Chapter 969 Afterglow of the Empire (25)

It takes time to grind.

This is the consensus of all the generals.

Although they had secured the victory without accident, it was precisely because of this that they had to be more patient, lest Honda Zhongsheng go crazy and take away more soldiers and generals.

It is undeniable that in order to break through the city gate, countless lives were filled by the land and water armies. Even the navy, which had an absolute advantage in firepower, still killed more than a thousand brothers with the assistance of the West Route Army.

In this case, not to mention the troops used by Liu Ting to take the initiative, several of them have already been established and destroyed.

Similarly, watching a famous samurai fall in a pool of blood, or, full of confidence to stop the enemy, but there is no news back, Honda Tadakatsu is indeed sad, but he hopes that this state can last longer time to last until reinforcements arrive.

Overseas.

Li sun-shin, who commanded the strongest fleet in East Asia, silently watched Suncheon City. After Lu Li left with many generals under his command, he became a veritable commander-in-chief.

The old general Deng Zilong didn't have any prejudices. After being forced to accept the cruel reality of not being able to go to the battlefield in person, he began to assist Admiral Li wholeheartedly——

Since he was a subject of a foreign country and had legendary military exploits, after Chen Lin's suggestion, after Lu Li wrote the letter, Emperor Wanli generously granted him a generous seal.

"Master Commander, with the Japanese fleet coming from the sea, it should be reinforcements for Suncheon."

Soldiers came to report.

Each fleet will arrange more or less scout ships to ensure that the surrounding sea conditions are under their own control.

At the beginning, Liu Ting saw that the situation of the Central Route Army was unclear, so he found an excuse to abandon the luggage and negotiate. Lu Li, under the unanimous suggestion of Li Sunchen and Chen Lin, sent about fifty warships to the waterway where the Japanese retreated, and carried out a mission that might break out. .

Later, under the persecution of the supervising army, the West Route Army returned here and locked up the Shuntian defenders again.

And those warships did not return to the team, but increased inspections.

After all, Honda Zhongsheng has a high status in the Kwantung Army, and the total strength of his troops exceeds 10,000. There is absolutely no possibility of being abandoned, so he must be careful.

Now, reinforcements are coming from the direction of Sacheon.

Because the relationship between Admiral Dong Yiyuan and Tokugawa Ieyasu is currently in the honeymoon period, and the Central Route Army lacks warships, they were able to come here easily.

There are nearly 500 large warships, plus some smaller ships of various types. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as blocking the sea.

"Prepare for the battle, buy time for Zongbing Lu and the others."

Li Sunchen ordered decisively.

For sailors who can rely on the tide and wind, it is not too far from Suncheon to Sacheon, and they can arrive at night at the latest.

Immediately afterwards, the soldiers of the Ming army who stayed abroad took action one after another, strictly implementing the orders sent from the flagship.

This is the charm of Yi Sun-shin. In the original history, upon hearing the bad news of his death, the sailors of the Ming Dynasty threw the meat they had managed to get after the war into the sea to express their grief and respect.

Because after they entered the court, military discipline was under Yi Sun-chen's management, and the opponent's style of rewards and punishments won the respect of all the generals of the Ming army.

The previous small tests made this group of arrogant soldiers who dared to abuse Li Dynasty officials in the capital and make trouble after drinking, admire him.

city ​​head.

Lu Li, who temporarily placed the main formation here, watched the large-scale mobilization of foreign naval forces from a distance, and immediately guessed the specific situation. There was no special instruction. While urging his subordinates to rest, he waited for the envoy sent by Li Sunshin to explain the reason to himself. .

"The navy of the Japanese army has moved."

Chen Lin gnawed on the cold noodle cake, chewed it, and said: "Only in this way, Li Shunchen can be so quick, take a step ahead, and stabilize the corner."

On the side, there is a treasured knife with a gap.

After all, the Japanese are not sheep, and besides Honda Zhongsheng, there must be other characters.

"We have successfully captured the city tower and gained a firm foothold in the city without the support of foreign artillery."

That's all Lu Li said.

The king of sea battles in East Asia in the sixteenth century, Li Sun-shin deserved his name, as rebellious as Chen Lin, a naval figure from the suzerain of the Ming Dynasty, he was also convinced.

Therefore, there is no need to worry too much about anything or give orders, just give absolute command and maintain full trust——

Almost by himself, he changed the direction of the last Imjin War. Before he was implicated in the party struggle, the navy he created had repeatedly defeated the strong with the weak, dragging down the Japanese army's logistics forcefully.

It is undeniable that during the rebellion of Ding You, due to the incompetence of his successor, the Lee Chao navy became extremely weak and could not play a major role in strategy, but Yi sun-shin still devoted himself to the country and gave the fleet life again.

Will he follow the original trajectory and die unfortunately?

He was already on the brink of the storm, so he shouldn't be distracted, but Lu Li couldn't help but sigh.

Without Yi Sun-shin, the outcome of the War to Resist Japanese Aggression and Aid Korea would not have changed in any way, but victory would have been delayed by several years.

The luckiest thing for a soldier is to be killed by the last bullet in the last battle.

A genius has to be born at the right time, but also die at the right time. Perhaps in Yi Sun-shin's view, dying in the final naval battle may not be a kind of luck.

"If I can kill those Japanese pirates, I will die without regret."

On the way for the main fleet to set off, Yi sun-shin prayed to the sky, but just after he finished speaking, a meteor fell from the sky.

Given his character and the factionalism of the Li dynasty, if he survives after the war, he will be the same as last time. He will die and be exiled to a remote area alive is the best end.

In fact, both Lu Li and Li Sunshin subconsciously agreed that after the Battle of Suncheon, there would be no more large-scale wars.

[Conscripted and dispatched more than 221,500 soldiers from the north and the south of Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Lakes, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Myanmar, more than 370 generals and staff, and more than 5,832,000 taels of grain and silver. Three million taels of rice and beans were traded for silver, and hundreds of thousands of hu for practical natural rice. 】

According to the official records of the original history, in short, the total cost of this war was 8,835,000 taels of silver and nearly one million hu in meters.

After undergoing a series of reforms such as the examination method presided over by Zhang Juzheng, the one-whip method, and the Qingzhang Tianmu, the financial problems of the Ming Dynasty were relieved, which can be called ZTE——

The annual income of the household department is 4.35 million taels, and after balance of income and expenditure, the annual balance is about 850,000 taels.

However, during this period, it must be ensured that there will be no major disasters in the country, or that the emperor will not make large-scale construction projects and engage in things that waste people and money.

In other words, the war can be supported only when the finances are guaranteed to be stable for ten years and the treasury is full.

But the actual situation is not so ideal. For Emperor Wanli's favorite King Fu, the wedding cost 300,000 taels, and the building of the mansion cost 280,000 taels.

There are many unimaginable strange factors in this world, which is true, but the general environment has not changed.

This war caused Daming, who already had internal worries, to keep filling this big hole with the wealth accumulated in the early Wanli period, and there was no benefit to be seen on the surface——

Most of the courtiers and the so-called Qingliu believed that this matter had nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty, so their attitude was extremely negative. At the beginning of the war, only Emperor Wanli and Minister of War Shi Xing made it clear that they wanted to resist Japan and aid Korea.

Of course, Shi Xing still couldn't hold on, and later became the main peace faction, unable to please both sides, and was sentenced to death in prison.

There is not enough money and food.

The extravagant teacher spends his salary.

Even if he was on the front line, Lu Li, the commander-in-chief, could still more or less hear such arguments.

Another reason is that a series of political incidents broke out during the Wanli Dynasty, such as the struggle for the country, and the Wanli Emperor and the entire foreign court formed antagonism.

Regardless of right or wrong, regardless of pros and cons, as long as the emperor supports and leads the matter, the outer court and Qingliu public opinion must oppose it.

As for how, who cares?

In order to keep the enemy out of the country, the generals of the Ming Dynasty threw their heads and blood and died in foreign countries, but the rear opposed them for the sake of opposition and denied their achievements.

On the front line, the major factions are plotting against each other, grabbing credit and power, and false accusations are common.

And the Japanese are willing to take the initiative to back down, so why not?

Although he didn't know what Yang Gao and Xing Jie were thinking, Lu Li could guess that they wanted to end the war decently, give the court a step down, and let the emperor happily end this foreign war.

Hmm... Tokugawa Ieyasu also wanted to be decent.

Don't want a princess from Ming Dynasty to come to Japan for marriage, and don't want Prince Li Chao as a hostage, just give some souvenirs, so that it can be whitewashed.

But Dong Yiyuan said that he has no right to make decisions, he has to ask Yang Jinglue and Xing Junmen for instructions, and hinted:

There is a high probability that there are no souvenirs. You have to lower your posture. You have had a bad experience last time. His Majesty the Emperor who is far away in the capital is not so easy to deceive.

At that time, the missions of the two sides and the behind-the-scenes bosses worked together to create the number one scam in East Asia.

At that time, Hideyoshi felt that he had not failed, and insisted on Xiu Qitiao, but the emissary knew the inside story. He met Emperor Wanli in the Meridian Gate Tower, kowtowed to the end, and respectfully presented the forged "Guan Baijiang Biao".

At that time, Emperor Wanli looked at the surrender table, his tone was low and low, and he was very satisfied with his attitude that he was afraid of offending the Dragon's Nilin.

After all, he is rich all over the world, and he doesn't care about gold, silver and jewelry, so he wants to save face. Since Hideyoshi, the Japanese Guanbai, has given it to him, then naturally everything is easy to talk about.

Taking advantage of his joy, Wanli also asked the envoy Naito Anru a few questions with great interest.

Why invade North Korea?

Why did you hang on after the defeat?

The answer is also very formulaic: the Li Dynasty blocked the way for our country to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and stayed on the coast, praying for a reward from His Majesty the Great Emperor.

In the end, the messenger Naito knelt on the ground and swore to the sky, saying that they must obey the wishes of the heaven and the kingdom, and change their minds...

Wanli was happy and extremely magnanimous. Compared with Hideyoshi's whimsical Hideshichijo, he only made three requests:

1. All the Japanese returned to their homeland.

2. Feng Hideyoshi is the king of Japan, but no tribute is allowed.

3. Immortality and eternity shall not invade the vassal state of Ming Dynasty.

There is no penalty, no compensation, just return to the pre-war state, and nothing has happened.

As a result...the Celestial Dynasty was generous and organized a grand guard of honor to confer Hideyoshi across the sea:

Python dragon clothes, jade belts, Yishan crowns, maps of the Ming Dynasty, seven books of martial arts and other canonized gifts, and a large flag [Tiao Ji Guo Guo] was erected on the bow of the ship. In addition, 277 Liaodong horses were loaded.

But after arriving at the place, Hideyoshi had already been coaxed by his subordinates so that he didn't know where to go, where to go, how could he think that his family had lost the battle.

Naturally, he felt that Emperor Ming had been subdued by him, put on airs, didn't bother to welcome the missions, and left them hanging on Fushimi Mountain without notifying the time and place of the meeting.

And then...there was a big earthquake in Japan, and the missionary crushed to death a general manager, an official and four servants.

After a lot of tossing, the meeting finally started.

Osaka Castle.

All the daimyos of Japan gathered together, waiting for the canonization ceremony to begin. The envoy Yang Fangheng stood in the center holding a festival, Shen Weijing, the traitor who organized the fraud, was accompanying him with a golden seal in his hand, and the imperial guard Xu Denggui held the edict, edict and crown uniform.

After a long time, Hideyoshi, who felt similar, slowly appeared and sat on the top.

At the same time, with a plop, Shen Weijing fell to his knees and kowtowed to the supreme ruler of Japan.

Everyone in Yang Fangheng was stupid.

What's the meaning? !

They hold His Majesty's festival banners in their hands, representing the will of the Ming Emperor, no one can afford their bowing ceremony!

Why is Shen Weijing's knee so soft?

From this moment on, Yang Fangheng, who always felt that something was wrong, was determined to investigate, and Shen Weijing was also forced to do so. He teamed up with Xiaoxi and others to deceive Hideyoshi, saying that the Daming Mission was the one that surrendered.

As a surrender, can you not kowtow?

In order not to expose the matter, Shen Weijing specially vaccinated and said nonsense in advance, the customs in Japan are different from those of the Ming Dynasty, so my colleagues looked at me and acted.

Therefore, this guy not only kowtowed by himself, but also kicked the other messengers back to make them kneel down together. Thanks to Yang Fangheng's not being stupid, he reluctantly took the lead in saluting.

Even this made Hideyoshi unhappy, muttering in his mouth, it was obviously not a good thing, and the interpreter in charge of communication also faltered and refused to speak for a long time.

In such an embarrassing atmosphere, President Xiaonishi quickly appeased Hideyoshi and calmed him down a bit, but Hideyoshi didn't bother to see him again, he waved his sleeves and asked one of his followers to take away the gold seal and other things, and the deity left the table directly.

After the inexplicable first day, according to the schedule, it should be Hideyoshi who entertained the envoys of Ming Dynasty to express his gratitude.

Therefore, all the daimyos, including Ieyasu Tokugawa, put on the clothes of the Ming Dynasty, gathered in the palace in a serious manner, ate and drank together, and finally came to the highlight——

Read the edict.

According to Hideyoshi's understanding, this is the emperor of Ming Dynasty, like a running dog, bowing his knees to himself and flattering him to the fullest, which is the most worth looking forward to.

Therefore, he changed the ceremony site to his favorite Huabata Villa, allowing all daimyos and generals under his command to witness the exciting scene together.

This round will be played by Governor Xiaonishi.

He wanted to play tricks, and secretly changed words and concepts. Yang Fangheng wanted to canonize you as the king of Japan, and the translator translated it as "Daming King".

However, the interpreter may be nervous, or may have other plans, but actually translated the imperial edict of Emperor Wanli, word by word, according to the most orthodox meaning.

【Confer Er as King of Japan】

[Guan Fanwei in the Celestial Dynasty]

...

The meaning is too clear, you are the king of a small country, watch over the door for our celestial dynasty, be a loyal dog, be grateful, and abide by the teachings.

For Hideyoshi who has not yet woken up from his daydream, this is a great humiliation, and it is still in front of so many famous people.

Ever since, he smashed the bright crown on his head, took away the imperial edict, tore it up in public, and pointed at Yang Fangheng, the emissary who held the festival banner and represented the will of Emperor Wanli, and roared——

I rule Japan with martial power, so why should Ming Zhi designate me as the king of Japan? I want to destroy the Ming Dynasty, the King of Ming Dynasty begged for peace, saying that he would enshrine me as the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, and he agreed to make peace talks, but now he deceives me by making him the King of Japan!

In the end, because there were too many daimyos involved in this matter, Hideyoshi forcibly endured it.

And Zheng Shi Yang Fangheng was not stupid, he was throwing edicts and swearing like a crazy monkey. Although he didn't understand Japanese, he could guess the general idea.

After investigation...

The monarch of the defeated small country wants to be the emperor of Ming Dynasty?

Ridiculous!

Not only that, after the Japanese were defeated, they did not think about repenting and restarted the war!

All the nobles of the Ming Empire have been deceived by a group of young people for so many years. Those words of paying tribute are all absurd farce, and the act of canonizing ministers has become a joke.

Since the change of Tumubao, the empire has never lost face like this, it is tolerable, what can't be tolerated!

Emperor Wanli went mad with anger, and his ministers summed up three humiliations, four shames, five difficulties and seven things for him, directly adding fuel to the flames...

all in all.

Now, Daming doesn't want to fight anymore, but he has to get his face back. Whether Hideyoshi is dead or not, because this is a non-negotiable matter. If it is not resolved, someone will be liquidated by the court!

Yang Hao is very clear, although His Majesty has been calm for the past few years, it is because he is forcibly suppressing his anger, and he will only erupt completely after the Ming army has won a complete victory and the troops return to the court.

I made a fatal mistake when I fought against Daoshan before, but I just got away with it by chance, so I can't make up for it?

Completely smash the face of the Japanese!

Only in this way can Long Xin be pleased.

However, before solving the problem with the tongue, let's explain the truth with the fist.

Shuncheon Japanese city, there is no room for loss!

Just like Lu Li believed that Yi Sun-shin could buy time for himself, Yang Gao also believed in Lu Li.

When introducing him, he will reciprocate and give the other party the honor of leaving his name in history.