Those Japanese farmers who were able to live a little better were actually reluctant to join the rebellion. But they had no choice. Their houses were burned down by the rebels, and their food was taken away by the rebels. They had to join the rebellion in order to survive.
Twenty-four villages, with more than 10,000 farmers participating, swept towards Tsurumaru Castle.
They did not follow the "Datong Collection" to allocate land, but declared that farmers owned the land. The permanent tenant land would belong to whomever had the name. Those lands no longer belonged to the lords, but belonged to the farmers themselves.
The uprising was not only massive, but also extremely fast. Before Shimazu Yoshimasa could gather his troops, the peasant army had already approached the city.
Hundreds of armed countrymen and ronin were the absolute main force in the peasant army. The rest of the peasants were armed with bamboo spears and wooden sticks, and some simply went to the battlefield with hoes.
Fifty years ago, the Shimadzu family could easily handle this kind of mob.
But now the whole of Japan is similar. Horses are released in Nanshan, and swords and guns are stored in warehouses. The lords and nobles only know how to have fun, and the samurai are unemployed and become ronin in large numbers. They are simply unable to suppress the uprising. What's more, since they were beaten up by the Datong army, the Shimadzu family has completely
Lying flat.
So how were the more than 1,000 peasant uprisings over the two hundred years of the Edo period resolved?
It's very simple. If you agree to the peasants' demands, the peasant army will disperse on its own. After the news has passed, the same thing will be done by killing the leaders at the time and raising taxes again.
This time is different. Following the "Datong Collection" as a guide, farmers need to obtain land!
Shimazu Yoshimasa urgently recruited ronin to defend the castle and promised to continue to employ them after the war.
But the ronin had already suffered a loss. Those who helped fight the Datong Army were still ronin after the war. And some of those who helped the Datong Army fight were hired as samurai after the war.
It’s clear who to help.
Moreover, the ronin in the castle town had long been in contact with the peasant army, and they themselves had the desire to rebel.
Shortly after the siege started, the defenders counterattacked, and the peasant army took the opportunity to rush into the city. Only a few of the Shimazu nobles escaped, and the rest were all killed.
Immediately, the peasant army began to conquer the entire Kagoshima.
The momentum is going smoothly, but the hidden worries are also great. It has been split into three forces.
The first force wanted to learn from the "Datong Collection" to obtain land and force the shogunate to reform the land policy. This was also the core force of the peasant uprising army.
Most of the second force was coerced. They did not want to kill the lord. They only wanted the lord to implement good governance and reduce the annual tribute. Although the lord Shimazu Yoshimasa was killed, his son ran away
If you get two, just welcome the one who escaped and bring him back as the new lord.
The third force is the ronin in the castle town. They belong to the city class and naturally look down on country people. But this uprising was led by country people. Moreover, ronin do not need land, they just want to find stable jobs.
As the peasant army swept through half of Kagoshima, internal divisions became more and more serious.
The shogunate summoned troops from all over the country to suppress them, and finally managed to collect 150,000 troops. However, more than half of them were still on the march, and the Daimyo troops who were close to each other were already fighting against the peasant army in Izumi.
The peasant army had 100,000 troops, but the shogunate army only had more than 40,000 troops. The confrontation lasted for half a month and the outcome was indistinguishable.
Suddenly, the shogunate sent officials over and announced that the annual tribute of farmers in Kagoshima would be reduced.
When this news came out, at least 60% of the peasant army was unwilling to fight anymore. Even those peasants who wanted to obtain land felt that as long as the annual tribute could be reduced, there was no need to fight the court.
A month later, another 20,000 shogunate troops arrived on the battlefield.
Seeing that there were more and more officers and soldiers in the imperial court, more and more farmers wanted to take advantage of the situation. On the contrary, the ronin became more "determined". They were eager to win the war and let the shogunate know their worth. They could only find jobs after the war was over.
Rural scholars and city scholars unite, but village officials and peasants are mostly without fighting spirit.
During the decisive battle, the samurai team composed of country warriors and city warriors bravely charged in and defeated the shogunate army in a small area. But looking at the entire battlefield, most of the peasant armies were in defeat and were defeated by the shogunate army without any warning.
defeated.
The countrymen and city officials had no choice but to flee, taking more than a thousand revolutionary peasants with them into the mountains to avoid being hunted by the shogunate army. They were transformed into bandits and bandits on the spot, and went out to rob the mountains from time to time, specializing in robbing wealthy rural households and castle towns.
Shop.
…
Edo, shogunate.
The shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna fell ill again, and he kept coughing while sitting there, not caring what the senior officers were saying.
The shogunate ten years ago had a fairly wealthy family.
But a fire burned down Edo Castle, and urban reconstruction drained the shogunate's finances. Especially during the reconstruction process, senior middlemen took the opportunity to engage in corruption, making Japan's government even more corrupt.
This time to annihilate the peasant army, the shogunate also had no money, leaving the lords to find their own solutions.
Foreign lords wanted to get military funds, so they had to rob them themselves. Several major cities in Satsuma Domain were looted.
"The farmers' unrest this time is different from the past," said Sakai Tadaki.
These two years were the era when Tadayoshi Sakai took full power.
This powerful minister was not willing to just be the old middle man, and made himself the eldest brother, that is, the leader among the old middle men. It was equivalent to the fact that in the past there were only a group of cabinet ministers, and everyone was on an equal footing, but Tadayoshi Sakai made himself the chief assistant.
The shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna had nothing to do about this, he had long become a decoration.
Hiroyuki Kuze is a close confidant of Sakai Tadakiyoshi, and he immediately followed him: "What do you mean by the elder?"
Sakai Tadakiyoshi said: "The royal family, the Chinese family, the nobles, and the civilians are all divided into four distinct strata. How can the four peoples be equal? The royal family and the daimyo own land, which is also a gift from heaven. How can it be distributed to the peasants? The "Datong Collection" will be shaken.
The foundation of the shogunate is the enemy of all daimyo, and it must be banned!"
"Your Majesty, the elder, is absolutely right." The elders and middle-aged men nodded in succession.
This peasant uprising is so scary. In the past, they would only kill the county officials, but now they even kill the lords. Moreover, they say that all four peoples are equal, and the peasants are clamoring to own land.
Sakai Tadakiyoshi added: "Nowadays, smuggling is serious in various places, and the country must be closed to prevent the influx of "Datong Collection". It is still the same as before, only trading in Nagasaki, and foreigners are not allowed to go ashore. Merchants from China can only live on outlying islands and are not allowed to go ashore.
Set foot on Japanese land."
The old Chinese from the coastal area felt very unhappy, but did not dare to have an attack on the spot.
In the past, Tadayoshi Sakai indulged in smuggling because he was not yet fully in power. Now, not only is he in power, but he also has an extremely legitimate reason for seclusion, which is enough to unite all the daimyo.
Whoever dares to oppose locking the country is a traitor to the country!
When the time comes, the coastal daimyo may wait and see, but the inland daimyo will definitely be willing to attack Buchen.
As for Tadaki Sakai himself, doesn’t he want to profit from smuggling?
Haha, you can make money without smuggling. Who the hell engages in smuggling? After the country is closed to the outside world, trade can only be done in Nagasaki, which is equivalent to the shogunate's monopoly on sea trade. Sakai Tadakichi, who has the power of the shogunate, will make more money than before!
And among the old Chinese here, even if some of them are from the coast, they can still get some share from the monopoly trade.
Those who really have enough motivation to oppose the seclusion of the country are not here at all.
The shogun's uncle, Masayuki Hoshina, as the staunchest supporter of smuggling, has been defeated in the political struggle. He handed over all the power in his hands. He did not have any position in the shogunate, did not need to live in Edo, and could return to his fiefdom to enjoy his old age.
Hoshina Masayuki didn't even care about secular affairs, not even his own smuggling. He sat in the study all day reading and writing, and even personally wrote the "Fifteen Articles of Aizu Family Instructions".
When people get old, they just want to keep their families together and educate their children and grandchildren well.
Tadaki Sakai, who was originally kneeling, knelt straight and said, "Sir, please reiterate the order to lock down the country, expel all foreigners, and severely crack down on smuggling activities."
Tokugawa Ietsuna wanted to speak, but he coughed violently and said feebly: "You have full authority to handle this matter."
As a result, under the command of Tadaki Sakai, daimyo from inland areas were assigned to combat smuggling. They took a small group of elites to the ports of daimyo on the coast, and expelled anyone wearing Hanfu when they saw them. Shops built by Han people were also
Confiscated.
From now on, no smuggling is allowed, only trading in Nagasaki.
In order to avoid offending the Chinese dynasty, the Japanese shogunate expelled all Dutch people from the islands. The Dutch houses and shops were confiscated and sold to the Han people at low prices. Dutch trade was no longer necessary anyway.
At the same time, raising the Sino-Japanese trade limit will not only appease China, but also allow China and Laos to make more money.
This time of seclusion, there was also the participation of Japanese businessmen.
The wealthy merchants of Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo, in cooperation with the shogunate, almost monopolized Nagasaki trade. Smuggling broke this monopoly. The three major business groups secretly lobbied and spent a lot of money to bribe Lao Zhong. Sakai Tadakiyoshi received the most money.
.
Except for the Chinese merchants trading in Nagasaki, all others were expelled.
Merchant ships one after another, carrying Chinese merchants and clerks, returned to the coastal areas of China. People including those from the Sihai Trading Company were also forcibly expelled. However, for the sake of Emperor Zhao, three ships were given to the Sihai Trading Company in Nagasaki every year.
trade volume.
Sakai Tadaki felt that he had given enough face, and the Chinese emperor would not be angry and launch an army because of this.
Li Quan was preparing to go south to explore the ocean. The trade winds had already arrived, but he saw that his ship had returned from Japan and the Japanese springboard to America was locked.
Japan is a big market and can absorb many goods from China.
This lockdown has affected not only maritime merchants, but also land merchants, factory owners, workshop owners and related practitioners.
Moreover, without warning in advance, everything happened so suddenly that many goods destined for Japan were blocked at Chinese ports and could not be sent out.
The envoys from the four provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Shandong went to the imperial court one after another, asking the emperor to send someone to hold the Japanese shogunate accountable.
These chief envoys have never thought about going to war with Japan. For the sake of people's livelihood and the dignity of the Chinese dynasty, they can just hold them accountable and force Japan to increase its trade quota. It is best to open another port.
After reading the report, Zhao Han said: "The garrisons in Shenyang and Nanjing have not fought for a long time, and each has deployed a division to prepare for war. After the spring of next year, the Shenyang army will set off from Lushun, and the Nanjing army will set off from Shanghai. They will not attack anywhere else, but go directly to