The Dutch musketeers liked to slaughter the city indiscriminately, and Yang Zhen was afraid that after they entered the city of Kyoto, they would kill indiscriminately.

Although Yang Zhen also wanted to take this opportunity to kill the Japanese Emperor's family and break their so-called eternal lineage, he even hoped to have the Emperor's family in his hands.

At least until a treaty is reached with the Tokugawa shogunate, the emperor and his family should be kept in his own hands.

Whether it is asking for ransom or using it as a bargaining chip to ask the shogunate to agree to some conditions, once you control the emperor and his family, you basically have the initiative.

At that time, if the Tokugawa family wants to use their own hands to get rid of the emperor's family, then as long as they can afford the price, Yang Zhen will not mind eradicating this royal family, which is known as the eternal lineage.

In fact, Yang Zhen's main goal in wanting to conquer Kyoto City was not the wealth in the city, but precisely the Emperor's family.

And as far as Yang Zhen knew, the palace treasury in Kyoto City actually didn't have much wealth.

Because the current Japanese emperor and his family are only equivalent to a daimyo with an annual salary of only about 10,000 koku under the Tokugawa shogunate.

Their food, clothing, housing, and even all their expenses depended on the allocation from the Tokugawa Shogunate, and there was no other input other than that.

At the same time, compared with other daimyo, they were not only poor, but also did not have the freedom to leave where they lived. Even a trip out of the city was a luxury.

The only thing worth using them is their influence as members of the Emperor's family.

On the boat coming to Osaka Bay, Yang Zhen, through He Tingbin, asked Rokkaku Genjiro carefully about the location of Kyoto City, its defenses, the residence of the imperial family and the distribution of public dignitaries.

At first, Rokkaku Genjiro was shocked by Yang Zhen's behavior of asking about the residence of the royal family members, and he hesitated to disclose it.

Although the Japanese royal family has no authority, it is just a mascot-like existence.

However, for the feudal lords and their descendants who firmly believed in Japanese Shinto, the Japanese royal family were the descendants of gods and should not be offended.

Although this kind of thought is no longer so strong in the hearts of people like Genjiro Rokkaku who have experienced the destruction of their country and family, they still exist to some extent.

In this regard, Yang Zhen had no good solution for a while. He could only promise him that he did not intend to harm the Emperor's family in Kyoto City, but wanted to force the Tokugawa family to agree to peace talks by marching into Kyoto City.

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Moreover, Yang Zhen also promised Rokkaku Genjiro that during the process of marching into Kyoto City, he would try every means to obtain an official appointment from the emperor for the Rokkaku clan.

Yang Zhen promised that when the time comes, Rokkaku Genjiro can be appointed to any public official position he wants for himself or for the ancestors of the Rokkaku family.

Yang Zhen's promise successfully persuaded Rokkaku Genjiro.

In this way, under Yang Zhen's coaxing and coaxing, Rokkaku Genjiro honestly told everything he knew.

The Omi Kingdom that the Rokkaku clan once served as guardian was a circle of land surrounding Lake Biwa, and the land that the Rokkaku clan actually controlled in the past was just south of Lake Biwa, also known as Minami Omi.

And this Minami Omi is adjacent to Kyoto Castle where the Japanese royal family lived.

Therefore, Rokkaku Genjiro, or Rokkaku Sadaharu, who was born in the Rokkaku clan, has been familiar with Minami Omi, Kyoto Castle and the surrounding mountains and rivers since he was a child.

In addition, I grew up in the Osaka area since I was a child, so I am naturally quite familiar with the roads to and from Osaka from Minami Omi or Kyoto Castle.

It was from Rokkaku Genjiro that Yang Zhen further learned about the important status of the Yodogawa waterway.

Yang Zhen originally thought that after taking Osaka, he would need to abandon ship and land, and then he could only take the land route to Kyoto.

But Rokkaku Genjiro told Yang Zhen that the Yodogawa River originates from Lake Biwa, passes through Kyoto, flows southwest, and finally flows into Osaka Bay, which is the main waterway connecting the Kyoto Basin and the Osaka Plain.

In particular, the Yodogawa River is not long, but it has a large volume of water and a deep and wide channel that can pass ships.

Moreover, although the outlet of the Yodogawa River is in Osaka Bay, its upper reaches have important tributaries that lead directly to Kyoto City.

Under Yang Zhen's careful questioning, as well as He Tingbin's translation and multiple maps, Rokkaku Genjiro drew the locations of the Yodogawa River and its upstream tributaries one by one on the map Yang Zhen produced.

In this way, the waterway from Osaka Bay to Kyoto Castle is clear at a glance——

There is an important tributary of the upper reaches of Yodo River called Katsura River, and there is an important tributary of Katsura River called Kamogawa.

The Kamogawa River is located outside the east wall of the Heian Palace, the Imperial Palace in Kyoto.

Correspondingly, Katsuragi River is not far from the Imperial Palace of Kyoto.

It can even be said that the entire city of Kyoto was built between the two rivers before the Katsura River and Kamogawa River converged.

When the Japanese built the Heianjing, they were imitating the city of Luoyang, the eastern capital of the Tang Dynasty, which was located between Iro.

Therefore, the Japanese local princes also called going to Kyoto to meet the emperor "Shangluo".

Of course, it is not necessarily a good thing for local Japanese forces to come to Kyoto to meet the emperor.

And in many cases, on the contrary, it is not a good thing for the emperor and his family.

Whether it was during the era of the Kamakura shogunate, the Muromachi shogunate, or the eras of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, when powerful ministers led their troops to Luo, they usually came to show off their force and declare their power to other subjects of the Japanese country.

authority.

At this time, the emperor or the emperor's family were often just clowns who cooperated with the performance when faced with the powerful ministers seeking to be granted the title.

Of course, by the Tokugawa Shogunate era, this situation had not changed at all.

If anything has changed, it can only be that he has become more unscrupulous and intensified. The emperor's authority has long since disappeared in front of the Tokugawa family.

On the night of September 15th, the 14th year of Chongzhen's reign, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. The tide in Osaka Bay surged and the seawater from the mouth of the Yodo River surged in. The time was ripe to advance to Kyoto by water.

Yang Zhen, who had reached an agreement with Thomas Peder on the distribution of the spoils, also adhered to the principle of using troops quickly and issued a series of orders at nightfall for his troops to stay behind and follow the battle.

Yang Zhen ordered Zhang Tianbao to lead a sentry grenadier to stay at Osaka Castle Honmaru and its castle tower, Guo Xiaowu to lead Yingzhou, and Proven Cha to stay at Osaka Bay.

At the same time, Yan Shengsan was ordered to lead eighteen 400-material warships, thirty flat-bottomed sand barges, and dozens of customs ships that were inspected and collected from the inner point of Osaka Bay in the afternoon of the same day to carry all other people up the Yodo River.

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It is said that it is going upstream, but in fact, due to the action of the tide in Osaka Bay and the action of the oarsmen and sails, the fleet is moving very fast.

And by this time, everyone also saw the power of small and medium-sized flat-bottomed galleys.

The reason why Yang Zhen did not let the Provencha and the Yingzhou go north to Kyoto along the Yodo River was because the two giant plywood boats had too deep a draft.

They may have no problem traveling within a few miles near the mouth of the Yodo River, but they will inevitably run aground after entering the middle and upper reaches.

Considering that they currently have a heavy load, a deep draft, and are not suitable for inland navigation, Yang Zhen had to reluctantly let them stay in Osaka Bay after accepting Genjiro Rokkaku's suggestion.

Of course, the reason why Provencha has a large load capacity and deep draft is because its two artillery decks carry a total of 80 heavy naval guns.

The reason why the Yingzhou has a deep draft and is not suitable for inland navigation is because Zhang Guogan, Zhang Tianbao, and Sun Deng chose them to transport the gold and silver ingots for shipment from the vault of the Honmaru Keep in Osaka Castle.

But no matter what, Yang Zhen still felt very sorry and uneasy because the Yingzhou train could not go, especially the Provincial train.

Although Yang Zhen didn't want Provincial Dictionary to follow him to Osaka Bay early in the morning, now that it's here, Yang Zhen still hopes to give full play to its powerful firepower.

However, now, Yang Zhen could not count on the powerful firepower of Proven Directory.

The previously arrogant Thomas Peder and his Dutch Red-haired Musketeers and the Uppano Musketeers learned that their Provencha was unable to sail along the Yodogawa River because the hull was too large and the draft was too deep.

Going upstream, I suddenly lost my pride.

Including Thomas Peder himself, they could only take the Osaka Bay customs ship assigned to them and follow dozens of other large and small ships upstream.

Fortunately, the distance from Osaka to Kyoto is only a hundred miles by going up the Yodo River.

For the first thirty miles of the channel, due to the high tide in Osaka Bay, the water outlet of the Yodogawa River is not smooth and there is tidal effect. The river surface is broad and the channel is smooth. It has a sense of stars hanging over the plains and vast fields, and the moon surging like a river.

However, further up, the river began to narrow, and Yang Zhen and his group of hundreds of boats lined up in two columns, leading the way with the captured Japanese boats, and tried to paddle forward.

Fortunately, they sailed on the Yodo River and did not encounter any bridge checkpoints, interceptors or Japanese patrols along the way.

In fact, both sides of the Yodo River are covered with tidal flats and tall grass, and there are no roads nearby, so there is no need to worry about Japanese pawns.

But after all, Yang Zhen's trip was a sneak attack. Driving quietly on the river by boat always made him feel a little guilty.

It was less than a hundred miles in total, and the first thirty miles, as the river was wide and deep, took less than two hours, but the next thirty miles took almost half the night.

Waiting for the white light in the east on September 16th, a group of more than a hundred boats, large and small, finally arrived at a place where three rivers converge.

Although there are many rivers here, and the water surface at the confluence of the rivers has expanded, the river channels have become shallower. If they go further, even the 400-ton warship may not be able to move forward.

Seeing that the east was turning white and the sky was about to dawn, Yang Zhen felt anxious and couldn't help but sigh.

At this time, Yang Zhen heard Rokkaku Genjiro, who had been following him around, suddenly babbled a bunch of words.

Yang Zhen turned to look at He Tingbin, who was also following him, and saw He Tingbin say:

"Captain, Rokkaku Genjiro said, this is the intersection of Kamogawa, Uji River and Katsura River, and the hill in the mist not far away is Fushimi Castle where Toyotomi Hideyoshi once again ordered the Japanese Empire!"

"Fushimi Castle?! Are there Japanese troops stationed there?"

After Yang Zhen finished asking, he stared at He Tingbin, hoping that he would translate it as soon as possible so that he could get the answer from Rokkaku Genjiro.

But this time, He Tingbin did not rush to translate, but immediately said with a smile:

"No, no, there is no need to worry, Governor. Fushimi Castle was the castle where Toyotomi Hideyoshi lived when he was the Kanbai and Taiko of Japan. It was abandoned after the Tokugawa family established the shogunate in Edo.

"It is said that the current Nijo Castle in Kyoto, which is the residence where the shogun lived when he came to Luo, was built with stones from Fushimi Castle. Genjiro Rokkaku must know this."

After He Tingbin finished saying this to Yang Zhen, he was afraid that Yang Zhen wouldn't believe it, so he immediately pointed to the small hill not far away and said a lot of Japanese slave words to Genjiro Rokkaku.

Rokkaku Genjiro couldn't help but nod, and at the same time he couldn't help but sigh.

"Captain, there is no doubt that Fushimi Castle has been demolished long ago, and now there is only a barren hill left!"

After hearing He Tingbin's unquestionable answer, Yang Zhen put aside his worries and immediately made a new decision.

"In this case, send an order to Yan Shengsan to have all 400 large ships anchor here and leave some men to immediately occupy the barren hill and set up sentry posts on it.

"All the Dutch musketeers and the main force of our army, those in small boats will continue to turn into the Kamogawa River, and all those in big boats will transfer to small boats to follow. Be quick!"

Knowing that the confluence of three rivers in front of him was where the Kamogawa River merged into the Katsura River, Yang Zhen immediately remembered their locations on the map. This was the south gate of Kyoto City!

However, the order Yang Zhen mentioned had just been conveyed, and before he even got off the 400-ton ship he was on, he suddenly heard several gunshots rang out in the distance.

And among the Dutch musketeers who were walking at the front of the entire fleet on the Guanzhou boat and the small morning boat, screams of ahhhhhh were suddenly heard.
Chapter completed!