Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 408 North Korea needs to submit
After the war plan meeting, everyone dispersed. At this time, Tokugawa Yorifusa came out from behind the screen.
"Did you hear everything just now?"
"I heard it." The fifteen-year-old boy looked at Tokugawa Yoshinao worriedly: "Brother, as you said, the control of the sea is not in my hands, which makes our army layout passive everywhere. Although we have basically determined the landing location of the Ming people, we cannot send a strong force to deploy in advance. I am afraid that once the Ming people gain a foothold in the west, we will be unable to push them back."
"You're right." With a heavy sigh, Tokugawa Yoshinao patted Laifang's shoulder heavily: "So I asked you to prepare in advance. Well, how are things going over there?"
"Two hundred large ships have been assembled at the port of Hitachi Province, and food and fresh water have been prepared on the shore. Ten thousand young and strong men and women have also been prepared."
"Yoshi! I'll give you all my 3,000 hatamoto. You take them over there. Then stay there. Once you hear the news that I was defeated and killed in battle, you will immediately take them on board the ship and go to Hawaii!"
"Brother!" The young man's face flushed. "I am already fifteen years old and a true samurai. Please let me stay in Edo. Even though I know that this battle has little hope, I am willing to charge in person and die heroically on the battlefield."
“…”
“Brother?!”
"Bagayaru~! Pa~!" A loud slap hit Tokugawa Yorifusa's face, and then a roar sounded above his head: "If we win this battle, everything will be fine. If we lose, with that bastard from the Toyotomi family, Japan will not be destroyed for the time being. But our Tokugawa family will definitely be wiped out! Why am I working so hard? It's just to ensure that the bloodline of the Tokugawa family will not be cut off! Now, Yoshinobu is in Korea and his life or death is unknown. As a general, I must go to the battlefield in person. You are the seed of my Tokugawa family in case the situation becomes irreversible! How can you be so willful?"
"Brother~ I just feel that it is a shame for me to hide behind while my brothers are charging into battle."
"You bastard!" Shaking his head helplessly, Tokugawa Yoshinao said, "How about this, you hand over the things in your hands to Yagyu Jubei, then you go to your territory in Mito and organize a 2,000-man army for me, and then go to Edo and wait for orders."
"Thank you, brother!"
"Well, but you have to remember, if you really go to the battlefield, you must obey my orders. When I ask you to retreat first, don't be so willful like you were today. Remember, as a general, I should die here for the Tokugawa family and for Japan. But you are the seed of my Tokugawa family, so you must not get hurt."
"Hey! Don't worry, brother. It's not impossible for us to win. Isn't it?"
"Yes, of course." Tokugawa Yoshinao reached out and touched his brother's head: "We still have hope of victory."
Looking at the back of the fifteen-year-old boy who was jumping step by step to find his confidant Jubei , Tokugawa Yoshinao showed a cruel smile: Fortunately, this boy was stupid and gullible, and took the initiative to hand over the command of the escape fleet, otherwise I would have to treat you to poison wine.
…
Just as Tokugawa Yoshinao was preparing for the final battle with a different mindset, in March 1619, the Ming Empire, from the emperor down to the six ministries, the provincial governors of the coastal and river provinces, and Cao Sanxi and others, were all busy as hell.
There is no other way. There are more than 200,000 troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula. The food consumed by so many soldiers and horses every day is an astronomical figure. Even in such a poor place like Korea, it is not enough without robbing the people. Zhu Youdong is thinking about arranging the princes of the royal family to sit in this place in the future, so he must not let the army rob the people, so as to ruin the relationship between the army and the people. Therefore, on the one hand, it is necessary to prepare ships to cross the sea to attack Japan, and on the other hand, it is necessary to supply food for so many troops on the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, during this period of time, a large number of ships along the coast of the entire Ming Dynasty were requisitioned, and then thousands of grain ships repeatedly ran between Nanjing, Tianjin and Busan.
On the one hand, it was necessary to allocate food, replenish troops, and transport new gunpowder and equipment. The more troublesome thing was that now that Korea had been liberated, the Korean royal family had been wiped out on the Liao River, and there was a question of what would happen to this country in the future.
Of course, there were many descendants of Li Chenggui in Korea at this time, and some people volunteered to be the king of Korea. However, those who made these requests could not even see Zhu Youdong, let alone Sun Chengzong, who was in charge of Korea at that time.
On the contrary, at this time in Korea, many former traitors were shouting at the top of their lungs: Please have mercy on this troubled country, allow Korea to annex the country as a whole, and make it a new province of the Ming Dynasty!
Such voices not only gradually fermented in Korea, but were infinitely amplified in the six major newspapers within the Ming Dynasty. From the second half of March, the six major newspapers published many news reports about Korean citizens asking for submission. If you only read the newspapers, you would probably get the impression that if the Ming Dynasty did not accept Korea, all Korean citizens would commit suicide.
"Grandpa Emperor, Concubine Dowager, Third Uncle, the current situation in North Korea has caused a lot of public opinion. Just look at Third Uncle's side..."
At the end of March, Wanli returned to Beijing after a relaxing tour along the Great Wall. As soon as he entered Xiyuan, he called Zhu Youdong over.
After all, Concubine Zheng was Wanli's favorite woman, and Zhu Changxun was his favorite son. Therefore, it was natural that Wanli attached great importance to the fact that Prince Fu left the Ming Dynasty to establish an independent country.
"Dong'er, I see that the newspapers are talking about it a lot, but what about the actual situation in North Korea?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, please allow me to report. As for the real situation in Korea, well, ordinary people actually don't care. The so-called 'middlemen' have gained the most benefits during the Japanese occupation in the past two or three years, and they are now trembling with fear for being liquidated. Therefore, they are the ones who can least accept the restoration of the Lee royal family. The former 'yangban nobles' of Korea have suffered heavy losses in the past two or three years, and they are the ones who most hope that the Lee royal family will be restored so as to restore their original status. As for the Korean military, humph, there is no need to consider this at all."
"Hmm..." After a pause, Wanli nodded: "In that case, there should be no problem for Chang Xun to go to Korea to be the king. Chang Xun, how are your preparations going?"
"Father, I have started to prepare after receiving the Emperor's signal last year. I now have 25 officials who have retired for many years, 37 , and 188 scholars. I have prepared 1.25 million silver dollars. As for the royal guards, with the Emperor's permission, they have been expanded to 3,000 people. And all their equipment is new products from the Fangshan Gun Factory. In addition, I have also sent officials such as the former chief historian of the royal palace to quietly enter Korea to investigate the local situation. In short, it is still far from complete, but it is not completely dark either."
"Chang Xun?"
"Be lenient. I have received a lot of rewards from your father over the years. I will give them all to you now. The total is 750,000 silver dollars. I will give it all to you."
"Mother!"
"Hahaha, don't be polite to me. Take Guotai with you this time."
"Of course, I need your help . The position I have reserved for you is the commander of the Jinyiwei of Fuguo."
"Well, that's a good point. A position like Jinyiwei must be handed over to a family member." Wanli took over the conversation: "Dong'er, when is the best time for Chang Xun to leave?"
"Grandpa, I think it would be best to wait until May, when the war in the Japanese mainland has been concluded. On the one hand, public opinion will continue to ferment for a while. On the other hand, our army will go out to sea to attack Japan in April. Although my grandson and the ministers have made full preparations, war is dangerous and there is no guarantee of victory. Therefore, after our army has made progress in the war in Japan and gained the upper hand, I will take this power to Korea to return to my country. This is the proper way."
"Well... let's arrange it this way. Chang Xun, you are the first king of our Chengzu line to be officially crowned. You must do a good job when you go to Korea. You must not be outdone by the Tang Clan and Zhou Clan."
"Yes, please rest assured, Father. When I go to Korea, I will make sure that the local people will enjoy the kindness of my Zhu family."
