Chapter 938: Bitter Fruit Is So Sweet! (Ask for subscription)
Tokugawa Mitsukuni has completely understood!
The Emperor of the Celestial Empire was not wooing the Tokugawa Shogunate at all, but warning the Tokugawa Shogunate!
What condominium Ryukyu? This was simply a door for the Satsuma clan to import flintlock pistols and bronze cannons! If the Tokugawa shogunate is not well-behaved, it will be a big open gun, and the Shimazu family will quickly take it to bring down the shogunate!
What raises Japan's national dignity and what recognizes the status of the Japanese emperor? This is simply to elevate the emperor and lower the shogunate! It is to show the samurai of all Japan that it is now internationally recognized that the emperor despises the generals......
And these two bitter fruits, the Tokugawa shogunate still had to laugh and swallow them, and they had to shout: The bitter fruit is so sweet, and the bitter fruit is delicious!
Only in this way can the feudal lords and ronin in Japan who do not know the truth think that the Daimei Dynasty supported the shogun.
And after swallowing the bitter fruit with a smile, the Tokugawa shogunate didn't dare not support Daming at all! If you don't support the Ming Dynasty, you support Spain!
If the Tokugawa family dares to do this, it is Tongyi, and there is no need for the Ming Emperor to send troops at all, Shimazu Mitsuhisa should shout in the Satsuma country: Respect the emperor!
Tokugawa Mitsukuni sighed: This Ming Emperor is really a big bad conscience!
......
Finally realized that the conscience of the Ming Emperor Zhu Cihong was greatly bad, Tokugawa Guangguo returned to the embassy in Nanjing in despair, and was about to arrange for a few henchmen to return to China and tell the bad news to the old and middle school of the shogunate, and by the way, let them prepare a grand ceremony to receive the envoy Wei Zaode of the Ming Dynasty, when one of his surnames hurriedly reported: "Lord, there is a secret visit from a distinguished guest!" ”
"Distinguished guests? Who? ”
The little surname replied, "It's the Spanish envoy Caballero." ”
"What? Spain...... Where is he? Did anyone see him visiting? ”
"He's in your study." "No one noticed him visiting, because he came directly from Shanghai in a horse-drawn carriage carrying dried seafood." ”
Caballero was originally the Spanish ambassador to the Great Mongolia, but now the Great Mongolia is gone, and it was merged by the Ming Dynasty, so the Spanish embassies in the Ming and the Great Mongolia were merged, and after the merger, the Spanish envoy who was originally in the Ming Dynasty was transferred to the Philippines as the governor, and Caballero was appointed as the new ambassador to the Ming Dynasty.
However, the most important task entrusted to him by Madrid was not to develop friendly relations with the Ming Dynasty, but to develop relations with Japan, the neighbor of the Ming Dynasty.
Madrid also knows that Japan is a country on the periphery of East Asian civilization and a maverick existence.
At present, the countries in East Asia, except for Japan, are basically members of the Celestial Empire circle, and only Japan is not in this circle, but has its own game on the edge of the circle.
And the position of this Japanese state, impartial, is just stuck in the throat of the Ming Empire's eastward expansion into the New World.
To put it bluntly, if the Ming Empire wants to go east into the Americas, it must first go east to Japan!
After the fall of the Great Mongolia, Spain wanted to keep the Ming out of the Americas, and the most effective way was to win over Japan and form an anti-Ming alliance with Japan.
From this point of view, Spain and Japan have common interests, so it should not be difficult to win over Japan - in Caballero's view, as long as Spain is willing to put God aside for the time being and provide Japan with advanced European guns, Japan will certainly be willing to cooperate with Spain.
If Japan had the strength to protect itself, even if it did not side with Spain and start a war with the Ming Dynasty, it would refuse to provide the Ming with ports and supplies.
As long as Japan says no to the Ming Dynasty, Spain will have the upper hand in the Pacific......
But the problem is that the people in power in Madrid are not in their right minds! So the task given to Caballero is also not normal.
If the conscience of the Ming Emperor is very bad, then the king of Spain, Philip IV, is very bad!
He asked Caballero to try to obtain the consent of the Maharaja of Japan, so that the Kingdom of Spain could recruit 50,000 mercenaries in Japan to fight against the Ming Dynasty!
At the same time, Philip IV also hoped that Japan could secretly provide one of its excellent ports to the Spanish expeditionary fleet...... A large fleet will arrive from the direction of the New World, and after repairing the ports provided by Japan, it will be engaged in the war against the Ming Dynasty!
Caballero also knew that the Madrid authorities had not given up on Dord, who had already submitted to the Ming Dynasty, and continued to provide weapons and ammunition to Dord.
The Spanish king Philip IV seemed to be fantasizing about uniting Japan, Manchuria, and perhaps some Mongol tribes to launch a fierce attack on the Great Tomorrow Dynasty from all directions, both by sea and land, and to deal a fatal blow to the Great Tomorrow Dynasty!
But how could such a thing succeed? Not to mention that 50,000 Japanese mercenaries are not strong at all compared to the Ming Army of hundreds of thousands, even these 50,000 people can't be recruited!
How could the Tokugawa shogunate allow a Catholic madman to recruit tens of thousands of unfed ronin on its own territory as mercenaries? If they are really armed, who will be beaten?
Although he knew that this could not be successful, Caballero still had to carry out the king's orders, so he took the horse-drawn carriage that drove from Shanghai to deliver dried seafood to the Japanese embassy (the Japanese embassy would get some seafood from the Japanese mainland as souvenirs) and secretly infiltrated the Japanese embassy.
"What? What did you say...... 50,000 mercenaries? ”
Tokugawa Mitsukuni couldn't believe his ears, this ambassador of Spain had met him a few times before, and it looked quite normal, why did he make such a crazy suggestion?
"Your Excellency," Caballero said in Chinese, "His Majesty the King of our country believes that the Ming Empire, with its vast territory, huge population, and huge economic size, is sufficient to withstand a long war. Moreover, in the war against the Qing Dynasty, which lasted for more than ten years, they had already mastered the advanced weapons of the West. Not only will it be used, but it will be able to produce it in large quantities.
And the population and financial resources of our two countries cannot be compared with the Ming Empire, and once they fall into a protracted war, they are likely to be dragged down. Therefore, His Majesty thinks that it is necessary to fight quickly and give the Ming Empire a sudden, heavy, and fatal blow! The Manchurians and Mongols on the East Asian continent will be on our side, and they will start a rebellion to attract the main force of the Ming army to the north. And our navy will transport 50,000 Japanese mercenaries armed with Western guns to raid the southeast region of the Ming Dynasty...... As long as this raid can be successful, the Ming Empire will fall apart, and then Japan will be able to occupy huge colonial interests in the land of the Ming Dynasty! ”
Tokugawa Mitsukoku's face turned white with fright, how did he meet a madman, he won't bite, right?
"This, this, this ......" Tokugawa Mitsukuni didn't dare to say "impossible"! He is not a general, how can he have such qualifications?
"Ambassador," said Tokugawa Mitsukuni, "you, what you said surprised me so much...... I have no way to reply at all, so I can only invite you to travel to Japan at the right time. ”
Caballero didn't expect Tokugawa Mitsukuni to say yes, and in fact he didn't expect the Japanese generals to do so - unless the Japanese shoguns, like King Philip IV, were unorthodox religious fanatics! However, it did not matter if the Japanese refused, as long as they could meet the Japanese general, they would be able to obtain the most ideal result for Spain.
As long as Japan was armed and neutral, there was no way for the Ming to engage the Spanish navy around the Japanese archipelago...... Then the battlefield will shift to the Philippines.
Once there was a war in the Philippines, Spain could use diplomatic means to enlist the Netherlands and England to mediate. In particular, the Dutch East India Company must not have wanted the Ming Empire to make significant progress on the islands of the South Seas!
Therefore, if the Ming Dynasty goes south, it will not be a conflict with Spain, but a conflict with the Netherlands and Britain!
And if the Ming Dynasty goes east...... There was only one Spain on the west coast of the New World, and the Netherlands and England, who were also denied entry, could not be expected to come to Spain's aid against the Ming Dynasty.
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