Chapter 731 0726 [Going Out to Sea]
Five warships and seven merchant ships, carrying 3,000 soldiers and a large amount of supplies, headed east.
Xue Daoguang, who had already accepted disciples and passed on the Taoist teachings in Zhejiang, finally led the fleet out to sea again.
The commander of the navy was Ying Xuan, who was a general of the pseudo-Chu Dynasty, and the commander of the army was Zhu Xiaozhong, Zhu Ming's adopted son.
Zhu Ming stopped adopting orphans in his personal name four years ago.
Among the orphans earlier, a total of thirteen people stood out and were formally adopted as adopted sons and daughters by Zhu Ming.
The rest of the orphans continued to be raised. Many have joined the army and some have taken the path of civil servants, starting from senior clerks in the Tongzhengyuan and the Privy Council, and they can become low-ranking officials in a few years.
Some orphans even joined Shi Yuangong's intelligence department!
"After landing on the island, don't kill indiscriminately, and keep the islanders to farm. Do you understand?" Zhu Xiaozhong said to Xia Yuqing.
Xia Yuqing smiled bitterly: "What does the general think of us? Who likes to kill people for fun?"
Zhu Xiaozhong pouted.
Of the three thousand soldiers under his command, fifty were orphans who grew up together and were even equipped with the latest flintlock rifles. More than a hundred were former Song soldiers who had gone to sea with Xue Daoguang.
Most of the rest came from Shamen Island, and one or two of them had cannibalistic experiences.
This time they went to Japan to find silver.
The first stop was Jeju Island.
The second stop was Tsushima Island.
…
Jeju Island was called Tamra County at that time, and there were three major officials: the county envoy, the deputy envoy, and the judge.
More than a hundred years ago, Goryeo still had a garrison on the island to prevent the rebellion of the remnants of the annexed Tamra Kingdom.
There are still garrisons now, but the soldiers have become slaves and officials can use them at will.
The hometown of the county envoy Jin Fu is in Gyeongsang Province. He has excellent results in the imperial examinations, but his family is too weak. After going around in circles and serving as an official for twenty years, he was thrown into the shitty place of Tamra.
There is not much oil and water to be made, there is a lack of entertainment activities, and it is difficult to even eat white rice. He can only lie down and muddle through every day.
"County envoy, county envoy, there are ships approaching the shore!" The subordinate rushed in.
"How many ships have arrived?" Jin Fu asked hurriedly.
If there are many ships, we will trade peacefully, and if there are few ships, we will rob them by force.
Before Tamra was annexed by Goryeo, it had been paying tribute to the Northern Song Dynasty, and it could make some money from tribute trade every now and then.
After that, the connection was cut off, and this broken place was so poor that even pirates didn't come.
"There are not many ships coming, but each ship is very large. There are sun and moon flags on the ships, and I don't know which country they are from." The subordinate said.
The island was isolated from the news, and the subordinate didn't even know about the Ming Dynasty.
However, Jin Fu learned from writing letters to his friends that the Ming Dynasty had risen and even became the suzerain of Goryeo. He shouted in panic: "Quickly gather the officials in the county to welcome the fleet of the Celestial Empire!"
A group of people gathered and ran to the dock, but saw a large number of soldiers landing, and they were immediately scared pale.
Jin Fu hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, and said with a stiff face: "Jin Fu, the governor of Tamra County in Goryeo, greets the nobles of the upper country!"
Xue Daoguang had no intention of showing off his power, but just asked: "Can you speak Chinese?"
No one answered.
The translator on board stepped forward: "Who can speak Chinese?"
Jin Fu hurriedly replied: "We can communicate in writing. I can write Chinese characters."
The translator said: "This is Xue Daoguang, the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, and the general leading the troops is General Zhu Xiaozhong. There is also a naval general General Ying who has not disembarked."
Jin Fu hurriedly led the officials to greet him again.
The translator said: "The fleet of the Ming Dynasty often travels to and from Tamra Island, and will replenish fresh water and food. I will not take yours for nothing, and will exchange them with you for cloth. Remember to repair and expand the port, and then set aside a piece of open space for the Ming Dynasty soldiers to set up camp. The cottage should also be renovated and expanded for the nobles of the Ming Dynasty to rest."
"Of course, of course!" Jin Fu nodded repeatedly.
The crew and soldiers brought some cloth, and Jin Fu went to check it out himself. He soon said excitedly: "Is this ten liters of cloth?"
The translator said with a disdainful smile: "We will trade with this in the future. When the fleet returns, you can also exchange it with the island's specialties."
Jin Fu said: "In winter, the citrus on the island is particularly sweet, and it is a tribute to the king. There are also other fruits and vegetables, and many seafood. By the way, there are pearls, all good pearls!"
"We will talk about trade when we return." The translator said arrogantly. This guy actually came from Pyongyang, but now he regards himself as a Ming countryman, and even the governor of Goryeo doesn't take it seriously.
After settling the affairs of Tamra Island, all the staff rested for two days and then headed for Tsushima Island.
…
Tsushima Island was now under the jurisdiction of Chikuzen Province, Japan, and was governed by a powerful person appointed by the Dazaifu of Chikuzen Province.
This powerful person was Abiru.
Abiru Motomori was 42 years old this year. His family had been operating here for several generations. He led troops to the island after the "Dayi invasion".
The so-called Daoyi invasion occurred during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty. A group of Jurchen pirates from Liao Dynasty, led by Goryeo pirates, crossed the sea to take Tsushima Island as a springboard. Then they captured Iki Island, killed all the Japanese on the island, and then went to the coast of Japan to plunder.
After robbing for more than half a month, the Japanese court had no choice but to let the local nobles send troops to resist.
After several hard battles, hundreds of pirates were killed in total, and the Jurchen and Goryeo pirates fled by boat. They met the Goryeo Navy on the way, defeated those pirates, and sent back 259 young and strong Japanese who were abducted.
The main task of the Abiru family is to garrison Tsushima Island for generations to prevent pirates from killing in the Japanese mainland.
Even the Jurchen pirates knew to use Tsushima Island as a springboard, so how could the Ming army not take it?
But there are very few soldiers on the island, and they are all soldiers and farmers. There are not even a few professional samurai.
At noon one day, the fishing boat returned to the harbor in a panic, bringing news of the arrival of the fleet.
Abiliu Yuan Sheng was so frightened that he urgently summoned only a few warriors, and then asked the warriors to summon peasants and soldiers.
The peasants and soldiers are still busy in the fields, and the assembly speed is too slow.
When the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty landed, Abiliu Yuansheng was surrounded by only a few warriors, including his son, and dozens of sparse peasant soldiers.
When he saw those big ships, he was almost scared to death. When he saw the soldiers in full armor, he felt even more desperate.
Abiru Motomori personally rode up to ask: "I am the Tsushima Shou appointed by the Dazaifu of Chizen Province. Where are you from? Why did you bring soldiers to the island?"
This time the translator came from Zhejiang and scolded: "A few years ago, the Emperor of Japan attacked the Chinese fleet without permission. My Majesty, the Emperor of China, was very angry. Today I sent a large army to conquer. If you know what I am doing, you will kneel down and surrender immediately, and you will join the Ming Dynasty from now on." Tomorrow!"
Abiliu Yuansheng was frightened and hesitated. He had no loyalty to the Japanese court. Historically, his grandson even went to war directly with Japan and was eventually beaten to the point of losing the territory of Tsushima Island.
Zhu Xiaozhong took a look at the little pony under the opponent's crotch. This thing was not even as good as the Southwest War Horse.
He simply got on the war horse he brought with the ship, rushed over with a spear in hand and shouted: "Don't say more, do you dare to challenge me to a duel?"
The translator shouted: "Listen, General Zhu!"
Abiliu Yuansheng looked at the tall and mighty Zhu Xiaozhong, and then at Zhu Xiaozhong's tall and mighty war horse, and instantly lost the courage to fight alone.
This guy jumped off his horse and ran as fast as he could and knelt down: "Greetings to the general of the Celestial Dynasty, the Abiliu family is willing to serve the Ming Emperor!"
Zhu Xiaozhong asked: "Your name is Abiliu Yuansheng?"
"Yes." Abiliu Yuansheng replied on his knees.
Zhu Xiaozhong said: "The name is too long, let's call it Yuan Sheng from now on." He also used a spear to write on the ground, "The surname is Yuan and the name is Sheng. Your descendants must also change their surname to Yuan."
After the translator finished speaking, the guy immediately kowtowed: "Thank you for giving me your last name!"
Yuan Sheng, who changed his name from then on, took his son and subordinates to guide the Ming soldiers to rest.
This place is poorer than Tamluo Island, and the government office where Yuan Sheng lives is not even as good as the wealthy locals in the countryside of the Ming Dynasty.
Glancing at the shabby food, Zhu Xiaozhong said to the soldiers: "Get some food!"
Forty minutes later, Yuan Sheng was eating white rice and drinking corn wine, and he felt a sense of happiness. He asked curiously: "General, can the warriors of the Ming Dynasty eat rice every day?"
At this time, Jeju Island, Tsushima Island, and Hokkaido did not produce rice.
If Yuan Sheng wants to eat white rice every meal, he has to trade with the Japanese.
Zhu Xiaozhong smiled and said: "As long as you work faithfully, you can eat as much rice as you want every day."
Yuan Sheng quickly took his son and knelt down: "You must serve the Ming Dynasty faithfully!"
Zhu Xiaozhong asked: "There is a place called Ishimi in Japan. You should know about it, right?"
Motosei replied: "I know. If you take a boat from Tsushima Island to the east, you can reach Iwami Country."
Zhu Xiaozhong said: "The prince of our country dreamed of an immortal, and was taught by the immortal in his dream. The Japanese stone saw the national silver mountain. This is a treasure given by God to the Ming Dynasty. You don't want everything on Tsushima Island. Take your family and warriors with me. Let’s go to Ishimi Country together. I will give you a new territory there.”
Yuan Sheng was overjoyed and kowtowed repeatedly to thank him. The territory of Iwami Country was much richer than Tsushima Island.
Since the Ming Dynasty wants this ruined island, then donate it to the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Xiaozhong asked: "Look at my army, can Shi Jianguo stop it?"
Yuan Sheng replied: "The general's soldiers are tall and burly, and protected by strong iron armor. Even ten Shijian countries can't resist them. In recent decades, the country's system has been corrupted. Many of the country's guards are led by remote leaders, and the affairs of a country are handled by the office. Officials handle it. These officials are hereditary members of the local wealthy families and have actually become warriors."
"The general led his troops to kill Ishijian Kingdom. The enemies he encountered must be the wealthy families of Ishijian State. They needed to temporarily summon warriors and peasant soldiers, and each had their own interests. As long as they won a battle and demonstrated the Ming Dynasty's military power, those wealthy families They will not work together. They will give in and wait for the emperor to send troops to rescue them. Even if they have enough strength, they can secretly win over some wealthy families. "
"If the Emperor's army is defeated one after another, all the wealthy families in Ishigami will secretly cooperate with the general. They only care about their own interests. As long as their estates are not taken away, they will not care even if the general kills the emperor."
This is the role of the leading party. Xue Daoguang and Zhu Xiaozhong cast a dark eye on Japan and urgently need insiders to provide them with information.