For Tokugawa Iemitsu, the past few years have really not been a stable year.

The Xian people returned the Tamna Island, which they had long coveted to the Ming Dynasty, and then, using this as a base, the Ming Dynasty first beat the Shimazu family, the pioneer of the invasion of China, forcing the Shimazu family to shrink in an all-round way, not only spit out and annexed half of the Ryukyu Kingdom, but also suffered a great loss in strength, and was no longer able to go to sea to compete.

At first, Tokugawa Iemitsu was still gloating about the setback of a powerful feudal clan like Shimazu, but immediately after the Shimabara Rebellion in the northern part of Kyushu Island, the war burned to the Tokugawa family's domain, and soon to the Tokugawa family's direct domain.

In the past few years, Amakusa Shiro Tokisada, who has no worries, has frantically harassed the territories of the Tokugawa direct lord and the Ichimen and the genealogy, and the external daimyo has been less agitated except for the Shimazu family, and the direct result is that the strength of the Tokugawa family has been weakened, while the strength of those foreign domain lords has been preserved, therefore, Tokugawa Iemitsu has clearly felt that his control over the foreign domain lords is rapidly weakening.

This is something even more dangerous than Amakusa Shiro's rebellion!

For this reason, Tokugawa Iemitsu did not hesitate to use the last authority of the shogun to force the foreign surname Daimyo to unite the troops, join the army with him, and conquer Amakusa Shiro together. In Tokugawa Iemitsu's view, even if he can't win, he must follow the example of Toyotomi Hideyoshi back then and weaken the strength of those foreign daimyos.

Now the only thing that can support him in fighting across the sea is the Zheng family's ship.

In the thirteenth year of the reign of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, that is, at the end of May 1640, the Zheng family's fleet rushed to Edo at the risk of a possible typhoon.

"Do you think this can hide from the Nanhai Bo of the Ming Kingdom?" Tokugawa Iemitsu looked at the soldiers who were boarding the ship and asked in a low voice about his half-brother Masayuki Hoshina.

"What can't be concealed, our country is like a sieve full of holes, and there are spies of Ming people everywhere, so Amakusa Shiro can keep harassing us." Baoke Zhengzhi said solemnly: "The general should still send an envoy to the Ming State to question the Emperor of the Ming State why he connived at his subordinates to invade the neighboring countries. ”

Tokugawa Iemitsu laughed, his younger brother is stupid to read Zhu Zi's theory, if the emperor of the Ming Kingdom can control Nanhaibo. How can you let Jianyu keep bullying North Korea! Now in Korea, those who can represent the Ming State are no longer the envoys of the Ming Emperor. It's the messenger of Nanhai Bo.

"Nobutsuna, this time, just don't let me down...... Originally, I wanted Zhongqiu to replace Xingang, but Li Sheng persuaded me that changing generals in battle was a taboo for soldiers. The previous time I replaced Itakura Shigemasa with Shintsuna, but Chongchang was killed in battle, and if I replace Shintsuna with Zhongqiu this time, I'm afraid Shintsuna won't be able to keep it. Tokugawa Iemitsu said in a low voice, "Since the Ming people know about our actions, what kind of reaction do you think he will make?" ”

"The Ming people will definitely intercept us when we cross the sea. But Kyushu Island is so big, we can choose to land in Saeki Port in Bungo Province in the east, or we can choose the territory of the Shimazu family, in short, as long as our 150,000 troops land on land, then no matter how cunning the Ming people are, there is nothing they can do. After all, until now, the people of the Ming Kingdom have maintained a bottom line, that is, not to start a war with us on land. Think of Saruhideyoshi's battle with the Ming people in Korea. Let the Ming people still remember it vividly, right? Masayuki Hoshina said.

On the other side, Abe's lips squirmed. But he did not speak.

This action was seen by Tokugawa Iemitsu, who avoided Hoshina Masayuki a little and asked Abe Chukashika, "Mid-Chukyuki, what is your opinion?" ”

"General, I think the Shimabara Rebellion is just ringworm scabies, and we can completely ignore it. Go directly to find Nanhai Bo of the Ming Kingdom. The people of the Ming Kingdom came here across the ocean for nothing more than profit. What Shiro Amakusa was able to give him, we can also give. And if you can give more, in exchange for the support of Nanhai Bo of the Ming Kingdom, the strong feudal clans around you will naturally be calmed down......"

"Bastard, you are betraying the interests of our country, you coward, you don't look like a son of the samurai family at all!"

Before Abe Mid-Autumn finished speaking, someone immediately shouted.

The person who scolded him was Toda Shitetsu, who was appointed as the lieutenant general of Nobutsuna, so he had a direct stake in the outcome of this matter.

Moreover, he once participated in the battle of Osaka Chen, where the Tokugawa family swept away the Toyotomi clan, and was transferred to the feudal system. He has always hoped to lead the troops to make more military achievements, especially shouting many times that he would go on an expedition across the sea to the Ming Kingdom, giving the Ming Nanhai Bo a profound lesson. For this reason, he even did not hesitate to dig out the plan of Saruhideyoshi back then, thinking that he should dedicate Kitakyo to the emperor and take Nin'ba as the place where the shogunate was located.

Tokugawa Iemitsu didn't like Abe's words either, but he finally had the bearing of a shogun, and he didn't scold like Toda's iron, he waved his hand to Toda, and then said to Abe Chukatsu: "How can I do this kind of thing?" ”

"Temporary forbearance, in order to make better progress, in the face of Nobunaga's aggressiveness, in the face of Saruhideyoshi's insidiousness, the first generation is not forbearance, where can the shogunate be created?" Abe Zhongqiu said sincerely: "General, there are many outstanding things about Nanhai Bo in the Ming Kingdom, their ships are faster, their muskets and large barrels are sharper, they can make exquisite locks and convenient four-wheeled carriages, we have no shortage of skilled craftsmen in Japan, but now the steel knives made by Nanhai Bo are better than our famous swords!" We in Japan have always learned from the Ming Kingdom, and sent a large number of envoys to the Sui and Tang Dynasty to learn their sword-casting skills, and when we arrived in the Song Dynasty, we could sell treasure knives to the Song Kingdom. We invited Master Jianzhen, which is why we have today's Nara Castle and Karashotiji Temple...... General, your subordinates have no objection to this expedition, but we must consider the question of how we should deal with this expedition if it fails again! ”

"How can we lose, we have 150,000 troops, we are all mobilized, and we can mobilize another 150,000 troops!" Toda said angrily: "You, like Tadashi Aoyama, rely on your mouth......"

"That's enough."

Tokugawa Iemitsu couldn't listen to it anymore when he heard this.

Aoyama Tadashi, Doi Toshikatsu, and Sakai Tadayo were all teachers left by Tokugawa Iemitsu's grandfather Ieyasu to Iemitsu, and now Sakai is dead, Doi has become the elder, but Aoyama Tadashi was dismissed and expelled by Tokugawa Iemitsu because of his outspoken advice. This name, Tokugawa Iemitsu didn't want to hear anyone mention it at all, not even a veteran like Toda Clantetsu.

Toda also realized that he had said the wrong thing and finally endured it. Abe Mid-Autumn Festival was still staring at Tokugawa Iemitsu, and Iemitsu waved his hand: "Mid-Autumn Festival, you step back first, you don't have to come this time to see you off." ”

"Ahh Abe was stunned, and then retreated.

Watching Tokugawa Iemitsu personally send away those soldiers on the expedition, Abe Nakatsu couldn't settle down in his heart.

But the next news was unexpected, Abe Chukyo's surprise, the Zheng family's fleet successfully avoided the blockade of the Shinxiang Tokai Fleet, and landed in Saeki Port, which is across the sea from Shikoku Island in the eastern part of Kyushu Island. The shogunate's army was pressing forward step by step, recovering a large number of lost land, and the tens of thousands of Amakusa Shiro's subordinates were killed, and it was about to drive the Amakusa army back to Shimabara.

Such good news is frequently reported, but there is no news of Xinxiang Huwei, which makes Abe Mid-Autumn very puzzled. But at this time, another news came, the reason why Nanhai Bo's East China Sea Fleet failed to give strong support to the Shimabara rebel army was because they had received news that the Dutch intended to attack Luzon, so they had already moved south to support Luzon!

Immediately afterwards, in the good news, the main force of the Shimabara rebels had retreated to the castle of Shimabara, but some of their small forces were scattered throughout Kyushu, and even some of them crossed the sea to Shikoku, and made a fuss on Shikoku Island, among which there was also the shadow of the Changzong family that had been removed. In order to prevent their resurgence, the shogunate cobbled together another 30,000 troops and arrived on the island of Shikoku.

"This is the gods and Buddhas in the heavens who have helped us, and those Southern Barbarians have done it at the same time as us! It seems that the Nanhai Bo of the Ming Kingdom has no choice but to mobilize the East China Sea Fleet to support Luzon, after all, it is the mainland he occupies, and Shimahara's Amakusa is just a puppet that he can raise and sacrifice. It seems that the remnants of my family are about to move, and he has no choice but to use this inferior means to contain our strength. Speaking of the news, one night in late June, Abe Chukashi lamented, "In this way, at least the thieves in Shimabara can be eliminated, and then we can try to negotiate with Nankaito." ”

In front of him, sitting was Munetoshi Aoyama, the son of Tadatoshi, who owed himself on the tatami mat but said nothing.

"Please say hello to Lord Chungjun for me when you go back, the affairs of the country are indispensable for an upright person like him......"

As soon as he said this, Abe Chukatsu felt the ground shake under his feet. This kind of shaking was not unfamiliar to the Wato, and he put down the glass containing the sake and raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Did there be an earthquake?" ”

Then he heard a rumbling sound. This voice made his face change greatly: "The voice of the big tube, how is this possible?" ”

"Could it be a battery test?" Aoyama asked.

"Impossible, so late, who will test the gun!" Abe's Mid-Autumn Festival was like thunder: "Oops, terrible, we have been tricked, Nanhai Bo's East China Sea Fleet did not go to aid Luzon, but lurked, and took advantage of our carelessness to cross the Uraga Waterway and arrive at Edo Castle!" ”

Among the Japanese people, Abe Mid-Autumn is relatively smart and witty, so he is very appreciated by Tokugawa Iemitsu, so when he heard the sound of artillery, he immediately realized that his side was still in the scheme!

For a long time, Shinxiang's strategy against the Japanese state was limited to supporting Amakusa Shiro Tokisada to harass them, raiding the southwestern coastal areas and plundering population and wealth. This gave the shogunate a certain habitual thinking, and felt that Shinsho would not go to war in an all-out way, let alone directly attack the Kanto region of the Wa Kingdom and a heavily guarded city like Edo.

But now, Abe Chukaku understands that they have completely fallen for the scheme, and the Nankai Bo of the Ming Kingdom not only did it directly, but also came to Edo, the most critical point of the Tokugawa shogunate, that is, the place where its generals were located! (To be continued)