Japan under the feudal dynasty has always had the problem of being strong while the country is weak!

This is because the core of feudal politics is actually raising warriors! Most of Japan's manpower and material resources are used to raise warriors. They have raised countless samurai. They not only need to feed them, but also educate and train them, and strive to cultivate them into moral, intellectual, and physical forms.

A comprehensively developed feudalist warrior.

What needs to be emphasized is that the system of the Tokugawa shogunate was actually not the shogun dictatorship recognized by later generations. There was no dictatorship at all. There was no shogun Tokugawa at the central level, and there was no lord dictatorship at the local level. Because the shogun family is known for its weird things, so

The power of the old and middle-aged people is getting bigger and bigger.

And the local feudal lords and their heirs have all become Edo people because of the introduction of the pilgrimage system. There are no telegraphs or telephones these days, and there is not even a 600-mile express in Japan. How can a bunch of Edo people do it alone?

The rule of the hometown? Therefore, vassal states in various places usually adopt the method of collegiality of ministers to govern.

In fact, those important ministers of the vassal state did not weigh much, and their salaries were only hundreds or thousands of dan. In China, they were just larger landowners.

The real power of Japan lies in the hands of this group of people! Therefore, the only people Japan raises are these samurai who are not engaged in production but specialize in killing people.

There is no doubt that the personal combat effectiveness of this group of warriors is very strong, and they are generally willing to be civilized and martial, and their minds have been washed to be brave and fearless of death. They are very good warriors and can also serve as low-level officers.

But whoever thinks that Japan is a strong military country because of these people who specialize in killing people is talking nonsense!

Because Japan is just a place name, and these professional murderers are divided into about 300 feudal lords, and there are also a group of people who do not get along well and simply become troublesome rogues. And the upper echelons of Japan, the generals are wary of daimyo,

It was a suffocating and solidified feudal system in which daimyo suppressed important ministers. Although the people at the top had to support scholars, they could only do so, and they had to do their best to guard against rebellion by those below.

Therefore, as long as Japan's feudal government system exists, there will be no way to convert the combat effectiveness of the samurai into the combat effectiveness of the country.

Moreover, Japan still has a problem of separation of justice and actual power!

The emperor, who had a great title, had a name but no real power, while the shogunate held real power but no title, so there was a mutually restrictive relationship between title and real power.

Now that the external situation in East Asia has undergone drastic changes, the shogunate in power must make a choice between joining the Chinese Empire or fighting against the Chinese Empire.

However, the lack of status and mutual restraint between vassals put the shogunate in a dilemma. If it joins the Celestial Dynasty, the shogunate must act as a traitor, depose the emperor, and turn the general into the king of Japan. The current Tokugawa shogunate is still very powerful. In addition,

With the support of Heaven, such a treasonous thing may not be unsuccessful.

But the problem is that the Tokugawa family must have a hero in order to succeed in plotting to usurp the throne!

For example, if Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the smart lieutenant general of Mito Domain, is the lord of the shogunate, and he seeks to usurp the throne, there is hope that the matter will succeed. But now there is a stupid lord in the shogunate, how can he usurp the throne?

If we want to fight against the Celestial Empire, we must completely change the shogunate system and establish the centralization of power under the emperor. This means the end of the shogunate!

But the problem is that the strength of the Tokugawa family is too strong, and the prestige of His Majesty the Emperor is too low. Under such circumstances, to end the shogunate and return the great power, can the Tokugawa vassal and the family agree?

Moreover, Feng Fang cannot make decisions on his own. Who among a group of old men can do such a thing?

So when faced with Tokugawa Mitsukuni's alternative, all the shogunate veterans present fell silent.

I don’t know how long the silence lasted before I heard Masayuki Hoshina sigh: "It would be great if the Ming Dynasty were defeated by the Spaniards! Then maybe everything would remain the same!"

Tokugawa Mitsukuni said, "It is impossible for the Spaniards to defeat the Ming Dynasty. Spain only has a population of more than five million. The maximum number of people it can send to China is 5,000. How can it be possible for 5,000 people to defeat the Ming Dynasty?"

He paused and looked at Masayuki Hoshina: "Your Highness Aizu! Do you want to be a loyal minister of the emperor?"

Hoshina Masayuki quickly shook his head: "No, no, this is not possible. Our Aizu clan exists to protect the shogun's family! Even if we are scolded as a traitor and traitor by the world, we will not hesitate!"

Yes, Aizu Izuha has a 530,000 stone seal! How can he exchange it for a loyal minister? How much does a loyal minister cost per kilogram?

"Izu Mamoru, are you a loyal minister of the Emperor?" Masayuki Hoshina then kicked the ball to Matsudaira Nobutsuna.

"Emperor?" Matsudaira Nobutsuna snorted, "I don't know! My family has been a country samurai for generations, and I got my status today because I followed the Lord of Gods. I don't know the Emperor!"

The Musashi Kawagoe Domain has 60,000 koku! It is to be passed on to his son or grandson. If he wants to hand it over in exchange for a loyal minister, then there will be no filial son or grandson in the family!

"I, the Sakai family, have been loyal to the Tokugawa family for generations!" Tadaki Sakai, the lord of the Ueno Amabashi Domain, also expressed his stance.

There’s nothing to say, because his surname is Sakai, he has to help the Tokugawa family to kill people! It’s 1656 in the Western calendar, not 1856! Sakai Tadakiyoshi has not forgotten how to kill people!

Of course, his territory is not large, only 33,000, so he needs to kill more people to perform meritorious deeds! The territory of the group of "loyal ministers of the emperor" in the west looks very big!

Abe Tadaki, who was considered to be the best at getting things done among the old men, frowned and said in a low voice: "Are the Warring States Troubles coming again? Once the world is in chaos, all life will be devastated. This chaos obviously originated from the Ming Dynasty, so why did it spread to

Are you in Japan? We in Japan have not had much to do with them since the end of the Tang Dynasty!"

"Abe-kun!" Matsudaira Nobutsuna looked at the nagging Tadaki and said, "What's the use of talking about this now? Let's talk about something useful!"

Abu Tadaki sighed: "We and other Tokugawa retainers only know Tokugawa, but not the emperor!"

Seeing that all the senior officers had expressed their opinions, Tokugawa Mitsukuni nodded and said in a serious tone: "Since everyone only knows the general and not the emperor, let's become traitors and traitors together!"

"What are we going to do?" Masayuki Hoshina had a straight face and looked very scary. Is he going to Kyoto to kill the emperor?

"First of all," Tokugawa Mitsukuni said, "of course we have to grandly welcome the Chinese envoy American Duke Wei Zaode! Although the Chinese emperor gave us two bitter pills, we should swallow them with a smile!"

"Then what?" Hoshiko asked again.

"Then he signed a secret agreement with the Celestial Envoy."

"A secret agreement to become a vassal?" Baoke asked.

"No." Tokugawa Mitsukuni replied, "Unless China defeats Spain and becomes the overlord in the Pacific, we cannot surrender to China. Because that will lead to Spanish attacks. If Spain uses arms to support the powerful vassal that is trying to overthrow, the shogunate will

There is a possibility of defeat, and the shogunate cannot take such a risk!"

"So what secret agreement are we signing?"

"Of course, it is to remain neutral in name, but in fact it secretly supports China's secret agreement," Tokugawa Mitsukuni said. "The Chinese navy can be allowed to secretly use Mito, Aizu, Kishu, Ezo and other ports, but the condition is that China must provide us with

Provide coastal defense artillery, field artillery, siege artillery, and provide artillery instructors. I studied many battle cases in the Ming and Qing wars, and found that field artillery played a decisive role in forming battles. The shogunate must establish artillery as soon as possible, and then

Only then can we launch a war against the southwestern feudal lords! As long as we defeat the southwestern feudal lords with ulterior motives, the shogun can take another step forward and become the king of Japan!"

"How to deal with the Spanish envoy?" Baokezheng said, "Should we expel him?"

"Of course we can't expel it!" Tokugawa Mitsukuni said with a smile, "Spain is a world empire and a power that Japan cannot resist, so Japan has to adhere to the principle of neutrality and allow the Spanish navy to operate in Nagasaki and Uraga ports.

Stop briefly to replenish food and fresh water.
Chapter completed!