Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 214: Treason with the Japanese and the Ming Dynasty

Seeing Li Banghua coming, Zheng Zhilong quickly dismounted his horse and came forward: "Your Majesty, Zheng Zhilong, is joining the military gate. Military gate, please come into the city!"

Li Banghua didn't pick up the fight, but snorted coldly, and ordered the soldiers behind him: "Come on, take down the traitor Zheng Zhilong!"

Several soldiers behind him immediately took the order, dismounted and pinned Zheng Zhilong on the spot.

The dozen followers behind Zheng Zhilong were all his own soldiers. When they saw Zheng Zhilong being captured, they immediately drew their swords. However, facing hundreds of Ming troops, they knew that they had no chance of winning, so they did not dare to act rashly in the end.

Zheng Zhilong was also shocked and shouted: "Master Junmen, I am wronged. I acted in accordance with the military order, landed from the north bank and captured Jeju City. There was no disloyalty to the imperial court!"

Li Banghua asked in a cold voice: "You said you were not disloyal to the imperial court, so how should you explain why you sent people to persuade me not to attack the Japanese fleet? It was obviously the Japanese who fired at our army first. Our army just fought back against it. Could it be that our army wants to listen to you and only suffer the artillery fire from the Japanese without even fighting back? You are clearly betraying the Ming Dynasty and protecting the Japanese!"

Zheng Zhilong knew that his previous action of sending people to persuade the Ming army not to attack the Japanese was very inappropriate. Now he was really speechless and could only bite the bullet and said: "Master Junmen, I am not protecting the Japanese people, I am trying to protect them." Protect our Ming Dynasty. The Japanese people have been repeatedly plundered by Mao Wenlong. Recently, they are gathering ships and soldiers in the Nagasaki area with the intention of attacking Mao Wenlong.

The lower official was worried that the two parties would not know each other's identity, and if they met at sea, there would be some misunderstanding, so he specially sent someone to report! "

Li Banghua did not believe Zheng Zhilong's explanation, but said: "You said that Mao Wenlong robbed the Japanese people, which led to the Japanese people's crusade. Since you know the inside story, why didn't you explain it in advance before sending troops? I think you are just quibbling. .

Before I set off this time, the emperor told me that since Mao Wenlong took possession of Jeju Island, he has had close contacts with the Japanese people, and it is likely that some kind of cooperation or alliance has been established between the two. If you encounter the Japanese army, you must not have any scruples, just annihilate them all.

Moreover, the emperor also reminded me that you, Zheng Zhilong, and the Japanese people are also old friends for many years, so this errand that detours from the south side of Jeju Island must not be entrusted to your fleet, otherwise you will not know that your fleet is in trouble. I boarded the Japanese fleet, can I do it? "

After Zheng Zhilong heard this, he was immediately shocked. He did not expect that Li Banghua had been guarding against him from the beginning. No wonder he insisted on letting him go to the northwest of Jeju Island. It turned out that he still couldn't trust himself.

Although Zheng Zhilong has had friendship with the Japanese people for many years, it was all business. He himself was still loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and in this matter, he really wanted to cry out for the Japanese people. The Japanese people had suffered heavy losses from Mao Wenlong's plunder during this period. , how could they form an alliance with Mao Wenlong, let alone how they dared to cooperate with Mao Wenlong and become the enemy of the Ming Dynasty.

But Zheng Zhilong didn't dare to say it. He knew that the more he spoke for the Japanese people now, the more solid his accusation of Japanese treason would be.

As for what Li Banghua asked, why did he know these inside stories but didn't tell them in advance before the war started? Wasn't he stuck at that time? He clearly felt something was wrong, but he just didn't expect this. What could he do? How can this be explained clearly?

So Zheng Zhilong finally had no choice but to say: "Master Junmen has clearly observed that what the subordinate officials said is true!"

Li Banghua was even more angry when he saw Zheng Zhilong's harsh words, and asked: "Zheng Zhilong, do you mean that what the emperor said is false?"

Zheng Zhilong hurriedly said: "I will never dare to question the emperor, but the emperor lives far away in the capital. If this matter about the East China Sea reaches the capital, it is inevitable that there will be some fallacies!"

Although Li Banghua holds Shang Fang's sword, he does not have the courage to kill first and then show off. Moreover, if Zheng Zhilong really colludes with the Japanese country and betrays the Ming Dynasty, he should be the one who becomes a prisoner at this time.

Li Banghua thought again and again, and then said: "I will send someone to verify this matter, but before the matter comes to light, I still have to wrong you first!"

Afterwards, Zheng Zhilong was sworded, removed from his armor, and sent to a house in the Jeju Seongfu Yamen.

Since Zheng Zhilong has not yet been found to have committed an act of treason, Li Banghua did not embarrass him or put him in jail. He was just placed under house arrest. Except that he was not allowed to leave the house, all food and clothing expenses were provided as usual.

Now for Li Banghua, it is one thing to find out what happened to Zheng Zhilong, and more importantly, he needs to find out where Mao Wenlong has gone now. He has sent people to search the entire Jeju Island, but no trace of Mao Wenlong has been found. , and all the property, food, and military equipment that could be transported on the island had already been transported away.

It seems that Mao Wenlong evacuated Jeju Island, and he probably did not evacuate just now. He could only move so cleanly in the short term. For Li Banghua, who believed that Mao Wenlong cooperated with the Japanese people, he thought that Mao Wenlong should have moved to the Japanese country.

Then, Li Banghua began to ask the residents on the island, and he really asked a lot of things.

According to the islanders, Mao Wenlong's troops began transporting supplies from the island to ships ten days ago, but it is not clear where they were shipped. What's strange is that Mao Wenlong's troops have always been very brutal. But this time it seems to be okay, neither killing and setting fire, nor destroying houses, just moving things and leaving, everything on the island remains as usual.

Li Banghua also discovered this. Although almost all the materials and goods on the island that could be taken away had been moved away, the houses, cities, and pastures were all intact. If Mao Wenlong wanted to abandon the island and flee, he should not leave it for those who came after him. Such good infrastructure, especially these cities and pastures, were all renovated and expanded by Mao Wenlong during his stay in Jeju Island. Are they just given away like this?
When Li Banghua asked about the relationship between Mao Wenlong and the Japanese people, all the islanders who knew about the island unanimously said that Mao Wenlong did often go to the Japanese country to plunder, and every time he brought back a lot of property and women from the Japanese country. This was something they often saw. to the scene.

The words of these islanders are not false, and so many people are consistent in their opinions, and it is impossible for someone to instigate them to say so. Therefore, based on the words of the islanders, what Zheng Zhilong said seems a lot more credible.

Li Banghua sent a report to the court as soon as he landed on Jeju Island. After several days of investigation on the island, the court also sent a reply.

Zhu Tianqi told Li Banghua in the letter that the intelligence obtained by the court was indeed wrong. The truth should be the same as what Zheng Zhilong said. Zheng Zhilong did not deliberately protect the Japanese country and could be acquitted.

In addition, now that the war with Japan has begun, it is natural that the two sides must come up with an explanation. This is more important than chasing Mao Wenlong. After all, it is a major military matter involving the two countries.As for negotiating with the Wa Kingdom, let Zheng Zhilong use his relationship in the Wa Kingdom to do it.

Since the results of his investigation were all favorable to Zheng Zhilong, and the court also stated that the suspicion of Zheng Zhilong being a traitor to the Japanese could be ruled out, then Li Banghua would naturally not deliberately embarrass Zheng Zhilong, and would go and release Zheng Zhilong himself.

At the same time, he also conveyed the emperor's decree to Zheng Zhilong, "General Zheng, I have wronged you these days, but this is a routine matter for me. I hope General Zheng will not blame you!"

"How dare you, how dare you!" Zheng Zhilong hurriedly clasped his fists and saluted: "Junmen's words are serious, how dare I blame the army!"

Li Banghua patted Zheng Zhilong on the shoulder and said with a smile: "General Zheng is so kind. No wonder the court and the emperor attach so much importance to General Zheng. They went out of their way to investigate the truth and issued an order to prove General Zheng's innocence!"

When he heard that the emperor had specially issued an order to prove his innocence, Zheng Zhilong was really surprised and moved. He hurriedly bowed to the north and said, "General Zheng Zhilong thanks the emperor for his kindness!"

Li Banghua then said: "I blamed you, General Zheng, before. Since General Zheng knows a lot about the grudges between Mao Wenlong and the Japanese country, I have to ask General Zheng to work hard next."

"Master Junmen's words are serious. I serve under Master Junmen, be loyal to the court, and do my best. That's what I should do. How dare I say it's hard work?" Zheng Zhilong also hurriedly saluted.

Zheng Zhilong sent troops this time to use the power of the imperial court to get rid of Mao Wenlong. Secondly, he also wanted to show his face in front of the imperial court, earn some military exploits, and maybe climb up the ranks. Therefore, for the coastal defense governor sent by the imperial court, He was very respectful, but he didn't expect that he would suffer such great grievances before he came.

But when working for the imperial court, there is no one who is not aggrieved. Zheng Zhilong is also a flexible and flexible person, and he does not resent Li Banghua and the imperial court.

Therefore, Zheng Zhilong was quite conscientious and immediately told Li Banghua everything about the situation: "I am not afraid of military jokes. Before I became an official, I was a maritime businessman. I often interacted with Japanese people, so in Japanese It does have some roots and connections.

Later, thanks to Xiong Futai who thought highly of Xiaguan and gave him the opportunity to serve the imperial court, he was able to step by step into his current position as commander-in-chief.

However, even though the official became the general soldier of Fujian, he could not abandon his brothers who had sold their lives to me for decades. Therefore, the official still did some business, and the contact with the Japanese country was still maintained. With.

It is precisely because of this that the subordinates still know a little about the situation on the Japanese side. Since Mao Wenlong took up residence on Jeju Island, he has repeatedly invaded the coastal areas of the Japanese country, burning, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of evil, especially in Nagasaki, because it is a long-term island. Sakino is the largest foreign trade port city in Japan and is very wealthy. The official thought that Mao Wenlong must have spotted this.

Not long ago, Mao Wenlong led his troops to carry out a large-scale robbery of Nagasaki, which caused heavy losses to the Japanese country. Therefore, he made up his mind to send troops to attack Mao Wenlong. It was precisely after the official heard the news that the Japanese army gathered in the waters around Nagasaki , worried that our army would collide with the Japanese army and there would be a misunderstanding between the two sides, so we sent someone to report the news. "

Li Banghua nodded and said: "General Zheng, there is no need to explain any more. I did blame you before, but now I believe every word you say."

Zheng Zhilong hurriedly bowed his hands to Li Banghua and said, "Thank you, Master Junmen, for your trust!"

Li Banghua returned the greeting with his hand, and then said: "Even if the previous battle was a misunderstanding, but the battle was fought, and it was the Japanese who opened fire on our army first, then there must be an explanation for this matter. I don't know, Zheng General, what are your plans?"

After Zheng Zhilong sent people out at that time, he thought it might be too late, so he has been thinking about how to deal with the aftermath of this matter for the past few days. The best result is naturally that the Wa Kingdom can admit defeat and apologize to Daming.

However, with the small strength of the Japanese army in Nagasaki, I am afraid that the battle with the Ming fleet will cause greater casualties and losses. They have suffered such a big loss, and they are asked to apologize to the Ming Dynasty. They are willing to admit defeat. ?
I'm afraid this matter won't be easy to deal with!

At this time, the Japanese shogunate was also discussing this matter.

When the people sent by Zheng Zhilong to deliver the message arrived in Nagasaki, the Japanese fleet had been almost wiped out, and most of the soldiers were killed or injured. When the Japanese generals learned the details from Zheng Zhilong's men, they were both shocked and angry. , inexplicably hit the Ming army, which he never expected, so he could only report the matter to the shogunate.

Tokugawa Iemitsu, who was the third generation general of the Edo shogunate to conquer barbarians at the time, was also shocked when he heard the news. He really didn't expect such a coincidence. As soon as the Japanese were about to gather their forces to attack Mao Wenlong on Jeju Island, they happened to catch up with the Ming Dynasty sending troops. Come on, have a fight with Ming Dynasty's navy for no apparent reason?
Although today's Tokugawa Iemitsu took over the position of shogun from his father Tokugawa Hidetada nine years ago, he has never been able to take charge of the government personally to this day. The power is still tightly held by his father Tokugawa Hidetada. in hand.

This kind of dual politics can also be regarded as a characteristic of the Japanese state. The leader of the Japanese state likes to pass his position to his son first, but he declares seclusion and is known as the "Grand Imperial Palace", but he still holds power and governs.

Therefore, it stands to reason that if such a big thing happened, it should be reported to the Imperial Palace Tokugawa Hidetada as soon as possible. However, Tokugawa Hidetada was seriously ill at this time and was already dying. If he heard the news, he was not allowed to return directly to the west?
Therefore, Tokugawa Iemitsu wanted to suppress the matter and not inform Tokugawa Hidetada for the time being.

But Tokugawa Hidetada had his own staff organization in Nishinomaru, where he lived in seclusion, and he used this to control real power behind the scenes.

Now that such a big thing has happened, how could it be possible for Tokugawa Iemitsu, a general with no real power, to hide it from Tokugawa Hidetada, the "overlord"?
Soon, Tokugawa Hidetada's trusted minister Doi Toshimori informed Tokugawa Hidetada of the matter. After Tokugawa Hidetada learned of the incident, although he was shocked, his mood was relatively stable. He just ordered Doi Toshimori to go and get Tokugawa Hidetada. Tokugawa Iemitsu was handed over to the front, and then he told Tokugawa Iemitsu: "Don't underestimate your own capabilities and follow Toyotomi Hideyoshi's example of starting a war with the Ming Dynasty!"

After saying this, Tokugawa Hidetada was no longer able to speak, became confused and fell asleep.

(End of this chapter)