The Ming Dynasty's steam ironclad ships were about to be built.
On the Japanese side, great changes have also taken place.
The four major vassal kings have now stabilized their foundations in the Japanese kingdom of Kyushu, but they obviously want to annex the entire Japanese kingdom.
On the surface, not much has changed, but secretly, fighting is raging.
Small-scale local wars have basically never stopped.
Obviously, it is very difficult for the Japanese country to defeat the four feudal kings.
However, the Japanese country has also developed very rapidly now.
Especially the matchlock gun.
Originally, the Japanese were very afraid of matchlocks, and the production method of matchlocks was not a big secret in Southeast Asia.
The Japanese ships also obtained manufacturing methods from Southeast Asia.
Seeing the four vassal kings frantically mining, the Japanese country also paid more attention to silver and vigorously mined silver.
And at the bottom level, compared to the past, the quality of life of Japanese people has been greatly improved.
Especially the Japanese people on Kyushu Island.
At the beginning, Kyushu Island was occupied by the Ming Dynasty, and the people of the Japanese country were in panic all day long. They saw that all the former noble men were demoted to common people.
However, as time went by, the people of Japan were surprised to find that being ruled by the Ming Dynasty did not seem to be so unbearable.
In the past few years, as high-yielding crops have been planted in the Japanese country, the original food shortage of the Japanese country has been alleviated a lot.
From the perspective of the people of the Japanese country, although they had to dig mines for the officials of the Ming Dynasty, their food was guaranteed.
In the past, when I worked for foreign masters, I not only had little food, but also required a lot of work.
By comparison, it seems that the officials of the Ming Dynasty were pretty good.
Japanese Zhongzhou Island, Kyoto.
Kyoto is located in the middle of Zhongshu Island. It is the capital of the Japanese kingdom and the most prosperous place in the entire Japanese kingdom.
Apart from the royal palace where Emperor Gokomatsu lived, the Grand Shogun's Palace is the most magnificent.
At this moment, in the General's Mansion.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu is listening to reports from daimyo from various places.
"Your Excellency, the General, now we have Fukui Prefecture, Shiga Prefecture, Mie Prefecture, and neighboring Nara Prefecture, Osaka Prefecture, and Hyogo Prefecture to the south. In accordance with the order of His Excellency the General, forty-seven firearms workshops have been built."
"Nearly five hundred matchlocks are produced every day. In addition, ten artillery can be produced every day. I believe that it will not be long before they can be equipped on a large scale in the army, and we no longer have to worry about being threatened by the Ming army."
"Under the leadership of His Majesty the Great General, our Japanese country will surely be able to regain Kyushu Island, expel the Ming people, and unify the Japanese country."
The speaker was Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's confidant Takeuchi.
The Japanese nation had already coveted the Ming Dynasty's firearms. At the same time, they had suffered enough from the pain of firearms, so they tried their best to make firearms.
The four vassal kings definitely didn't get the start, so they directly used the national treasury, spent a lot of gold and silver, and used sea transportation to find firearms craftsmen from Southeast Asia.
No matter how much it costs, I don't feel bad at all.
Today's matchlock guns are not a big secret. Basically, any country with some channels can get some, and it is not complicated to learn.
Regardless of financial resources, the Japanese finally brought back dozens of firearms craftsmen.
With a wave of his hand, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu asked every firearms craftsman to open a firearms workshop, and then sent a large number of apprentices to follow him.
Crazy building of firearms armaments.
Although the Japanese state experienced the chaos of the Southern and Northern Dynasties and its overall population declined, there were still five to six million people.
Although the island nation is lacking in resources, apart from civil war, Japan has had very few external wars.
The last war was in the early Mongolian Yuan Dynasty a hundred years ago.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu knew very well that the four feudal kings facing each other across the sea were always fighting against the Japanese. If it were not for the restrictions of the Ming Dynasty, the four feudal kings might have already fought against Japan.
And the Ming Dynasty is not kind either.
They were all aiming to completely annex the Japanese country.
He heard that on the current Kyushu Island, the four major feudal lords had opened a large number of schools for learning Chinese and Chinese characters.
And etiquette education is also carried out simultaneously.
The Japanese country itself had no writing, and all Japanese writing came from the Central Plains Dynasty.
Starting from the Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty flourished.
In fact, even today's Japanese language is very similar to the Chinese system in terms of pronunciation and writing.
Similar to the previous dynasties in the Central Plains, the current Japanese country only has nobles, monks and other upper-class people who are qualified to learn writing. Ordinary people do not even know how to write their own names.
Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty promotes school education. On Kyushu Island, no matter what status you have, you can go to the school to learn writing.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu knew in his heart that this was to assimilate his people.
Let the people of the Japanese country gradually forget themselves and become the people of the Ming Dynasty.
When the Ming Dynasty completely controlled Kyushu Island, it was time for the four major vassal kings to attack the Japanese island of Honshu.
Even if he knew the purpose of Ming Dynasty, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu could not do anything about it.
For the Ming Dynasty, it was now able to directly overthrow the entire Japanese state and rule in name, but this would later bring about a large number of uprisings.
Gradual encroachment and slow assimilation are in the best interest of Ming Dynasty.
As for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, if he directly attacks the four feudal lords during this period, the chance of victory may not even be 10%.
Although it would ruin the Ming Dynasty's plan, the Ashikaga family would definitely disappear, which is naturally not possible.
The current Japanese state is equivalent to a military competition with the four major feudal kings.
As time goes by, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu believes that he can achieve final victory.
"The matchlock guns of the Ming Dynasty were so sophisticated that even if they fired dozens of rounds, there would be no danger of the chamber exploding."
"How long will it take for our matchlock guns to reach this level?"
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu asked Takeuchi.
He didn't understand firearms before, but after seeing the power of Daming firearms, he spent a lot of energy to learn and understand them.
Takeuchi quickly replied: "Those craftsmen from overseas are not very skilled, and many are just apprentices. Therefore, the matchlock guns they build are not sophisticated, but they can be used reluctantly."
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "After learning this production method, our craftsmen have been gradually transforming the matchlock gun. Now the newly produced matchlock gun has a lower explosive chamber than
Thirty percent."
"I believe that given enough time, our craftsmen can also make a matchlock gun like the Ming Dynasty."
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu nodded.
The current situation is already very good.
In fact, he once went to the firearms workshop to check and knew that the so-called lower than 30% was completely imaginary.
After the matchlock gun is manufactured, it is ignited and fired. As long as the first shot does not explode, it is considered qualified.
When it comes to actually equipping the warriors with fire guns in the army, it all depends on their luck.
No one knows whether the next shot will hit the enemy or themselves.
Fortunately, the Japanese country was very rich in mineral deposits. Not only did they not have to worry about boasting ores, they also did not have to worry about the saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal needed to make gunpowder.
There are many volcanoes in Japan, and there is no shortage of saltpeter, sulfur, etc., not to mention charcoal.
What makes Ashikaga Yoshimitsu regretful is that they can only produce granules of gunpowder but not fire bombs.
The bullets used for killing were replaced by the lead stone from the previous Central Plains fire gun.
After excluding Takeuchi's report.
Other big names also began to report their respective situations.
Now, almost all the Japanese people are in the army, and the total military strength has reached as many as 800,000.
This is also the current confidence of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
But he also knew very well that there was a lot of moisture in it.
Even farmers among them must participate in soldiers' drills during their leisure time. However, all males between the ages of fourteen and forty-five must submit to military service according to current requirements.
In comparison, the total number of troops currently in the hands of the four great vassals of the Ming Dynasty is less than 200,000.
However, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu knew very well that against the 200,000 soldiers of the four major feudal lords with his 800,000 soldiers, right now, the chance of winning was almost less than 40%.
If a war breaks out, the Ming Dynasty will definitely continue to increase its troops, and the Japanese will not be able to win the final victory.
Therefore, making firearms is currently the most important thing in the entire Japanese country.
Inside the hall.
After the other daimyo left, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu left Takeuchi alone.
"I heard that His Majesty the Emperor has other ideas now. Do you know about these situations?" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu asked calmly.
...
Inside the Kyoto Royal Palace.
A large number of nobles, courtiers, and monks gathered together, nearly a hundred people in total.
They are all supporters of the current Emperor Gomatsu.
Many of them are even remnants of the Southern Dynasties.
In the 25th year of Hongwu's reign, Emperor Gogeyama of the Southern Dynasty accepted Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's conditions and returned the artifact to the Northern Dynasty, thereby ending the division between the North and the South.
After the reunification of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu did not fulfill his original promise, that is, he still restored the tradition of successive emperors of the Daikakuji sect and Jimeiin sect.
The so-called Daikakuji School and Jimeiin School symbolize Emperor Gokomatsu of the Northern Dynasty and Emperor Gogameyama of the Southern Dynasty.
In the late Kamakura period, the 88th Empress Saga had two sons, the eldest son Hisahito and the second son Tsunehito.
Both of them want to be emperor.
Under the arrangement of Emperor Saga, his eldest brother Hisahito took the lead in succeeding to the throne and became the 89th Empress, Emperor Fukakusa.
More than ten years later, under the arrangement of Emperor Saga, Hisahito gave up the throne to his younger brother Tsunehito, the 90th emperor Kameyama.
Later, the conflict deepened, and under the "friendly persuasion" of the Kamakura shogunate, an agreement was reached that the two factions would take turns to be emperor and give up the throne to each other's son.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu obviously does not want to continue this agreement.
Because he wanted his son to succeed the emperor.
If we continue to alternate like this, how can we have a chance?
After all, Hou Xiaosong and Hou Guishan are still related by blood.
Because of the threat of the Ming Dynasty, the power of the Muromachi shogunate continued to expand, and the current emperor has been completely sidelined.
All the daimyo obeyed Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's orders because of the war.
It was nothing at first, but at this moment, Emperor Gokomatsu had been forced to recognize Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's son Ashikaga Yoshimochi as his godson.
This means that Ashikaga Yoshitomichi may also have the possibility of succeeding as emperor.
This made Emperor Gokomatsu completely unable to accept it.
So Emperor Gokomatsu secretly contacted Gogameyama to discuss how to keep the emperor's bloodline alive.
And these naturally require the support of more famous people.