New Shun 1730

Chapter 480: The Pufferfish Metaphor (Part 1)

In ancient times, Jia Sheng, a Chinese scholar, sat down in a discussion and did not ask about the common people or ghosts and gods; today, Liu Yu and Abe Masafuku asked about the population without asking about port openings and leases.

The two chatted happily, and the more they talked, the more speculative they became.

One of them had this intention, and the other wanted to cater to it. By the end of the conversation, the topic became more and more reactionary.

If it were Paris fifty years later, the C position of the guillotine would be guaranteed.

The two of them talked until midnight. Abe Masafu was still full of meaning, his eyes were bright, and he kept nodding and praising Liu Yu's views.

Resisting the desire for knowledge in his heart, Masafuku Abe changed the topic and discussed with Liu Yu some details after the opening of the port.

It wasn't until dawn that Masafuku Abe reluctantly sent Liu Yu away.

Liu Yu did not press too hard on some of the detailed rules for opening the port discussed later.

It was tightened in some places that Masafuku Abe felt were inconspicuous, and loosened in places that Masafuku Abe felt he had to argue for.

Back on the boat, it was already broad daylight.

At this time in previous years, Hyogotsu's Kitamae ships had already begun to go out to sea on a large scale, but this year's situation is special. These ship owners are busy placing orders with maritime merchants from Dashun.

In the past, I had to go to Ezo, but now I can't go to Ezo for the time being, so I might as well delay leaving for a month or two and get the goods from Dashun.

Representatives of Dashun Shipping have already begun to contact people in Japan and are preparing to hire a group of people to build warehouses.

Liu Yu did not stay here any longer. The Japanese king will definitely go to heaven to pay tribute. There is no need to add this matter to the treaty, but just let the Japanese king go on his own initiative.

After all, there is still more than 300 million taels of compound interest in the treaty. If the Japanese king does not pay tribute, the emperor will not waive these interests.

It is estimated that some ceremonial procedures are being carried out at this time, and it is estimated that some abalone, sea cucumber and other things may be paid as tribute. The shogunate will definitely send someone there, but at what level, that is not yet known.

According to the agreement, the contract must be exchanged at Xiaguan on April 17. The tribute group that wants to come to Japan will also go to Xiaguan after the exchange of contracts on April 17, and go to the capital with Liu Yu.

April 17th was a watershed day.

Dashun can sign such an unequal treaty with independent Japan, but cannot sign such a treaty with tributary countries, which is not justified on the surface.

As long as this time is staggered, even if the contract is exchanged on April 17 and the tribute is decided on April 18, it will be acceptable to both parties.

On the surface, Dashun took good care of the tributary countries, brought together Ryukyu and Japan, turned enemies into friends, and waived interest of 300 million taels.

On the surface, Japan was not forced to pay tribute, but after the treaty was exchanged, Japan was deeply aware of the military power of the Celestial Empire and sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty to serve the past. After years of not paying tribute, the rank of the mission is just a little higher.

After returning to Xiaguan, the guards of honor sent by the imperial court were also in place. This represented the face of the empire and could not be lost.

On the afternoon of the 16th, there was still one night left before the appointment was renewed. Matsudaira Terusada followed Japanese etiquette and invited Dashun officials in Shimonoseki to a banquet.

The location was chosen at a spot near the sea in Xiaguan that is suitable for tide watching. It was the 16th day of the lunar calendar and the tide was strong. When you come to Xiaguan, you must try puffer fish. It is a good time to taste puffer fish and watch the tide.

The appointment will be renewed tomorrow, and the officials from Dashun will follow Liu Yu to the banquet.

The new ceremonial officials sent by the imperial court to exchange contracts are all scholars. They heard that the Japanese like to write Chinese poems for communication, and they are all eager to try it. They only hope to become famous in a foreign country to highlight the beauty of the Chinese culture.

Liu Yu also knew that he had two brushes and was ready to sit down and eat. He thought to himself that today he would like to see who is so short-sighted and asks me to write poems. I have hired gunmen for the exams at Wude Palace. I am afraid that I will make a fool of myself today.

I originally thought that I would have to change my appointment tomorrow and forget about the things here. However, I didn't even take a few bites of food when someone from Japan came out to cause trouble.

It wasn't that he was trying to make Liu Yu look bad, or ask him to compose poems, but there was a Confucian scholar in Japan who looked at the tide outside and recited a poem impassionedly, his tone filled with infinite resentment.

Watch the flying gulls and herons in mid-air. In a moment, the ground was buzzing with drums. They cut off the river and drove the mountain away, but the fierce battle failed to capture the brave tiger. Morning and evening. As a matter of fact, Wu'er is not afraid of the dragon's anger. The storm calmed down. Watch the red turtles fly away in fright, the jumping fish jump straight up, and they dance on the waves.

Who can ask, thousands of miles long whale swallows. It's like a child's play in the world. The monstrous force is so tired that I don't know what's going on. The white horse is driving eastward. Hateful place...

After reading a poem, what was originally an occasion for eating, drinking and composing poems suddenly turned depressing.

Not only the officials in Dashun were very depressed by the poem by Xin Jiaxuan read by the Japanese scholar; Matsudaira Teru-sada was also unhappy and felt that she had lost everything. She just wanted to get over it as soon as possible, so why bother? Another turmoil?

In order to prevent Liu Yu from being assassinated, the shogunate strictly controlled Xiaguan. The southwestern vassals were even more worried that Liu Yu's assassination would lead to the benevolent rule of the southwestern vassals, and they even sent their most loyal warriors to Xiaguan for protection.

After all calculations, the assassination by the samurai did not happen. Instead, the Confucian scholar first recited words of grief and indignation, sighing in the tide of the 16th day of the lunar calendar.

Although Liu Yu's cultural level is not high, he can still understand the spirit of this poem.

The officials on Dashun's side all looked at Liu Yu, depending on what Liu Yu meant. Directly start a fight? Or deal with it differently?

Liu Yu was originally holding a piece of puffer fish tempura. At this time, he put down his chopsticks, clapped his hands, and said with a smile: "I once heard that a Confucian scholar in Japan asked his teacher: What would happen if Confucius and Mencius were resurrected as generals and came to attack Japan? The Master said: Even if Confucius and Mencius come together, they should still adhere to it. This is to serve the country. "

"I strongly agree with this."

No one present expected that Liu Yu would say such words. For a moment, everyone on both sides was stunned.

However, Liu Yu thought to himself, if you can use the topic to your advantage, how can I not? You can recite poems, but I can't, but I'm pretty good at borrowing topics.

Amid everyone's astonishment, Liu Yu held the piece of puffer fish tempura with his chopsticks and shook it in mid-air.

"It's just that everyone can see the visible teacher. But few people can guard against this invisible teacher. For example, what kind of thing is this?"

The Confucian scholar who was reading the poem was surprised by Liu Yu's "magnanimity". He was a little confused when he saw that Liu Yu not only did not show off his face, but praised him for his resistance.

Seeing Liu Yu asking this, he had to say: "This is tempura."

"Yes, tempura. As the ancients said, if you know what it is, you know why it is what it is. Do you know why this thing is called tempura?"

"Well……"

This confused the Confucian scholar. Liu Yu threw the piece of tempura on the ground and said with a smile: "This thing originated from the Portuguese in the West. I have studied their language for several years, so I know this thing." It's 'tempura', which means fried fish. This is the transliteration of Gusu."

"Japan has been trading with the Netherlands for a long time. Haven't you ever heard the Dutch say something? Protestants don't eat fish?"

"Japan claims to have banned the Kirijidan religion, but it doesn't expect the religious food of the Kirijitan religion to become so popular. I just said that Protestants don't eat fish. Do you know what I mean?"

"This is what I mean by the 'invisible teacher'."

"When the Chechidan believers fast, they cannot eat meat, so they eat fish. When the Portuguese fast, they eat tempura. This is the Chechidan religious meal. However, the Dutch Protestants do not abide by the habits of the old Chechidan religion and do not eat fish. Express your feelings.”

"Nowadays, Japan actually uses this fish as a top-quality food. It's spring now, and it coincides with the Kirijidan Easter Festival, which is the fasting day. It's a good meal of fish!"

"Japan claims to ban religion, but eats vegetarian food. How is this different from a person claiming to be a Confucian scholar, but firmly believing in the words of Mo Zhai, Yang Zhu and others who have no king or father?"

"That's why I say that the invisible teacher is the hardest to guard against. But none of you know it, and you can't tell. The Portuguese Ji Wenyan: The Japanese like tempura meals the most. They don't believe what they say, but they believe it! Even if you don't care about this thing It’s called fried fish, so it shouldn’t be called tempura!”

With Shanggang going online to this extent, he is acting like a guardian of culture.

Coupled with the way of thinking in this era, even trade can be turned into tribute by any means. In the context of Japan's strict ban on religion, this kind of excuse is extremely serious.

Matsudaira Huizhen was shocked, but she also believed that Liu Yu was not just talking nonsense, and quickly asked people to remove all the tempura from the banquet.

The Confucian scholar was also extremely shocked. He really didn't know that there was such a thing, and his face turned red because of Liu Yu's superiority.

Liu Yu added: "That's why I say that invisible teachers are the hardest to guard against. Since you are a Confucian scholar, you should know that the world at this time is not a time for Confucianism to fight internally, but should be unanimous in dealing with the outside world."

"Resist the visible force with military force, and the invisible force with culture."

"Now you are eating tempura during the Chechidan religious Easter. You are invaded by invisible forces without knowing it, but here you are lamenting the conquest of the Celestial Empire."

"But I don't know that the Chinese conquest is actually for the good of Japan."

"The Celestial Empire's conquest does not cede territory or kill people, but it is just to demonstrate justice. After all, you invaded Ryukyu first. Rites, justice, integrity, and strict laws. The Celestial Empire sends troops out of etiquette. This attack is not an invasion!"

"In today's world, there are vast and invisible conflicts everywhere. At this time, it is time to respect the king and resist the barbarians."

"Since you are a Confucian scholar, let me ask you, if you were a minister of the princes of the Spring and Autumn Period, and the barbarians and the Di people were now powerful, would you conquer other countries at this time? Or would you respect the king and fight the barbarians? Fortunately, you are still a Confucian scholar. Don't you even understand this truth? "

"Another example is the land of Ezo. The Rakshasa people from the north have already invaded Sushen. They have erected many crosses along the island. But you are ignorant at all. If you don't rely on heaven to remedy this situation, do you want to Will all Japan believe in Orthodox Christianity in the future?”

"For another example, during my expedition against Rakshasa, I met a Japanese named Denbei. Do you know where the Rakshasa rescued him? It was in Ezo! Decades ago, Rakshasa Sharen has arrived in Ezo, do you know?"

"King Rakshasa opened a Japanese language school and trained hundreds of thousands of people. What do you want?"

"You are completely ignorant of the dangers around here. It is precisely because the heaven has resisted the wind and rain for you and blocked the invasion of Westerners. If you spread your wings for shelter, you hate feeling depressed under your wings. Don't hate the heavy rain outside. , but hate the wings that protect you, how is it?”

"The ancients said that doctors take credit for being good at curing diseases. It's not that there are no diseases, but that the disease is in the body and is not terminal. Do you really want to wait until you are terminally ill before you regret it?"

"In a place you don't know, the Celestial Empire is fighting against the barbarians, so that Japan does not feel the threat of the barbarians. Without the protection of the Celestial Empire, I am afraid that the Ezo lands will all fall under the control of Rakshasa!"

"Since ancient times, there have been people who have subjugated their country and people who have subjugated the world. As a Confucian scholar, you should know whether it is more important or less important to subjugate your country or the world."

"Those who do not respect the king and fight against the barbarians at this time, but hate the king for punishing them, are all thieves in the world!"

"Anyone who has such people, from Annan to Korea, from the Western Regions to Ezo, and the disciples of Mingjiao, should be attacked by everyone if they make noise!"

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