1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 904: King Yong's Ambition

On December 1674, 12, Ningzhou City.

The clan of the Ming Dynasty was different from the Han and Jin Dynasties, as well as from the Tang and Song Dynasties.The clans of the Han and Jin dynasties split the land and faced the people, just like an independent vassal state; the clans of the Tang and Song Dynasties did not dispose of the grassland, and their virtuous and talented people all made famous official titles and achieved their own achievements. , And there are endless books about the achievements of officials and relatives.

Taking the Han, Jin, Tang and Song Dynasties as lessons, Youming made some improvements and discarded the content of the clan policies of the previous dynasties, forming its own characteristics.When Taizu proclaimed himself emperor in Yingtian and established the Ming Dynasty, when Taizu and his counselors summed up the experience of the rise and fall of chaos in history, they agreed that an important reason for the demise of the Song and Yuan Dynasties was that "the master was weak and the ministers were strong", and the imperial court could not get the clan. Fanping, so as a lesson from the previous dynasty, decided to build a fan.

From the third year of Hongwu (1370), following the example of the heroes of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States who invaded the land of Yi and Di, respected the emperor of the Zhou family, implemented the strategy of "all kings calm the border", enfeoffed the princes as princes, and stipulated a strict system of feudal vassals .This system was regarded as the unchanging ancestral precept by the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, and it has continued to this day.

However, after the Battle of Jingnan, Emperor Yongle began to strengthen the centralization of power, and took himself as a lesson, stipulating that the vassal kings were not allowed to interfere in local political and military affairs, not to leave the fief without authorization, make friends with local officials, and not to meet with court officials privately, without calling Not allowed to enter the capital, forming a situation of "there are all the minions in the Ming Dynasty, who are entrusted but not tin soil, are ranked but not near the people, eat and pay but not manage affairs, and cannot participate in the business of the four people (that is, scholars, farmers, businessmen), and can be hereditary without replacement".

However, since Yongwang Zhu Cizhen took over Yunzhou more than 20 years ago, he has completely broken all the taboos of the Daming vassal kings. It also has a powerful army with more than [-] soldiers, and is well-equipped, and its combat power is the highest in the Far East.

Although, Yong Wang has not violated the two regulations of "not meeting with the court officials privately, and not entering the capital without being called".

Because, for more than ten years, the imperial court has summoned King Yong to Nanjing several times to meet His Majesty, but Zhu Cizhao refused to go to Nanjing because of various reasons such as "being unwell", "unsettled frontiers", and "local people causing chaos". one line.

Even when the imperial court once promulgated the emperor's decree, directly requesting Yongwang to move to the mainland, and sent corresponding officials to take over Yunzhou Town, he was resisted and expelled by force from Yongwang.

After more than 20 years of development, the three main territories occupied by King Yong, Yunzhou, Zhenzhou, and Kuye Island, have a population of nearly 70. Coupled with their geographical form isolated from the mainland, they have become independent vassal states. , To the Ming court, neither listened to the tune nor listened to the announcement, and formed a unified system of its own.

However, Yongwang Zhu Cizhen's ambition is naturally not to be an independent vassal king, and it is not impossible to think about the once unattainable Ming Dynasty throne.

According to reports, Emperor Guangde, who lives in Nanjing, was seriously ill in June this year. Although he received various medical treatments, there were relapses from time to time. He has been bedridden and has been unable to see things.What's strange is that Zhu Hejun, who is the prince, was not pushed to the position of supervisor of the country by the ministers to act as the emperor's power, but was confined in the palace instead.

This action immediately caused many associations in Yongwang Zhu Cizhao's heart.Could it be that Sun Kewang's traitor wants to take advantage of His Majesty's death and plan to rebel and usurp him?
If this is the case, as a descendant of Taizu and a descendant of the royal family, after the fall of Ming Dynasty, he should stand up and rebuild Daming in Yunzhou.

The throne of the emperor seems to be not so far away from him!
Decades ago, Jiashen's heaven changed, his father died for his country, and his country was in ruins. If it wasn't for the Qi State to save him, he, the crown prince, King Ding and others would have encountered treacherous hands.Originally thought that, with the support of the Qi State and the survivors of the Ming Dynasty, the crown prince ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, and he was named Yongchu. He and King Ding could only be reduced to ordinary vassal kings, rich and noble, and lingering in the world.

However, in the eighth year of Yongchu (1654), during the Dengzhou Incident, the Qing captives captured Penglai with the support of Yongning Hou and Jiang Yongrui, the commander-in-chief of Denglai Town.

However, he and King Ding survived because they lived on Changshan Island. When they were in a state of panic, Sun Kewang, with the military cooperation of Qi State, conquered Nanjing and recovered the entire Jiangnan.King Ding was promoted to be the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, and then under the escort of Qi State, he went to Nanjing to succeed him and establish the imperial court again.

In order to prevent Zhu Ming's royal family from being destroyed again, Yong Wang Zhu Cizhao also under the protection of Qi State, first went to Gengluo Island, and then arrived in Yunzhou, where he established a state as a vassal and actively developed his strength in order to protect himself.

After decades of development, as the strength of Yunzhou Town grew, Zhu Cizhao's inner ambitions also began to grow slowly.In particular, the puppet-like existence of Emperor Guangde in Nanjing and the domineering power of Sun Kewang, the king of Qin, made Zhu Cizhen keenly realize that once Sun Ni usurped the Ming Dynasty to stand on his own, then as the only clan member of the Ming royal family who went out and became a vassal One, it turned out to be the first choice for the emperor to succeed to the throne!
Good luck tricks people!Unexpectedly, as a prince who is not a direct relative, he also has the opportunity to become the emperor.If God does not take it, you will be blamed, and if the time is not enough, you will suffer it instead.

Since more than ten years ago, Zhu Cizhao has been making careful preparations for the future succession of the Ming emperor.Embracing the thigh of the Qi State, obtain the security of Yunzhou Town; spare no effort to immigrate every year to enrich the population size under its jurisdiction; devote most of the income of the feudal town to military construction; continue to attack North Korea and force it to promise to be the vassal of Daming forever , thinking that it will be needed for future barriers.

And this year, they successfully instigated Qi to attack Japan in order to try their best to weaken the big country with a population of more than 1000 million, so that Yunzhou Town can have a safer geographical advantage in the future.

When the coalition forces fought against the shogunate in the Gyeonggi area of ​​Japan, King Yong immediately recruited thousands of local soldiers and invaded the northern area of ​​Mutsu just after finishing his autumn harvest work in various parts of Yunzhou.Under the instruction of King Yong, the leading generals also wiped out the lords and samurai ruling class of the defeated Hirosaki Fan and Hachinohe Fan, in order to achieve the purpose of annexing the above-mentioned territories.

Half a month ago, news came from Japan that the coalition forces had defeated the shogunate army on the Hirano River outside Osaka City and wiped out more than 70 enemies, while their own losses were extremely slight.For this reason, King Yong gave a banquet to all the ministers to celebrate the great victory of the coalition forces.Not long after, Yunzhou Town captured Sado Island and seized more than [-] taels of gold and silver accumulated by the shogunate, which made Yongwang even more overjoyed.

However, King Ei was still not satisfied with the above-mentioned results, and continued to order the army of Yunzhou Town, which landed in the northern part of Mutsu, to try to attack Kubota Fan (Akita Fan) and Morioka Fan, and move the battle line as far south as possible so that To obtain more favorable negotiating conditions for future peace talks.

"I heard that Tsushima Fanzong once paid tribute to North Korea?" Zhu Cizhao folded his arms, stopped in front of a map provided by Qi State, pondered for a long time, then turned his head and asked.

Shi Ji Ximing, the head of the palace, could not help showing a wry smile on his face when he heard King Yong's question. This His Highness probably took a fancy to Tsushima Island, which is located between Japan and North Korea, again.

"Your Highness, more than 100 years ago, the clan of the Tsushima clan did pay tribute to Korea and Japan at the same time, and became a vassal." Ji Ximing replied: "But after the Wanli Korean War, the clan completely belonged to Tokugawa. The shogunate is no longer a vassal of Korea."

"North Korea is a vassal of our Ming Dynasty, and the Ma Zong family has inherited the vassal of North Korea. In this way, our Ming Dynasty has sufficient reasons to bring it under the rule of the Ming Dynasty again, and then become the Ming Dynasty's vassal." Zhu Cizhen told Ji Ximing The latter sentence is selectively ignored.

Once Yunzhou Town seizes Tsushima Island, it can echo Gengluo Island and completely cut off the connection between North Korea and Japan.In the future, whether it is to hold North Korea hostage or threaten Japan's coastal areas, it will have two of the most critical sea strongholds.

When formulating the war strategy against Japan, Qi proposed to attack only the core forces belonging to the shogunate, and not to target those foreign daimyos who belonged to the peripheral forces of the shogunate, so as to avoid being counterattacked by the whole country of Japan.

The pair of Ma Fanzong clans were not only foreign daimyos, but they also stood in the wrong team and ran into the Western Army formation during the Battle of Sekigahara.However, Tokugawa Ieyasu intended to use Zongshi to repair the relationship between Japan and North Korea that had reached a freezing point due to the Battle of Wenlu and Keicho (Wanli Korean War). Therefore, Zongshi was not punished after the war and retained the territory. Tsushima Fuchu Domain was established.

In fact, the Tsushima clan is the most dovish daimyo in Japan.The so-called relying on the sky to eat the sky, although the island of Tsushima is barren.However, under the premise that the whole of East Asia is closed to the outside world, Tsushima Island, as a small trade window, can make a lot of money, so there is really no need to go out and grab it.

The owner of Tsushima Island is not only unwilling to start a war, but also afraid of war.Because once North Korea and Japan start a war, his small window will be closed.In order to exchange for the opening of the North Korean monarch's trade.The owner of Tsushima even surrendered his national status and secretly paid tribute to the King of Korea.

This vassal state also has a celestial addiction.Annan proclaimed himself emperor behind closed doors, and liked to have countries such as Champa and Chenla pay tribute to him.North Korea dare not even close its doors to proclaim itself emperor, but it still likes the Jurchen little chief and the Tsushima lord to profess their vassals, earning enough face.

Of course, if Toyotomi Hideyoshi wants to invade North Korea, Tsushima Island is a necessary transit point.All the guests came, and the little Tsushima Fan had no choice but to let these menacing grandpas do what they wanted, but they kept responding negatively during the war.

The Zong family is popular in Tsushima Island, drinking spicy food and doing well, how could they be so stupid that they would go to North Korea to grab those three melons and two dates.Moreover, North Korea rewarded Tsushima with a lot of rice every year because of its vassalage and tribute, and the small life was even more comfortable.

However, this Zongshi's job of eating two ends was shattered because of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ambition.At that time, just after the Kyushu Conquest ended (1587), during Hideyoshi's stay in Hakata Bay, Soyoshi, the lord of Tsushima Island, crossed the sea and came to Hakata Bay to meet Hideyoshi.When asked where the extra rice in his vassal territory came from, Zongyi Tiao did not dare to tell Hideyoshi that he surrendered to North Korea, so he lied that the king of North Korea surrendered to Tsushima Island, so he surrendered to Tsushima every year. Island tribute rice.

And Toyotomi Hideyoshi also believed Zongyi Tiao's words, and immediately ordered Zong Yi Tiao to send a message to North Korea, asking its king to visit the emperor in the Japanese Imperial Palace and accept Hideyoshi's canonization.In the end, he also threatened with words that if the King of Korea arrives late, Japan will send troops to conquer North Korea.

In fact, many Japanese daimyos, including Taima Zongshi, and even Hideyoshi’s confidant General Konishi Yukio, did not take Hideyoshi’s threats to heart, attacking North Korea and conquering Ming Dynasty, this is how arrogant it is to do it This kind of thing happened.

Even when the Kingdom of Korea later sent envoys to Kyoto to congratulate Toyotomi Hideyoshi on the unification of Japan, he heard with his own ears that Hideyoshi threatened to conquer Korea and Ming Dynasty.The kings and ministers of North Korea are still not convinced, thinking that the Wa country is weak, how can it challenge the huge Ming country, and even the Wa country may not be able to defeat the mighty North Korea.Therefore, the Koreans just laughed off Hideyoshi's "nonsense" about attacking the court and defeating Ming.

However, no one thought that Toyotomi Hideyoshi's "nonsense" to attack North Korea and then conquer Daming was actually a lie.Until 1592, this year was called the "Imchen" year by the Koreans.More than [-] Japanese troops started from Kyushu, passed Tsushima Island, and swarmed into North Korea.

Speaking of which, the catastrophic event recorded by the Koreans as the "Imjin Japanese Invasion" should bear some responsibility for the Ma Fanzong family. For a while, they even claimed to Hideyoshi that North Korea surrendered to Tsushima Island. Paying tribute, isn't this fueling Hideyoshi's arrogance and arrogance even more.

It has not been a day or two since King Yong wanted to fight Tsushima Island.More than ten years ago, a group of daring Japanese pirates took advantage of the location of Tsushima Island to hijack an immigrant ship belonging to Yunzhou Town.At that time, the garrison of Gengluo Island was attracted to assemble more than a thousand officers and soldiers, landed on the island to rescue them, and beheaded all the captured Japanese pirates on the island.Tsushima Fanzong was so frightened that he closed Yanyuan City, and did not dare to go out of the city to fight against him.

Later, the Tokugawa shogunate intervened and asked Yunzhou Town to withdraw its troops.Yong Wang was afraid of Japan's power, so he didn't make things difficult for the Zong family, so he ordered the soldiers to pack up and return to Gengluo Island.

Now, just taking advantage of the fact that the shogunate was beaten to the brim by the coalition forces, troops were sent to attack the Zong family and seize this key island.

"Your Highness, yesterday the representative of the State of Qi in Yunzhou proposed that we can provide them with [-] young and strong immigrants and [-] tons of food and other supplies by March next year." Ji Ximing suddenly mentioned the recent request made by the people of Qi.

"They asked for immigrants and food, so why did they come?...Shouldn't they be thrown into those bitter cold places in the extreme northeast?"

"It's exactly as His Highness said." Ji Ximing shook his head and said, "The Yunzhou Squadron of the State of Qi will send three large, smoking ships to the extreme northeast region in March next year. It is said that in addition to carrying immigrants and supplies to replenish the Outside the stronghold, we will go on a long-distance journey across the ocean to explore a new shipping route to the Americas."

"Hehe... people from Qi country, they just like the horse race enclosure all over the world so much, oh, it should be the race boat enclosure. The distance is so far, can they handle it?" Zhu Cizhen had a mocking expression on his face, "For many years In the past, they lied to Gu, saying that the Northeast and the Americas are rich in gold and silver, and Yunzhou Town can take whatever I want. But after so many years, I haven’t seen Qi people transporting gold and silver back one by one.”

"Your Highness, although the people of Qi have not discovered gold and silver, they bring back a lot of precious furs from the extreme northeast every year. This value is comparable to gold and silver!"

"Precious fur?" Zhu Cizhao sneered, "The various rare furs that I hunt in Zhenzhou and Kuye Island are no less than 20 pieces per year, which saves time and effort compared to the Qi people who go to the extreme northeast?...Since Qi The people of the country are willing to enclose those bitter cold places, so let them. All the immigrants and supplies they ask for will be allocated to them."

(End of this chapter)