At that time, Japan protested against this situation and sent people to the island to negotiate with the Song army.
However, the Song army had won over the residents of the island in advance and spent money to purchase land on the island. They rejected Japan's unreasonable demands on the grounds that the garrison site was purchased and had contract certificates.
Later, the Song Dynasty defeated the Western Xia and Liao Dynasties and took the initiative to send envoys to the two countries. The Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan received them. Under the persuasion of some Japanese dignitaries who benefited, the Emperor Go-Suzaku finally had no choice but to accept the reality and stopped protesting the Song Dynasty's stationing of troops on Tsushima Island.
After all, Emperor Go-Suzaku was just a puppet in name only, and the Fujiwara family was still in a serious internal strife and had no time to care about the affairs of Tsushima Island. Considering that they had shared a lot of profits with the Iwami Silver Mine, they could only do so for the time being.
Therefore, the Song Dynasty holds the righteous position. If the current Emperor Go-Reizei wants to tear up the contract, wouldn't that anger the Song Dynasty and give it an excuse to attack them?
However, Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "Do you think I've forgotten the hatred in the future? But in fact, I haven't forgotten it at all. Over the years, I have had the Imperial City Bureau active in Japan, collecting their intelligence. I analyzed something very important."
"What's up?"
Everyone looked at him.
Zhao Jun said: "The character of the Japanese people."
"National character?"
Yan Shu was surprised and asked, "Does a nation still have character?"
"certainly."
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "The Han people are agricultural people. They tend to be settled, don't like to move, value agriculture, and are hardworking and pragmatic. Nomadic peoples, on the other hand, have no fixed place to stay, are mobile, have a strong sense of crisis, are adaptable, and are good at riding and shooting. These are all part of their national character."
"I see. Then tell me, what is the national character of Japan?"
Yan Shu felt that what he said made sense.
"Admiring the powerful, ambitious, insecure, adept at playing both sides, and filled with an urgent desire for a stable continent."
Zhao Jun listed them one by one.
Cai Qi asked, "How can we know?"
"Geographical factors."
Zhao Jun said, "Did you know that during the Tang Dynasty, Japan only sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty, but never actually paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty, nor did it acknowledge itself as a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty?"
He shook his head and said, "It's funny. I studied history, but I didn't know about this until recent years."
He did not choose the elective course "Selected Historical Materials" when he was in college, but because he was interested in the Han and Tang dynasties, he did some research on the history of the Han and Tang dynasties. Therefore, when he read the history books of the Tang Dynasty, he always thought that Japan was a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty.
However, it was not until recent years when the insiders lurking in Japan collected some Japanese historical materials that he realized that Japan had tricked the Tang Dynasty.
It turned out that every time Japan sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty thought they were coming to pay tribute, so they called them "tribute envoys" and treated them the same as envoys from other countries. The gifts brought by the Japanese were called "local products", and Japan was also given a lot of rewards.
Therefore, in the history books of the Tang Dynasty, Japan has always been regarded as a vassal state.
However, Japan did not recognize them as tribute envoys at all, and never asked the Tang emperor to confer titles on them. Even the successive envoys to the Tang Dynasty did not bring letters of credence, and used tricks to deceive the Tang emperor every time they came.
For example, the title of Emperor. The emperor only dared to be called the Son of Heaven, but the Japanese said that their monarch was the emperor in heaven. Of course, the Tang envoys did not dare to mention it.
However, they were also reluctant to call their monarch the King, as that was also considered treasonous in Japan. Therefore, they once again took a compromise and used the name "Shūmyourakumi Otoku" to get by.
What does “the Lord is bright, joyful, beautiful and virtuous” mean?
In fact, it is the Japanese kunyaki reading of the word "Emperor". People in the Tang Dynasty did not understand why and thought it was the name of the King of Japan. Therefore, the beginning of Emperor Xuanzong's "Imperial Edict to the King of Japan" said, "Imperial Edict to the King of Japan, Master Minglemei Gotoku".
From this point of view, it can be seen that the Japanese had no intention of joining the Tang Dynasty's tribute system. They only wanted to steal culture, systems, technology, and knowledge.
Hearing Zhao Jun's words, everyone's eyes widened and asked, "Is there such a thing?"
"good."
Zhao Jun explained, "Although the history of the Tang Dynasty records that Japan was a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, neither the Japanese themselves nor their historical books admit this. Now you understand."
"Hmm"
Fan Zhongyan frowned and said, "The Japanese are indeed ambitious people."
Zhao Jun continued, "Let's continue with the previous topic. Due to geographical factors, Goryeo is directly exposed to harassment from the nomadic and fishing and hunting peoples in the northeast. Therefore, they are very happy to receive the protection of the Song Dynasty and are willing to be the Song Dynasty's dogs."
“Japan is different.”
"As an isolated island nation with no external invasion threat, they naturally don't want to have a father above them, so they will never recognize the Tang Dynasty as their suzerain."
"For example, during the Ming Dynasty, there was a dispute over tribute. Two Japanese lords, fighting for the profits from the tribute, sent two groups of tribute envoys to China. They clashed in Ningbo, not only killing each other, but also burning, killing, and looting along the way on their way back home."
"So why did the two Japanese vassal states compete to pay tribute? It was because the Ming dynasty offered generous rewards to tributary states, so the Japanese shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, saw the benefits and joined this system."
"But they had no genuine desire to become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. It was simply their inherent realism and cunning that made them think it was profitable, so local daimyo pretended to be the king of Japan and came to the Ming Dynasty to defraud it."
"Furthermore, frequent earthquakes within the country have left the Japanese with an extreme sense of insecurity. Therefore, Japan's national policy has always been not to seek protection from others, but to invade and occupy a continent to escape the precarious and turbulent life they once had."
"For example, before the Battle of Baekgang with the Tang Dynasty, Japan controlled the Baekje Kingdom on the Korean Peninsula."
"After the Tang Dynasty conquered Baekje, it also supported Baekje's Prince Yu Fengzhang, who was then a hostage in Japan, to return to the country and succeed to the throne, in an attempt to defeat the Tang Dynasty and occupy the entire Korean Peninsula."
"Later, during the Ming Dynasty, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan, his confidence soared, and he thought about destroying the Ming Dynasty and occupying China. He claimed to have "swept the Ming Dynasty and united the Three Kingdoms into one." He sent a large army to Korea, intending to destroy Korea and then attack the Ming Dynasty."
"As a result, Japan was once again severely defeated in the two Wanli Korean Wars."
"From all these factors, we can see that Japan has never intended to be a vassal of China, but has always been on the edge of the tributary system. It pays tribute when it is beneficial, and does not pay tribute when it is not beneficial."
"Even when they came to pay tribute, they constantly deceived the Chinese dynasty, using all sorts of sweet talk to get away with it. Internally, they always regarded themselves as a 'divine kingdom,' saying that the Chinese emperor was the Son of Heaven at sunset, and they were the Son of Heaven at sunrise, vainly attempting to be on equal footing with the Chinese dynasty."
At the end of his speech, Zhao Jun looked around at the crowd and said in a resounding voice: "The Japanese are a people whose nature is full of cunning and deception. Their wolfish ambitions are evident."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
