Chapter 559: The Emperor and the Senior Grand Secretary Are Truly Too Kind

Empires are often accompanied by a high degree of monopoly in production, such as the imperial court's absolute dominance and monopoly over shipbuilding and coal.

Empires are often accompanied by external aggression and expansion in finance and military, such as the inch-by-inch advance in Liaodong, the reopening of the Hetao, the reopening of the Western Regions, the four major overseas Governor's Offices, and the issuance of Great Ming overseas currency in Japan.

Empires are often accompanied by extreme cruelty and exploitation internally. The imperial court becomes a tool for meat-eaters to exploit those below, and becomes an executioner of internal cruelty. This group of meat-eaters even includes the Emperor.

These three accompanying phenomena of empires are very obvious.

Zhu Zhu Yijun, this Great Ming Emperor, is trying his best to avoid the appearance of the third accompanying phenomenon of empires. The method is: the imperial court becomes a tool for meat-eaters to exploit externally, to open up and conquer externally, and to obtain enough wealth from the ocean to satisfy the greed of the meat-eaters in the country. This group of meat-eaters also includes the Emperor.

Of course, greed is insatiable. Sometimes, as violence itself, one has to take some more radical means, which is also a helpless move.

The Great Ming Confucian scholars reached a consensus with the Emperor on this point.

Because the imperial court completely becoming a tool for exploitation is reflected in reality as: the reactionary nature of the decision-making layer and the comprehensive waste of social productive forces and production relations.

The Great Ming Confucian scholars expressed this as: "waging war on the poor and exhausting the people, with complaints filling the sky."

"Your Majesty, actually, agreeing to Oda Nobunaga's establishment of coastal defense inspectors in Japan has another benefit, which is that the daimyo will have to keep fighting even if they don't want to. Whether to fight or not is not up to them," Zhang Zhang Juzheng finally revealed his ultimate thought.

Only a chaotic Japan is most beneficial to the Great Ming, because only in this way can the Great Ming stably obtain silver. Once Japan stabilizes, if the Great Ming wants to obtain silver so easily again, it will have to face a Japan that has formed a joint force, which is extremely unfavorable for Japanese silver entering the Great Ming.

Whether to fight or not is not up to them—this is Zhang Zhang Juzheng's fundamental purpose for supporting Oda Nobunaga's request. More currency is Zhang Zhang Juzheng's advocacy, because only with more silver can the prerequisites for the Single-Whip Law be gradually satisfied, completing the final link of Zhang Zhang Juzheng's tax reform.

By that time, after finishing the *Great Ming Collected Statutes* and completing the tax reform, he would have finally completed his historical mission.

Therefore, Japan cannot be stabilized.

"The Master's words are very true, but we still have to look at the soldiers on the front lines and see if they are willing. We still have to fully consider the opinions of the soldiers on the front lines," Zhu Zhu Yijun recognized Zhang Zhang Juzheng's remonstrance, but when it came to fighting, the attitude of the soldiers on the front lines was even more important.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng and the Emperor talked for a long time. In addition to the issues the Emperor was more concerned about—the Great Ming's great speculation in the capital, the main contradictions in the Annam Kingdom, and Oda Nobunaga's request—Zhang Zhang Juzheng mainly talked about the Great Ming's shipbuilding.

Now, the West has fallen into a dilemma. From the memorials Xu Fan gave to the Great Ming and the intelligence gathered by the Great Ming's coastal defense inspectors in the West, the Great Ming's commodity advantage has caused the West to fall into a dilemma of "buying is better than building."

If they want to manufacture locally, it is not as fast and convenient as coming to the Great Ming every year and placing orders at the Great Ming's shipyards. Even if the five-masted ships are sold at the price of 180,000 silver, which is 130,000 silver more expensive than local Great Ming merchants, it is still cost-saving for the West.

This dilemma of "buying is better than building" is the destruction of local manufacturing. Philip has been trying to imitate the five-masted ocean-crossing ships and has made certain improvements to the three-masted galleons, but the high costs of Western shipyards and the huge research and development expenses make Philip, who is wealthy, very headache-prone.

But if they continue to purchase ships from the Great Ming, the West's shipbuilding industry will gradually disappear. Not to mention competing with the Great Ming in the shipbuilding industry, they will even lose the ability to manufacture three-masted galleons bit by bit. The number of skilled craftsmen will drop significantly, or even disappear. Once the Great Ming stops exporting ships, if the West wants to start again, they will have to start from scratch.

Not starting from three-masted galleons, but starting from scratch, because all the craftsmen who mastered the technology will have disappeared into the long river of history due to the impact of industrial hollowing out.

The dilemma of "buying is better than building" will inevitably lead to industrial hollowing out. This is something the Great Ming must prevent from happening at all costs.

"Is it just the shipbuilding industry that has a trend of industrial hollowing out? No, it is the same for all walks of life." Zhang Zhang Juzheng talked about the West's dilemma to persuade the Emperor to notice the huge passivity of falling into a commodity disadvantage.

Is it just the shipbuilding industry that has a trend of industrial hollowing out? No, it is the same for all walks of life.

Just like the Great Ming's cotton cloth opening up the market in the West, once the opening is completed, the West's textile industry will suffer a devastating blow.

As the captain of the country, the Emperor needs to know these things.

"Precisely because of this, the West has become cautious about importing ships in the past few years, and they are more inclined towards luxury items such as silk, glassware, official kiln porcelain, and jade," Zhu Zhu Yijun frowned and said.

Obviously, Philip II also realized the danger of this situation. His purpose in buying cotton cloth was to destroy the handicraft workshops in England and the Netherlands, not to sell them in his own country.

"This is not free. The world needs more free trade!" Zhu Zhu Yijun immediately said. But wherever Great Ming goods cannot arrive smoothly, it is not free. This is Lin Lin Fucheng's consistent advocacy of free trade.

"If Philip insists on going his own way, then we must find a way to knock open their country's door!"

Zhu Zhu Yijun discovered that Philip II was setting up trade barriers to protect his country's handicrafts and industries, and immediately expressed his views on free trade!

"It is difficult for him to completely ban it, because the Portuguese King Antonio is still there." Zhang Zhang Juzheng put forward his own ideas. Actually, there is no need to take action at all. The Great Ming does not yet have the ability to deploy strong troops in the ocean, but as long as the goods can arrive in the West smoothly, the pirates and smuggling merchants who are widespread in the West will make Philip's ban completely fail.

The pirates who appeared widely in the West were all caused by Philip II himself, who was draining the pond to catch the fish in the Netherlands. Heavy taxes, cruel religious courts, and widespread discrimination against the Lowlanders all caused the rampant piracy in the West.

Philip himself must eat the bitter fruit of this evil result.

"That is indeed the case," Zhu Zhu Yijun said with a smile. It is naturally excellent to be able to realize free trade without fighting.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng talked about this mainly to remind the Emperor to pay attention to maintaining the Great Ming's commodity advantage.

Oda Oichi arrived at the Great Ming's Tianjin Prefecture. The prosperity of Tianjin Tianjin Tanggu made Oichi dazzled. When she came to the Great Ming, she also brought two daughters. As the first beauty of the Warring States period, the eldest daughter's appearance was a bit sorry for her mother, but the remaining two daughters, one eighteen and one sixteen, were both very beautiful.

Beauty traps are ineffective against the Great Ming Emperor. Oichi knew this very well. Ii Naomasa was sent to the Great Ming and became a washing maid together with the Saintess of the West.

She brought her two daughters to the Great Ming, which was a bit of a selfish desire to find a good family for her daughters and take the upper-level route. But soon, the moment Oichi stepped onto the Tianjingang wharf, Oichi gave up this plan.

Because Oichi saw five pleasure boats docked at the port. The pleasure boats were ready to set sail, the guests were boarding the boats, and the beauties on the pleasure boats were also waiting to board. Each one was incomparably beautiful, and every smile was full of charm. The pleasure boats were filled with beauties from all over the world, truly charming.

Beauties? Beauties have never been expensive commodities.

Oichi looked at her two daughters and clearly knew that the Great Ming really did not lack beauties. Two beautiful daughters could not become a bargaining chip to obtain the friendship of the Great Ming's officials. On the contrary, the big figures of the Great Ming would avoid them, and the two words "colluding with the Japanese" were equal to being abandoned by both humans and gods in the Great Ming.

The upper-level route was very difficult to walk.

Oichi looked at the prosperous Tianjingang wharf, and then thought of the Nagasaki wharf she had seen, and sighed heavily. Just as she did not know where her daughters would go, she did not know where Japan would go.

Japan has never been afraid of the Central Plains being strong, because if the Central Plains are strong, they only need to submit. But Japan is afraid of the Great Ming hating them, because blood feuds can only be repaid with blood.

Oichi entered the capital. This mission was special because it was led by a woman, and she also brought two other children.

Zhu Zhu Yijun very much suspected that Oda Nobunaga sent his sister, and brought those two daughters, to the Great Ming to obtain diplomatic initiative, because women have all kinds of inconveniences. Once the accompanying Great Ming coastal defense inspectors could not suppress the desire of their second brothers to vent, and a rape occurred, then Japan would obtain diplomatic initiative.

Even, Oichi and her daughters could take the initiative to seduce, and then turn around and bite back, saying that the Great Ming had raped them. The Great Ming, which had suffered such a scandal, could only passively accept the move.

This kind of thinking of the Great Ming Emperor was to speculate on the Japanese with the greatest malice, and it was very likely to happen. When they were at the end of their rope, they would try every means to strive for any possible way out.

The last straw for a drowning person.

The Great Ming Emperor's speculation without malice was clearly perceived by the Ministry of Rites, and comprehensive arrangements were made. Once Oichi played the rogue, this Japanese mission would all die of sudden illness.

In this day and age, acclimatization, arriving in a foreign land, was nothing more normal.

According to the Jiekuyuan, all kinds of small insects were widespread, and the insects that caused people to get sick were not exactly the same in all places. This was the essence of acclimatization.

Whether to admit the scandal or to ruthlessly solve the people who caused the problem, for the Great Ming Ministry of Rites, was not a difficult choice. Maintaining the face of the Celestial Empire was the Ministry of Rites' duty.

Prevention before it happens. The dispute over tribute by Japanese envoys that began in the second year of Emperor Jiajing had left the Great Ming in a dilemma. The dispute over tribute occurred, and the Ningbo Guard Commander Yuan Zan and the coastal defense commander Liu Jin died in battle. Japan discovered the fact that the Great Ming's military equipment was weak. At that time, the Great Ming could only do a multiple-choice question: either open the maritime ban, cancel the tribute, and change it to merchant ship trade; or increase the maritime ban to prevent Japanese pirates from invading and Japan from coveting.

At that time, the Great Ming court chose the four-stage response method and never made a choice until the twelfth year of Emperor Jiajing, ten years after the dispute over tribute, when it made the decision to increase the maritime ban, but it was too late.

Zhu Zhu Yijun believed that the Japanese envoys would use this kind of low-down means, because the Japanese pirates had used this means before, and the Great Ming had to guard against it.

This was not just what Zhu Zhu Yijun, the emperor, thought alone. In the words of Wan Wan Shihe: "Those Japanese pirates are base people of the border barbarians, not enough to be treated with benevolence and righteousness, and cannot be blamed with constant rituals. Since ancient times, they have been treated like fish and turtles, knowing small rituals but no great righteousness, sticking to small details but no great virtue. If they are strong, they will be pirates; if they are weak, they will be humble. If they lose their duty as subjects, they can be punished; if they harass the people, they can be destroyed; if they can be a disaster to China for a long time, they can be eliminated. If there is one of these, even if ten thousand are killed a day, it is not enough to be ashamed."

In Wan Wan Shihe's words, since ancient times, Japanese pirates should be treated like livestock, and no matter how much precaution is taken, it is not too much.

Oichi was helpless against this kind of precaution. The Great Ming was already gentle enough, tolerant enough, and reasonable enough. The Great Ming was also a gentle gentleman in the past, a gentleman who kept his word. The Great Ming once established fifteen non-conquest countries in the Emperor Hongwu era. Among them, except for Annam, which ambushed the Great Ming army and was beaten once, the Great Ming really did not conquer these fifteen vassal countries.

But in reality, a gentleman is an alien in the whole world.

The Great Ming rarely communicated with the surrounding barbarians with power and force. Who turned the Great Ming into what it is now?

The Great Ming was already easy to talk to enough. What was easier to talk to than the Great Ming was the Great Ming of yesterday, and the best conditions were the previous conditions.

Oichi's surroundings had all become palace maids, including security, which was handled by mountain women, not guards. This was not respect, but precaution. Even when officials from the Ministry of Rites came to communicate, they were three *zhang* away.

After communicating with the officials of the Ministry of Rites, Oichi felt the same for the "Eta Hinin" for the first time. In the Great Ming, everyone avoided them. They were untouchable *Eta Hinin*. As long as there was any connection, it would be inauspicious.

Zhu Zhu Yijun had been waiting for the opinions of the coastal defense inspectors in various places. The Great Ming Emperor sent word to the Northern Suppressing and Pacifying Division, and the Northern Suppressing and Pacifying Division sent word to the various inspectorate Southern Yamen. Soon, before the Mid-Autumn Festival in the eighth month, the Great Ming Emperor received replies from all over the country.

When Zhu Zhu Yijun sent word to the Northern Suppressing and Pacifying Division, he clearly stated that if Oda Nobunaga died, there would be no responsibility. To be precise, the protection provided to Oda Nobunaga in Japan did not include protection.

The replies from the various inspectorates were full of loyalty. The inspectorates in various places, especially the inspectorate in Nagasaki, expressed their support. The reason for the support was that the Great Ming's intelligence on Japan, because there was no legal identity to act, had always been unable to be fully grasped, which made the Great Ming unable to make a response.

Although the coastal defense inspectorates had thought of many ways, the Great Ming people were tall and big, and the Japanese pirates were short and small. The Great Ming's coastal defense inspectors were really too conspicuous, and their activities were unfavorable.

Choosing to support was to better obtain intelligence on Japan.

The cruel working environment of the coastal defense inspectors determined that those who signed up to participate were all loyal and patriotic people.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was silent for a long time, and finally decided to propose conditions, requiring Oda Nobunaga to hand over the customs. Oda Nobunaga, who was defeated in Osaka Bay, had already lost control of the ocean, and the Great Ming coastal defense inspectors in Japan would not protect him.

This exchange looked extremely ridiculous. It was using non-existent maritime rights to exchange for protection that would not be protected.

This was a win-win exchange. The Great Ming obtained the names of customs and military pay, and the coastal defense inspectors gathered intelligence with a reasonable and legal identity. The Great Ming won twice, which was a win-win.

After Wan Wan Shihe received the Emperor's order, after the Ministry of Rites' discussion, he came to the Tonghe Palace Imperial Study to see the Emperor. After paying respects, Wan Wan Shihe did not talk nonsense and said directly: "Your Majesty, the thinking method of the barbarians is like this: the more politely you treat me, the more I must have something that makes you fear, although I don't know what it is myself. It may be that in terms of regional strength, you are not as good as me, or you have something to ask of me!"

"Han Han Feizi's *Death of a State* once said: 'If a country is small and does not humble itself, if its strength is small and it does not fear the strong, if it is rude and insults a large neighbor, and if it is greedy and stubborn and clumsy in diplomacy, it can be destroyed.'"

"What does the Grand Minister mean?" Zhu Zhu Yijun understood Wan Wan Shihe's words, which meant that people are bullied because they are kind, and the Great Ming should be more aggressive in diplomacy instead of being a gentleman.

"The Ministry of Rites believes that we can ask for more, such as asking Oda Nobunaga to cede the Iwami Bai Yin Mine." Wan Wan Shihe felt that the Emperor and the Senior Grand Secretary were truly too kind.

Now that Oda Nobunaga had something to ask of the Great Ming, they should take the opportunity to ask for a sky-high price and wait for Oda Nobunaga to bargain.

Wan Wan Shihe continued: "The Iwami Bai Yin Mine is in the Mōri family, not the Oda family, but the Shogun of the Azuchi Shogunate is Oda Nobunaga. His cession is the Great Ming's justification for taking the Iwami Bai Yin Mine. It is a famous teacher. In this way, Oda Nobunaga can only fight to the death with Mōri Terumoto."

Wan Wan Shihe was very good at stirring up trouble.

Zhu Zhu Yijun understood. Wan Wan Shihe's meaning was to take an inch and want a foot. How could just asking for customs be enough? He also wanted the silver mine.

"Then do as the Grand Minister says. Anyway, this Oichi cannot make the decision. Send word to the Nagasaki Governor's Office directly and pass the message to Oda Nobunaga." Zhu Zhu Yijun approved Wan Wan Shihe's suggestion.

"The Ministry of Rites has revised a new volume of the *Overseas Barbarian Country Records* and presents it to Your Majesty," Wan Wan Shihe bowed and said. A small eunuch placed the new *Overseas Barbarian Country Records* presented by the Ministry of Rites on the imperial desk.

The *Great Ming Collected Statutes* and the *Overseas Barbarian Country Records* were revised one volume at a time and presented one volume at a time. After the revision was completed, they were placed in the seven display cases in the side hall of the Zhao Wenhua Hall.

For each volume, Zhu Zhu Yijun read it carefully and even made annotations himself.

Zhu Zhu Yijun did not read it immediately, because it was still the time for the memorial response. After Wan Wan Shihe finished the memorial response, it was appropriate to read it carefully.

"Your Majesty, your subject revised the *Overseas Barbarian Country Records* and discovered a problem, which is that most barbarians do not understand rituals. Force may be the only way of communication they can understand." After presenting the new *Overseas Barbarian Country Records*, Wan Wan Shihe talked about his insights on revising the book.

Wan Wan Shihe talked about Bayinnaung of Toungoo. The Great Ming was too polite to Toungoo, which made Toungoo have the illusion of being on an equal footing with the Great Ming. Only then did Bayinnaung dare to provoke the Great Ming, thinking that the Great Ming would not do anything to him, so he thought of attacking the Great Ming to obtain cohesion and prestige.

Is it so easy to brush up on prestige by stepping on the Great Ming's face?

This kind of provocation must be met with a heavy punch, using the way of communication by force, so that Bayinnaung can wake up in the heavenly prison, just like Zheng He capturing the King of Ceylon in the past.

Zhu Zhu Yijun highly approved of this. The attitude Wan Wan Shihe said might not be the best, but it was indeed the most suitable method for the present.

After Wan Wan Shihe left, the Great Ming Emperor picked up the *Overseas Barbarian Country Records* in his hand. This volume was revised about Annam. Zhu Zhu Yijun flipped through it and said with a smile: "The Grand Minister has worked hard."

For the Annam of the present, the biggest main contradiction was the north-south confrontation and the clash of arms. This was the biggest reason for the misery of the people in Annam. And Wan Wan Shihe looked at this confrontation from the perspective of the theory of contradictions. In essence, this confrontation was the contradiction between the centripetal force and centrifugal force toward the Central Plains.

That is, the name Annam also came from the Tang Dynasty establishing the Annam Protectorate there.

From the time the pre-Qin period attacked Annam, in the 1,700 years, Annam had been jumping between the vassal territory and vassal state of the Central Plains dynasties, until the Emperor Xuande era, when it was considered independent, but still existed as a vassal state.

The time Annam became a vassal state of the Great Ming was only 156 years. Centripetal force and centrifugal force were the essential contradictions of this north-south confrontation.

"Wan Wan Shihe believes that whether it is the Mạc clan, the Nguyễn clan, the Trịnh clan, or the usurping master of the Later Lê, they are all representatives of centrifugal force. The true centripetal force lies among the common people in the countryside who yearn for a stable life." Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at the *Overseas Barbarian Country Records* in his hand and thought for a long time before he was convinced that Wan Wan Shihe was probably right.

The situation in Annam had been fought for 56 years, and I am afraid it would have to be fought for more than a hundred years. It would be better to just stir-fry the juice with a big fire and let them fight out a result.

Zhu Zhu Yijun had already sent word to the two Guang Governor Wang Wang Jiaping, asking Wang Wang Jiaping to understand the spirit and execute it flexibly.

Once Wang Wang Jiaping was allowed to execute it flexibly, Wang Wang Jiaping would really be very flexible.

Oda Nobunaga's reply was very slow. The communication distance from the Great Ming to the Nagasaki Governor's Office was seven days when the Bohai Bay was not frozen, and ten days when it was frozen. But the communication distance from Nagasaki to Azuchi Castle was a month or even longer.

After Wang Wang Chonggu led the Xishan Coal Bureau of the Coal and Steel Joint Operation to formally intervene in the production of hydraulic rolling machines, the speed of the Great Ming's casting of silver coins was finally rapidly improved. In the Ministry of Works' report, by the end of the eleventh year of Emperor Wanli, the speed of Great Ming's casting of silver coins would increase to 4 million silver, and in the twelfth year of Emperor Wanli, the scale would reach 6.5 million silver.

After the 15th year of Emperor Wanli, the number of Great Ming's rolled silver coins would reach the terrifying figure of 20 million. After the 15th year of Emperor Wanli, the Great Ming would no longer have to worry about the problem of silver damming in the inner treasury due to insufficient minting capacity.

Of course, it would still dam in the metropolis, and the dredging of silver coins to the countryside still required the transformation of production relations.

In other words, in two more years, starting from the 13th year of Emperor Wanli, the Great Ming Emperor could invest again. Before that, the investment of the inner treasury still needed to be cautious, letting the silver pile up in the inner treasury for a while. The damming was temporary, and the improvement of productivity required time.

By that time, the Great Ming would fall into the dilemma of the past, the infinite demand for silver.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival of the 15th day of the eighth month, Zhu Zhu Yijun received a reply from Oda Nobunaga. Oda Nobunaga was willing to pay more rewards instead of ceding customs, military pay, silver mines, etc. Oda Nobunaga's reply was extremely humble, willing to pay 1 million silver in tribute every year instead of maritime rights and silver mines.

The Great Ming Ministry of Rites reacted quickly and planned to expel the Japanese envoys back to their country.

The Great Ming being willing to communicate was already a great favor, and they still wanted to bargain?!

The Great Ming Ministry of Rites did not indulge the Japanese envoys at all and chose to expel them.

Oichi begged in every possible way, and finally took out the national letter written by her brother, indicating that Japan could agree to the Great Ming's request. Before Oichi left, Oda Nobunaga gave Oichi some power to act according to circumstances. Once the Great Ming's attitude was tough and there was no way to bargain, she would agree to the Great Ming's request.

Oichi, this envoy, also had some power. She was responsible for the bottom line. Once the Great Ming refused to lower the price, she would be responsible for agreeing.

Oda Nobunaga had already judged the bargaining chips requested by the Great Ming, and maritime rights and silver mines were within his expectations, so they could be agreed to.

On the 17th day of the eighth month, Zhu Zhu Yijun summoned the Japanese envoy, Oda Nobunaga's younger sister, Oichi. With eyebrows grown out, no strange makeup, and no blackened teeth, Oichi finally looked normal. Zhu Zhu Yijun did not feel amazed by this woman who was called the first beauty of the Warring States period. The Great Ming did not lack beauties, and the Great Ming Emperor lacked them even less.

Zhu Zhu Yijun finished reading the national letter written by Oda Nobunaga. In terms of handwriting, Oda Nobunaga's was much more upright than that written by the Tatar suzerain, the Chahar Tumen Khan.

"Oda Nobunaga requested Us to allow you to reside in the Great Ming as a Japanese envoy." Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Oichi and shook his head: "This is a very, very rude request. According to the ancestral system, Japan can pay tribute once every ten years, and each time there can be at most three tribute ships."

"My brother just hopes to find a place for your subject to settle down." Oichi chose to tell the truth. The officials of the Ministry of Rites had exhorted her again and again, telling Oichi not to play tricks, to say whatever she thought, and never to deceive the Emperor.

Saying that she was a Japanese envoy residing in the Great Ming was actually Oda Nobunaga's worry about the further deterioration of the situation, and the safety of his sister and two daughters.

At first, letting his sister marry into the Azai family was Oda Nobunaga's decision, and attacking the Azai family and forcing Azai Nagamasa to commit suicide was also Oda Nobunaga's decision. Oda Nobunaga was afraid that the situation would further deteriorate, and he was sorry for his sister, who really had nowhere to settle down.

An ordinary woman who did not fight for anything, had no special talents, and had no crimes, after Oda Nobunaga was defeated or died, what kind of peeping would she and her daughters attract because of their extraordinary beauty? It was imaginable.

Zhu Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said: "You cannot stay in the Great Ming as a Japanese envoy."

"I beg Your Majesty for mercy." Oichi bowed and begged again.

"Then stay in the Great Ming as a Japanese *yūjo*." Zhu Zhu Yijun saw that Oichi did not understand what he meant, so he chose to explain it directly. The Great Ming had many Japanese *yūjo*. In the context of the Great Ming, *yūjo* no longer referred to prostitutes, but the *yū* of wanderers. ===== CHAPTER 560 =====