New Shun 1730

However, Tokugawa Yoshimune just wanted to whet the appetite of the Dutch. He thought that since Liu Yu was in charge of choosing the location for the negotiations, how could it be bad?

I just want to say it out loud to make you Dutch jealous.

After a slight silence, Tokugawa Yoshimune pretended to sigh: "How can I catch up with the way Tosho God governs the country? Since they allowed the port to trade back then, there must be profound considerations, right?"

"Even if it is a closed country, in Nagasaki, only one country will not be allowed to trade. Just like merchants cannot monopolize and sell only one kind of goods."

When the Dutch heard this, they felt that there was something going on. Just as they were about to talk about the benefits of "free trade", Tokugawa Yoshimune did not give him the opportunity to continue.

He signaled his followers to take the Dutch who followed them away and not to participate in the affairs of Osaka and Kyoto.

But he asked Aoki Kunyang to contact the Dutch and proposed to translate Dutch, thereby showing a hint that Japan intended to have closer contact with the Netherlands.

After the Dutch left, Abe Masafuku, the lord of Fukuyama Castle who was basically designated as the next Osaka Castle Lord after the former Osaka Castle Lord Ota Sukeharu was "forced" to commit suicide, immediately expressed his dissatisfaction with the Dutch.

"The Dutch said that the Chinese respected the shogunate, so they did not choose to open a port in Edo. In fact, it was just because the Chinese knew that the shogun would not allow the opening of a port in Edo."

"Merchants are all seeking profit, and the Dutch are no different from the Chinese in this regard. If the Dutch can start a war to force us to open a port, they will definitely do it."

"The Dutch are not more virtuous than the Chinese."

Tokugawa Yoshimune snorted and thought that was natural. The Dutch dared to trample on the statue of the Virgin Mary in the street for trade. What virtue can they have? They just seek profit and open a port.

"Do you think opening a port is a good thing? Or a bad thing?"

Without continuing to talk about whether the Dutch are good or bad, Tokugawa Yoshimune asked Abe Masafuku, who was also in charge of the Osaka port trade, about his views on opening a port.

Abe Masafuku spoke his mind.

"Opening a port is not necessarily a bad thing."

Abe Masafuku knew that most of the shogunate cabinet members thought it was a bad thing, but he still said his true thoughts, which might not be a bad thing.

The Abe clan has always aimed to become the core of the shogunate cabinet, and has some unique views on some things.

During the Shimabara Rebellion, Abe Masatsugu took the risk and acted first and then reported to the shogunate. He asked the various domains to prepare to send troops to suppress it without waiting for the shogunate's order. The shogunate has always valued the Abe clan.

The reason why Abe Masafuku was appointed as the new Osaka Castle Lord was that when the Korean envoy came, it involved the question of whether it was the prince or the king. Abe Masafuku was responsible for the reception and handled it perfectly.

In the eyes of Tokugawa Yoshimune, Abe Masafuku is capable in diplomatic affairs.

Now that Dashun wants to open ports everywhere, the most critical place is Osaka, and a capable person is needed to take up the position. Moreover, Dashun and Korea are both in the Confucian cultural circle, so it is easier for Abe Masafuku to contact them.

Furthermore, Abe Masafuku's feudal reforms made Tokugawa Yoshimune feel a sense of "heroes cherishing each other".

They were all determined to reform, and they were all quite effective. Then, they were all "heaven's will cannot be violated". A famine in Kyoho brought all the reforms back to their original form.

Tokugawa Yoshimune always felt that his reforms were unsuccessful, not because his reforms were made on the spur of the moment.

Rather, he felt that it was a bit like the tragedy of Xiang Yu's failure. Heaven's will was not given, and human power could not violate it. Therefore, he had a special closeness to Abe Masafuku, who was also quite effective but failed in reforms due to "heaven's will".

The key is that Abe Masafuku's reforms allowed Tokugawa Yoshimune to see another possible route.

Under this unprecedented change in the past thousand years, how Japan should go in the future needs to take advantage of the conditions that each feudal domain has its own feudal government and try and make mistakes one by one.

Different from other reform ideas, Abe Masafuku believed that the reason for the poverty of the people was that Japan had too many people, the land was too scattered, and the land of small farmers was getting smaller and smaller, which made it easier for them to go bankrupt and be exploited by merchants.

So his idea was... a strict eldest son inheritance system, including farmers, to ensure that the land was not scattered, and the second son of the farmer had no inheritance rights. In name, he was a brother, but in fact, he was like a family serf; strictly limit the marriage age of the people under the domain, require late marriage, and do not allow marriage and childbirth before the age, reduce the population as much as possible, and ensure that the family's wealth accumulation is sufficient to survive the famine.

Two-pronged approach, to ensure that the land would not be divided into small pieces, and to try to restore it to the labor limit of 30 mu per capita for self-cultivating farmers.

After a period of reform, the situation in the domain did improve a lot.

Although the population decreased, the tribute paid did not decrease, and because the people had more land per capita and had extra money to spend, commercial activities also developed.

However, his fiefdom was east of Hiroshima, by the sea, and it was one of the worst-hit areas during the Kyoho famine. All the reform achievements were wiped out by the famine, and a serious uprising broke out.

Although his thinking was problematic, he had some unique insights when the Industrial Revolution had not yet broken out and Japan had nowhere to immigrate.

Regarding the opening of the port, Abe Masafuku knew that things were irreversible, and he felt that it might not be a bad thing, but he should be cautious about whether it would develop as he thought.

At least, the opening of the port in Dashun would have a huge impact, and this impact was already large enough, so we should wait and see.

At this time, he did not know that Tokugawa Yoshimune wanted to instigate Sino-Dutch relations.

He just came to a not-so-pessimistic conclusion based on his own understanding and the financial situation of his domain.

Under the influence of the eldest son inheritance system, and the reality that Japan's population increased but the land did not grow, Japanese farmers have tried not to have children in recent years.

This led to the fact that the eldest son generally inherited real estate, such as land. And the family-based handicraft industry, as a means of livelihood for the second sons around the eldest brother, has developed to a certain extent.

This is also somewhat different from Dashun, which is the eldest son inheritance system for nobles and titles. But in the folk, it is actually an equal inheritance system, which maintains the clan but not the family. The land of the ancestors was divided again and again, into small pieces.

According to Abe Masafuku's reform experience in the domain, it was found that if the land was not broken up, the younger brothers would live around their elder brothers, and they would need to engage in some handicrafts at home to supplement the family income.

Based on this, he proposed to Tokugawa Yoshimune his view that "opening a port may not be all bad."

"General, before, the Tang people could only trade in Nagasaki, and the number of ships coming was limited. In order to make a profit, they only thought about loading copper materials, and the rest would choose to load treasures."

"Now that the port has been opened, their ships are coming more and more, and the copper materials and treasures may not be fully loaded. It's empty anyway, as long as there is a little profit, they will load it back."

"Nowadays, people don't want to have children, which is actually difficult to survive. If the port is opened, trade will be carried out, and children who cannot inherit the family property can engage in trade, transportation, etc., which is also a way to survive."

"Or, after farming, each family can do more handicrafts, or they can sell them to Dashun."

"I heard that the politics of the Tang Dynasty are very different from those of our country. For example, in textiles, the Tang people are mostly self-sufficient, picking cotton, spinning, weaving, etc., are all done by women in the family."

"Before the Taiko inspection, many people in our country had Manor. Each family has its own division of labor. After the land survey, this division of labor is still retained. For example, for cotton, some families specialize in spinning and some families specialize in weaving, and they pass it down as a profession. "

"After the opening of sea transportation, the merchants of the country can travel around, return west and east, and the people in coastal areas, in addition to farming, also work at home to sell to supplement their family income."

"After the port is opened, it will be more prosperous. If the industry and commerce can be developed, on the one hand, taxes and profits can be collected; on the other hand, except for the things that are not produced in the country, they can be self-sufficient or sold back to the Tang Dynasty."

"The eldest son bears the tribute and keeps the tribute unchanged. The foundation of the military family law is that the land guarantees a fixed population that is not dispersed; in addition to the land and stone, the second son cooperates in management, revitalizes industry and commerce and makes profits."

"Whether it will succeed or not, no one can say for sure now.

After the port is opened, in addition to the predictable outflow of gold and silver, whether the rest is a good thing or a bad thing, everyone has their own opinions.

Tokugawa Yoshimune himself didn't understand, and neither did his beloved son. So when asked about the reform that day, Tokugawa Munetake avoided the topic and only mentioned the means of making money, but didn't mention the fundamental things.

Whether Abe Masafuku was right or not, Tokugawa Yoshimune himself had no idea.

But compared to those who could only talk about good and bad but couldn't explain why they were good or bad, Abe Masafuku could at least give a clear explanation.

Some words Abe Masafuku didn't say very clearly, but Tokugawa Yoshimune heard the subtext of Abe Masafuku.

"Except for things that are not produced in the country, we can either be self-sufficient or sell them back to the Tang Dynasty." The implication is that what should we do with things that are not produced in the country?

For example, raw silk and silk cloth, Japan can never compete with Dashun, no matter in terms of quality or price.

Do ordinary people use these things?

Aren't they for samurai and merchants?

If we really want to prevent the outflow of gold and silver, we should continue to strictly implement the "Frugal Order".

In the past, in order to circulate precious metals, even the money for straw sandals after the death of the people was not allowed to be put, and even the silver hairpins on the heads of the people were not allowed to be worn.

As long as it can be strictly enforced, it is not impossible to prohibit samurai merchants from wearing silk, porcelain, eating candy, etc.

If it is really enforced, even if the port is opened, no one will buy the goods of Dashun, what is the use of opening the port? What impact will it have on Japan?

However, when Tokugawa Yoshimune summoned Abe Masafuku before, he secretly expressed his views on future trade. After all, Abe Masafuku, the Osaka Castle Lord, was a front-line executor.

The shogunate's finances were too poor, and the shogunate also hoped to use the monopoly and comprador monopoly system to encourage consumption and weaken the various feudal domains, thereby relying on the income from customs and monopolies to enrich the shogunate's finances.

First make quick money, support the army, and reform, and wait until there is spare power in the future to stop making this quick money.

The Abe clan hopes to be the center of the cabinet of the shogunate, so they naturally have to consider the problem from the perspective of the shogunate, and cannot consider the problem of gold and silver outflow from the perspective of the whole of Japan.

So the words that I wanted to say in my heart were not said after all.

Another thing is that I am afraid that strict implementation of the frugality order will cause dissatisfaction from Dashun, and Dashun still has an ace in its hand, that is, the southwestern feudal domains.

The shogunate also has to consider whether Dashun will support a new and obedient shogunate if the shogunate is not obedient.

It sounds a bit humiliating, but this is the reality, and it is the reality that Abe Masafuku has to consider when he stands on the side of the shogunate.

After all, Abe Masafuku could only pin his hopes on the differences between Japan's small peasant economy and Dashun's small peasant economy. He hoped that under the differences such as the eldest son inheritance system to ensure wealth accumulation and the division of labor after the disintegration of the manor system, industry and commerce could develop without shaking the samurai system.

Tokugawa Yoshimune had no better way, and even no experience and ideas to learn from. Before, people used to learn from history in the Central Plains, or from Zhenguan Zhengyao or Zizhi Tongjian, but now they really can't learn from it.

The national conditions of the two countries have huge differences. Dashun can open and close at will without worrying about the loss of gold and silver and the bankruptcy of the four people's industry and commerce.

There is no reference, only trial and error, and groping a little bit. Perhaps Abe Masafuku's prediction is correct, and opening a port may not be a bad thing; but perhaps, opening a port will bring an unprecedented situation, making it impossible to learn from history, and making a mess, and making a series of stupid moves, leading to the demise of the shogunate.

Tokugawa Yoshimune looked at the warships in the distance, feeling helpless. His fear and anxiety about the unknown future made him at a loss.

He neither said that Abe Masafuku was right nor wrong, but just sighed.