Zheng Zongming and Zhu Shunshui were stunned when they heard Li Zhongshan's words.

In fact, neither the Shogun's Palace, nor the Shoshu Province, nor the National People's Council discussed the question of how to deal with Japan after the war—this question seemed premature to be discussed before the defeat of the Spanish Armadada, and the defeat of the Spanish Armada came so suddenly. This is probably the charm of the decisive battle of the main force of the navy, right? Sometimes a duel between the main fleets of a few days or even a few hours can decide where a large ocean, or even an entire ocean, belongs!

Japan is also an island country with a long tradition of seclusion - the national defense and security of island countries are often tied to the navy, so island countries with a certain degree of strength usually attach great importance to the development of the navy. For example, Britain and Denmark (Denmark has territory on the European continent, but the center of the country is still on the island of Zealand), while Japan is an exception, although it is not weak, but because of its long-term policy of seclusion, it lacks the basis for developing its navy.

Even with the help of Western naval powers such as Spain, the Netherlands, and England in recent years, the foundation was so poor that there were few craftsmen in Japan who could build "big ships" with a load of more than 500 stones, and everything had to start from scratch, so progress was still very slow.

So far, the Tokugawa Shogunate's naval offices have built only a few gunboats with a light load displacement of less than 200 tons, which have been built under the guidance of Western engineers and mechanics.

The progress of the shogunate's navy was also slow, and it took several years to build some armed Galen ships and Spanish galleons to support the scene, and there was not even a serious fifth-class frigate.

In the past two years, Japan's foreign exchanges have all been maintained by the Spanish Armada, but now the Armada has been "invincible", and the lifeline of Japan's foreign exchanges has been pinched by the Ming Dynasty all of a sudden!

Although Japan's domestic economy is self-contained, and it doesn't expect imports and exports, it just buys some Chinese raw silk and cotton, and China will not embargo these things. However, in order for Japan to make progress and take the road of no return to militarism, it must import advanced technology from China and the West, import iron to make weapons, and import saltpeter to make gunpowder.

As long as the Ming Dynasty is stuck in Japan's foreign trade, then Japan will not want to develop anymore, and there will even be regression!

Once Japan's armed forces regress, won't the opportunity for the Ming Dynasty to dominate Japan come?

Thinking of these, Zheng Zongming and Zhu Shunshui came to the spirit.

Li Yat-sen first looked at Zhu Shunshui, who liked to advocate "righteousness".

Zhu Shunshui stroked his snow-white beard and said, "Although Japan is now ruled by generals, Japanese generals cannot cover the sky with one hand after all, and there are still many powerful feudal clans in the country that are alienated from the shogunate. In addition, Japan's shogun is nominally appointed by the emperor to govern the world, and although the emperor is now controlled by the shogun, he is still the nominal lord of the world after all, and the name of righteousness is still in the hands of the emperor.

We can try to provoke a group of powerful feudal lords who are alienated from the shogunate to support the emperor and oppose the shogun, so that Japan will surely return to the so-called Warring States Troubled Times. At that time, it will be easy for me to slaughter Japan again! ”

The old man is really a Japanese school, and he is really a good teacher of the shogunate elder Tokugawa Mitsukuni! At first glance, you know that this is a monopoly on Japan that has studied Japanese history!

However, Old Man Zhu is too old, and he can't do it as the first "Five-Star Emperor".

So Li Zhongshan looked at Zheng Zongming again.

Zheng Zongming said: "General, the lower officials think that if you want to slaughter Japan, you must first conquer Kyushu, and if you want to conquer Kyushu, you must first control Korea!" Now Korea has been controlled by the Sui Guogong, and Kyushu is also partially in the hands of the Sui Guogong. Next, we should try to conquer the whole of Kyushu while inciting civil strife in Japan. It is best to rescue Emperor Reigen from the Kyoto Imperial Palace and bring him to Kyushu, so that he can establish an imperial court in Kyushu to fight against the shogunate. ”

This Zheng Zongming is really a good example of patriotic overseas Chinese in Japan! have figured out the "pseudo-Kyushu country"!

However, this Zheng Zongming looks a little kind and wealthy, not fierce enough, and looks much worse than "Maihuang", can he hold the scene?

"Both of them are really resourceful and capable ministers, and they are familiar with the inside affairs of Japan!" Li Zhongshan first gave Zheng Zongming and Zhu Shunshui two high hats in an approving tone, and then changed his words, "But my Ming Dynasty is the kingdom of the Celestial Empire, and I have always paid attention to convincing people with virtue, how can I slaughter the mountains and rivers in a foreign land, and the wind and moon are the same as Japan?" ”

Convince people with virtue? It's to convince people with martial virtues, right?

"The general is really benevolent!" Zhu Shunshui stroked his white beard and smiled, "The old man is abrupt...... However, let's assist the emperor and defeat the Tokugawa shogunate, which does not observe the courtiers and does not practice benevolence, is to subdue people with virtue! ”

Zheng Zongming said with a smile: "The general doesn't know that Japan is a country of samurai, and it has always valued martial arts the most. Although our country is willing to help each other, we must first subdue them with martial virtues, and then we can educate the Japanese people, so that they can practice benevolence and righteousness, and enter China from barbarians. ”

Yes, benevolence, righteousness and morality are set in a set!

Li Zhongshan nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "The two of you are right...... To deal with the Japanese people, we must first use martial virtue, and then practice benevolence, so that we can convince the heart! ”

As he spoke, he looked at his military advisor Zhou Chang again: "Pei Gong, in your opinion, how much martial virtue do we need to make the Japanese surrender?" ”

"100,000 is enough!" Zhou Chang said.

Lakh...... Ton? Li Zhongshan said: 100,000 tons of equivalent is enough, but there are not so many now!

Zhou Chang said again: "The third master has trapped tens of thousands of widows with tricks, they should already know the martial virtues of the third master!"

If the third master can collect these Japanese soldiers for his own use, the number of 100,000 will be about the same...... Coupled with the Satsuma Domain, Choshu, Tosa and other domains, there will be an army of 100,000 fallen curtains! ”

Li Sanye Li Zhongzheng......

Li Yat-sen's eyes lit up: it is just right for him to be the first "five-star emperor"!

"Zheng Shangshu, Mr. Shunshui, what do you think?" Although Li Yat-sen had made up his mind in his heart, he still had to ask for the opinions of the two intellectuals.

"The three generals are indeed full of martial virtues, if they can defeat tens of thousands of samurai, they should be able to subdue Japan with virtue." Zhu Shunshui then asked another question, "But has the general thought about how to govern Japan after Germany subdues it?" ”

"General," Zheng Zongming also said, "Japan has a population of 20 million after all...... Did the Shogun want to divide Japan into several countries and then subdue them with virtue, or did he want to maintain the unity of Japan so that it would be convenient to give benevolence? ”

"Divide and conquer is certainly the best!" Li Zhongshan said, "It is indeed very inconvenient to manage a population of 20 million...... But how do we divide and rule Japan?

This divide and conquer thing, I'm afraid it's difficult to rely on martial arts alone, right? ”

"It's not that it's difficult," Zheng Zongming shook his head, "but it's very expensive...... It may outweigh the gains! If the shogun just wanted to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and replace it with an obedient Japanese shogunate, it would not be too difficult. ”

Overthrow Tokugawa for Shimadzu or Mori? Li Yat-sen pondered in his heart: It doesn't seem to mean much, right?

After all, Japan still has to be divided into several parts to govern as well!

Zhu Shunshui thought for a while, and said slowly: "Actually, it's not that there is no trick......

"What is Mr. Shunshui's opinion?" Li Yat-sen hurriedly asked.

"I don't dare," Zhu Shunshui said with a smile, "It's just a little thought......

Li Zhongshan saw that he wanted to stop talking, so he hurriedly urged: "Sir, don't sell it, come quickly!" ”

"The general is not in a hurry, the old man knows everything," Old Man Zhu said thoughtfully, "The so-called rule of the generals in Japan is actually a disguised method of dividing the state and establishing the country, and the lords of the feudal lords under the generals are actually the lords of the vassal states!"

This system is inherently prone to division! In the early years, the Muromachi shogunate was unable to control the local daimyos, and eventually the entire country fell apart, and Japan entered the so-called Warring States Rebellion.

If it weren't for heroes like Oda surnamed Naga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, they would have reunited Japan step by step...... The country may really be scattered.

Tokugawa Ieyasu, on the other hand, after subduing the powerful and unifying Japan, actually adopted a method similar to the parallel system of the Han Dynasty to govern the country.

Although there were many princes with different surnames in Japan, the share of the prefectures or the Heavenly Domain was never able to suppress the territory of the local daimyos.

However, the Tokugawa shogunate adopted the method of confession and pilgrimage, so that the daimyo in each region were either busy in the province or lived in Edo, and did not have much time to govern the area.

Over time, the princes became estranged from the local area and became close to the shogunate......"

Zhu Shun babbled a lot, although he hadn't said his "clever method" yet, but General Li already understood what he meant a little bit.

"Mr. Shunshui," Li Zhongshan saw that the old man had been "enlightening himself", so he followed his meaning and said, "I kind of understand that the parallel counties and states of the Western Han Dynasty are to be unified in the final analysis. So the Tokugawa shogunate also walked on this path...... It's just that he hasn't cultivated to his home yet. ”

"General, you Shengming!" Zhu Shunshui said with a smile, "That Tokugawa Ieyasu's eloquence is naturally not comparable to Emperor Han Gao...... Otherwise, Japan would have been twisted into a rope by now, and it would be impossible to divide and conquer the capital! ”

"So how do you divide it now?" Li Zhongshan asked.

"We want to turn the Tokugawa shogunate into a Muromachi shogunate," Zhu Shunshui said, "and the Tokugawa shogunate has made a rule from the top." The Ashikaga shogun of the Muromachi shogunate was congenitally deficient and relied on the support of the daimyo of the world to become a shogun. So it's a bottom-up set of rules...... It's a bit like Kangxi's unification for the country after defeating Fuquan! ”

Li Yat-sen now understood: the Tokugawa shogunate and the Muromachi shogunate were probably the difference between the federation and the confederation!

If we want to dismantle Japan by clever means, we can only find a way to reform Japan's feudal system and lead Japan back to the path of "confederation......

As long as the feudal confederation lasts for a long time, Japan will become sparse, and it should be difficult to unify it again.

"Mr. Shunshui's trick is really wonderful!" Li Zhongshan gave a thumbs up and said, "Even if Wuhou is alive, he shouldn't be able to think of a better way." ”

Zhu Shunshui said with a smile: "General, don't praise me, the old man has lived in Japan for many years. He also served as a teacher of the current Japanese shogunate boss Tokugawa Mitsukuni, but can you still not know the weaknesses and weaknesses of Japan?

However, it is not easy for the old man to come true with this method! ”

Li Yat-sen said with a smile: "It is a difficult way to divide Japan, a country of 20 million people, into one piece and subdue them with virtue. ”

He paused, and then said, "However, the matter is man-made...... Let's sum it up together and see where we should start. ”

……

Next to Hangzhou Bay, with Jiulong Mountain as the center, from Baisha Bay in the east to Zhapu Town in the west, stretching for more than ten miles on the beach line, it has become a huge military refugee camp. A few months ago, the Japanese mercenary regiment, which had landed in Zhapu with the support of the Spanish Armada, circled around Pinghu County and its surrounding areas, and after several months of wilderness, they were finally forced back to the vicinity of the tidal flats between Zhapu and Baishawan by the Ming army commanded by Li Zhongzheng. The space they could move around was already quite narrow, with the tidal flats stretching less than ten miles inland. Further on, there is the line of contact between the two sides!

More than 100,000 Ming troops pressed on the heads of these tens of thousands of Japanese mercenaries who were forced to the seashore of Hangzhou Bay, and put on a posture of Mount Tai pressing the top, and they could completely crush these Japanese who did not know the height of the sky and the height at any time!

As a matter of fact, the invasion of Pinghu by the Japanese was simply a ploy by Li Zhong to "lure the enemy to land."

After all, the coastline of the Ming Dynasty is so long, it is impossible to fortify it everywhere.

Therefore, the best way to prevent the Japanese is to choose a favorable terrain and put a large number of Japanese invaders on the shore to fight!

As long as there are a large number of Japanese in one place, there are not many Japanese in other places.

In order to make the Japanese invaders feel that landing from Zhapu was very "lucrative", Li Zhongzheng thought of a lot of ways and spent a lot of money.

He even gave up the county seat of Pinghu to the Japanese invaders, and also let the Japanese invaders plunder around Pinghu County.

And the Japanese may be because they have not been a Japanese for many years, and they have forgotten what to do.

I really thought that there was a lot of oil and water here in Pinghu, and I was going to Pinghu to increase my troops, as if I wanted to come with a big wave!

Later, the number of troops increased to sixty or seventy thousand! Moreover, in October of the tenth year of the Republic, an autumn offensive was launched to cooperate with the Kangxi in the north to definitely resist the Ming attack.

As a result, the autumn offensive of the Japanese invaders hit the iron plate prepared for them by Li Zhongzheng!

In less than three days, the offensive killed and wounded 20,000 people, and a large amount of ammunition was wasted.

Subsequently, these tens of thousands of Japanese who landed in Hangzhou Bay fell into a predicament. The territory under its control was constantly compressed by the Ming army, and the casualties of the troops were getting bigger and bigger!

And after the Spanish Armada, which was originally guarding Hangzhou Bay, was led away by the ocean-going fleet of the Ming Navy, which returned to the western Pacific, the logistics supply of the Japanese also had a big problem!

The Oriental Fleet of the Ming Navy, which was originally cowering in the mouth of the Yangtze River and did not dare to go out, began to move frequently in the area of Hangzhou Bay, constantly attacking the ships that transported supplies for the Japanese invaders.

However, the supply lines of the Japanese are not completely cut off, and some food, ammunition and reinforcements will always be brought in.

And after the arrival of these limited supports, the Pinghu Wokou were able to barely maintain the rhythm of slowly retreating......

Of course, this was all deliberately arranged by Li Zhongzheng.

The purpose is to "fish for anti-Japanese" ...... If it weren't for the Japanese Kou, the Tokugawa shogun would not have been filling in a steady stream of people and materials on my side of Pinghu, and there would be no resistance to this "day". And isn't that a small credit?

However, when the news of the disastrous defeat of the Spanish Armada at Da Nang arrived, Li Zhongzheng completely stopped pretending. Directly mobilize the naval and land armies to flank the Japanese in Pinghu.

It only took a few days to lay down the county town of Pinghu, which was about to be converted into a Japanese-style castle by the Japanese Kou, and then attacked the city all the way, and soon pushed the Japanese Kouping to the seaside of Hangzhou Bay.

At this point, there is no way to retreat!

Because at this time, there is not a single ship belonging to Spain, England, the Netherlands, Portugal or Japan in the sea of Hangzhou Bay.

The sea is full of warships of the Eastern Fleet of the Ming Navy! And even a 1st class battleship "Jiangsu" was included!

And when the battle was carried out by this time, the strong attack of the Ming army was meaningless, and the resistance of the Japanese was also in vain. Now the Ming army only needs to hold the front line where they are in contact with the Japanese Invaders, in case they jump over the wall in a hurry to break out of the encirclement, then everything will be fine, and they can quietly wait for the Japanese Invaders to run out of ammunition and food.

The headquarters of the Japanese mercenary corps, Hatita Masatoshi, is located in a fortress on Kowloon Mountain, and from this fortress you can see the desperate situation of the Japanese mercenary corps. The Ming army had already built a series of offensives on the line of contact, including trenches, breastwalks, and fences, and had also erected hundreds of artillery pieces, bombarding the front line of a round of Japanese pirates from time to time, keeping them in constant tension.

On the sea, more than a dozen gunboats with a shallow draft had already driven close to the camp of the Japanese and kept bombarding the Japanese on the shore with naval guns, trying to frighten the Japanese soldiers who were resting.

But the efforts of these gunboats were of no avail. Because the hungry and panicked Japanese soldiers had long been lying down in despair, and they didn't even have the strength to move, how could they still be frightened?

As the commander-in-chief, Hotta, of course, knew that the army under his command would soon be destroyed...... Unless, he can make a decision that goes against the spirit of bushido!

"Hotta Laozhong, it's almost enough...... Are you really planning to cost the lives of tens of thousands of good men? Is it worth it? ”

The man who was speaking was a retainer of the Shimazu family, named Shinna Tadaaki. is loyal and clear, this name was changed too well (originally called Zhongqing), so he won the trust of Li Zhongzheng and became the commander of the Japanese mercenary battalion under Li Zhongzheng, and now he was sent to persuade Hotta to surrender.

"How is it not worth a samurai's allegiance to the sovereign?" Hotta is actually a seppuku who is afraid of pain and is afraid of saltiness in the sea, but he is still hard-mouthed, and he also wants to see what kind of steps the other party can provide for him?

"Allegiance to the Lord?" Shinna Chung Ming smiled and said, "Who is your lord?" King Carlos IV of Spain? You are now the commander of the Spanish Japanese mercenary regiment...... It was not the Tokugawa Shogunate Army.

So if you commit suicide now, you're not loyal to the princess, but to the king of Spain! By the way, how long has it been since the Spanish king paid the Japanese mercenary group? If you have a military salary, you are employed, and if you don't have a military salary...... The employment relationship is automatically terminated! ”

(End of chapter)