The actions of the Ming army in Taiwan had a profound impact in the future.

But at this moment, the first reaction was that the first group of bandits who fled in defeat first drifted to the Ryukyus, and then to Satsuma, Japan.

In the Satsuma country southwest of Kyushu, Japan, the Hayato tribe has been inhabited since ancient times, known for its fierceness.

For so many years, Satsuma, who is known as the full name of the civil and military generals, has only one thing in the eyes of Takahisa Shimazu: to completely break the other Shimadzu divisions in the country and pacify Satsuma!

The Shimazu family is not only the guardian of Satsuma, but also the guardian of Osumi and Hinata. But now, there is no guardian of the Three Kingdoms, but because the family is dissatisfied with him, the adopted son of the clan, who inherited the position of the governor, the Shimazu family cannot dominate Kyushu with the guardian of the Three Kingdoms!

Starting with the twelfth Shimazu family governor, two successive generations of family governors died young. Shimazu Takahisa himself was also a member of the family, but Shimazu Katsuhisa, who succeeded him as the fourteenth family governor, was still too young, so he entrusted the clan to the family of Shimazu Takahisa's father.

In this way, Shimazu Takahisa became the adopted son of the clan family, and succeeded him as the governor of the family at the age of fourteen.

The Shimazu family, which originally had the territory of the Three Kingdoms, due to the early death or weakness of three successive generations of family governors, split up and even some retainers set up their own doors, and there were many people in the local powerful countries.

When Shimazu Takahisa succeeded the family governor, the contradictions always broke out: they were all from separate families, why should they listen to you?

Moreover, there are a lot of inside facts: Shimazu Katsuhisa has abdicated and lived in seclusion, and after the division of the North Satsuma family as the main Shimazu Minoru Ryuka two cities, Shimazu Katsuhisa came out again to express his hope to return to the guard, and it seems that he was forced to accept Shimazu Takahisa as his adopted son and entrust the clan to the family.

Takahisa Shimazu, who was still young, was naturally defeated step by step at first. Although he resolutely refused to exchange the guardian position for his "father-in-law", he had no choice but to escape from Shimizu Castle, the national capital of Kagoshima.

In his twentieth year, the counteroffensive belonging to Takahisa Shimazu began. Eight years ago, he defeated an army of Minoru Shimazu in Hiok-gun, recaptured Ijiin Castle five years ago, and captured Kagoshima four years ago. It took more than a year to start three years ago, and Kaseda Castle, the largest stronghold on the Shimazu Minohisa side on the Minamisatsuma side, was defeated.

At present, except for the remnants of the Shijiu side that are still entrenched in a few places, the Satsuma country is close to unification.

Now, this wish has been initially realized.

Takahisa Shimazu, who is only twenty-eight years old and ambitious, is planning to attack Osumi and Hyuga, and complete the goal of restoring the protection of the Three Kingdoms in the next step.

"Lord Guijiu, now is not a good time to attack the big corner!" The retainers began to advise, "It is imperative to completely wipe out the Shijiu army, rebuild the palace of the city, and strengthen the strength!" Moreover, the iron cannon that Tadashi purchased from overseas has been worn out too much over the years. In the past few years, he has been invincible, and the iron cannon has made great contributions. But now, projectiles, barrels, all need to be replenished. ”

"Iron Cannon ......" Shimazu Takahisa knelt on the ground, his hands propped on his knees, his brows furrowed, "Whether it is Ryukyu or Tsushima, there is no trace of those aliens now." Since the Hosokawa family and the Ouchi family had a big incident in Daming more than ten years ago, Japanese merchants were not allowed to trade. And they never sell these weapons. ”

The reason why Shimazu Takahisa was able to become an adult is not only his own talent, but also inseparable from the help of these firearms.

And the origin of these firearms can be traced back to the aliens they spoke of, the Portuguese who could still explore and operate here.

Of course, the Japanese countries are no strangers to firearms, after all, the Yuan army has attacked Japan, the Ming army is good at firearms, and the Japanese who went to the Ming Dynasty have also seen it.

However, Japan has been in war for many years, and all countries are suffering from internal and external troubles, and there is still no accumulation of technology and technological methods for manufacturing firearms.

During the Onin Rebellion, the Hosokawa family was equipped with a small team of firearms, which achieved good results. Overall, however, the daimyo did not have the financial resources, foresight and resources to assemble a large number of firearms troops.

The Shimazu family's "iron cannon" army was actually just arquebuses brought by the Portuguese.

But after all, the number is very small, and it is extremely difficult to imitate.

It's actually a mistake. Originally, the history of the real introduction of Western muskets to Japan was two years later, and the person who handled it was Wang Zhi.

But during the time when the Portuguese were driven out of Guangdong by the Ming Dynasty, they faced a completely different Ming Dynasty, and some merchants turned to Japan in Malacca, which is rumored to be by many people. In the end, only a handful of people finally found Japan, and only two or three deals were completed. The Ming then returned to Malacca, where the Portuguese merchants stopped on their way east.

And in Malacca, the arms trade was banned by the Ming Dynasty.

Portuguese merchants' muskets were now sold more to Brazil.

Hearing what the retainers said, Shimazu Takahisa remembered the news that had recently spread here: "I heard that the clan of Tsushima also participated in the chaotic war in China, and there is an iron artillery army with a number of fifty, which is extremely elite!" ”

The number of firearms soldiers reached 50, which was already a remarkable number under the command of the Japanese daimyo at this time.

At this time, with the general scale of Japanese battles, there was a small group of elite soldiers who broke through the weak points, and the role on the battlefield was already great. You must know that except for some solid mountain cities, most of the time they are field battles, or the camps and fortresses are just simple wooden and bamboo fortifications.

Shimazu Takahisa still has less than twenty remaining iron artillerymen. But in the past, he relied on a thirty-man iron artillery army prepared for him by his biological father at that time.

The China in Shimazu's Takahisa is the China in Japan's division system, and it is the area where the Ouchi clan, the Niko clan, and the Mori clan are now entrenched.

Hearing this, the retainers nodded: "The Zong family was also in internal turmoil a few years ago, but I heard that they have recently become strong, and there are Ming merchants behind them. The amount of trade between the Ouchi, Niko, Mori, and Tsushima clans in China is a huge number. Over the years, the wealth of the Zong family should have grown rapidly. ”

"You say, did he get a firearm from Daming? I really can't figure out how the Tsushima clan can dare to participate in the battle of China's heroes with only one island. I heard that the target of his alliance was the Mori clan, but the target of the attack was Niko Haruhisa, who had just defeated Yoshitaka Ouchi! The one who destroyed the Shao Er family and whose prestige has already dominated Kitakyushu Yoshitaka Ohuchi! ”

Compared with the real western Japanese heroes such as the Niko, Ouchi, and Hosokawa clans, no matter how confident Shimazu Takahisa is, he also thinks that there is a grade between himself and them today. And the Tsushima family should even be much weaker than the Shimazu family. After all, the Shimazu family is the guardian of the three kingdoms, and they only have Tsushima Island.

Takahisa Shimazu made this guess, and then said: "I heard that Yoshitaka Ouchi was hit hard this time, and he even began to indulge in fun. You say, is it possible for us to form an alliance with the Tsushima family? If Zong Qingkang can get firearms from the Ming Dynasty, he must have the support of the Ming Emperor! I'm afraid that this will be the biggest variable in Japan's chaos! ”

"Lord Guijiu, do you want to obtain the iron cannon of the Ming Dynasty through the Zong family?"

With the praise of both civil and military, Shimazu Takahisa naturally has his cleverness.

Now, his eyes are bright: "Zong Qingkang is already very old, and his ambitions should only stop at China." If we can form an alliance with me, then our Shimazu family will be able to attack the Ouchi clan army in Kitakyushu and create a good opportunity for him to defeat the Ouchi clan! Now that Niko Haruhisa has just defeated Ouchi Yoshihisa, if he is attacked by Zong Haruyasu, Ouchi Yoshitaka will definitely seize the opportunity to take revenge on Niko Haruhisa! As long as we attack at the right time......"

Takahisa Shimazu, who initially pacified Satsuma, began a more long-term plan for the areas of southwestern China and Kyushu in southwestern Japan, where the situation has changed again.

In fact, this is indeed because of the changes brought about by Yan Shifan after he came to Tsushima Island. Yan Shifan, who came with a special purpose, was only engaged in trade at first, and the goods provided in the early days included a large number of old iron weapons eliminated by the Ming Dynasty.

Although Japanese swords are also famous, in today's situation, the consumption of weapons is really large. Niko Haruhisa, who sits on Iwami Ginshan, is also ambitious, how can he not make a move when he encounters such an opportunity? Many of Yan Shifan's rising "trade volume" was obtained through this kind of obsolete weapon.

Due to the sudden increase in the mining technology and output of the silver mountain, and the sudden expansion of Niko Harumu's strength directly by buying, this was able to make Ouchi Yoshitaka suffer a loss two years in advance, and even his adopted son Ouchi Harumi was killed in battle.

It was his only son.

Yoshitaka Ouchi also has no son, so he is also preparing to adopt a son to inherit the position of family governor in the future. At this moment, he suffered both defeat and the loss of his heir, and it was natural that he would be hit hard.

Now Shimazu Takahisa still covets Kitakyushu, which is currently controlled by the Ouchi clan, after all, his ambition is to "dominate Kyushu".

If you don't get rid of the tentacles of the Ouchi clan's ascension to Kyushu, the strongest state can only dominate southern Kyushu.

While they were deliberating, Takahisa Shimazu's retainer samurai brought two men, one of whom was still holding a fire gun they had never seen before.

"Lord Guijiu, there is a general of the Ming Righteous Army who has drifted to Satsuma, and he has brought incredible news!"

"The Great Ming Righteous Army?" Takahisa Shimazu looked at the man suspiciously, his eyes fixed on his weapon.

At this time, the person beside him spoke: "Master Pan was originally a Taiyuan nobleman, but now he has been invaded by the Ming army. The samurai's statement that Lord Pan is the Great Ming Righteous Army is not accurate. Lord Pan is one of the leaders of the Taiyuan Resistance Army, and is now translated by the villain for the city lord and Lord Pan. ”

“…… Where are you from? ”

"The villain is a native of Amami Oshima, and after King Shangqing captured Amami Oshima, the villain has been begging for a living on the island."

"King Shangqing?" Shimazu Takahisa thoughtfully, "Are you from the Ryukyus?" ”

Between Taiwan and Kyushu, Japan, the Ryukyu Islands have also changed dramatically over the years, and there has been a hero.

Satsuma Province, at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, is no stranger to the Ryukyus.

Now, the Ryukyus are an independent country. Originally, the Ming Dynasty canonized three kings in the Ryukyu area, namely the king of Zhongshan, the king of Shannan and the king of Shanbei, and there were actually three kingdoms in Ryukyu. A hundred years ago, the three kingdoms of the Ryukyus were unified, but today's King Shangqing is not the first Shang clan who unified the three Ryukyu kingdoms in the past, so the second Shang clan actually experienced civil strife after succeeding to the throne.

King Shangqing led his army on a northern expedition to capture the Amami Islands, and that was only four years ago.

Shimazu Takahisa continued to look at the "Master Pan" in the translator's mouth, and asked, "I heard that you brought special news?" My retainer said that you were adrift to Satsuma, so you should have been defeated by the Ming army and fled here, right? Do you want to turn to the Three Kingdoms Guardian to help you defend against the Ming army? ”

The man surnamed Pan raised the musket in his hand: "Although I was defeated, I still have more than 100 elite soldiers under my command!" On Taiyuan Island, there are countless rebels! Our bravery, such trophies are proof of this! This is the Tyrant Elite Soldier Musket, and we have won six shots of such a musket! Now, there are more than 3,000 fierce elite soldiers armed with muskets on Taiyuan Island! I'm here to meet the lord of the city, not to ask for help, but to form an alliance! Lord of the City, if you don't send troops to help us, you will be next! ”

When Shimazu Takahisa heard that there were more than 3,000 firearms soldiers, his heart was actually hot, but he felt very frightened.

Hearing the surname Pan talk about the back, he laughed: "Alarmist! That island is still southwest of the Ryukyus, right? Could it be that you didn't say anything about King Shangqing in the Ryukyus, and came to me again? What's next is us, it's nonsense. ”

He said this on his lips, but in his heart he thought of the fifty-iron artillery under the command of Zong Qingkang. In Tsushima, the Ming merchants, Zong Qingyasu's ambitions suddenly exploded......

The surnamed Pan just sneered: "Does the city lord know what the Ming army chasing us is shouting about?" Take our heads, and they will be qualified to follow the marquis to conquer Japan, and they will also become great officials in Japan. If the Tyrant Army came from the west, wouldn't Kyushu be the first to bear the brunt? ”

Shimazu Takahisa smiled: "The news you brought, is this?" ”

"I would like to use this gun as a gift, I will not say a word! If the lord of the city does not believe me, he can send one or two retainers to return to Taiyuan with me. As long as the city lord helps us, the sharp weapons obtained by the capture of the Ming army can all belong to the city lord! ”

Shimazu Takahisa looked at the musket that the retainer had received from him, and then looked at the man: "Five more?" ”

"To be able to win six strokes, it all depends on my robes and bravery. Our mountain and wild rebels can win it, and the elite under the command of the city lord is naturally more brave and good at fighting. If the lord of the city is willing to send troops to help us, he only needs two hundred men, and three or five ships will be returned with me, and these six muskets will be used as proof. In the future, the Ming army on the island will be annihilated and the tyrant will be expelled, and Taiyuan and the city lord will always be allies. If the lord of the castle is interested in Ryukyu in the future, Taiyuan can also be used as an aid! ”

The Ryukyu translator was originally a "remnant of the previous dynasty" who had recently been conquered by King Shangqing, and at present, there is no fluctuation in this remark, and it is truthfully relayed.

Shimazu Guijiu was silent, but first ordered: "Give it a try, who is stronger and weaker between this Ming musket and our iron guard." ”

This attempt naturally made Shimazu Takahisa dumbfounded.

After Zhu Houxi attached great importance to firearms, the Ming ordnance department is now not only a process technology, but also a big step in production management.

The Daming firearms were originally developed and improved on the basis of European firearms and themselves, and in terms of range, accuracy, and lethality, they were not the same as the previous firearms.

Finding out that the man surnamed Pan was able to win six strokes from the Ming army, which was equipped with such sophisticated firearms, Shimazu Takahisa couldn't help but respect him a lot.

In fact, it was nothing more than relying on his familiarity with the terrain, and when he fled, he designed an ambush for a small army that was eager to make meritorious contributions and pursued too deeply.

If their strength is really strong, they will not run away from the wilderness and drift to Ryukyu and Japan for help.

Now, Takahisa Shimazu has a big choice.

Daming, do you really want to personally send troops to recruit Japan? If true, this is great news, and Satsuma must be on the front line.

What to do?

(End of chapter)