New Shun 1730

These officers have been in Weihai for a long time, looking at the map all day to deduce various possibilities. This is the job of the staff.

Liu Yu used the Zhou emperor and the princes to make an inappropriate analogy. Although it is not perfect, it is intuitive and easier to understand.

They have deduced countless times, thinking that if they go to war with Japan, the battlefield must be on Kyushu Island.

Now Liu Yu said that he would use the contradictions within Japan to create a situation where all parties are not in harmony. They probably also understand why Liu Yu wants to go to Tosa for a tour.

Tosa is a daimyo. If the fleet of Dashun can defeat the coastal defense near Tosa and travel across Tosa with very few troops, then in the eyes of the other daimyo, the navy of Dashun can land anywhere on the coastline, which may threaten their fiefdom.

In this way, they will inevitably hesitate when sending troops, and they will definitely find a way to keep enough troops to guard their own city to avoid being stolen by Dashun.

At least, they would not be too proactive. Even if they had to go, they would have to wait until the shogunate sent an order forcing them to send troops. And they might play tricks, avoid fighting, and passively wait for the troops directly under the shogunate to arrive.

The same is true in reverse. The troops directly under the shogunate do not want to be consumed in the war with Dashun. Once the shogunate has no troops and cannot suppress the princes, it will be the Spring and Autumn Period. The rituals and music will be broken, and the outer daimyo will not be honest.

Excluding the daimyo of the relatives, there are also a group of hereditary daimyo who may become fence-sitters at any time. These are all unstable factors.

Although Japan is large, it actually has little war potential that can be mobilized. Even if it can fight a war of annihilation of about 10,000 people against the troops directly under the shogunate, the shogunate will immediately seek peace, and will not choose to use all its troops to protect Japan-relative to protecting Japan, protecting the shogunate is more important.

Going to Tosa for a tour is to lay mines for the shogunate.

The outer daimyo will definitely ask the shogunate not to mobilize their troops and let them guard the city to prevent the Dashun navy from landing along the coastline.

If the shogunate agrees, then the main force of the war and the most deaths will be the troops directly under the shogunate.

If the shogunate does not agree, it will be an unsolvable knot in the hearts of the outer daimyo. Even if they have no choice but to directly mobilize all the troops, they will inevitably be disunited.

Especially Liu Yu is not planning to stay only in Tosa, but to go to Edo Sea, where he will directly threaten Edo Castle and declare that the Dashun navy can land near Edo at any time.

If the shogunate reserves a large number of troops in Edo, then the outer daimyo will think: You, the shogunate, can leave troops to guard the house, but ask us to go all out, what the hell is this?

If you leave troops to guard the house, there will not be many troops going to Kyushu Island, and the troops of daimyo from all over the country will certainly be gathered. On the one hand, it creates estrangement and dissatisfaction, and on the other hand, this situation where the eighteen princes gather together is not a good war at all.

Once there are too many people, it will be difficult to command them. Everyone has their own thoughts and ulterior motives, and it will be easier for the Dashun Army to fight.

After figuring out the purpose of going to Tosa this time, Liu Yu reminded them: "This time when we land, we must remember to enforce strict military discipline. No burning, killing, or looting. We must create something out of nothing for future negotiations."

"Creating something out of nothing?"

The officers looked confused, not knowing where this creation came from? What was it?

"One of the main reasons why Japan banned religion was because of the Shimabara Rebellion, when Catholics started an uprising. Japan does not believe in Islam, and many daimyo believed in Catholicism before. What exactly is Japan afraid of Catholicism?"

"It's like a person who can't swim, so he is afraid of falling into the river. So is he afraid of water? Or is he afraid of death? If he is afraid of water, he is afraid of even drinking water. So, in essence, it is a fear of death."

"It's the same in Japan. They are afraid of Catholicism because they are afraid that Catholicism will spread among the lower classes, and the lower classes will use this to organize and resist the tyranny of Japan. Therefore, what Japan fears most is the resistance of the lower classes, but Catholicism happens to be a tool for organizing together."

"The so-called making something out of nothing , that is to produce something that the Japanese shogunate and daimyo are afraid of - people's resistance. "

"We must enforce strict discipline. We must spread things that Japan does not want to hear at all. When the peace talks and treaties are signed, we will add these things that we do not care about to the treaty, which is making something out of nothing. We raise the price on the spot, and he pays the money on the spot, so we can get more bargaining benefits. "

"In the future, we will definitely make Japan more closed. Except for the openings we want, the rest of the places will be more closed, and it is strictly forbidden to go to sea and study abroad. "

In fact, Dashun is also a trick, and it is also afraid that the lower classes will organize rebellion, but after all, the era when the kings and generals are really brave has long passed.

The absolute hereditary system has been gradually broken since the Shang Yang era. Now it can be said that you can be a farmer in the morning and ascend to the emperor's hall in the evening. No matter what, the scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans of Dashun are not the same as those of Japan.

Dashun had the imperial examination as a powerful tool for class mobility, and those who passed the imperial examination were scholars; while in Japan, scholars were still hereditary.

So some words can be widely publicized in Japan without worrying that they will be considered as treasonous words by the court.

If these words are said well, they can also be worth tens of thousands of soldiers.

Originally, it was just a conspiracy between the daimyo and the shogunate, each with their own thoughts; now they have to instigate class contradictions, so that each daimyo has to consider the possibility of "unification" after the landing of Dashun.

In future negotiations, this matter may also be the first condition that the shogunate asks to be removed, such as not spreading similar ideas and not accepting Japanese people who voluntarily go to Dashun to study.

Since this condition needs to be removed, it must be made up from elsewhere, which will require additional money.

No matter how feudal the Dashun Dynasty was, things like meritocracy, imperial examinations, frivolous corvee and small taxes, giving money for military service, and integrating the four peoples were still politically correct at this time. But in Japan, any sentence would cause an uproar.

The bottom class lacks organization and guiding ideology. Organization takes time, but guiding ideology can be instilled in a short time. It doesn’t matter whether the people at the bottom understand it or not. Anyway, it is only for high-ranking samurai, daimyo and shogunate.

Tosa was chosen because Tosa changed its feudal lord after the Battle of Sekigahara. There was also a huge conflict between the samurai of the new lord's family and the samurai left by the old lord, and the impact here would be even greater.

In addition to sailors, there are only 500 marines in hand. Even if Kochi Castle suffered a fire a few years ago and the famine has just passed, it is unrealistic to attack Kochi Castle.

But he had to rely on these five hundred marines, so that the Tosa domain would not dare to send a single soldier.

As for stealing money... Stealing openly is the lowest method, and Liu Yu disdains to use it.

After explaining his plan to everyone to ensure that it was clearly known and implemented, several interpreters who could speak Japanese began to recite the confusing and emotional pamphlet written by Liu Yu.

Soon, the warship in front captured a Japanese merchant ship.

Since the promulgation of the national lockdown, Japan, which once could build galenic ships and cross the Pacific to recruit mining engineers in Mexico, no longer has a ship that can go out to sea.

This merchant ship was so small that it walked offshore, proving that it was not far from the coast.

The ship owner was transferred to Liu Yu's ship. It could be seen that the poor ship owner was frightened. This was not Nagasaki. The ship owner here had never seen such a big ship, nor had he seen foreigners.

After getting on the boat, he knelt on the ground and did not dare to speak.

Liu Yu knew what businessmen liked most, and wanted to test the impact of the lockdown on the businessmen here. He smiled and took out a few Spanish silver coins minted in Mexico - there are many of them in Fujian and Guangdong. , more common than silver ingots.

When the businessman kneeling on the ground saw the gleaming silver dollar, his original fear was swept away. He knew that the man who smiled and gave money must not be a bad person, and it was impossible to kill him.

He kowtowed to Liu Yu a few times and took the silver dollar handed over by Liu Yu.

But as soon as he touched the silver coins in his hand, he immediately felt like he was electrocuted. He threw the silver coins aside and kowtowed on the ground in fear.

Because there is a cross coat of arms printed on the back of the silver dollar.

Liu Yu took out another identical silver coin, pointed to the cross coat of arms on the back, and asked in his half-baked Japanese: "Is it because of this?"

The merchant kowtows like a mince, saying yes repeatedly. If anyone sees such a sign, he will be nailed to a cross and burned at the stake.

After the Shimabara Rebellion, the shogunate had a standard procedure for dealing with Catholics: crucifixion, smashing the bodies and building them in the city walls to see if they could be resurrected.

Although the merchant has never been to the open sea, he remembers things like the national lockdown clearly, and he will definitely die if he is discovered. Even if you love Baiyin deeply, you can only throw it away as if there is shit on it, and maybe even if there is shit on it, it won't be like this.

From the businessman's reaction, Liu Yu could judge that the shogunate's control was still very strong. Then he took away the few silver coins and found some newly minted security coins in Japan in recent years. The businessman's eyes lit up and he hurriedly accepted them.

"Sir, are you from Tang Dynasty?"

After receiving the money, I became more courageous and even dared to take the initiative to talk to Liu Yu.

"Well, it's Tang Ren. What's your business?"

"The villain sells paper. Tosa's paper is very famous. The villain has a small business. I beg you to let me go."

"Well, don't worry, the Tang Dynasty's paper is everywhere. I won't ask for your paper, nor will I ask for your ship. Are you from Tosa?"

"Yes, the villain is a businessman from Tosa."

"I heard that Kochi Castle was on fire. Has it been repaired yet?"

"No, it hasn't been repaired yet."

"Did your feudal lord go to Edo for a pilgrimage?"

"Yes."

"When do you usually come back?"

"Not until August."

"How far is Kochi Castle from the coast?"

He took out two more silver coins for security. The businessman took the silver coins and replied: "It is about ten miles away from the mouth of the coast. The mouth of the river is narrow, and your boat may not be able to pass. Ten miles up the mouth of the river is Kochi City, which is located between two rivers. At the mouth of the river."

"Is there a fort on the beach?"

"No."

He took a pen and paper and drew a general outline of the river mouth while asking.

If what this businessman said is true, there is no need to think about attacking Kochi Castle. The river mouth is too narrow, and Liu Yu will never sail a warship into a narrow river with insufficient infantry. That is to deliver food to people. Behavior.

But a city is a city, and Kochi Castle is a castle. Of course, the vast majority of the population lives in the castle town.

There hasn't been a war here for more than a hundred years, and there isn't even a fort on the coast.

After asking clearly what he wanted to ask about, Liu Yu kindly told the businessman how he should respond if he was asked about it in the future.

When the merchant completely relaxed his vigilance and thought that the Tang people were all good people because of the silver coins, Liu Yu smiled and showed his fangs.

"If what you said is true, I will pretend that nothing happened. If it is false, your name will definitely spread in Tosa."

The merchant's spirit, which had just relaxed, was shocked again. He kowtowed repeatedly and said that he dared not. Liu Yu then asked more details about the map he had just drawn orally.

When an expert takes action, he can tell whether it is true or false at a glance. After all, he has been leading troops for so long. The merchant told him what he knew one by one. After he was basically sure that it was all true, Liu Yu rewarded him with a few more silver coins.

Before letting him return to the ship, he asked him to take some paper produced in Tosa, asked about the price, and judged it. The conclusion was that unless the steam engine was used on a large scale, it would not have an impact on Japan's papermaking industry.

Liu Yu knew the remaining common goods such as silk and porcelain. There were detailed price lists for smuggling and normal trade every year.

After letting the merchant go, they learned that they were not far from Tosa, so they raised the flag and told the fleet to change their course slightly.

On the ship, the officers in charge of surveying were moving boxes of instruments out. The Jupiter positioning method could not be used on a shaking ship, and the telescope required was quite large. Once they landed, they had to measure the longitude and latitude of this place as soon as possible.

Two expedition ships, two cruisers were separated, turned west, and mapped the coastline of Shikoku Island along the way.

The closer the main force of the fleet got to Tosa, the more ships there were on the sea. But there were no big ships, only small boats, either fishing or transporting goods, and the ships were not big.

Most of the ships ran to the shore like flying when they saw Liu Yu's fleet. The sailors obeyed Liu Yu's orders and did not shoot people on the deck with guns.

The officers and students surrounding Liu Yu looked at the small boats, each with a bitter face.

"Sir, the Japanese don't even have a navy, and even if they do, they are just some small boats. Isn't our navy just a transport team for the army in this battle? If you ask me, assemble the marines, the army will fight the army, and our navy will fight ours."

"We will send the army to Kyushu Island, leaving half of the ships to ensure sea power and monitor the Japanese navy. The rest will go directly along the coast of Japan, and we will attack any city with fewer soldiers. They can't catch up, so we can fight if we want to, and retreat if we feel we can't win."

"In this way, I guarantee that the Japanese soldiers will shrink in the city, and none of them dare to come out."

Liu Yu smiled and said, "Forget it. The shells are expensive, and the gunpowder is not cheap either. It's just a scare. What spoils can we get after the attack? I can fire cannons all day and grab two ships of rice. ? For a castle like Kochi, they have to borrow money from the shogunate. Kochi Castle has not been repaired yet. Do you think they can squeeze out oil? "

"I have worked hard to make Japan have money to pay. I helped them stabilize the famine and gave them ideas for coin reform, just to make it easier to collect money today. Every daimyo has to pay homage to the emperor every year. How much money does he have? The shogunate was so poor in the past few years that it even stopped paying homage to the emperor. Do you think that if they had money, they could stop this system that weakens potential opponents? "

"It is a fixed amount of money to capture Kyushu Island. If you capture a few more castles, what can he do without you? You have to know that Japan does not have a Bank of England. If he is forced to do something, he can't get the money. "

As they were talking and laughing, the lookout on the mast sent a signal that the river mouth could be seen.

Liu Yu waved at the flag bearer, indicating that all units should prepare for battle, fire cannons in demonstration, and sink any approaching ships.