Chapter 1231 Fist Wish
In the end, Matsudaira Harugaku, the actual leader of the Tokugawa shogunate, decided to apologize and ordered the towns near the shrine in charge of that day to commit seppuku.
This matter was no small matter in the eyes of the shogunate. After all, they built the shrine, and most of the women in the shrine were donated by various daimyo.
Strictly speaking, this incident may also affect the reputation of the feudal lords, and they dare not ignore it.
In fact, it was just a small assassination, and Franz didn't take it seriously. However, the apology form sent by the shogunate was a bit interesting. They only briefly mentioned the assassination incident and the results.
After that, he focused on the cause of the incident. "Changing rice into mulberry" was Franz's idea to the shogunate, but it was the shogunate who made the final decision.
This kind of Spring and Autumn writing style is really annoying. What’s ridiculous is that at this time, they actually want to pass this responsibility to Franz, and they also want to hold a debate before the imperial court, and say that they can stop this debate from happening.
"Threaten me?"
Franz sneered, a group of dead bones in the grave actually dared to threaten him.
Franz looked up just in time to see Saki holding the knife, so he handed the original copy to her and threw the translated copy into the trash can.
"Read it again."
"yes."
Sakichi was shocked as soon as she saw the credentials of the shogunate, and cold sweat appeared on her forehead after reading it.
Franz confirmed that the translation was correct. It was not that someone wanted to cause trouble deliberately, but that these Japanese devils really thought that Europeans would feel ashamed if they could understand this Chunqiu calligraphy, and then let them go. Franz would be angry. laughed.
"What do you think?"
Sachi immediately knelt down in a very standard earth seat posture, touching his forehead to the ground.
"Your Majesty, I am loyal to you and the empire, and it is a lesson to the world. Those shameless people in the shogunate actually confuse right and wrong and it is really hateful. I am willing to go with the army to Edo to kill them without leaving a trace."
Listening to Zuoqie's very poor German, watching her touching her forehead to the ground and putting her buttocks on her heels, I couldn't help but think of some interesting things.
"It's better to have a boxing match."
"Boxing match?"
Zuo Che asked with some confusion.
"That's right. Bushido should be about being upright, isn't it? Assassination is a bit unscrupulous. Why not have a real showdown with swords and guns?"
"You mean war?"
Franz is full of black lines. He just needs to use Austria's national strength to defeat the Japanese broken ships in California.
But if you want to conquer Japan, you need to mobilize the entire Austrian navy and at least 100,000 army troops to be successful.
Such a cross-hemispheric war is enough to drain the Austrian Empire's treasury. If the cost of occupation is also included, it will be a bottomless pit of astronomical figures.
Attacking Japan was neither cost-effective nor realistic for the Austrian Empire at this time.
"I mean fist-on-fist, knife-on-knife, gun-on-gun duel!"
This time Zuoqie understood it, but she didn’t know what medicine Franz was selling in his gourd, so she still lay on the ground and didn’t dare to move.
At this time, Franz had already come around behind her.
"Apologies should always be sincere."
After receiving the reply from the shogunate on the other side, the chief shogunate, Matsudaira Chunue, immediately let out a sigh of relief and praised.
"Yo Xi! As expected of the king of the above country, you are indeed very kind. You should all be ashamed of your actions!"
The elders don't know what's going on, but they are a little curious.
"What does the letter say? How much does it cost? How many people do you need? Or how much land do you need?"
"No, the Austrian Empire demands a duel."
"Savage Europeans have long heard that Europeans have a tradition of trial by combat. I didn't expect it to be true."
"Ignorance! It is this tradition that created that powerful empire. Even the royal family is so martial, how can the subjects be so weak?"
"Yo Xi! Our country should also adopt this kind of system."
In the end, Tokugawa Ieki succeeded in gaining a sense of presence.
However, when the duel officially began, the Tokugawa shogunate officials were dumbfounded.
The so-called duel was completely a one-sided massacre. The warriors of the Hoda faction wore helmets and armor, and carried finger flags behind their backs. At first, the officials of the Tokugawa shogunate couldn't help but shout despicable, but they were secretly happy.
You must know that although katana swords are known for their sharpness, their ability to break armor is actually very poor, and even chainmail cannot do anything about it.
However, they were soon dumbfounded. The warriors of the Daida faction (composed of Japanese who joined Austria) were each wearing full plate armor and holding shields and armor-piercing hammers in their hands.
In the subsequent gun skills showdown, the gap between the weapons of the two sides was clear at a glance, but what was even more desperate was that the warriors of the Kaida faction wore plate armor with body armor inside and could remain unscathed even if they were hit by Japanese handmade firecrackers. The result of this competition Once again there is no suspense.
The final unarmed fight was meaningless, but both sides still chose to continue. Although it was a competition that would not affect the overall situation, it became the bloodiest fight of the day.
1V1, 2V2, 3V3, 5V5, 10V10, each game was extremely cruel, but it was very enjoyable for the shogunate and the visiting daimyo. They felt that something deep in their souls was touched.
Afterwards, the Isshin Group was forcibly disbanded, and its five leaders were beheaded.
The previous duel made the shogunate feel very embarrassed, especially because the samurai selected by the Austrian Empire were all Japanese, and there was even a woman among them who made the senior officials of the shogunate feel very ashamed.
However, this sense of shame did not last long. Soon, the shogunate and daimyo of Japan discovered that the benefits of "changing rice to mulberry" were far more than just increasing income.
The farmers and local samurai families who had no food in their hands completely lost the possibility of confronting the government. They could only rely on the shogunate and daimyo, otherwise there would be a risk of food shortage.
The peasant uprising in the Far East also affected the price of a commodity, that is, porcelain, but the Qing people themselves valued porcelain very much, and even had some self-admiration.
Europeans once called porcelain white gold. In the paintings of heaven in the Middle Ages, angels used Chinese porcelain. Even the lowercase China in English means porcelain.
Europe is no longer the Europe of the past. In fact, Europeans have mastered the production method of porcelain since the beginning of the 18th century. After more than a hundred years of continuous improvement, the quality of European porcelain is no less than that of Eastern porcelain.
Although some Europeans are obsessed with buying Eastern porcelain to show their identity and status, more Europeans will choose more down-to-earth European porcelain.
The most fatal thing is that with the development of the industrial revolution, industrialization has also entered the field of porcelain. Soon, low-priced European porcelain will completely kill oriental porcelain. It is really unnecessary to hoard Qing Dynasty porcelain with a lot of money at this moment.
However, it is still necessary to increase investment in the porcelain industry and seize the market.
Speaking of this peasant uprising, it has to be said that it is a huge catastrophe for ordinary people. But Austria and the Qing Dynasty are half a world apart, and Franz is powerless.
But the Southern Ming is different. The distance between the two is close enough, and after so many years of accumulation, the Southern Ming Navy is also quite powerful.
It should not be a problem to pretend to be a pirate and secretly transport some people back and forth. As for the Qing Dynasty Navy at this time, it can be ignored.
And once the war starts, the Qing Dynasty may not care about the small actions of the Southern Ming Dynasty at all.