Zhu Youzhen waved his hand at him and said, "Broken bones? It's not that exaggerated. Although it has been almost 15 years since Japan's Chengping, the situation of great reunification has not yet been truly completed in China. The relationship between the lords of western Japan and the Tokugawa shogunate was quite delicate.

As long as the Tokugawa shogunate showed its decline, Japan's troubled times would inevitably return. Therefore, if you want to deal with Japan, you only need to shake the foundation of the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate.

But is it good for me to mess up Japan? In a chaotic Japan, it is obviously impossible to buy all kinds of consumer goods from us, and the gold and silver mines in Japan will also be controlled by local lords, and it will be a lot of trouble to get them to hand over the gold and silver to us.

So, what we need is not a chaotic Japan. In fact, as long as the current Tokugawa shogunate continues to maintain its free trade policy with the Ming dynasty, I am still willing to support the Tokugawa shogunate's domination of the Japanese archipelago.

We only came into contact with Tokugawa Tadanaga just to take precautions. Now it seems that this precaution is still very necessary, although the current Tokugawa shogunate, the former shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, who is actually in charge of the Tokugawa shogunate, has always been friendly to our Ming Dynasty and is willing to engage in free trade with our Ming Dynasty.

But his son, Tokugawa Iemitsu, the so-called three shoguns, was a complete xenophobia. Before last year, our merchant ships could call at any port in the Japanese archipelago, and our Ming merchants could also trade anywhere in the Japanese archipelago.

However, after March this year, the third-generation general wanted to restrict the ports of call and trading places of our merchant ships and the trade quota between China and Japan, which was obviously an extremely unfriendly gesture.

However, with the mediation of our personnel stationed in Japan, Tokugawa Hidetada was persuaded to come out and interfere with Tokugawa Iemitsu's foreign policy and cancel the conditions for limiting the trade quota. However, the policy of restricting the port of call of Ming merchant ships and strictly enforcing the silk cutting symbol system was still promulgated. In the future, the white silk exported by our Ming Dynasty to Japan must be sold to the middlemen designated by the Japanese shogunate in Nagasaki and Osaka, and must not be sold directly to other Japanese merchants.

In the raw silk alone, we lost millions of taels a year, which was obviously unacceptable, so the Maritime Association has decided to increase its support for Tokugawa Tadanaga.

The Maritime Association, for its part, has already sent someone to contact Tokugawa Tadadenaga and is ready to provide him with a loan to expand the Japanese army you are training now. The number of troops will be expanded to 6,000, and military spending will be 1.2 million yuan per year.

The matter of money and equipment is easy to solve, but the problem of personnel can only be sent to Japan to recruit. However, Tokugawa Tadanaga has been under the watchful eye of his brother, and it is difficult to continue recruiting, so you will need to pick some personnel out and let them go back to Japan to recruit soldiers. ”

Li Chenfang immediately agreed: "There should be no problem recruiting personnel, according to the minister's understanding, the Japanese are many and narrow, and the number of lords and warriors in various places is extremely large, so the burden on the peasants is extremely heavy. There are many peasants who cannot survive and become bandits, or wander and beg in various places.

Since the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, the foreign daimyo have been reduced and changed, resulting in many samurai losing their land and becoming ronin. If you want to recruit soldiers to oppose the shogunate, you don't have to worry about personnel. When the minister returned, he selected a few people who were very articulate, and then asked them to return to Japan to recruit men. ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded, and then continued: "We can't put our eggs in one basket when we do things, although Tokugawa Tadanaga wants to oppose his brother now because of jealousy.

But Tokugawa Hidetada is not dead after all, and their brothers may not be reconciled. If we lose the Tokugawa Tadanaga signboard, we will become unknown. With these 6,000 Japanese alone, it is obviously impossible to succeed against the Tokugawa shogunate and the lords who vassal him.

With the current national strength of the Ming Dynasty, it is also unrealistic to want to go on an expedition. Therefore, we had to divide the political forces within Japan, and we had to have a banner that could call for rebellion against the Tokugawa shogunate.

Before the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan was ruled by the Oda clan and then by the Toyotomi clan, who started the Korean War. The Oda clan has been defeated for so long that it no longer has much appeal in Japan.

However, it has been less than 15 years since the demise of the Toyotomi clan, and I think that those former Toyotomi ministers have not completely disappeared, and the ronin samurai who are dissatisfied with the Tokugawa shogunate will also gather under this banner.

The Toyotomi clan also has a daughter, who is now the abbot of Tokei Temple, whose legal name is Tenshuni. Xu Xinsu has been active in Japan for half a year, and finally got in touch with the people around her. We tried to persuade her through the people close to her to let her leave Dongqing Temple on her own initiative, but she refused.

Now that the Tokugawa shogunate has revealed its ill will towards the Ming Dynasty, we must seize this bargaining chip. However, Tokeiji Temple is not far from Edo after all, and the temple is also under the control of the shogunate. If we forcibly take her away, we must send enough men.

But the presence of so many Chinese near Tokeiji Temple is tantamount to clearly telling the Tokugawa shogunate that we took Tenshuni, which is not good for us.

So I need you to select Japanese soldiers who are absolutely loyal to my Ming Dynasty in this army, go to Japan after the beginning of spring next year, and cooperate with Xu Xinsu to bring Tianxiuni back. If Tokugawa Tadashi has an accident, then she is our record..."

After the smallpox incident, on the second day of negotiations, Dorgon appeared to be proactive and active. On the one hand, he gave up many unrealistic conditions, and did not insist on refusing the Ming army's demand for separate redemption of Mongol and Jurchen prisoners, but he still insisted that the Horqin tribe belonged to the Later Jin Kingdom, so he would not let the Ming people talk to the Horqin tribe alone.

After meeting with the captives of the two white flags, Dolgon finally told Li Hongyuan that he would do his best to facilitate the exchange of the fugitive's family and Sun Degong's family for the Jurchen captured soldiers. In order to avoid an impasse in the negotiations and fear of being offered an impossible quid pro quo by the Akito, he also deliberately did not mention the existence of Wunag and Dudu.

Dolgon's active cooperation led to a preliminary agreement between the two sides very quickly. So at the end of the negotiation on this day, Dolgon said politely to Li Hongyuan: "The few conditions I can decide have been negotiated, and the remaining ones must be sent back to the army and handed over to the Khan Lord and the Great and Small Beylors for discussion."

After I go back, I will inform the Zunhua battalion to release the people of the Ming Kingdom under the name of the two white flags first, so as to repay your kindness in sending the wounded back and treating the soldiers of the two white flags. However, I hope that the remaining wounded will wait for the formal signing of the agreement before handing them over, and that we will be able to send someone to meet them at that time.

In order to put an end to the fighting between the two countries as soon as possible, I intend to return to the camp early tomorrow morning. ”

Li Hongyuan got up and said to Dolgon relaxedly: "It's okay, there are still some wounded people who have not yet arrived in Santun Camp City, and you will pick them up together when the time comes, and we will save trouble." As for the negotiating envoy who is with you, I still need to report to Your Majesty, and I will inform you in time before my departure tomorrow. ”

Dorgon hesitated for a moment, and finally asked with some reluctance, "Is His Majesty the Emperor still unwell and unable to meet me?" I have been ordered by the Khan of the Houjin Kingdom to deliver the letter, do you have any reply from Your Majesty? ”

Li Hongyuan paused for a moment, and finally became a little more serious and replied: "Your Majesty's health is better, but there is smallpox in the city now, and it is probably impossible for Your Majesty to meet outsiders at this time." As for the reply to your lord, I will give you an answer before leaving tomorrow. ”

Dolgon also gave up, and no longer fought for anything, he owed Li Hongyuan, and turned and walked out of the negotiation room. Li Hongyuan, who was standing on the steps in front of the hall, watched Dolgon being taken out of the courtyard gate, then turned around and walked to the verandah on the left and walked towards the flower hall where Chongzhen was.

After listening to Li Hongyuan's report, Zhu Youzhen asked him: "What do you think is the reason why Dolgon is so eager to reach a negotiation?" ”

Li Hongyu had obviously thought about this question before, and when he heard Chongzhen's inquiry at this moment, he told his guesses one by one.

“… Based on the above signs, the minister thought that the Houjin army had probably decided to withdraw its troops. Kurtang was the one who had been sent to tell Dorgon that he should try to get back as soon as possible. ”

Zhu Youzhen thought about it for a while, and then asked with some hesitation: "What you said may be right, so if we launch an attack on the Houjin Army now, what do you think will be the chance of victory?" ”

Li Hongyuan was silent for a long time before shaking his head and saying: "The minister thinks that there is no chance of victory, and the sentinels of our army have not been able to approach the camp of the Houjin army so far, so we don't know when the Houjin army will withdraw its troops at all."

There is a distance of 60 miles from the 3 camps to the Houjin camp, including rivers, valleys and other terrain, and the cavalry may be able to reach it in a day, but the infantry will take at least a day and a half. And this road is now basically controlled by the Houjin Sentinel detectives.

In other words, if our army wants to attack the Houjin army, it can only attack head-on and cannot surprise it. Our army has no more than a few thousand cavalry available, and without the protection of the infantry, it will easily be defeated by the Houjin army, which is waiting for work.

If the whole army attacks, the Houjin army can choose to meet our army on the way, or it can choose to retreat to Zunhua. If the friendly forces on the western road do not move, the Houjin army can gather the main force under Zunhua City and fight our army in the field with all its might.

Without the protection of the fortified city and the lack of superiority in troops, our army fought alone with the main force of the Houjin, and I am afraid that the result of defeat will be inevitable. What's more, the morale of the Eastern Route Army has just been inspired by His Majesty, and it will probably be able to hold on to it after a fierce battle with the Houjin Army, but expect them to fight to the death, I'm afraid..."

Although Li Hongyuan did not express his assumptions, Zhu Youzhen also knew that counting on those Liaoxi generals not to run away at critical moments was almost the same as buying lottery tickets and winning the jackpot in later generations.

Even if he personally sat in the army, it was estimated that it would only be for them to hold on for a little longer. If such a situation really occurs, it is estimated that he will become the second Wunag.

Zhu Youzhen sighed, and said to Li Hongyuan with some interest: "Anyway, I won't compete with Huang Taiji for a while, and the General Staff Headquarters will reformulate a plan, which is how to monitor the withdrawal of the Houjin army from the Guannai and prevent the Houjin army from setting a trap to kill a horseman."

In addition, after the Jin army withdrew from the Guannei, how to eliminate the remnants of the bandits in the combat area and restore the local social order. After the surrender of the Ming officers and soldiers of the Jin army, come up with a way to deal with it..."