The major affairs of the country are in worship and Rong.

Rong is war, and war is a major national matter. Although the country is big, the belligerent will perish, and although the world is peaceful, forgetting the war will be dangerous.

With the return of Wusizang and the westward advance of the Dzungar department, the dark clouds of war hanging over the northwest have dissipated. But in the East China Sea of the Han Dynasty, the flames of war were ignited again.

Since last year, it was decided to conquer the Japanese people, and in March of Fireworks, the war finally began.

In the middle of late spring and March, the auspicious day personally selected by the Qin Heavenly Supervisor Zheng Tang Ruowang began the conquest.

Liu Jun went to the Taimiao early in the morning to pay respects and pray for the smooth progress of the war.

In the battle of the Eastern Crusade, although the court thought that it was three fingers pinching the snail and catching it, the battle was huge. After this battle is successfully fought, the Han Dynasty will take back tens of millions or even billions of silver from Japan, recapture a large amount of gold and copper, and will also take back a large number of people.

Whether it is gold, silver, copper or population, it can provide the impetus for the rapid development of the Han Empire.

From last year to the present, the imperial court has been preparing for the Eastern Expedition for more than half a year, and everything that should be prepared has been prepared. Whether it is warships, warships, weapons and equipment, or even food and grass supplies, they are basically in place.

Although it is called the Cross-Sea Crusade, in fact, after the Han Dynasty had already controlled these large islands on the edge of Japan's Kyushu Island and built a military port and advance base, this war was no longer a cross-sea crusade, but a war launched at the doorstep of Japan.

The arrow is off the string, and all Liu Jun can do now is to wait for the progress of the war, the good news of the soldiers on the front line, and the various trophies shipped back from Japan.

The attack was chosen in March, not only because it was an auspicious day, but also because there were no typhoons in March. When fighting at sea, the most feared thing is the storm. In the summer, there are many storms on the sea, and even with the strength of the Han Navy, it is still unable to resist the wrath of heaven and earth and withstand the storms of the sea.

When the Yuan Dynasty crossed the sea to conquer Japan, it failed in the face of a typhoon.

Nagasaki was formerly the land of Hizen Province in Kyushu. It's not far from Hirado Island.

Earlier, Hirado was Japan's foreign maritime trade port, and later the Hirado concession was given to the Great Han, and Japan opened its ports. The shogunate moved the center of foreign trade from Hirado to Nagasaki.

Nagasaki was subordinate to the Saga Domain and was controlled by the Hizen Nabeshima family. At this time, the lord of the domain, Nabeshima Katsushige, was over sixty years old, and he was a Japanese daimyo. After the Ryuzoji family was severed, it became a daimyo of 357,000 stones.

He was originally subordinate to the Western Army during the Battle of Sekigahara, but later defected and obtained Hizen control from Tokugawa Ieyasu. He established Saga Castle in the Saga Domain, and took turns with the Fukuoka Domain to guard Nagasaki and monitor the Han army in the Hirado and Tsushima concessions.

However, the name of the Saga Domain was 357,000 stone daimyo on the surface, but in fact, Nabeshima Katsushige divided the three sons into three places: Ojo, Kashima, and Hasuike, and established the "Nabeshima Imperial Three Family". However, the Nabeshima clan's family elder Takeo, Isahaya, and Suko have their own dominions, so the actual stone height of the Saga Domain is not high.

Since the prosperous commercial port of Hirado Concession was given to the Han Dynasty. Nagasaki has become one of the busiest commercial ports in Japan. Many Japanese products were sold to Chinese merchants here, and when Japan banned the export of silver and copper, many Japanese copper merchants began to secretly smuggle silver and copper to Chinese merchants here, and the smuggling trade became more and more prosperous with the secret support of the Nabeshima family, the daimyo of the Saga Domain.

Only at this time. Nagasaki Port and Nagasaki Bay, which used to be bustling with activity, are dead silent.

Without the continuous flow of Han merchant ships and the various Tang goods brought by Chinese merchant ships, the market in Nagasaki immediately died, and all kinds of Japanese merchant goods that were piled up in Nagasaki could no longer be transported. Even the smuggling of silver and copper, which was extremely popular in the past. At this point, it has been completely broken.

The countless copper nuggets piled up in the warehouses by the major copper merchants, these contraband that used to be the most sold, are also not cared for at this time.

At the port wharf, the countless Japanese workers who relied on unloading and loading freight, and the restaurants, inns, teahouses, and green buildings in Nagasaki City all lost the laughter and laughter of the past.

The Japanese merchants of Nagasaki suddenly discovered that Nagasaki was on the verge of death when the Tang merchant ships stopped coming.

At this time in Nagasaki, countless people relied on sea trade to make a living. Not only Nagasaki, but also the whole of Japan rely on trade with China to make a living.

Japan's countless silver and copper mines produced silver and copper were sold to Chinese merchants in exchange for Tang goods. Not long after the end of Japan's Warring States period, industry and commerce were basically not yet formed, and they had a huge demand for Chinese goods and goods, from raw silk to various kinds of tea and sugar.

Without Chinese ships bringing Chinese goods, the nobles' usual comfortable life could not even be maintained. There was no tea, no sugar, no silk, no spices, no porcelain, no glassware, no chiming bells, and so on.

Sixty-one-year-old Nabeshima Katsushige, the daimyo of the Saga Domain, looked coldly at the deserted Nagasaki, his eyes full of dead silence.

This great name who has gone through ups and downs, this old fox also felt a burst of panic in his heart at this time.

All of this shows that war is coming.

They used to play with fire, and now they're burning.

The Saga clan took advantage of the opening of a trading station in Nagasaki and succeeded in reaping many benefits from it, especially by secretly leading the silver and copper smuggling trade, and the Saga clan made a large profit.

But now, the endless profits are gone, and the war is coming.

The Saga Domain was adjacent to the Matsuura Domain, and they had a clear understanding of the strength of the Han army that occupied the five islands of Hirado and Tsushima, and they could not fight against the Great Han at all.

When Yoshitomi Hideyoshi led them on an expedition to Korea, they were only strong on land at that time, and their sailors couldn't even beat the turtle ships of North Korean sticks, let alone the giant ships and cannons of the Han Navy today.

Nabeshima Tsuneshige had ordered the samurai and militia of the Saga Domain to be assembled, and all the ships were assembled in the port of Nagasaki. While he gathered his troops and horses, he strictly ordered that no one should move without permission, and all the ships remained in the harbor, and none of them were allowed to leave the harbor without his orders.

The Saga clan was not allowed to make any provocative moves against the Han army.

Nabeshima Tsuneshige looked at this dead silence and sighed vigorously, "Those damn guys, I said a long time ago that they were playing with fire, but they just wanted to provoke the Han army, now it's okay, they finally set themselves on fire, and now how to appease the Han army?" Who can appease it? ”

Nabeshima had spoken to Edo before. It is not advisable to provoke the big man.

Unfortunately, no one in Edo paid any attention to him, and although he was a daimyo of more than 300,000 koku, the Edo shogunate was in practice with a feudal feudal system, with the shogunate and the feudal town jointly administering the country. But there were also different classes in the feudal towns. The relatives of those generals were of the same clan, and their territories were sealed near, and they were related domains.

And those retainers who followed the Tokugawa family in the early years to fight in the four directions, that is, the daimyo who had surrendered before the Battle of Sekigahara, were called the daimyo of the spectrum.

Both the daimyo and the daimyo of the pedigree were deeply trusted by the shogunate.

Although the Saga Domain had more than 300,000 koku, they were feudal towns that surrendered in the war, and they could not be trusted by the shogunate, so they were all sealed in the border area, and they were all daimyo of the Shogunate. The Daimyo were not only sealed in remote places. In addition, they were closely monitored by the shogunate, and they were not really trusted at all.

In the past, the shogunate only opened a trading port in Hirado, and the shogunate had the right to trade with foreign trade. Later, although he moved from Hirado to Nagasaki, it was still the shogunate that took the big head and the Saga clan took the small head.

"Family Master, will the Tang people really attack?" A small retainer stood behind and said worriedly, "In the opinion of the head of the family." If the Tang people sent troops this time, it would have been bombarded two years ago. Then force the shogunate to back down and withdraw its troops, or will it attack in a big way? ”

The Han army had been preparing for war in Hirado and other places for more than half a year, and judging from their preparations, this time it would not be any kind of coercion by force. Nabeshima's fear was that the Han army would take the opportunity to attack Japan on a large scale, and then seize the territory, and the long-term position would not leave.

Nagasaki is also close to the Hirado base camp of the Han Chinese. Once a fight really starts, Nagasaki will bear the brunt, and the Saga Domain will not be good.

The Han army has assembled hundreds of warships in the port of Hirado, and many armed merchant ships have been assembled on Tsushima Island, and in the port of Busan in Korea. A large number of North Korean sailors were also assembled.

These signs indicate that this will be a large-scale attack.

Nabeshima Tsuneshige looked haggard, he hadn't slept well for several days.

As the information from the Hirado side continued to come back, he also knew that the preparations of the Han people were becoming more and more perfect, and the shogunate was in a hurry, and he regretted it very much, and the envoy ran to Hirado again and again, and also ran to the Tang Kingdom a few times, but no matter how the shogunate retreated this time, the Han people just ignored it coldly.

This is a must-fight.

Once the fight starts, the Saga Domain will bear the brunt and will be able to hold on for a few days?

The situation at this time made him think of the Battle of Sekigahara again.

In the Battle of Sekigahara that year, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Ishida Mizo fought at Sekigahara in Mino, and this battle between the Eastern and Western armies decided who was the master of the world.

In the end, the battle ended in just one day.

Tokugawa Ieyasu's main force of 38,000 men was led by Tokugawa Ieyasu's son, Tokugawa Hidetada, but this army with high hopes was led by his son, but his son made a fatal mistake and was lured by a few thousand people, and as a result, he was delayed for a long time at Ueda Castle and missed the opportunity to participate in the Battle of Sekigahara.

In this battle that decided the world, the Western Army had a great advantage in numbers, with more than 100,000 people, but in this battle, it was already outnumbered, and because the main force led by the son of Tokugawa Ieyasu delayed the arrival of the fighters, it took only one day to win the battle, and the last laugh.

At that time, Nabeshima was also a member of the Western Army, and he knew very well that the key to the victory or defeat of this battle was Kobayakawa Hideaki at that time. At that time, he led 15,000 men to arrange the nearby mountains, but in the end, when the decisive battle between the eastern and western armies reached a critical time, and when the western army was about to win, Kobayakawa Hideaki refused to obey the order to send troops to attack the eastern army, and the victory was decided.

At the most critical time, Tokugawa Ieyasu not only did not send people to persuade Kobayakawa Hideaki to defect, but instead sent troops to bombard Kobayakawa Hideaki's position in a critical and unfavorable situation.

And Kobayakawa Hideaki's reaction was even more unexpected by everyone, Tokugawa Ieyasu bombarded him, he did not send troops in anger to destroy Tokugawa Ieyasu's Eastern Army in one fell swoop, nor did he continue to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, but led his troops to join Tokugawa Kayasu's Eastern Army, more than 10,000 fresh troops joined, and killed the Western Army by surprise, and finally helped Tokugawa Ieyasu turn defeat into victory and win the world.

Why did Kobayakawa Hideaki stand still?

Why did Tokugawa Ieyasu bombard Kobayakawa Hideaki instead?

And why did Kobayakawa Hideaki defect to Tokugawa Ieyasu after being bombarded by Tokugawa?

It's a mystery.

However, his defection did completely change the outcome of that battle under heaven.

Nabeshima Tsuneshige has thought about this problem for many years, and now he suddenly thinks that maybe at that time, Kobayakawa Hideaki felt that Tokugawa had a better chance of winning, and Tokugawa Ieyasu was indeed a disadvantage in terms of performance, but Tokugawa Hidetada still led the main force of 38,000 people and never appeared on the battlefield, Tokugawa Ieyasu has always been cunning, and no one knows why Tokugawa Hidetada has never appeared.

Maybe Tokugawa Hidetada has been nearby, especially when Tokugawa Ieyasu bombarded Kobayakawa Hideaki, it may have made Kobayakawa Hideaki think that Tokugawa still has a backhand.

Many years had passed since the Battle of Sekigahara, and Kobayakawa Hideaki had long known that Tokugawa Hidetada had actually been lured by a small army, which delayed the meeting of the two armies for a decisive battle.

No matter what the truth of everything was back then, in fact, Nabeshima Tsuneshige was amazed by Kobayakawa Hideaki, he put himself in a position of a left and right balance, no matter which side he joined, which side could win, no matter how he chose, he was a winner.

The Saga clan was on the wrong side that year, and although he later defected and surrendered to Tokugawa Ieyasu, it was much worse than Kobayakawa Hideaki.

"What do you think if we surrender to the Han army?"

Nabeshima Tsuneshige suddenly threw out a sentence, which shocked the retainers in shock.

The Japanese pay the most attention to the inheritance of family names, which is different from the inheritance of blood that Chinese pay the most attention to. The most important thing for Chinese is the inheritance of blood, and there are three unfilial pieties, and no descendants are greater. If there are no children, then the Chinese will choose one of the sons and nephews of the same clan to inherit the lineage, become a son, and inherit the family business.

But the Japanese are different, they value the inheritance of family names, and the light is bloodline. It doesn't matter if you don't have an heir, find an outsider to come over, whether it's a family name or a successor, anyway, it's a change of family name, and what you inherit is the inheritance of the family name, only to ensure that the family name continues, and it doesn't matter if it's the family's bloodline.

Many powerful daimyo in Japan often send their sons to those weak daimyo who are about to become extinct or extinct as adopted sons to inherit the family name, and annex their power in disguise.

Nabeshima hopes that his Nabeshima family can be passed on forever, and if the Nabeshima family knows the current affairs and belongs to the Han early, then the Nabeshima family can always be rewarded.

Nabeshima believed that even if the Han could defeat the shogunate, or even if they occupied Japan, the Han people would always need the help of the Japanese to rule.

The shogunate of flowing water, the name of the iron-clad family. (To be continued.) )