Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 417: The East Asian Overlord Arrives
"The Tokugawa shogunate has collapsed. The Tokugawa shogunate has collapsed. The bastard general Yoshinao fled with his beautiful wife and concubines, leaving behind his loyal retainers..."
In June 1619, with Tokugawa Yoshinao's departure for the sea, the entire shogunate's organized resistance completely ceased, and a magical text quickly began to spread throughout Japan.
The Japanese obey the strong, and they also like tragic heroes. Therefore, in this passage, Zhu Youdong described Tokugawa Yoshinao as a typical villain who was afraid of death, selfish, treacherous, despicable and shameless. He made Tokugawa Yorifusa, who had admired his brother since childhood but was eventually completely used and betrayed by his brother and died in anger, into a tragic hero. Then, this passage was quickly adapted into various art forms such as Japanese Noh, puppet Joruri, Kabuki, etc., and spread throughout Japan. And Tokugawa Yoshinao's reputation naturally became a rotten street.
Of course, the Tokugawa shogunate is a thing of the past. The time traveler with no bottom line finally escaped, and Li Guozhu's fleet chased him but didn't even see his shadow. So, although it was a relief to ruin this guy's reputation, the actual benefits still had to be returned to the land.
The total land area of the three islands of Japan (Hokkaido has not been effectively developed and is not included) is about 20 million Japanese koku (about 120 kilograms per day). Of this, the Tokugawa shogunate directly controlled about 6 million koku, and its relatives, hereditary successors, etc., a total of more than 8 million koku of land. Except for a small amount of land left to the original owner to prevent them from starving to death, most of these lands were confiscated by the Ming army.
In addition, now that the Toyotomi family has returned, the Toyotomi family has adopted a different attitude towards the daimyo who followed the Tokugawa family to conquer Osaka Castle: some daimyo were forgiven, while others were severely held accountable. In addition, the Ming army cleaned up Kyushu and Shikoku. By September of this year, when Zhu Youdong returned to the court, the Ming army had already seized more than 10 million koku of land.
Zhu Youdong stayed in Japan for such a long time, and he certainly didn't covet the beauty here: at that time, Japanese women were generally less than 1.4 meters tall, and they all looked like big-headed dolls, so he had no interest in them at all, okay? He stayed here mainly to use his status as an emperor to intimidate many township and village heads on the Japanese archipelago: Be honest with me, and I will decide on how to divide the cake!
It took a long time to collect and inspect the 10 million dan of land. When it came to the specific distribution, it only took a few words from Zhu Youdong.
First, 5 million koku of these lands were cut off and given to the Toyotomi family: Toyotomi Toshihide certainly couldn't keep such a large piece of land for himself, so he had to take these lands out and divide them among many samurai who followed him to the Ming Dynasty, such as Sanada, Akashi, and Chosokabe. Then he had to take out some land to include new retainers who would come to him in the future... In short, of these 5 million koku of land, the Toyotomi family could only directly control 2 million koku at most.
Of the remaining 5 million koku of land, 3.05 million koku were in Kyushu Island and 805,000 koku were in Shikoku Island. The Emperor Tianqi gave an order to give all of these two islands to the soon-to-be-inaugurated Gui Domain.
Naturally, the names Kyushu and Shikoku could no longer be used. The former was renamed Chikushima Island, and the latter was renamed Iyo Island - these were their old names.
In the end, there were more than one million koku of land left, and Zhu Youdong used it to reward: for example, should Ikeda Mitsunaka, who had done a great job as a guide, be rewarded? And some daimyos in Kyushu and Shikoku who were forced to move, should they be given some land to appease them? Once they were distributed like this, there was nothing left.
But it didn't matter, it was just a generous gift to others. After doing all this, Zhu Youdong selected some samples of the equipment of the surrendered Tokugawa New Army and took them back to Fangshan Laboratory for reference. He handed all the others to Toyotomi Tohide, and then left two military towns in Japan. Then he returned to Beijing without caring about anything.
…
"Your Majesty, I, Wang Xiangqian, pay my respects to you. Your Majesty, please go to Japan to show our dynasty's power to the Dongyi people. I, your humble servant, congratulate you!"
"Haha, Grand Marshal, that's all I have to say. After I return to the capital this time, I will summon you alone first because I have something to tell you."
"I ask the emperor for instructions."
"Well, it's like this." Zhu Youdong stared at Wang Xiangqian for a while with his eyes sharp. "Grand Marshal, more than three years ago, when I was still the regent, I started to count the Yellow Books. Now, the Civilian Yellow Book has been rebuilt, and the Craftsman Yellow Book has been re-registered as the Imperial Household separated the craftsmen. In fact, the reconstruction is complete. Now, only the Military Yellow Book is left!"
"Your Majesty, do you mean to start reorganizing the military yellow books now?"
"That's right. Grand Marshal, look at this. In the three years of war, apart from my new army, the entire Ming Dynasty can only mobilize a few tens of thousands of people to fight. My Ming Dynasty has 800,000 combat troops and 5 to 6 million military households. It costs the national treasury at least 5 million yuan every year, but how many of them can actually fight?"
"Your Majesty's words make sense, but I don't know what your Majesty meant by summoning this old minister to discuss this matter?"
"Hahaha, Grand Marshal, you are a veteran minister of three dynasties. Since I became regent, you have been the Minister of War. I am deeply grateful for your help over the years. That is why I want to tell you in advance that this review of the military yellow books must be done. Otherwise, the country's army cannot be completely rebuilt. If there is a big war in the future, it will not be enough to rely on such a small number of troops. However, the deficit of military households is much greater than that of ordinary civilian households. Once the lid is lifted, I don't know how many shady secrets are hidden. The person in charge of this matter must be very offensive. Grand Marshal, do you still remember Yu Shaobao?"
"...I understand what Your Majesty means. Thank you for your love and care." After paying his respects solemnly, Wang Xiangqian said, "I am 73 years old this year and I don't know how long I can live. However, under Your Majesty's leadership, I have defeated Mongolia, dismembered Siam, and now I am threatening Japan. It should be said that I have done my best as the Minister of War. If I step down now and hand over the task of cleaning up the military yellow book to the next minister, no one can say anything. But I am a minister of the Ming Dynasty. How can I only care about my own reputation and ignore the affairs of the country? Your Majesty, if Your Majesty does not abandon me, I am willing to continue to serve as the Minister of War and clean up the military yellow book seriously during this term. Unless my life ends, I will never give up until I have cleaned up the military yellow book!"
"Hey..." Originally, according to Zhu Youdong's idea, this Grand Marshal had generally supported him over the years, had done an excellent job, and was already 73 years old. With the military reform that was about to begin, it would be better for him to retire and enjoy his old age: this was the emperor's sympathy for his old ministers, and also setting an example for the ministers of the world - you all look forward to it, if you serve me, I will not let you end up in vain.
As for the successor to Wang Xiangqian after his retirement, Zhu Youdong had already decided: Xiong Tingbi. Although letting Governor Xiong, who had just entered the role, return to Beijing to preside over the military reform would have some impact on the stability of the Indochina Peninsula, there was no doubt that military reform was the most important.
Yes, after driving away Po Jun, the entire East Asia and Southeast Asia have been effectively integrated by the Ming Dynasty to an unprecedented level: this is much closer than the so-called vassal system in the past.
Zhu Youdong, who was finally able to turn his main focus back to the country, first attacked the military households. After more than three years of war, the limited troops had been repeatedly used, which really frightened Zhu Youdong. Military reform must be carried out first, and then subsequent reforms can be carried out.
Now, Wang Xiangqian is willing to continue to serve as the Minister of War, which is great: a 73-year-old man is not afraid of anyone. And haven't you heard that Jiang Gui's character becomes stronger with age?
In October 1619, the Ming court issued several imperial edicts.
First, Japan had been harboring rebellious intentions for many years, claiming the title of emperor, and repeatedly raising troops to cause chaos in Korea and the southeast coast. After the Celestial Empire gave it a little punishment this time, it decided to station troops on the country's Honshu Island and set aside a piece of land in Osaka, Yokohama, and Edo on the island as a naval port.
The Japanese emperor dropped his imperial title and became the King of Japan. Toyotomi Takehide became the Chancellor. Both of the above positions were hereditary, but they had to be conferred by the Ming Dynasty to be valid.
Secondly, the former Japanese Kyushu Island was renamed Chikushi Island, and the former Shikoku Island was renamed Iyo Island. These two islands were given to His Royal Highness Prince Gui of the Ming Dynasty, and the Gui clan would establish a country on these two islands.
Third, the Korean Peninsula had been liberated. As a loyal vassal of the Ming Dynasty, Korea should have been restored. However, a despicable villain like Tokugawa Yoshinao assassinated the Korean royal family and their close relatives on the Liao River. Therefore, the Celestial Empire had no choice but to send the uncle of the present emperor, His Royal Highness Prince Fu, to Korea at the request of millions of Korean people.
Fourth, since the first year of the Tianqi reign, the commanders of the various Xuanweisi under the Ming Dynasty and the kings of the vassal states must go to Beijing to pay homage to the emperor at least once a year. The content of the homage is that the king (commander) presents his duties to the emperor, pays annual tribute to the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Rites returns treasure notes, etc.
Fifth, starting from the first year of the Tianqi reign, the military weapons and tariffs of the vassal states under the Ming Dynasty must be consistent with those of the Ming Dynasty.
Sixth, since the second year of the Tianqi reign, the military yellow books have been checked nationwide!
