In the port of Hirado, the Matsuura family's navy was desperately rushing towards Zheng Zhilong's fleet, and they were on all kinds of warships, but most of them were traditional wooden boats, and many of them were sailboats.

The Matsuura sailors were brave, and they were not afraid of the four-masted galleons with a deck of 74 guns and twin guns, which were behemoths compared to them.

It's a pity that this kind of bravery is just stupidity in Zheng Zhilong's eyes. The Zheng family's fleet, which was able to cross the sea with some lucky ships and defeat the deck ships of the Dutch, now has giant ships and cannons, so naturally they will not be afraid of the suicidal charge of these people.

The rumbling cannons continued, the Zheng family's fleet lined up, the side sides were spread, the gun windows were opened, and the long guns of one door kept shelling the Japanese ships that rushed up.

One Japanese wooden ship after another was hit, and under the intensive bombardment of hundreds of cannons, those small boats rushed up on their own initiative, almost as if they were sent to death.

Liu Jun's fleet was parked outside the port, a few miles away from the Zheng family's fleet. Holding the clairvoyant mirror, Liu Jun looked at this spectacular scene and couldn't help but exclaim, "The Japanese slaves are really brave enough." ”

"Don't be so brave." Several European advisers shook their heads, finding it difficult for them to understand such behavior.

On the other side, Zhang Wan and a group of North Korean officers were already dumbfounded. These North Korean generals were inspected on Liu Jun's ship, and they had already been too surprised these days. But when they saw Zheng Zhilong coming to join with hundreds of boats, they were taken aback.

And when they saw Zheng Zhilong, the admiral of the Ming Dynasty, who did not declare war on Japan and went directly into the port, they were taken aback. And when they saw the Ming fleet led by Zheng Zhilong smashing the Japanese ships one by one with powerful artillery fire and sinking to the bottom of the sea, they were already a little numb.

The artillery battle in the harbor lasted less than half an hour. It was already over, and dozens of Japanese ships were all sunk.

Then the Zheng family fleet docked and shelled again against a group of Japanese troops who rushed to the shore, and after hundreds of shelling, the soldiers on the Zheng family ship disembarked and landed.

The Zheng family's marines were all armed with the flintlock muskets of the Chu army, as well as cold weapons. They were even clad in iron armor instead of cotton armor.

The equipment of the Zheng family's infantry made Liu Jun shake his head, it was simply explosive equipment, a soldier was equipped with two sets of cold and hot weapons, and heavy iron armor.

Although the Zheng family's infantry was exaggerated, the effect was still good, and after they went ashore, they directly hit the rows of muskets, and the Japanese suffered heavy casualties. There were only a few hundred Japanese soldiers who were hastily transferred. couldn't stop the Zheng family's attack at all.

Moreover, the power of the Zheng family's firecracker also amazed the Japanese.

Decades ago, during the Korean War, the Japanese iron artillery was far stronger than the Ming army, and the Ming army was superior to the artillery. The Japanese iron guns, that is, muskets, they had few guns, but the iron guns were quite well-made. It was even at the leading level in the world at that time. But now, their iron cannons are still arquebuses. The Zheng family's firecracker is already a flintlock musket produced by the nine-headed bird.

Faster reload rate, longer range, more power.

The power of the iron cannons of the Matsuura family was much lower than that of the Zheng family, and they were outnumbered, and they were killed and wounded heavily. Defeated all the way to Hirado Castle, the lord of the castle, Matsuura Zhenshi, is still a little unbelievable. Da Ming actually sent troops to attack, and directly found him in the Matsuura family first.

When Zheng Zhilong arrived at the castle on horseback, the soldiers of the Zheng family had already surrounded Hirado Castle.

"Push the cannon up and blast open the gates."

Zheng Zhilong said unceremoniously, and the Zheng family directly transported the ship-borne long guns to the shore. Dragged to the bottom of the city.

More than 10 naval guns reached a distance of more than 200 places under the city, and began to bombard the city gate continuously, and after several rounds of artillery bombardment, the city gate collapsed, revealing a huge gap.

"Take Hirado Castle, dare to resist and kill on the spot!"

Zheng Zhibao waved his knife and shouted, and took the lead in rushing into the city.

On Liu Jun's flagship, Zhang Wan only heard the rumbling of cannons on Hirado Island, and his heart was full of worry, "Didn't the Duke of Chu send troops to reinforce the battle?" ”

"It's just a small island, and it's enough to have Admiral Zheng. Marshal Zhang, please rest assured, there will be good news soon. ”

About an hour later, Zheng Zhilong sent someone to report that Hirado Castle had been captured, that the lord of the Hirado domain, Matsuura Zhennobu, had been captured alive, and that the rest had surrendered.

"Already taken?" Zhang Wan inhaled the cool air, a famous feudal lord, was actually captured alive in just half a day.

Liu Jun was not surprised at all, the Hirado Domain was only a small domain, and the Matsuura Zhenxin Domain was very small, with a stone height of no more than 60,000. According to Japan's mobilization capacity at this time, 10,000 koku can mobilize about 2 to 300 soldiers, while the Matsuura family's mobilization capacity is only about 2,000 soldiers.

And this will require mobilization time, and in the case of the sudden arrival of the Ming army, the troops they can use are actually only a few hundred. And Zheng Zhilong came with more than 10,000 people this time, and it was a huge ship and a cannon, and with a small city like Hirado, he couldn't resist it at all.

The Hirado Domain was originally a daimyo of the outside world, not trusted by the shogunate, and it was located on the frontier, and the territory was small, and their family had only been a daimyo for four generations, and it was only by developing trade with various countries that their strength had increased somewhat, but compared to those who were more than a million and hundreds of thousands of daimyos, their strength was still too weak.

"Let's get off the boat and go around." Liu Jun smiled and said to Zhang Wan and the others, the battleship sailed into the harbor, the ship docked, Liu Jun and the others got off the ship and rode to Hirado Castle. The Japanese ships in the port were all sunk, and the rest were mostly merchant ships of the Daming East India Company, as well as a small number of Chinese merchant ships, which actually violated the exclusive trade rights of the Daming East India Company to Japan, and Liu Jun was not polite to them, confiscated the goods on board, and seized the ships.

This piece of fat in Japan cannot be shared.

Hirado Castle was not badly damaged, except for one gate that collapsed, and several fires in the castle were quickly extinguished. Hirado Castle is indeed a very prosperous city, and because it is a free port, the merchant ships of various countries have traded for many years, so that the city has a variety of styles of buildings, including Buddhist temples and Taoist temples, as well as various foreign churches, and the shops on the streets are also marked with various characters.

"Immediately begin to build forts on the island, strengthen Hirado Castle, and build a fortress outside the castle." After Liu Jun turned around, he explained to Zheng Zhilong.

"What do we do next?" Zheng Zhilong asked.

"Send a fleet to sweep away the Iki and Goto archipelagos. The people on the island were all caught, and they were first sent to Hirado to build a castle, and then sent to Taiwan. Send someone to Edo again to see if the Tokugawa family is willing to talk now. ”

Edo.

It was once the residence of the wealthy Edo clan, hence the name. In the 18th year of Tensho, after the Battle of Odawara in Hojo, Tokugawa Ieyasu entered the Kanto region and took Edo as his residence, and Edo Castle began to prosper. In the eighth year of Keicho (1603), Tokugawa Ieyasu opened the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo. Since then, Edo Castle has grown as the political and economic center of the country, eventually forming the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Early in the morning of the first day of September, Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third shogun, had just gotten up and received an urgent report.

"The invasion of the Ming Dynasty has captured Tsushima, Iki, Hirado, Nagasaki, and Goto, and the coastal areas of Hizen and Chikuzen have been attacked by the Ming fleet, and countless people have been plundered of money."

Tokugawa Iemitsu thought it was a joke at first.

But soon, one urgent report after another came, confirming that the Ming army was attacking in a big way, hundreds of warships and countless cannons were coming, and the Hirado Domain was even captured in only half a day.

Soon, the Ming army sent an envoy, Tagawa Nanazaemon, a retainer of Hirado Matsuura.

Tagawa Nanazaemon was a retainer of Matsuura Shinnobu, and his daughter had earlier married Zheng Yiguan, a merchant of the Ming Kingdom, and gave birth to two sons. And now one of the main generals of the Ming army attacking Feiqian is Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Yiguan of that year.

Tagawa Nanazaemon presented a letter from the Ming army.

"Who is Zhu Ciye?" Tokugawa Iemitsu asked, restrained his anger.

"He is the righteous son of the emperor of the Tang State, the title of Duke of Chu, the official worship of the governor of Huguang and the general army of Hubei and the control of the Beiyang Naval Division, and the commander of 100,000 elites."

"I heard that Zheng Yiguan is now also an official of the Tang Kingdom? Who is he? ”

"Zheng Yiguan's name is Zheng Zhilong now, and he is the Admiral of the Tang Navy and the Chief Military Officer of Taiwan."

"Why did the Tang Kingdom come to invade my Japan?"

Tian Chuan replied, "Tang State Chu Guogong said that our Japan first invaded the Ming coast, burning, killing, and plundering all kinds of evil systems, and then invaded the Ming Dynasty twice. ”

"It's been decades since then, so why bring it up again?"

"General Hui, the new king of Korea has recently ascended the throne, and the new king has married his daughter, Princess Jingshu, to the Duke of Chu, and leased the two islands of Tamna and Geoje to Daming. The Ming army, which had recently taken over Geoje Island, discovered that pirates had plundered Geoje Island, and they investigated and found that the pirates who were plundering were the Japanese from Tsushima, Iki, and Hirado Island. ”

"If this is the case, then we will find out and hand over these pirates to the Ming Dynasty, why do we want to take our Japanese territory without declaring war?"

Tagawa Nanazaemon replied truthfully, "Chu Guogong insisted on sending troops himself, and now Chu Guogong proposed that if the general could meet his requirements, he would stop attacking Japan, otherwise, he would lead a fleet carrying tens of thousands of Ming army elites to attack Edo directly." ”

Tokugawa Iemitsu gritted his teeth and asked coldly, "What is his request?" ”

"Japan is a vassal to the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese Emperor is renamed the King of Japan, and the Ming Emperor issued an edict to canonize and grant the seal of the King of Japan.

"What else?"

"Japan ceded Hizen Province and Tsushima, Iki Island and Daming."

"Japan opened the mutual market to Daming, and Daming obtained the exclusive right to trade with Japan."

Tokugawa Iemitsu refused, "It's impossible!" ”

Tagawa Nanazaemon said helplessly, "If the general refuses, then the two countries will officially start a full-scale war, and all the results will be known on the battlefield." (To be continued......)