule are reduced to such a miserable state, where a single full meal is enough to make them devoted to the government, and giving them money is considered divine intervention.

Meanwhile, Matsudaira Nobuaki led the shogunate's delegation, taking advantage of Xu Mingyu's favorable winds, first sailing south through the Ryukyu Islands, stopping briefly in Taiwan Prefecture for supplies, and then continuing on to Xiamen Port in Fujian.

It didn't take more than a few days for Guo Qianzong's Han troops to stay in Xiamen port for resupply.

After replenishing their troops and equipment, they will return to Ryukyu and will serve as a permanent overseas force for the Ryukyu Kingdom.

The initial term of the garrison was set at three years, with troops returning to Japan every three years for rotation, coinciding with the term of office of the Ryukyu prefect.

Of course, the Ryukyu Kingdom still has a king, and it has not formally ceded territory to the Ryukyu Kingdom. Therefore, the Ryukyu prefectural magistrate cannot be considered a true prefectural magistrate for the time being, but rather a prefectural magistrate of a vassal state that coexists with the king.

The magistrate of a vassal state was attached to the Ministry of Personnel and was a temporary official position on the Han side, not much different from a real county magistrate. The only difference was that the magistrate had more power and could even mobilize the Ryukyu garrison in special circumstances.

After Xiamen Port consulted with the imperial court via telegram, Xu Mingyu led the shogunate delegation north to Taicang Port.

The Han Dynasty did not open its seas for long, and Shanghai at that time was still a small fishing village on the coast of Taicang Prefecture, where development costs were too high. Therefore, the port opened to the sea by the Han Dynasty was still the Taicang Port of the Ming Dynasty.

Given the current trend of maritime trade development in the Han Dynasty, it is unlikely that Shanghai will ever appear again.

Because Taicang Prefecture has significant inherent advantages, coupled with continuous support from open-sea policies, Shanghai will find it difficult to surpass Taicang and develop into a major port city unless it receives special policy incentives.

After sailing at sea for several more days, Xu Mingyu, carrying the official ship of the Japanese delegation, finally arrived at Taicang Port.

Upon arriving at Taicang Port, they needed to change ships. Xu Mingyu and the Japanese delegation took the opportunity to disembark, rest, and get some fresh air, while also buying a local gazette to check for news from China.

(End of this chapter)