I

  Chapter 636 633【Internal Contradictions】

  Before Japan closed its doors to the outside world, its navy’s superficial strength was stronger than that of Ming Dynasty, and fighting away from the coast is very likely to completely defeat Ming Dynasty.

  Of course, the premise is to exclude people like Zheng Zhilong.

  The main ship of the shogunate is called "Date Maru", with a displacement of 508 tons, it is a standard Spanish galleon (galen ship). There is also a Galen ship with a displacement of 120 tons, and most of the rest are Zhuyin ships.

  Datemaru also carried the Japanese mission, first went to Mexico, then went to Europe to visit the Pope, then visited France and Spain, and finally returned to Japan via the Philippines.

  At that time, Japan was still relatively open. It submitted the credentials to the Pope, and even requested to send more missionaries to Japan to preach. But a few years later, when the mission returned to Japan, the shogunate was already expelling the missionaries, and the pope in Rome was very happy.

   "Japan also has such a large warship?" Li Dingguo raised his binoculars, his tone slightly surprised.

  Hong Xu smiled and said: "The shogunate only has this big ship, which was built with the help of the Spaniards. The guys at the bottom of the box have all come here to negotiate, just because they don't want to lose their momentum."

  The two sides met at the mouth of the bay, each lowered their small boats, and the envoys of the two sides took the small boats to the shore for talks.

  Liu Xiangke proudly cupped his hands and said: "Liu Xiangke, Shaoqing of Honglu Temple in Datong, China."

  The envoy of the shogunate was about 30 years old, and he bowed his hands and said: "Lin Efeng, the shogunate lawsuit and the lecturer of the Five Classics."

  Lin Efeng is the son of the great Japanese scholar Luo Shan. In addition to serving as a shogunate lawsuit and teaching the Five Classics to Tokugawa Iemitsu, he is also a diplomatic adviser to the shogunate. In addition, he also served as a Japanese historian.

This guy speaks Chinese very fluently, and after reporting their names to each other, they even reprimanded them sharply: "Liu Shaoqing, the Shimadzu family is the lord of the Japanese vassal. Even if there is something that offends China, the emperor of your country should send a letter of credence, and the shogun will do it himself." Punishment. Your country uses troops without authorization and fights without declaration. Is this in line with Confucian etiquette? Being rude is injustice! If your country insists on going its own way and wants to fight this unjust war, even though our country is small, we should accompany it!"

Liu Xiangke was too lazy to chat with the other party, and hit the point directly: "What is the shogunate? For thousands of years in my dynasty, all the Japanese lords have been canonized, and there is no such thing as a Japanese general. Even if the letter of credence is issued, it is also issued to the Japanese state. My lord, it’s never the turn of some shogun! That Tokugawa family, who coerced the lord to order the Japanese princes, is truly ruthless and unrighteous. Let alone sending troops to conquer Satsuma, even if China sends troops to fight against Tokugawa The shogunate is also a reasonable and just battle!"

  As soon as these words came out, Lin Efeng was at a loss for words.

  Yes, according to Confucianism, the Tokugawa shogunate belonged to stealing the country. And Japan is a vassal state of China, which is tantamount to stealing China's vassal state.

  China has sufficient reasons to send troops directly to kill the Tokugawa shogunate!

   Liu Xiangke said disdainfully: "If your Excellency is here to play tricks, please go back. After the defeat of the Satsuma Domain, I will lead the troops to Edo, and have a good talk with you in Edo City."

  Lin Efeng forcibly explained: "The lord of Japan has entrusted the power to the shogun, and he did not order the princes by coercing the emperor."

  Liu Xiangke sneered: "I sent troops here in Datong China, just to help the Japanese ruler to take charge of the government. Since it is not stealing the country, please ask the shogun to return to the ruler, so as not to be suspected of stealing the country and arousing criticism."

   Liu Xiangke firmly grasped the weakness of the shogunate's stealing the country. Lin Efeng couldn't talk any more. If he continued to entangle, it would only become more loopholes.

  Lin Efeng coughed and changed the subject: "When the time is right, the shogunate will return the ruler. What we are talking about today is how can your country withdraw its troops?"

  Liu Xiangke repeated the previous request again.

   It's just that the military compensation has doubled, because after a few more battles, the ships of the Datong Navy were damaged, so a lot of ammunition and food were consumed one after another.

  Lin Efeng breathed a sigh of relief. China's withdrawal conditions were within the acceptable range of the shogunate. It was nothing more than indemnity, and it was not the shogunate who paid the money anyway, so the Satsuma clan was in huge debt, which was beneficial to the shogunate's control.

   As for China taking back Ryukyu, it doesn't matter.

  At the beginning, the shogunate allowed the Satsuma clan to send troops to Ryukyu because of the Daming sea ban and the severance of diplomatic relations with Japan. Official trade can only use Ryukyu as a springboard.

  Now that China has opened up the sea, there are a large number of Chinese goods on the outer islands of Nagasaki, and the transactions have been monopolized by the shogunate. So for the shogunate, the territory of Ryukyu is dispensable, and only the Satsuma domain has really suffered huge losses.

  Lin Efeng suddenly said: "The shogunate can cooperate with these requests. But, please, the emperor of your country, bestow a golden seal on one of the shogunate generals."

  This proposal exceeded Liu Xiangke's expectations.

  The shogunate actually planned to sell the Satsuma domain in exchange for the recognition of the shogunate by the suzerain country. If this is the case, the shogun will have the actual legal authority, unlike the current diplomatic talk, which is justified.

   Liu Xiangke said: "This is a big matter, and I have no right to agree. I need to go back to Beijing to ask His Majesty for instructions."

   "This is what should be done." Lin Efeng expressed his understanding, as long as the other party does not reject it outright, his diplomatic mission will not be regarded as a failure.

   Liu Xiangke also said: "If the shogunate wants to win the general's golden seal, it still needs to show sincerity. To be honest, our army will go north to fight the Hirado clan after defeating the Satsuma clan."

  Lin Efeng wondered: "How did the Songpu family offend your country?"

Liu Xiangke said: "Our country's maritime merchants who went to North Korea were often harassed and robbed by the Hirado clan. The Matsuura family must pay compensation, promise not to commit any crimes in the future, and are not allowed to plunder the coast of North Korea again. In addition, the Matsuura family must hand over the big pirates. Li Guozhu, the son of Li Dan!"

  Zheng Chenggong was born in the Hirado Domain, which is a den of pirates.

  When the Hirado pirates were at their peak, they mainly plundered North Korea and the waters of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Many of the pirates who landed on the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to make trouble came from the Hirado domain. As for the pirate Li Guozhu, he has been hiding there all these years, often going out to sea with the navy of the Hirado clan to loot Chinese and North Korean merchant ships.

  Since Zhao Han chose to send troops, he not only had to take back the Ryukyu, not only had to hurt the Satsuma clan, but also had to make the Hirado clan obedient.

  Lin Efeng had a headache. A Satsuma clan was enough trouble, but he even brought Hirado clan along with him. Let the two great feudal lords apologize to China for reparations in a row, which will really lead to the majesty of the shogunate.

  Lin Efeng said: "This matter needs to be reported to the Shogun."

   Liu Xiangke smiled and said, "Wait for the good news."

  Tsuramaru Castle is still under siege. This ruined castle was built on a 100-meter-high mountain. The army forts of the Datong Army are not easy to erect, so they have to be pulled far away for long-distance upward shooting. Fortunately, not far from the sea, the naval artillery can also greet, and there is no need to stand still and be bombarded by the city defense artillery.

  It is impossible to attack by force. Even if the city is captured, the casualties of the Datong Army are estimated to reach two to three thousand. If the battle is fought like that, Li Dingguo will be punished.

   Mitsuhisa Shimadzu was exhausting, until the Chinese army ran out of food and retreated.

Li Dingguo called Miyazaki Shiro and Ghost Forty-eight, and said: "Go and find five hundred of the poorest people nearby, and let these people come and wash clothes for our soldiers. Not only can they get paid, but they can also eat with their stomachs open. Remember to spread the word afterwards."

  The two left, and Li Dingguo ordered his subordinates: "Move five hundred catties of rice ashore every day, set up porridge sheds, and help the local poor. Remember to spread the word."

  A few days later, five hundred women who washed clothes for Datong soldiers were sent to the castle town for a holiday.

  When they met everyone, they said that the food in Datong Army was good, and they would be full every meal, and sometimes they could see meat. He also said that the Datong Army kept what they said, their wages were settled every day, and they never defaulted on laundry fees.

  The porridge shed on the shore is also full every day, and there are even cases of jumping in line and fighting.

   It was agreed to five hundred catties of rice per day, that is, five hundred catties of rice. Not only beggars and poor people come to drink porridge, but also city vendors come to take advantage of it and wait in line with beggars to eat.

  The news quickly spread to Tsurumaru Castle.

   Hisashi Shimadzu said anxiously: "My lord, Tang soldiers are not short of food at all, and even have surplus food to buy people's hearts. The reinforcements from various families in the feudal clan have not come for a long time. We are afraid that we will be surrounded until we run out of food!"

   Shimadzu Mitsuhisa was silent, he knew that this time he was going to be finished.

   Hisashi Shimadzu said: "How about accepting Tang Ren's conditions, let's pay compensation and surrender."

   "Wait a little longer, wait a little longer," Shimadzu Mitsuhisa still had a fluke mentality, "Perhaps in a few days, the shogunate will send troops to rescue."

   Hisazu Shimadzu knelt down and bid farewell, and ran to another mansion in the city.

  The lord of the Satsuma Domain, Mitsuhisa Shimadzu, is the second son, and this mansion is lived by the third son Tadaro Shimadzu.

   They had fourteen brothers in total, and the oldest one died long ago. The fourth child, the sixth child, the eighth child, the tenth child, the eleventh child, the thirteenth child, and the fourteenth child were all sent out to serve as small lords in various places. The third child stayed in Kagoshima to be the head of the family, in fact, it was convenient for the feudal lord to control him, and he was afraid that he would go out and cause trouble. (Those not mentioned are dead.)

   "How?" Shimadzu Tadaro asked.

  Shimadzu Hisaichi said: "The governor of the house does not want to surrender."

  Tadaro Shimadzu asked: "What are your plans?"

Shimadzu Hisaichi said: "The Tang soldiers have enough food and grass, and even the untouchables who are begging can give out surplus food. If this continues, the food in Tsurumaru City will only be exhausted. By that time, the Tang soldiers will spend time The food consumption is even worse, and there will definitely be more money to be paid. Maybe he set fire to Tsurumaru Castle in a fit of anger. If the house governor does not surrender, we should ask him to surrender, and this is also for the sake of the Shimadzu family."

  Tadaro Shimadzu asked: "What if he still doesn't surrender?"

Shimadzu Hisaichi said: "The governor of the family secretly occupied the eight islands of Ryukyu behind his back and monopolized the brown sugar of Amami Oshima. After this incident, General Tokugawa must have known about it, and he will definitely be questioned after the war. The Shimadzu family will sooner or later be replaced. A housekeeper."

  The second child was replaced, so naturally the third child should take over.

  Tadaro Shimadzu smiled and nodded: "Your Excellency has a long-term vision. This is the blessing of the Shimadzu family."

  Shimadzu Hisaichi also said: "The retainers and samurai in the city have different thoughts now. Some clamored to fight out of the city, and some panicked after being besieged. We can secretly win over some people."

   "I am in the city, and I have a few confidants who are willing to help." Shimadzu Tadaro said.

   The two looked at each other and smiled.

  (end of this chapter)