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After abdicating, Emperor Go-Mizunoo felt somewhat disheartened, seeing that the entire royal family had become puppets of others. Not only were the lives of the royal family members not guaranteed, but even the royal family's daily living expenses were in the hands of the Tokugawa family. The imperial family's total annual living expenses were only a pitiful 5,000 kilograms of grain, which was less than the living expenses of a middle-class family in the Ming Dynasty.
Fortunately, his second daughter, Okiko, became the emperor. As the niece of Tokugawa Iemitsu, her treatment was finally improved. However, there was no royal confidant around the emperor's family. All of them were people who were monitoring Emperor Go-Mizunoo. The disheartened Emperor Go-Mizunoo was obsessed with talking about Buddhism and Taoism with others all day long.
Emperor Go-Mizunoo did this, firstly to confuse Tokugawa Iemitsu and make him feel at ease about him, and secondly, Emperor Go-Mizunoo did this to find comfort for his own soul. Emperor Go-Mizunoo not only often invited eminent monks from Japan to the palace, but later he simply shaved his head and became a monk in the palace.
Yingxiu was also well-known among the eminent monks in Japan. The reason for his fame was not because of his profound knowledge of Buddhism, but because he was a very powerful daimyo and a staunch royalist before he became a monk. However, during the reign of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the power of the daimyo Yingxiu was defeated by the Tokugawa shogunate. At that time, the young monk Yingxiu was spared by Tokugawa Ieyasu. After Yingxiu surrendered, he was not killed. Later, Yingxiu became a monk.
After Emperor Go-Mizunoo abdicated, he had several contacts with Monk Yingxiu. This time, because Emperor Go-Mizunoo had no confidants around him, he entrusted Monk Yingxiu to go on a diplomatic mission, hoping to use the power of Lord Tang of the Ming Dynasty to seize the royal power from the Tokugawa shogunate and restore the imperial family's former glory.
Tang Tong warmly received Monk Yingxiu. Although Tang Tong was not an outstanding politician, he knew in his heart that with his current strength, he could not swallow Japan at all. If he used military force, he would be trapped in the quagmire of war in Japan and delay the development of his own power. Therefore, Tang Tong had to rely on other forces in Japan to disintegrate the Tokugawa Shogunate, the strongest force in Japan, and turn Japan into many small foreign forces, which would help him slowly erode this place.
At this time, many foreign daimyos had sent envoys to show their goodwill to Tang Tong, and the foreign daimyos on the Kyukoku Island even sent troops to assist Tang Tong and joined the looting team of the Wakoku Xiejun.
To achieve a common goal, the three parties sat down to negotiate under the leadership of Tang Tong and quickly reached an agreement, which was later called the "Edo Treaty". It mainly had five points:
First, the Emperor and the foreign states acknowledge the justice of the Ming army's expedition, acknowledge that the Ming army's garrison in Kokura Castle and Edo Castle is just, and is an indispensable armed force to protect His Majesty the Emperor. The Ming army has the power to supervise the foreign states' loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor and ensure the stability of the situation in Japan.
Second, each foreign state must pay 1% of taxes to the emperor every year. The territory within 100 square kilometers of Kyoto City belongs to the private territory of the imperial family. The legitimacy of the autonomy of the daimyo of each foreign state within the territory is recognized. Kokura Castle recognizes the citizenship of the daimyo of each foreign state and their families in Kokura Castle. In Kokura Castle, their personal safety will be protected by Kokura Castle and will not be harmed by other forces.
3. Edo Castle is a public city. Taxes are collected by the three parties within the areas under their respective management. The residents of Edo Castle are managed by the forces within their respective management areas. The east of the city belongs to Tang Tong, the south of the city belongs to the Emperor, and the west and north of the city are divided among the foreign countries. Except for the Ming army, other foreign countries are not allowed to station troops.
Fourth, Tang Tong has 50% of the mining rights to the mineral deposits within Japan. All ships within Japan must go to Kokura City to apply for a driving permit and be managed by Kokura City to avoid unnecessary accidental injuries.
Fifth, the school run by Kokura Castle will allow the children of daimyo from various foreign countries to study in the school. For those with outstanding academic performance, the Ming Dynasty will give preferential policies to protect talents to promote cultural exchanges between the Ming Dynasty and Japan. Kokura Castle will fund the establishment of a Buddhist student aid center from Japan to the Ming Dynasty, and send twenty Japanese Buddhist disciples to famous temples in the Ming Dynasty to study Buddhism every year. The Ming Dynasty will also send one hundred Ming Dynasty monks to Japan every year to help develop Buddhism in Japan.
Although Emperor Go-Mizunoo was dissatisfied with the agreement, most of the foreign daimyos were ambitious and did not want the emperor to return to power, which would affect their ability to become local emperors in their own territories. Some of the benefits Emperor Go-Mizunoo now enjoyed were given by Tang Tong, because Tang Tong needed a legitimate reason to start a war in Japan. Without the psychological recognition of those Japanese, he could not disintegrate the power of the Tokugawa shogunate with his own strength. The most likely possibility was to just give Tokugawa Iemitsu a hard time. If Tokugawa Iemitsu and Zheng Zhilong joined forces at that time, it would be difficult for Tang Tong to deal with them.
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