King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 703 Shimane Garrison
On the fourth day of September in the fifteenth year of the Zhengtong reign, good news came from Hunan, which excited the court.

The emperor was the first person to get the news. The first thing he thought of was to share it with the empress, and then he thought of sharing it with his children.

So, at the emperor's instruction, the empress summoned her children to a family dinner, which had not happened for a long time.

Inside Prince Xiang's mansion, Zhu Jinghong had already put on his clothes. He was not dressed very formally, but wore a dark blue round-necked robe with cloud pattern on the outside.

As for Baochai, she was also dressed in ordinary attire, with a bun on her head, an emerald green short jacket with long sleeves and a pattern on it, and a red skirt with a pattern of clouds, dragons and sea water woven in gold.

"are you done?"

Sitting on the chair, looking at Baochai who was still dressing up, Zhu Jinghong couldn't help but ask a question.

Baochai was already dressing up when he arrived. She had been waiting for nearly thirty minutes, but there was no sign of her finishing her wait.

At this time, Baochai stood up and said, "If you can't wait, just go first!"

At this time, Baoqin on the side couldn't help but interrupt: "Brother-in-law, you are too impatient!"

Looking at Baoqin, Zhu Jinghong said slowly: "I am anxious? If I am anxious..."

Seeing that Zhu Jinghong looked at Baoqin with a strange look, Baochai stepped forward and asked, "So what?"

"He really left!" Zhu Jinghong replied with a smile.

"Really? I thought you were impatient and wanted to harm others!"

"What you said..." Zhu Jinghong felt a little guilty.

At this time, Baochai had already walked to the door. She turned back to look at Zhu Jinghong who was still looking at Baoqin, and said jokingly: "How long are you going to wait? Are you going to leave or not?"

"Let's go...let's go now!" Zhu Jinghong looked at Baoqin again.

Baoqin is indeed very attractive, especially the shyness on her face, which makes her even more attractive.

Zhu Jinghong's eager gaze made her feel shy, excited, and even a little proud. After all, this proved her "strength".

Zhu Jinghong and his wife left the house and went straight to the imperial city.

About half an hour later, they arrived at Kunning Palace and found that the Crown Prince and his wife, Princess Rui Chen Zhi, and Zhu Yunsheng and his wife had arrived.

That’s right, Liang Yi had returned to Beijing ten days ago, and his arrow wound was not fatal.

After the defeat in Hunan, he had no face to stay there, so he returned to Beijing in a low-key manner.

Zhu Yunsheng's efforts were not in vain. The emperor forgave Liang Yi's mistakes, but also ordered him to reflect on his mistakes in seclusion for half a year and fined him three months' salary.

At this moment, Liang Yi seemed to have his edges smoothed out, and he became much calmer.

"Thirteenth brother, why are you here so late?" The prince took the initiative to step forward and ask.

Zhu Jinghong smiled and replied: "Someone will always arrive last, and it can be me!"

The prince was stunned for a moment before he understood what Zhu Jinghong meant. He patted him on the shoulder and led him into the hall.

On the main seat, the emperor and the empress were chatting, and they stopped talking when they saw Zhu Jinghong coming.

"I thought you weren't coming!" Zhu Xianming said with a smile.

After greeting Baochai together, Zhu Jinghong said with a smile, "I thought... you were really angry!"

Zhu Xianming did not hide anything and said bluntly: "I got good news today, I don't want to curse anyone!"

"That son is lucky!"

Although the conversation between the father and son seemed very unusual, it made the prince on the side very envious.

I don’t want it... This thought finally came to the prince’s mind.

After more than ten years of searching for something that was destined not to be obtained, he finally chose to let go.

Soon after everyone chatted, it was time for lunch. Everyone sat down and received their food, but the meal was still rather dull.

Fortunately, Zhu Yunsheng brought up various topics, so the situation was not too awkward.

Another half an hour later, the meal was finished.

The emperor suggested going for a walk, but the queen wanted to rest, so only the prince and Zhu Jinghong accompanied her out, while Baochai and Yuanchun stayed in Kunning Palace.

"Prince, all the reports from Hunan these days have been sent to your residence... What's going on over there, have you figured out?"

Zhu Jingyuan hated being tested, but he had to show respect at this time, and answered very humbly: "Reporting to the emperor, I think there are three main reasons for the chaos in Hunan!"

"Tell me!"

"First, local officials colluded with local gentry and exploited them excessively..."

"Secondly, the people have been burdened by the continuous wars and have long been resentful..."

"Third, the White Lotus rebels seem to be inciting..."

The prince elaborated on these three points in detail, but the emperor was not happy to hear them.

This is because these two articles seem to be accusing the imperial court, or accusing the emperor of warmongering.

The prince saw his father's dissatisfaction, but now he was less fearful and still insisted on finishing his thoughts.

"Old Thirteen, what do you think?"

"I think...what Fourth Brother said makes sense!" Zhu Jinghong replied calmly.

Zhu Xianming's face looked even uglier, but he was in a good mood today after all, so he didn't want to delve into it further.

The few of them walked forward in silence for a while and came to the outside of Chongzheng Hall, which was where regular court sessions were held and was not used most of the time.

"Your Majesty, there is an urgent military situation!"

An old eunuch came running over. It was Dai Quan, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, who was also in charge of the Eastern Depot.

"Ok?"

Dai Quan came before the emperor and knelt down to hand over a report, which Zhu Xianming immediately picked up and read.

As he was reading, Dai Quan said, "The Liaodong Navy reported that during our navy's sea drills, when we were near Japan to replenish supplies, we lost a soldier!"

"Some soldiers said they were abducted by the Japanese, so Admiral Zhao Chengwu ordered the local daimyo to hand over the person within three days..."

"The local daimyo refused to surrender, so Zhao Chengwu ordered his troops to land and look for them. They clashed with the local Japanese, and eight of our soldiers were seriously injured..."

"Zhao Chengwu immediately gave the order to bombard the harbor... and the two sides started fighting!"

Hearing these words, Zhu Jinghong's face remained unchanged, because he had discussed this matter secretly with the emperor four months ago.

"Japan is a small country, but it is so rampant!" Zhu Xianming crumpled the report into a ball, his face full of anger.

The prince was not stupid, he quickly figured out the problem.

How could the Liaodong Navy conduct training on the coast of Japan? This is a bit too far.

Then the emperor said: "Such small countries have repeatedly offended the power of the Celestial Empire. If we do not punish them, the Ming Dynasty will lose face!"

"You all go back. I will convene a meeting of civil and military officials to discuss how to deal with the current situation!" When Zhu Jinghong made the plan at the beginning, he had not thought that there would be a rebellion in Hunan. Now that the rebellion has just stopped and a new war has broken out, he has to carefully consider whether doing so is too warlike.

However, if we can acquire Japan's gold and silver mines, the profits can cover the negative issues and these problems will not be a problem.

In short, if you win, everything is easy, but if you lose, it will be a lot of fun.

Could you tell the emperor to be cautious?
There is no need to consider this issue, because it takes at least twenty days to send the news from Japan to Liaodong and then from Liaodong to the capital.

It will take at least fifteen days to send the message over here, which is more than a month in total.

The established battle plan has been launched, and a month is enough time for a lot to happen.

It is even possible that the outcome has now been decided. Either the Ming Dynasty will be defeated and retreat to Liaodong, or it will land and capture two or three cities and establish a relatively solid defense.

"Thirteenth brother, the people are suffering from years of war. Is this right?"

"Fourth brother...I don't know!" Zhu Jinghong answered frankly.

In the past, in order to achieve success, he tried his best to provoke wars. Now that he has experienced more things, Zhu Jinghong's ideas have changed.

The two brothers were speechless for a while and returned to Kunning Palace silently.

With the flattery of her daughter-in-law and daughter, the queen smiled more. When she saw her two sons coming back alone, she asked where the emperor had been.

Zhu Jinghong and the other man only said that they had something to do and did not mention the war in Liaodong. Neither of them wanted to make the queen worry too much.

After staying in Kunning Palace until the afternoon, they left one by one.

"Something happened again?"

On the return journey in the carriage, Baochai noticed something was wrong, so she took the initiative to ask.

"Fighting breaks out in Liaodong again!"

"Alas...it's really like one crisis after another!" Baochai sighed.

She had heard Zhu Jinghong mention the battle plan against Japan before, and she also knew the reasons for launching the war.

"Now the people are suffering, and the old man is eager for quick success, which may not be a good thing for the world!"

Hearing this, Baochai reminded him seriously: "Whether it is a good thing or not, you shouldn't say it now!"

"Yeah!" Zhu Jinghong nodded.

Baochai continued, "I heard you say before that the main force in the Liaodong campaign this time will be the Jurchens, and the money and food will be supplied by Korea, so the burden on the Ming Dynasty will not be heavy, and you don't have to worry too much!"

"That's true, but the people of the world don't think so. If this continues... the people will rebel!"

The Hunan Rebellion is a typical event.

Although the prince analyzed several reasons, it ultimately came down to the people's resentment and hostility towards the court.

History books always say that we should "recuperate and rebuild, and make a fresh start with the people", and that is no joke.

Baochai also fell silent. She actually understood the truth, but the Prince Xiang’s Mansion could do nothing about it.

The carriage continued to move forward and soon left the imperial city and went straight to Prince Xiang's palace.

In a blink of an eye, another half month passed, and news from Liaodong continued to arrive.

The situation was exactly as Zhu Jinghong had expected. With his careful planning, the elite troops led by Zhao Chengwu easily broke into the Shimane County.

At this time, the Jurchens' fierce and muscular soldiers had been transported by various ships, and 5,000 of them had been sent into the city to serve as the main force for defense.

In order to enhance the combat effectiveness of these people, the imperial court not only equipped them with muskets, but also allocated some additional cannons to them.

The subsidies provided by the Ming Dynasty, coupled with local looting, ensured that these Jurchen wolf soldiers were well fed and their fighting spirit was extremely high.

Therefore, relying on only these 5,000 people, with their absolute advantage in weapons and equipment and with the strong support of the Ming army, they easily repelled the counterattack of the surrounding daimyos.

Although Japan was ruled by the Okamoto family, it was governed by the shogunate after all. It was not an easy task to quickly mobilize the national military.

Therefore, before completing the preparations for the national war, the Okamoto family sent envoys to propose negotiations to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhao Chengwu was well prepared for this. During the negotiations, he acted as an envoy of other daimyo, stating that the court would only punish the Shimane daimyo and would not launch attacks on other forces.

Although promises are unreliable, it is better to have them than nothing. Zhao Chengwu's statement made most people feel more at ease.

But when asked when the Ming Dynasty would withdraw its troops, Zhao Chengwu bluntly stated that Shimane was in an excellent location and that the Ming Dynasty could station troops there to stabilize Japan.

There was no doubt that the negotiations broke down, and the Okamoto family began to recruit troops and quickly gathered 50,000 soldiers.

Don't underestimate these 50,000 people. This is Japan's current mobilization limit, or more precisely, the limit of the Okamoto family.

Once the Okamoto family is defeated, it will inevitably suffer a serious blow, and it is possible that the foundation of its rule will be shaken.

On September 25, the war broke out in Shimane County. The Ming side, including the landing navy, had only 10,000 people participating in the battle.

Although they were facing 50,000 Japanese troops, the Ming army had the advantage in weapons. They took advantage of the poor coordination among the daimyo and easily created a situation of overall disadvantage and local advantage.

By taking advantage of these local advantages and winning a series of attacks, the situation took a huge turn.

On October 10, the Ming army launched a decisive battle with Japan.

At this time, the Ming army had a strength of 15,000 troops, while the Japanese troops combined had only 35,000.

Of the 15,000 Japanese soldiers who were missing, some were led away by the daimyo, some were killed by the Ming army in successive battles, and some simply escaped quietly.

The decisive battle lasted two days, the Japanese left behind five thousand corpses, and then the Okamoto family chose to give in.

If the war continues, the shogunate will suffer heavy losses, which will be very unprofitable for the Okamoto family.

Anyway, the occupied area is not directly under the Okamoto family, so it is not completely unacceptable to be occupied by others.

The only thing that made the Okamoto family sad was that the silver mine in Shimane Prefecture fell into the hands of others. In the past, they would take half of the silver mine's profits, so this was a big loss for them.

The current output of Shimane Silver Mine is approximately three million taels per year, and as long as the scale of mining is expanded, the output can be further increased.

On October 18, the Ming army signed an armistice agreement with Japan, and the Ming army's stationing in Shimane officially began.

During the entire battle, the Liaodong Navy, Liaodong Military Commission, Jurchen wolf soldiers, and some conscripted soldiers from Korea were mobilized. The later commander was the governor of the Five Military Governor's Office appointed by the emperor himself.

When the news reached the capital, it was already early November, and the temperature in the capital was already extremely low.

Even so, at this moment, outside the gate of Prince Xiang's mansion, there were still many eunuchs and maids standing, and the lights and decorations were hung as if some happy event was happening.

Inside the Tongxin Hall of the palace, Baochai led a group of women, chatting in low voices while waiting.

On the other side of the long street, a team of carriages was moving slowly, and the flag of Prince Xiang's Palace was eye-catching.

People only thought that it was the noble person from the palace who was passing through, and of course no one could guess who was inside.

In the most imposing carriage, Yang Jingting was wrapped in a blue-gray cloak, staring straight at the curtain in front of her, as if she could see things ahead through the curtain.

There was a slight smile on the corner of her mouth, and she looked very calm yet very confident.

"The capital... the palace... the princess... I'm back!" Yang Jingting murmured in a low voice.

(End of this chapter)