prosperous age

The Honnoji Incident was a rebellion planned and launched by Akechi Mitsuhide on June 21, 1582, against his lord, Oda Nobunaga.

In order to support Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaign against the Mori clan in Bichu Province, Nobunaga dispatched Akechi Mitsuhide as the vanguard, while he himself set off for Kyoto on June 17, planning to personally lead the campaign after an audience with the emperor.

During this period, Oda Nobunaga stayed at Honnoji Temple, which created an opportunity for Akechi Mitsuhide.

On the night of June 20, Mitsuhide led about 13,000 troops to surround and burn Honnoji Temple.

Nobunaga and a few close confidants, including Mori Ranmaru, launched a defense, but ultimately failed to withstand the attack and committed suicide in the sea of ​​fire.

On the morning of the attack, Nobunaga's eldest son, Oda Nobutada, resisted at Nijō Palace and ultimately committed suicide on the same day.

The reasons why Mitsuhide Akechi launched his rebellion are widely debated, including resentment, exposure of a conspiracy, and seizure of power, among others, and no definitive conclusion has been reached.

Just ten days after the incident, Akechi Mitsuhide was defeated and committed suicide under the combined attack of Hashiba Hideyoshi and the former subordinates of the Oda clan.

The death of Oda Nobunaga led to the decline of the Oda clan and also disrupted its process of unifying Japan.

Hideyoshi Hashiba's performance in the campaign against Mitsuhide earned him a reputation, and he subsequently unified Japan, ending the Warring States period and paving the way for the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

The Honnoji Incident occurred when the most powerful man in Japan died suddenly. When the news spread, it prompted Oda clan retainers to lead their troops to attack Akechi Mitsuhide. The secret agents of the Imperial Guard in Japan naturally also learned of the news.

Thus, on the evening of the second day after the Honnoji Incident, with the confirmation of Oda Nobunaga's death, an urgent military dispatch was sent from Kyoto, across Japan, into the sea from Fukuoka, and then by ship to Busan, Korea.

The journey was facilitated by the Imperial Guards, and the goods were delivered to Incheon Fishing Port in just two days. They were then transported by fishing boat to Jinzhou, and finally transferred to a fast ship to Tianjin.

Finally, thanks to the relentless efforts of the Embroidered Uniform Guard messengers, it was delivered to the Northern Garrison Command of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

At this time, only ten days had passed since the incident broke out.

That night, the nine gates of the capital were already closed. The messenger knocked on the door, and after verifying his identity with his waist tag, the patrolling commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard signed for the urgent document. It was then carried into the city in a basket and personally delivered to the Northern Garrison Office. Liu Shouyou was awakened from his sleep.

The next day, Wei Guangde's sedan chair landed in front of Chengtian Gate. When Wei Guangde climbed out of the sedan chair, he saw Liu Shouyou beside his attendants.

His heart skipped a beat, but he still smiled gently and asked, "Siyun, what brings you here? Is there an urgent report from the grasslands?"

A few days ago, following Wei Guangde's plan, Zheng Luo led more than 6,000 cavalrymen from the Jizhou Garrison and 2,000 men from his own standard battalion out of the pass and into the grasslands to preside over the peace talks in Bansheng City.

By this time, the Ming Dynasty had assembled seven elite new army battalions in Bansheng City, along with two cavalry battalions each from Xuanfu and Jizhen, one cavalry battalion from Datong, and the Xuanfu chariot and infantry battalions. Including Zheng Luobiao's battalion, the total strength exceeded 26,000 men.

The cavalry alone numbered over 16,000, which can be said to represent the entire elite force of the Ming Dynasty in the north.

Such investment naturally became a focus of attention for the cabinet and the Ministry of War.

Just yesterday, Liu Shouyou sent a message to Wei Guangde that Shunyi King Huang Taiji was leading 30,000 households eastward to Bansheng City. At the same time, Huang Taiji's eldest son, Chelike, had arrived in Bansheng with 5,000 cavalry and moved into Qia Taiji's camp.

By this time, the number of troops in the Qiataiji military camp north of Bansheng City had exceeded 20,000.

It can be said that most of the tribal leaders around Guihua City led their troops to follow Huang Taiji.

In addition to the more than 8,000 cavalrymen she brought with her, Lady Zhongshun's camp also gathered about 5,000 people from several tribes.

When Wei Guangde saw Liu Shouyou waiting there so early, he subconsciously assumed that something drastic had happened on the grassland, and his expression changed slightly.

"Your Excellency, it's not the north, it's the east."

In front of a large audience, Liu Shou did not mention the grasslands or Japan, but instead used directions to refer to them.

"East?"

Upon hearing that nothing major had happened on the grasslands, Wei Guangde immediately felt relieved.

Although the Ming Dynasty intended to expand its influence into the island nations to the east, its foundation remained the northern grasslands, which was related to the national policy of ensuring the long-term stability of the empire.

"Come on, let's go inside and talk."

Wei Guangde is no longer in a hurry. The difference in the degree of crisis between being separated by a thousand miles of sea and being separated by a wall is still quite easy to distinguish.

Moreover, in terms of national strength, the Ming Dynasty can covet Japan, but Japan dares not covet the Ming Dynasty.

Those Japanese pirates who wreaked havoc in the southeast were actually just defeated samurai from the Japanese internal strife.

In terms of combat strength, it is truly formidable.

After all, they had nothing left but bravery.

A small number of Japanese pirates were able to roam freely in the southeast; they were truly fearless and unafraid of death.

The situation was different on the Ming side, where the soldiers and generals were not at the point of being willing to risk their lives.

Once the battle begins, morale naturally suffers greatly.

Furthermore, most of the southern garrisons had not been trained for many years, so they could not fully exert the power of their most effective battle formations, and naturally they could only suffer defeat.

The reason why Jiujiang Guard was able to fight among the southern guards was not because the soldiers were particularly brave, but simply because they trained their military formations well and were not easily defeated, which allowed them to withstand the Japanese pirates' initial attacks.

Once they could withstand two waves of attacks from the Japanese pirates, they would have no choice but to flee for their lives.

Therefore, although the Japanese pirate raids shocked the court at their peak, the concern was more about the tax revenue of the Jiangnan region than about the potential threat the pirates would pose to the nation's foundation. The court never considered transferring troops from the north to the south; instead, it simply dispatched strong generals from various regions to Jiangnan to suppress the pirates.

Soon, Wei Guangde led Liu Shouyou into the cabinet and to his duty room.

"Serve tea to Lord Liu."

Wei Guangde gave instructions to Lu Bu at the door of the duty room, and then led him into the room to sit down.

"Tell me, what exactly happened in Japan?"

It was clear that Liu Shouyou was waiting outside Chengtian Gate. The matter was not trivial, but it wasn't extremely urgent either, otherwise he would have gone directly to the mansion.

"Ten days ago, there was a civil war in Japan. Oda Nobunaga, the Right Minister of Japan and head of the Oda clan, was killed by his subordinates at Honnoji Temple."

As Liu Shouyou spoke, he took out an urgent document from his sleeve and handed it to Wei Guangde.

"Oda Nobunaga is dead? He wasn't the most powerful person in Japan, how could this be? Did his subordinates betray him?"

Although Wei Guangde had guessed that the person would die, he did not know that it was his subordinate who killed him, so he was quite shocked when he first heard the news.

He took the urgent report from Liu Shouyou and quickly flipped through it.

At this moment, Lu Bu came up with a tray, first placing a cup of tea next to Wei Guangde, and then offering another cup to Liu Shouyou.

"Good work."

Liu Shouyou bowed slightly and said something.

"Don't dare."

Lu Bu hurriedly declined.

Just kidding, this is his real identity, Shangguan.

The urgent report was quite long, detailing the information gathered by the secret agents.

Although Kyoto was under martial law at the time, such a big commotion outside the city still reached the city, let alone the fact that Oda Nobunaga had died.

In fact, when the urgent report was sent, many high-ranking officials in Japan, including the king, were still unsure what had happened at Honnoji Temple or whether Oda Nobunaga was really dead.

It can only be said that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had been sending people to follow and monitor Oda Nobunaga. The spies witnessed Akechi Mitsuhide's personal guards defeating Oda Nobunaga's guards and storming into Honno-ji Temple. Afterwards, a fire broke out in the temple, leading them to conclude that Oda Nobunaga was doomed.

Perhaps, it was the secret agents of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who were the first to confirm Oda Nobunaga's death.

For the next ten days or so, opinions within Japan remained divided on whether Oda Nobunaga was truly dead, as neither his body nor his whereabouts were known.

With Oda Nobunaga and his eldest son Oda Nobutada killed in succession under the siege of Akechi Mitsuhide, Wei Guangde believed that Japan was bound to fall into an internal strife.

"Has the message been sent to the Ministry of War?"

Wei Guangde had finished reading the secret report and asked a question.

"Someone has already been sent there."

Liu Shouyou hurriedly replied.

"Will Oda Nobunaga's retainers fight each other for the position of clan head? I can't wait to find out," Wei Guangde suddenly remarked.

Yes, the fiercer the internal strife in Japan, the better it would be for the Ming Dynasty.

If Oda Nobunaga had been surrounded by ambitious people like Akechi Mitsuhide, then after ten days, infighting would probably have begun by now.

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard must spare no effort to transmit intelligence back to Japan in a timely manner. I need to know the details of the internal struggles within the Oda clan."

By the way, do we have any weapons stockpiled in Japan?

Wei Guangde suddenly looked at Liu Shouyou and asked.

"This only has a small number of self-defense weapons, not many."

Liu Shouyou was slightly taken aback, but immediately replied.

"Find a way to collect a batch of knives and guns and transport them to Japan."

If conflicts arose within the Oda clan, these weapons would be sent to the weaker side to help them improve their fighting strength.

The Imperial Guards over there must be aware that the fiercer their fighting, the less resistance our Great Ming will face when it lands on the Japanese islands.

Wei Guangde gave the order.

"Yes, Your subordinate will arrange it immediately and transport it over as soon as possible."

Liu Shouyou nodded hurriedly.

The imperial court still nominally prohibits trade with Japan. Although it had previously tacitly allowed trade with Japan, it was strictly controlled by the Ministry of War. Who would dare to think of transporting weapons there?

That would be blatant suicide; the Ministry of War wouldn't be able to avoid killing them even if they wanted to.

However, now that Grand Secretary Wei has spoken out to transport weapons to Japan, the biggest problem has naturally been solved.

Actually, what Japan lacks is not weapons, but iron.

Japan has abundant gold and silver, but iron ore is scarce domestically.

This is also why Japanese weapons are mostly made of bamboo; the most common weapon for light infantry is a two-zhang-long bamboo spear.

Wei Guangde got up, went behind his desk, quickly wrote a note, and handed it to Liu Shouyou, saying, "Give this to Vice Minister Zhang. We need to hurry; I believe the armory has what we need."

Liu Shouyou knew that Wei Guangde was urging the shipment of weapons like spearheads to Japan. These things could be attached to bamboo poles and become bamboo spears.

After taking Wei Guangde's note and having Wei serve him tea and water again, Liu Shouyou got up to take his leave.

This time, Wei Guangde did not convene anyone else for discussion, nor was there anything to discuss.

Once the note reached Zhang Ke, Liu Shouyou would only need to give a brief explanation, and Zhang Ke would certainly carry it out.

The Ministry of War had no reason to oppose a method to weaken Japan's military strength.

They're not the Ministry of Rites, a bunch of guys who only know classical Chinese.

Warfare is based on deception; it is not inherently aboveboard, but rather aims to weaken the enemy by any means necessary.

On this very day, Zheng Luo finally arrived at Bansheng City, and his 8,000-strong army entered Ma Gui's camp directly.

At this time, Bansheng City was bordered by Huang Taiji's military camp to the north, San Niangzi's camp to the west, and the Ming Dynasty's military camp to the southeast.

The reason for not choosing to be stationed together with Third Sister's army camp was also to maintain a semblance of fairness and avoid favoring either side.

Ten miles outside the military camp, Zheng Luo met Ma Gui and naturally inquired about Huang Taiji's whereabouts.

“The Prince of Shunyi will arrive tomorrow; he is currently about fifty li away from here.”

Ma Gui naturally sent out scouts to investigate the surrounding area, especially the troop movements of the Ordos, Bayue, and Wushen tribes, which were located further away.

The tens of thousands of people here are mainly the troops of the Tumet tribe; other tribes have not yet intervened on a large scale in the conflict at Bansheng City.

"Alright, keep an eye on the whereabouts of the Prince of Shunyi. We will still have to welcome him tomorrow."

Zheng Luo smiled.

"Is the master going north?"

Ma Gui frowned slightly as he spoke.

In his view, it seemed that the Governor-General of Xuanda going to greet Huang Taiji was somewhat disgraceful to the imperial court.

"Hehe, he is the Prince of Shunyi, a title bestowed by His Majesty. Naturally, he is above me in rank, so there's no harm in welcoming him."

The key is to know his attitude when he sees me; in his previous letters, he seemed very resentful.

Zheng Luo smiled.

It's impossible for Huang Taiji not to be furious when he learned that the Ming army had fled to Bansheng City.

Your presence should be his family matter, but now the Ming Dynasty wants to get involved.

The troops have already arrived; there's no way to refuse them now.

Later, fast horses also entered the Ming army camp from the south, which was naturally a message secretly delivered by spies who followed Huang Taiji.

Inside the main tent, Ma Gui was very curious about what news Zheng Luo had received.

However, Zheng Luo wouldn't let him see it, so he could only stare blankly.

Zheng Luo had already put down the note, glanced at Ma Gui, and said with a wry smile, "Huang Taiji has similar ideas to us. He also plans to use his power to force Dacheng Biji to accept Chelike's marriage proposal."

"My lord, a few days ago, our spies leaked news from the city that Da Cheng Bi Ji is also waiting for the right price to sell."

As he spoke, Ma Gui took a box from the guard behind him. Inside were several intelligence reports from the Embroidered Uniform Guard that he had received in the past two days, including two reports sent from the city.

Among them was the information about the secret agents that Da Cheng Bi Ji and Ali Ge had on that day.

Zheng Luo took the box, read through all the notes inside, and then shouted loudly, "Qi Cheng!"

"grown ups."

A general dressed in guerrilla armor entered the tent and waited for orders in the hall.

"Have you been in contact with Ban Shengcheng, Ali Ge?"

Zheng Luo asked.

"Yes, Ali has been in charge of the transactions with Banshengcheng in the past two years. I have met him a few times."

Qi Cheng hurriedly replied.

"Try to get in touch with Ali and ask him to persuade Dacheng Biji to accept his impolite marriage proposal."

Tell him that the Ming Dynasty guarantees Haige'er will inherit part of Bansheng City, and the court can appoint him as a commander of a thousand households ahead of schedule.

In the Ming Dynasty, official titles were only granted to adult men, and the same applied to inheriting noble titles; the heirs had to wait until they reached adulthood.

However, despite the system being in place, the power to use it flexibly was in the hands of powerful ministers.

What Alige is most worried about now is whether Hannaji's descendants can inherit the tribe and whether they will be marginalized.

This has happened countless times on the grasslands.

Many scions of prominent families were forced to submit to other tribes after their families fell into decline.

Haige'er is still young, but if the imperial court could grant him the official title of a thousand-household commander, he could lead a tribe right now.

If Ali is truly as he appears, he will definitely choose to cooperate with the Ming Dynasty.

"We can agree to any of his requests as long as they are not excessive."

Zheng Luo concluded. (End of Chapter)