Chapter 2731
Compared with several cities that the mission has visited during its visit to Japan, the inner outline of Edo Castle is indeed more than one level higher in terms of architectural scale and decoration level. The palaces you see all have white walls and green tiles, brackets and double eaves, and high-rising owl tails at both ends of the roof, which are very close to the shape of traditional Chinese architecture.
Among the young officials in the mission, Shi Chengwu had been in Jiangsu and Zhejiang all year round and had been to Nanjing many times. He naturally recognized that this architectural style was a legacy of the Tang and Song Dynasties. The people from Hainan Island usually see mostly square-shaped Haihan-style buildings. They rarely have the opportunity to see Chinese-style palaces, and they are quite surprised by what they see in front of them.
The only person who feels familiar with this scene is Zhu Zian, who has a special status. He came from a royal family and was very familiar with palace architecture. The palaces he saw in Seoul earlier, he only thought they were inferior imitations, and even their appearance was not up to standard. Although the palace buildings seen at this time are far less gorgeous than the Ming Palace, their shape is much better than the Joseon Palace.
However, no one was paying attention to the scenery they saw in front of them. They were all thinking about the next talks with the Japanese side.
Everyone was taken to one of the halls to wait for the arrival of the shogun. However, there are no seats here. There are only a few silk cushions and two low tables on the smooth straw mat floor. Everyone can only sit on the floor. Fortunately, the mission had already visited several places such as Kinshi Castle, Nagasaki Castle, and Osaka Castle, and everyone was used to the fussy Japanese home style, so they didn't feel there was anything wrong with it.
Not long after, someone's footsteps were heard walking in the corridor outside the house, and then the grilled paper door was opened from the outside, and a group of people walked in, surrounded by a young man wearing a purple robe and a tasseled crown. Everyone in the envoy knew that the real master had arrived, and they all stood up and bowed to greet him.
The young man whispered a few words, and someone next to him translated it in Hainan dialect, and invited everyone to sit down and talk.
Although Ma Boran had heard about the situation of the current shogun before coming, everyone was still a little surprised after seeing the real person.
This young man who inherited the position of shogun four years ago when he was just ten years old is currently the most powerful figure in Japan, Tokugawa Ietsuna, the fourth generation general of the Tokugawa shogunate. But he looked short, thin, pale, and obviously did not reach the level of physical development that a healthy teenager should have.
He is the second son of the previous shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, but his elder brother died at birth, so he became the first heir. Perhaps it was due to a defective family gene. Tokugawa Iemitsu passed away at the age of forty-seven, and his eldest son died in infancy. Tokugawa Ietsuna was also born with a weak body and often fell ill. His physical condition was far from healthy.
It is precisely for these reasons that the government affairs of the shogunate are more shared by senior officials, but Tokugawa Ietsuna's status has become somewhat similar to that of the emperor. Most of the time, he does not deal with practical matters and is just a symbol of power. Worried that his image would affect the authority of the shogunate, Tokugawa Ietsuna rarely left his residence and appeared in public.
Of course, despite this, the deep background of the Tokugawa family is still enough to ensure that Tokugawa Ietsuna can continue to hold power. Even if his powerful ministers can influence the government, they still dare not easily challenge the status of the shogun.
Although Tokugawa Ietsuna was in poor health, he had been a general for several years after all, and he behaved relatively calmly. After sitting down, he first expressed his gratitude to the Haihan Executive Committee for their greetings and gifts, and then asked his servants to give them as well. A gift list as an official return gift. After the simple greetings were over, both parties got down to business. The Haihan Mission actually prepared a lot of topics for this trip, not only trade-related matters, but also international relations. However, how many negotiations can be concluded in the end depends on the mission's on-the-spot performance.
Although Japan was forced to sign a trade treaty with Haihan under the coercion of force, in the past few years, the shogunate has received real money and silver from bilateral trade, and the benefits are real. This is why the shogunate is willing to continue to cooperate with Haihan on trade issues. An important reason for China to carry out dialogue and consultation.
The issues raised by the mission are very practical, such as building a dedicated port area for Haihan in Nagasaki to provide more convenient transportation conditions for merchants to attract more Haihan merchants to settle in Nagasaki Port; allowing Haihan to operate in more ports Haihan Bank offices have been set up in the region so that merchants engaged in trading activities can use Haihan banknotes to calculate and settle prices; the tax rate for Haihan products entering the Japanese market has been lowered to promote the growth of trade scale, etc.
When it comes to specific matters, the young shogun obviously does not understand many aspects, so after listening to each issue, he has to conduct long inquiries and discussions with the officials around him before making a response.
Although the mission stated in detail the benefits that these measures would bring to Japan, it was still not strong enough to persuade Tokugawa Ietsuna to accept these issues. The shogunate still has many concerns about the subsequent impact of these measures, fearing that it will reduce its control over these trade activities, thereby creating uncontrollable risks.
After some consultations, the shogunate did not reject all the issues raised by the mission, but it also failed to reach an agreement on any of them. Tokugawa Ietsuna said it will take some time to confirm the feasibility of these issues. This cycle may last several days, and some of the details still need to be discussed.
This reply was actually not beyond the expectations of the mission. Ma Boran had already vaccinated them. The shogunate was not entirely harmonious. The young general was relatively weak and his prestige was still difficult to convince the public. Therefore, the negotiation process is unlikely to be smooth sailing. If Haihan raises these issues, half of them will be recognized by the other party, which is an ideal result.
As for international relations, the matters mentioned by the mission aroused shock in the shogunate.
The mission proposed that after the Ming Dynasty surrendered to Haihan last year, the various vassal states of the Ming Dynasty were also taken over by Haihan. However, most of the Ryukyu Kingdom is still under the control of the Shimazu clan of Satsuma Domain in Japan. Kaihan hoped that the shogunate would put the overall situation first, persuade the Shimazu family to give up control of Ryukyu, and voluntarily withdraw from the region. If the Satsuma Domain can comply, all local industry and trade rights can still be retained.
Ryukyu Kingdom has become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty since the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. Not only did the king accept the canonization of the Ming court, but even the reign name was directly copied from the Ming Dynasty. However, in the thirty-seventh year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the Satsuma Domain sent troops to invade Ryukyu and even captured the king. Later, Ryukyu was forced to sign the "Fifteen Articles", recognizing Satsuma Domain's control over Ryukyu and also including the people under its rule. The Amami Five Islands were placed under the direct jurisdiction of the Satsuma Domain, thus entering a period of one country and two territories. Ryukyu was still nominally a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but in fact it was controlled by the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Satsuma Domain.
(End of chapter)