I clearly wanted to be a tyrant, but how did I become the greatest emperor of all time?

Quan Minhao said: "I came here this time to recruit some experienced chefs from Da Zhou!"

"Let the bumpkins from Goryeo see what the delicacies of Great Zhou are like!"

After thinking for a while, Igawa Hirozo said, "That's right. If I go back to Japan, it would be good to be able to eat fish."

Quan Minhao said: "Are you really planning to return to Japan?"

Quan Minhao said sincerely: "You are not the crown prince, so you can't inherit the position of the Japanese lieutenant even if you go back."

"You'll just be a minor noble when you go back. Is it really worth it?"

Quan Minhao said: "If you stay in Da Zhou, you can continue to take the imperial examination."

"If you can pass the imperial examination, with your relationship with General Rand, you can be appointed as a county magistrate with some help."

"It's better than going back to be a noble, isn't it?"

Jeon Min-ho is right.

There is a popular saying among the vassal states who remain in Kyoto.

"I would rather be a county magistrate in the Great Zhou Dynasty than a ruler in a vassal state."

Being a county magistrate in the Great Zhou Dynasty, one could govern tens of thousands of households.

This is more than the population ruled by the monarchs of many vassal states.

The Great Zhou is rich, and if you do well, you can continue to get promoted.

If you can become a prefect, you will be better than many kings of vassal states.

Seeing that Igawa Kozo was silent, Quan Minhao continued:

"Otherwise, you can come to Gaoli to help me?"

"It will be no problem to give you a general position!"

Now that Jeon Min-ho is in power in Goryeo and has great prestige in the country, it is of course easy for him to appoint a general.

Igawa Hirozo sighed and said:

"I'm going back to Japan because of you."

"because I?"

Igawa Hirozo said: "Because of you, I also want to reform Japan!"

"The conditions in Japan are even worse than those in Korea. They live on an island and have no industry except fish and gold."

"There is one thing that is not as good as Goryeo. Goryeo has the Goryeo Pacification Envoy!"

"Goryeo has already fully learned Zhou culture. You are now the ruler of Goryeo and have completely started the reform of Goryeo."

"Then it is only a matter of time before Goryeo completes its Great Zhouization."

"And with the Goryeo pacification envoy here, Goryeo will definitely continue on the path of becoming Greater Zhou."

Igawa Hirozo's tone was full of envy.

“But Japan is different.”

"Lord Fan Jian just opened the door to Japan."

"The entire country of Japan, including my father, still wants to close the country to the outside world."

"Even if the Great Zhou blasted open the gates of Japan, they would still just want to lock the door and become local emperors."

"The future of Japan cannot be in the hands of such people!"

Igawa Hirozo stood up and said to Jeon Minho:

"Brother Quan, only by fully transforming into a great Zhou country can we save Japan!"

Igawa Hirozo said: "I have seen Da Zhou and Da Yue."

"We all know what the countries in Southeast Asia are like."

"If we don't learn from the Great Zhou and advocate reform, Japan may be worse than the Ryukyu Kingdom in the future!"

After saying this, Jeon Min-ho also fell silent.

Comprehensive Zhouization was the ambition the two set when they first met.

Now, times have changed. Jeon Min-ho is now in power in Goryeo and is on the road to realizing his ideals.

But Japan is still on the path of closing its doors to the outside world.

Hirozo Igawa felt that time was running out.

He said to Jeon Min-ho:

"Brother Quan, I would like to ask His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Zhou to allow me to return to Japan."

"I want to take control of Japan!"

After Igawa Kozo expressed his ambition, he looked at Jeon Min-ho.

Jeon Min-ho looked at his good friend with a scrutinizing gaze.

The situations of Jeon Min-ho and Igawa Kozo are different.

Goryeo was defeated by the Great Zhou, and the Goryeo king and Goryeo nobles and ministers were all taken to Kyoto as hostages.

Jeon Min-ho was originally the son of the ruling dynasty and had the legal power to rule Goryeo.

This time when he returned to Goryeo, he also had the support of the Great Zhou court, so Jeon Min-ho became the ruler of Goryeo with full legitimacy.

But Igawa Kozo is different.

Igawa Hirozo was only the second son of the Protector of Japan Colonel and had no right of inheritance.

Now the prince of the Protector of Japan is also studying the culture of the Great Zhou in Kyoto.

However, Igawa Hirozo's brother was not keen on studying and never passed the imperial examination to become a scholar and returned to Japan.

Igawa Hirozo's father is still in Japan.

This Igawa Hirozo is coveting the position of the captain of the Japanese defense force!

Igawa Hirozo made up his mind to return to Japan to seize power after the Salt and Iron Conference was over.

At this time in Kyoto, all the troops from the Great Zhou gathered there.

For this Salt and Iron Conference, the imperial court specially rented 35 main halls as residences for the representatives coming to Beijing to attend the conference.

Everyone's attention is on this meeting in Kyoto!

Now the Great Zhou has repelled the Northern Mang and wiped out the Great Yue.

Japan and Goryeo have all surrendered.

It was the most prosperous period of the Zhou Dynasty.

But no great dynasty has ever been defeated from outside.

The purpose of this Salt and Iron Conference was to resolve the internal affairs of the Great Zhou.

Although the theme of the meeting was salt and iron, everyone understood that this was a meeting to decide the direction of the court's policy.

At the end of June, the cabinet issued an imperial decree to solicit topics for discussion from wise men from all over the country who were coming to Beijing.

He also asked the new newspaper to add a supplement to publish various opinions.

Undoubtedly, the first issue that aroused heated discussion was the battle between Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind.

Xia Donglin, the master of Neo-Confucianism, was the first to contribute an article to the Xin Di Bao, blasting the School of Mind!

The philosophy of Neo-Confucianism is to preserve the laws of nature and eliminate human desires!

The ideal of Neo-Confucianism is the moral principles of ruler-subject and father-son relations!

This is the foundation of Neo-Confucianism, but what Xia Donglin criticized was the idea of studying things and seeking knowledge in the School of Mind.

Lu Weibin's philosophy of mind believes that exploring the root of things is the truth that people should pursue.

This kind of academic debate is not only about different interpretations of Confucianism.

More importantly, there are differences over the court's policies.

The philosophy of mind advocated by Lu Weibin emphasizes objectivity and reality.

He advocated that the court increase the number of officials to strengthen its control over the Great Zhou.

Comparing the Great Zhou to a person, Lu Weibin’s philosophy in governing is “strength and capability”.

Increasing the ruling power of the Great Zhou over all aspects of the country will satisfy the court's exploration of various "principles".

What the School of Mind advocates is strengthening the management of the court!

What Neo-Confucianism advocates is the moral principles between ruler and subject, and father and son.

This is a moral order.

Neo-Confucianism believes that as long as everyone abides by the rules, society can operate in an orderly manner.

Neo-Confucianism regards the king as a role model of morality.

As long as Your Majesty improves yourself and sets a good moral role model, officials at all levels can also set good moral role models.

In that way, the Holy Emperor can rule the country without having to mess up the country.

This concept of Neo-Confucianism was applied to the entire Great Zhou Dynasty.

That is, reducing land taxes, lightening corvee labor, and reducing the court's intervention at the grassroots level.

What Neo-Confucianism advocates are local sages who are role models of morality, and all of them voluntarily and independently manage the Zhou Dynasty at the grassroots level.

This is what is called a "strong branch".