argumate:

argumate:

the Ming court is like hmm should we institute a sensible system of tariffs and duties on international trade or should we just behead anyone who attempts to board an oceangoing vessel

the fun thing about the “Japanese” piracy issue is that most of the “pirates” were actually Chinese merchants evading the ban on trade, the local officials were in cahoots with them and got tremendously wealthy thereby, and the whole thing sparked five hundred years of discourse about nationalism and identity and feudalism vs. capitalism that is still going on today.

The Japanese take is it was a bother that gave them a reasonable claim on Korea.