Chapter 167 As long as you work hard, you, Tokugawa, still have a chance to become a lackey of the Ming Dynasty.

Odawara Castle, Honmaru.

Zhuge Weidao shook his feather fan, and together with Zheng Guoxian, followed by Tokugawa Qiaki and Okubo Tadama, they swaggered up the stairs.

Zhuge Weidao was quite curious about this famous city, but after actually entering the castle of Odawara Castle, he was very disappointed - it was a half-shattered building that had been in disrepair and looked dilapidated everywhere, and had long lost its former glory.

Of course, considering that the Odawara Domain is just a small domain with a territory of more than 80,000 stones, it is not surprising that it cannot maintain the large city of Odawara Castle.

However, when the sliding door of the Honmaru Palace was opened, Zhuge Weidao still felt a little bit of grandeur - it was quite big. Many retainers must have gathered here to discuss how to deal with the unlucky Hojo clan.

Omi Hideyoshi's army of more than 200,000 people, right? It seems that those Hojo retainers and the Kazu clan faced overwhelming enemies and could not come up with a solution at all. They just held endless meetings, so that the "Odawara Assessment" later became a joke.

.I hope that this time, Tokugawa Ieki can make the right choice quickly!

If he also does an "Odawara assessment", it will still be a bit troublesome.

Zhuge Weidao, who walked into the imperial palace with this in mind, suddenly saw a familiar face smiling at him. This was not Daikoku Kong. Oh, it was Tokugawa Kong now! She was actually here too. It seemed that Tokugawa Jiaqi had already

Ready to compromise.

Zhuge Wei thought to himself: "Tokugawa Jiaqi should have known that Ming Dynasty and Great Britain have reached a compromise on the Japanese issue. The British Empire will no longer aid Japan. They have resigned and abandoned Japan as a potential ally! Lost

With the support of the British, the Tokugawa shogunate could not survive the war with the Ming Dynasty. Even if Japan could rely on long guerrilla warfare to drive away the Ming army, the long-dead Tokugawa shogunate could not afford to lead Japan to resist the Ming Dynasty.

Responsibilities, so compromise is actually the most beneficial to the Tokugawa shogunate. And the current strategy adopted by the Ming Dynasty also makes it easy for Tokugawa Jiaqi to choose to compromise."

At this time, Zhuge Weidao had followed Tokugawa Noriaki and Okubo Tadama to a place not too far away from Tokugawa Ieqi who was sitting on his knees. Zhuge Weidao looked at Tokugawa Ieqi under the dim light and found that

This is an elderly, pale, somewhat obese man who looks very tired and worried.

No need for an introduction, Zhuge Weidao knew that the person sitting in front of him must be Tokugawa Ieki, so he cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Your Excellency, General, the foreign minister Zhuge Weidao is very polite!"

Zheng Guoxian, who was beside him, was wearing the military uniform of the Ming Dynasty Army, so he gave a military salute and then stood upright in front of General Tokugawa.

"Sit, sit," Tokugawa Jiaqi said in blunt Chinese, "Quickly, get stools for Military Advisor Zhuge and Lieutenant Colonel Zheng."

Xiao Xing, who was standing by, quickly brought two foldable stools and asked Zhuge Weidao and Zheng Guoxian to sit down - these two stools were probably used by Japanese military generals when they went to the battlefield. They were not comfortable at all.

.

"Your Excellency, General," Zhuge Weidao waved his fan and looked confident, "we, the Ming Dynasty Navy and Army, with 220,000 soldiers, came to Edo Bay just for your word!"

"220,000" was the total strength of Toyotomi Hideyoshi when he fought the Odawara Battle. Zhuge Weidao now falsely claimed that the Ming Dynasty Army and Army also came with 220,000 troops. Of course, this was to give Tokugawa Iensai some psychological hints——

His current situation is the same as that of the Hojo family back then. He cannot resist the general trend of the world. If he stubbornly resists, the result can only be destruction!

"Your, do you want me to surrender?" Tokugawa Ieki seemed to have misunderstood what Zhuge Weidao meant, and his face immediately darkened, and he continued to speak in Japanese-Chinese, "My, the Japanese shogunate, Ning

You will not surrender until you die!"

Zhuge Weidao couldn't help laughing after hearing what the Japanese general said, "Your Excellency, General, you don't know anything about the good-neighborly and friendly policy pursued by our Ming Dynasty, right? How could our Ming Dynasty want you, a Japanese?

Where will the general surrender?"

Zheng Guoxian, who could speak a few words in Japanese, smiled and helped: "Yao Xi, Yao Xi, our Ming Dynasty is here to help Japan, and there is no need for the General to surrender."

Tokugawa Jiaqi relaxed a little: "Then your Ming Dynasty, do you want my Japanese vassal to work?"

Proclaimed a minister? Zhuge Weixin said: "You are so beautiful. The Ming Dynasty's dog, no, is a vassal minister. How can you, Japan, be like you?"

"Your Excellency, General," Zheng Guoxian explained in unfamiliar Japanese at this time, "your country, Japan, does not meet the requirements of our Ming Empire to accept a vassal state, so it cannot be a minister of the Ming Dynasty."

Tokugawa Jiaqi was stunned and said to himself: "I am a great nation in Japan, how come I am not even qualified to be a dog for the Ming Dynasty?"

Tokugawa Qi Zhao on the side quickly explained: "Master Gongfang, the vassals of the Ming Dynasty are quite wealthy, and the per capita income is almost half to two-thirds of the Ming Dynasty, close to that of Britain and France. But we, Japan, are relatively poor.

The per capita income is less than one-tenth of that of the Ming Dynasty, and the gap between the rich and the poor in the country is too large. The rich can defeat the country, while the poor sell their children and daughters. Therefore, our country, Japan, will not be accepted as a vassal state by the Ming Dynasty, please.

You can absolutely rest assured.”

Is this good news?

Tokugawa Jiaqi was also speechless. He co-authored that Japan cannot be Ming Dynasty’s dog because it is poor!

Qi Zhao's words were roughly translated by Zheng Guoxian. Zhuge Weidao looked at Tokugawa Jia Qi and seemed a little disappointed, so he quickly comforted him and said: "General, in fact, there are many vassal states in our Ming Dynasty, such as Korea, Annan, Chenla, Nan

When they became vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, Myanmar, Burma, etc. were all very poor, even poorer than Japan. However, with the support of the Ming Dynasty, they have now become a paradise where the country is prosperous and the people are prosperous. So as long as Japan works hard enough

, there is a good chance that I will become a member of the Ming Dynasty in the future!"

All the Tokugawa family members were speechless!

Co-author: Japan still has to work hard to be a dog to Ming Dynasty?

Zheng Guoxian said: "My Lord, becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty has many benefits! First of all, Japan can join the great market of the Celestial Dynasty led by the Ming Dynasty. Goods, personnel, funds, and technology can be traded in the Ming Dynasty and all the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty.

Free circulation without any restrictions!

Secondly, as a poor vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, Japan could receive poverty alleviation support from the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty would provide interest-free or low-interest loans to Japan, specifically for the construction of railways, roads, ports, schools and other facilities to help Japan develop.

Third, if Japan encounters natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and droughts, the Ming Dynasty and other wealthy vassal states will provide assistance to Japan to prevent Japan from falling into famine.

Fourth, the Ming Dynasty and all the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty have mutual defense protection and advance and retreat together. Therefore, Japan’s national security will be very guaranteed! If Japan is willing to assume additional military responsibilities, the Ming Dynasty and other vassal states will also provide Japan with financial support.

subsidies.”

I have to say that being a dog to the current Ming Dynasty is really very happy! Those vassal states that surrendered to the Ming Dynasty have indeed developed their economies under the support of the Ming Dynasty, and have transformed from poor countries into rich countries - now under the leadership of the Ming Dynasty

Southeast Asia is almost as wealthy as Western Europe, maybe a little richer.

But Ming Dynasty is not a living Bodhisattva, otherwise Ming Dynasty would come to "help" Japan!

Those Southeast Asian countries that became rich with the help of the Ming Dynasty did not have much population, but were rich in resources and had large territories. After receiving investment from the Ming Dynasty, they absorbed immigrants from the Ming Dynasty, and established an education system under the guidance of the Ming Dynasty.

and bureaucracy,

In fact, those Southeast Asian countries were also "rich" when they were colonized by Europeans in history. They exported large quantities of spices, sugar, non-ferrous metals, petroleum, rubber, palm oil, timber, and grain to Europe every year. But they were never rich.

The reason is self-evident and the food in the Ming Dynasty was much better than that of the European colonists.

But the situation in Japan is different. Because there are many people and few resources, it is difficult to get rich. Once it joins the big family of China, Ming Dynasty will not be able to increase Japan's per capita income in a short time, so there will be a large number of Japanese

Migrating to the mainland of the Ming Dynasty and other vassal states will bring about a difficult problem of resource and land redistribution. Because once they become citizens of the Ming Dynasty or a Ming vassal state, they will be eligible to participate in the equalization of land.

Moreover, in the early years, Japan's population was 40% of that of the Ming Dynasty. Once it joins the Ming Dynasty's system, the per capita increase will be consistent with the population growth rate, which will allow the Japanese to occupy more resources and land in the Ming Dynasty's system.
Chapter completed!