Rebirth of The Deer and the Cauldron, Wei Xiaobao Becomes a God

"Sir, I am Shan Xia Shugen, the aide to the governor of Naba Prefecture. May I ask your name?" the old man said with a bow.

The governor's staff are the county magistrate's lackeys and advisers.

"This young master - Ba Tiao Beipiao." Wei Xiaobao looked at the aide and said slowly.

"The Hachijo family?" When the people at the nearby table heard this, they all stood up!

Shan Xia Shu Gen took the lead, and everyone bowed and said, "Greetings to Master Hachijo."

The Hachijo family was a noble family that had been granted the title of a king. The Hachijo family was also a relative of the emperor. They had been the daimyo of Kyoto since ancient times.

In 1603, the Tokugawa shogunate established its capital in Edo. In less than ten years, the head of the Tokugawa family at that time, Tokugawa Ieyasu, controlled a quarter of the land of Japan. Important cities such as Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto were all under the jurisdiction of the Tokugawa shogunate.

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the Hachijo family, the daimyo of Kyoto, was like the emperor, in name only and was controlled and marginalized by the Tokugawa shogunate.

Nevertheless, the title of Prince Hachijo is as sacred as the throne of the Emperor in the hearts of ordinary Japanese people.

"Master Hachijo, please forgive Yamashita's rudeness just now." The samurai named Yamashita hurried over to apologize, because if a noble killed an ordinary samurai, the government would not hold him accountable.

"In view of your sincere attitude, I forgive you." Wei Xiaobao said lightly.

"Thank you, Master Hachijo."

"Tell me which daimyo have led their troops to Naha." Wei Xiaobao asked.

As the governor's aide, Yamashita Shugen was well aware of the current situation in Naha and replied respectfully:

“To reply Master Hachijo, the Tokugawa shogunate originally had 20,000 troops stationed in Naha, and sent 10,000 troops to Shukyu, leaving only 10,000 troops from the original garrison.

After the Chinese army entered Ryukyu, the emperor ordered daimyos from all over the country to send 200,000 troops to defend Naha.

The top five super daimyo now have a total of 15 troops stationed there.

They were 50,000 soldiers from the Tokugawa family, 30,000 soldiers from the Takeda family, 30,000 soldiers from the Uesugi family, and 20,000 soldiers each from the Oda and Hojo families.

Other small daimyos scattered across the country formed an alliance with a total of 50,000 troops.

The 200,000 troops requested by the Emperor have arrived, but..."

"Just what?" Wei Xiaobao asked.

"It's just that this commander is a little bit unconvinced, and has caused chaos."

"Oh, what's going on then?" Wei Xiaobao asked curiously.

Yamashita Shugen continued, "The Emperor sent Tokugawa Kojin of the Tokugawa family to be the commander-in-chief. This General Kojin made a four-line defense plan.

He placed the 5 troops of the Takeda and Oda families at the forefront of Naha, viewing them as a line of defense.

The 5 troops of Uesugi and Hojo were placed in Okinawa Bay as the second line of defense.

The 5-strong coalition army composed of those scattered small daimyo was stationed in Iha Castle between the Yamanaka Islands and the Yamakita Islands as the third line of defense.

The Tokugawa shogunate's 50,000 troops were stationed in Nago Castle in the Yamakita Islands as the last line of defense.

Tokugawa Kojin wanted to fight a war of attrition, to consume both the invading Chinese army and the strength of other daimyo.

These daimyos are not stupid, who would be willing to die?

Moreover, among these five super daimyo, except for the Tokugawa family which has more than 20 soldiers, the other four families only have about 5 to 10 soldiers.

These four super daimyos would definitely not agree to use 20,000 or 30,000 troops as cannon fodder all at once.

So although the four daimyos obeyed the arrangement outwardly, they were unwilling in their hearts. They secretly replaced all the young and strong soldiers who came with them and used the old, weak, sick and disabled civilians to resist.

This means that the defense lines of Naha and Okinawa Bay are like having soldiers but no defense."

The tree root at the foot of the mountain sighed and shook his head.

When Wei Xiaobao heard this, he realized that it was true that there were orders from above and measures from below.

Think about the Three Kingdoms period in China, when the eighteen princes fought against Dong Zhuo, they just made some efforts but did not put in any effort.

These little devils are even more proficient at sabotaging!

"Then the third line of defense won't follow suit, right?" Wei Xiaobao continued to ask.

"How dare these petty daimyo? They are loyal to the emperor."

During the Tokugawa shogunate, although the Tokugawa family commanded the princes under the emperor's command, the lower-class people were unaware of the inside story.

The emperor is a descendant of God, so as long as one does not have the power to defy the imperial authority, he will be pious to the emperor.

After hearing this, Wei Xiaobao was secretly delighted. According to Tokugawa Kojin's four lines of defense, 20,000 versus 50,000, the disparity in strength was not that big, and the first and second lines of defense were still a gift...

Wei Xiaobao had a rough idea in his mind, but he couldn't rely on just one word to understand the military situation. He had to go and see it for himself.

So, Wei Xiaobao looked at the tree roots at the foot of the mountain and said, "These daimyo are so perfunctory. Where do they put the Japanese emperor? My family, the Hachijo family, is a close minister to the emperor. It is our responsibility to investigate the matter thoroughly and report to the emperor. However, I have just arrived in Naha and am not familiar with the people and the place. I hope Mr. Yamashita can help me."

After saying that, Wei Xiaobao took out a badge from his pocket. On the front was written "Emperor's Guard" and on the back was written "Ba Tiao Beipiao".

The style of this badge and the name on the back were based on antique photos that Wei Xiaobao saw in magazines in later generations. He asked a craftsman to imitate it, and it can be said to be exactly the same as the ancient emperor's guards.

When Shanxia Shugen took the badge and looked at it, he was so shocked that he immediately knelt down and kowtowed. The others didn't know why, but when they saw that the staff had knelt down, they followed suit. All the people in the teahouse knelt down.

"I didn't know it was the guard who came. I'm sorry for offending you." The tree root at the foot of the mountain kowtowed and shouted.

After hearing this, the others also realized that the person in front of them must be a high-ranking official.

In Japan, commoners have to kowtow when meeting officials.

Seeing the Japanese kneeling on the ground, Wei Xiaobao waved the fan in his hand, looked back at Shuang'er with a smile, and said calmly: "Everyone, stand up and talk."

Shuang'er once again witnessed Wei Xiaobao's heroic demeanor, and the corners of her mouth rose slightly.

Shuang'er didn't understand Japanese, so she didn't know what Wei Xiaobao was talking about with these Japanese, but seeing that these Japanese were kneeling, it meant that her husband had achieved his goal again.

"Lead the way down the mountain immediately and take the guard to the first line of defense."

"Just call me Young Master. We are going on a secret visit. Don't reveal my identity and don't alert the Takeda and Oda families." Wei Xiaobao warned.

"I understand, I understand, it's a secret visit." Matsushita Shugen said hurriedly.

The Yamanaka Islands of the Ryukyu Kingdom are also called the Shuri Islands, later called the Okinawa Islands, covering an area of ​​38 square kilometers.

Naha was the county seat of Okinawa Island in later generations. It is located in the southwest of Okinawa Island, a hundred miles away from Shuri Castle. It is the largest outlet to the East China Sea on Okinawa Island.

Under the leadership of Yamashita Shugen, the aide to the Naha governor, Wei Xiaobao entered the military camp of the first line of defense unimpeded.

The military camps were built on both sides of the road between Naha and Shuri Castle, divided into the left camp and the right camp. The left camp was close to the sea, and the right camp was close to Longmen Mountain.

Wei Xiaobao first went to the right camp of the Takeda family.

Just as what Shan Xia said, the camp was filled with old, weak, sick and disabled people wearing tattered military uniforms, including old women. They all had dull eyes, yellow skin and were so thin that they couldn't even lift a knife.

This doesn't look like a military camp, it looks more like a refugee camp.

Then Yamashita took Wei Xiaobao to the left camp of the Oda family.

The left camp is the same as the right camp, except that the number of people is one-third less.

After walking around Zuoying, Wei Xiaobao discovered a strange phenomenon.