Bang bang bang bang three cannon shots, the two officers of the Shanzi Battalion of the General's Mansion Guards pressed the waist knife, straightened their chests and protruded belly, swaggered in front of the head to lead the way, and introduced Guanyin Bao to the gate of the General's Mansion, and without walking a few steps, they saw a tall and sturdy middle-aged man standing in front of the dripping eaves of the second gate of the General's Mansion. Don't look at the royal python robe on his body, and don't look at the staff guards who surround him like stars and moons. Just look at his pair of half-open and half-closed eyes, and his bearing without a spare eye, who else can there be besides General Li?

This young man worshipped, weakened the crown and leveled Guangdong, and went north to Jinling to raise the banner of righteousness, supported the third prince of Zhu, and reopened the Ming Dynasty. Then he led his troops to level the two Huai, returned to Beijing to chase the king of the east, and then imitated the great duke of the sages, set the national policy of the republic of monarchs and ministers, and created a new situation for the world. Later, he led 100,000 republican tigers, broke the three emperors with one general, destroyed the Dongjing, broke the Western Zhou, and Weibei Qing.

And General Li, who has done such a career, has just turned 30 this year.

Perhaps only Liu Xiu, who ascended the throne at the age of 30 and became the emperor at the age of 28, and Li Shimin, who became the emperor at the age of 28, and Zhu Hongwu, who started with a bowl and founded the Ming Dynasty at the age of 40, can talk about the level with the person in front of him, right?

Seeing that these former little brothers had such achievements, and his achievements were achieved by stepping on the Qing Dynasty that was about to fall, Guanyin Bao couldn't help but sigh.

Li Zhongshan's eyes also fell on his former "Brother Guan", with three points of playfulness, but he still smiled and arched his hand: "Brother Guan, don't come to harm?" ”

Guanyin Bao also hugged his fists and said with a smile: "Thanks to the blessing of Sui Guogong, there is always a subsistence errand, this time I came to Nanjing to run errands for Sui Guogong." ”

Li Zhongshan pointed to the door with a smile and said with a smile: "Brother Guan, I have heard in Nanjing that the Duke of Sui has done a big thing on Kyushu Island in Japan, which is something that Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty, did not do, which is really remarkable." Brother Guan, come in with me, sit down and talk to me about the Sui Kingdom's attack on Kyushu. ”

Guanyin Bao smiled and said to Li Zhongshan: "Shikai, I still came here for this!" ”

Li Zhongshan laughed, took Guanyin Bao's hand and walked towards the inner hall. The staff guards behind him rushed in, and it seemed that the two good brothers were really affectionate.

After entering the inner hall, the guests and hosts sat down. Li Zhongshan just looked at Guanyin Bao with a smile.

Guanyin Bao smiled innocently: "It's not a secret, we didn't expect the Japanese to be so can't help fighting!" Our attack on Hakata Bay was originally a feint to attract the attention of the Tokugawa shogunate. Therefore, Sui Guogong did not send real elite soldiers, but only sent the new army he trained in Korea and the Korean naval army trained by Shi Junmen. Only about half of them, but more than 4,000 people, actually landed on the beachhead of Hakata Bay, and the rest went to attack Shikajima and Nokojima at the entrance to Hakata Bay. But I didn't expect that with less than 4,000 Korean soldiers, the Fukuoka Domain was defeated and lost, and even Fukuoka Castle was defeated by us!

The martial arts of this widow have obviously been consumed in the peaceful and prosperous era of more than 70 years, so Sui Guogong feels that this is a godsend! ”

Hearing Guanyin Bao say this, Li Zhongshan immediately knew that Yang Qilong must be playing some bad idea again, but he still remained silent and smiled and said: "Oh? I don't know what the God-given opportunity Yang thinks is? ”

The room was quiet for a while, and Li Zhongshan's staff Zhou Chang, Yao Qisheng, Dai Zi, Luo Wenzao and others all turned their faces to look at Guanyinbao. Guanyin Bao smiled unabated, picked up the teacup and took a sip slowly.

"Sui Guogong is already preparing to increase his troops in Kyushu, and wants to send seven or eight battalions of the new Korean army and several battalions of the Zhili training army ashore, and first take the three prefectures of Chikuzen, Fengqian, and Hizen in the north of Kyushu, and then Xutu the entire territory of Kyushu Island. At the same time, send troops to Ezo and take down the entire Ezo Island, so that Sui Guogong can not only take the springboard to the New World, but also dominate the area around the Whale Sea! ”

Guanyin Bao's words made Li Zhongshan secretly take a breath.

How can this Yang Qilong be so tossed? Isn't it nice to usurp a country in North Korea casually and be the king of North Korea? This is the territory that his ancestor "Emperor Yang Guangda" lost the Great Sui Dynasty and did not take!

Now seeing that people are so easy to bully in Japan, they want to occupy Kyushu and Ezo, is this trying to build the Korean Empire?

Yang Qilong didn't want to think about it, Japan is a "big country" with a population of more than 20 million, and the number of people is about the same as that of France. Now it's just because it's been stable for a long time, and it's been "stupid" by the Tokugawa shogunate, so the force value has dropped too much compared to the troubled times of the Warring States. When encountering Yang Qilong's newly built North Korean army, which had absorbed "Li Datou's advanced military experience," of course it could not withstand it for a while.

But the essence of Japan is there! Japan has twice as many people as North Korea, is at least two or three times more economically powerful than North Korea, and has hundreds of thousands of professional samurai – these are very good soldiers!

Once the Japanese recovered from the onslaught of the Koreans and began to absorb the advanced military technology of the Ming Dynasty and the West, would little Japan not be able to embark on the road of imperialism again?

He knew in his heart that this matter was not easy to handle, but the smile on his face was still undiminished, "Japan is not a small country, compared to North Korea, it is also a vast and large number of people, and it is not easy to break!" In the unlikely event that a hero is born in his own country, he will rectify the feudal domains, absorb the advanced military science of the East and the West, and train a strong soldier no less than the newly established army of Korea. Can Sui Guogong still take Kyushu Island? ”

After listening to Li Zhongshan's words, Guanyin Bao took out a small fold that had been prepared from his sleeve, stepped forward and handed it over with both hands. Then he sat back again, just smiling and watching Li Zhongshan's expression change.

Li Zhongshan glanced at it slightly, his face sank slightly, and then he returned to normal.

This made Guanyin Bao a little surprised, because he knew what Yang Qilong's excerpt said?

This Yang Qilong also did his homework before entering Japan, and figured out how many gold mountains, silver mountains, and copper mountains there are in Japan. This is all lacking in the Ming Dynasty! In addition, Yang Qilong also knew that there were many Japanese, but at the same time, he also knew that Japan was engaged in the kind of feudal politics that could easily split the civil war. Therefore, he suggested that the Ming could enter southern Kyushu and northern Honshu in the name of aiding Japan and resisting Korea, and support strong feudal lords who were dissatisfied with the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, so that they could challenge the authority of the Tokugawa shogunate.

In addition, Yang also predicted that the Tokugawa shogunate would be able to defect to the Yoyi because of its inability to expel the Korean invading army and become a lackey of the Yoyi. Perhaps in the future, Japan will be divided into three, with Korea controlling a part, the Ming Dynasty supporting the Shogunate to control a part, and the Yoyo Yi supporting Tokugawa Shogun to control a part.

And as long as these three parts can be balanced, then both the Ming and North Korea will finally be able to gain a foothold in Japan!

This Yang Qilong thinks it's quite beautiful, right, most of the foreign servants of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who were caught in Macao and sent to Beijing seem to follow him, and it is estimated that he is now also a master who opens his eyes to see the world.

Li Zhongshan snorted: "Third Brother Yang wants to use the method of encroachment to annex the land and population of Japan little by little, right?" ”

The Japanese themselves are quite familiar with this method, and now they are going to be used on themselves - the time when the Japanese are in danger is about to come!

Guanyin Bao smiled: "Exactly." ”

Li Zhongshan shook his head, he didn't seem to have any interest in the population and land of Japan, and he didn't want the gold, silver, and copper mines there, "Now that China has not been divided into one, how can the Ming Dynasty have the spare strength to attack Japan?" Moreover, the New World is a hundred times bigger than Japan, and the total number of Spaniards entrenched in most of the New World is only six or seven million, and only one-third of Japan cannot keep such a big ancestral business. I have an agreement with Brother Yang, as long as I have a plot of land in the Ezo circle and use it as a supply station for the Pacific Leap, I will be satisfied. However, the Zheng family's business in Japan has always been not small, and they may be willing to intervene. ”

Guanyin Bao finally didn't come in vain, and Li Zhongshan finally agreed to let Zheng Jing intervene. Guanyin Bao smiled: "The Duke of Sui also wrote a letter to King Zheng Yi. If Shikai can help say hello, then the rest of the things will be easier. ”

Everyone saw that Guanyin Bao took out an envelope from his sleeve again, and they didn't know how big a pocket this Mongolian had sewn into his sleeve? I saw him hand the envelope unhurriedly, and sat back upright.

Li Zhongshan took the envelope and found that the envelope did not make a living, obviously wanting Li Zhongshan to pass the purpose first. He was not polite, took out the letter paper inside, and after unfolding it, he looked at it, and after looking at it for a while, he knew that Zheng Jingyi was about to enter Japan.

It turned out that Yang Qilong suggested that Zheng Jing hook up with the daimyo in southern Kyushu, in exchange for the mercenaries there on the condition of providing military aid, and then use Japanese mercenaries to grab territory with the Dutch and Spaniards, so that the Dutch and Spaniards would find out that the Japanese were helping the Ming Dynasty fight, and their relationship with Japan might break down. Even if it doesn't break, the Zheng family gets the Japanese mercenaries in Kyushu, and they can open up to attack the miasma of the South Seas.

There are too many epidemics in that kind of place, and the soldiers of the Central Plains can easily die of illness when they drive over, and if there are too many Chinese soldiers, no one can explain it. With Japanese mercenaries, there is no such concern, no matter how many people die, it is a matter of silver.

Obviously, Yang Qilong is going to be a "foreign military division" around him, and all he comes up with is a "foreign strategy"!

But then again, Zheng Jing came forward to contact the Shimazu family and hire the army of the Satsuma clan to fight in the South Seas, which is still very good, and the ancients should not be underestimated! None of the lamps that can make waves in history are fuel-efficient!

Thinking of this, Li Zhongshan smiled and said to Guanyin Bao: "Brother Guan, you are not familiar with King Zheng Yi, I will pass on this letter for you, and I promise to get things done!" You go back and tell Third Brother Yang that he doesn't underestimate the Japanese too much. Relying on 230,000 Korean soldiers can't take the three orders of Kitakyushu, he really wants to do it, so he will send more troops! ”

"Good! Good! Okay, this Sui Guogong's method is good! I'm worried that no one can go to Luzon! ”

Zheng Jing took Yang Qilong's letter and read it for a while, and he couldn't help but applaud. However, Li Zhongshan, who invited him, frowned slightly, as if he was thoughtful.

Now the Great Qing, the Great Zhou, and North Korea have all progressed!

And Japan was originally a backwater pool under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, but now Yang Qilong, Zheng Jing, and the Dutch East India Company have all entered the game in a big way, and after stirring up the storm, can the Japanese devils not wake up?

The world of East Asia is really getting more and more lively!

"Wing King, I don't have anything to say if you want to use Japanese mercenaries, that's good to save us from leaving tens of thousands of bones in Luzon. But have you thought about it? If we use Japanese mercenaries smoothly, the ability of Japanese mercenaries will become stronger and stronger! When they're done fighting outside, what will happen when they return to Japan? ”

When Zheng Jing heard this question, he just sneered: "What will happen?" At most, it's the next one, and then one side is divided! General, you don't have to worry that Japan will be unified and strong in the future, we have guns, we still have silver, we can pay for guns to support them, those daimyo attack each other!

As long as we don't let Japan unify, they will never be unified!

Back then, the Tokugawa family was able to dominate the world, because I didn't care about overseas affairs. If Daming makes a move, that Toyotomi Hideyoshi will not be able to overwhelm the crowd! ”

It seems to make some sense, Li Zhongshan thought: This Zheng Jing's progress is really fast!

"Good!" Li Zhongshan nodded, "King Zheng Yi, then I will also get involved in this matter. My Guangdong Trading Company also wants to hire some troops from Japan! Who do you think I'm looking for? ”

Zheng Jing said with a smile: "I'm looking for Shimazu, and you're looking for Maori, both of which are poor clans that too many samurai can't support!" ”

This Zheng Jing has a good eye!

Later, the backbone of the Japanese Empire was not the Choshu Army and the Satsuma Navy?

Zheng Jing is not the only one who has fallen in love with Japanese mercenaries!

Far away in Edo Castle, Spearman, the governor of Batavia, who was negotiating cooperation with the Tokugawa shogunate, learned that the Japanese had been defeated by the invading Korean army in Kitakyushu. Valls summoned his office in the Karatsu Domain's mansion, closed the sliding door that was not soundproofed at all, and began to discuss how to divide up or use Japan!

"Governor, the fighting power of these Japanese does not seem to be as strong as imagined! Are we really going to hire Japanese troops to fight the Ming Dynasty? ”

It was William who asked the question. Valls, who had served for many years in the Dutch trading house on Dejima in Nagasaki, had also visited Edo to meet the shogun as a retainer of the Tokugawa family!

He also thought that the Japanese samurai army had a certain combat effectiveness, but the ongoing battle of Kitakyushu surprised Vals.

"No, it's not actually that we're hiring Japanese soldiers." Spearman shook his head, "It's the Spaniards who want to hire Japanese soldiers, and we won't be at war with the Ming for the time being, although our motherland is discussing with Spain the establishment of an anti-Ming pact!" But our East India Company was a commercial company after all, not a country. We must fully consider the business interests of the company. Moreover, the reason why the Dutch motherland will conflict with the Ming Dynasty is also because our East India Company and the Ming Dynasty have a conflict of interest.

So we still want to hide behind the scenes as much as possible! We can provide the Spaniards with funding, weapons, and even troop carriers, and we can also bridge the gap between Spain and Japan. But as much as possible, we don't let the flag of VOC fly on the battlefield of the war with the Ming Dynasty! ”

"The Governor is right!" Brouwer smiled, "If you start a war with Daming, you won't be able to make money in business." As for the combat effectiveness of the Japanese soldiers, I don't have to worry that I have served in Macao for many years, I have witnessed how China's military power has risen step by step, and I believe that the Japanese will definitely be able to do as well as the Chinese! ”

Spearman nodded and said, "But after all, the Japanese lost a crucial battle, and now they need us, and we need them in excess of us." So they have to make significant concessions to us before we can give them enough support! They must be desperate to have our support now! ”

"Governor," Valls asked, "what conditions do you want?" ”

"First of all, the concession!" Spearman said, "I need to get a port in Edo Bay as a base for our trade in Japan!" The second is that we need equal trading status, we are not vassals of the Tokugawa shogunate, we are free Dutch merchants! ”

Under Edo Castle, the residence of the Mito Domain.

Although the shogunate elder Tokugawa Mitsukuni has suffered a major setback recently, this Tokugawa "Aoi III" still has some prime minister's bearing, and he can still calm down and play against his teacher Zhu Shunshui at this time, and he can still play a game of Go without chaos at all.

"Guangguo, your chess skills are growing again, not bad. But your conflict with North Korea is much more difficult to get than a game of Go! Zhu Shunshui played with the chess pieces and said lightly, "Today I received a letter from the general of Nanjing, he asked me to return as soon as possible, do you have anything you want me to bring to the general?" ”

"Yes!" Tokugawa Hikaru said calmly in Chinese, "Please tell the Shogun that the Tokugawa shogunate can facilitate the ships of the Daimei sailing to the New World!" In exchange, Da Ming should immediately stop all support for Yang Qilong. Teacher, I know what is the relationship between General Li and Yang Qilong? However, I still hope that you can explain to General Li that once Yang Qilong conquers Japan and achieves the unity of Japan and Korea, then the new country will have a population of more than 30 million!

Such a big country is on the way from the Ming Dynasty to the New World, will the Ming Dynasty continue to send people and materials to the New World in the future? Will this great power compete with the Ming for territory in the New World?

Even in the future, when the Ming Dynasty wants to unify China, will Yang Qilong stand on the side of the Qing Dynasty against the Ming Dynasty? Japan, on the other hand, will at least not interfere in China's internal affairs. ”

Zhu Shunshui nodded and said with a smile: "I understand, but these words, it's not appropriate for me to tell you, right?" Otherwise, in the name of the Japanese general, you can send an envoy to Nanjing to meet with the Ming general! ”

(End of chapter)