"Do you think this little king of Japan really wants to unite with our father? Could he be deceiving us?"
"Why do I always feel so unreal?"
There are three people in the back hall, and they are obviously not Japanese, because they are much taller than the people next to them.
The person speaking was none other than Zhu Di's third son, Zhu Gaosui.
Next to him were his second brother Zhu Gaoxu and his businessman Xu Huyou.
"What are you worried about? So what if it's fake? Do they still dare to have any plans against us?"
"Furthermore, this little king of the Japanese country obviously wants to seize power. For him, what does it matter if he surrenders to our Ming Dynasty? It's just that there have been some changes in recent years. In the past few dynasties, the Japanese country wanted to
Our Central Plains dynasty has become a vassal state."
Zhu Gaoxu said indifferently.
Although I haven't read much, I still know some basic historical origins.
Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Japanese state has been calling itself a vassal state in the Central Plains, although the Han and Tang Dynasties basically ignored the Japanese state.
After all, in the eyes of the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Japanese country was too far away and too remote to be worthy of jurisdiction.
In other words, it gave the Japanese country a canonization.
The origin of the Japanese country still originated from the Han Dynasty, when Emperor Guangwu canonized a Han Japanese slave king.
Since then, the Japanese country has been regarded as a member of the Central Plains civilization system.
The Japanese king wanted to ask for the support of the Ming Dynasty and seize the power of the shogunate. In Zhu Gaoxu's view, this was not a normal thing.
Even now, the Japanese state is nominally a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Gaosui said excitedly: "If we can instigate the Japanese king, it will be a great achievement for our father and the Ming Dynasty."
A few days ago, the Japanese king sent samurai to secretly contact the Yan king Zhu Di, hoping to gain support and seize the power of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
Of course, Zhu Di was happy to see this kind of thing. If it succeeded, the entire Japanese kingdom would be under the control of the Ming Dynasty. As an overseas vassal king, Zhu Di's great achievements would also make things easier for him. He might even be able to overwhelm his eldest and second brothers.
If it fails, there is not much loss.
So I sent my two sons over.
Of course, the two sons were just here to take credit for their achievements. The real person in charge was Xu Huyou.
This is the maritime business that Zhu Di attaches most importance to.
In recent years, maritime trade has brought huge benefits to Zhu Di.
He was not worried about the safety of his two sons. Japan did not have the guts to do anything to his sons.
If something happened, the entire Japanese country would be buried with his son.
After all, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui are already the grandsons of the Ming Dynasty emperors, and have been personally canonized by His Majesty.
When the two of them were talking, Xu Huyou was listening next to them.
Although he was highly regarded by King Yan, his status was just that of a maritime merchant, which was very different from the two princes, and he had no role to interfere.
Xu Huyou is in his early forties, quite thin, with a sharp chin, high cheekbones, and a goatee, giving him the look of an old fox.
"Do you have anything to say?"
Zhu Gaoxu asked Xu Huyou casually.
Xu Huyou said quickly: "It's up to the two young masters to decide everything."
Zhu Gaoxu asked casually. He didn't want to talk to Xu Huyou at first. If his father hadn't told him, he would have felt that he was losing his status by being with such a businessman.
Not long after, a servant came.
"I would like to invite the two princes of Daming County to discuss matters in the front hall."
Zhu Gaoxu and others were led by servants to the front hall.
Although no one greeted Xu Huyou, he hurriedly followed.
After returning to Yancheng, he would also give a detailed report to King Yan.
The front hall was no longer as lively as before.
Including Emperor Gokomatsu, there were only five people.
However, it is obvious that the other four people have extremely high status and are deeply trusted by Emperor Gokomatsu. Otherwise, they would not be able to stay and meet Zhu Gaoxu and others.
Among these four people, two are monks with bald heads.
Zhu Gaoxu and others were not surprised that there were two monks there.
The monks of the Japanese country were very keen on participating in politics, and they did not have any strict rules and regulations. They could also marry and have children.
Sometimes when I go to a temple, I can see a monk playing with his son, which really opens the eyes of Zhu Gaoxu and others.
Temples were also a very powerful force in the Japanese country.
Most of these temples have their own monk soldiers.
Except for shaving their heads, monks in Japan are no different from ordinary families, including temples, which can also be inherited by the family.
"With the help of His Highness King Yan this time, Xiao Wang believes that I can put things right. As long as His Highness King Yan is willing to send troops to help me, then Xiao Wang will never let His Highness Yan down."
After a polite exchange, Emperor Gokomatsu said impatiently.
His tone was very confident, because he had already received commitments from more than a dozen famous names just now.
Although these daimyo were inferior to those under Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the number of troops under Emperor Gokomatsu's command already numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
These troops are all located in Kyoto.
It can play a very big role.
Zhu Gaoxu heard this and said directly: "This is easy to say, but the Japanese king should also know that the court will not allow my father to send troops casually. This is tantamount to violating the court's decision, and he will definitely be punished afterwards."
"Everything else is easy to say. Should the two hundred thousand taels of silver promised by the Japanese king be given to us first as a sign of sincerity?"
Emperor Gokomatsu's request was naturally not for King Yan to bring his army to Kyoto Prefecture.
Instead, they should stockpile troops at the Honshu Island border gate and put pressure on Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. It would be best to have Ashikaga Yoshimitsu go to the border gate in person.
In this way, Emperor Komatsu can steal homes from behind.
Kyoto is also the base camp of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
Emperor Gokomatsu was a little hesitant when he heard this. He was afraid that King Yan would take the money and do nothing, so he couldn't make a decision in his heart, so he had to look at the other four people.
All four nodded.
Anyway, they did not pay for the money. Even if King Yan swallowed it, they could not be blamed.
But if he didn't give it, King Yan probably wouldn't send troops.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Seeing that the four people agreed, Emperor Gomatsu also said: "Okay, let's do it according to the wishes of the prince."
The matter was settled and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhu Gaoxu received two hundred thousand taels of silver, and Emperor Komatsu also received a promise.
This matter can only be done verbally, and it is impossible to sign documents or the like. However, this is in the interest of both parties. If there are no accidents, the cooperation will naturally proceed as agreed.
The next step is for Emperor Gokomatsu to arrange programs for Zhu Gaoxu and others.
Rows of young and beautiful Japanese women walked in, many of them were shrine maids.
This gave Zhu Gaoxu and others a strong sense of participation.
.....
"The prince of the Ming Dynasty has already left."
"Reporting to Your Excellency, the General, you have now left Kyoto Prefecture."
"Then let's get started and let our Emperor sober up."
Inside the shogunate.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said coldly.
Ever since Prince Daming crossed the border, his whereabouts have been controlled by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
What's more, Emperor Gomatsu also prepared hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.
You know, Kyoto Prefecture is the base camp of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
The young Emperor Gokomatsu thought that these things were seamless, but in fact, every move he made was under the supervision of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
Among those Japanese women who came to the palace to cheer up the Ming Dynasty Prince, nearly half of them were Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's spies.
When Emperor Gokomatsu was still celebrating in the palace.
At the entrance of the palace, a large number of warriors began to gather.
"What are you doing? This is the palace of His Majesty the Emperor."
When the palace guards on duty saw so many people, they immediately became nervous and quickly closed the palace door.
"According to the order of His Excellency the General, His Majesty the Emperor was deceived by a monster. We are ordered to eliminate the monster. You will open the city gate as soon as possible."
The leader, General Takeuchi, shouted loudly to the guards at the palace gate.
Seeing this, the chief guard at the palace gate immediately replied: "We are guards of the palace. We obey the orders of His Majesty the Emperor, not the orders of the general."
"The palace gate will never be opened today, and I will report it to His Majesty the Emperor immediately."
If the palace gate is closed, it will obviously be difficult to seize the palace in one fell swoop.
If the time drags on for a long time, it will not be so easy to handle.
However, the leading general was not anxious at all. He just looked at the captain of the guard on the palace gate with a sneer.
At this moment, the captain of the guard suddenly felt a chill on his back, and a sharp pain suddenly came from him.
He turned around and saw that it was his adjutant.
"Sorry, I belong to His Excellency the General."
Something unexpected happened, causing the guards at the palace gate to be at a loss.
"Open the city gate immediately and welcome His Majesty the General's troops into the palace."
The samurai sword in his hand was stained with blood, and the captain of the guard was still alive at the moment. The adjutant shouted loudly to the surrounding guards.
Immediately, some of the guards following the adjutant went to open the palace door.
The other guards watched helplessly as their superiors were already dead, and they didn't seem to know what to do.
After all, His Excellency the General's majesty is still very powerful.
There were not many warriors coming, only about 5,000 people, but there were only about 1,000 people in the entire palace.
The most important thing is that nearly half of these thousand people are Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's subordinates.
Soon, the palace hall was surrounded by people.
Emperor Gokomatsu had already received the news, but he did not expect that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu would dare to directly threaten the palace.
Are you trying to kill yourself?
At this moment, Emperor Gokomatsu was so frightened that his whole body was trembling.
When he thought that he might be killed and accept Ashikaga Yoshitomichi to succeed him as emperor, Komatsu lost all his energy and spirit.
"Takeuchi, it's you!"
Emperor Gokomatsu mustered up his last courage, preserved his dignity and knelt down at the top of the main hall, waiting for the people who wanted to invade the palace to come in.
The leader among them was very familiar to him, none other than Takeuchi.
This was a daimyo who had promised to follow him more than ten days ago.
"It turns out that you betrayed me."
Emperor Gokomatsu gritted his teeth. Fortunately, he really thought that Takeuchi had surrendered to him. It turned out that all this was just a cover.
Takeuchi smiled and said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, I followed His Excellency the General's order to meet with Your Majesty."
Emperor Gokomatsu said coldly: "You performed so well. I didn't expect that I have been kept in the dark by you."
Takeuchi was actually a little embarrassed when he heard this.
That's not acting, it's completely true.
"Your Majesty the Emperor, I'm offended."
Takeuchi didn't want to say any more. Talking too much would make the general dislike him.
Immediately he shouted: "Left and right, clear away the monsters around His Majesty the Emperor."
The massacre begins.
A large number of Japanese warriors began to massacre the guards, maids, and servants in the palace.
Emperor Gokomatsu just watched helplessly as his female officers, bodyguards, servants, and familiar faces were killed in large numbers.
But at this time, Emperor Gokomatsu was too frightened to say anything.
The palace of Japan was not very big.
Compared to the Ming Dynasty, even the mansions of some wealthy businessmen were much inferior.
Therefore, the killing action came very quickly.
The emperor himself did not control much military power in the past dynasties, so he had almost no ability to resist.
"Help His Majesty the Emperor clean up the palace."
Takeuchi said with a smile, then turned and left.
In any case, the emperor is the spiritual symbol of Japan.
Unless the general comes in person, it is impossible for other daimyo to take action against the emperor no matter how much they despise him.
...
In the shogunate.
Takeuchi reported the news of cleaning up the palace to Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu just nodded slightly.
In his opinion, this is not a big deal at all.
While the palace was being purged, monk soldiers from several temples, including five daimyo families, were besieged and killed by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's army.
This is equivalent to the complete eradication of the forces that submitted to the emperor.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had been watching Emperor Komatsu's actions before and after, and he just waited for this time to attack.
"Your Excellency, the General, the two princes of the Ming Dynasty took away two hundred thousand taels of silver and reached an agreement with His Majesty the Emperor."
"The King Yan of the Ming Dynasty will personally lead his troops to the border to put pressure on us and force the General to go."
Takeuchi told Ashikaga Yoshimitsu everything he knew from the emperor.
In fact, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had already known about these things through other channels.
But there was still a bit of hesitation in his eyes.
The general did not speak, and Takeuchi could only remain silent.
After a long while, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu seemed to have made up his mind and said: "Inform the daimyo of various places to rectify the army and prepare for war."
"This is our opportunity, and it is also the opportunity His Majesty the Emperor has given us."
"If we can win the war with King Yan of the Ming Dynasty, then our Japanese country will no longer be what it is now."
There was a bit of madness in Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's tone.
The current Japanese state is too weak and has never achieved any victory in its battle with the Ming Dynasty.
He needs a victory to stabilize his reputation.
Now is a good opportunity, because King Yan of the Ming Dynasty was definitely not ready for war, he was just pretending.
As for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, he would lead a large army and deploy the war against King Yan of the Ming Dynasty.
Now the Japanese country already has a sufficient number of firearms, while King Yan of the Ming Dynasty only has tens of thousands of troops, so the hope of victory is very high.