The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

Hyogozu (Kobe Port).

The most prosperous and wealthy port in Japan during the Kamakura period.

Hyogozu was the largest distribution center for goods in Japan during this period. As a base for Japan-Ming trade, it was very close to the core of Japan, Kyoto, and was still under the control of the Muromachi shogunate.

When the Ming fleet appeared on the sea, the entire port was shaken. All the Japanese ran out of the door and stared blankly at the huge Fuchuan and the terrifying fleet on the sea, with horror written on their faces.

"Big ship!"

"What a big ship!"

"How could there be such a big ship?"

It's not that the Japanese have no knowledge, but they have always made small boats. The Japanese ships can't be compared with the Ming Fuchuan.

The huge Fuchuan ships that are as tall as a city came into view, and the shock they brought to the Japanese can be imagined.

Soon, the daimyo Akamatsu, who was in charge of managing the port, immediately rushed over with a large number of family warriors, looking at these suddenly appearing Ming fleets with worry.

This area belongs to the Seto Inland Sea, the core Kyoto area, and the Guanzhong Plain of Japan. Its geographical location is extremely important.

In addition, Hyogo-zu is the largest port and material distribution center in Japan. The taxes collected here every year are an important source of income for the Akamatsu clan.

Now the Ming fleet has appeared on the sea without any explanation, and is heading towards Hyogo-zu rapidly. This is very awesome and does not make people doubt the motives of these Ming people!

Behind Hyogo-zu is Kyoto, and Kyoto is the seat of the Japanese king of Japan. The core of Muromachi is also in Muromachi, not far from Kyoto. The Kyoto area is also the core of Japan.

Now it is not the past. Now the Muromachi shogunate is weak in rule, and its influence and control over various places have been greatly reduced. The Ming in various places are constantly conquering each other, and the internal struggles of various daimyo are also fighting for power and profit. Retainers seek to seize the property of the head of the family, and samurai assassinate the head of the family. It is also common.

The Akamatsu clan started in the Genkō Rebellion and made great contributions to the main family during the Genkō Rebellion and the Northern and Southern Dynasties. In addition, there are four powerful branches, namely the Bessho clan, the Sayo clan, the Uno clan and the Kodera clan, which are collectively known as the "Four Heavenly Kings of Akamatsu".

From the Muromachi period to the Warring States period, there were still some who protected the main family, while more branches each occupied the important places of Harima Province and became independent. But in terms of custom, they are still a clan, called the 36 Akamatsu clans, so the overall strength of the Akamatsu clan is one of the best in the whole of Japan.

However, the problem is that Japan is now in civil strife, and the expelled tenth shogun Ashikaga Yoshitane has received the support of the Ouchi clan and is gathering a large army to counterattack Kyoto. He has already fought to the Gyeonggi region, and the shadow of the Ming soldiers can be vaguely seen in Ashikaga Yoshitane's army.

At this moment, these Ming troops suddenly appeared on the sea of ​​Hyogojin without notice. Anyone with a little bit of brains would think that this is extremely abnormal!

The Akamatsu family recognized these warships as Ming ships at a glance, because among the surrounding countries, only the Ming Dynasty had the strength and financial resources to build such a terrifying warship as tall as a city.

Moreover, the flags flying on the ships, the bright yellow dragon flags, were not the colors and flags that the Japanese families liked to use.

The head of the Akamatsu family, Akamatsu Goro, looked at the Ming fleet in front of him with worry, and his face gradually began to turn pale.

Ming ships are not uncommon, and Ming merchant ships arrive at Hyogojin every three or five days, but such a large-scale fleet has never been seen before.

At this moment, the entire sea surface was shrouded by this huge fleet, and the momentum was so amazing that Japan's own small boats did not dare to approach this huge fleet at all, and even if there were, they were directly forcibly knocked away.

The tyranny and arrogance of the Ming people can be seen.

Akamatsu Goro hurriedly sent his men to meet them in a small boat, wanting to find out the real reason why these Ming people came.

At the same time, on the Fu ship

Tang Hao was just leisurely watching these slightly flustered Japanese.

Previously, the court sent the Minister of Rites and the famous scholar Xie Duo to Japan, trying to mediate the civil war in Japan in the name of the Ming Dynasty, but it didn't work at all.

Tang Hao certainly understood the reason.

The current King of Japan, or that useless emperor, has no power and influence at all. It is said that the King of Japan even has problems with eating.

For example, after the death of the 103rd Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado, there was no funeral expenses, so the body of Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado was kept in the Great Inner Palace for 40 days and could not be buried. In the end, several daimyo couldn't stand it and raised money to give a few hundred kan before he was finally buried; his son Emperor Go-Kashiwara, who succeeded his poor father, was also a poor emperor. After he succeeded his poor father, he happened to encounter financial difficulties in the court after the "Onin War". Therefore, he was on the throne for 22 years, but he had not been able to hold the succession ceremony because he had no money. In the end, the shogunate gave him 500 kan to hold his own coronation ceremony. The same was true for his son, Emperor Go-Nara, who inherited an empty throne from his father, which prevented him from holding a succession ceremony until ten years after he took the throne. Emperor Go-Nara's son, Emperor Go-Omiya, was also a poor man. After becoming emperor, he was unable to hold a succession ceremony due to lack of money, and he even had no money to repair the Great Inner Palace. And because the Crown Prince died, Emperor Go-Omiya's successor, his grandson Emperor Go-Yōzei, was extremely poor. If it weren't for Toyotomi Hideyoshi's protection, it would have been a delusion for him to ascend the throne...

To put it bluntly, this so-called "detianhuang" is actually a joke, just a mascot on the table.

However, it is worth mentioning that the emperor had an extremely important power to make money during the Warring States Period. Because the Warring States Period was an era of power supremacy among the princes, some daimyo who finally won the war suddenly found out awkwardly after the victory that although they won the victory and seized the territory, they had no official position and at best became a local tyrant or manor owner with armed forces. The so-called daimyo was just a self-proclaimed title.

In this way, for their so-called righteousness, they needed the emperor to grant them a corresponding official position to ensure that they could legitimately dominate the country, so the official position granted by the emperor highlighted its importance.

For example, the famous Toyotomi Hideyoshi, although he conquered a group of daimyo to serve him by force, he finally unified the world by using the power of the emperor. He rose from a commoner to a daimyo and a prime minister, until he finally commanded the world as a "kanpaku" (equivalent to the prime minister of the Central Plains Dynasty, and a prime minister who could supervise the country behind the curtain). All these official positions require the emperor's "official position granting power", which shows that the emperor's power is still reflected in reality in this regard.

In fact, the Japanese emperor and the royal family mainly rely on this "official position granting power" to exchange for the offerings of local daimyo to maintain the superficial majesty of the royal family.

As for the Muromachi shogunate, since the Onin War, its control over the daimyo in various places has also weakened sharply. Seven years ago, the retainers of the Muromachi shogunate launched a coup d'état, abolished the original shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshizai, and supported a puppet Ashikaga Yoshizumi to take the throne.

The current shogun Ashikaga Yoshizumi is just a puppet, and the real power is in the hands of several important retainers such as Hosokawa Masamoto, so the daimyo in various parts of Japan will ignore the shogunate, not to mention that the shogunate is still in the midst of a counterattack with Ashikaga Yoshitane and Ouchi Yoshioki.

So according to the ideas of the civil officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty, it is useless to issue an edict to reprimand Japan, whether it is to reprimand the King of Japan or the Shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, because the daimyo in various places simply do not listen to the orders of the emperor or the shogunate.

Of course, this is still the early Warring States period, and the Muromachi shogunate still has a lot of control and influence over Japan, and even repeatedly tried to restore its previous influence.

Only after a few decades, after the daimyo of various places conquered and annexed each other, some extremely powerful daimyo were born, which opened the prelude to the Warring States Period. For example, the rise and fall of the heroes of the troubled times, such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, etc., staged the most exciting period in the history of Japan, which was also called the Warring States Period by the Japanese.

In fact, because the land area of ​​Japan is small, the population is not large. Those daimyo seem to be local princes, but in fact they are relatively weak. They don’t have many troops at all, only a few thousand people at most. The stronger Ouchi clan has only about ten thousand people.

Therefore, the wars between these Japanese daimyo often only have a few hundred people, and wars of a few thousand people rarely appear. As for the wars of tens of thousands of people, there are not many throughout history, and they are all battles of national destiny that are enough to determine the fate of Japan.

That "Warring States Period" is actually just a gilded image by the Japanese. It is not comparable to the Warring States Period in Chinese history. It is just like a village fight in a prefecture, with hundreds of people fighting with simple weapons.

Of course, these are all later stories. At this time, Tang Hao knew that the Muromachi shogunate's control over various parts of Japan had greatly decreased due to the Onin War, and the daimyo in various places were constantly rising. It happened that Ouchi Yoshioki and Ashikaga Yoshitane waited for the great opportunity of Hosokawa Masamoto's assassination, so they immediately chose to attack Kyoto.

And this also gave the Ming Dynasty an opportunity.

The chaotic Japan could not unite and face the outside world even if it knew that the Ming army was coming.

How to face the outside world?

Should we listen to the emperor's mascot or the shogun?

Which shogun should we listen to, Ashikaga Yoshitane who was about to enter Kyoto, or Ashikaga Yoshizumi who was a puppet?

So no matter what, even if the Ming army captured the Hyojin Storehouse at this moment, the Japanese could only watch.

Although Ouchi Yoshioki is a person of character, he is just that. According to Tang Hao's prediction, even if this guy knows that the Ming army has launched an attack, he will definitely not give up the Kyoto that is about to be in his hands. Instead, he will continue to advance at all costs, trying to seize Kyoto first, and then immediately support Ashikaga Yoshitane to take the throne, and then call on the world's daimyo to resist the invasion of the Ming army in the name of the shogunate.

However, don't forget that there are still two thousand Kyoto soldiers led by Ma Yong and Deng Boyan in his troops, so this step is naturally impossible to succeed.

What Tang Hao has to do now is to immediately occupy the Hyojin warehouse, leave a group of soldiers to guard the fleet to ensure the retreat, and then march to Kyoto, Japan without stopping!

As long as Kyoto, Japan, is captured, the rest of the things will be much simpler.

Ouchi Yoshioki can support a puppet, and Tang Hao can naturally do the same, and he has already selected the candidate for this, Ashikaga Yoshitane, who has a heart higher than the sky and a life thinner than paper!

While thinking, Tang Mu suddenly came to report.

"My Lord, the Akamatsu family, who are in charge of the Bingjin warehouse, have sent someone here."

"It's pretty fast~" When Tang Hao heard this, he immediately laughed, then thought for a while and said: "You are responsible for the contact, just say that we are here to do business, bring some goods out to confuse them, and then send some brothers to carry the goods Go ashore to temporarily confuse the Japanese, and let the soldiers rest and have a good meal. Then we can start the landing operation late at night. We must capture this Bingjin depot before dawn! "

The reason why the night attack was launched was naturally to reduce the casualties of the soldiers.

I have to admit that this Japanese longbow is really powerful.

Although Tang Hao was worried about the safety of Ma Yong and Deng Boyan's two thousand soldiers, he could not ignore the lives of his subordinates just because he was impatient, so a night attack was the best option.

Hearing this, the corners of Tang Mu's mouth raised slightly.

Who doesn't like a coach who cares about his soldiers?

So he immediately bowed and accepted the order and left.

Half an hour later, Akamatsu Goro was still communicating with his confidants.

He really couldn't calm down, because the purpose of the Ming fleet in front of him was unclear, and the sense of oppression was enough to make people lose control.

"These are indeed the blessing ships of the Ming Dynasty."

"However, I have never seen such a big fortune ship, and ten big fortune ships at once. There are also those densely packed light warships next to it. I'm afraid it's someone with bad intentions!"

The confidant nodded when he heard this. He was older and vaguely remembered seeing Ming Dynasty's lucky ship once before.

However, they knew that the Ming Dynasty had a national policy of banning seas, so it was basically impossible for Fu Chuan to go to sea for trade, let alone such a huge fleet with ten Fu Chuan and hundreds of other warships.

Therefore, the possibility of this Ming fleet coming to do business is... very low!

"Why do you think this Ming Dynasty ship came to our Japanese country with so many troops?"

Akamatsu Goro thought for a while and asked again, hoping that his confidants could give a reasonable explanation.

"I don't know about that. The Ming Dynasty is a superior country. It has thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, and abundant resources and people. Naturally, it cannot be compared to our Japanese country."

The confidant shook his head slightly and said that he knew more about the Ming Dynasty from books. He had never been to the Ming Dynasty or met any Ming Dynasty people.

However, due to the Kanhe trade that emerged during the Yongle period, the goods of the Ming Dynasty became a hot commodity in the Japanese country, and they were even more sought after. Therefore, even the people of the Japanese country also clearly understood the strength and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty.

Except for a few beasts like the Matsuura clan who deliberately disguised themselves as Japanese pirates and went to the Ming Dynasty to plunder, the rest of the local daimyo still maintained more or less awe of the Ming Dynasty. After all, this was the Japanese suzerainty.

Hearing his words, Akamatsu Goro had no objection, because this was a fact. In the eyes of the surrounding countries, the Ming Dynasty in this era was the Shangguo.

Just as they were speculating, the small boat that had previously boarded the lucky ship to inquire quickly rowed back to the port and reported respectfully to Akamatsu Goro: "Master, they are from the Ming Dynasty's fleet. It is said that this is the fleet of Zhongshan Marquis of the Ming Dynasty. , so it’s huge.”

"This time they are here to do business. They hope to buy and sell goods and replenish supplies with us. They have completed trade with North Korea before, and now it is our turn."

When he said these words, this young man from the Akamatsu family was still blushing with excitement.

There is no way, Daming goods are famous for their hard currency. As long as you buy them and resell them, you can make huge profits!

"What? It's really a merchant ship? I thought it was an envoy ship from the Ming Dynasty."

Upon hearing this, Akamatsu Goro frowned immediately.

It is a bit abnormal that such a large fleet is just a merchant ship.

"What is the background of the Ming Dynasty Zhongshan Marquis?"

"Isn't it said that Ming Dynasty has a national policy of banning seas? How can his fleet go to sea for trade?"

This matter revealed a lot of unusual things, so Akamatsu Goro did not dare to let the Ming fleet approach for a while.

However, when his confidants heard the name Zhongshan Hou, their expressions perked up.

"Master, this is a great event!"

The confidant explained excitedly: "This Zhongshan Hou is the latest upstart in the Ming Dynasty. It is said that he saved the Ming Emperor from the tiger's mouth. He is deeply trusted by the Ming Emperor. He is in charge of the Ming Dynasty's soldiers. An important minister of the Ming Dynasty."

"In addition, this Marquis of Zhongshan was greedy for money and lustful. He once personally led a fleet to sea, directly seized the Jeju Racecourse in North Korea, and forced North Korea to dedicate the Jeju Racecourse to the Ming Dynasty. I heard these things mentioned by a North Korean businessman. Now The Jeju Racecourse already belongs to the Ming Dynasty!”

As soon as these words came out, Akamatsu Goro came back to his senses.

It seems that there is indeed such a thing.

At that time, the Jeju Racecourse was dedicated to the Ming Dynasty by North Korea. This incident also caused a lot of shock in the Japanese country.

After all, North Korea is very close to Japan, and the two countries are considered the closest neighbors. North Korea's actions also aroused ridicule from Japanese dignitaries.

However, Akamatsu Goro did not expect that there was another reason behind it.

So it seems understandable.

The Zhongshan Marquis of the Ming Dynasty was greedy for money, lustful, and had a high position, so he was able to send his fleet to sea for trade, bypassing the Ming court directly and making profits.

When he thought of this, Akamatsu Goro became excited.

He didn't care how much the Zhongshan Marquis could earn, what mattered was how much the Chisong family could earn.

Why is the Ouchi family so tyrannical?

Didn't they make a lot of money by participating in the Kangei trade with the Ming Dynasty, and thus developed into the overlord of the West?

If the Akamatsu family can directly connect with the Ming Zhongshan Hou with the help of the Hyojin Storehouse, they don't have to share the profits with other daimyo or the shogunate!

What a huge profit!

For a moment, Akamatsu Goro was extremely excited!

"Quick!"

"Welcome the Ming fleet to the port!"

"Prepare fine wine, delicacies and beauties, and make sure to do a good job of this deal!"

Akamatsu Goro looked at his family excitedly and shouted in high spirits.

"Whether my Akamatsu family can rise completely depends on whether we can connect with Zhongshan Hou this time!"