Chapter 579: Japan is full of strong-loving dogs (third update, please subscribe)

The vast Pacific Ocean wants to be quiet but cannot.

Just as the New Year of 1872 arrived, the Japanese delegation aboard the American merchant ship "America" ​​finally arrived in San Francisco and began their journey to the United States.

On the day when a group led by Right Minister Iwakura Tomomi arrived in the United States, what shocked them was not America's strength or wealth, but the Ming Dynasty!

When they arrived in the United States, the impact of the "Los Angeles Incident" was still affecting the West, and even they - this group of Japanese - were treated preferentially after arriving in the United States.

After the gunfire, discrimination against the yellow race disappeared!

At least it disappeared on the surface. Sometimes, people are just like this, all with the character "貝" (Bei). They will remember things only after being beaten!

After learning that the Ming Dynasty had bombarded the United States just like the Americans bombarded Japan, Iwakura Tomomi and others were dumbfounded and could not help but speak with amazement and envy.

"Oh, Daming is truly the light of my sub-humanity!"

"The Ming Dynasty is truly worthy of being called the Celestial Empire, as it can actually bombard the barbarians!"

Americans are realistic, and Japanese are even more realistic. When they envy the power and awesomeness of the Ming Dynasty, the awe they express towards it in their words comes from the bottom of their hearts.

It is not certain whether the Japanese are "admirers of the West", but all Japanese are "admirers of the strong". The strength of the Ming Dynasty is enough to make every one of them envious.

A few days later, after the delegation arrived in Washington, the delegation, which was originally full of confidence, was hit hard. Although the US President warmly welcomed their arrival, after the delegation proposed to negotiate to revise the treaty, the other party refused to negotiate on the grounds that there was no credentials and letter of authorization.

The Iwakura Mission had two objectives: one was to extend the "offer of invitation" to the contracting parties and revise the unequal treaties; the other was to visit and inspect the advanced culture and systems of European and American countries in order to provide reference for Japan's modernization.

After several discussions, the reason why the United States was chosen as the first stop was to restore national interests through treaty revision. However, the United States' refusal made everyone in the delegation extremely frustrated.

"In the final analysis, we all thought that Western countries were civilized countries. Since the "Treaty of Commerce" is about to expire, it is only natural to amend the treaty. But I never thought that the so-called "international public law" of Western countries is just a fig leaf for power!"

As soon as Councillor Kido Takayoshi finished speaking, Minister of Finance Okubo Toshimichi spoke.

"What is international public law? The so-called international public law is like a few cannons. The Americans can bombard Japan, but Japan can do nothing about it. The Ming Dynasty bombarded the United States, and the Americans could only let it bombard them. In the final analysis, isn't it because the Ming Dynasty is strong and the United States is weak?"

Ming Dynasty...

It’s really awesome!

Niu Dao could actually fire at the Americans, but the Americans could only watch helplessly as they were beaten, just like the Japanese were beaten back then.

"So if we want to revise the treaty, we must make our country rich and our army strong!"

Said Ito Hirobumi, the Minister of Industry.

"In today's world of war and chaos, what use is there for international law? Gentlemen, go to Ming!"

Once again, Ito Hirobumi looked at them and said.

"Go to Daming and see how Daming became as powerful as it is today in just ten years!"

Facing Ito Hirobumi's suggestion, everyone fell into deep thought. When they were in Japan, they heard that the Ming Dynasty had become a powerful country and a member of the great powers, and could stand on equal footing with Western countries. But after arriving in the United States, they realized that the Ming Dynasty was so powerful that it could bombard France, punch Prussia, and burn Versailles.

Such a powerful country is definitely a role model for Japan to learn from and emulate!

"Since there is no hope of amending the unequal treaties, then we will... go to the Ming Dynasty! After all, visiting and studying the advanced culture and systems of European and American countries as a reference for Japan's modernization is also the purpose of our trip. Since the Ming Dynasty is a powerful country in the world, we should go there!"

Finally going to Ming Dynasty!

After hearing this, Ito Hirobumi seemed a little excited. After all, long before he decided to send the delegation, he hoped to make Ming the first stop of this visit. After all, in his opinion, compared with those Western countries, Ming was perhaps the country they should learn from the most.

What does this revived Ming Dynasty look like?

"Where do we go to Daming from? From New York to Yingtian, or somewhere else?"

"Although Yingtian is the capital of Ming Dynasty, the essence of Ming Dynasty lies between Linhai and Nanhua. Let's enter Ming Dynasty from Linhai!"

…

This is the Ming Dynasty!

Finally, when they set foot on the land of Linhai, Ohbo Kurimichi, Ito Hirobumi and others were shocked unprecedentedly. Even though Linhai was only a city with a population of 180,000, the representatives of the Japanese delegation headed by Iwakura Tomomi always seemed to be in high spirits.

It seemed that everything in Linhai City was so exciting in their eyes. When they stood in front of the 15-story "Pacific Insurance Company" building, staring at the building in amazement and watching the elevator taking people up to the building, some people even wanted to kneel down.

Even Ito Hirobumi exclaimed, "This is art that should be admired on one's knees!" and "It can be called the best building in the world!"

Such praises were absolutely heartfelt. They once thought that after visiting the United States, they would not be surprised by the Ming Dynasty. However, just one Nanhua overturned all their understandings.

The Japanese love of exaggeration caters to the Chinese people's taste. Who doesn't like to hear good words? It's good to be praised by one's own people, even if foreigners are praising them. Therefore, this group of "radish heads" from Japan seem to have found the "code of wealth" and have become a model of knowledge and manners in the eyes of many people.

The local officials in charge of hosting the delegation, after hearing so many good words, were of course happy to show them the prosperity of the city and its developed industry.

"Fuhua Spinning Mill is the largest spinning mill on the entire Pacific West Coast, with 360,000 spindles..."

When entering the Fuhua Cotton Mill with the diplomatic corps, Zhao Teng introduced the situation of the mill to Iwakura Tomomi and others in standard Nanjing Mandarin. Although he was a naturalized Japanese, he chose to speak Mandarin even in front of his compatriots.

There was no other reason. Zhao Teng had always been proud of being naturalized in the Ming Dynasty. Since he was a Ming Dynasty citizen, it was natural for him to speak Mandarin. Moreover, he knew that these guys were from aristocratic families and would definitely speak Mandarin.

"360,000 spindles! This is truly the best spinning mill in the world!"

The reason why Ito Hirobumi was so surprised was that in his plan, the textile industry, which did not require high technology, would be the first industry for Japan to break through. In his plan, it would be a "Wanzhan" scale. In history, it was not until ten years later that Japan established the so-called "Ten Basic Spinning Mills", which were ten spinning mills that laid the foundation of Japan's textile industry. However, the scale of these ten factories was pitifully small, with only two thousand spindles.

Although Ito had high aspirations, Japan was financially strapped and could only build small factories. How could he not be shocked when he saw such a large factory now?

While they were shocked, Iwakura and the others were full of anticipation for the upcoming tour.

Textile!

Japan will definitely develop this industry in the future. After all, what is sold in Japan are "Nanhua yarn" and "Nanhua cloth".

Maybe it comes from this factory!

Yes, they really guessed it right. In fact, as early as 1862, Nanhua took advantage of the "cotton crisis" caused by the Civil War and acquired a number of textile companies that went bankrupt from Britain at low prices because they had no cotton to spin, thus laying the foundation for Nanhua's textile industry.

During the Civil War, Nanhua's smuggling ships transported weapons and supplies to the South. Most of the cotton shipped from the South was spun and woven into cloth, and then exported to various countries overseas. It only took a few years for it to enter the markets of various countries in Europe and Asia.

Although the textile industry was by no means the leading industry in the Ming Dynasty, it was one of the industries that employed the largest number of workers.

In particular, it attracted a large number of female workers, which was the most important thing for the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)