eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 737 Wu Wending

On the sixth day of March in the 11th year of Zhengde, the Great Court Meeting officially began, lasted for six days, and ended completely on the [-]th.

The process was no different from previous years. The order to clear the land under heaven had its own righteous nature. Officials could not change the emperor's will. The emperor did not even mention the affairs of the chieftain to the court.

Therefore, the Great Court Meeting itself was uneventful. Only things like which chief envoy did better and which governor did worse attracted attention.

On the afternoon of the twelfth day after the great meeting, the emperor summoned the cabinet and six ministers to discuss the main affairs of this year again.

The head of the cabinet, Wang Hao, is in charge of the overall situation. In all provinces, including Xinjiang, all matters related to people's livelihood, prisons and prisons must not be missed. Yang Tinghe, the second assistant of the cabinet, still focuses on reforming government affairs, and must achieve results in all maritime trade, industry and other matters. , Zhang Cong, the old man of Xinge, was concerned about one thing - clearing the land of his father-in-law.

Of course, this is not a strict division of labor among the three. The leader is responsible for everything, but the severity is different. Yang Tinghe and Zhang Cong are somewhat like assistants, helping him to hold up the two stalls first.

Zhu Houzhao is still very good at asking people. He clearly divides the affairs of his ministers and ensures that he can find people for any problems.

The structure of the cabinet was thus determined.

On the distant East China Sea, the Ming Dynasty Navy, which had been worried about by everyone in the court, finally got some tidbits of news.

Although the emperor said he was worried about the outcome of the expedition, in fact he was confident in his heart, unless there was a big sea storm and the man and ship were destroyed by natural disasters.

Because at this time, Japan was a divided country that was falling apart and in disarray. The nominal Ashikaga family was simply unable to control the country. The so-called powerful local daimyo, whether they were the Hosokawa clan, the Ouchi clan, the Oda clan, or the Kyogoku clan, The territory they control is basically the size of a town, and the amount of troops they can organize is even less worth mentioning.

Is there anything that can't be won?
According to the original decree of the emperor, Wu Wending mainly solved two things. One was to conquer the Hosokawa clan and the Ouchi clan, and to solve the problem of people from these two families threatening Ming Dynasty officials and stealing confidential matters such as shipbuilding and textiles. Of course, this was The reason for sending troops was actually to attack the two most powerful Ming Dynasties and to show the power of the Ming Dynasty to the official Muromachi Shogunate.

The second one is to answer the mystery of "Ouchi's sudden wealth" mentioned by Mei Kejia.

Wu Wending, a 45-year-old Ming minister who was born as a Jinshi, served as an official, had a tough style, and became a naval admiral, basically solved these two problems.

Iwami Country is located in the southwest of Honshu Island. It is one of the many imperial kingdoms in Japan. Even Wu Wending did not know until he arrived here that it could also become a country. In addition to Iwami Country, there are also Izumo Country and Bingo Country. , Zhou Fang Kingdom, Nagato Kingdom, An Yi Kingdom... A small island that is a little bigger is divided into dozens of countries.

The guardian of Ishimi Country is the Ouchi clan. This family made its fortune through the Nikkei trade. The current head of the Ouchi clan is named Ouchi Yoshihiro. He is actually a contemporary hero. It was he who led the Ouchi clan out of civil strife and began to Compete for territory with neighboring countries such as Izumo and Reserve.

This is a simple process. In fact, these Japanese histories are extremely complicated, and there are so many people involved. This actually represents the chaos of the so-called Warring States Period.

No matter how great a hero is, he must be constrained by the times. How can a hero who fights with soldiers every day face an army of tens of thousands?

By the time Wu Wending inquired about the place and landed in Ishigami Country, the entire Honshu Island seemed to be quiet.

The more than [-] soldiers who came off the ship and had been trained by him all year round were simply unimaginable to these people, and they never thought that Ming's army would come here.

These past few months have been a time of great shock to all countries in Japan. People from Ashikaga, Hosokawa and other families as far away as Tokyo have sent people to Iwami State to pay homage.

The title of Ming Emperor has never been as true as it is now.

As the New Year approaches March, Wu Wending is ready to leave.

At this time, the heroic Ouchi Yoshihiro had become a Ming Dynasty minister who endured humiliation and heavy burdens.

But because Wu Wending left behind three thousand soldiers, he had to endure the humiliation and bear the burden.

On the other side, Xing Guan carefully observed and understood the current Japanese society under the protection of soldiers, because he wanted to report it to the emperor. After reading it, Xing Guan sighed, "I don't know why there were so many Japanese pirates on the sea in the past, but when I saw it here, It’s all clear. The people of the Japanese island country are like sitting on a raging fire cooking oil. There are constant disputes and wars in various places. Killing people and stealing goods is more common, but being a Japanese pirate is a way to survive. "

Wu Wending also opened his eyes, "Yes, when I read history books, I knew that people were in dire straits at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, but it was only when I got here that I saw it with my own eyes."

"Before the expedition last year, I told the emperor that Japan is also a market with millions of people. Now it seems that there are at most 10 people. Only our children, nobles and officials have the purchasing power." Xing Guan will also mention now The word purchasing power.

Wu Wending was not worried, "With that underground silver vein, this trip is worth it."

On the ship for their return trip, there were not only people from their own country, but also people from various places.They all followed the Ming Dynasty to express their feelings to the emperor and beg for friendship.

Wu Wending did not expect such a situation. He did use force and taught several disobedient so-called countries a lesson, but he did not expect that all the countries would come to surrender one after another.

Moreover, the Ashikaga family, representing the Muromachi shogunate, was the first to surrender to the Ming Dynasty.

What surprised him the most was the Ouchi family. Ouchi Yoshihiro's initial unruly attitude and later submissive attitude were completely different.

For example, when they returned home, Ouchi Yoshihiro personally came to see them off, and all the details were respectful.

On the dock, Ouchi Yoshihiro listened to the flattery of the servants, saying that the head of the family was showing weakness, which must have confused the officials of the Ming Dynasty. He himself felt so, which was also the reason for his change of attitude.

But Wu Wending and Xing Guan standing on the deck were both familiar with history. They were smiling, but in fact they understood everything in their hearts.

When Wu Wending mentioned the underground Yinmai, Xing Guan reminded him, "This person named Ouchi Yixing is flexible and flexible, and has a deep mind. He is by no means an incompetent person. He must also value Yinmai. In recent years, Ouchi has relied on This underground silver vein is also the lifeblood. How can the lifeline be given away to others?"

Speaking of this, Xing Guan couldn't help but think of the 100 million taels of silver placed in the cabin.

It was dug up from the ground, which made him feel a little strange. In the past, he grew food and earned money, but now he felt like he was "growing money."

"You want to say that you have to endure hardships while sleeping, right?"

"good."

"I don't know if they know how to endure hardships."

Xing Guan laughed. These strategies of Ouchi Yoshihiro seemed clever, but for some reason they felt childish, which was obvious at a glance.

"It must be that I don't know, otherwise it shouldn't be like this."

Wu Wending didn't have too complicated thoughts, "I'm going back after all. Let the emperor decide how to deal with such people in the end. I'm only worried about the silver veins. 3000 people may be too few. If millions of taels of silver are lost... …”

In the Ming Dynasty, if something goes wrong with the millions of taels of tax money being transported, it will not only shock the world for many years, but also cause direct losses to the court, which is basically beheading.

Wu Wen must have made an analogy to this crime.

Xing Guan comforted him: "It doesn't matter. No matter how powerful Ouchi Yoshihiro is, the smelting method restricts him. Even if he acts secretly, he can't steal much. Besides, the silver he digs out will still go to Daminghua."

In Xing Guan's opinion, this was the key. It was true that there was silver veins, but good enough smelting technology was needed to significantly increase production, and this was also the focus of his report to the emperor.

If possible, he hopes to transfer the smelting technology of the Ming Dynasty directly over. He does not know very well how the Ming Dynasty smelted and whether it is more advanced. If it fails, he will ask Mei Kejia for help and see if it is available in Nanyang.

All in all, after discovering this place, the credit of the two of them cannot be lost, and Ming Dynasty will definitely benefit a lot.

Xing Guan thought back to the beginning and felt that Ping Haibo should also take credit. After all, he was the first to raise the issue of Ouchi's sudden wealth.

(End of this chapter)