On the first day of September in the second year of the Ming Dynasty, it is advisable to travel far away and do the conquest.

On this day, Zhao Guoliang led four regiments of 12,000 people to gather at the Yizhen Wharf on the Yangtze River, waiting for the emperor to send a messenger to read the holy decree.

Because the crown prince Zhu Hai was unlucky and was suffering in the Zongren Mansion, the drudgery of reading the holy decree fell on Zhu Huai, the king of Chu.

Zhu Huai shook his fat body and climbed onto the high platform, opened the bright yellow holy decree and read it aloud, surrounded by twenty soldiers with loud voices, repeating Zhu Huai's words.

Zhu Jiang, as one of the four regiment commanders, stood behind Admiral Zhao Guoliang and Deputy General Li Tinglong, listening to the holy decree.

Zhu Jiang is different from other generals, they are really semi-literate, they don't understand classical Chinese at all, Zhu Jiang went to school when he was a child, and he still knows what the holy decree means.

Zhu Jiang sighed in his heart after listening to the holy decree, his father is really shameless! Obviously, he first sent troops to attack the Wa State, but the holy decree said that the Ming Dynasty and the Wa State are traditional friendship states, and this time they went to friendly exchanges, and because the Ming barbarians are now rebelling, they need the support of the brother state to support a silver tael and a grain of ten million stones, and a good robbery was said by the emperor to be an exchange.

In the end, Zhu Huai said: "Zhao Guoliang is now appointed as the commander of the army sent by the Japanese State, and Li Tinglong is the deputy general of the navy, and Zhao Guoliang is given the sword of the Son of Heaven to take charge of the conquest!" Chin this! ”

Zhu Huai stepped down after reading the holy decree and handed over the sword of the Son of Heaven to Zhao Guoliang, Zhao Guoliang knelt down and took it with both hands and said: "Thank you, Your Majesty Longen, the minister will live up to Your Majesty's high expectations and return victorious!" ”

Zhu Huai nodded, just in time to see Zhu Jiang behind Zhao Guoliang, Zhu Huai stepped forward and held Zhu Jiang's hand and cried: "Second brother! This journey is thousands of miles, you must take good care of your body! ”

Zhu Jiang was held by Zhu Huai's fat hand, and he was very disgusted in his heart. He knew that this younger brother was a smiling tiger, smiling on the surface, and good at stabbing in the back. Now I hope that I take care of my body, and I must curse myself in my heart that I will not die well!

"Third brother, you have to take care of your body at home and lose weight well!"

Zhu Huai hates people saying that he is fat, and when he heard Zhu Jiang say this, he secretly scolded in his heart: You are raised by a little lady, I hope you will make fish food on the bottom of the sea!

After the reading of the holy decree, the personnel on the shore began to board the ship and set off, this time there were a large number of people, in addition to the 12,000 people led by Zhao Guoliang and 5,000 sailors of the navy, the army also followed by 5,000 logistics support troops. In addition to the five large warships of more than 1,000 tons, there are also six second-class warships of 500 tons, 20 auxiliary warships of 100 to 20 tons, 15 troop carriers, and five supply ships. In addition to these, there were also merchant ships that followed the fleet to Japan, all of which numbered hundreds, occupying the wide Yangtze River.

After the edict was read, it took another hour for all the men to board the ship and begin the expedition.

The fleet left the mouth of the Yangtze River and entered the sea, Admiral Zhao Guoliang officially convened the first combat meeting, and all senior army officers and navy ship management bands gathered on the flagship Fuzhou.

The Fuzhou is a new type of warship that has just been launched this year, with a displacement of 1,800 tons, the same displacement as the emperor's flagship Guangzhou. This tonnage may not be the strongest warship in Europe, but it can already run rampant at sea in this part of East Asia.

Zhao Guoliang saw that all the officers had arrived and asked, "Vice Admiral Li, are you familiar with the sea routes?" ”

Vice Admiral Li Tinglong was originally a pirate who followed Boss Yan, so he was naturally familiar with the sea routes of the Japanese Kingdom, and said: "Please rest assured, many sailors in the navy are pirates who have been rampant in this sea area all year round, and they are very familiar with the sea routes of the Japanese Kingdom!" ”

Zhao Guoliang nodded, and then said: "Although Your Majesty's holy decree is polite, everyone knows that we are going to fight this time!" The Governor consulted with the Ministry of Rites officials who had followed him on the ship, and decided to attack the port of Nagasaki in the Wa Kingdom first! What do you think? ”

If you hit first, it is not a fight, and these officers naturally have no opinion.

"Good! The Governor now orders that the heads of the army departments go back and manage their troops, and that there will be no accidents on the long seaway! The Navy's pipe bands follow the capital ship and don't fall behind! ”

Zhao Guoliang's meeting was concise and clear, and the heads of the ministries bowed down to receive the order and returned to their own boats.

It's the golden autumn season of September, the sea in East Asia is calm, and the typhoon season has passed. The port of Nagasaki is 16,700 miles away from the mouth of the Yangtze River, and it takes more than half a month to sail.

On September 12 of the second year of the Ming Dynasty, the expeditionary fleet of the Ming Dynasty entered the sea off Nagasaki, and what appeared in front of it was the Goto Islands located off the coast of Nagasaki.

After Zhao Guoliang asked about the geographical location, he called Yang Shilong, an official of the Ministry of Rites who followed.

Yang Shilong is in his fifties this year, a native of Songjiang in the south of Zhili, and has traveled back and forth between Nagasaki and Songjiang many times during the Chongzhen years, and is regarded as a well-known talent. This expedition was to find the party to lead the way, so I found Yang Shilong, who was idle at home, and temporarily appointed him as the secretary of the Seven Products of the Ministry of Rites, responsible for the translation and leading the way of this trip to the country.

Zhao Guoliang saw that Old Man Yang got on the bridge and asked, "Is Lord Yang in good health?" ”

"Thank you Lord Admiral for your concern, the lower official is in good health! I wonder what happened to the adults summoning the lower officials? ”

Zhao Guoliang pointed to the island on the horizon and asked, "Lord Yang, that island is Wudao, are you familiar with the situation of this island?" ”

"This lower official naturally knows that the five islands refer to Fukue, Kuga, Naru, Wakamatsu, and Nakamitsu, of which Fukue Island is the largest and most populous."

Goto is now under the Fukue domain. The lord of the Fukue Domain was the Goto family. The Goto family is a pirate family that has been passed down for hundreds of years in Kyushu. The Goto Navy has been active in this area since the Battle of Genpei, and is a typical Japanese coastal powerhouse, and there is no shortage of them among the "Japanese Kou" who gradually emerged from the Yuan Dynasty*.

The Goto family lived their lives as half-pirates and half-fishermen. It has been passed down for 21 generations. The 21st ruler Goto Genya once led the Goto Navy to participate in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Korean raids. After the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Maintaining neutrality in the Battle of Sekigahara, Goto Genmasa was able to obtain the seal from Tokugawa Ieyasu in the eighth year of Keichō, and officially became the first lord of the Fukue Domain, becoming a 15,000-stone daimyo of the outer sample.

Yang Shilong remembered that a few years ago, the feudal lord of the Fukue Domain was Goto Morito, the adopted son of the Goto family, who had killed his opponent in a political* struggle eighteen years ago, and the biological son of the first feudal lord Genya, Ohama Zhushui. In order to consolidate his power and rectify the retainers in the domain, he was considered a relatively effective feudal lord.

Zhao Guoliang had also studied the history of the Wa Kingdom before he came, and knew that the feudal lords of the Wa Kingdom were warlords in the actual sense. However, when I heard Yang Shilong say that there was a feudal lord on this Fujiang Island, I couldn't help but ask curiously: "Lord Yang, this Fujiang Island doesn't look very big, and there is also a feudal lord on it?" ”

"Lord Admiral doesn't know that the area under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord in the Wa Kingdom is not as large as the area under the jurisdiction of a county order in my Ming Dynasty, which is equivalent to a larger village. There are five or six thousand inhabitants on the five islands, and this Fukue domain can be regarded as a powerful feudal lord! ”

By this time, the fleet was already approaching Fukue Island, and it was already possible to encounter fishing boats inshore. When the fishing boats saw the sudden appearance of these tall boats as tall as mountains on the sea, they turned around and fled in fright.

The pipe band of the Fuzhou, the deputy general Li Tinglong asked: "My lord, what should we do?" Go up and start fighting directly or salute first and then soldier? ”

Zhao Guoliang touched the beard on his chin and said, "Let's take a look first, the other ships are parked in the open sea, and the capital ship will go to the dock to take a look!" ”

Yang Shilong arched his hand and said: "My lord, Xiaguan still has a few friends on the island, Xiaguan can go to the island first and inform them!" ”

"Okay, when you enter the dock, you go to the island first!" Zhao Guoliang nodded in agreement.

Ten miles from Fukue Island, all the sea-going ships of the fleet were anchored in the open sea, and only the flagship Fuzhou, continued into the bay.

The people on the island saw the big ships sailing into the wharf, and they panicked one by one, and more than a dozen merchant ships on the wharf immediately lifted anchor and went out to sea when they saw the flag of the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing that the dozen or so ships were all in the style of Daming's lucky ships, Zhao Guoliang asked, "Lord Yang, aren't they my Daming's merchant ships?" Why do you want to run away when you see us? ”

"My lord doesn't know, they are the merchant ships of the Zheng clan in Fujian, and now they are entrenched in Taiwan, these guys naturally want to flee when they see the imperial army coming!"

It turned out to be Zheng Chenggong's merchant ship, so the escape can be explained.

The Fujiang Island wharf is very small, the water depth is also shallow, and the Fuzhou with a draft of seven or eight meters can not be driven in, and there is no way for the Fuzhou to stop at a mile away from the wharf, put down the boat and carry Yang Shilong ashore!

Seeing Yang Shilong leaning onto the dock, Zhao Guoliang took a good look at Fujiang Island with a telescope.

Fukue Island was the residence of the lord of the Fukue Domain, and it was relatively densely populated, the market was relatively prosperous, and the roads were smooth, so it can be seen that it took some effort. There are some grass huts along the way, with scattered fish and vegetables, but no meat is seen. Since the Northern and Southern Dynasties of the Japanese, the upper-class aristocracy no longer eats meat under the influence of Buddhism, and gradually the whole people do not eat meat. Therefore, the appearance of the vendors along the way, although not so hungry that they are starved, is obviously malnourished, described as black and emaciated, most of the men are under 1.6 meters tall, and the women are even shorter, many of them are only 1.4 meters tall.

However, since Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japan has not had a nationwide war for decades, and the benefits of social stability are obvious, unlike the Ming Dynasty, which is full of decay. Although the living standards of the common people are not high, they do not have the look of a frightened bird in the face of fear.

Seeing that there was no prosperity on Fujiang Island, Zhao Guoliang estimated that this feudal lord would not be able to come up with any money. Seeing Yang Shilong leave the ship and go ashore in the telescope, Zhao Guo's conscience moved, or prepare, these gangs of widows have always been unreasonable, don't be on the road for a while!

"Li Tinglong, get ready for battle!"

"My lord, are you afraid that the Japanese will do it first?"

"It's always good to be careful!"

Li Tinglong nodded and ordered the ship's gunners to prepare for battle.