Volume 1: The Empire Awakens Chapter 66 Nationalism (Part 2)
"Pick it up right now, you Tang pig!"
Three or five Japanese men wearing samurai uniforms and with wooden swords on their waists were surrounding a waiter in the restaurant.
Just as Zhang Yannian was about to go up to intervene, Tan Renhao immediately kicked him from below and told him not to be impulsive.
"He's an immigrant. He probably just came to Japan."
Zhang Yannian helped Tan Renhao translate what the Japanese samurai said: "He is a waiter in the restaurant. Maybe he offended those samurai in some way."
Tan Renhao was slightly startled and quickly glanced at the Japanese warriors.
When Japan completed its capitalist revolution, the Japanese government issued a "sword ban" prohibiting samurai from carrying knives on the streets, and then began to confiscate all knives in the hands of the samurai class.
After World War I, Japan's Bushido spirit began to revive, the effect of the "sword ban" gradually weakened, and more importantly, a new samurai class had emerged in the Japanese army.
These people all advocate the spirit of Bushido and feel honored to be a samurai.
The trend in the army soon spread to the civilian population, and Japanese civilians also began to regard wearing samurai uniforms as a fashion.
Although the effectiveness of the "knife ban" has been weakened a lot, most civilians still dare not bring real knives to the streets, and at most they just play with them at home.
Therefore, all these people were wearing were wooden samurai swords.
Tan Renhao took another look at the waiter lying on the ground.
The several Japanese "samurai" who besieged him were relatively short, even much shorter than the waiter.
This made Tan Renhao a little confused. Why didn't that person fight back? If they really fought, he might not be a match for those Japanese, but at least he could save some face.
"Last year, more than a dozen Tang people were killed in Japan. The imperial government has protested many times and demanded that Japan hand over the murderers, but until now, these matters have not been resolved."
Zhang Yannian explained, "Now, anyone who reveals that they are a subject of the Tang Empire will be attacked in Japan.
Therefore, when we go out, we don’t speak Chinese unless it is necessary, and we try to wear suits to avoid trouble.
Even though we diplomats have diplomatic immunity, if something really happens, no one will care about you."
Tan Renhao sneered.
This can only mean one thing: Japan's nationalism has been incited.
This was already very obvious after World War I.
"Alas, actually, Japan is also quite pitiful."
When Zhang Yannian saw Tan Renhao's slightly angry look, he immediately changed his words and said, "That's not what I meant. I just said that there are reasons why Japan has come to this point.
After the end of World War I, the Japanese people had serious anti-Tang sentiment. Coupled with the Japanese government's propaganda, many ignorant Japanese believed that it was because the Tang Empire was keeping a close eye on Japan that Japan was unable to become a world-class power, unable to obtain its due overseas interests, and even lost the last war.
After more than 20 years of development, I am afraid that no one in Japan knows that their culture originally came from the Tang Empire and they are just students. "
Tan Renhao's gaze fell on the waiter again.
Several Japanese "samurai" were still beating him, but this man was a tough guy and he didn't say a word, let alone beg for mercy.
"Let's go and avoid trouble."
Zhang Yannian took out his wallet and prepared to pay the bill.
"Go out and drive the car over here."
Tan Renhao stood up, he couldn't stand it anymore.
"Tang Gou, if you call us 'Uncle', we will spare you, haha..."
The Japanese man seemed very arrogant. Tan Renhao walked behind him and patted him on the shoulder. He was startled and turned around.
"Who are you? Don't bother with trouble. I'll beat you up."
Tan Renhao smiled, and when the other party looked at him in confusion, he punched him and knocked the Japanese man, who was a head shorter than him, flying out.
At this moment, the other Japanese drew out their wooden samurai swords, and Tan Renhao calmly picked up a stool next to him, then glanced at Zhang Yannian and asked him to go get the car quickly.
When it comes to group fights, Tan Renhao is an old hand. He has been fighting with gangsters in Wenzhou city since he was a child. In such a situation, a stool is definitely more powerful than a few broken wooden knives.
Within two minutes, the other four Japanese were knocked to the ground.
Tan Renhao spat at the nearest one, then reached out and pulled up the waiter of the restaurant.
Zhang Yannian also drove over. Tan Renhao didn't say anything and just pushed him into the car.
"Go back to the embassy directly and don't go anywhere else."
The young man with a bruised nose and face and blood coming out of the corner of his mouth looked at Tan Renhao with a little surprise.
"Are you from the Tang Empire?"
"Yes, I am a naval officer of the Tang Empire and now a military attaché at the Imperial Embassy. "
Tan Renhao stared at him and asked, "Why didn't you fight back at first?"
The young man was stunned and immediately lowered his head.
"Are you still a subject of the Tang Empire? I am ashamed of you!"
Tan Renhao's words were not polite at all, "You didn't fight back when you were beaten. The subjects of the Tang Empire will never not fight back when they are beaten."
"I still have a mother and a sister. I can't offend those people."
"Who are they?"
Tan Renhao gritted his teeth. This was definitely not a reason not to fight back when being beaten.
"They are members of the Ichiwakai, the largest gang in Tokyo."
The young man seemed to have found an excuse. "You are a military attaché, an officer of the empire, so you are naturally not afraid of us. But I am nothing. If I offend them, I will not even have a place to bury my body tomorrow."
“Why don’t you leave Japan?”
Tan Renhao lit a cigarette and gave one to the young man. This was indeed a reason.
"I want to, but I have no money and I don't know what to do when I get back."
Tan Renhao glanced at him, hesitated for a moment, and said, "After you go back, you can choose to join the army. How old are you now? Twenty, or eighteen? Serving the empire is much better than being a dog in Japan!"
"But my mother, sister and others..."
"Can't they go back? What laws in the empire forbid you from returning?"
Tan Renhao sneered and said to Zhang Yannian in front of him, "Find a way to arrange for his family to return to the empire, and send someone to bring his mother and sister to the embassy ."
Tan Renhao did not ask the young man's name, nor did he want to know. He just felt that he should help this suffering compatriot.
