On a small building next to the building of the Military Commission, the sign of the General Staff was finally hung up. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 After more than a month of preparation, Xu Lang reluctantly gathered a group of people, and the General Staff was officially established.

There is a difference between Xu Lang's General Staff and the General Staff of later generations. The General Staff of later generations was the leading organ of military work, responsible for organizing and leading the military construction and organization of the armed forces of the whole country, and directing the military operations of the armed forces of the whole country. The command of the movement of the relevant troops is carried out through the General Staff. Its main tasks are: to draw up and organize the implementation of strategic campaign plans and mobilization plans, and to direct and implement combat operations of all services and theaters; Draw up and organize the implementation of plans for the building of the armed forces, and master the organizational building, military training, equipment planning, and administrative management of the armed forces.

And Xu Lang's General Staff Officer, except for making suggestions to the Military Commission and studying battle plans, does not have any powers, let alone the issue of troop transfers. This General Staff is somewhat similar to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of later generations, except that it is a joint meeting, while Xu Lang is a bare-bones meeting.

Therefore, the current General Staff Headquarters has only three subordinate departments, one office is responsible for sorting out various documents, one is responsible for drawing up operational plans for the Military Commission, and one intelligence department is responsible for collecting intelligence, and all the personnel together are less than 20 people.

Leng Tianbing worked with Wang Hua for a while, and then went to Shi Xianyang's legal system class to learn law for a period of time, but now the Constitutional Court has not yet been established, so Leng Tianbing is still useless. Because Leng Tianbing has processed intelligence for a period of time, and it is still top-secret information. After discussing with Zhang Guodong and Wang Hua, Xu Lang asked Leng Tianbing over, officially appointed him as deputy chief of the general staff of the General Staff and director of the intelligence department, and conferred the rank of major. In the future, the intelligence work of the General Staff Department will be closely coordinated with the Second General Affairs Division.

After thinking about it, Xu Langsi transferred Li Wenqing to the General Staff as the director of the office, and was promoted to the rank of captain. Le Van Thanh has not returned to Vietnam since he and his original prison officer, Zheng Van Tong, arrived at Yulin Bay, and has been doing clerical work in the army.

As for the candidate for the head of the war department, Xu Lang really couldn't find a suitable person, so he could only discuss with Wang Hua and ask Yokoji Keiji to come over. Because Keiji Yokoji was originally a peripheral officer of the Second General Affairs Division, and he had a certain understanding of the Japanese army, and he also participated in Operation Goryeo with the Western battalion of the mixed brigade. And the first mission of the General Staff was about the invasion of Japan, so Keiji Yokoji was appointed as the captain of the War Department.

Before transferring Keiji Yokoji to the General Staff Staff, Xu Lang had a long talk with Zhang Guodong and Wang Hua, because Xu Lang was not sure whether Keiji Yokoji would have thoughts about entering Japan, after all, Japan was his motherland. Wang Hua's opinion is that there is no problem, Yokoji Keiji has been away from Japan for many years, and since he came to Yulin Bay, his feelings for Japan have become weaker and weaker, and he married a Chinese woman as his wife, and now it is half a Chinese. Zhang Guodong gave Xu Lang an idea, don't tell Yokoji Keiji the real purpose of entering Japan, and only tell him that the purpose of marching into Japan is to restore the status and power of Toyotomi Kunimatsu, so maybe Yokoji Keiji's psychology is more acceptable.

In the office of the Chief of the General Staff, there were only two people, Xu Lang and Keiji Yokoji.

"Yokoji-kun, we now know the true identity of Shinyuzaemon. And I heard that you left Toei because of the Toyotomi family's defeat in the Osaka Summer Battle. ”

"Hayi." This habit of Yokoji Keiji has not changed, "Mine back then, working at the age of ten, leaving Dongying for twenty years. ”

"You said you've been away from Dongying for twenty years." Xu Lang smiled, "Why hasn't this habit of work been changed?" ”

"Hayi." Yokoji Keiji leaned over again, "Mine, work if you don't work in the future." ”

"Forget it, you still have to work, I feel more comfortable." Xu Lang almost stopped laughing, "Henglu-kun, I called you over today to ask you, do you want to go back to Dongying and return to your hometown?" ”

"Mine, I want to go back, I miss my hometown." Keiji Yokoji finally stopped working, "But I prefer Yulin Bay, where I have my wife and my children. I am a soldier of the Yulin Army and a native of Yulin Bay. ”

"Then if the Yulin Army goes to attack Dongying, what will you do?" Xu Lang suddenly asked this question bluntly.

"Why did the Yulin army attack Dongying?" Keiji Yokoji asked rhetorically.

"You don't care why." Xu Lang stared at Yokoji Keiji's eyes, "I'll just ask what you'll do?" ”

Yokoji Keiji stood up and bowed ninety degrees to Xu Lang: "Mine, a soldier of the Yulin Army, obey the orders of the commander." ”

"Good." Xu Lang smiled and beckoned, "Sit down and talk, don't stand up." ”

"Hayi."

Xu Lang looked at Henglu Keiji: "Henglu-kun, I heard that you have been going to church a lot lately, do you believe in God?" ”

"Hayi, my, the worship of God."

The reason why Xu Lang asked Yokoji Keiji this is because these days Xu Lang has been thinking about how to use the power of Zheng Zhilong or Westerners to enter Japan.

But this thing is very difficult to do, Xu Lang after consulting Lu Tianxiang in detail about the history of Japan during this period, he had a preliminary idea to see if he could try to use the question of Catholicism to stimulate Zheng Zhilong, especially Westerners, to enter Japan.

Because of this historical period, there was a large-scale persecution of Catholics in Japan.

In 1543, a sailing ship carrying Portuguese merchants was hit by a storm and drifted to Tanegashima at the southern tip of Japan, bringing the first Western message to the Japanese. Six years later, in 1549, the Jesuit Xavier came to Japan as a missionary, officially opening the prelude to Japanese contact with Catholicism.

At that time, the daimyo in the era of division and confrontation were in urgent need of strategic materials and wealth, but domestic trade could no longer be carried out normally due to the disruption of war, and the traditional exploration trade with the Ming Dynasty in history was also banned by the Ming Dynasty due to the rampant Japanese invaders. As a result, the "Nanban Huja" (Note: At that time, the Japanese invoked China's barbarian concept and regarded Southeast Asia as the land of the Southern Barbarians, while the Westerners, led by Portugal, mostly traveled to Southeast Asia to Japan, so they were called the Southern Barbarians. ) is favored. In particular, the daimyo of the Kyushu region have always relied on foreign trade as an important pillar to maintain their economic power, so they paid special attention to the "Nanban trade".

Oda Nobunaga, a powerful figure in the unification of most of Japan at the time, also adopted a tolerant attitude towards the Jesuits, and in 1569 granted the Jesuits permission to move freely within their jurisdiction, allowing the Jesuits to set up camp in Gyeonggi, and by 1579 the number of Catholics in Japan had soared to 100,000.

However, in 1609 the Tokugawa shogunate opened a channel for trade with the Netherlands, a Protestant country that was not missionary like the Jesuits, and could trade even if they did not accept their religion. The Tokugawa shogunate has finally found the ideal trade partner! In addition, in 1612, the Tokugawa shogunate declared the establishment of the shogunate system as a "national rule", and in 1615 it promulgated the laws of the samurai, the forbidden government, and the temples. This was the time when the Tokugawa "ancestral law" was established, which promoted political and ideological rule. In this context, it is natural that the Jesuits will "do more harm than good." This eventually led Tokugawa Ieyasu to order the expulsion of all missionaries throughout the country, the closure of churches everywhere, and the prohibition of private Catholic ceremonies by the Japanese.

However, instead of extinguishing the pagan wildfires, the draconian religious policies provoked religious fanaticism among many Catholics, which also infected the Jesuits, many of whom risked their lives to sneak into Japan to preach. The Tokugawa shogunate launched a new wave of religious persecution, such as the Great Martyrdom in Kyoto in 1619. In 1623, after Tokugawa Iemitsu succeeded him as shogun, the persecution of Catholics became even more severe, and the shogunate exposed the Catholics through the "five-member" system and subjected them to appalling tortures such as facial branding, hanging, smoking, cutting off fingers, hanging upside down in a dung pit, and even parading naked in the streets.

Soon after, the persecution of Catholics became an important tactic for the shogunate to tighten its ideological control and suppress all those who resisted, and eventually developed into a policy of seclusion that had a profound impact on Japan's recent history. In 1636, the Tokugawa shogunate issued the "Closed Nation Decree", which forbade all Japanese ships to go overseas, all Japanese from crossing the sea, prohibiting all Japanese living in foreign countries from returning to China, and expelling all foreigners and mixed-race children.

In 1639, the Portuguese outside the Jesuits were also expelled from Japan, and all Portuguese ships were forbidden to enter the country. At this point, the shogunate finally completed the ban on religion and severed all contact with the Catholics and the Portuguese.

"Do you know what kind of treatment people who believe in God are suffering in your homeland?" Xu Lang asked.

"Mine, I know." Keiji Yokoji lowered his head in pain.

"Do you think that's right?" Xu Lang continued to ask.

"If anyone loves God, he is known to God. If anyone does not love the Lord, he is cursed or cursed. The Lord will come! ”

Xu Lang was stunned, he didn't understand what the words in the Bible said by Keiji Yokoji meant: "Yokoji-kun, let's say it straightforwardly." The Yulin Army wanted to attack Toei for two reasons, one was to rescue the Catholics there, and the other was to help Toyotomi Kunimatsu restore his position in Toei. We don't mean anything else, and Yulin Bay doesn't have any interest in Dongying. ”

"I understand." Yokoji Keiji nodded at Xu Lang, "Mine, obey the commander's orders." ”

It was already evening after talking to Keiji Yokoji, and Xu Lang went to the intelligence department and the office again to go around and go home from work.

Zhao Zhiruo has been discharged from the hospital and is confinement at home. Xu Lang went to see the mother and son, asked about the child's situation, and sat alone with Cheng Yiyi in the living room for dinner.

"Xu Lang, do you have anything on your mind? Why haven't you spoken? Cheng Yiyi felt that Xu Lang's performance today was a little strange, and asked.

"It's not a matter of concern, it's still a matter of Japan and the Manchus." Xu Lang replied a little absentmindedly, "Tao Min and Tao Gong should now build warships and train sailors in North Korea, and it would be good if they could think of a way to make trouble for him again." ”

"Are you sure he's going to be in North Korea?" Cheng Yiyi asked again.

"Well, he's definitely in North Korea." Xu Lang explained, "Even if Tao Min can't think of going to Japan, he will not give up North Korea as a resource." He will definitely go directly to the formation and training of the Korean army, after all, the Manchus themselves have too few people. ”

"Isn't Wang Zhaoxing in Dengzhou?" Cheng Yiyi suggested, "Can't you let Wang Zhaoxing make trouble for him?" ”

"Yiyi, you are now the president of the bank and the director of the tax bureau." Xu Lang asked another question, "If you were Tao Min and Tao Gong, how would you develop the economy of the Manchu Qing Dynasty?" ”

"What do you mean?" Cheng Yiyi didn't understand, "How do I know what the two of them are going to do?" ”

"That's what I thought." Xu Lang said, "Tao Min and Tao Gong are not stupid at all, they know that the Manchu Qing Dynasty cannot consume the Ming Dynasty. So they will definitely merge the Manchus and Korea into one and confront the Ming Dynasty as a whole. Moreover, they must also know that they cannot win this battle without the backing of the economy. (To be continued.) )