The shogunate needs to lock down the country.

Because the shogunate does not really have no enemies now, the majesty of the shogunate is rising, the influence of the shogunate is increasing day by day, everything looks so beautiful, and a new era is waving to people.

However, is the foundation of the shogunate's rule really that stable? How powerful was the Toyotomi family of the previous shogunate?

He unified Dongyi and was given the surname Toyotomi by Emperor Goyocheng. He was truly a man of the world. His strength controlled the entire Dongying and was extremely powerful.

But what’s the result?

After unifying Dongyi, the arrogant Toyotomi Hideyoshi wanted to conquer Korea, then the Ming Dynasty, and India. Then in the first year of Wenlu, he launched a war against Korea and dispatched 140,000 troops from the Kansai vassals to fight against Korea.

The country of Korea is indeed as weak as Toyotomi Hideyoshi thought, but Korea has a good father named Daming.

Emperor Wanli sent troops to support North Korea. From the 20th year of Wanli to the 27th year of Wanli, more than 40,000 Ming troops and 140,000 Japanese soldiers fought for seven years. The Japanese suffered heavy losses and had to negotiate for peace.

This battle not only made other countries realize the powerful strength of the Ming Dynasty again, but also left Toyotomi Hideyoshi injured.

Since then, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's great achievements seemed to have become in vain. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in Fushimi Castle in the third year of Keicho, the fortune of the Tokugawa family also declined.

With the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Toyotomi shogunate's Kanto and Kansai divisions split. The Tokugawa family's great victory in the Sekigahara War in the fifth year of Keicho laid the foundation for the Tokugawa family to rule Japan. That battle was only three years ago.

Thirteen years.

In the eighth year of Keicho, Tokugawa Ieyasu was granted the title of general to conquer barbarians by Emperor Goomizu and opened the shogunate. It was only thirty years ago. In the tenth year of Keicho, Tokugawa Ieyasu passed the position of general to his third son, Tokugawa Hidetada.

He became the second general of the Tokugawa Shogunate to conquer barbarians, only twenty-eight years ago.

By the time of the Osaka Winter Formation and the Osaka Summer Formation in the 19th and 20th years of Keicho, the Tokugawa family completely defeated the Toyotomi family and truly unified the Japanese world, but that time was only ten years away from now.

Eight years.

Eighteen years later, the fighting and echoes on the battlefield can still be heard.

It had only been eighteen years since the Tokugawa family had truly secured the position of shogun. In the land of Japan, not to mention the puppet Emperor Meimasa who is now sitting on the throne, there are more than two hundred feudal lords, big and small. Among these feudal lords

How many close vassals are there, how many are close vassals, and how many are outer vassals?

If we continue to allow outside countries to influence Japan, Tokugawa Iemitsu is very doubtful that Japan will still be ruled by the Tokugawa family in the future.

What's more, last year, in the eighth year of Kan'ei's reign, his father Tokugawa Hidetada died, and the Tokugawa family's dual politics no longer existed.

Although from the 10th year of Keicho to the 8th year of Kanei, the Tokugawa family or Japan has always maintained a dualistic politics. This duality is the shogun and the previous shogun, that is, the imperial palace, rather than the shogun and the emperor.

Since the power of the public family was usurped by the samurai family, the emperor's greater significance is just a mascot. The emperor cannot stop what the Tokugawa family does.

Therefore, Tokugawa Iemitsu, who now has no one on his head, believes that he can take charge of all the power in the world and do what he has always wanted to do.

Tokugawa Iemitsu said slowly: "Eighteen years, it has been eighteen years since the winter and summer battles in Osaka passed and the shogunate unified the world."

"In recent years, the peaceful era that the people have longed for has arrived, but not everyone can sit back and relax. People from so many countries, including Dutch, French, Ming, and Koreans, come to Japan to do business.

Thoughts and their culture are not beneficial to Japan."

"The shogunate needs stability, and the people of Japan need a peaceful and stable life. These do not require external interference. If the Suoguo can block external interference from Japan, then it will undoubtedly be beneficial to us. This will give us more

Use more energy to deal with the things that need to be dealt with.”

Tokugawa Iemitsu's meaning is obvious. The feudal lords in various places are not stable. The Dutch, Francons, even Ming people, Koreans, etc. all have regular customers in Japan. Those feudal lords obtain external technology from various channels.

and equipment to fight against the curtain

If the influence of the outside world is cut off, these external vassals will undoubtedly continue to weaken, and the rule of the shogunate will be more stable.

The general had already made a decision, and the veterans had no choice but to discuss how to deal with it.

The most radical person said excitedly: "Lock the country, the relationship between the Franji people and us is not good. In the future, the Franji people will not be allowed to come to Japan again, and Nagasaki will not welcome them."

"All the Koreans have also been driven away and they are no longer allowed to do business in Nagasaki."

Someone suggested: "The Dutch are very weak now, and the relationship between the Netherlands and us is not bad. The shogunate has specially approved that the Dutch can continue to do business with the shogunate in Nagasaki. After all, we also need to obtain external resources."

News and technology."

This proposal was immediately approved by others: "Yes, we need external channels. The Ming Dynasty is a country that needs to be vigilant. We and the Dutch can undoubtedly help each other in this regard. The Dutch will give

We provide advanced firearms and technology, which the shogunate needs."

Another person nodded: "With these advanced technologies and firearms, the shogunate's army can be better armed. Whether it is used to protect the shogunate or suppress those foreign vassals, it can take advantage."

Someone else asked: "What about Mingren? What should Mingren do?"

Tokugawa Iemitsu was silent for a moment and said: "Let's maintain the status quo. We don't welcome Akito to do business, but if Akito brings raw silk, satin and the goods we need, we won't refuse. You can discuss what to do specifically.

.”

Seeing that Tokugawa Iemitsu seemed tired, the senior middlemen quickly bowed their heads and watched Tokugawa Iemitsu get up and leave. Then these people continued to discuss.

"We are going to issue a strict order. No outsiders are allowed to come close to anywhere except Nagasaki. Nagasaki only allows Dutch and Akira people to do business, and no one else is allowed to come. Whether they are Westerners or

Otherwise, if they are forced to dock, just seize their ships and cargo, confiscate the ships and weapons, and let them fend for themselves in Nagasaki."

"Yes. As for the Dutch, we have to treat them more preferentially. After all, we need the Dutch to bring enough goods and technology. We can pay more money to show the sincerity of the shogunate."

"As for the Ming people, they have changed the value of the treasure banknotes without authorization. If based on the current currency values ​​of various countries, no matter how much gold or silver we have, it is not enough to exchange their treasure banknotes. So we must be harsh on the Ming people and charge them

Taxes should be high enough and strict scrutiny should be carried out to ensure that the shogunate will not send money to Akito in vain."

"Yes, the most important thing is to force Akito not to come to the shogunate to do business. We can't forcefully stop Akito from coming, and the general can't make such a statement, but we can hint at it and let Nagasaki Town handle it on its own."

"Just like this, for the shogunate and the Tokugawa family, everyone, please work hard."

From then on, the Tokugawa shogunate officially began to isolate the country. Except for Nagasaki, everything was closed. People were not allowed to go to the sea and no one was allowed to enter or leave. The entire Japan except Nagasaki was completely closed.

The first country affected by the Tokugawa family's seclusion was North Korea. When North Korea did business, one was the Ming Dynasty and the other was Japan. As for the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it was not within the scope of North Korea's consideration at all.

Ever since Zhu Youxiao, the new father of the Korean monarchs and ministers, sent a large number of artillery to North Korea to help North Korea build strong fortifications at the border and set up forts to install artillery, it was not so easy for the Manchu Qing Dynasty to want to rob North Korea.

.

And North Korea itself has a terrain with more mountains and less plains, which is consistent with Japan. More mountains means more minerals. For example, North Korea has more coal, and Japan has more silver mines. These can all be traded with each other.

North Korea's coal mines are not only exported to Japan, but Ming Dynasty is also willing to help this good son, no matter how much he wants.

But North Korea not only has coal, there are many things that Japan needs. Although the two have been at war for many years, they are now used to trading with each other. Now Japan suddenly cut off its trade with North Korea, leaving North Korea's monarchs and ministers confused.

.

Now the king of North Korea, Li Jian, is a little puzzled.

Speaking of which, the situation Li Jie is facing now is much better than in history.

According to the original history, Li Zhu faced internal and external troubles, Li Shi's internal chaos, and then

Later, conspiracies and rebellions continued, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty rose from outside and ravaged Korea over and over again.

But now, Li Zhuo has no foreign troubles. The extremely powerful Ming Dynasty helped Li Zong greatly alleviate the threat of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Now it is not North Korea that is worried about the invasion of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but Huang Taiji of the Manchu Qing Dynasty is worried that the Ming Dynasty will send troops to destroy the Qing Dynasty at the same time as North Korea.

Own.

After the foreign troubles were gone, Li Zhu could focus more on internal problems. At the same time, Ming Dynasty's open policy also allowed Li Zhu to see an opportunity to ease conflicts. He began to encourage North Korea's aristocratic families to go overseas to do business, so that these people could focus on

Focus on making money.

The aristocratic families in North Korea really earned a lot of gold and silver following the Ming Dynasty, and the internal conflicts in North Korea were eased. In addition, Li Zhu had long been recognized by Zhu Youxiao, and is now the orthodox king of North Korea canonized by the Ming Dynasty.

.

It is easy to deal with Li Jie, but is there Zhu Youxiao behind Li Jie? Li Jie is very respectful to the Emperor Qi of the Ming Dynasty and the Naren Great Khan of the grassland people. Every year on Zhu Youxiao’s birthday, Queen Zhang Yan

On birthdays including the birthday of Prince Zhu Ciran, Li Zhu arranged for the permanent envoys in the Ming Dynasty to send gifts from Li Zhu.

Even the birthdays of the ministers in the cabinet were not missed by Li Zhu, and there was no shortage of gifts that should be given. Although they were not particularly valuable, they were small gifts with heart. With this heart, the final decision-makers of Ming Dynasty paid great attention to Li

It all feels good.

Not only that, Li Zhu also sent his eldest son, Zhaoxian Crown Prince Li Yi, to study in the capital of the Ming Dynasty. He had clearly chosen his next successor. Even if he was overthrown, the Ming Dynasty would definitely choose a familiar and controllable person.

The person who will be the next king of Korea must be Prince Zhaoxian who studied in Shuntian Mansion of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Li Yan lived a very comfortable life during this period. Both Zhu Youxiao and Zhang Yan rewarded him with a lot of property. He also sent caravans to Daming, Japan, and even Nanyang to do business, which saved a lot for the royal family.

gold and silver.

Foreign troubles are gone, internal worries are alleviated, and the royal family even has enough wealth to train the army and spend it on its own. This was originally a triple joy, why was it suddenly interrupted now?

After receiving Japan's sudden refusal to continue trade with North Korea and not allowing North Korean merchant ships to approach Japan, Li Jie called the ministers.

"Everyone, why did the Tokugawa family refuse to do business with us? Isn't this a mutually beneficial business between North Korea and them?" Some people began to think: "Did someone secretly give the Tokugawa family better treatment?"

But this idea was immediately rejected: "What a joke! We have a monopoly on trade with the Tokugawa family, who can sneak past us to do business with Japan? Your Majesty, I suspect that there is an internal problem in Japan, maybe the Tokugawa family

The rule of the family is no longer stable."

When this idea was put forward, it was recognized by many people.

Some Korean ministers were thinking about the battle in which Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea in the 20th year of Wanli. He was so injured that Toyotomi Hideyoshi was injured, and the world was later taken over by the Tokugawa family.

At that time, it was less than half a hundred years ago, so it was entirely possible that the Tokugawa family had internal problems.

At this time, someone else said: "Your Majesty, I have received news that not only us, but also merchant ships from other countries are not allowed to approach Japan. Those Westerners have been refused entry."

Some people couldn't help but exclaimed: "Is it because the country wants to monopolize the Japanese market?"

"Are you kidding! Our country is open to all rivers and tolerates the world. Would your country have the courage to do such a thing? Don't forget, we all depend on our country for survival!" A minister sternly refuted.
To be continued...