Date Masamune, a major minister of the shogunate who had been sent by Tokugawa Hidetada to take charge of the negotiations, was relieved to hear the words of Wei Guangwei and other Ming officials relayed by the interpreter.Because Date Masamune knew that with his own understanding of the Tokugawa shogunate, what the shogunate really cared about was whether the powerful Ming Kingdom would destroy the shogunate and not allow the shogunate to continue to rule the Wa country.As for land cession, indemnity, and trade, it is not a matter at all.Isn't it good to measure the material resources of the country and make the hearts of China?
In particular, Date Masamune was even more satisfied when he heard that the Ming officials still called him your country in their diplomatic rhetoric.After all, the legitimacy of the Tokugawa shogunate's rule over the Wakoku came from the emperor.Therefore, Date Masamune was most worried that the Ming Diet would ask him to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, which would undoubtedly make him betray the emperor and become a new foreign emperor as his master.And Tokugawa Hidetada himself is actually most worried about this.Because of their understanding of the Ming Kingdom, after the Ming State conquered a country, the Ming State demanded that the country pay tribute to His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom.What's more, they themselves are also in this mode of conquest, and after conquering other countries, they also demand that countries pay tribute to their own Japanese states.Therefore, the rulers of the Wa Kingdom, such as Date Masamune and Tokugawa Hidetada, were also worried about the Ming Dynasty, and they also regarded not paying tribute as the bottom line of their negotiations.After all, these Japanese are different from Koreans, and they have not yet the will to be the little brother of China.They also have their own ambition to be a powerful country in the world.You know, their intention to annex the Ming Dynasty has only been a few decades old.Therefore, the Wa State was naturally unwilling to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty.Of course, more importantly, once the shogunate paid tribute, it meant that the foundation of their rule would be lost, after all, the shogunate was nominally a courtier of the emperor.It's just that the current Ming Dynasty has begun to capitalize the empire, and is more concerned about actual interests than superficial submission, so the Ming Emperor has no willingness to ask the Wa State to pay tribute, and is also willing to recognize the fact that the Tokugawa Shogunate ruled in the Wa State.And because of this, Date Masamune then said with a smile: "Please rest assured that the envoy will do his best to help the envoy achieve his wishes, so as to avoid the two countries from fighting again!"
”After listening to the translation, Wei Guangwei also glanced at Shen Yourong in surprise, because he didn't expect that the shogunate ministers of the Japanese kingdom would say this, and actually said that he would take the initiative to help them achieve their wishes, without the slightest contradiction.This made Wei Guangwei, who was ready for a verbal battle, have to be polite for a while, and arched his hand: "Thank you!"
In addition, our emperor suggested that formal negotiations should be held on the battleship 'King Zhongshan' of the Ming Dynasty, and I would like to inform the general whether or not he agrees to this, and if he does not, we will regard your country as having no sincerity in negotiating. ”Zhu Youxiao's suggestion that the venue for the negotiations should be on the ships of the Ming Dynasty naturally meant to promote force.Otherwise, Zhu Youxiao would not have asked the sailors to drive the first-class sail battleship "Zhongshan King".The king of Zhongshan refers to Xu Da.Xu Da's name is naturally qualified to become the code name of the largest warship of the Ming Dynasty.Date Masamune only smiled slightly after listening to the interpreter's paraphrase and said, "I will definitely convey it in the next place!"
”Although he didn't feel very comfortable with the threat in Wei Guangwei's words, and even a little annoyed, he still chose to hold back, after all, he was not very reluctant to this negotiation now, and he also hoped that through this negotiation, he could achieve the goal of letting Daming let him go without paying tribute.Tokugawa Hidetada also meant the same, and after listening to Date Masamune's report, he said: "Since they asked to negotiate on their warship, then go to their warship and pay compensation, as long as it is not much, it is nothing, anyway, try to negotiate a little less compensation, they borrowed seven million stone grain last time and have not paid it back!"
Although the shogunate treasury still has a lot of savings, these money and grain are not for nothing, so naturally they can't be taken away by him Mingguo!
If you cut the land, as long as it is not an area that can be connected to Edo or by land, you can also cut it, try not to cut too much, if you can trade, you will not trade, and for the prison of overseas Chinese merchants, we have to dominate the shogunate, otherwise if there is a collusion between the rich merchants of the Ming Kingdom and the coastal daimyo, it is not a good thing!
As for the apology, the shogunate can issue an edict and apologize to the Ming country, but only to the Ming country, not to the Joseon country, and our Japanese country only submits to the strong!
”Date Masamune nodded after hearing this: "Yes!"
”…… So, not long after, Date Masamune came to Wei Guangwei's place of residence again, and conveyed Tokugawa Hidetada's proposal to agree to formal negotiations on the Ming warship "Nakayama King", and agreed to start at three o'clock in the morning after tomorrow.And because of this, on this day, Wei Guangwei and Shen Yourong and other Ming officials, as well as Li Gui and other Korean officials who came to Edo with the Ming sailors, also came to the mooring place of the "Zhongshan King" to greet them.After Date Masamune and other shogunate officials came here, they were really shocked by the towering Ming warship.For a while, Date Masamune didn't know how to evaluate it, but he knew that the Ming Kingdom, which could build such a ship and had so many large ships, undoubtedly had extraordinary national strength.Date Masamune had to be more humble in front of Wei Guangwei, bowed down and said, "Please also ask your envoy to lead the way!"
”"Please!"
Wei Guangwei replied, and together with Shen Yourong and the others, he first brought Date Masamune and other shogunate officials to the gun cabin.When Date Masamune saw the scene of more than 70 cannon cannons in the gun bay of the Ming first-class sail battleship "Zhongshan King", the whole person was a little weak, and he couldn't help but think secretly that if such a cannon was fired directly at Edo Castle, how would they resist.Date Masamune had to worry even more about whether his Wakoku would die at the hands of the Ming Kingdom, and he now wanted to negotiate with the Ming Kingdom to help them build such a large ship and cannon.Date Masamune naturally understood that the Ming army could build such warships and cannons, and it must have more superb shipbuilding technology and cannon casting technology.And the Japanese people have always been very active in learning from the strong.Therefore, Date Masamune has already begun to have the idea that his own Wa country should also have such huge ships and cannons."
Cedion the Nagasaki Domain to me as a garrison and cargo transshipment place for my Ming Dynasty and a residence for my Ming merchants;" "The rebellion of the Shimiao Dynasty and the rebellion of the Wanli Dynasty, after the statistics of my Ming Metrology Bureau, the total value of the military and civilian losses caused by your country to my Ming Dynasty is 20 million yuan of silver coins, in addition, your country's atrocities in Nagasaki have led to the loss of our Ming overseas Chinese businessmen and the loss of official goods and military expenditures are also about 10 million yuan of silver coins, so your country needs to compensate me for 30 million yuan of silver coins, and your country has caused very heavy losses to my Ming vassal country North Korea, and the Bureau of Metrology estimates that the loss should be worth more than 5 million yuan of silver coins."
As he spoke, Wei Guangwei turned his head and asked Li Gui, a North Korean official who was invited to attend the meeting: "Does Commander Li have any objections to this?"
”Li Gui let out a somewhat confused "ah", since he led the Korean naval army to follow the Ming Naval Division to Edo, he has been very honest, basically he will do whatever the Ming officials ask him to do, so when Wei Guangwei said that the Ming Emperor asked him, a Korean official, to participate in the negotiation together, he also came to the negotiation table, but he didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty of the Celestial Dynasty would also have to claim compensation for him in North Korea."
Can the contemptible country also claim compensation?"
Li Gui couldn't help asking."
Of course!
My Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has an edict saying that your Korean kingdom also belongs to the victorious side, so you can naturally claim compensation!
”Wei Guangwei replied.And Date Masamune glanced at Li Gui with contempt and said, "It is naturally possible to pay compensation to the Ming Kingdom, but it is difficult for my shogunate to pay compensation to North Korea!"
Because my Yamato samurai never compensate the weak!
”