When Yinzhen ascended the throne and changed the reign title to Yongzheng, the Ministry of Rites submitted a memorial requesting that his many brothers change their names from "Yin" to "Yun". Yinzhen refused, finding it unnecessary and not caring about such matters.
His actions after ascending the throne were much more significant than those during Kangxi's reign. In the first year, he only carried out reforms on the internal systems of the Qing Dynasty, which was naturally quite difficult. However, he laid a good foundation, and many officials in the court were promoted by him and came from humble backgrounds.
This "poor family" does not refer to families that are destitute in the traditional sense, but rather families that have some assets but no messy or complicated relationships.
Such people are most suitable for use during special periods of reform.
Yinzhen's big move naturally affected the interests of many people. Some wanted to make things difficult for him, hoping to enjoy his position for a few more years, so they went to Kangxi, who was already the retired emperor, to stir up trouble.
Although Emperor Kangxi was indeed not used to an overly leisurely life, he could still distinguish right from wrong. Sure enough, the courtiers who had just complained to Kangxi about how ruthless and reckless Yinzhen was in his actions all came out of Changchun Garden with swollen backsides.
Now everyone understood that Kangxi had truly delegated power to his son. Sowing discord didn't work, and they behaved themselves for a while. Then Yinzhen made another move, and in this way, Yinzhen carried out the reforms little by little.
In the third year of Yongzheng's reign, the shipbuilding department achieved results. With the help of firearms and cannons, the newly built ships could be used as warships. Yinzhen was overjoyed and then ordered the Zhenping Navy, which already had rich experience, to build the new warships.
By the time the Zhenping naval force had adapted, it was already the beginning of the fourth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign.
That spring, Yinzhen, citing the pretext that Japanese soldiers had been sent to harass and plunder fishermen along the Qing coast, formally launched an attack on Japan.
Japan was a small country, barely the size of a palm, and its level of military strength was even worse than that of the Qing Dynasty. The Zhenping Navy, with its rich experience and the latest warships, was naturally able to defeat Japan easily. In just two months, Japan surrendered, and the Emperor sent envoys with a letter of surrender to the Qing Dynasty to seek peace.
In July, Yinzhen met with Tokiomi, a minister from Japan.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
When Yinzhen saw his subjects performing the Qing Dynasty's rituals in a proper manner, he thought of the distorted faces of the Japanese devils slaughtering civilians in his dream. He felt a mix of emotions. Who could have imagined that a tiny country like that would raise an army against the entire land of Kyushu a few hundred years later?
Is it because this land is too rich?
It's because people are never satisfied.
Yinzhen had no intention of repaying evil with kindness. In a dream, he saw a Japanese soldier kill a crying baby with a bayonet because the baby was too noisy.
Because he found the baby too noisy, he killed the baby. There were many other unreasonable things like this. Even in his dreams, Yinzhen could not forget those bloody scenes.
After a long while, Yinzhen finally allowed the envoys kneeling before him to rise.
The envoy rose tremblingly, knowing this was a show of force, but as a defeated nation, he had no choice but to accept it.
At that time, the Qing Dynasty was far stronger than Japan.
At this time, opium had not yet entered this rich land. The vast majority of the people on this land were hardworking and wealthy. Most of them were simple and honest, and most men had worked hard to support their families. Perhaps there were some unreliable individuals, but they would never be called the "sick man of East Asia."
Therefore, the Japanese envoys were timid and afraid when facing Yinzhen, especially after being intimidated.
"The Emperor has sent us to apologize to the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty has been plagued by pirates along its coast. Although these pirates are subjects of our country, they are exiled criminals who escaped from the islands where they were exiled. The Emperor expresses his sincere apologies for this situation and asks for your understanding."
Yinzhen said coldly, "You yourself said that those Japanese pirates are from your country. If I were to forgive you so easily, how could I comfort the souls of those who were killed by the Japanese pirates along the coast of the Qing Dynasty?"
Yinzhen's tone was very displeased when he said this.
A mere apology is not enough to erase the bloodshed; Yinzhen cannot do that.
The envoy knew that this trip would not be easy, and finally, he got to the point.
"At this time, our country has indeed made some mistakes. I have come here to reach a reconciliation with the Emperor. The Emperor said that our country will compensate the people along the coast of the Qing Dynasty for their losses. I have heard that your country is a land of etiquette. I think the Emperor should be willing to give our country an opportunity to apologize."
Should we flatter him?
Yinzhen was not buying it; the concept of a nation of etiquette only existed for nations of friendship.
Japanese country?
What a load of crap!
The envoy eventually returned to his temporary post station in disgrace.
The envoy returned with a very unpleasant expression, but dared not show any anger. The purpose of his trip was to gain the understanding of the Qing Emperor. If he lost his temper at this time, the Qing would surely use it as an excuse to make trouble. So he could only sulk in silence.
After learning about this from the manager of the post station, Yinzhen was quite pleased.
Tong Cheng'er: "You met the Japanese envoy today, didn't you leave him hanging?"
In fact, the Japanese envoy had been there for quite some time, and this was the first time Yinzhen had met him.
"That's about right. Japan is too small. I'm afraid that stationing troops there would be unfair to my brothers."
Tong Cheng'er smiled and asked, "So what do you plan to do?"
what to do?
Of course, we should deal with it severely.
About half a month later, after a series of negotiations, the final result was that Japan would pay five million taels of silver to the Qing Dynasty every year, and Japan would also pay tribute to the Qing Dynasty with a fixed amount of its special products. These special products were not products defined by Japan, but were specially listed by Emperor Yinzhen, and the items on the list were naturally all rare and precious.
Japan allowed Qing Dynasty troops to be stationed there...etc.
However, Yinzhen specifically instructed the stationed troops not to use violence to bully ordinary Japanese people.
To say that this was Yinzhen's "benevolence" would be an exaggeration. He didn't possess that much truth, goodness, and beauty. He did this simply because he felt that such behavior was not the act of a gentleman, and he was also afraid of violent resistance from ordinary Japanese people.
After all, where there is oppression, there will be resistance.
Emperor Yinzhen only allowed Japan to pay a fixed amount of tribute and reparations each year, and the stationing of troops was also to prevent Japan from sending soldiers disguised as pirates to harm the Qing Dynasty again.
This would present the Japanese Emperor with a double problem.
First, he had to face the power of the Qing Dynasty; second, he had to face the condemnation of the government's incompetence from ordinary people, since the Qing Dynasty wanted so much and the Emperor could only oppress ordinary people.
In this way, the conflict shifts.
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