Chapter 39 Sending people to the Wa Kingdom to make claims

Zheng Zhilong's ships are strong and artillery, the soldiers are strong, and there are many men and horses, so it is not easy to eliminate some pirates. Ren Fulong acted as the front, and he was a team of pirate forces, and it didn't take long to basically subdue Kyushu Island.

Zheng Zhilong's arrival was sent to Beijing as soon as possible. It happened to be the evening of the day when Yue Su took Zhu Youzhen into custody.

Yue Su didn't wait for news during the day, and only asked someone to take care of Zhu Youzhen and go back to the house by himself. As soon as he arrived at the house, someone came to pass the ceremony, saying that Zheng Zhilong had sent someone to deliver the letter. Yue Su invited the messenger to the flower hall, and the messenger presented the letter, Yue Su read it, and his heart was overjoyed, so that his subordinates took the messenger down to rest and entertain him. Subsequently, Jiang Jie was found.

Jiang Jie entered the flower hall and sat down, Yue Su immediately sent the arrival report sent by Zheng Zhilong to Jiang Jie to take a look, Jiang Jie read it, his face became solemn, and said: "My lord, this matter seems to be clear now, as long as you send someone to Chiba, Japan to find the daimyo Date Masamune, everything will be clear." It's just that I think Date Masamune may not be able to admit it easily. ”

"He can't help but admit it, if he dares to deny it, I will beat him to admit it." Yue Su said fiercely.

"My lord, if you send troops to the Japanese country now, I'm afraid it will be inappropriate. The biggest enemy of the imperial court is the Jurchens, and if we divide our forces to attack the Japanese people, once the Tartars know about it, we will take the opportunity to make some more trouble, and we will be attacked on both sides at the same time. Although with the current military strength of the imperial court, it is not afraid, the cost must be relatively large. Jiang Jie said.

"Invade our territory, although it is far away, it will be punished, the Japanese people do not know what to do, they dare to invade my territory, so that my hard work will be wiped out overnight, if this matter does not give them a lesson, they still think that we are easy to bully!" For devils, Yue Su hates them more, devils have always bullied the weak and afraid of the hard, if you don't teach them a hard lesson this time, they still think you are a bully.

"What are you going to do?" Jiang Jie asked.

"At the very least, I'm going to hand over Date Masamune to me, and then destroy his Manmen! I also have to compensate for the losses of my Ming Dynasty. Yue Su said.

"My lord, the loss of sunshine this time can be tens of millions of taels, such a huge number, the Japanese country will not agree, and the only thing facing is war. And the interior of my Ming Dynasty, it is estimated that it may not be able to work together, Japan has already called my Ming Dynasty, and it has been peaceful all these years, and the Queen Mother and some courtiers are unwilling to go to war. After all, the victory or defeat is unpredictable, and once the war starts, the expenses of the imperial court will also increase. Jiang Jie said.

"Foreign wars and other things, pay and return are proportional, as long as you can win, the benefits brought back to me by Daming must be several times the pay. Besides, Japan is a small country, how many troops can it have, how can it beat our Ming Dynasty? Yue Su said with a chuckle.

"Don't underestimate the Japanese country, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi attacked Korea, he mobilized 200,000 troops. If my Ming Dynasty uses troops against the Japanese state, at least more than 300,000 troops will be dispatched, and it is possible to succeed. Moreover, the Japanese state occupies a favorable geographical position and is internally unified, and once the troops are exchanged, they are bound to work together and resist desperately. Not to mention the protracted war, it was also a war of attrition. If the adults really want to fight, then they will have to wait until Liaodong is recovered before they can enter the army. Jiang Jie said.

Yue Su nodded and said, "What Mr. said is very reasonable, it is indeed a bit early to enter the army now." But if you want to recover Liaodong, you will succeed in a year and a half, and I estimate that it will take at least three years. But this breath makes me how can I endure it for three years. I think so, tomorrow I will go to see the Queen Mother, discuss it first, and then formulate specific policies. ”

"That's fine. However, at present, the main force of the Tartars is coming to Yuanbao to use troops, counting the soldiers and horses of the Mongolian tribes, there are no less than 200,000 people, and it is not a way for us to always passively defend like this. The subordinates thought that it was better to take advantage of this opportunity to suddenly send troops to attack Jinzhou and Liaoyang, which was the best to capture, and if they could not be attacked, at least they could force the main force of the Tartars to withdraw their troops. Jiang Jie suggested.

"This method is good, Jinzhou is close to the sea, Liaoyang is close to the river, and they can be attacked by the water division. Although we may not be able to win, we can relieve some pressure on Laiyuanbao, and we can't take the initiative to fight us. In this way, tomorrow I will give Hong Chengchou and Mao Wenlong an order, let them wait for the opportunity to attack Jinzhou and Liaoyang, as for how to fight, they can discuss it, but no matter what, they must be invincible. Not for a decisive battle, just for harassment. Yue Su said.

Early the next morning, Yue Su entered the palace to see the driver, still the same as before, and met him in the imperial study. After briefly describing the number of rituals, the emperor asked Yue Su to sit down and ask what he wanted to do today, and came to meet him.

Yue Su went straight to the point, told the story of the raid on Rizhao Port by the army of Date Masasa, and presented the arrival report sent by Zheng Zhilong to the emperor and the queen mother.

After reading it, Zhang Yan said: "Yue Qing, since it has been found out that the ransacking of Rizhao was committed by the Japanese State, what are the Qing families going to do?" ”

"The Wa Kingdom has already claimed the vassal of the Ming Dynasty to me, and this dispatch of troops can be described as a deliberate provocation. When the Ming Dynasty invaded Korea, Emperor Shenzong also sent a large army to crusade, not to mention that this time it was to hit the local important land of our Ming Dynasty. If I don't teach them a lesson this time, the Japanese people will inevitably think that I am weak, and I will inevitably get worse next time. Yue Su said.

"What the Qing family said is good, but right now, the Tartars are invading our borders, and if we mobilize troops twice, it will inevitably increase the burden on the imperial court, and it will be difficult to win completely...... Zhang Yan said with a little worry. She heard what Yue Su meant, and knew that Lord Yue wanted to start a war against Japan. She rarely refutes Lord Yue's proposals, but this time, she sincerely doesn't want to fight. Because of the war with the Japanese state, he couldn't see any benefit if he won, and he also worked hard to pay his labor. This is completely different from the use of Tartar soldiers. After all, the Tartars seized the territory of the Ming Dynasty and were bound to take it back. So, Zhang Yan thought about it for a while, and then said: "Otherwise, the imperial court will first send envoys to Japan and ask them to hand over the mastermind of the provocation, that is." ”

"The emperor and the queen mother, handing over the mastermind of the provocation is what they must do. Not only that, but they must also compensate for the loss of Rizhao Port, otherwise this matter will never be reconciled. Yue Su said in a firm tone.

"Compensation, not how much to compensate?" Zhang Yan said.

"Ten thousand taels of silver." Yue Su said again in a firm tone.

"Ah...... So much...... How can the Japanese people be willing to do it......" Zhang Yan was directly intimidated by this number.

"They have to do it if they don't do it, my Rizhao Port has lost tens of millions of dollars, how many businessmen, for this reason, they still need a lot of silver to reopen the port. And this matter has dealt a great blow to the confidence of the merchants who went to sea in the Ming Dynasty, if they do not get back an explanation, the merchants will panic and dare not go to sea, and the income of the imperial court will also decline. Not only that, but the prestige of my Ming Dynasty will also be gone. Yue Su said pertinently.

"The meaning of the Qing family, the mourning family also understands, but at this time, the mourning family and the emperor both hope that if they can not use troops, try not to use troops. Otherwise, you should go back to the cabinet to discuss it, come up with a proper charter, salute first and then soldiers, and if you can, you won't fight. Zhang Yan said.

"That'...... The Ministers ......"

The Queen Mother didn't want to fight, and when Yue Su and Jiang Jie talked last night, they had already guessed it, but Yue Su also had a plan in his heart. He then stood up, said "Wechen retires", and left the imperial study and went to the cabinet.

When he arrived at the cabinet and convened the cabinet ministers to discuss the matter, Yue Su circulated the arrival report sent by Zheng Zhilong to the cabinet ministers, and waited for them to read it before asking for their opinions.

This is a first-class event, and the ministers looked at each other, and none of them dared to say anything for a while. After a long time, Qi Shijiao gave up his hand and said: "Lord Yue, what the lower official means is that it is better to let the Ministry of Rites send someone to Japan to negotiate, and let them give an explanation." ”

"Master Qi, you said that let them give an explanation, what kind of explanation do you think is better for them to give?" Yue Su asked directly.

"This ...... At least I have to apologize to Daming......" Qi Shijiao said.

"Heh......" Yue Su heard this, chuckled, and said, "Apologize!" Is this something they can do by apologizing? This time, Rizhao Port was burned, and the casualties of soldiers and civilians could be thousands of heavy, and the property damage was tens of millions. ”

"That's what you said, but ...... What more could we ask for? "For Qi Shijiao, apology may be the heaviest thing. Thinking that the Japanese invaded and disturbed the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty beat the Japanese away, and it was over. Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea and was driven away by the Ming army, isn't that it, what else can it be?

"What else? It's very simple, let the Tokugawa shogunate hand over Date Masamune to me, and whoever comes to burn and loot will also hand it over to me. In addition, I will be compensated with 10,000 taels of silver! Yue Su said.

"Ah......h

As soon as they heard Yue Su's words, the ministers all exclaimed in surprise, and their mouths opened. 10,000 taels of silver, the Ming Dynasty can't take it out, let alone Japan, a small country, let them pay for it. As soon as such conditions are opened, the Japanese people will definitely refuse, and they can't even get an apology, what will I do in the Ming Dynasty then? To fight or not to fight?

If you don't fight, it's simply discredited. If you send troops, you will get as much food and wages, how many soldiers and horses, and what benefits you can get at that time. Isn't this just a toss-up?

"My lord, I am a big country in the Celestial Empire, how can I be like that small state, is it too difficult for a strong person to compensate like this, once it spreads, it will have a great impact on the prestige of my Ming Dynasty." This time, it was Lu Weiqi who stood up. Don't look at the cabinet ministers of the Yiluo Party, he is the only one, and he still relies on Yue Su when he enters the cabinet, but this time, the stakes are very high, and he did not stand on Yue Su's side.

"If you don't care about them, then who do you say I should worry about?" Yue Su said in a deep voice: "In the battle of Rizhao Port, thousands of people died, countless merchants' warehouses were burned down, and even the banks jointly run by the imperial court and the private sector were looted and burned. Such a big loss, you come and tell me, I don't ask them to compensate, where can I find someone to compensate? If you don't ask them to pay for my life, who will you ask me to pay for my life? ”

"This ......" Yue Su's words made Lu Weiqi speechless.

"My lord, the Tokugawa shogunate will have no difficulty agreeing to your conditions. At that time, I don't know what adults should do. At this time, Qi Shijiao spoke.

"Now the discussion is not about their conditions not agreeing to us, what should we do? It's that they have caused such a huge loss to my Daming, how can we claim compensation? Murder pays for life, debts and money, blood debts and blood repayment, heaven and earth. If the Japanese don't give me an explanation for the Ming Dynasty and can't compensate for this loss, I won't be able to give up. Otherwise, the Japanese people still think that I am a strong man in the Ming Dynasty, and I am easy to bully, and in the long run, one day, I will intensify the bullying. You must know that when the Divine Sect was in power, they had already had one time, and my Ming Dynasty only drove them out of the court in the spirit of etiquette, but this time, they dared to hit my Ming Dynasty's homeland. If they don't teach them a lesson, who can guarantee that they will become a Jurchen again! Yue Su said at the end, and his voice suddenly lowered.

"My lord, what do you mean, the lower official understands, and the lower official is also very supportive. However, now that a Jurchen has restrained most of the national strength of my Ming Dynasty, how can he still go to war with Japan again? Qi Shijiao said.

"Did I say war?" As soon as Qi Shijiao finished speaking, Yue Su broke off.

"The adults didn't say that they would go to war, but how could the Japanese agree to the conditions that the adults offered? That is bound to break the face of my Celestial Empire......" Qi Shijiao was frightened enough by Yue Su's voice, and his voice was much quieter.

"If he doesn't agree, we'll talk about it then. Now, this official only asks you, is there any error in this sentence of killing people to pay off their lives and debts? Yue Su's voice also calmed down.

"Your Excellency, that's right......" the ministers nodded and said.

"Someone killed my Daming people, should I pay for my life? Someone destroyed my property in the Ming Dynasty, should I be compensated? Yue Su said again.

"Your Excellency, that's right......" the ministers nodded again.

"If you understand this, if you don't pay for my lives and make amends, won't you lose your reason? Whether they promised to pay compensation or not, that's a story for later. Okay, now let's vote for it. If you think that murder is not worth your life, say it now. Yue Su's last words were said in an extremely heavy tone. This sentence can't help but make people reverie, who dares to say that killing people doesn't have to pay for their lives, it is estimated that Lord Yue will be able to slaughter you. Anyway, you don't have to pay for killing people, that's what you said.

Don't look at the three parties in power, but under the prestige of Yue Su, who dares to say another word. Besides, what Lord Yue said is not unreasonable, killing people to pay off debts and paying money, if you think this sentence is wrong, you can stand up and say what is wrong. As for whether or not to go to war, that is not today's issue, only whether it should be compensated or not.

Well, now for the vote. The big guys unanimously agreed that the Wa State should hand over the murderers and compensate the economic losses of the Ming Dynasty.

After reading the results of the ticket, Yue Su smiled on his face and said, "That's right." Liu Ce, you are the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, I will leave this matter to you, send envoys, go to Japan, and tell the Tokugawa shogunate, hand over the murderer to me, and I will compensate me for the loss of the Ming Dynasty. ”

"Yes, the subordinate obeys." Liu Ce was picked up by Yue Su, a member of the Lao Yue Party, and now he is also the backbone of the Junyi Party. Yue Su's words, he naturally had to listen.

Yue Su nodded and said, "There is one more thing that I have to discuss with you." The Tartars are now invading our borders and attacking Laiyuan Fort, as you all know. Since they dare to take the initiative to attack us, we can't sit idly by, this official intends to order Hong Chengchou and Mao Wenlong to lead the army to attack Jinzhou and Liaoyang, what do you think? ”

Yue Su said these words lightly, it can be said that his tone seemed to tell everyone, I have already decided this matter, you have to agree if you agree, and you have to agree if you don't agree.

Of course, for the Jurchens, the Ming Dynasty has never been weak, and the ministers dare not be weak. They all expressed their approval. After drafting the votes, the opinions were unanimous, and Yue Su then sent the results of the votes for the two things to the celebrant and transferred them to Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan has seen the results of the vote, and it doesn't matter if he sends troops to attack Jinzhou and Liaoyang, the focus is on the incident against Japan. She couldn't help but secretly scold Yue Su for being cunning in her heart, and now she has really become a veteran in the political field, she doesn't pursue the result first, only half in advance. It's a fair thing to kill people to pay off debts and pay back, and no one can say anything, okay, since you want to do this, you must have a reason to think about it, you send someone to Japan to talk about it first, I really want to see you, what kind of medicine is sold in the gourd.

It can be said that it will not be long before everything that passes through the cabinet will be known to the world. As soon as the people heard that the cabinet had decided to let the Japanese hand over the murderers and compensate for the losses of the Ming Dynasty, many people were enthusiastic. For a while, all the talk on the street was about it, and the mouth was foaming everywhere.

The news quickly reached the ears of Zhou Yufeng, Wang Chengen, and Sun Zhong. As soon as he heard that the imperial court had found out that it was the Rizhao Port that was attacked by the Date Masatsu sect, Sun Zhong immediately panicked. Why is this happening, because Sun Zhong's fleet is still in Chiba and has not returned. The so-called thieves have a weak heart, how dare they come back at this time, and Sun Zhong secretly came back by boat.

Knowing that the imperial court sent someone to Japan to negotiate, Sun Zhong was anxious and went to Zhou Yufeng to discuss countermeasures. As soon as Zhou Yufeng heard that the people sent by King Xin had not returned, he also panicked, once the Japanese side handed over their people, King Xin would definitely die. Sun Zhong was originally a straight person, and he didn't have many eyes, but now let him think of a way, where can he come up with an idea, Zhou Yufeng can't think of a way to deal with it, so he can only call Wang Chengen.

As soon as Wang Chengen arrived, Zhou Yufeng asked Sun Zhong to tell Wang Chengen about the matter, and Wang Chengen couldn't help but be a little flustered. He knew that if Sun Zhong was asked to go to Japan now and inform his subordinates to run away, it would probably be too late. The officials of the Ministry of Rites have already left, and it will not take long to go to sea from Tongzhou to Japan. However, if Sun Zhong wants to go, he must rush to Rizhao by land to go to sea, because Dengzhou has always been a blockade area where he can go to sea, and no ship is allowed to sail without authorization except for the official ships of the imperial court, otherwise it will be discovered by the patrolling imperial warships and will be punished for fornicating with the Tartars.

When Sun Zhong returned from Japan, he landed in Rizhao, and the ships were parked there. At present, it is obviously too late to rush back to Dengshu and go to sea again, and besides, since the imperial court already knows that Date Masamune did it, and suspects the head of King Shin, it is expected that someone will definitely be sent to monitor the situation on the sea of Japan. If you go now, you're likely to be caught.

Wang Chengen couldn't think of a way, the three of them sat together, all with bitter faces. Especially Zhou Yufeng, tears were already flowing in her eyes, worried about her husband's life. Similarly, everyone knows that once the court finds out that King Xin did it, let alone him, the whole family will not be able to escape.

Looking at Zhou Yufeng's face full of tears, Wang Chengen felt uncomfortable, Zhu Youzhen is like his son, Zhou Yufeng is his daughter-in-law, seeing that it won't be long before the door will be killed, so how can it be good?

After thinking about it for a while, Wang Chengen finally wanted a way that was not a solution. I only heard him say: "Princess, the old slave has a way, I don't know if it's feasible?" ”

"Father-in-law, what method have you thought of, say it quickly......" Zhou Yufeng has reached the point where he is in a hurry to go to the doctor, as soon as he heard that Wang Chengen has come up with a method, no matter what the method is, listen to it first.

"This method of the old slave is called abandoning the army to protect the commander. The old slave planned to surrender to the Criminal Department with Sun Zhong and take all the charges down. In this way, it may be possible to save the life of King Shin. Wang Chengen said.

"You and Sun Zhong went to surrender together, wouldn't you just admit the crime, how could you still keep the prince's ......," Zhou Yufeng said puzzled.

"The old slave thinks like this, didn't the prince say that he had already sent the old slave into Beijing to report to the court that the king wanted to rebel, the old slave can say that he was consumed by his own desire for profit, and wanted to let King Xin be the emperor, so as to obtain greater benefits and positions, so he did not submit the excerpt to the court, but stayed and waited for the changes. Because he knew that King Fu went to lobby Yuan Chonghuan, and Yuan Chonghuan did not lock King Fu directly, the old slave guessed that maybe Yuan Chonghuan also had the intention to rebel, but he was just swaying in his heart, so he decided to push Yuan Chonghuan in the back. The pillar of the imperial court is Lord Yue, and the reason why Yuan Chonghuan did not dare to make up his mind is probably because Lord Yue is in Beijing, so he found his confidant Sun Zhong and went to Japan to find Date Masamune and ask him for help. Now that I know that the Imperial Court has found out Date Masamune, I have come to surrender myself for fear of affecting my master, hoping that the Imperial Court will forgive my master. Princess, what do you think of this method? After saying this, Wang Chengen looked at Sun Zhong and asked, "Sun Zhong, are you afraid of death?" ”

"The prince treats Sun Zhong as much as a mountain, Sun Zhong's life has long been the prince's, so what's the matter if he dies for the prince. Don't say that I went to surrender myself, for the sake of the prince, even if I went to the criminal department to rob the prison, I dare to go! Sun Zhong said impassionedly.

"Sure enough, you're a good man, the prince didn't misunderstand you!" Wang Chengen nodded solemnly.

"Princess...... If you do this, you may not be able to save the prince, and the two of you will definitely die. Isn't there any other good way? Zhou Yufeng didn't care about these two lives, she was only worried about Zhu Youzhen's life. How could she not know that Wang Chengen's method should be the best method in front of her, but in her mouth, she naturally can't say that, she must be benevolent and righteous. wW