Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 336 Japan’s New Strategy (II)
Date Masamune knew that once he swallowed the poison bait of Heian Road, he would be obedient to the shogunate from then on - he was not arrogant enough to think that he could compete with the Ming Dynasty with his own strength. Then, once he took over Heian Road, the Date family would stand at the forefront of the fight against the Ming army and would have to rely on the support of the shogunate from then on.
However, this poison bait had to be taken - a full two million stones of land.
The fief of the Date family in mainland Japan is now the Sendai Domain, with a nominal fief of 665,000 koku. After years of development by the Date family, the current output is only 1.3 million koku (later, through the development of commerce and the reclamation of wasteland, it reached 2 million koku on the eve of the Meiji era). The current koku of the Heian-do land is 2 million koku, more than doubled - this is just a rough statistic, and the actual number can only be higher. Date Masamune knew that as long as he dared to refuse this arrangement, Tokugawa Yoshinao would immediately spread the news, and then the retainers of the Date family would rebel!
"I have truly felt the kindness of His Highness. Please tell His Highness that I have no objection to this distribution."
"Yoshi! As long as His Excellency Chu-nagon agrees, this matter will basically be settled!"
After discussing the most confidential matters, the two men came down from the watchtower and continued to move forward along the Yalu River defense line under the protection of a group of warriors.
"This time, in addition to conveying my brother's opinion on the distribution of territory, I also want to discuss a few things with the Chunagōng."
"Please speak, Mr. Senator."
"Well, the first thing is the issue of taxation on Korea. According to my brother's wishes, we will exempt Korean people from taxes this year. But starting next year, as the Ming navy becomes stronger, Siam may stop sending us food. At that time, we must be self-sufficient."
"Eh? Why, Your Highness, do you think our country's maritime superiority can only last for a year?"
"We Japanese don't have a naval advantage. This is only possible because Siam and Spain are closely united with us. Even so, according to my brother's estimation, this advantage can only last for a year."
"This is really a bit unexpected."
"Hehe." Although he is only fifteen years old, he has grown up with the time traveler, and the influence he has received is really extraordinary. Therefore, Tokugawa Yoshinobu has already had a general demeanor at this moment: "Mr. Chu-nagon, according to the information provided by the predecessor Hattori Hanzo, the Changsha Shipyard of Ming Dynasty can produce four first-class battleships and six second-class battleships, as well as more auxiliary ships every year. Do you know how long it takes for our country to produce the ten first-class battleships it has now? It took a full six years! Although there are factors that our predecessor did not want to build ships on a large scale, and we just started to build ships and need to explore. However, the gap is still too big.
Since last year, my country has started to build ships on a large scale. But as of now, a year has passed, and my country's navy has only obtained three first-class battleships and five second-class battleships. It seems to be similar to Ming Dynasty. If Siam's production is added, it is estimated that there is still an advantage. However, Ming Dynasty has opened a new shipyard.
So, my brother estimates that by the end of this year, the ratio of our three-nation coalition forces to the Ming Kingdom's first-class warships will be 40:50. By the middle of next year, it is estimated to be 50:55. By that time, the two sides will be basically equal in strength. "
"so?"
"So, according to my brother's idea, this year, on the one hand, we will ask Siam to send us another batch of food. On the other hand, the three-nation joint fleet will continue to attack the coastal areas of Ming, forcing the Ming fleet to fight us. If the Ming generals can't bear the pressure from the civil officials this year and are forced to fight us, then everything will be fine. If the Ming crown prince can withstand the pressure for the generals, then we may have a decisive battle with the Ming fleet that takes the initiative to approach us in the middle of next year. At that time, it will be hard to say who will win."
"Hmm..." He took off the eye patch of his blind eye and scratched his eye socket which had become hot and itchy due to long-term pressure. Date Masamune thought for a while and said, "So, if the war drags on until the middle of next year, Korea will become a battlefield."
"Yes." Nodding, Tokugawa Yoshinori said gloomily, "Although this Joseon king is very timid and runs very fast, he did one thing very thoroughly: we failed to capture any princes. Not to mention princes, we failed to capture any of the Li clan members who had Joseon kings for three generations."
"Haha." Waving his hand nonchalantly, Date Masamune said with a smile: "There is no man without the Lee family. From now on, this piece of land will be one of my Japanese homelands. I will only support His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Kofu."
"Yes." Nodding, Tokugawa Yoshinobu said, "So, after discussing with my brother, I plan to implement a tax policy of three officials and seven people in Korea next year."
"Ah?" The one-eyed dragon was a little surprised to hear this: "Mr. Councillor, I also want to reduce taxes, but at most it will be four officials and six civilians. Isn't this a step too hasty?"
"Alas, there is nothing we can do about it."
After waving his hand and letting the warriors behind him keep a little distance from the two men, Tokugawa Yoriyuki lowered his voice and said, "The land tax in Ming is basically one-tenth of the tax or even less. Although the farmers were burdened with heavy taxes in the past due to continuous additional taxes, the country never took more than half of the taxes from the farmers. Moreover, in recent years, the crown prince of Ming has gradually cancelled many additional taxes by rectifying the household registration. The burden on farmers in Ming has been gradually reduced over the years... As for Korea, more than 50% of the farmers in Korea used to be hidden households of the Yangban, and they did not have to pay taxes to the King of Korea. Although they had to hand over the output to the Yangban nobles, the proportion of the payment did not exceed 50%. Yes, we distributed the land from the Yangban to the farmers, but if we do not implement the three publics and seven civilians, it is estimated that the Korean farmers will feel that I have land in name, but the actual burden is even heavier. In this way, we will lose the hearts of the people here, and once the people's hearts are not on our side, what if Ming Dynasty attacks us?"
"...Okay, I understand. Then let's do as His Majesty wishes."
Seeing Date Masamune's reluctance, Tokugawa Yorinobu smiled slightly: "Chu-nagon, please don't be like this. No matter what, the territory of the Date family has more than doubled. This is something to be happy about. You know, at this moment, the lords such as Hosokawa, Kuroda, Asano, and Nabeshima in the country are pestering the Shogun in Edo every day, asking the Shogun to send them to Korea as the vanguard of the conquest of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty!"
"Oh? Oh, these idiots, before we set out on the expedition, these guys were looking at us with an attitude of watching the joke. Now that we have conquered Korea by chance, they want to covet the Ming Kingdom again?"
This is also the common national character of Japan: lack of strategic vision - they can't accomplish anything big. On the other hand, they are particularly obvious in forgetting their lives for the sake of small profits.
Now, with Korea conquered in March, and the Ming Dynasty temporarily suppressed at sea, and no response on land, the atmosphere in Japan has exploded, with crazy calls everywhere to conquer the Ming Dynasty, realize the Taiko's ambition, and invite the emperor to Beijing. The calls were so strong that even the nobles who usually didn't care about worldly affairs began to talk enthusiastically about what to do if they went to the Ming Dynasty in the future...
"Yes, so it is also a headache for my brother to suppress these idiots at home. My brother has repeatedly warned us brothers that after the war begins, the biggest issue is how to end it. If Ming is willing to sign a peace treaty, he would be willing to lead the attack on Siam immediately. How could he continue to provoke Ming?"
"I deeply admire the wisdom of His Highness. So, what is the second thing?"
"Ha, the second thing, after I came to Heian Province, I saw that Mr. Chu-nagon was already doing it."
"Yes." Nodding slowly, Date Masamune said, "Use the former middlemen and some outstanding civilians of Joseon as management, and let them help us suppress the defeated yangban and the former untouchables... I have to say that the Joseon people are still very hardworking and they are very serious about their work. Of course, this requires effective supervision."
"Hahaha, that's right. But Mr. Chu-na-gon, I suggest that you control it a little. Look, the supervisor just now..."
"Ah, that one you're talking about." Date Masamune waved his hand nonchalantly, "The one who beat him was a middle-class man, and the one who was beaten was his eldest brother."
"My dear elder brother? Ah, I understand. The one who beat him was a bastard. He lost the right to inherit the yangban and was discriminated and oppressed by his own brother, right?"
"Yes." After taking a deep breath, Date Masamune said thankfully, "Thanks to the wise decision of His Majesty the Kofuta. Otherwise, Japan would soon be like this."
"Yes. Although I am only fifteen years old, seeing this situation, I feel lucky but also scared."
After saying this, Tokugawa Yoshinobu bowed deeply to Date Masamune and said, "I will collect laborers, money and food in Seoul and transport them north. The rest of the matter will be left to the Chunagon."
