Mito Domain, Owari Domain, and Kishu Domain are all blood relatives of the Tokugawa family, and are listed as the three Tokugawa clans.
The Mito Domain Kodokan is the largest domain school in Japan. The Kodokan is very lively today because Zhu Zhiyu, a great scholar from the Ming Dynasty, is coming here to explain the meaning of scripture.
When I heard that Mr. Zhu was invited, Mito Domain Lord Tokugawa Mitsukuni was overjoyed and listened to his lectures in person together with Aizu Domain Lord Hoshina Masayuki.
Although his surname was Hoshina, he was the uncle of the current lord Tokugawa Ietsuna. Because he was not born to Tokugawa Hidetada's first wife, Hidetada's wife was jealous and had to give him to the Hoshina family as an adopted son, so he changed his surname to Hoshina.<
/p>
Zhu Zhiyu was so eloquent that he talked endlessly about Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, Zhu Xi, and the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, which made the two feudal lords fascinated.
"Oh, I have benefited a lot from listening to Mr. Mitsuo's lectures. How lucky is the Mito Domain that we can hire such a great talent as Mr." Tokugawa Mitsukuni was extremely happy.
"Sir, please come to Aizu Domain to give lectures when you are free. But as you are destined, I will do whatever I can to do," Masayuki Hoshina also said.
This was originally a polite statement, but unexpectedly, Zhu Zhiyu hit the snake and followed it with a stick. He bowed deeply to the two of them and said, "I have something to ask of you. Please help me, the two feudal lords."
"Oh, sir, please speak."
"I, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, want to expand trade with your country and exchange what is needed. This is really a good thing that will benefit the people of both countries. It is a pity that your country has too few ports??"
Zhu Zhiyu was so eloquent that he insisted that the two feudal lords felt that if they refused to agree, they would be sorry for the long-standing friendship between China and Japan, the hundreds of millions of people in the two countries, and Yao, Shun, Yu, Confucius and Mencius. They immediately agreed: "Don't worry, sir.
We will definitely give advice to the general if we have the chance."
??
Edo Castle was originally a small town. After the Tokugawa shogunate built it here, it took thirty years to expand it. The castle is high and the pond is deep, and the outer moat alone is about thirty-two miles long. There is the Honmaru (main castle) inside.
), Ninomaru (1st floor outer castle), Sannomaru (2nd floor outer castle), Nishinomaru (Western outer castle) and other castle outlines. The castle tower (the shogun’s residence) and Ooku (the shogun’s harem) are both located in the Honmaru
Inside.
Ordinarily, the shogunate is a minister of His Majesty the Emperor, and should live in Nijo Castle, the shogunate's residence in Kyoto. But if he lives in Kyoto, he must often kneel down and worship the emperor as a courtesy. How can this be done? The shoguns believe in "man can conquer heaven" and are unwilling to do anything.
Just go to the Imperial Palace and kneel down. It’s good to stay in Edo!
In the Edo Castle Tower, a twelve-year-old boy was playing with his maid and building a snowman. Suddenly he lost his nerve, foamed at the mouth, and actually took off his shoes and threw them into the sky on a freezing day.
"The goddess scatters flowers, haha, the goddess scatters flowers," the boy murmured.
This miserable child is none other than the fourth shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna. A very miserable child! His father Tokugawa Iemitsu passed away two years ago; he lost his mother Arakunokata (Hoshuin) a year ago;
God seemed to think that he was not suffering enough, and caused him to have problems with his intelligence, sometimes sober and sometimes confused.
"Lord!"
Seeing Tokugawa Ietsuna like this, the sixty-three-year-old Ii Naotaka was heartbroken and burst into tears. He put on his shoes for him, held him tightly in his arms, and whispered comfort. After a long time, Tokugawa Ietsuna finally
I regained my composure and returned to normal.
Naotaka Ii is an extraordinary person. He is the first shogunate in Japanese history, the lord of Ueno Shirai Domain, with a name worth 350,000 koku.
He is a general of the Tokugawa family and a good man.
During the Battle of Osaka, he captured the famous general of the Toyotomi side, Nagasogabu Morichika. Morichika complained that the food was not good and shouted: "As a general, he wants to eat such low-class food. It's better to kill him as soon as possible."
I'm fine." After hearing this, he was not angry at all. Instead, he untied Morichika and had dinner together. The second generation general Tokugawa Hidetada heard that Morichika had been captured, so he asked Morichika to comment on the armies of both sides. Morichika said: "Tokugawa Hidetada
The biggest contributor to the Sichuan Army was Ii Naotaka, who defeated me, and the biggest culprit on the Toyotomi side was me."
When I heard that even the enemies praised Ii Naotaka, Tokugawa Hidetada valued Ii Naotaka more and more. When he abdicated, he made him the eldest shogunate to assist his son Tokugawa Iemitsu; when Tokugawa Iemitsu died, he made him join another eldest brother, Sakai Tadakatsu.
, assisting his son Tokugawa Ietsuna.
"Mr. Naohyo, why are you here?"
Tokugawa Ietsuna regained his consciousness and asked Ii Naotaka.
"My lord, the envoy from the Ming Dynasty is here, please meet me."
Tokugawa Ietsuna returned to Daou to bathe and change clothes, and received the Ming Dynasty envoy Zhou Hezhi and his son Zhou Lingao in a graceful manner. He spoke elegantly and behaved dignifiedly. He didn't look sick at all. He didn't look like a child, but more like a child.
Mature politician.
Two close relatives, Hosuna Masayuki, Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the elders Ii Naotaka, Sakai Tadakatsu, the elders Matsudaira Nobutsuna, and Abe Tadaki accompanied them.
In addition to holding positions in the Tokugawa shogunate, all of these people had their own domain and Ishiga. Among them, Hoshina Masayuki and Tokugawa Mitsukuni belonged to the close domain, and the other four belonged to the Daimyos who were closely related to the Tokugawa clan. They were closely related to the Tokugawa clan.
When a family is prosperous, it will be prosperous, and when it suffers, it will suffer, so it is natural to be loyal.
When Chinese envoys came to Japan in the past, they always asked Japan to follow the Korean example and treat them with courtesy. This made the Japanese very disgusted. Japan has never proclaimed itself a vassal to China, so why should we follow the Korean example? Therefore, many people
Things often cannot be agreed upon.
However, both Zhou Hezhi and Zhou Lingao, father and son, are familiar with Japan and are very familiar with Japan's national conditions. They deliberately avoid etiquette and pursue reality instead. This attitude of hiding their names and practicing truth has won a lot of favor from the Japanese side.
After listening to Zhou and his son explain their purpose of visit, Tokugawa Ietsuna said politely: "My envoy, please go to the embassy to rest. After the shogunate has discussed it, I will give you a reply."
"My lord, you must not agree to Ming Dynasty's request! Most of these ports are in the territory of foreign daimyo. Once trade is liberalized, the strength of ambitious people will increase." Tadakatsu Sakai, Nobutsuna Matsudaira,
Tadaki Abe objects.
"My lord, it is actually a good thing to open more ports. Expanding trade with Ming Dynasty and Korea can increase the shogunate's fiscal revenue. As for the ports being located in the territories of those outside the daimyo, this is easy. If it is replaced by our Tokugawa clan
"The port on the territory is", Masayuki Hoshina, Mitsukuni Tokugawa, and Naotaka Ii partially agreed to open additional ports.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
There was no consensus within the shogunate, and discussions for several days yielded no results.
Suddenly, it was reported that the envoy of Satsuma Domain, Shimazu Tsunahisa, asked to see him.
??
"What's wrong with Tsunajiu here?"
Tokugawa Ietsuna asked kindly. Unlike the previous three shoguns, he was a soft-hearted good man and very kind to others. Only two years after he took the throne, he ordered a ban on self-sacrifice and put his father Tokugawa Iemitsu's military politics behind him.
Changed to civilized politics. Unfortunately, good people suffer many hardships, get sick, and have intellectual problems.
Tsunahisa Shimazu showed the unique arrogance of a Satsuma warrior, his chest straightened, and his body as tense as an arrow. He looked directly at Tokugawa Ietsuna, "I come here, my father, Shimazu Satsuma Mitsuhisa, and fifteen others.
By order of the feudal lord, I request the shogun to open more ports at Hyuga, Shimonoseki, Hirado, Kochi, Ishinomaki, and Uwajima to trade with Ming Dynasty and Korea."
At that time, the Tokugawa clan gave the surname "Matsuhira" (the original surname of the Tokugawa clan) to Shimazu Mitsuhisa (similar to the surname given to Zheng Chenggong by Emperor Takamu as "Zhu Chenggong"), and called Shimazu Mitsuhisa "Matsudaira Satsuma Morimitsuhisa". Shimazu
Tsuna calls himself "subordinate" instead of "subordinate"; he calls his father Shimazu Satsuma Morimitsuhisa instead of "Matsuhira Satsuma Morimitsuhisa". This is a naked provocation to the Tokugawa shogunate.
Sakai Tadakatsu, the elder of the shogunate, was furious: "The lock-down order is a national policy. Do you want to rebel by gathering fifteen daimyo and threatening the general?"
Shimazu Tsunahisa was not afraid: "What Mr. Tadakatsu said is wrong. We are all ministers of His Majesty the Emperor, not Tokugawa family members. How can we conspire against him? Moreover, the matter has been clearly approved by the Emperor. How can it be difficult?"
Isn't the Tokugawa family a minister of the emperor? Please give me your permission, general."
According to Japanese practice, the abdicated Emperor enjoys the same power as the Emperor, so Emperor Gomizuo can only suppress his daughter Emperor Meisho after he abdicates.
Upon hearing that Youming Zheng was approving the emperor, the expressions of everyone present changed drastically.
Ii Naotaka snorted coldly, "You said there is an imperial approval, where is it? Show it to the general."
Shimazu Tsunahisa handed over the memorial. There was only one word "ke" on it, which was indeed the imperial approval and seal of Emperor Meisho.
The old man, Matsudaira Nobutsuna, was very angry and said in a deep voice: "Emperor Mingzheng violated the "Laws on Prohibition and Public Affairs", which is too much!"
Tokugawa Ietsuna asked Ii Naotaka in a panic: "Naotaka, how should I deal with my cousin?"
As soon as Ii Naotaka heard the general say "cousin" instead of "emperor", he knew that the general could not bear to use harsh methods to deal with his blood relatives.
He sighed and said in a low voice: "This matter is strange. Emperor Mingzheng has always kept aloof from the world and does not care about political affairs. Why did he suddenly approve the memorial? There must be someone in the palace causing trouble. But if you sit back and ignore it, it will affect your prestige, general.
. You can write a letter to reprimand her; cut this year’s tribute rice in half again; strictly order the Kyoto Governor Itakura Shigemune to seal the imperial palace and not allow anyone to enter the imperial palace without the consent of the shogunate.
"Well, I will obey Nao Takako." After hearing this, Tokugawa Ietsuna breathed a sigh of relief. He really couldn't bear to be cruel to his cousin.
Naotaka Ii suddenly shouted to Shimazu Tsunahisa: "If the general does not agree, what do you want?"
Shimazu Tsunahisa did not show any weakness and replied boldly: "If the general does not agree, we will only be broken into pieces!"
At the moment when the sword was at stake, Masayuki Hoshina whispered to Tokugawa Ietsuna: "General, you might as well stabilize the envoy first, and then reply after discussion."
"Yes." Tokugawa Ietsuna trusted his uncle very much. Hearing this, he said to Tsunahisa Shimazu kindly: "Tsunahisa will go to the library to rest first, and I will give Tsunahisa a reply after I think about it."