Chapter 277 The Good Guy Got Angry

time flies.

Amid the expectations of both the government and the public, the delegation finally arrived in the capital.

According to the rules, Zheng made Xie Duo enter the palace immediately to meet the saint, and Zhu Houzhao simply held an impromptu court meeting.

After all, the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty wanted to know what was going on in Japan and what was the specific situation of the Iwami Silver Mine.

After learning that Xie Duo had returned to the court, the ministers immediately set off to attend the court meeting.

After all, hundreds of millions of grains of silver are involved, so you can't just listen to your own words.

This Xie Duo never participated in any court battles. He taught and educated people with peace of mind. He was a pure scholar!

In this way, he has no selfish motives and will not conceal any information about the Japanese country.

It was precisely because of this that the civil servants and gentry recommended Xie Duo to serve as this envoy.

Now, it's time to harvest.

In the main hall, His Majesty the Emperor immediately summoned Xie Duo.

The ministers turned their heads subconsciously and saw that the right minister of the Ministry of Rites had a tired and weathered face. It was obvious that he had suffered a lot during his mission to Japan.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty's mission to Japan did not go smoothly.

First, crossing the vast sea made these usually pampered courtiers and gentry a little overwhelmed.

At the beginning, I suffered from general seasickness, a terrible headache, and vomited whatever I ate. Fortunately, I got better in the end.

Half a month is not a long time, but if you are above the sea, this day becomes extremely long.

Although the blessing boat the delegation took was large, it was only that big and could be completed in a few minutes.

Life on the ship is very boring, there are no entertainment items, and it is bumpy all the time. It is better not to get seasick, but if you do get seasick, life is worse than death.

Xie Duo also inevitably fell into the trap, and because of his old age, he almost died in the vast sea.

Fortunately, he often worked hard, so his bones were still strong, and he recovered within a few days.

But then new difficulties came one after another, and that was the food problem.

The lunch on the boat is very rich, with a lot of seafood.

Although the food on the ship was sufficient before going to sea, no one knew what would happen when sailing on the sea.

Therefore, in order to save food as much as possible, the soldiers had a small trawl net on the back of these boats. They could also trawl fish while walking on the sea. This allowed the members of the mission to eat endless seafood every day.

At first, everyone was very happy. After all, it is not easy to eat fresh seafood in the capital, unless you are willing to spend a lot of money.

But now they can eat every day, and have all the seafood they want, and it's all free, so everyone is in high spirits.

But when we got to the back, Iron Man couldn’t stop eating like this!

Even Xie Duo couldn't stand it anymore. He felt like retching when he smelled the fishy smell of seafood.

The sea is no different than land, and it is very difficult to make a fire. Although a lot of briquettes and wood have been prepared on the ship, in line with the principle of saving what you can, eating sliced ​​seafood directly is the most energy-saving and environmentally friendly way.

The most important thing is that the entire fleet is nominally led by Xie Duo, the Ming Dynasty envoy, but in fact it is led by the two commanders of the Beijing army, Ma Yong and Deng Boyan. After all, the two thousand soldiers under their command are real soldiers. , I will not be used to these literati at all.

All kinds of seafood, except those that must be cooked with fire, most of them are sliced.

The crew also enjoyed the meal very happily. They are used to eating raw food. This is the best choice on the ship. If you are not used to eating cooked food, just dream on it!

Being on the ship is like wartime. The soldiers take over everything. Who the hell will they pamper you, the delicate literati?

However, Xie Duo is different after all. In addition, he has a good temper and is fair in everything, so he is highly respected by Ma Yong and Deng Boyan. The two often open a small stove and make some cooked food for Xie Duo. After all, he is old and cannot stand such a situation. No matter how hard it is, you have to respect your elders.

In such a boring life, the fleet finally arrived at the Japanese port.

A total of three lucky ships arrived at the port and, under the command of Ashikaga Yoshimi, entered the core territory of the Ouchi clan.

The current head of the Ouchi family, Ouchi Yoshihiro, after learning the news, hurried to the port with a large group of family warriors to contact the Ming envoy.

During the Heian period, the Ouchi clan became a government official of the Zhou Defense Kingdom and accumulated considerable influence. After the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate, the Ouchi clan became an imperial family member of the shogunate and became the local overlord.

After the Japanese Kingdom entered the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Ouchi Hiroyo, a direct descendant of the Ouchi family, joined the anti-Murocho shogunate and became the leader of Ashikaga Naotugu. During this period, Ouchi Hiroyo successively eliminated the shogunate's guardian Ouchi Shogun. Hiroshi (the Washuto Ouchi family) and the guardian of Nagato Province, Hoto Yoshitake, became the actual rulers of the two countries. Soon after, Ouchi Hiroyo was bribed by the Muromachi shogunate with the official position of guardian of the Zhou Fang Kingdom and Nagato Kingdom, and joined the side of the shogunate, becoming the ancestor of the Ouchi family during the Warring States Period.

Ouchi Kyouhiro formulated a judicial system with Yamaguchi as the center. In fact, Yamaguchi was the capital of the territorial kingdom and controlled each branch. At that time, Ouchi Kyouhiro actually controlled the six counties of Shufang Province, the nine counties of Nagato Province, and Toyo During the Warring States Period, the territory of the Ouchi clan also basically fluctuated around this scale.

Because Zheng He led the invincible fleet to the Japanese country suddenly. Under the deterrence of force, the Japanese country that had been clamoring before surrendered instantly. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu also showed a lot of knowledge. Not only did he proactively offer his sword and horse, he also entrenched Tsushima, The Japanese pirate gangs in Yiqi and other places were wiped out, and they "held their leaders to offer sacrifices." They then formally accepted the canonization of Emperor Yongle and became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. The two countries also launched joint trade.

Although Japanese businessmen in Ningbo and other places will inevitably encounter price reduction and deception by the "official shipping company", the hospitality of the local shipping company was quite considerate during the berth of the "Kanhe trading ship", and daily meals and supplies were all free of charge supply.

Not only were the Chinese products purchased by Japanese merchants such as raw silk, medicinal materials, calligraphy and paintings, books, etc. highly profitable in the Japanese archipelago, but even the currency of the Ming Empire, the "Yongle Tongbao", also gained the same credit and purchasing power as today's U.S. dollars, so that every contract was When the trading ships returned, there was a feeling of joy in Japan that "the Tang ships returned to the dynasty and the Xuande money arrived."

This and the Ming Dynasty's exploration trade made huge profits. The Muromachi shogunate, which had monopolized the "Tomorrow Trade" for a long time, naturally attracted many "envious, jealous and hateful" eyes. Especially because of the Onin Rebellion, the Muromachi shogunate's control over various parts of the Japanese country was greatly reduced. With the continuous rise of daimyo in various places, the reconnaissance ships sent by the Muromachi shogunate were often robbed by the Ouchi clan entrenched in Nagato, Shubo and other places on their way back. They lost all their money and had to surrender to the Ouchi clan who controlled the Seto Inland Sea. Uchi and Hosokawa transfer their rights to "Tomorrow Trading".

The Ouchi clan was an anomaly in the history of the Muromachi shogunate and even the Japanese nation. His claim to be the "Saint Prince of Baekje Kingdom" may be bragging, but his identity as an immigrant from southern Korea is basically confirmed. After generations of reproduction and management, the Ouchi clan eventually developed from a small ethnic group in Ouchi Village of Zhou Fang Kingdom to the "overlord of the Western Kingdom" who has occupied the western part of Honshu for generations.

Although the Kamakura shogunate, Emperor Go-Daigo, and the Ashikaga clan repeatedly suppressed it, they were eventually forced to adopt a soft policy because they were concerned about its entangled influence in the local area.

For example, in the fourth year of the Ming Dynasty, the Muromachi shogunate organized the seventh trade mission to the Ming Dynasty. Although the Ouchi clan had a Seika alliance, they did not have credentials and could not realize trade with the Ming Dynasty. Under the mediation of the shogunate, the Ouchi clan and Hosokawa They jointly formed the seventh trade delegation, which is the best proof of the transfer of benefits.

Relying on the profits earned from trade with the Ming Dynasty, the power of the Ouchi family continued to rise. Moreover, Ouchi Yoshihiro himself was an ambitious tycoon, and he secretly took in Ashikaga Yoshimoto, the tenth shogun of the Muromachi shogunate who was driven away. , always ready to subvert Kyoto.

After all, after the Onin Rebellion, the control of the Muromachi shogunate continued to decline. The war between daimyo and daimyo, and the war between daimyo and shogunate, can be said to be a continuous war that never stopped. The daimyo of various places continued to conquer each other, and the internal affairs of each daimyo There was also a struggle for power and profit, with retainers trying to seize the family owner's property, samurai assassinating family governors, and so on.

But at such a juncture, the Ming Dynasty really sent a mission, and there were even two thousand well-equipped and well-trained Ming soldiers. This made Ouchi Yoshihiro have to be more vigilant.

Immediately, under the arrangement of the Ouchi clan, the Ming envoy temporarily lived in its core city, Yamaguchi. After that, Xie Duo met with Ouchi Yoshihiro and Ashikaga Yoshimoto. The latter, the tenth shogun who had been driven away, saw The Ming Dynasty actually sent soldiers to assist themselves. Na was even more ecstatic, and immediately asked Xie Duo and Ouchi Yoshihiro to organize their troops and counterattack Kyoto to regain their position as shogun.

However, Xie Duo did not come here this time to help you Ashikaga Yoshinori fight for the general position. He came to mediate the internal war of the Japanese country and return peace to the people of the Japanese country.

Therefore, it was impossible to send troops. In the name of the Great Angel, Xie Duo summoned the Muromachi Shogunate and another tyrannical daimyo, the Hosokawa clan, to come to Yamaguchi to discuss matters.

During this period, everyone in the Ming Dynasty's mission, including Ma Yong and Deng Boyan, was also trying every means to send people to Iwami Country in Shimane County, Kyushu Island to search for the whereabouts of the silver mines, and also used various means to test the Ouchi family's stone. See silver mine news.

This made Ouchi Yoshihiro extremely angry. How did he know how these Akito got the news? The news about the silver mine had been hidden by them. It was being mined on a small scale. Even their old rivals Even the Hosokawa family didn't know about it, but these damn Akito people knew about it, and they tried every means to spy on the silver mine.

However, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were nothing but decorations. Naturally, the Ouchi family did not dare to take action against the envoys, so they could only feed them with delicious food and drink, and then slowly start arguing with these greedy guys.

The Ming Dynasty envoys quarreled with Ashikaga Yoshinori, Ashikaga Yoshinori and Hosokawa Masamoto.

Ouchi Yoshihiro, on the other hand, was dealing with these greedy damn Akito in a panic. He also had to secretly guard against the news that these Akito were spying on the Iwami Silver Mine, or leaking the information about the silver mine to the Hosokawa clan or the shogunate. I was also very irritable for a while.

Because of the arrival of the Ming Dynasty's envoy, the originally war-torn Japanese country fell into a strange silence, and all the daimyo's eyes were focused on the Ming Dynasty Angel.

However, the declining dominance of the Muromachi shogunate is not an empty talk. Moreover, the Japanese country has no respect for the Ming Dynasty. The reason why it became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty was just because of the profits from the joint trade. At this moment, Xie Duo wanted to mediate the internal strife in Japan. , it is simply unrealistic to prevent these ambitious daimyo from fighting each other.

Several forces argued repeatedly, putting the blame for the chaos in Japan on each other, so that Xie Duo, a good man, couldn't help but get angry.

He also saw clearly that these despicable Japanese were a group of native barbarians who were not educated, did not know etiquette, righteousness, and shame. They knew small etiquette but not great righteousness, feared power but not virtue, would rob when strong, and would be submissive when weak. They didn't care about gratitude, and they were all extremely selfish!

It was impossible for the Ming Dynasty to mediate these damn barbarians by relying on the prestige of the suzerain country!

In addition, the delegation not only determined the specific location of the Iwami silver mine through their own means, but also confirmed that the Ouchi clan was secretly mining on a small scale, so they couldn't sit still and immediately asked Xie Duo to return.

Xie Duo was already angry with these damn barbarians, and he was too lazy to care about their trivial matters, so he immediately gave up and left.

I won't play with you anymore, you can fight slowly!

As for Ma Yong, Deng Boyan and others, they led 2,000 soldiers to stay. They did not forget the order of Zhongshan Hou and secretly reached an agreement with Ashikaga Yoshitane, who reached an agreement with Ouchi Yoshioki through Ashikaga Yoshitane.

The final result was that Xie Duo led the delegation to eat and drink for free in the Ouchi clan for more than two years, and then found the specific location of the Iwami silver mine. Ma Yong and Deng Boyan became mercenaries of Ashikaga Yoshitane and Ouchi Yoshioki, staying in the Ouchi clan to prepare for a shocking war and completely subvert the entire Japanese country!

After listening to Xie Duo's narration, the ministers were stunned and began to discuss.

Zhu Houzhao also found it difficult to understand how these Japanese people had their brains.

According to Xie Duo and Tang Hao, these so-called Japanese daimyo are actually village heads and town heads, with only a few soldiers under their command. You are full and have nothing to do but fight every day!

The Ming Dynasty suzerain sent people to tell you to stop fighting and behave yourself, but you still dare not listen and continue fighting?

This really doesn't take the Ming Dynasty suzerain seriously!

Xie Duo was also angry and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, these Japanese are a group of native barbarians who are not educated, do not know etiquette, righteousness, and shame. They know small etiquette but not great righteousness, fear power but not virtue, and will rob when they are strong and servile when they are weak. They don't care about gratitude and righteousness. They are extremely selfish!"

"Their personality is like that of a wolf. If you treat them well, they will only think that you are easy to bully. The only way to deal with the Japanese is to use your fists and beat them hard. If they are beaten, they will be obedient and behave well. Then they will be as docile as dogs, otherwise they will bare their teeth at you!"

"My God... The DPRK has always been the suzerain of Japan. It has done its utmost to carry out trade with Japan, regardless of past grudges. However, after careful observation, I can confirm that these Japanese have no respect for the Ming Dynasty. Even the tribute missions they sent are all participated by various forces, and they come for the profit of trade! "

"Therefore, please stop the trade with Japan immediately, and issue an edict to reprimand Japan for offending the power of the Ming Dynasty, and teach them a lesson!"

Xie Duo is a well-known Confucian scholar and a staunch supporter and advocate of Confucianism.

After personally going to Japan and arguing with these Japanese for two or three years, this good man was really disgusted.

Everything is for profit, so why should we carry out trade with you?

As Xie Duo spoke, the ministers also echoed him.

The suzerain of the Celestial Empire came forward to mediate, and you damn barbarians are still not obedient, and you dare to disrespect the Ming Dynasty envoys. You really need to teach these damn Japanese barbarians a lesson!

Tang Hao had been listening quietly, and finally couldn't help laughing out loud.

There was no way, this matter was too funny.

Ouchi Yoshioki had kept these guys for more than two years in vain, and in the end, when they returned to the court, they immediately asked the court to stop the trade and cut off the financial path of the Ouchi family. If Ouchi Yoshioki knew about this, I don't know how angry he would be.

In addition, how many of these court officials who are clamoring to teach Japan a lesson are for maintaining the majesty of the Ming Dynasty, the suzerain state, and how many are for the Iwami silver mine?

Haha, people's hearts are unpredictable!

But now is a great opportunity, Tang Hao will naturally not give up.

As for Japan, those who understand it all understand it, no need to say more, as long as there is a chance, they will definitely be beaten to death!

"Your Majesty, I second the motion!"

"You should all know how despicable Japan is."

"Since the reign of Taizu Hongwu, Japan has been disrespectful to the Ming Dynasty, killing envoys from the Ming Dynasty, imprisoning members of the envoys, and provoking the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty in the letter of credence."

"The reason why Japan later surrendered to the Ming Dynasty was also under the threat of the military force of Zheng He's fleet, and then tasted the sweetness of the trade, so it has always maintained tribute and trade with the Ming Dynasty, but has never been respectful to the Ming Dynasty!"

"In addition, over the years, the Japanese pirates have often raided the coastal areas of our Ming Dynasty, and according to my investigation, these Japanese pirates are not bandits who survive by robbing and looting all year round. Most of them are formed by local daimyo of Japan. In other words, Japan is making profits from the trade with the Ming Dynasty on the one hand, but secretly disguised as Japanese pirates to plunder the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty on the other hand!"

"They know little etiquette but no great righteousness, they fear power but do not cherish virtue, they are strong and will rob and plunder, they are weak and submissive, they do not care about gratitude and righteousness, they betray their master and relatives, such a despicable little country has never taken my Ming Dynasty seriously!"

This statement caused an uproar.

The despicable behavior of these Japanese is really disgusting.

On the one hand, they make profits by doing business with you, and on the other hand, they pretend to be Japanese pirates to rob you. Who can stand this?

For a time, the ministers in the hall were furious, and all pointed their spearheads at the Japanese.