I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 680 Oedo

Too fast, too fast!
There were at least tens of thousands of samurai ronin outside Edo City, and the Ming army that made the vanguard landing was only a few thousand troops.

Even though the samurai ronin outside did not have firearms, they still had a tenfold advantage in strength and were still fighting in street battles. They were defeated too quickly.

The battle lasted less than an hour. Tens of thousands of samurai ronin led by a famous daimyo (who had suppressed rebellions in the domain...) were defeated by one-tenth of the Chinese army in street fighting. The beating made the rats run away with their heads in their hands.

It’s really like a rat running around. During the Tokugawa shogunate, the whole country loved Confucianism. Even Yoshimune, a collateral shogun, still read several Confucian classics.
Compared with the tall and tough soldiers of the Ming army, the Tokugawa family's shogunate samurai were really like rats, running around in the streets of the outer city.

Tokugawa Yoshimune's face turned blue, not out of anger, but out of pure fear.

The huge gap in combat power between the Ming army and the shogunate army almost made him feel suffocated.

In the remaining sections of the city wall, the daimyo of each domain were also watching the battle from a high position, and their whispers made Tokugawa Yoshimune feel ashamed, angry, and angry.

Although he actually couldn't hear what these people were saying, he just felt that they were ridiculing the shogunate after he came to power, or more precisely, they were ridiculing Tokugawa Yoshimune, who succeeded him to the throne.

Even though Tokugawa Yoshimune has always been very strong and politically savvy, this guy still cares a lot about his bloodline identity.

After all, it is rare for a collateral lineage to succeed to the position of general. The other great thing is that a commoner succeeds to the throne, which has been criticized a lot.

Shimazu Yoshiki of the Satsuma Domain was very worried about his concubine's son. The ceremony for Tokugawa Yoshimune to succeed the shogunate was simpler than in previous generations. He also wore simple clothes on the day he succeeded to the throne, which showed that he was not the direct lineage leader.

"Now how to do?"

"Celestial China is so powerful that it cannot be stopped by the shogunate alone. Peace talks must be held to avoid this war as much as possible."

"That's right. The shogunate alone... the number of Hatamoto samurai in Edo City is too small. Even if they are all deployed, it will be difficult to resist the attack of tens of thousands of Chinese troops. If 100,000 Hatamoto samurai can be recruited, they will be deployed all over the country. The feudal lord issued a rally order and summoned an army of daimyo warriors from all the feudal lords, who might be able to repel China.”

"So what if we repel the Chinese army? Our navy cannot defeat the Chinese fleet. We should not have expelled the Dutch earlier, otherwise we might have been able to seek help from the Dutch."

"It's useless for the Dutch to come. They were defeated by the Chinese fleet earlier, but maybe they can ask the Dutch to mediate. Moreover, the Chinese emperor is also angry about Japan's isolation..."

"Stop arguing!" Tadayuki Mizuno didn't let them talk anymore, and directly scolded: "You are all veterans of the shogunate, how can you fear the enemy without fighting? Even if the shogunate cannot resist the powerful troops of the Celestial Empire, it cannot Otherwise, how will the shogunate govern Edo on behalf of the emperor in the future if the battle is not fought?

Tadashi Ooka also said at the right time: "The Ming dynasty is so powerful that even the power of the whole country of Japan cannot match it. However, even if the peace talks are compromised, a war must be fought first. The Emperor of the Celestial Dynasty must know that we, Japan, are not North Korea and that we can be bullied by others if we are weak." state."

As soon as Mr. Ooka Tadashi finished speaking, many elders and middle-aged men present showed dissatisfaction.

Tokugawa Yoshimune was in the upper seat. He pondered for a moment and then made a decision: "Who do you think can be the general who defends the city and can lead the troops to repel the Chinese army?"

It seemed that the general was determined to fight the Chinese army first. To put it bluntly, he would not shed tears until he saw the coffin. Several senior officers looked worried, but there was nothing they could do.

They were all promoted and employed by Tokugawa Yoshimune, and it was impossible for them to disobey General Yoshimune's will.

Then let's avoid this problem and discuss carefully, who will be the general who defends the city?
Japan has been "peaceful" for too long, and its military equipment has been depleted. Not only can it not find many warriors to fight, but it can even find few candidates for generals who can fight.

Tokugawa Yoshimune should be counted as one, but no one can let the general personally conquer.

It seems that there are not many people there, and there are not many daimyo in Edo City who know how to fight. There may be some who really know how to fight, but their status is too low.

At least he has to be a general, right?
I looked around, but no one spoke. All the retainers of the shogunate sat down with their heads bowed, staring straight at the floor.

Don't tell me, this floor... is a real floor!

Tokugawa Yoshimune was a little angry. After several years of revitalizing the shogunate's military, he couldn't find a retainer samurai who could fight?

It was also his fault that he was too obsessed with power. Even when he promoted veterans like Mizuno Tadayuki and abolished the side servants of the previous shogun, he was trying to restore the sole power of the shogun during the Ieyasu period.

Moreover, he did succeed a little bit. Then he appointed a fool as his successor. No one had the power to object. They could only watch the fool general take power and lead the shogunate's rule into the abyss.

Seeing that no one spoke, Tadashi Ooka, who was sitting on his knees, couldn't help it anymore. He twisted his body and knelt straight and said: "Sir General, I am willing to be the general who defends the city and lead the troops to repel the enemies of the Celestial Empire."

The senior middlemen were a little surprised, but they were secretly relieved. It would be nice if a fool took over.

Tokugawa Yoshimune looked at the other party's almost gray eyebrows. He was pleased with Ooka Tadashi's loyalty to the shogunate, but he was also worried that this guy would become dim-sighted at such an old age, or even die in the war.

After all, he was already in his sixties, almost twenty years older than General Tokugawa Yoshimune.

Historically, in a few years, this guy would be abandoned by Tokugawa Yoshimune because he was too old, and he would be promoted and secretly transferred to manage temples across the country.

Mizuno Tadayuki said: "Your Excellency Ooka is willing to be the general of the city defense. I also ask the shogun to immediately issue an appointment to the shogunate, granting Your Excellency Ooka the command of the city defense, and the power to mobilize the entire city's samurai."

This guy obviously thought of more. Ooka Tadashi was the general who defended the city, so the weight was definitely enough.

If Edo is defended by then, everything will be fine. He, the general's confidant, also deserves credit. If you can't hold on and can't defeat the Chinese army, you can also blame Tadashi Ooka.

Even though he and Tadashi Ooka were considered Tokugawa Yoshimune's right-hand men when he first succeeded to the Shogunate, they were still old men of many years.

Moreover, even if he is the right-hand man, the so-called dead Taoist friend is not dead, the poor Taoist, what he wants now is how to protect himself and his position as a senior figure in the shogunate.

In Edo Castle, the shogunate's defenders had already begun secretly engaging in political struggles before they were even sure.

Outside Edo City, all Ming troops have landed in the industrial and commercial area outside the city, and have released hot air balloons to survey and look at the high-altitude aerial view of Edo City in front of them.

Wang Zongtan looked at the Edo floor plan drawn by the watchman and said: "This is a bit like the fortress that Yu Dusi fought in Heilongjiang. And it was built on a mountain. If they were to forcibly attack the city, it would still be difficult. It’s really not easy to fight.”

The Edo Castle that was originally built was actually modeled after European bastions, and was also designed entirely as a military building.

The entire Edo Castle was built on seven hills in Kanto, because it was built here to control the entire Musashi Plain from a high position.

Until the Edo shogunate ceased its troops and restored "peace" to Japan, the role of military fortresses began to gradually decrease.

There was another Meiretsu fire, and while Edo was being rebuilt, it began to favor the expansion of the industrial and commercial areas, and Oedo was born, which is known as the Eight Hundred Great Towns.

However, the core building of Edo Castle has not changed much. Ooku, where the general lives, is also in the core building.

(End of this chapter)