Ming Dynasty: Evolution from snake to national guardian beast

Chapter 181 The Ashikaga family’s plan, the end between the Northern and Southern Dynasties!

Outside Luoyang City in Kyoto, hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops gathered around Luoyang, and there was still a steady stream of ronin warriors joining the army every day.

Within the Muromachi shogunate, Ashikaga Takauji and Ashikaga Yoshiki, father and son, were discussing the march plan.

Ashikaga Takauji gently pointed his finger at a city on the map and said:

"The army has now been assembled and it is not appropriate to stay any longer."

"Starting tomorrow, the army will take a rest, hide themselves, and head towards here."

Ashikaga Yoshiki looked at where Ashikaga Takauji was pointing, and was suddenly shocked. He looked at Ashikaga Takauji with disbelief and asked in his original voice:

"Father, why are you attacking here?"

Wajima Nara City, known as Heijo Kyo in ancient times, is the ancient capital of Washima and one of the core cities of Washima. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese people live here.

To the north of Nara City is Kyoto in the Northern Dynasties, and in the south is Yamato in the Southern Dynasties.

It can be said that it connects the south to the north. Since ancient times, it has been a battleground for Japanese military strategists and an important military town.

This is one of the birthplaces of ancient Japanese culture. Within the territory is the Kii Mountain Range, the "Roof of Kinki", which is steep and easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Since the division of North and South Japan, Nara City has been an important northern town in the Southern Dynasties.

It's just that the Southern Dynasty's attitude towards Nara City has been a bit puzzling recently. Just a few days ago, Nara's garrison had requested reinforcements from Emperor Daigo.

For some unknown reason, the Ashikaga family of the Northern Dynasties seemed to have gone crazy and began to gather an army. It looked like there was a large-scale military operation.

This frightened the Nara defense, and he quickly asked Emperor Daigo for help. If hundreds of thousands of troops came to attack crazily, Nara, no matter how easy it was to defend and difficult to attack, would not be able to withstand such indiscriminate bombing.

However, Emperor Daigo's reply was that he would wait and see what happened, and would not go to war.

It was already imminent, but Emperor Daigo actually asked himself to wait and see what would happen. This really made the Nara garrison look confused. Doesn't His Majesty the Emperor know the importance of Nara Castle?

If Nara Castle falls, Yamato will be completely exposed to the attacking troops of the Ashikaga clan of the Northern Dynasties, and a catastrophe may be imminent by then.

But no matter how he asked for help, Emperor Daigo stopped replying and did not support Nara. He just stayed quietly in Yamato and did not take any action. March 23, the twelfth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, will be forever recorded in the history of Japan.

One hundred and fifty thousand Japanese soldiers were recruited and marched to the northwest to engage in a deadly battle.

At the same time, both the Southern Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty of Iwami Castle received notes from the Ashikaga family.

Both Emperor Daigo of the Southern Dynasty and Baichu and others of the Ming Dynasty chose to stand still after receiving the secret letter from the Ashikaga family of the Northern Dynasty.

Just when everyone thought that the Ashikaga family was going to take action against the Ming Dynasty, Ashikaga Takauji, the head of the Ashikaga family, personally led five thousand elites to appear at the gate of Nara Castle.

In just half a day, this fortress city, known as the first fortified castle in Japan, fell into the hands of the Ashikaga family.

Subsequently, Ashikaga Yoshiki led 30,000 private soldiers of the Ashikaga family and poured into Nara Castle. In one day, Nara Castle was transformed.

At this moment, Emperor Daigo of the Southern Dynasties seemed to have just woken up from a dream. He urgently launched mobilization and summoned all the famous people from all over the country to come to the throne.

The 150,000-strong army of the Ashikaga family in the Northern Dynasty also began to turn from the north and turned towards the Osaka area in the Southern Dynasty.

As long as Osaka falls, the Southern Dynasty will only have the southeast direction to turn around. However, in this way, the Southern Dynasty will be completely passive.

Just when Emperor Daigo was panicking, the Ming army, which had been dormant for a long time, finally launched a sharp attack. In just ten days, it captured the entire Saikaidō area of ​​Wajima and swept the entire Shikoku.

The island was included in the territory.

Emperor Daigo felt a sense of turmoil for a moment. At this moment, Emperor Daigo seemed to have thought of something, and summoned Tajiro again at once. When he saw Tajiro, Emperor Daigo cried like a child who had been deceived:

"Jiro, I was deceived. I was deceived so miserably by the Ashikaga family!!"

Tajiro also received the news of the continuous fall of the country today, and his face was equally ugly. Seeing Emperor Daigo's appearance, he couldn't help crying:

"My Lord, what happened to make you so confused?"

Emperor Daigo didn't have time at this time, and he couldn't care less about Tajiro's disrespectful words. He could only choke up and tell the story of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's coming and his alliance with him.

Tian Canglang beat his chest and stamped his feet, very angry. It was clear that a peace treaty had been negotiated and the Southern Dynasty was in an invincible position. Now, because of a few words from the Ashikaga family, he actually violated the covenant and was even attacked by the Ashikaga family in Nara Castle.

Tajiro didn't know what to say about Emperor Daigo.

"Jiro, what should we do next?"

"Now the enemy army is about to invade the territory. If we continue to sit here and wait for death, our country will really be destroyed." Emperor Daigo's eyes were filled with tears, and Tajiro's expression was also gloomy. Then he didn't know what he thought of. Tajiro bit his gums and said in a hateful voice:

"This matter was all caused by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. The Lord will cut off his head immediately, and then I will take the thief's head to meet the envoy of the Ming Dynasty."

"The only one who can save us now is Ming Dynasty."

"This time, we will directly give up Xikaidao and Nankaidao and give them all to Ming Dynasty in exchange for Ming Dynasty's support."

"I have been fortunate enough to see the combat power of the Ming Dynasty's army. If the Ming Dynasty is willing to send troops, the Ashikaga family will never be an opponent." Emperor Daigo couldn't help feeling a little distressed when he heard that the South China Sea and Saikaidō were to be ceded. You must know that these two islands are close to the Ming Dynasty. They often did trade with the Ming Dynasty and made a lot of profits. Now these two wealthy places are all dedicated to the Ming Dynasty. This is simply cutting the flesh of Emperor Daigo.

"Jiro, can we just cede the Saikaidō?"

Emperor Daigo still has illusions, but Tajiro was angry and said:

"Now that the Western Sea Road is in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, doesn't it mean that if the Lord doesn't cede the South China Sea Road, the Ming Dynasty won't take it himself?"

"It is better to cede the Nankai Road to the Ming Dynasty in exchange for Ming Dynasty's assistance. Only in this way can the country and the country be preserved."

Emperor Daigo hesitated for a long time, then his heart suddenly changed and he said bitterly:

"In that case, give it all to Daming and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, take him out and chop him immediately, I don't want to see him again.

"Yes, I will do it immediately."

After saying that, Tianjiro left quickly.

Not long after, Tajiro returned to the palace with a blood-stained wooden box, and then asked Emperor Daigo for an imperial edict before heading to Iwami Castle alone again. Nara Castle.

"Father, can't you save Yoshimitsu?"

Ashikaga Yoshiki asked with some regret:

"Yoshimitsu is still young and he still has a bright future."

Ashikaga Takauji closed his eyes and lowered his eyebrows, as if asleep, and replied softly:

"This is a sacrifice that must be made to embark on the hegemony. As a member of the Ashikaga family, he should have had this awareness long ago."

"He is too radical and is not a wise ruler. If the Ashikaga family is left in his hands, it is very likely that they will suffer misfortune."

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu perked up and realized that what Ashikaga Takauji was talking about was Hararu Yoshimitsu's hostility to Tenmei.

Indeed, in Ashikaga Yoshiki's view, the gap between today's Wajima and the Kamakura shogunate is too far, and the Ming Dynasty is already far more powerful than the Ming Dynasty.

From this point of view, Wajima cannot be the opponent of Ming Dynasty at all, and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu always hopes to reproduce the glory of the past, but it is just a fantasy.

(End of this chapter)