Prime Minister Bizen

In fact, because of the recent events in Osaka, even the Xiu family almost forgot about those people in North Korea.

However, according to the information obtained from Tokugawa Ieyasu, most of Gyeongsang-do has fallen because of the convoy of Governor Konishi, and the coalition forces of the Ming Dynasty and North Korea have regained Busan. Split surround.

In terms of Hamgyong Province, due to the influence of the Jurchen tribe going south, the Japanese army had already lost most of the cities north of Hamheung.

"How Fengguodian (Hideyoshi God named Fengguo Daimyojin) just passed away, the whole world is waiting to be rebuilt, and the big names have no spare energy to support the Korean War."

Tokugawa Ieyasu spoke first, setting a red line for the next court meeting.Although he said it through the mouth of the world's famous name, he actually expressed his meaning, "I will not send anyone to North Korea again."

In fact, this is exactly what many daimyos in Japan think.

"The Korean War lasted 5 years, and it turned out to be like this at the end of the war. Not an inch of land was gained, but the wealth and goods were greatly reduced. It is indeed time to stop the war."

One of the big bosses, Uesugi Jingsheng, also expressed his desire to negotiate peace. After all, the 4500 members of the Uesugi family are still in Hamgyong Road. Facing the invasion of the Jurchens, it is unknown how many people will be left.

He expressed more worries about Yihe than others: "It's just that in the past, President Xiaoxi was in charge of connecting with Ming. Now that Xiaoxi has turned against the city, who should be sent? This person must be able to speak the Ming language and be familiar with Ming Dynasty. The situation in the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, North Korea is far away from Osaka. There are not many daimyo who are familiar with the Ming Dynasty, can speak the national dialect, and have the ability to make decisions on the fly. "

What Uesugi Jingsheng said can be said to have poked at the weakness of everyone. There are really a lot of people who can talk to Ming and this matter. Just ask someone who can explain the Chinese.

How to grasp the scale of peace negotiations, many small daimyos can directly decide there.

However, the distance between North Korea, the Ming Dynasty, and Japan is determined. It is impossible to send people back and forth to pass the terms, and then leave it to Osaka to decide. You must know that even if the weather is not affected, it takes 12 days to go back and forth by express boat. .

This makes it necessary to be a person with enough weight to make a final decision. That person is authorized by the five big bosses and Hideka Hideji to decide most of the things in North Korea, and then hand it over to the North Korean side after discussing a draft. Consider it here.

Don't think this position will be granted with great power, but not many people want to go.Now that North Korea is being treated like this, no matter where it goes, what good conditions can be negotiated.

The result of the peace negotiation is definitely not satisfactory to everyone. Although in name you are given full responsibility for the peace talks, in fact you are asked to take the blame.

When everyone fell silent, Toyotomi Hideji took the initiative to say, "I remember His Highness Toyoharu has a lot of research on Tang studies, and can speak fluent Ming dialect. Among the important officials of the court, who is more suitable to go to North Korea than His Highness?" What about the peace talks?"

Hearing that Xiuci directly ordered his general, the Xiu family suddenly turned back to look at Xiuci, and couldn't help but secretly said in his heart, "This Xiuci is not doing things properly. I just had an argument with him when I was discussing Kyushu's entry into the battle. He actually wanted to put I sent out of Osaka."

The Xiu family, who received Tianhai's advice, was absolutely unwilling to leave the center of the Toyotomi family so easily, let alone going to North Korea this time would be a job of blame, so the Xiu family directly gave a clear refusal.

"I'm just a general of the Northern Legion. Your Highness Gifu was the representative of the North Korean General. It stands to reason that the Gifu Palace should be in charge of the Korean peace talks!"

The Xiu family was unwilling to go, and Xiuci was also unwilling to go, and other bigwigs also expressed their refusal, so this job could only be delegated.

Tokugawa Ieyasu's eyes swept over the three middle-aged elders and the eight or ten people present, and finally fell on Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who replaced the middle-aged elders, "Will Koriyamaden be willing to help the Toyotomi family?"

Seeing that Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered Toyotomi Hidetada, Hideka deliberately excused him, "His Highness Koriyama has just returned from North Korea, and he still needs to return to his skills. I think we should find someone else."

Toyotomi Hideji said on the top: "Isn't it just right? His Highness Koriyama is one of the commanders of the Korean army. He must be familiar with the situation in North Korea. It is appropriate for him to be in charge of the peace negotiation."

Just when the Hide family wanted to continue explaining, Tokugawa Ieyasu also stood in line with Hideji and said, "Koriyama is my birth son. The reason why I named Koriyama is that I hope our father and son of the Tokugawa family can prove to the world that we can become Toyotomi. Home's humerus."

"Your Highness Tokugawa, please note that His Highness Koriyama is the son of Toyotomi Daikoin." After Tokugawa Ieyasu's voice fell, Hideka hurriedly corrected him.

Xiujia didn't know why Dechuan mentioned his relationship with Xiuzhen here, but Xiujia couldn't let Dechuan and Xiuzhen recognize their relatives here.

Hearing Hideka's reminder, Tokugawa Ieyasu put on an aggrieved expression and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness, but please don't pay attention, this is just an old man's intimacy with his son."

"I'm willing to go to North Korea." When everyone was arguing, Xiuzhen took the initiative to interrupt the discussion, expressing that she was willing to go to North Korea to negotiate a peace.

Xiuzhen signaled her to think again with her eyes, but Xiuzhen said again, "Please leave this task to me."

After Xiuzhen said that, what else could the Xiu family do, they could only get more help for him.

First, choose two trustworthy and capable assistants for him. Kiyomasa Kato, who guards Hamgyongdo, is a good one, and he can be a deputy.

Moreover, Xiuzhen did not understand the Ming language, so the Xiu family suggested that Matsuura Jinshin, who was in charge of contacting Ming and North Korea before, be assigned as his deputy, and said that he would send some people who were familiar with the customs and culture of the Ming Dynasty and who could understand the language. he.

Second, send letters to the daimyos who are still in North Korea in the name of the daimyos of the joint meeting of the five big brothers, and ask them to obey Xiuzhen's orders with full authority.When necessary, you can take the initiative to fight for the initiative in the negotiation, etc.,

Third, before the end of the peace talks, the Japanese side cannot hold back, and must continue to provide military rations and military supplies.

Since someone is willing to take this pot, everyone naturally has nothing to say.Satisfy all other requirements put forward by Xiujia.

Finally, there is the negotiation of the red line.As for the Warring States daimyo at this time, the bottom line of the dispute over the Korean War is that there is no bottom line.

As long as it does not affect Japan, other conditions can be opened at will. Anyway, it is not our family that is injured in the end, but the authority of the Toyotomi family.

But no one opened this mouth clearly, it said to give Xiuzhen the right to take advantage of it, everything is subject to the final agreed jump and so on.

In fact, maybe he has already figured out how to put the big pot of Chengchen on his head after the peace negotiation is over.

After the meeting, Xiujia took the initiative to find Xiuzhen and asked him why he took the initiative to accept this task.

Xiuzhen responded with a weird expression, "Why is brother like everyone else, he poured cold water on me before I did it. What if I really negotiated this matter?"

"Now our side is weak and the Ming army is strong. Do you expect to get what you can't get on the battlefield at the negotiating table? Even if the Ming country retreats and gives you certain preferential treatment, there will always be people who are not satisfied The conditions you negotiated. Why do you join in the fun?"

"I'm just helping you, brother." Xiuzhen still resisted in her heart, but she couldn't lose her temper with Xiujia: "I didn't help much this time, I can't follow you like a child forever.

Brother, you told me a few days ago, if one day you want to leave Osaka and return to Kanto, what should you do?

After I went back, I thought about it for a long time. There must be someone who is trustworthy to stay here in Osaka. If you go back, you must be preparing for a big event, so leave me here in Osaka. "

Xiujia was a little shocked and moved when he heard Xiuzhen's reply, and couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder to give him encouragement, as if he had tacitly accepted his idea of ​​taking over the negotiation.

But Xiujia also said that it is not easy to negotiate this errand, he can try to negotiate first, and when it is critical, he will help him.

That night, the Xiu family called Xiuzhen back to her mansion in Osaka, and used a hand-painted map to explain to her the current situation facing the Ming Kingdom.

In fact, the biggest purpose is to cheer him up, so that he will not negotiate with Ming and North Korea as a defeated man, and make an attitude that if it is a big deal, I will drag you down with Ming.

Xiujia is well aware of this period of history. Don’t look at the ending of Baidu Encyclopedia, which ends with “Xiao Nishi Xingchang’s defeat and retreat”. In fact, the historical circles of Ming, North Korea, and Japan have already concluded that the Three Kingdoms at that time had reached the point of exhaustion. to the point.

First of all, the Ming army was not good at attacking the Japanese city built on the mountain. At this time, the Ming army even became tired and war-weary, and they were unwilling to attack the mountain city.

Moreover, this war has dragged on for too long. The Ming Dynasty consumes over 300 million taels of silver for this every year, and it has already consumed over 5 million taels of silver in five years.

In addition, around 1597, there was banditry in the interior of the Ming Dynasty. The bandits swept across the two major grain-producing provinces of Henan and Shandong.

Due to the weakening of the Li family in Liaodong by Emperor Wanli, and the transfer of a large number of Liaodong legions to North Korea to fight, the Liaodong army was empty, and the Ming army lacked a unified command in the face of the Mongolian southward march.

This made the transportation routes of food and military pay on the Korean front line to Liaoxi and Liaodong intermittent due to the invasion of Mongolian tribes.

At the same time, at the most critical moment in the reform of land reform in the south, Yang Yinglong had raised the flag in Bozhou to rebel and killed the officials sent by the court, which can show that the court is now facing four wars at the same time.

Whether it is the Ming army on the front line in North Korea or the court in Beijing, they are eager to get out of North Korea as soon as possible.

As long as the Japanese army is willing to show enough sincerity, the conditions for reaching a peace agreement with the Ming army are definitely not a problem.

For North Korea, their homeland has been smashed, and how to restore it is a problem.

In addition, because of resisting the Japanese pirates, the nobles of the martial arts class were promoted in the territory, and various privileges were granted to the generals of the volunteers, which has made these generals of the volunteers have a situation where they cannot lose their tails.

In the north, the five Jurchen divisions incorporated into the Ming army invaded Ping'an Road and Hamgyong Road in the name of fighting Japanese pirates.However, in the face of the North Korean side's demand for the return of the city and its population, it has repeatedly shirked the intention of occupying the local area and not retreating.

That is to say, for North Korea, even if the pirates retreat, they still have to face the warlords in their own country, as well as the Jurchens who are here in the name of support.

As long as Japan's conditions are not too unacceptable, they are willing to take a step back and talk.

"At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty's war, it stated that it must maintain the integrity of North Korea's territory until we were all expelled.

The war has continued until now, and the Ming Dynasty has been reluctant to withdraw its troops, which has turned the war into a war of face.If we cannot be expelled from North Korea, how will the Haikou he boasted to the vassal states be realized? "

"But we keep talking about the integrity of the country, as long as we can produce evidence that the territory is blurred, we can let Ming go." Xiujia explained the current situation of the three parties to Xiuzhen, and analyzed that the three parties are the most acceptable. conditions of

"I heard that the Hirado Matsuura family has an imperial edict for Jeju Island, which was issued by Emperor Shenmu. You can use this edict to go to the Ming Dynasty to ask for Jeju Island.

In addition, the Ming Dynasty’s imperial letter to North Korea clearly stated that North Korea’s land only extends to the Yalu River, and the north of Jizhou is what they obtained from the invasion and occupation of the Nayin Ministry over the years. You can claim the land north of Jizhou.

Anyway, these lands are now in the hands of Chu Ying, the leader of the Jurchen tribe. We have an enmity with them. You can go to North Korea and talk privately, and exchange them for the land north of Jizhou on the condition that they are driven out of Hamgyong Road.

If the North Korean side is unwilling to accept it because of face, you can follow the previous method and let their prince inherit this land as a condition, and continue to belong to their North Korean kingdom in name.

Talk to the King of Joseon as much as possible. Now we have two princes who are willing to return the land north of Yongheung River in Hamgyong Province, including Anbyon, on the condition that they return Gangwon Province and help them expel Jurchen. Korea. "

Xiuzhen heard it clearly, but still asked the Xiu family, "Is the King of Joseon really willing to accept such a condition?"

"The righteous men with integrity in North Korea are definitely unwilling to accept it, but for the leaders of the volunteer soldiers, they need the existence of "Japanese pirates" in their territory to provide a basis for their own rule.

For Joseon kings and officials, they need a nominally complete Joseon to deal with the people.Without our help, it will be difficult to defeat the Jurchen tribe with their own abilities.

For the Ming Dynasty, they need to withdraw from the Korean battlefield as soon as possible.Not to mention that Mongolia in Liaodong needs to be on guard, and the rioters in the interior need to be suppressed. Yang Yinglong in the southwest is a thing that is enough for them to have a headache.

The Jurchen was brought by them, but they could not take it back.For the high officials in the court, what they like most is to use barbarians to control barbarians.

Let us Japanese pirates and Jurchen Jiannu go to fight and fight, so that we can maintain the peace of the Northeast without spending any money, why would they not want to?

Throughout the Korean War until now, there must always be a bleeding party.Since the face is well maintained, and the inside is slightly leaky, it is still someone else's inside, and the Ming Dynasty may not have the possibility of accepting it.

Emperor Wanli was a smart man. He should know that if the bloodletting continues, the southwest will really become a Dali country again. At this time, it is the best way to stop losses in time. "

The Xiu family didn't tell Xiuzhen about the claim for compensation, because it was meaningless and might even anger Ming Guo.

On the contrary, you can hold the Ming country and let them come to confer on your side, while Japan is willing to surrender to the Ming country as a vassal state, which gives the Ming country enough face.

After the Wanli Korean War, the Ming army saw the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army. If the Japanese army was willing to help the Ming country send troops to fight, the Ming country might really agree.

Historically, when the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, Nanming once asked Japan for reinforcements.The Edo shogunate prepared a 3-man army to support it. As a result, Nanming was defeated too quickly, and Nanming was defeated before the Kyushu daimyo boarded the ship.

After explaining the content, the Xiu family asked Xiuzhen to go back first, and come back to her side tomorrow morning.

The Xiu family was going to write two letters, one of which was given to Liu Ting, the commander-in-chief of the Ming army in North Korea, who had a close relationship with the Xiu family.

His words were full of humility, and he told him all about the problems Japan, North Korea, and Ming were facing, saying that he had no intention of intervening in the affairs of North Korea and Ming, and that he only wanted to compete for the position of the world in Japan.

Once he succeeds in assuming the position, he must guarantee his attitude towards the Ming country and will never fight against Zaixing.At the same time, he said that if the Ming Dynasty needed it, he could send the Japanese army to cooperate with him in the future.

Anyway, all the troops sent out were from the army of the daimyo, and the ones who died were not the troops directly under the Xiu family. This was also a way to weaken the strength of the daimyo.

The other letter was delivered to Emperor Wanli by Liu Ting on his behalf. The end of this letter was signed by Feng Jianming.He also analyzed the situation, expressed a friendly attitude towards the Ming country, and hoped that the Ming country would support him.

As for the problems that the Ming Dynasty may face in the future, as well as the direction of history, Xiujia didn't mention a word.Not to mention how much the other side can believe these things, even if they believe it, how much can the other side change?

At this time, the Ming Dynasty has already accumulated a lot of troubles. The first thing after Emperor Wanli came to power was to rob the house of his master Zhang Juzheng and convict him of various crimes. The reform of the Daming Dynasty came to an end. The sinking of this broken ship is only a matter of time. That's all.

The Xiu family was willing to help the Great Jurchen of the Ming Dynasty, but they were outraged by the Man Qing in history.

As the saying goes, "You don't make food when you wear clothes, Chrysanthemum." After finally catching Man Qing who was a child, how can you greet him respectfully?

As for whether the Ming Dynasty will be replaced by Li Chuang, Zhang Xianzhong, or other cats and dogs in the end, this is not the Xiu family's concern.