different warring states of japan

Chapter 2147 Shen Weijing and Qian Shikui

After establishing the provisional shogunate and the Samurai Daipanpan system and gaining recognition of the legitimacy of the regime from most samurai, the Sasaki theocracy began a new round of purges in this autumn and winter.

Taking the Tobita Shinchi murder case as an opportunity, the Shiba Shinji group once again raised their butcher knives against the semi-independent samurai families in their sphere of influence.

At the beginning, the purge was limited to people related to Tobita Shinchi, but as the scope continued to expand, all local samurai with semi-independent status were suppressed and liquidated to varying degrees.

No matter in Kanto or Kansai, no matter how many contributions they had made to the Sasaki family or how many praises and promises they had received, as long as they were not descendants of the Sasaki family or direct retainers, they became targets of hunting.

Niwa Yukimori took action first, and the other descendants of the gods were not idle either. As the purge continued to expand, the power of the descendants of gods became stronger and stronger.

Even Yoshigin Sasaki himself did not expect that the suppression originally aimed at the pro-Ichirō faction would turn into a political reshuffle-like purge.

After this great purge, the foundation of the Sibo divine group in the local area became more solid and the ruling system of the Sibo theocracy became more mature.

At the same time, driven by greed and fear, Hideyoshi Ichijo was unable to persuade the samurai of the Eastern Island Kingdom to join the war, and had no choice but to continue borrowing money to fight the war.

On the other hand, the logistical supplies promised by the rulers and ministers of the peninsula to the Celestial Empire were not delivered at all. The 40,000 shi of military rations in Pyongyang and the 200,000 shi of military rations in Anzhou were all lost to the enemy because of an army advancing northward.

The mediocrity and incompetence of the peninsula's rulers and ministers, as well as their shamelessness, made the Celestial Empire helpless, and it finally decided to take on the logistical support independently.

The Celestial Empire's first 5,000 troops crossed the Yalu River and attacked Pyongyang, but failed due to lack of food and fodder, insufficient intelligence, and lack of cooperation from the ruler and his ministers on the peninsula.

In order to ensure the conquest of the peninsula, the Celestial Empire, on the one hand, dispatched reinforcements, and on the other hand, began to send ministers to suppress the peninsula's monarchs and ministers who were becoming more and more troublesome.

The following year, General Li Rusong, who assembled a large number of troops, marched into Pyongyang, broke through Pyongyang, which was defended by an army, and headed south to Seoul.

As the situation improved, the ruler and his ministers on the peninsula began to develop their own ideas, and conflicts arose again between the two sides of the Celestial Empire.

In addition to the internal conflicts between southern and northern soldiers, and between civil and military officials within the Celestial Empire's army, the plan to expel a corps from the south had to be temporarily suspended, and negotiations had to be initiated.

Hideyoshi Ichijo, who had a chance to catch her breath, saw hope again. She was overwhelmed by the consumption of cross-sea warfare, and she also hoped to retain the four southern regions of the peninsula through negotiations.

The peninsula's geography is characterized by mountains in the north and fields in the south, with most of the plains in the south. As long as Hideyoshi Ichijo could preserve the plains in the four southern regions, his conquest of the peninsula would not be considered a failure.

As a result, a legion began to build fortresses in the southern part of the peninsula to resist the offensive of the Celestial Empire's army.

In the summer and autumn of that year, the two sides began to contact each other, and a small figure thus stepped onto the stage of history and left his name in history.

---

In Duowenshan Castle, Yiyin looked at the slightly yellow leaves that were about to fall from the branches.

The cool breeze blows, and it's autumn again.

As Hideyoshi Ichijo's conquest of the peninsula suffered a serious setback, the resentment among Shiba's subordinates caused by the Great Purge became less and less, and there were more and more voices praising the saint's wisdom.

Yiyin, who had once again stabilized the internal situation, had now become a true monarch with real power. His words were law and he was more powerful than before.

Although Hideyoshi Ichijo's defeat made the samurai of the Eastern Island Province more honest and obedient and more in line with the wisdom of the saint, Yoshigaki was not happy.

Because the Qing army was not doing well on the peninsula, the war had actually reached a stalemate.

He glanced at Miyuki who had grown a little bit older and recalled what this little girl had been talking to him about every day.

Because the three major expeditions emptied the national treasury, and the war on the peninsula especially devastated Korea, it intensified the internal conflicts of the Ming army, leading to the rise of Manchuria soon after, which brought endless disasters to the Chinese mainland.

Yiyin didn't know whether he should be happy or sad at this moment.

Because the war on the peninsula was not going well, the Celestial Empire was willing to negotiate peace. This was a good opportunity for the Sasaki family. The bargaining chip that Yoshigin wanted, which was to submit to the Celestial Empire and reopen the Kanko trade, was now in his hands.

But from Miyuki's description, if the war dragged on, it would bring immeasurable losses to the Celestial Empire. She should have taken action earlier to eliminate Ichijo Hideyoshi and save the Celestial Empire some effort.

Yiyin asked.

"Miyuki, you have a better history than me. Do you have any impression of Shen Weijing, who was sent by the Celestial Empire to negotiate with Ichijo Hideyoshi?"

Shenxue was already a ten-year-old child at this time. Although still young, her facial features were delicate and she had the potential to be a top beauty, just waiting for her blossoming.

She is talented in both literature and martial arts, and has been kept by Yoshigin in recent years. She has long been recognized as the heir to the Sasaki family.

Moreover, she had an excellent background. She was from the lineage of Uesugi, the Kanto Kanrei, and had noble blood. Apart from Takeda Yoshinobu, whose birth name was difficult to reveal, she was the oldest among the group of children.

She is virtuous, legitimate and the eldest son, and there is nothing wrong with her.

Having been with Yiyin for the past few years, and influenced by his words and deeds, Miyuki's thinking has become more mature. The more she understands how difficult it is for Yiyin to be a king, the more complicated Miyuki's feelings for Yiyin become.

Both of them are travelers who have wandered the world, and both of them are kings who are lonely at the top. This loneliness that others cannot understand has become a tacit understanding hidden deep in their hearts and a secret between them.

In Yiyin's heart, he feels happy that Miyuki has a companion, loves him as a father, and shares the same aspirations.

As for Miyuki, perhaps she never regarded Yoshigin as a father, but just as a comrade who changed history together. This feeling is deep and immoral.

At this time, facing Yiyin's question, Miyuki smiled.

"Shen Weijing, this is a well-known liar, how could I not know him?

She came from a good family, but she was a dissolute person when she was young and liked to hang out with scoundrels in the market.

With her eloquent tongue, she managed to make Konishi Yukinaga faint, deceived Emperor Wanli and Ichijo Hideyoshi, and created a huge diplomatic joke that is very interesting in history. "

Yiyin frowned slightly.

"It turns out she's a liar. I thought she could help me smooth out my relationship with China when she came to the island country this time, but it seems I can't count on her anymore."

Although Yiyin was willing to submit to the Imperial Court and reopen trade, it became a vassal state.

But the Celestial Empire is not willing to accept just any dog. He must have enough bargaining chips and a channel to show his obedience to the Celestial Empire.

With Ichijo Hideyoshi's invasion of the peninsula, the Sasaki family's value for united front work had been established, and the bargaining chip for surrendering to the Celestial Empire was already in hand.

But Yiyin still needs to find a way to contact the Celestial Empire and let it know of his submissiveness.

He made two preparations for this.

First, use the transferred money for trade.

The Celestial Empire was short of copper, and Yiyin, thanks to the mining of the Ashio Copper Mine, produced a large number of copper coins called Shunming Tongbao.

The wealthy merchants of the Celestial Empire who were able to participate in the trade of transferring money must have the support of important figures of the Celestial Empire, and most of them were bureaucratic capital from the Wenchang area in the southeast.

Yiyin used the Sakai Port's tori-kai trade channel to have Imai Munehisa, under Takata Haruno, contact the other party to see if he could get through to the Celestial Empire. Secondly, he used the port opened by the Portuguese in Macau to pass messages through Lilu's maritime merchant network to pass on information to the Celestial Empire.

Although these two channels were working secretly, Yiyin still felt unsure.

Because the money brought across the border is itself an act of smuggling that bypasses the ports of the Celestial Empire for trade. It is better to expect the sun to rise from the west than to expect the Celestial Empire's bureaucratic capitalists to expose their shortcomings and speak for the national interest.

The same is true for Macau.

The Portuguese bribed local officials to set up ports privately, but most local officials were unwilling to report major news involving the war on the peninsula and attract attention.

If the higher-ups investigate this, wouldn't that let them know about the dereliction of duty in opening the port privately?

Therefore, Yiyin's sincere desire to surrender to the Celestial Empire was actually stuck in the information channel.

I would have my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon illuminates the ditch.

Yiyin was helpless, but he also believed that the envoys sent by the Celestial Empire to negotiate with the island country might be the most effective communication channel he could find.

And now, from what Shenxue said, Shen Weijing, who was running around between the two sides, was actually a big liar, which made Yiyin very disappointed.

Seeing Yoshigin's disappointed expression, Miyuki chuckled.

"Father, don't be too upset. There are two versions of Shen Weijing in history.

First of all, it is true that this person is a liar, but he is actually fair-minded.

She is nearly 60 years old and is still willing to engage in cross-sea diplomacy despite her old age. She is more or less patriotic and really wants to do something for the country.

Secondly, there are also speculations that she was actually an abandoned child who was used and betrayed.

Her backer in the Celestial Empire was the Minister of War Shi Xing. The few times she was sent as an envoy to the island countries were when problems arose within the Ming army.

The first attack on Pyongyang failed, and the Celestial Empire needed time to mobilize troops. Shen Weijing bought time for the Celestial Empire and negotiated with Konishi Yukinaga.

After the failure of the battle to the south, Shen Weijing was sent out to negotiate with Ichijo Hideyoshi to bridge the differences within the Celestial Empire and buy time again.

So some people have always suspected that she was a spy sent by the Celestial Empire to delay time, but in the end she became an abandoned pawn betrayed by the corrupt bureaucrats. "

Yiyin nodded and said.

"These two statements are not contradictory. As long as she has a sense of justice, let alone five points, even if she only has three points of patriotism, I am willing to give it a try."

Miyuki shook her head and said.

"Shen Weijing was a member of Shi Xing's peace faction. Although Emperor Wanli gave her a high rank and recognized her contributions, she was not the emperor's person after all. There was a layer of relationship between them.

If you contact her, what if the peace faction in the Celestial Empire intercepts the news and conceals it, or sells the news to Ichijo Hideyoshi?"

Miyuki's words made Yiyin sigh helplessly.

"Although there are risks, I don't have a better opportunity to contact the Celestial Empire right now, so I can only take the risk and give it a try."

Miyuki laughed.

"Father, don't worry. Aren't you curious about the final outcome of Shen Weijing, the big liar?"

Yiyin looked at Miyuki, sensing that her words carried a deeper meaning, and sighed.

"Don't keep me in suspense. Just speak frankly."

Miyuki said solemnly.

"Shen Weijing was naturally imprisoned and executed because his deception of both parties was exposed.

She arbitrarily agreed to one of Hideyoshi's seven conditions, which the Celestial Empire would never allow. It could be said that she was courting her own death.

But what’s interesting is that no matter how Shen Weijing tried to fool people, Emperor Wanli believed her and promoted her to the rank of guerrilla general of the Third Battalion of the Shenji Army, appointed her as the deputy commander, and sent her to the island country as a deputy envoy.

But it was this last mission that made Emperor Wanli furious and he put Shen Weijing in prison.

Historical records say that because Shen Weijing was promoted to guerrilla general, he was allowed to bring a small number of guards with him when he was on a diplomatic mission, and among the guards was a lieutenant colonel of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

It was this lieutenant who, after his mission, slipped back to the mainland from the island nation, exposing Shen Weijing's double-dealing behavior."

Yiyin narrowed his eyes.

"Shen Weijing was fine on several diplomatic missions, which means that everyone in the diplomatic mission, even the diplomatic officials of the imperial court, knew about the conspiracy and were even implicated.

But the Wanli Emperor was furious about the truth and imprisoned and killed people to vent his anger. This shows that the Wanli Emperor did not know about it before, and it was this Jinyiwei officer who infiltrated the delegation who reported the truth? "

Miyuki nodded and said.

"exactly.

Since you are willing to obey the Celestial Empire, why bother arguing with those impure-minded bureaucrats? Rather than betting on their conscience, you might as well try to get your message heard directly by the Emperor. "

Yiyin’s eyes widened.

"Are you talking about that Jinyiwei junior officer? Well, she should be the Wanli Emperor's man. Even if she is not, at least she has a channel to reach the emperor.

But there are many officials accompanying the Celestial Empire delegation. How can you be sure who is the Jinyiwei officer who exposed Shen Weijing in history?"

Miyuki laughed.

“That’s not difficult, this person has also left his name in history.

According to historical records, Qian Shikui, a small flag officer of the Eastern Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, secretly served as a flag and drum officer for Shen Weijing and returned from Japan.

As long as we find this person among the delegation, we can try to contact her and let the Celestial Empire understand the patriotism of the Shiba family."

Yiyin scolded with a smile.

"What patriotism? You and I are natives of an island country. If others hear us, we will be laughed at.

Qian Shikui? Hmm, interesting. "

(End of this chapter)