"We, Japan, are independent on the East China Sea. Since the establishment of the shogunate, we have upheld harmony and never intruded on neighboring countries. I hope you will accept such goodwill. As for the garrison on the five islands, I will never mention it again."
Sakai Tadakatsu's words were moderately soft and hard, and his attitude was clear.
Xia is not allowed to station troops on the Five Islands under any circumstances.
It's really too close to Japan's mainland.
Once something happens, the shogunate as far away as Edo may not even be able to react, and all parts of western Japan will be attacked.
But there is some truth to what he said.
Since the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan's harassment of nearby countries has indeed ceased.
After all, the Tokugawa shogunate adhered to a closed-door policy and was far from as ambitious as Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
What the Japanese mean is that they will neither expand externally, nor allow foreign enemies to invade.
Whether it can be done or not depends on the strength of both parties.
Obviously the Tokugawa shogunate had a tough attitude and had the idea of breaking the pot.
Even if they could not defeat the Xia Kingdom at sea, they were sure that the Xia Kingdom would not be able to land in Japan and conduct land operations.
Seeing that the negotiation had reached a stalemate, Wang Yun thought for a while and suggested: "It's getting late and everyone should be hungry. How about we adjourn the meeting and discuss it again in the afternoon?"
Negotiating is an absolute chore.
Although it seems like they are just sitting there talking, the battle of wits and courage behind the scenes consumes more energy.
Everyone in Japan was exhausted, so they accepted Wang Yun's proposal.
Wang Yun and others left the venue and returned to the rear.
"Come on, come on, you all have worked hard. I have specially prepared a big meal to reward you."
Zuo Mengeng did not attend the negotiations, but prepared a sumptuous lunch for Wang Yun and others.
"Haha, with His Highness as the logistics manager, we are guaranteed to be invincible."
Everyone sat down, ate and talked, and reported the results to Zuo Mengeng.
This was the first time for Kim Sang-hyun to see such a scene.
A group of people gathered around a round table, with no distinction between superior and inferior, and no attention paid to appearance. They all devoured their food and chatted while eating, as if they were at home.
But I don’t know why, but this scene makes people feel very comfortable.
Think about the time when I attended the banquet of the King of Korea. Everyone sat with bated breath, drank according to the etiquette, and ate according to the orders. Although it looked solemn and elegant, it was extremely tiring.
He tried to sit down, rolled up his sleeves, and joined the eating team. At the same time, he asked Zuo Mengeng for advice on what he didn't understand.
"Your Highness, regarding the legal jurisdiction of Nagasaki, shouldn't we give in? If we can force Japan to agree to this matter, we will be able to travel unhindered in Japan in the future and it will be more convenient."
Concerning this matter, not to mention Jin Sangxian, many people in the Xia Kingdom were also a little confused. So they all looked at Zuo Mengeng, hoping to get their doubts clarified.
"Sometimes, giving in does not mean weakness, but to organize better to facilitate the next attack. Although we did not get the legal jurisdiction of Nagasaki this time, we laid a clue. If we have another chance in the future
If we take action, we can use this matter to make a big fuss and get what we want."
Seeing that Jin Sangxian was still a little confused, Wang Yun spoke with a smile.
"Master Jin, think about it, if there is any dispute in Nagasaki and it is tried by Japanese officials, who will they favor? There is no doubt that they will definitely favor the Japanese. Then you say, our people will be satisfied
If you are not satisfied, then you will make a fuss. And once the fuss becomes big..."
An idea flashed in Jin Sangxian's mind, and he suddenly realized it.
It turned out that Xia Guo was not satisfied with their request, but had already laid the groundwork.
These foreshadowings will become excuses for action in the future.
He was a mature politician after all, and he quickly understood Xia Guo's overall thinking.
This is an obvious way to boil the frog in warm water.
Although Japan was defeated, its strength still existed. If extremely harsh conditions were put forward from the beginning, Japan would definitely rather die than surrender.
As a result, the war will continue.
But the problem is that North Korea is currently fighting an endless war with the Qing Dynasty allied forces, and the Xia Kingdom cannot allocate excess power to deal with Japan.
Although there is no difficulty in harassing Japan from the sea, this approach treats the symptoms rather than the root cause.
If the Japanese people are really stubborn and refuse to surrender, the Xia Kingdom will have no better way.
If we want to land and completely conquer Japan, it is absolutely impossible without about 300,000 troops.
Can Xia State dispatch so many troops now?
Obviously not.
The current total strength of the Xia Kingdom is only a little over 500,000, and they are distributed over vast areas such as North Korea, Shandong, Lianghuai, Songjiang Prefecture, etc. In fact, the national defense pressure is very high.
Since you can't eat Japan in one go, you can only take your time.
The conditions can be slightly relaxed to make the Japanese side feel less uncomfortable. In this way, the Japanese side's resistance will not be so strong.
This time, Japan was first allowed to accept the fact that Xia was doing business in its country, and at the same time, it also laid the foundation for disputes.
When the time is right in the future, these foreshadowings can be further detonated, and a new suppression of Japan can be launched.
Boil the frog in water and heat it step by step.
When Japan finally realized that it was in danger, even if it wanted to resist, it didn't have enough strength.
After understanding all this, deep down in Jin Shangxian's heart, he no longer had any slightest contempt for these young people from the Xia Kingdom.
No one in North Korea can do this kind of profound strategic consideration alone.
The Xia Kingdom was able to rise and prosper, and it was indeed unique in its own way.
"Since Japan would rather die than surrender, we can make some concessions on stationing troops on the Five Islands. Let's make it clear to Japan that neither side is allowed to station troops on it. It is considered a military buffer zone for both of us."
Zuo Mengeng repeatedly used the method of boiling frogs in warm water and proposed a condition that seemed fair.
Sure enough, during the afternoon negotiation, when Xia Guo proposed this method, Doi Toshi, Lin Luoshan and others discussed it and nodded in agreement.
Now both parties have reached consensus on the five conditions for this negotiation.
Then it’s time to sign.
But at this moment, someone walked in and whispered something in Fu Xinyuan's ear.
Fu Xinyuan's face quickly turned serious.
"Everyone, there are still some situations here that require consensus."
Seeing that the Japanese people looked a little nervous, Fu Xinyuan reported it on the spot.
"During the previous naval battle, both our sides had many prisoners of war. Our opinion is that we should take this opportunity to exchange prisoners of war. One person will be exchanged for another, and the other party will redeem the excess in cash."
Hearing that it was a prisoner of war exchange, Doi Toshiki and others couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
Shimazu Hisakei couldn't hold back anymore.
"I wonder how much it will cost to redeem a prisoner of war?"
Although there are no specific statistics on the number of prisoners of war held by both sides, it can be imagined from the results of the battle that it is obvious that the Xia army has a higher number of prisoners of war.
Satsuma Domain will definitely need to pay.
Although in Japanese culture, it is a shameful thing to be a prisoner. However, the current strength of the Satsuma Domain has been seriously damaged and is in urgent need of replenishment.
The prisoners in Xia Jun's hands were all well-trained soldiers, and could very well replenish the Satsuma clan's vitality.