Chapter 179 The Secret of the Japanese Business Group (Part 2)
"What? Toyotomi Hideyoshi's granddaughter?"
Although Shang Yi is not a person who expresses emotions and anger, he rarely loses his composure due to surprise, but this time he was really surprised. His mouth opened wide and he couldn't close it for a long time.
Early this morning, Daikokuden Shou came to ask for a meeting with Shang Yi and gave Shimazu Mitsuhisa's reply. Of course, it was not what Shang Yi expected. Shimazu Mitsuhisa's request for compensation was directly rejected. But then Daikokuden Shou asked Shang Yi Confessing the true identity of the Japanese business group was indeed beyond Shang Yi's expectations. Although he had already deduced that this Japanese business group was probably a daimyo Yugu who was an enemy of the Tokugawa family and fled to China to seek refuge. Never would I have imagined that he was a descendant of Toyotomi Monkey, the former lord of Japan.
According to what Daikokudenshou said, they are the remnants of the Toyotomi clan, he is the patriarch of the Toyotomi clan, and the mysterious woman called the princess is the granddaughter of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and she is also the only Toyotomi living in the world. His name is Toyotomi Kaoru, and his nickname is Chiyohime. He is only 18 years old this year. When Osaka was besieged, he was entrusted by Toyotomi Hideyori to escape with the baby girl Toyotomi Kaoru. Da Ban, and raised her up in secret.
Because of this war with the Satsuma clan, Shang Yi also carefully checked the Japanese information in this period of history. Although it has nothing to do with the Tokugawa clan and the Toyotomi clan, these two important families will naturally not be let go. If Daikoku What the palace guard said is true, then the father of Toyotomi Kaoru should be Toyotomi Hideyori, the son of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the mother is the granddaughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Tokugawa Chihime. In other words, she is still the current Tokugawa The niece of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the general who conquered the barbarians of the shogunate. In addition, her grandmother, Toyotomi Hideyori's mother, was the niece of another famous figure of that era, Oda Nobunaga.
After sorting out these relationships, Shang Yi couldn't help but be shocked again, because after all, this girl named Toyotomi Kaoru has owned the most outstanding and most prominent Oda and Toyotomi in Japan at the same time in this era. Omi, the bloodline of the three Tokugawa families can be considered extremely noble from a blood relationship perspective.
Judging from what Daikokuden Shou said and combined with the relevant intelligence collected before, Shang Yi was basically sure that what he said was mostly the truth. Therefore, when Daikokuden Shou offered to help the merchant army attack Satsuma Domain in exchange for After asking to continue to stay in Hangzhou, Shang Yi couldn't help but laugh, because he immediately understood what happened. Although the Satsuma clan supported the Toyotomi clan in history, it is obviously unreliable at this time. Therefore, this Japanese business group confessed everything to Shang Yi in order to seek political asylum in Hangzhou.
Of course, we do not rule out the possibility of using Shang Yi's power to avenge the Toyotomi family and restore the country in the future. Although Toyotomi Kaoru is a woman, the inheritance rights of adopted sons are recognized in Japan. If Toyotomi Kaoru's descendants are renamed Toyotomi, that will also work. Considered the successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
So Shang Yi immediately used his brains to weigh and compare the pros and cons of continuing to host the Japanese business group. From now on, there are many pros and cons. The first is that he can continue to maintain a stable trade channel with Japan; Through them, we can obtain Japanese intelligence and news. In addition, although we are not planning to go deep into the hinterland of the Satsuma Domain this time, if we have a guide who is familiar with the local situation and can be trusted, it can still provide great convenience. When necessary Hou can also act as a middleman.
In the long run, they may propose to use their own strength to restore the country in the future, but on the other hand, they can also propose to attack Japan in the name of revenge for the Toyotomi clan. Anyway, the decision-making power is in their own hands.
As long as he has enough strength, this step will be taken sooner or later. This is not only because of Shang Yi's hatred of the Japanese, but also because of Shang Yi's hatred of the Japanese.
From a geopolitical point of view, it is best not to have a country that can compete with China around China. Although this is a very distant thing, it does not prevent Shang Yi from digging a hole early and spreading a few seeds.
.Never wait until you want to eat fruit before you start thinking about planting trees. Shang Yi still understands this truth.
Of course, there are also disadvantages, that is, you will now create an enemy for yourself. Tokugawa Iemitsu will never allow the Toyotomi clan's remaining orphans to seek political asylum in China. Although Japan's military force was relaxed at this time
, and it does not have a decent navy at all, but it is a country after all, and it is not impossible to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops. Therefore, such an enemy cannot be underestimated. Moreover, at present, its main enemy is still the Qing court, so there is no need to make additional enemies.
However, this is not impossible to solve. When necessary, or Tokugawa Iemitsu offers a sufficient price, it is not that Shang Yi cannot sell the Japanese business group again, because in the political field, there are no permanent friends and enemies.
Since there are solutions to the disadvantages, temporarily hosting this Japanese business group will be of great benefit to himself. Therefore, Shang Yi also nodded and said: "Mr. Ohno, although you have no hatred within Japan and I have nothing to do with it,
Guan Shi, but personally, I deeply sympathize with your situation, and you
I am deeply grateful that you can confess to me and refuse to help Shimazu Mitsuhisa. Therefore, I can allow you to continue to live in Hangzhou, but I hope you can abide by my laws and regulations. In addition, if anything happens in the future,
I hope you can report to me immediately to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings."
The guardian of the Ono Palace hurriedly thanked me again: "Master Supervisor, thank you for your kindness."
Shang Yi added: "In addition, the guides of the Satsuma clan are indeed very important. I do hope to get your help, but I hope that you will carefully select the candidates and be sure to send the most suitable people."
Of course Daye Palace Master understood what Shang Yi meant, so he nodded repeatedly and said: "Master Supervisor, please rest assured that we will send the best candidates to help you win this war."
The Satsuma domain was located in the southwest of Kyushu, Japan, including the entire Kagoshima Prefecture and part of Miyazaki Prefecture. The capital was located in Kagoshima, named Kagoshima Castle, also called Tsurumaru Castle.
The earlier Tsurumaru Castle was built in 1244, the second year of Kangen in Japan, by the Ichirai family. It is located on a mountain with an altitude of 100 meters. Because the castle is surrounded by cliffs, it is a sturdy castle that takes advantage of the natural terrain. However,
Tsurumaru Castle, where the Shimadzu family now lives, was built after the Battle of Sekigahara.
Later, Shimazu Tadahashi built a new castle at the foot of the castle mountain. Unlike the previous Tsurumaru Castle, this new castle was a Hirayama Castle built with the castle mountain on its back.
The archery tower and castle tower allow you to overlook the whole city from the top of the tower.
At this time, the lord of Satsuma Domain, Shimazu Mitsuhisa, summoned all his retainers and gathered in the main hall of Tsurumaru Castle's castle tower for a meeting to discuss.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa said: "Everyone, I have just received the news that the second fleet we sent to recapture Ryukyu Island has also been defeated by the Ming army. What do you think we should do next?"
It turned out that in order to regain the Ryukyu Island, the Satsuma clan mobilized 33 more warships and dispatched more than 4,000 troops to form the second fleet. As a result, before the Satsuma fleet could dock, it was attacked by the merchant fleet.
After a siege and a naval battle, the Satsuma fleet was defeated again. Only five ships were left and fled back to Kagoshima, with only more than 400 soldiers left.
The people present were all important officials and relatives of the Satsuma Domain, among them were the family elders Shinnahara Tadashi and his two sons: Shinnajiro Tairamoto, Shinna Shirojigen, retainers Suqing Nagamasa, Yamada Masahiro, Kayama Hisataka,
Nagahiro Yoshiyuki, Yamada Sakae
, Kawakawa Munemasa, Hirata Soujiro and others, as well as Shimazu Mitsuhisa's younger brothers: the fourth son Kitazu Hisao, the sixth son Machida Tadaka, the elder Kyushimazu Hisao, the twelve Shimazu Tadashichi, and the thirteenth Ise Sadaki, among whom
Many people have changed his surname.
As soon as Shimazu Mitsuhisa finished speaking, there was a discussion among the retainers. Yamada Masahiro immediately said: "My lord, Ryukyu is the main source of income for this domain, and there must be no loss. Therefore, I think we should send out another army to recapture it."
Ryukyu."
Shimazu Mitsuhisa "hummed" and said: "Of course I know we want to recapture Ryukyu, but now we don't have enough warships, how can we send troops to Ryukyu?"
Shinnahara Tadada: "The recapture of Ryukyu cannot be delayed for too long. Now that we are short of warships, we can borrow some warships from other feudal lords. For example, we can borrow some warships from the Mori clan of the Choshu clan. The navy of the Choshu clan has
More than two hundred warships."
Hisataka Kayama shook his head and said: "I heard that there are some wax people serving in this Ming army, and the warships they use are all Western style. They have many cannons and are very powerful. Our fleet has already won twice
The navy of the Ming Army was defeated, and the navy of the Choshu Domain was not much better. I don't think it is a good idea to borrow troops from the Choshu Domain."
Yamada Masahiro said: "Huashan-kun, what do you mean by saying that? Are you afraid of the Ming army? You have really embarrassed your ancestors."
Hisataka Kayama was not polite and retorted: "Yamada-kun, am I afraid of the Ming army? Sun Tzu's Art of War said, 'Know yourself and the enemy, and you will never be in danger in a hundred battles.' It is a fact that our fleet failed twice. If we act recklessly, we will only end up in trouble."
We deliver a third defeat."
Shimazu Mitsuhisa frowned and said with some displeasure: "That's enough. I've gathered you to discuss ways to regain Ryukyu. I'm not listening to your unnecessary quarrels. I want to prove your courage, so go to the battlefield."
prove."
Seeing the feudal lord speak, Yamada Masahiro and Kaguyama Hisataka did not dare to continue arguing and just kept silent.
At this moment, Shimazu Mitsuhisa's attendant, Yamagata Saburo, suddenly walked into the main hall, prostrated himself on the ground, and said in a trembling voice: "Report to my lord, Tanegashima and Okushima have been captured by the Ming army."
"What?"
"How is this possible?"
"Why would such a thing happen?"
Tanegashima and Okushima are located in the south of Kyushu Island, across the sea from the Satsuma Peninsula and the Oi Peninsula, and less than a hundred miles away from Kagoshima. There was a sudden chaos in the main hall. They were discussing how to regain Ryukyu.
No one thought that the Ming army would take the initiative to attack the Satsuma Domain.