Chapter 303: Under the Earth Seat
"Sir, please!"
Seeing Assistant Komatsu staring at him and Shirakawa Kaede's expressionless face, Tozawa Masahiro came back to his senses.
"Xiao Feng, wait! Wait!" Tozawa Masao stood up hurriedly, "I just said it casually, just casually."
The neatly combed hair and ironed suit now looked messy and disheveled.
"If you disagree, just pretend I didn't say anything. Miss, please go ahead and do your work. I'll have a chat with your president."
Tozawa Masao first hurriedly comforted Shirakawa Kaede, and then kindly advised Assistant Komatsu not to bother with him for the time being.
Assistant Komatsu looked at Shirakawa Kaede, who nodded slightly.
After she left the room again, Tozawa Masaru took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the sweat from his forehead.
His nephew was too strong and Tozawa himself could not keep up with the pace of his speech.
"Tozawa-san, do you know why the Chinese are declining and becoming less and less popular?"
This time, Baichuan Feng didn't wait for him to explain anything and asked a rather direct question first.
To be honest, this question made Tozawa feel a little embarrassed, after all, he was one of the declining Chinese clans.
But when it comes to this issue, he is also willing to take risks.
"Of course it's because of General Mike's order!" When talking about this, Tozawa Masaharu was also full of resentment. How good were his childhood days.
At that time, the nobility had not yet been abolished, and various privileges were clearly written in the "Nobility Order" or the "House of Lords Order".
When he was a child, Masahiro Tozawa lived the life of a rich young master, and even went to school at a study academy run by the Chinese.
As for any exam thresholds or graduation requirements, there are none at all.
Not only that, as long as you graduate from Gakushuin, you will most likely be able to go directly to the family fiefdom and get a job as an official.
Positions such as mayor and county civil servants are basically prepared for them.
But since the Chinese were forced to abolish it in 1948, all of these have either disappeared or slowly faded away.
The decline of the Tozawa family began from that time. Tozawa Masao's father, Tozawa Masamichi, was the last head of the Tozawa clan.
He was also the last remnant of the Tozawa family in local power. After he stepped down as mayor of Shinjo in 1965, he moved his family to Tokyo.
From then on, the Tozawa clan officially broke away from Dewa and Mutsu, which they had ruled for nearly three hundred years, and the family's influence was directly cut off.
Originally, according to the family's foundation, even if the Tozawa family left their previous territory, they could still live well.
After all, the Tozawa family has been in business for hundreds of years, and their assets are incalculable in several northeastern prefectures such as Akita, Yamagata, and Iwate.
However, after Tozawa Masamichi passed away in 60 AD, the last head of the Tozawa family was completely lost in the long river of time.
According to the Chinese inheritance order, it is also a mandatory legal requirement to preserve the family status.
If Tozawa Masao wants to inherit his father Tozawa Masamichi's inheritance, that is, all the property of the Tozawa family, he needs to pay taxes.
How much? 90%!
Yes, Chinese inheritance is subject to extremely high tax rates, with the highest amount reaching 90%.
Unfortunately, the Tozawa family needs to pay taxes according to this rate.
The 1950s was a turbulent and chaotic era.
At that time, the Yakuza, as the police's partner, could walk the streets and alleys in a big way to maintain law and order. Sometimes, they could even exercise some law enforcement powers.
Without his father's protection, what can a young man like Tozawa Masaru do?
Faced with such a high inheritance tax, he had no choice but to pay the tax honestly.
Otherwise, believe it or not, he was the only one hanging the street lamp at night. At worst, he could just blame the Red Army and be cleared of all charges.
As a result, overnight, the Tozawa family's wealth shrank by nearly 90%, and all local investments in several counties in the northeast were confiscated into the national treasury.
The only things that remain are a few houses in Tokyo and the birthplace of the Tozawa family in Shinjo City, Yamagata, where their ancestral graves were located.
This is also the reason why Tozawa Masao became extremely envious after seeing the newly built courtyard of Shirakawa Kaede's family at Xiaolu's place.
Because there were similar gardens in Tozawa in the past, some were even bigger than this one, and there was more than one.
But now they have all been put into the national treasury and auctioned off to private individuals.
This is the price to pay for preserving Tozawa Clan's Honorary Noble, and this is also the price Tozawa Masaharu paid in order to be able to attend the Kasumi Hall gathering.
And experiences like that of Mr. Tozawa are common among the Chinese.
The first to suffer from such a high inheritance tax are the lower classes of the Chinese, the viscounts and barons.
They do not have the background and influence of dukes and marquises, so they have no way to exploit loopholes in the law and can only pay taxes obediently.
Therefore, many viscounts and barons, in order to maintain their family titles, were willing to sell off their property and tighten their belts.
But despite this, the number of Chinese members joining Xia Association has been gradually decreasing in recent years.
Therefore, in the eyes of the lower-class nobility like Tozawa Masaharu, the abolition of the nobility and the decline of the family were all due to the orders of General Mike of the United States.
Without pressure from the United States, how could the emperor issue such a decree?
It’s all America’s fault!
"No! The abolition of the Chinese people in the United States is at most one of the inducements." Baichuan Feng directly interrupted his self-deception.
What Emperor Mai? He is just a catalyst.
Unlike Tozawa Masahiro's resentment, Shirakawa Kaede's perspective on the Chinese people is more objective and rational.
"Hey, Xiao Feng, Iwata Sozo-san clearly said that he had to abolish the Chinese tribe because of pressure from the United States."
Iwata Sozo explained to the nobles in the House of Nobles that this was an order from the United States and the Emperor had to obey it.
Tozawa Masafusa and the others also believed it. After all, the United States is their father, how could they resist?
As a result, the Chinese families, who had been making some noise at first, immediately stopped making any noise and obediently accepted the order to abolish the Chinese family.
But today, Shirakawa Kaede told him that this was not the reason, which surprised Tozawa Masahiro.
“Tozawa-san, ever since the day the Hua Clan was established, it has been opposed by the world.
The Kazoku was established during the Meiji period, which was a period of innovation.
At a time of great change, we are taking a historical turn. Does the outside world really have no opinion on this?"
Facing Shirakawa Kaede's questioning, Tozawa Masao moved his lips, and finally fell into rare silence.
“ The reason why the Chinese clan was established at that time was, firstly, to comfort the many meritorious officials of the previous dynasty, and secondly, the traditional forces were still very large at that time, and it was not appropriate to directly abolish the existence of the nobility.
But at that time, the European aristocracy had gradually withdrawn from the political stage and was widely criticized by the world.
Influenced by this Western thought, a wave of criticism also swept across Japan.
Do you know how the major media judged the Chinese at that time? 'Nothing but foodies'! "
Tozawa Masao's body trembled and his face turned pale and blue.
“With the liberation of feudal ideas, the Chinese are destined to be replaced. This is the natural law of social development.
Just ask any ordinary person on the street today, are they willing to accept that there is a superior class above them?
No, the Japanese people today will no longer accept any nobles stipulated by law except the de facto emperor. "
Shirakawa Kaede took off the so-called Chinese cloak and appeared naked in front of Tozawa Masahiro.
“Besides the masses, would the cabinet ministers who hold real power be willing to see the Chinese become stronger?
Tozawa-san, haven't you noticed that fewer and fewer Chinese are still involved in politics nowadays?"
Tozawa Masao was stunned for a moment, then seemed to have figured something out, and his face became even darker.
Yes, the Chinese are inextricably linked to the royal family. They are either close relatives or marriage partners.
In short, in the eyes of outsiders, the Chinese and the royal family are naturally one. In the previous Chinese privilege regulations, there was a clause that the Chinese were required to mourn for the royal family.
If the nobility are powerful and have great influence in the political world, how will the cabinet ministers who hold real power deal with it? Is the royal family starting to take power again?
Therefore, the weakening of the Chinese people is the result that many forces would most like to see, except for the royal family who are friendly with them.
Not everyone in the political arena likes the Chinese. Although the dukes still rule the local areas today, that is the foundation that cannot be eliminated in a short period of time.
However, once the lower-class Chinese leave politics, they will basically be isolated from politics in the future.
Nowadays, most Chinese people have turned their attention to the financial world. Since they have no power, they might as well become a wealthy man.
With their influence, it should be no problem for them to keep their wealth.
Did Tozawa Masahiro understand the truth about the decline of the Chinese? He did, but he just didn't want to admit it.
He tried every means to get involved with Baichuan Feng, perhaps with the intention of becoming a rich man.
As for the glory of the Tozawa family, it would be best if it could be carried forward in the future, but if not, it would be fine to live in wealth for the rest of your life.
Now that Shirakawa Kaede has laid it all out, Tozawa Masafusa no longer has the pride and reserve he just had.
After the so-called Chinese halo faded from him, he is now just an ordinary middle-aged man with gray hair and a lonely look.
"Xiao Feng!" Suddenly, Tozawa Masao stood up and bowed 90 degrees to Shirakawa Feng.
"Eh?" Baichuan Feng was stunned by him. What was he trying to do?
"Xiao Feng, please help the Tozawa family. The glory of our ancestors may not be restored, but the Tozawa family name must be passed on!"
As he spoke, Tozawa Masafusa lowered his head again, still maintaining the bowing posture.
"But Tozawa-san, there's no need to mention changing your last name. I will keep the last name Shirakawa."
To be honest, although Baichuan Feng did not recognize this uncle, it is a fact that he is his elder.
Now that Tozawa, as an elder, has shown him such a great respect, Shirakawa Kaede also looks at him with admiration.
Although this Tozawa-san was a little unreliable, his ability to bend and stretch was enough to make him feel at home in the Kasumi Hall.
Unlike other viscounts and barons, who disappear after a few years.
However, it is impossible to ask Baichuan Feng to change his surname. The surname Baichuan will not be worse than any other Chinese surname in the future.
He has the confidence and the capital to be proud of himself.
"Xiao Feng, you don't need to change your surname. It will be enough as long as one of your future offspring can inherit the Tozawa surname."
Tozawa Masao has figured it out. Since Shirakawa Kaede is not capable, he will try to find his descendants to inherit the Tozawa family's legacy.
Shirakawa Electric has already gained a great reputation now, and his family composition in the future will not be bad either.
It is even possible that a new family will be formed, and if so, his descendants will inevitably enjoy elite education.
The offspring who receive such education are naturally better than ordinary people.
Then it would be best to let one of them inherit the Tozawa family's surname. The two are naturally close in blood, which is much more reliable than recruiting a son-in-law or adopting a son.
In addition, given the nephew's strong character, he would definitely not stand idly by if the descendants who inherited the Tozawa family encountered difficulties in the future.
In this way, the family's inheritance is guaranteed, and with Baichuan Feng's protection, it may even be able to reach a higher level.
In order to continue the family, Tozawa Masao put in a lot of effort and made all the calculations work.
Baichuan Feng was once again surprised by his proposal.
Wow, it all starts with one thing after another, and it’s following me, right?
Seeing that Shirakawa Kaede didn't say anything, Tozawa Masahiro made up his mind, "Pa", "Bang"!
"Tozawa-san, what are you doing?!"
Tozawa Masahide, who was kneeling on the ground, didn't even raise his head and replied sullenly, "Xiao Feng, please have pity on me, a man without an heir!"
this……
