Great name!

Chapter 310 Lee Sun: Dad, save me!
The shogunate decided to send troops to the Kingdom of Korea, but it also needed a legitimate excuse, and this matter was naturally handled by the monkeys themselves.

Now most of the generals have gathered at Shibata Katsuie, while Monkey and the others are discussing the war enthusiastically.

At this time, the most powerful faction in the family seemed to be leaning towards the monkey.

But the monkey still thought too much.

Even though the incident of sending troops caused a big stir, it did not affect Tsuda Nobutora's status.

As the best general in his family, or the best general in the world, his failure to participate in this expedition made many people hesitate.

Moreover, Tsuda Nobutora's resolute opposition to sending troops prevented many important officials of the shogunate, such as the Mori family and the Murai family, from participating in this matter.

Shintora Tsuda is sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai.

The monkey was helpless. He could only hope that the war would go smoothly so that he could improve his prestige and voice.

The monkeys made such a commotion that many people were still worried.

Oda Nobunaga hurried to Tsuda's residence to meet Nobutora.

When Xinhu saw his brother Xinlong being so impatient, he said, "Xinlong, you are an important official in the family, why are you still so impatient and have no manners?"

Oda Nobunaga said anxiously: "Brother, the monkey is about to fly to the sky, why are you still harping on my little problem? We must find a way to cure the monkey!"

Xin Hu naturally knew that Xin Long came for this matter. He snorted and said, "No matter how much trouble the monkey makes, can it really turn the world upside down? You don't have to worry too much."

Xinlong hurried forward and whispered: "Brother, you know Monkey. Although I look down on him, I have to admit that Monkey is very capable. I heard that they have gathered an army and 200,000 ronin. The chances of winning are very high!"

Xinhu waved his hands and said, "Even if they win the battle against the Kingdom of Korea, what's the use? The Ming Dynasty is the suzerain of the Kingdom of Korea. As long as the Ming Dynasty is still there, even if the Kingdom of Korea loses the whole country, if the Ming Dynasty wins, the Kingdom of Korea can be restored.

Don't tell anyone about this matter, just let them make a fuss."

Oda Nobunaga calmed down after hearing this. He looked at Nobutora with some doubt: "So, brother has already made up his mind about this matter?"

Tsuda Nobutora said nothing.

This made Oda Nobunaga more convinced of this.

He thought about it carefully, then took a deep breath and said, "So, brother's initial concession was actually to lure the enemy deeper into our territory, and the monkeys were fooled!"

Tsuda Shintora looked at Shinryuu and said, "Just know it, don't spread it around. Just keep on being the same as before, understand?"

Oda Nobunaga was overjoyed. He covered his mouth and laughed for a long time. Then he left the Tsuda family's study with an impatient look on his face, and went back to drink and act crazy.

When Hashiba Hideyoshi learned about this, he didn't say anything. He knew that this was Tsuda Nobutora's plan. How could he not know how Tsuda Nobutora cheated people?

But in this matter, even though he knew it was a trap set by Tsuda Nobutora, he still walked into it without hesitation. He was gambling. With all the strength of the shogunate, how could it not be a match for the Ming Dynasty?

Hideyoshi Hashiba was not thinking about this matter. He began to plan how to stir up trouble to give Japan a legitimate reason to send troops to the Kingdom of Korea.

Such an excuse was too easy to come by, because Nobutora went on a diplomatic mission to the Ming Dynasty and resumed trade with the Ming Dynasty, and Japan and the Kingdom of Korea also had trade exchanges.

Therefore, the merchants employed by the shogunate set up a guildhall in Busan, Korea.

According to Monkey's plan, some merchants in the guild hall were arrested for offending the powerful. The shogunate immediately sent envoys to negotiate, but the envoys' attitude was too arrogant and they were detained by local authorities. The shogunate immediately used this as an excuse to send troops to the Kingdom of Korea.

In April 1583, Shogun Oda Nobutada ordered Shibata Katsuie and Hashiba Hideyoshi to be his left and right deputy generals, and Niwa Nagahide, Ikeda Terumasa and other lords to lead the army to attack the Kingdom of Korea by land and sea.

At that time, King Seonjo of Joseon was in power, and it was a period of factional strife in the court. When the Japanese shogunate sent troops, the three exoduses of Japan during the Gyemo period happened to coincide with the factional strife between the Easterners and the Westerners.

The kingdom was completely unaware of Japan's military deployment.

The Oda shogunate's vanguard, led by Genban Sakuma, landed in Busan in mid-April to rescue merchants and envoys, and then marched northward to Seoul, the capital of the Kingdom of Joseon. At this time, the Kingdom of Joseon responded and ordered the organization of troops to resist.

However, the elite cavalry sent by Lee Sun to resist the Japanese army were completely wiped out at Tamgeumdae in Chungju, and the capital Seoul was in danger.

Lee Sun first quickly appointed Gwanghaegun Lee Hun as the crown prince, and then decided to flee Seoul and head to Pyongyang in the northwest, which he called "Western Hunting" or "Leaving Pyongyang".

On the morning of April 30th, Lee Sun and more than 100 of his ministers left Seoul in the rain, arrived in Kaesong on May 1st, and arrived in Pyongyang on May 7th.

When Lee Sun fled, only 5,000 soldiers were left in Seoul.

The shogunate army that followed quickly broke through the Han River defense line and occupied Seoul without bloodshed on the third day of May. The Korean army retreated to the Imjin River, and Seoul fell in an instant. The crown prince and other royal family members were captured by the shogunate army.

Sakuma Genban and other brave warriors continued to pursue, and the frightened Lee Sun ordered his army to cross the Imjin River to attack, but they were ambushed by the shogunate army and defeated.

Frightened, Lee Sun immediately abandoned Pyongyang and continued to run north.

When the country was about to fall, Yi Sun was very depressed. He didn't know what to do for a while, so he asked his subordinates: "The country is about to fall, what should I do?"

Li Hengfu, a military officer, said: "Your Highness, at this moment, we can only submit to the Celestial Empire in order to save our country!"

As soon as these words were spoken, they were like a stone falling into water, causing a thousand waves. Many officials jumped up and cursed Li Hengfu, and advised Li Sun not to abandon his ancestral land.

But Lee Sun was scared. The Japanese army was going to occupy the entire kingdom in less than a month. How could he fight back? It would be better for him to go to Ming Dynasty and enjoy life there as soon as possible.

Li Sun immediately said: "I can die in the emperor's country, but I cannot die at the hands of thieves."

"It is better to die in the country of my parents than to die at the hands of thieves!"

But the ministers still tried to dissuade him.

Lee Sun had no choice but to order the division of the court. He sent Crown Prince Lee Hyun to Hamgyong Province and other places to lead the army to fight against the Japanese pirates, while he himself went to Uiju on the Yalu River and sent envoys to Beijing to request submission.

The messenger ran all the way to Beijing and went straight to the Guanglu Temple and started crying. The Guanglu Temple Minister was shocked to hear the news and he immediately reported it to the court.

The Wanli Emperor, who had just taken power, immediately summoned the envoy from the Kingdom of Korea.

As soon as the envoy saw Emperor Wanli, he knelt down and cried, "Your Majesty, our country has been invaded by Japanese pirates for no reason and is on the verge of extinction. Please come to the court and lend a helping hand to save us!"

"what!"

Emperor Wanli was stunned. Why did a war break out in such a good situation? It would have been fine if it had just started a war, but why would the country be destroyed?
He asked: "How long have you been fighting? Why did the Ming Dynasty know nothing about it?"

The messenger replied: "It has been two months since April 15th."

Emperor Wanli was confused again. No, little brother, you have only fought for two months and your country is about to be destroyed? Doesn't your Kingdom of Korea have an army of 200,000?

That means there are 200,000 pigs running around everywhere, and it would take two months to catch them all.

Emperor Wanli was worried that there might be a trap, so he asked the envoy to leave and questioned his ministers.

"Could it be that the Kingdom of Korea and the Japanese pirates have joined forces to plot against the Ming Dynasty?"

"That's impossible. The Kingdom of Korea has always been submissive and no one dares to rebel."

"It's all Zhang Juzheng's fault. He agreed to trade with the Japanese pirates."

When Emperor Wanli saw this situation, he decided to find out more.

(End of this chapter)