Xinshun 1730

Chapter 336
These officers have been holding back in Weihai for a long time, looking at the map all day long and deducing various possibilities. This is the job of the staff officer.

Liu Yu made an inappropriate analogy with Zhou Tianzi and the princes. Although it is not perfect, it is more intuitive and easier to understand.

They have deduced countless times, thinking that if there is a war against Japan, the battlefield will be on Kyushu Island.

Now that Liu Yu said that he wanted to use the internal contradictions of the Wa Kingdom to create a situation where all parties were not in harmony, they probably understood why Liu Yu went to Tosa for a visit.

Since Tosa is a foreign daimyo, if Dashun's fleet can defeat the coastal defenses near Tosa and cross Tosa with a very small force, then in the eyes of other foreign daimyos, Dashun's navy can land anywhere on the coastline, and it is very likely could threaten their fief.

In this way, they will inevitably hesitate when sending troops, and they will definitely find a way to keep enough troops to guard their own city, so as not to be stolen by Dashun.

At least, they will not be too proactive. Even if they have to go, they will have to wait until an order from the shogunate forces them to send troops.Moreover, they may play tricks, avoid fighting, and passively wait for the troops directly under the shogunate to come.

The reverse is also the same, the troops directly under the shogunate do not want to be consumed in the war with Dashun.Once the shogunate has no military strength and cannot suppress the princes, it will be the collapse of rituals and music in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the outsiders will not be honest.

Excluding the pro-vassal daimyos, there are still a group of genealogy daimyos who may be fooled at any time, these are all factors of instability.

Although Japan is a big country, it does not have much war potential that can actually be mobilized.Even as long as it can fight a war of annihilation of about [-] people against the forces directly under the shogunate, the shogunate will immediately sue for peace, and will not choose to use all its troops to protect Japan. Compared with protecting Japan, protecting the shogunate is more important Some.

Going around Tosa is laying mines for the shogunate.

The foreign daimyo would definitely ask the shogunate not to mobilize their troops, but to let their troops defend the city, lest Dashun's navy land along the coastline.

The shogunate promised that the main force in the war and the one who died the most would be the troops directly under the shogunate.

If the shogunate refused to agree, it meant that the foreign daimyo had an inextricable knot in his heart. Even if the direct government had no choice but to send out all the troops, it would inevitably be alienated from morality.

In particular, Liu Yu didn't plan to stay only in Tosa, but went to the outer sea of ​​Edo, where he would directly threaten Edo Castle and declare that Dashun's navy could land near Edo at any time.

If the shogunate reserved a large number of troops in Edo, then the foreign daimyo would think: Your shogunate can keep troops to guard the house, but ask us to do our best, what the hell is this?

If you keep troops to guard your home, then there will not be many troops going to Kyushu Island, and you will definitely gather troops from daimyos from all over the world.On the one hand, it created estrangement and dissatisfaction. On the other hand, this situation where the eighteen princes gathered together made it impossible to fight a war at all.

Once there are too many and complicated people, the command will not be smooth, and everyone has their own ideas and ghosts. It will be easier for the Dashun Army to fight.

After figuring out the purpose of going to Tosa this time, Liu Yu warned again: "This time you land, you must remember to strictly enforce military discipline. No burning, killing, looting is allowed. Let's create something out of nothing for future negotiations."

"Anything out of nothing?"

The officers were at a loss, not knowing where it came from.What is born?
"One of the main reasons for banning religion in Japan is because of the Shimabara Rebellion, when Catholics revolted. Japan does not believe in green religion, and there were many daimyo who believed in Catholicism before. What is Japan afraid of Catholicism?"

"It's like a person who can't swim, so he is afraid of falling into the river. So is he afraid of water? Or is he afraid of death? If he is afraid of water, he is afraid of even drinking water. So, in essence, it is fear die."

"It's the same in Japan. They are afraid of Catholicism. They are afraid that Catholicism will spread among the people at the bottom. The people at the bottom will use this to organize and resist the tyranny of the country. Therefore, what the country fears most is the resistance of the people at the bottom, but Catholicism can happen to be an organization in the country. tools together."

"The so-called creation out of nothing is to produce something that the Japanese shogunate and daimyo are afraid of - the resistance of the people."

"Strict discipline is required. Spread some things that Japan doesn't want to hear at all. When the peace talks are signed and the treaty is signed, these things we don't care about are added to the treaty. This is nothing. If you pay back the money, you can get more bargaining interest."

"In the future, the Wa country will be locked even more. Except for the switch we want, the rest of the country will be more closed. It is strictly forbidden to go to sea, and it is even more strictly forbidden to study abroad."

In fact, Dashun is also a fool, and he is also afraid that the bottom will organize rebellion, but after all, the era when princes and generals really have kindness, the Celestial Dynasty has long passed.

The absolute hereditary system has been gradually broken since the Shang Yang era, and now it can be said that the dynasty is Tian Shelang, Mudeng Tianzitang, no matter what, Dashun's Shi Nong Gong is not the same as Japan's Shi Nong Gong.

Dashun has the imperial examination as a sharp weapon for class mobility, and one who passes the imperial examination is a scholar; in Japan, the scholar is still hereditary after all.

Therefore, some words can be widely publicized in Japan without worrying about being found out by the court and the central government as treasonous words.

If these words are well spoken, they can be worth tens of thousands of soldiers.

Originally, it was just an intrigue between the daimyo and the shogunate, each with their own ideas; now it is necessary to instigate class conflicts, so that each daimyo has to consider the possibility of "one key" after the landing of Dashun.

In future negotiations, this matter may also be the first condition that the shogunate asked to remove, such as not disseminating similar ideas, not accepting people from Wa Kingdom who spontaneously went to Dashun to study.

Since we want to remove this condition, we have to make up for it elsewhere, which requires additional money.

No matter how much Dashun was a feudal dynasty, such things as meritocracy, imperial examinations for scholars, light corvee and low taxes, money for service, and integration of the four peoples were still politically correct at this time.But in Japan, any sentence will cause an uproar.

The bottom lacks organization and lacks guiding ideology. Organization takes time, and guiding ideology can be instilled in a short period of time. It doesn't matter if the people at the bottom can understand it or not. Anyway, it is for high-ranking samurai, daimyo, and the shogunate.

Tosa was chosen because Tosa changed the feudal lord after the Battle of Sekigahara, and there was also a huge conflict between the samurai of the new feudal lord's family and the samurai left by the old feudal lord, which would have a greater impact here.

In addition to the sailors, there are only 500 marines in hand. Even if Kochi City suffered a fire a few years ago and the famine just passed, it is unrealistic to attack Kochi City.

But I have to rely on these five hundred marines, so that the Tosa clan will not dare to send out a single soldier in the future.

As for robbing money... Obviously robbing is the lowest level method, Liu Yu disdains to use it.

After explaining his plan to everyone and making sure that he could clearly understand it for implementation, several Japanese-speaking interpreters began to recite the demagogic and emotional pamphlet written by Liu Yu.

Soon, the front warship captured a Japanese merchant ship.

Since the promulgation of the national lock-up order, Japan, which used to be able to build Galen ships and cross the Pacific Ocean to recruit mining engineers in Mexico, no longer has a ship that can go to sea.

The merchant ship was pitifully small, so it walked closer to the sea, which proved that it was not far from the coast.

The owner was transferred to Liu Yu's ship. It can be seen that the poor owner has been terrified. This is not Nagasaki. The owner here has neither seen such a big ship nor foreign people.

After boarding the boat, he knelt on the ground and dared not speak.

Liu Yu knew what merchants liked best, and wanted to test how much the lock-up order had on the merchants here. He smiled and took out a few Spanish silver dollars minted in Mexico—there are a lot of them in Fujian and Guangdong. , more common than silver curly.

When the businessman kneeling on the ground saw the gleaming silver dollar, his original fear was swept away, and he knew that whoever gave the money with a smile must not be a bad person, let alone kill him.

Kowtowing to Liu Yu a few times, he took the silver dollar that Liu Yu handed over.

But as soon as the silver dollars were touched in his hand, it was like an electric shock. He threw the few silver dollars aside, and was so frightened that he kowtowed violently on the ground.

Because, on the back of the silver dollar, a cross coat of arms is printed.

Liu Yu took out another same silver coin, pointed to the cross coat of arms on the back, and asked in his half-baked Japanese, "Is it because of this?"

The businessman kowtowed like pounding garlic, saying yes again and again, if anyone saw such a sign, he would be crucified and burned at the stake.

After the Shimabara Rebellion, the shogunate had a standard procedure for dealing with Catholics: Crucifixion, smashing up the corpses and building them in the city walls, to see if they could be resurrected.

Although the businessman had never been overseas, he could remember such things as the lock-up order, and he would definitely die if he was discovered.Even if the love for Baiyin is deep, it can only be thrown away as if it has shit on it, and maybe even if it really has shit on it, it won't be like this.

From the reaction of this businessman, Liu Yu can judge that the control of the shogunate is still very strong.So he took the few silver dollars away, and found some newly minted Xiangbao coins in Japan in recent years. The businessman's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly accepted them.

"Is your lord from Tang Dynasty?"

After receiving the money, he became more courageous and even dared to speak to Liu Yu on his own initiative.

"Well, it's Tang. What kind of business do you do?"

"The villain sells paper. Tosa's paper is very famous. The villain is a small business. I beg you to let me go."

"Well, don't worry, Tang's paper is everywhere. I will never ask for your paper or your boat. Are you from Tosa?"

"Yes, the villain is a merchant from Tosa."

"I heard that there was a fire in Kochi City, has it not been repaired yet?"

"No, it hasn't been fixed yet."

"Is your feudal lord going to Edo for a visit?"

"Yes."

"When do you usually come back?"

"It's not until August."

"How far is Kochi City from the coast?"

He took out two Xiangbao silver coins. The merchant took the silver coins and replied: "It is about ten miles away from the coast and the mouth of the river. The mouth of the river is narrow, and the boat of adults may not be able to pass through it. The city of Kochi is ten miles up the river mouth. At the mouth of the river."

"Are there forts by the sea?"

"No."

I took a pen and paper, and while asking, I drew a rough picture of the estuary.

If what this businessman said is true, then there is no need to think about attacking Kochi City. The river mouth is too narrow, and Liu Yu will never drive a warship into the narrow river when there are not enough infantry. That is to deliver food to people. Behavior.

But a city is a city, and a city is a city, and Kochi Castle is a castle, and of course the vast majority of the population lives in the castle town.

There has not been a war here for more than a hundred years, and there is not even a fort on the coast.

After asking clearly about the situation to be asked, Liu Yu also kindly told the businessman how to respond if he was asked in the future.

When the businessman completely relaxed his vigilance and thought that Tang people were good people in the face of silver coins, Liu Yu smiled and showed his fangs.

"If what you said is true, I will pretend that nothing happened. If it is false, your name will definitely be spread in Tosa."

The businessman's slack spirit was startled again, and he kowtowed again and again to say that he didn't dare. Then Liu Yu asked for more details on the map he had dictated just now.

Experts can tell whether it is true or false when they make a move. After all, they have been leading troops for so long.After the businessman told what he knew one by one, and it was basically confirmed that it was the truth, Liu Yu rewarded him with a few more silver coins.

Before releasing him back to the ship, he asked him to fetch some paper produced in Tosa, asked about the price, made a judgment, and concluded that unless the steam engine was used on a large scale, it would not be able to have an impact on the Japanese paper industry.

For common goods such as surplus silk and porcelain, Liu Yumenqing has a detailed price list for smuggling and normal trade every year.

Let the businessman go, and knowing that Tosa is not far away, he raised the flag and told the fleet to change its course a little.

On the ship, the cadets in charge of surveying and mapping were moving out boxes of instruments. The Jupiter positioning method could not be used on a shaking ship, and the required telescope was quite large. Once they landed, they had to measure the latitude and longitude of the place as soon as possible.

Two expedition ships, and two cruise ships were separated, turned to the west, and drew a map of the coastline of Shikoku Island along the way.

The closer the main force of the fleet was to Tosa, the more ships there were at sea.But there are no big boats, they are all small boats, either for fishing or transporting goods, and the boats are not big.

When most of the ships saw Liu Yu's fleet, they ran towards the shore like flying. The sailors obeyed Liu Yu's order and did not shoot anyone on the deck with their guns.

The military cadets surrounding Liu Yu looked at the boats with bitter faces.

"My lord, the Japanese don't even have a navy. Even if they do, they are small boats. Isn't our navy just serving as a transport team for the army? Let me tell you, the marines are assembled, the army fights the army, and the navy fights us." of."

"Let's send the army to Kyushu Island, leave half of the ships to guarantee the sea rights, and monitor the Japanese navy. The rest, go directly along the coast of the Japanese country, and fight wherever there are fewer soldiers, and they can't catch up. Come on, if we want to fight, we can fight, if we think we can't fight, we can withdraw."

"In this way, all the soldiers of the Wa people who were in custody shrank in the city, and none of them dared to come out."

Liu Yu smiled and said, "Forget it. The shells are quite expensive, and the gunpowder is not cheap, so you can be intimidated. After the attack, what spoils can I get? I cannonball for a day and grab two boats of rice? It's like Kochi You have to borrow money from the shogunate for such a castle, and Kochi Castle hasn’t been repaired yet, do you think it can be squeezed out?”

"I took great pains to make the Wa country have money to pay for. I also helped them stabilize the famine, and helped them propose reforms in minting coins, just for the convenience of collecting money today. All the big names have to go to the throne every year. How much money is there? A few years ago, the poor in the shogunate even stopped attending the imperial court, do you think anyone who has money can stop this system of weakening potential opponents?"

"To capture Kyushu Island, how much money can be spent is a fixed number. If you attack a few more cities, what can he do without you? You must know that Japan does not have a Bank of England, and he can't raise money if he is in a hurry. what."

While talking and joking, the watchman on the mast sent a signal that the mouth of the river could already be seen.

Liu Yu waved at the flag bearer, signaled to the ministries to prepare for battle, fired cannons in demonstration, and sank any approaching ships.

(End of this chapter)