Chapter 279 The Peace of Japan (Twenty-six) Mission Arrives in Japan
Gao Jingshi and Li Zongcheng knew each other very early. When Gao Jingshi first arrived in the capital, he had some interactions with Li Zongcheng. At that time, Li Zongcheng was still young, and his father Li Yangong was only the Marquis of Linhuai.
His ancestor, Marquis of Linhuai, Li Tingzhu, hoped to take advantage of the turmoil in Wei Guogong's family to get the post of guarding Nanjing. Therefore, Li Yangong and Li Zongcheng, who had traveled far and wide, contacted Gao Pragmatic, hoping to get some inside information. Of course, if it was convenient, it would be better to get direct information.
support.
Li Tingzhu's expectation coincided with Gao Jingshi's plan at the time, so Gao Jingshi intervened a little, secretly suppressed the Duke of Wei, and promoted Li Tingzhu to the position of guarding Nanjing. From then on, the Li family of Linhuai Marquis
Taking advantage of the situation, he became one of the few "allies" among the nobles who founded the country.
In short, the Linhuai Marquis Mansion can be regarded as a force belonging to the Gao pragmatism faction. Unlike the Duke of Wei, who has a detached status and is somewhat wavering despite the influence of Gao pragmatism, it can be regarded as the most die-hard supporter of Gao pragmatism among the nobles in Nanjing.
However, this is not the main reason why Li Zongcheng was able to serve as a canonized envoy. He became an envoy mainly because his father Li Yangong wrote a book called "Japanese Examination". Li Yangong ascended the throne in the third year of Wanli, but this person has been fond of it since he was a child.
Traveling, because it was written as "Nihon Kao", was regarded as one of the "Knowing Japan School" in the court.
Originally, due to the relationship with the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance, almost all the nobles of the Jingnan Clan are now "Japan-aware". However, according to tradition, the Japanese tribute trade in the Ming Dynasty has always been in Ningbo, so Nanjing has always been responsible for dealing with Japan.
The problem is, since Japan was to be canonized this time, the imperial court subconsciously considered selecting someone from Nanjing first, so it thought of Linhuai Marquis Li Yangong.
However, Li Yangong's health has been very bad in recent years, and he will definitely not be able to go to Japan as an envoy (historically, he died in the 27th year of Wanli, and now he has not long to live), so Li Zongcheng took over as the Marquis of Linhuai.
The envoy position should be held by his father.
Li Zongcheng is usually a bitch-like person, and his performance in front of Gao Pragmatic was not bad, but in the final analysis, he is just familiar with the methods of the Ming Dynasty officialdom, which does not mean that he is not a playboy, so he
It will be as embarrassing as it was in history.
Even so, the Linhuai Marquis Mansion is now a supporter of Gao Jingjing. Gao Jingjing cannot let Li Zongcheng make such a big mistake, so he naturally has to give him a lot of advice and arrange his tasks.
Just follow the instructions.
Originally, Gao Jingshi clearly expressed his opposition to the canonization of Japan in the court, and the emperor was persuaded by him. However, due to the simultaneous deployment of troops, Li Rusong was transferred back to Liaodong and Ma Gui was transferred to North Korea. Therefore, this
It takes a while.
In order to ensure that Japan could be stabilized while the Ming Dynasty mobilized troops and stockpiled combat supplies, the result of the cabinet deliberations was that the canonization should remain the same. According to the plan, when the canonization matter broke down and Japan took the initiative to provoke trouble again, the Ming Dynasty would defeat it openly and completely.
Eh? Why did the imperial court think that the canonization issue was bound to collapse?
That was of course because Gao Pragmatic exposed Shen Weijing's trick of deceiving the superiors and concealing the truth from the superiors, and reconnected the whole incident in his own way.
Although Shen Weijing and Konishi Governor's tricks of cooperating with each other to deceive their monarchs may seem absurd, they are actually historical facts. It was precisely because of their tricks that the Imjin Japanese incident occurred in the original history. Two battles were fought randomly.
Gao Jingshi predicted that Shen Weijing would still follow the same pattern this time, in order to establish an "unparalleled achievement" and obtain the greatest political benefits for himself. So when Shen Weijing returned to Beijing last time, Gao Jingshi suddenly called him to his house , easily revealed his plan and scared Shen Weijing half to death.
However, to scare, Gao Jingshi asked him to continue. Shen Weijing was greatly puzzled. After asking, he found out that Gao Jingshi only needed him to delay time, and eventually angered Toyotomi Hideyoshi, causing Japan to take the initiative again. Attack - At that time, the Ming Dynasty was already prepared, just waiting for the Japanese army to fall into the trap.
Oh, by the way, not only that, Gao Pragmatic also tricked North Korea in the plan, but this is an afterthought, let’s not mention it for now.
Shen Weijing naturally did not dare to disobey Gao Pragmatic, but he was still very worried. Since the matter had been exposed to Gao Ge Lao, there was no guarantee that it would also be exposed to other Pavilion Lao Lao and even the emperor. Then he would be dead if he didn't control it?
Gao Jingshi had known that this old boy would react like this, so he told him that he had already reported Shen Weijing's plan to the emperor. However, in front of the emperor, he said that this plan was arranged by someone Gao, and the purpose was To delay time, he helped Shen Weijing clear up the relationship.
Only then did Shen Weijing feel relieved. First, he thanked Gao Pragmatic profusely, and then he accepted the new task with high spirits and embarked on the "journey" from Busan to Japan.
As for Li Zongcheng, Gao Pingshi knew that he only gained the name of "Japanese Knowledge School" by relying on his father Li Yangong's "Japan Examination". In fact, his understanding of Japan was very average. Although he also participated in Beiyang The Maritime Trade Alliance's trade with Japan is different from the Jingnan clan's participation in the self-built fleet. He participates in the form of a shareholding and dividends. He does not build a fleet of his own, and can only be said to be acting as a long-term investor.
Gao pragmatic knew that this guy had no backbone and was definitely not the material to be an imperial envoy, so he had no intention of letting him actually set foot on the Japanese islands from beginning to end. His only task was to delay as much time as possible in Busan, and finally said "because of the If he was unable to persist due to illness and regretted quitting the mission, he would be able to receive part of the credit and avoid the possibility of an accident. From this perspective, Gao Pragmatic had done his utmost to be benevolent and righteous to him.
What needs to be mentioned is the mobilization of the Ming army. As the Japanese army withdrew to the area around Busan, the Korean army vigorously "recovered lost ground". The Ming army did not accompany them southward, but only sent some "military observers" served by Gao Jiading of the Jinghua Trading Company. , went to various places in southern North Korea to temporarily draw topographic maps - Jinghua actually drew maps of North Korea, maps of Northeast Asia, etc., but those maps were not too detailed, and now they need to be more accurate.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! As for the Ming army, except for Song Yingchang who led a small number of southern troops to continue stationed, the Liaodong army was already rapidly withdrawing northward. Li Rusong himself was even among the first to return to Liaodong. , went to take charge of the recruitment and training of Li Jiajun's servants.
At the same time, the corresponding response was naturally the arrival of Ma Gui's army. Unlike the Liaodong Army, Ma Gui did not bring only the direct Ma family army - of course the Ma family army was not that large. What he brought was
A mixed force, the main force was drawn from the towns of Xuanfu, Datong, Jizhen, Taiyuan and Beizhili.
Over the years, the armies of the above towns have often been mobilized and used intensively, but the people who unified them always seem to be highly pragmatic. There are some exceptions this time. It stands to reason that they will be under the command of Song Yingchang, and the actual military affairs will be handled by Ma Gui
Admiral - Since Li Rusong returned to Liaodong, Ma Gui took over the post of Pingwo Admiral (originally it was not called Pingwo, but Yuwa, but it was changed this time).
In addition, not only the army, but also the navy or the Ming Dynasty Navy must be mentioned. It turns out that Chen Lin has long been appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the admiral of the Navy (Yu Japanese has been renamed Ping Japanese), but the Imperial Navy has not been around for a hundred years.
To carry out large-scale combat missions in the open sea, the formation of this Ping-Japanese naval division took a long time, during which it overcame many difficulties.
The main difficulty is of course the formation of the fleet. Like the land division, the Ming court's requirements for the navy are: Even if the size does not necessarily exceed that of North Korea, its combat effectiveness must become the real backbone. In other words, it must be more capable than the North Korean navy.
Fighting, it is more troublesome to ensure that the power of the overlord country can be shown.
In recent years, the navy of the Ming Dynasty has basically eliminated the pirates along the coast of the Ming Dynasty because Beijing's two-ocean fleet has been too powerful. As a result, the navy has further degraded and is basically only responsible for offshore patrols.
Although the size of the naval fleet appears to be as high as a thousand ships on the books, in fact most of them only exist on the books, and the ships have long since been lost. The rest are almost all "old shabby" ships.
"Small", there are no more than fifty ships in total that can go out to sea, and they are widely distributed in the long coastal ports from Tianjin to Guangzhou, and among these fifty ships, there are only a few big ships, so they cannot be used at all.
What to do if there are no ships? According to the Ming Dynasty’s past habits, of course it was to temporarily build or requisition. But there is another problem here. The official shipyards of the Ming Dynasty have long been decadent, and the remaining technical capabilities of more than 20 years ago have long been due to high
Pragmatically, in order to establish the Jinghua shipyard, all the technical backbones were poached and lost.
Later, in order to fight against Jinghua, Jiangnan maritime merchants also delayed the last remaining remnants of the official shipyards. So now, all the official shipyards have collapsed, and there is no way to temporarily build a decent Eastern Expedition force.
fleet.
So Chen Lin argued with the imperial court and coordinated for several months. Finally, she gave up the imperial court's temporary shipbuilding plan and instead ordered warships from Jinghua and other private shipyards. Of course, the bulk of the shipbuilding cost went to the strongest Jinghua department.
shipyard, and the other part was given to the Jiangnan chaebol shipyard.
The construction of a sailing battleship is no longer as long as that of modern battleships. It is normal to build a large ship in a few months if the shipyard has material reserves.
Moreover, the slipway required for shipbuilding at this time was far inferior to the extremely professional slipway in modern times. As long as the location of the shipyard was not too bad, it was easy to temporarily build a slipway. In short, as long as various types of wood that had been dried were prepared in advance, the construction itself
It can be expanded suddenly.
However, no matter how hurriedly it is, it will take a year or so to build an ocean-going fleet that can overwhelm the North Korean navy. Therefore, Chen Lin did not catch up with the battle during the war with Admiral Li Rusong. Until this time It was finally late and it was time to join the war.
In the 23rd year of Wanli and the 4th year of Wenlu in Japan, in the first month of the first month, the Ming Dynasty canonization envoy finally arrived in Japan. The envoy was welcomed into Osaka and was received by Governor Konishi.
After President Konishi made arrangements for the delegation, he immediately made a private meeting with Deputy Envoy Shen Weijing for discussion. He nervously asked: "Does the Ming Emperor have any decree regarding the transfer of the south of the Han River to Japan?"
Shen Weijing replied: "It is a pity that the Holy One did not approve the transfer of the area south of the Han River to Japan. He only conferred the title of King of Japan. I have tried my best to do this. However, the Holy One has his own considerations. As a minister, I really cannot easily Around the Sacred Heart."
Governor Konishi was very angry about this, and his expression suddenly changed: "What did you say? That means that except for the canonization, none of the original conditions can be met? General Shen, even if you are cheating, you have to look good. Such a Come on, how will I explain it to Taige? Please think about it, we are in Japan now, it will be easy for me to take your lives."
Shen Weijing was a bachelor, so he argued stiffly: "It's not just the canonization, but also the withdrawal of troops. I have already explained from the beginning that this matter is a fraud. Neither you nor I want to fight anymore, and you I am also worried about my own safety, so I came up with this strategy to help you. Regarding the cession of territory, I have always said that I will ask the emperor for an order, and I have not guaranteed that I will be able to convince the emperor. I have never betrayed my trust."
Governor Konishi had no choice but to admit this, so he said: "Yes, of course I remember that according to your design at that time, it would be difficult to start a war easily. Once it is exposed, you and I will only have to blame each other on the other side. That’s it. Therefore, we must be careful during this period. You and I must work together to control the canonization ceremony. Our Highness will only receive you first tomorrow and will not directly accept the canonization. What are your plans?"
Shen Weijing said: "I heard you say before that although many of your lord's subordinates understand Chinese, many of them can only speak the dialects of Suzhou and Hangzhou. You are almost the only one who is proficient in northern Mandarin, and I, the Ming Dynasty envoy, only have I am proficient in Japanese, so I plan to read out the meaning of your lord in Japanese after my Ming Dynasty envoy reads the edict. After your lord replies, I will also reply to the envoy according to the situation, and will never let the truth Exposed."
Shen Weijing's words are obviously nonsense. The Japanese side is indeed what he said. Since the tribute trade to the Ming Dynasty was almost all carried out in Ningbo, most Japanese who understand Chinese can actually only speak the dialect of the Jiangnan area and understand the northern dialect. Not much official talk.
However, there are quite a few people in the Ming Dynasty's mission who understand Japanese. However, because the entire canonization is a play arranged by Gao Pragmatic, of course everyone will cooperate with Shen Weijing's passionate performance, so Shen Weijing can brag as much as he wants. , certainly not afraid of being "exposed".
President Konishi always felt a little uneasy, but at this point he could only warn: "I always feel vaguely uneasy. I hope you and I can get through this difficulty together. If you are exposed on the spot, you should know that it will be very dangerous. General Shen, I am not being alarmist, His Highness Taige has been moody in recent years, so please be careful."
Shen Weijing replied: "Thank you for the tip, please feel at ease as usual. You'd better pray that your master will be tired of using troops by the time you find out. I also need to make some preparations quickly, just in case." Governor Konishi repeated again and again. After giving the instructions, he also rushed to report to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was very excited about the arrival of the Ming Dynasty mission, and ordered that the etiquette of all supplies for the mission must be in accordance with the highest standards, but at the same time he also had doubts as to why there was no Princess Ming Dynasty and a North Korean prince coming together - -According to the original conditions, it included the emperor marrying the Princess of Ming Dynasty and detaining a Joseon prince as a hostage. But now that no one was seen, Hideyoshi asked Konishi Yukinagako.
President Konishi replied: "Your Highness, according to the Ming envoy, there are many rituals for a princess's marriage, and it will take time to prepare for it. Also, because the rituals are complicated, we need to have a lot of discussions with us about this. As for North Korea, they The work efficiency is extremely poor. I heard that we haven’t decided which prince to choose as hostage yet, so this time we just canonized him first.”
Toyotomi Hideyoshi said displeasedly: "What kind of tricks does North Korea still want to play? It's been so long, why can't it decide which prince will be? I think it's time to intimidate me. If I weren't busy with domestic affairs and receiving envoys, I would definitely It will make them regret it. By the way, when will the division of the south of the Han River be decided?"
President Konishi replied: "I haven't said much to my subordinates about this matter. I just told them that I will inform His Highness the Crown Prince tomorrow."
Maeda Toshiie suggested: "Your Highness Taikaku, just come here today. Anyway, we will see the results tomorrow. Regarding the canonization etiquette, we still have a lot of things to prepare. The Yodo Palace is still waiting for you. Please move. step."
When Hideyoshi heard this, he immediately beamed with joy: "Ah, right? It's my son who misses his father again, haha. Well, let's listen to Mingguo's attitude tomorrow and then decide when to enthrone him." Xiaoxi , You have worked hard too, please rest early." President Konishi breathed a sigh of relief and resigned.
After Governor Konishi retired, Toyotomi Hideyoshi hurried to Chacha in the side room, hugged and kissed his newborn Shi, and promised to give him a real world. Seeing that Hideyoshi was so happy, Chacha asked why, Hideyoshi told Chacha about the arrival of the envoy, and Chacha praised him repeatedly, which made Hideyoshi even more happy.
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