In name, the Japanese emperor ruled everything, but in fact all power was in the hands of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
Although the original Japanese country was not a closed country, in fact all walks of life were restricted by the geographical environment.
In the former Japanese country, almost all culture originated from the Central Plains Dynasty, especially during the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
The current Japanese samurai swords are basically imitated from Tang swords.
The most powerful soldiers of Japan were samurai.
In a way, they are professional soldiers and do not engage in production. Because of their hereditary relationship, most of them have received strict military training since childhood.
They generally believe in Zen, take life and death lightly, and do whatever they don't accept.
He takes it as an honor to die on the battlefield. If he fails to complete the task assigned by the Lord, he will even commit suicide in humiliation.
And under the derivation of thoughtful people, committing seppuku became the highest honor of a samurai.
A samurai who commits seppuku can be forgiven all his faults.
The first samurai to commit seppuku was named Fujiwara Yoshi.
He is a nobleman of the Fujiwara family in Kyoto, but he lives an elegant aristocratic life during the day, but at night he transforms into a thief who does all kinds of evil, harassing the streets and alleys of Kyoto.
After being discovered, he did not resist, but designed an act of seppuku to forgive his sin.
Even he himself did not expect that this would become the most noble way of death in Bushido in later generations.
In fact, committing seppuku is a very painful process, and samurai often cannot die quickly during the process.
In later movies and TV shows, Japanese samurai committed seppuku and died instantly. This is all nonsense.
In actual seppuku, the abdomen needs to be cut open and all the internal organs in the body are taken out to complete the ceremony.
This process is bloody, cruel, and extremely painful.
Later on, the intermediaries needed to assist appeared.
The wrong person was a samurai who cut off the samurai's head with a sword after committing seppuku in order to avoid less pain.
Of course, in the current Japanese country, there have not yet been any Jiecuo people. When a samurai commits seppuku and commits suicide, he needs to complete this ritual alone.
Bloody cruelty is more likely to stimulate the spirit of Bushido.
In fact, Japanese warriors were very capable in individual battles and were different from ordinary Japanese people in stature. They enjoyed the offerings of their families and never worried about food.
In fact, this kind of behavior is very similar to the dead soldiers raised by aristocratic families in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
The reason why Bushido is so popular in the Japanese country is that it is very in line with the interests of those in power.
Whether it is the shogunate or the local daimyo, they all need strong and loyal soldiers to consolidate their rule, and naturally they highly respect bushido.
When the Mongolian Yuan campaign failed, in addition to the main factor of typhoon, Japanese warriors also played a big role.
The weapons of the Japanese country, especially the samurai swords, are actually superior to those of the Mongols. Even now, the Japanese sword forging technology is top-notch in the entire world.
This is a product of special circumstances.
Samurai duels were popular in the Japanese country, so a good weapon would naturally have a great advantage.
Therefore, the craftsmen of the Japanese country have a high status and are also highly sought after.
During the war against the Japanese, when the Mongolian iron saber fought against the Japanese sword, the blade would often be bent or even broken.
Even today's Ming Dynasty is still lagging behind the Japanese in terms of sword forging technology.
Before the conquest of Japan, the samurai swords of Japan had always been a relatively popular item in the smuggling trade. Now that the trade has developed, it has become even more popular.
However, when the Ming army conquered Japan, they focused on matchlocks and artillery.
Even small-scale battles are not one-on-one battles, but organized battles, and those are soldiers equipped with matchlocks.
The Japanese warriors didn't even have a chance to get close, and they were beaten to pieces.
Therefore, the Japanese samurai sword did not show much brilliance in the war.
But there is no denying the exquisite craftsmanship of Japanese samurai swords.
Nowadays, fire guns are becoming popular in Japan, and samurai swords, also known as tachi, are very popular in the Ming Dynasty.
In the Ming Dynasty, the use of fire guns among the people was prohibited.
Firearms and armor are strictly restricted items. Once someone keeps it privately, they will be punished with fifty years of hard labor or death depending on the circumstances.
In Ming law, there is no concept of life imprisonment, and fifty years of hard labor is the longest term.
In fact, even if you commit a crime at the age of ten, you will be 60 years old after fifty years of hard labor. It has no much meaning. Even if you survive, it is just to experience the last years of your old age.
War is the best catalyst.
When the Ming Dynasty opened the door of Japan with blunderbuss and artillery, and occupied Kyushu Island as the land of the four vassal kings, it also brought many advanced technological systems to Japan.
For example, high-yield crops, cement, mineral mining technology, shipbuilding technology, firearms, etc.
In recent years, the Japanese nation, under the leadership of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, has developed rapidly.
Even though a nation with a population of millions is devoting all its strength to military construction and construction, it still has a lot of foundation.
That is to say, the current Ming Dynasty can suppress it steadily, but no other dynasty would be able to suppress it with such great intensity.
In fact, if the Ming Dynasty did not intervene and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu mobilized the entire country's army, it was very likely that the four feudal kings would be driven out of Japan and the lost territory of Kyushu Island would be recovered.
But with a behemoth like Ming suppressing him, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu didn't have any confidence at all.
The total Ming army on Kyushu Island now is less than 200,000.
But the Ming Dynasty has a total force of two million, and with more ships at sea now, it is easy to invest another two hundred thousand troops.
The Japanese country needed to mobilize the entire country's troops, while the Ming Dynasty only mobilized coastal naval forces and surrounding garrison stations.
This difference is not just a tiny bit.
Japanese country, Changfu.
This is located at the junction of Honshu Island and Kyushu Island, facing Kyushu Island across the sea, the shortest distance is only three miles.
It only takes a few sticks of incense to set sail.
This place belongs to the territory of the Japanese country Nagato.
The guardian of the Daimyo is the Ouchi family.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The current Japanese country does not have the title of feudal lord. Whether it is the guardian country or the local area, it is uniformly called daimyo.
The title of feudal lord came into being only in the later Edo period. The guardian daimyo who occupied a country was called a feudal lord.
Changfu, also known as Xiaguan of the Japanese Kingdom in later generations.
The current local lord here is the Maori family.
In the famous anime that was circulated in the Central Plains in later generations, Mouri Kogoro is a descendant of the Moori family.
The land the Maori family rents is not in Changfu.
It is Sagami Province on the inner side of Honshu Island.
His original surname was Oe, and his ancestors were descendants of Oe Yoshimitsu, the fourth son of Hiromoto Oe during the Kamakura period.
Later, due to the change of political power and the war, they migrated all the way here.
The current daimyo is Daisuke Mori.
Daisuke Mori followed Ashikaga Yoshimitsu step by step, humble and respectful.
In front of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the Mori family are insignificant ants.
But now, because of the defense against the Ming Dynasty, the Changfu where the Maori family is located has become a very important strategic place.
The Maori family took on the task of building coastal defenses.
"Not bad. It seems that the Maori Daimyos have really put a lot of thought into it in recent years."
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu nodded with great satisfaction.
I walked most of the way along the seaside, and there were stone walls and fortresses over a foot high built with big rocks.
The water along the route is shallow and there is no suitable landing point for the Ming Dynasty's ships.
If the Ming Dynasty wants to attack Honshu Island, this is the best bridgehead. Once it is captured, it can quickly accumulate troops on Honshu Island.
"This is all due to the good command of the General," Daisuke Mouri quickly bowed and replied.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu continued: "I heard that many of the Isshiki, Shibukawa, and Otomo clans are taking refuge in Chofu."
Daisuke Maori hesitated and replied: "Since the Ming Dynasty occupied Kyushu Island, many tribesmen have migrated to Changfu. The development of Changfu now cannot be separated from the support of various families."
"The Otomo clan played a very important role in the construction of coastal defense."
Hearing this, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sighed: "Uji-kun is a very good friend of mine. The Otomo family and the Ashikaga family have been friends for generations. Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty was cruel."
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Otomo clan took refuge with Ashikaga Takauji, thus effectively ruling the Kitakyushu region.
That is, the actual leader of the three kingdoms of Bungo, Chikuzen and Chikugo.
It did not have much effect against the Ming Dynasty. The city gate was broken open by cannons, and the Dai Ming was naturally killed by the Ming army.
Daisuke Mori didn't dare to speak.
Because he knew that Otomo's death was actually indirectly related to Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
Although the Southern Dynasty was defeated, it actually still had a great dominance in Kyushu Island. There were many samurai lords here who had their hearts set on the Southern Dynasty.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu finally broke his promise to surrender to the Southern Dynasty.
The civil war between the Southern and Northern Dynasties was actually a struggle for royal power and general power from another perspective.
But obviously the royal power was defeated in the end.
But this does not mean that the royal power has no supporters.
Since the Ming army attacked Kyushu Island, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu has actually not sent elite samurai from Honshu Island to fight.
He is borrowing Ming's hand to cleanse Kyushu Island of the forces that failed to resist him.
Unfortunately, he did not know that the Ming Dynasty was so tyrannical. After all, he had killed the Ming Dynasty envoys before. More than ten years had passed, but he had not seen the Ming Dynasty dare to attack the Japanese country.
This time it was a real miscalculation.
The entire Kyushu Island was directly pushed by the Ming Dynasty. It was no match at all. By the time Ashikaga Yoshimitsu reacted, it was already too late.
Including the allies of the Ashikaga family, the Otomo family was also killed.
"O King Qin of the Ming Dynasty!"
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was a little sentimental.
In fact, nothing happened to Dayou's family at first. It was King Qin of the Ming Dynasty who came and massacred the city without giving him any chance of survival.
When Ashikaga Yoshimitsu heard the news, everyone was a little confused.
But even if he knew it, he could only bury the hatred in his heart.
It is definitely hopeless to seek revenge from King Qin.
"Then let's use the blood of the Ming army soldiers to pay homage to Lord Shigui."
This is already the limit of what Ashikaga Yoshimitsu can do for the time being.
If King Qin of the Ming Dynasty died in his hands, the entire Japanese country would be overthrown.
After the inspection, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu began to deploy plans.
Because there is no clear time agreement between Emperor Gokomatsu and King Yan, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu has no way of knowing when King Yan will come to gather troops, so he can only make preparations in advance.
Changfu is just a stone's throw away from Kyushu Island.
There is no stone wall fortress like Changfu on Kyushu Island. Perhaps in the Ming Dynasty, this was completely unnecessary.
It also gave Ashikaga Yoshimitsu a chance.
He wanted to take advantage of the darkness to secretly transport the samurai to the seaside of Kyushu Island and then go around to the rear.
When King Yan came over, they formed a pincer formation from front to back.
It is definitely not possible to transport them directly to the other side. In order to avoid being exposed, the troop transport ship must circle around the sea to avoid the opponent's inspection, and then hide secretly.
He knew that the number of Prince Yan's personal guards was only 40,000, but in fact it must be more.
Many warriors defected to the Ming Dynasty and formed an army.
These warriors did not enjoy the treatment of the Ming Dynasty, but were equivalent to the private soldiers of the feudal king.
He usually farms and mines, and when there is a war, he participates in the war.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu estimated that King Yan would have a total strength of at least one hundred thousand.
After all, it is impossible for Yancheng to take all the time. At most, it can bring 30,000 soldiers, and the rest of the warriors can only number 60,000. If there are more, problems will easily arise.
And he was preparing to mobilize 50,000 warriors to lurk in the rear.
In order to stabilize the army, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the main force here, decided to bring 300,000 samurai.
The number of 350,000 is still to be attacked by sneak attack.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu felt that it was impossible for him to lose.
...
Similarly, Zhu Di didn't think he would lose.
After Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui sent a message.
The King of Qin, Zhu Fang, the King of Jin, Zhu Fan, and the King of Qi, Zhu Shu, all came to Yancheng to discuss matters.
"Old Fourth, Old Fourth, you are so courageous. My father has explicitly prohibited us from starting a war with the Japanese country. You guys are still trying your best to cause trouble."
"Aren't you afraid that you won't be able to hold back when the time comes, and a national war will really start? At that time, your father will blame you, can you bear it?"
As soon as Zhu Fan entered the hall, he said sarcastically to Zhu Di.
Zhu Di looked calm and replied: "If the second brother feels that he can't do anything, there is no need to come over. I think with the eldest brother and the seventh brother here, there will be no problems this time."
Zhu Fan snorted coldly when he heard this, but did not answer the question.
That being said, this is a good opportunity. Although they fight together, on the surface it is equivalent to lending troops to Zhu Di.
Since there are benefits to be reaped and Zhu Di takes the blame, why should Zhu Fan refuse such a thing?
"Okay, we are all brothers. Don't start arguing when we meet. It will only make you upset."
"Fourth, what are you saying, Third, is not rude? Although you are responsible for this matter, my father may not think so. If you really want to punish me, I don't know what the result will be."
King Qin Zhu Xi said, as the second brother, it is still necessary to reconcile the conflicts between his brothers.
Besides, nothing can be accomplished by arguing and arguing like this.
When Zhu Di heard this, he smiled and replied: "Second brother, don't worry, my father can't blame me."
"After all, we are going there this time because of the Japanese king. He invited us."
"It's just that this was planned by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and I just took advantage of it. Even if I suffer a loss, who can say anything?"