prosperous age

"Siyun, are you able to get in touch with the daimyo in Japan through the spies we sent there?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

"What the Grand Secretary means is..."

Liu Shou hurriedly asked whether he fully understood Wei Guangde's purpose in doing so.

"To find out what those local lords of Japan really mean."

Wei Guangde said directly.

He had previously thought that the Japanese would be very united, but now that Oda Nobunaga had broken the rules of war in Japan and wiped out the Takeda clan, even the daimyo who had already submitted to the Oda family would be uneasy.

We must figure this out, as it may be the point that the Ming Dynasty can use to break through the fortress of Japan.

Some people may have one attitude during a civil war, but once a foreign enemy invades, they will put aside their past grievances and unite sincerely to face the national crisis.

Wei Guangde had to find out if the Japanese and Ming people were like that; if so, then this intelligence was of no value to the Ming.

If not, then the Ming Dynasty would have a condition to exploit: to win over the Japanese daimyo who were unwilling to sit idly by and wait for their demise, and to unite against the Oda clan.

Finally, leveraging this achievement, they demanded the division of territory, gradually encroaching on Japan like Luzon did.

This method allows the Ming Dynasty to gain a foothold in Japan at minimal cost, and then find an opportunity to achieve complete control over Japan.

If the Ming Dynasty had invaded Japan from the beginning, it's hard to guarantee that it wouldn't have provoked tens of millions of Japanese people to fight to the death.

It would be too costly, and that's definitely not what the Ming Dynasty needs.

Wei Guangde's goal is to acquire the necessary mining farms at the lowest possible cost.

As for what future generations of Chinese people would most like to do, Wei Guangde said he would not do that.

With tens of millions of free laborers, wouldn't it be better to let them continue to shine?

"Grand Secretary Wei, do you mean you hope they will become dissatisfied with Oda Nobunaga, thereby causing them to continue their civil war and weaken the power of Japan?"

Liu Shouyou only understood part of Wei Guangde's meaning, so he was unsure of his own judgment and asked.

"If we let them fight amongst themselves, they will probably end up like the Takeda clan, being wiped out one by one by Oda Nobunaga."

What I want is balance. Oda Nobunaga can't destroy the other daimyo, so they should unite against him.

However, we cannot eliminate Oda Nobunaga. Ideally, Oda Nobunaga should be slightly stronger, suppressing the rebellious daimyo so that we can benefit from the situation.

This includes how we allied with them, intervened in the Japanese civil war, and helped them kill Oda Nobunaga.

The price they have to pay is to acknowledge that the land near Zuo Du Jinshan and Iwami Yinshan is to be ceded to our Great Ming.

To obtain the greatest benefit at the lowest cost, and at least meet our basic requirements.

Wei Guangde could only explain in detail.

We can't determine exactly which step we'll reach right now; we can only proceed step by step.

It is still unknown how the Japanese daimyo will choose when facing the Ming army. The so-called attempt to win over the daimyo to fight against Oda Nobunaga is nothing but wishful thinking.

"Send your men as close as possible to those daimyo and their key ministers to understand their thoughts. This is the most important intelligence."

Wei Guangde said.

"Understood. Immediately send a message to the Japanese, instructing them to try their best to find out the true intentions of these people."

"Then, should we also take action with Grand Secretary Wei and the King of Japan?"

Liu Shouyou added.

In the Ming Dynasty, the title of "Emperor" would certainly not be recognized, so the official title would only be "King".

It's just that Ming Dynasty officials were used to Chinese tradition and always thought that the surrounding areas were the same as the Ming Dynasty, and that the king had the most power.

Therefore, when dealing with Japan, people often mistake the Japanese general or shogun for its king.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty wouldn't make such a basic mistake now.

Liu Shouyou had already thoroughly investigated the situation in Japan and knew that the Japanese king was more like a Zhou king who had lost power. He was nothing in front of the powerful feudal lords, and his royal orders could not even leave the capital.

However, in any case, a king is still a king, and whether or not one needs to win his support seems to be very meaningful to Liu Shouyou.

That's a noble cause.

Previously, Liu Shouyou hadn't expected that Oda Nobunaga's massacre of the Takeda clan might shake his position among the daimyo of Japan, but now things are different.

If rumors of Oda Nobunaga's bloodthirstiness are spread in Japan, everyone from royalty and nobles to commoners will likely fear him. Consequently, out of fear, they might even want to oppose him and kill him to avoid being killed themselves.

So, would the King of Japan also be worried?

Although Oda Nobunaga had previously been very respectful to the King of Wa, people can change, especially when their ambition to conquer the world is about to be fulfilled.

Even if Oda Nobunaga did not intend to usurp the throne of Wa, people could still believe that he did.

They, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, were adept at creating and spreading rumors.

Whether he has it or not doesn't matter. As long as everyone believes he does, he can't explain it even if he has a hundred or a thousand mouths.

Although the King of Japan has lost power, he still enjoys great prestige among the Japanese people.

The legendary son of a god, who didn't even have a surname.

If the King of Wa was also worried about Oda Nobunaga and could ask the Ming Dynasty for help, wouldn't the Ming Dynasty have a more moral and legal reason to send troops to Wa?
As Liu Shouyou thought this, Wei Guangde's mind was also filled with thoughts of the King of Japan because of Liu Shouyou's words.

However, not entirely sure, Wei Guangde asked, "You mean..."

"Spread rumors that Oda Nobunaga would take over the throne, making the King of Wa fear that he would usurp the throne, and persuade him to ask our Great Ming for help."

Liu Shouyou immediately said.

"I remember previous intelligence reports saying that Oda Nobunaga had always supported the King of Wa, even though he was the one in power, which was somewhat like using the emperor to command the feudal lords."

Wei Guangde spoke slowly, while his mind raced, rapidly considering and predicting the future situation of Japan.

"But the descendants of Prime Minister Cao still rebelled in the end."

Liu Shouyou immediately said something, and then added: "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms has spread to Japan, and it is said that many daimyo have read it."

I'll try to find out if the King of Japan has read it too. If he has, that would be great; if not, I'll get a copy and send it over.

"Hehehe"

Upon hearing this, Wei Guangde immediately let out a hearty laugh, nodded, and said, "That's right, your idea is very interesting."

"Go ahead and do it. If we can obtain the letter from the King of Japan requesting aid, there will be no further obstacles for our Great Ming to send troops to Japan."

Chinese classics had already spread far and wide through trade with Chinese merchants. After all, life on a ship, often lasting for months, would be even more difficult to pass without books to read.

Books like "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Journey to the West" appeared on the desks of powerful figures in vassal states long ago, thanks to merchants.

According to records, the earliest mention of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in Japan appeared in the early Edo period, in 1604, in the "Collection of Poems by Mr. Rakuzan" by the Japanese Confucian scholar Hayashi Razan.

Lin Luoshan must have started reading earlier than this time, that is, before the 32nd year of the Wanli reign.

Moreover, the book they saw was definitely a printed version that originated from China.

The earliest printed version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in Japan was the popular Sangokushi, a translation published in Kyoto, Hunan, in 1692.

In fact, most of the upper class in Japan were able to communicate and write fluently in Chinese and Chinese characters, so a large number of books from Japan during this period also flowed to Japan with merchants.

Wei Guangde was unaware of this.

After all, he can guide his subordinates on which aspects of trade to engage in and which to prohibit, but he cannot be all-encompassing.

Moreover, as long as the books do not involve technology, but are purely literary works, Wei Guangde really has no reason to refuse to communicate.

Even if Wei Guangde had actually banned the sale of books to Japan, it would only have increased the price of books.

After all, rare goods are highly sought after. Transactions prohibited by the imperial court will not only fail to truly stop trade, but will instead create conditions for unscrupulous merchants to smuggle and raise prices.

Books from the Ming Dynasty are worth more than gold in Japan.

"How long have we maintained contact with Japan?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

With the deployment of troops imminent, the need for intelligence from within Japan has become urgent. The old environment, where we received news less than three times a year, is no longer viable.

"Grand Secretary Wei, we can now send messages about once every two months by using merchant ships and naval patrol vessels."

Liu Shouyou was actually quite satisfied with the information he received about the situation in Japan; it was even catching up with the situation on the grasslands.

Of course, urgent messages from the grasslands can be transmitted at any time, while things are a bit more complicated in Japan.

Even so, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had already established a communication route between Japan and Korea, having previously used the Ryukyu Kingdom to enter Japan.

Now that they have gradually gained a foothold, they have found that North Korea is still in a better location for transportation. Therefore, a lot of intelligence is transmitted to Busan by sea, and then overland to a small fishing village called Incheon, from where fishing boats are sent to Liaodong of the Ming Dynasty.

The final step was to use the centipede-shaped ships of the East China Sea Navy on the Jiaodong Peninsula to quickly transport the goods to Tianjin for landing and then to Beijing.

If this route is expedited, the entire process from the intelligence being sent to the Embroidered Uniform Guard receiving it can be controlled within about twenty days, making it the fastest transmission channel.

"It would be best to establish a stable delivery channel, ideally once a month."

Although the delivery time has been reduced from six months to two months, Wei Guangde still feels it is too slow.

"Understood, sir. I will arrange to increase the number of deliveries upon returning."

Liu Shouyou wouldn't say that they had already mastered a faster method, as that would only encourage officials like Wei Guangde to keep increasing their demands. Anyway, they'd agree first, since it wasn't impossible to do it.

Believe it or not, as long as he says he can transmit the intelligence from Japan in about twenty days, Wei Guangde will not only be dissatisfied, but will also demand that the intelligence transmission be completed in half a month.

Now that Grand Secretary Wei's request has been fulfilled, the rest is no longer of much concern to him.

This is also Liu Shouyou's experience as an official over the years: never reveal all the secrets of the Embroidered Uniform Guard so that your superiors know. First, talk about the difficulties, and then explain how you can complete the task smoothly in order to earn points for yourself.

After Liu Shouyou took his leave, Wei Guangde immediately wrote a note, summarizing his speculations about possible changes in Japan, and briefly mentioning the matters he and Liu Shouyou had been considering. He then put the note in an envelope, sealed it, and stamped it with his personal seal.

Using his official seal as a Grand Secretary on such a note would be too disrespectful, so Wei Guangde certainly wouldn't use it.

"Reed cloth".

He called out towards the door.

Soon, Lu Bu appeared at the door of the duty room.

"Take this and send it to the people in my household at the palace gate, and have them immediately deliver it to the Ministry of War and give it to Vice Minister Zhang."

Wei Guangde handed over the envelope. Important things are always delivered by family members, rather than having the cabinet send someone to deliver them.

The main issue is that this involves military secrets, and if it is casually handed over to cabinet officials for transmission, it is hard to guarantee that some rumors will not spread.

Some people, in order to show their importance, will make up things even if they know nothing.

Lu Bu took the envelope and left quickly. After this incident, Wei Guangde was temporarily unable to read the memorial and was pondering the future changes in Japan.

Wei Guangde had a feeling that this matter might not be so easy to succeed.

"Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu."

Muttering these three names over and over, Wei Guangde had no idea how these people had risen to power, especially how Oda Nobunaga died and how Toyotomi Hideyoshi had succeeded in taking over.

The execution of the Takeda family may seem like a small matter, but it broke a tradition that had been established in Japan for thousands of years, and its impact was considerable.

The things he just discussed with Liu Shouyou were all based on the premise that Oda Nobunaga was still alive and held power in Japan.

However, if something changes in Japan during this period, all these plans will be rendered useless.

Wei Guangde shook his head slightly, but there was no other way at the moment; the Ming Dynasty was beyond control.

Wei Guangde is now playing a game of chess, a grand game concerning the Ming Dynasty and Japan.

If they win, the Ming Dynasty will have completed the annexation of Japan, and the subsequent events will not have occurred.

How could those so-called emperors still exist within the territory of the Ming Dynasty?

That plan being brought forward is absolutely impossible. The earliest the Ming Dynasty could send troops to Japan would be before the end of this year, and the latest would be the end of next year.

It is currently the Pacific monsoon season, and launching an attack on Japan at this time could easily lead to a repeat of the mistakes of the Mongol Yuan dynasty.

In fact, sending troops at this time might be the best option, since those daimyo are probably living in constant fear, and it would be easiest to provoke them.

Little did Wei Guangde know that a conspiracy orchestrated by Oda Nobunaga was also brewing in Japan at that time.

A general whom Oda Nobunaga had always trusted was now facing the crisis of being stripped of his status, and due to various other factors, he was secretly plotting to kill Oda Nobunaga.

He knew Oda Nobunaga too well. After the Oda army's "final battle" against the Mori and Chosokabe daimyo, apart from the desolate Shimazu clan, there were only the Uesugi and Hojo clans, who were not close to each other and could even turn against each other at any time.

The relationship between these two families and Oda Nobunaga was sometimes an alliance and sometimes a split. Just like the Chosokabe family, they were once allies of Oda Nobunaga, but when faced with greater interests, they would still choose to abandon their alliance with Oda Nobunaga and prepare to fight each other.

However, most of the best land in central Japan has already been controlled by Oda Nobunaga and his close allies. The remaining smaller fry are either in eastern Japan or on islands outside the main island, and it is difficult for them to develop their power.

In such circumstances, generals who are not trusted may very well face a fate similar to that of the Takeda clan—being purged.

Those who shared this concern included powerful allies like Tokugawa Ieyasu, who were allied with Oda Nobunaga, and naturally, the "god" in Kyoto as well.

Because of the order to exterminate the Takeda clan, Oda Nobunaga probably never imagined that he would now be viewed with suspicion by most of the powerful daimyo in Japan, who would all wish for his death. (End of Chapter)