I'm really not doing business

Chapter 1020 Xiong Tingbi's Attempt
Xiong Tingbi was about to set off for Edo because the area from Nagato Castle to Izumo Castle could no longer fulfill his plans.

Xiong Tingbi's plan was very simple: if Toyotomi Hideyoshi couldn't achieve equal land distribution throughout Japan, then he, a man from the Ming Dynasty, would do it!

The Ming Dynasty and Japan needed a resolution. Killing all the Japanese was unrealistic, but erasing Japan from the annals of history was achievable.

Xiong Tingbi realized that Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu were all useless and could not bring peace to Japan.

What the Ming Dynasty desires is peace on the seas and security on the coastal borders. As long as Japan remains unsettled, there will be no end to the conflict.

The area from Nagato Castle to Izumo Castle is mountainous, which is very suitable for defense but not for offense because food production is severely insufficient. Even maintaining the existing structure is already a struggle, and there is no way to support a campaign.

Before an army can move, supplies must be secured. The fact that this base could not support a large-scale conquest became an obstacle for Xiong Tingbi to advance further. However, the Kanto Plain, where Edo was located, could meet all of Xiong Tingbi's needs for a base. The Kanto Plain had fertile land and many rivers, making it very suitable for cultivation.

Japan currently faces two major contradictions. The first is the large number of displaced people due to war; the second is the abandonment of land by these displaced people, leading to land being left uncultivated.

These two main contradictions are contradictory. With land abandoned, how can so many displaced people cultivate it? Isn't this a dilemma? But under Japan's existing system, even these useless people can't stop the displaced people from cultivating this abandoned land.

If Japan's deeply entrenched vassal system cannot be completely eradicated, Japan will forever remain a cesspool.

Even the native Japanese couldn't do it, so how could Xiong Tingbi, a man from the Ming Dynasty, possibly do it?

The answer is yes.

Because Xiong Tingbi had already found solutions and precedents for dealing with these two fundamental contradictions from China's long history. That's the advantage of a long history: when you don't know what to do, you can just flip through history books and find the answer.

During the Northern Wei Dynasty, there was a powerful ruler, Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei, Tuoba Hong.

When Tuoba Hong ascended the throne, the Northern Wei Dynasty had been established for seventy years. These seventy years were seventy years of war and seventy years of chaos. At that time, the Northern Wei Dynasty also faced similar contradictions, with too many refugees and land abandoned.

Empress Dowager Wenming, Tuoba Hong's grandmother, was a Han Chinese. When Tuoba Hong ascended the throne, he was only five years old. Empress Dowager Wenming ruled as regent and began to implement the Three Chiefs System, the Equal Field System, the Salary System, and the establishment of the Imperial Academy, thus initiating a vigorous reform.

Empress Dowager Wenming passed away after ruling as regent for eighteen years. At the age of twenty-three, Tuoba Hong officially assumed power. Almost all the Xianbei nobles were waiting for this Xianbei emperor to turn back from the wrong path, restore order, and abolish Empress Dowager Wenming's chaotic rule.

But this Xianbei emperor did not grant the nobles' wishes.

Building upon his grandmother's reforms, Tuoba Hong went a step further. Under the pretext of marching south to the Southern Qi, he tricked all the nobles into following him south with his army. Only after arriving in Luoyang did he tell the nobles that he intended to move the capital there.

He believed that the local environment shapes the people, and the reason why the Xianbei people's old customs and bad habits were hard to change was because their capital was in Pingcheng, which is Datong, Shanxi. At that time, Datong, Shanxi was all grassland, and their nomadic habits and culture were hard to change.

After Tuoba Hong successfully moved the capital, he demolished the ancestral temple in Pingcheng and moved it to Luoyang. He even forbade nobles to be buried in their ancestral lands, forcing them to be buried only in Luoyang.

The Taihe Reforms, even more radical than those of the Empress Dowager Wenming, were launched with great fanfare.

Tuoba Hong issued an edict forbidding braiding hair, allowing only long hair; forbidding left-fastening clothing, allowing only right-fastening clothing; forbidding wearing barbarian clothing, allowing only Han clothing; and he himself even changed from barbarian clothing to the clothing of the emperor of the Central Plains.

You must not speak the northern dialect to the court. If you violate this rule, you will be dismissed from your post. In other words, you cannot speak nonsense and must speak only the Chinese language. Otherwise, you will be dismissed from your post.

The Imperial Academy, the National Academy, and the Four Gates Primary School were established to promote education.

In the sixth year of Emperor Taihe's personal rule, the twentieth year of his reign, Emperor Taihe issued an edict abolishing the Xianbei surnames and requiring all of them to be changed to Han surnames. He himself changed his surname from Tuoba to Yuan, his surname from Bulugu to Lu, his surname from Helai to He, his surname from Dugu to Liu, and so on.

His Taihe Reforms are historically known as the Restoration of Emperor Xiaowen.

In the twenty-third year of the Taihe reign, Emperor Taiwu personally led an expedition south. He fell ill from overwork in the army and died there. He was posthumously honored as Emperor Xiaowen and his temple name was Gaozu.

Yuan Hong left behind a method for integrating two completely different cultures: complete Sinicization, rather than adhering to the outdated rule of "the mother dies when the son is honored," a method that leads to death within outdated rules.

Before Yuan Hong, when a crown prince was appointed, his mother would be executed to prevent her relatives from interfering in politics. This was known as the "son's nobility and the death of his mother." Such outdated customs were ubiquitous before the complete Sinicization of China.

In Xiong Tingbi's view, there is no such thing as imperial rule, only Sinicization; refusing Sinicization is refusing imperial rule.

He prepared to travel to Edo, the Kanto Plain, to realize all his ambitions and plans.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, August 15th of the 20th year of the Wanli reign, the Ming Dynasty fleet arrived at the whaling port outside Changmen City. Xiong Tingbi met with the newly appointed acting governor of Iwami Ginzan City and handed over all official duties of the governorship.

Three days later, the fleet set sail again, heading towards Edo Castle.

The fleet arrived in Edo on the fourth day of the ninth month. Xiong Tingbi stood on the deck of the Youlong and looked at Mount Fuji, which had begun to fall silent, through his telescope.

Mount Fuji erupts approximately once every two hundred years. Each eruption brings a large amount of volcanic ash to the Kanto Plain, making the land more fertile. By the 20th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, Mount Fuji had already accumulated some snow, signifying that the volcano had returned to peace and that the Kanto Plain was about to be reborn.

The Youlong, a flagship that carried almost no combat missions, was the first fast sailing ship of the Ming Dynasty. This flagship was a ceremonial vessel of the Ming Dynasty, representing the emperor, proving that Xiong Tingbi represented the Ming Dynasty and His Majesty when he arrived in Edo.

The fleet did not go directly to Edo Castle in Edo Bay, but instead went to Odawara Castle, the residence of the Hojo clan.

Located in the southwest corner of the Kanto Plain, this city is a strategic pass for entering and exiting the entire Kanto Plain. Its status is roughly equivalent to Shanhaiguan in the Ming Dynasty. As long as Odawara Castle is in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, even if Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu had an army of 500,000, they would have difficulty conquering the Kanto Plain.

In the 40th year of the Jiajing reign, Uesugi Kenshin, known as the "God of War" and the "Dragon of Echigo," led an army of 100,000 to attack Odawara Castle. After a prolonged siege, he was forced to retreat.

In the second year of the Longqing reign, Takeda Shingen, known as the "Tiger of Kai," once again led an army of 100,000 to attack Odawara Castle, but still failed to capture it.

In the eighteenth year of the Wanli reign, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, dissatisfied with the Hojo clan, called them traitors and launched an army of 170,000 to attack them. During the siege, the people inside Odawara Castle were filled with fear and suspicion, brothers distrusted each other, and fathers and sons were at odds.

Hojo Ujinao was the head of the clan, but his father, Ujimasa, was still alive. The son was dissatisfied with his father passing the throne to him but not the power, while the father was also dissatisfied with his son's soft and gentle nature. The conflict between father and son had a long history.

Odawara Castle was known as the strongest castle in the land, and both Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen suffered heavy losses there.

Takeda Shingen, who had defeated the combined forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga in the Battle of Mikatagahara, was no pushover, but he was helpless against this fortified castle.

Lacking siege tactics, the Japanese could only resort to siege warfare. However, a fortified city with water and three years' worth of food was impossible to capture by siege alone.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi began besieging this fortified castle in the 18th year of the Wanli reign (1589), and his main strategy was to take advantage of the infighting within the Hojo clan and the discord between father and son.

The father, Shizheng, refused to relinquish power, and the son, Shizhi, was dissatisfied with his father's refusal to give him authority. If Shizhi could be persuaded to open the gates and surrender, then this most impregnable city in the land would fall without a fight.

In fact, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's plan was very successful. He turned Hojo Ujinao's cousin, Ujimori, to the side and persuaded him.

No one knows a son better than his father. Shizheng really understood his son, Shizhi, who was easily swayed by others. Shizhi was just too easily influenced. Once Shisheng gained his trust, Shizhi believed whatever he said.

Just before Ujinao made up his mind to surrender the city, he suddenly received a letter sent by arrow. The contents of this letter made Ujinao abandon his decision to surrender and instead go to his father to apologize.

The letter contained a simple message: after Toyotomi Hideyoshi captured Odawara Castle, he proposed the following measures for the Hojo clan: Ujimasa must commit seppuku, and Ujisuke must be exiled to Mount Koya; the head of the clan would be taken over by Hojo Ujimori, who had been stirring up trouble, spreading rumors, and sowing discord between father and son.

Ujinao had no idea where the arrow message came from, but he quickly came to believe it was genuine because he was no longer able to command his warriors to open the city gates.

Clearly, his father already knew that he was going to surrender the castle and welcome Tokugawa Ieyasu into the city.

Ujinao met with his father to apologize, but Ujimasa scolded him severely without further reprimanding him. Instead, he ordered Ujimasa to lead his samurai to kill Hojo Ujimori.

Xiong Tingbi, aboard the Youlong, three fast sailing ships, and twenty five-masted ocean-going vessels, led 3,000 elite soldiers from the capital garrison and 6,000 naval troops. On the fifth day of the ninth month, he arrived at Odawara Castle and dispatched small boats to the harbor. Ujimasa and his son Ujinao boarded the ship under cover of night and arrived at the Youlong.

"Greetings to the angels, and best wishes to the Emperor for a long and prosperous reign, may he live ten thousand years, enjoy eternal peace and longevity." Shi Zheng and his son Shi Zhi boarded the ship and knelt on the deck.

Xiong Tingbi stepped aside. They were kowtowing to His Majesty, not to him. He shook his head and said, "Call me Your Majesty."

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!" Shizheng and Shizhi exchanged a glance and hurriedly said. Indeed, they had already submitted to the Ming Dynasty, and the title of "Emperor of the Court" was no longer appropriate.

"No need for formalities," Xiong Tingbi said, allowing the two to dispense with the formalities.

The Ming Dynasty was an imperial system, unlike the feudal system of Japan. Japan was somewhat similar to the West, where a vassal's vassal was not a vassal of the emperor. In the Ming Dynasty, there was only one monarch, His Majesty, and all subjects were His Majesty's subjects.

According to Gao Qiyu's new etiquette, Hojo Ujimasa and Naoki had pledged allegiance to the Ming Dynasty, so they were both subjects of the Ming Dynasty and did not need to kneel and kowtow to Xiong Tingbi.

Even when he was far away in Edo, Xiong Tingbi still strictly adhered to the etiquette and laws of the Ming Dynasty. This was the foundation and basis for his plan to completely Sinicize the entire Japanese kingdom.

Rules should never be broken, no matter when or where.

Sitting next to Xiong Tingbi was a eunuch named Li Yougong, the third patriarch of Tonghe Palace, a eunuch of the Imperial Horse Administration, and the chief eunuch of the Beijing Garrison. He had grown up with His Majesty and was his sparring partner.

Zhang Juzheng wanted to borrow Li Yougong, but the emperor refused, because if he did, the Beijing garrison would be dispatched, leaving no eunuch to command.

This is why the emperor felt sorry for upright officials like Liu Hanru, Fan Yingqi, and Wang Zhuan. Liu Hanru managed the private market in Sandu'ao better than the official market; Fan Yingqi was also an upright official but became addicted to opium; and Wang Zhuan was talented but was dismissed from office and stripped of his official titles due to corruption.

Those who have gone through several rounds of selection to become upright officials are all very valuable.

Only after becoming emperor did I realize that the thirst for talent was real, and the lack of capable people was a truly dire situation.

Before the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao's strategist Xu You defected to Cao Cao late at night. Cao Cao was disheveled and didn't even bother to put on shoes, greeting him barefoot. Zhu Yijun had previously thought this was a fictional account, but after reigning as emperor for twenty years, he believed it to be true.

Finding a few capable, trustworthy, and reliable people is incredibly difficult.

Li Yougong smiled. Xiong Tingbi's resolute adherence to Ming Dynasty etiquette, preventing Ujimasa and his son Ujinao from kneeling, greatly pleased Li Yougong. Although he had spent four years in Japan, Xiong Tingbi was still the same Xiong Tingbi. Even though it was just a small detail, Xiong Tingbi's submissive heart and lack of ambition for independence were commendable, and he had not failed His Majesty's trust and entrustment. "Ujimasa, I'm curious, why didn't you execute Ujinao? He was about to open the city gates and surrender to the combined forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi," Xiong Tingbi asked, voicing his first question.

That arrow message was shot by the Ming Dynasty's Duntai Yuanhou into the home of Ujinao and Ujimasa. Duntai Yuanhou diligently collected intelligence, but without clear evidence, he only exacerbated the rift between father and son. It wasn't until Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu decided to destroy the Hojo clan rather than force them to surrender that Duntai Yuanhou finally took action.

If Shijima and Shijinao refuse to believe it, then they have only themselves to blame.

When Ujimasa learned that his rebellious son was going to open the castle gates and surrender, he immediately suspended Ujinao's command of the army, and Odawara Castle did not fall.

After thinking for a moment, Shi Zheng replied, "Governor, although my son and I have had some disagreements, we have never reached the point of life and death. Even a tiger does not eat its own cubs. Since he is willing to correct his past mistakes, I will forgive him."

“I see.” Xiong Tingbi nodded.

When robbing tombs, the father always climbs out of the tomb passage first, and then reaches out to pull the son out of the tomb passage. The reason why the son doesn't go out first is because he is afraid that the son will want to keep all the property and kick the father down into the tomb passage.

Ujimasa's decision may seem benevolent, but in reality, under the threat of a large army, punishing only the traitor Hojo Ujimori was the best choice for a ruler.

Within Odawara Castle, there is a need to stabilize the people's hearts. Dealing with one's own son would implicate a large number of people, making them even more anxious and unable to defend the castle.

Shi Zhi, the son, was muddle-headed, but Shi Zheng, the father, was not.

Xiong Tingbi continued, "Why did you think of seeking help from the Ming Dynasty?"

Ujimasa hurriedly bowed and said, "General, please forgive me. Although we killed Hojo Ujimori, the 170,000 troops outside the city are still there. In order to stabilize the morale of the troops inside the city and to force Tokugawa Ieyasu to withdraw his troops, we had no choice but to raise the royal flag and say that we had secretly submitted to the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty has agreed to send an envoy to inquire. Only in this way were we able to win over the hearts of the soldiers guarding the city."

"General, I have read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and come across the phrase 'to quench thirst by looking at plums.'"

Shi Zheng's meaning was quite clear. At the beginning, it was just a lie, a ploy to quench thirst with the sight of plums and satisfy hunger with the image of a cake. But when it came to life and death, he couldn't care less. He first brought out the royal banner to reassure the garrison in the city and to make the enemy outside the city think twice.

But the effect was unexpectedly excellent. As expected, Tokugawa Ieyasu dared not attack again and had to wait for the Ming Dynasty's reaction.

When Ujimasa saw that the royal flag was really effective, he immediately contacted a Ming Dynasty merchant in Edo and spent 20,000 taels of silver to ask the merchant to send a message to the Nagasaki Governor's Office.

At this point, the problem of Ming Dynasty's rigidity became undeniable.

It took a full six months just for the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office to confirm the matter and send envoys back and forth. After the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office reported to the Imperial Court, the Imperial Court held a meeting and decided to send troops. It took a full year.

When Xiong Tingbi arrived with his army, two years and two months had already passed.

"I see." Xiong Tingbi's military talent was exceptional; in terms of talent alone, he was no less than Li Rusong. Such a person, skilled in both literature and martial arts, was rare indeed throughout history.

In warfare, especially siege warfare, the key is to strike while the iron is hot, then weaken, and finally exhaust the strength. Ujimasa and his son were the defenders, while Tokugawa Ieyasu was the attacker who had come from afar. Since it was a long journey, Ujimasa raised the royal banner, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, the commander-in-chief, hesitated, and it really became difficult to take the city.

Tokugawa Ieyasu had no choice but to hesitate. Putting aside everything else, the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office was furious with Tokugawa Ieyasu's actions and stopped issuing their banknotes. Their family would immediately go from being the scribes of the Five Elders to being a stray dog ​​that everyone wanted to beat.

Even Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi needed to rely on the Ming Dynasty to bestow upon them the title of king and gain more recognition. Tokugawa Ieyasu was the strongest of the Five Elders, but if the Ming Dynasty did not recognize him, he would be attacked by the masses, which Tokugawa Ieyasu could not accept.

War is an extension of political struggle and the ultimate means of escalating conflict.

If Tokugawa Ieyasu were to capture Odawara Castle and advance into the Kanto Plain while the Ming Dynasty's attitude remained unclear, thus provoking the Ming Dynasty's wrath and giving the Ming Dynasty a pretext for a full-scale attack on Japan, wouldn't Tokugawa Ieyasu become a sinner against Japan?
Tokugawa Ieyasu was cautious by nature, yet he was frightened by a royal banner, entirely because the Ming emperor was truly too warlike.

After the Beijing Garrison was reorganized, it mobilized tens of thousands of troops in each of the following battles: the Battle of Gulezhai, the Battle of Luzon, the Battle of Daning Prefecture, the campaign against Altan Khan, the Battle of Toungoo, and the Battle of Malacca. The troops were extremely ruthless.

Altan Khan was old and quite docile, but he was still attacked by the emperor. The emperor had reasons to attack him, and he would create reasons to attack him even if there were none. It was quite like Emperor Chengzu of Han wanting to avenge the siege of Baideng by Emperor Gaozu of Han.

It wasn't that Tokugawa Ieyasu was cowardly; it was that the emperor was truly too ruthless.

Because of Tokugawa Ieyasu's hesitation, Odawara Castle, a formidable fortified castle, slipped through his fingers.

"How is the war going?" Xiong Tingbi then asked about the war.

Xiong Tingbi didn't really care about the gains or losses of Odawara Castle. It would be best if Ujimasa and his son lived, but it wouldn't matter if they died. As long as they raised the royal banner, the Ming Dynasty would have a sufficient reason to intervene in the Japanese civil war.

The Japanese lacked siege warfare capabilities, but the Ming Dynasty was not. With cannons weighing thirty-six jin each, a single shot could create a breach. With cannons deployed, even the most formidable city was nothing more than meat on a chopping block. Even the strongest mountain fortress could be pried open by fully armored elite infantry charging into battle.

Xiong Tingbi had a complete tactical plan, including artillery sieges, cavalry, line formations, heavy infantry field battles, and cotton armor guerrilla warfare.

Therefore, he asked about the war situation last.

"Tokugawa Ieyasu said that Odawara Castle was like a chicken bone, tasteless to eat but a pity to throw away. On the third day of the ninth month of the eighteenth year of Wanli, he withdrew his army, leaving only 30,000 men to besiege it. The siege of the castle by these 30,000 men was also quite perfunctory. His subordinates did not want to continue to anger Toyotomi Hideyoshi, so they cooperated with the 30,000 men in the siege." Ujimasa said with some sigh.

Shi Zheng never expected that the Ming Dynasty's royal banner would be so effective! One royal banner repelled an army of 100,000!

Tokugawa Ieyasu had to be wary of both the Ming Dynasty's attitude and Toyotomi Hideyoshi's suspicions. In the end, he left 30,000 people to put on a show, which allowed him to appease both the Ming Dynasty and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and it was also acceptable to his own people.

It's not that we don't want to fight, it's that we can't. Even someone as powerful as Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen couldn't conquer it, did they?
Tokugawa Ieyasu was an old fox, a cunning old fox, and slippery as a fox. Such an old fox dislikes gambling the most, and even less likes to gamble everything.

“Your family’s dragon banner on the city wall is incorrect. Today, I, on behalf of the Emperor, will bestow the dragon banner and will not pursue the matter of the breach of etiquette.” Li Yougong stood up, took the Ming Dynasty dragon banner from the eunuch, and bestowed it upon Shi Zheng and Shi Zhi as the standard dragon banner.

The Ming Dynasty had strict regulations for the dragon banners. The dragon banner that Shi Zheng had someone embroider was neither fish nor fowl, and in principle he should have been severely punished. However, seeing that he had a respectful heart and hung it on the city wall, he was spared punishment.

"Your Majesty, let me see. If your Hojo clan has a heart of submission and allegiance, then grant us a surname. If not, then execute us directly. From today onwards, the Hojo clan shall change its surname to Yuan." Li Yougong had someone bring him the Emperor's handwritten letter, which contained the characters Yuan Zheng and Yuan Zhi, and bestowed them upon the two men respectively.

The Hojo clan's ancestors were once wealthy. Hojo Tokimasa was the first regent of the Kamakura Shogunate. At that time, the shogunate system was not yet mature. The shogunate shogunate was inherited by the imperial family, while the regent was the real person in charge. In other words, the shogunate sidelined the Japanese imperial family, and the regent sidelined the shogunate shogunate.

For the people of the Ming Dynasty, this kind of system with its layers of bureaucracy was really hard to understand.

One Japan, three leaders.

Hojo Tokimasa married his daughter to the first shogun, Minamoto no Yoritomo, so the Hojo clan could use the surname Minamoto, but in order to de-Japaneseize, they adopted the homophone Yuan.

This was a name bestowed by the emperor long ago. If Li Yougong judged that Shi Zheng and Shi Zhi had no respectful intentions, he would naturally not bestow them upon them. Since they had a respectful intention, it would be appropriate to bestow upon them a Han surname and a Han name.

Xiong Tingbi's decision to completely Sinicize Japan was not his own; His Majesty fully supported it.

"Thank you for your great favor, Your Majesty!" Upon receiving Han surnames and names, Yuan Zheng and Yuan Zhi immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly in the direction of the Ming Dynasty to express their gratitude.

From now on, they will no longer be barbarians with compound surnames, but people of the Ming Dynasty with the single surname. They can call themselves the Yuan family of Guandong. After three generations, who will dare to say that they are not people of the Ming Dynasty? They will no longer be stray dogs running around, nor domestic dogs, but human beings.

If the Ming army were to withdraw from Japan, they would take these people with them; these were Ming people personally recognized by His Majesty.

Li Yougong glanced at Xiong Tingbi. In truth, His Majesty didn't care about the fate of Japan. All that His Majesty did was for Xiong Tingbi.

When Xiong Tingbi wanted to give it a try, His Majesty gave him his full support, providing ships, troops, and generous rewards, all to ensure that Xiong Tingbi could accumulate enough military and administrative experience to take over the Ming Dynasty and continue the reforms after the older generation passed away.

Admittedly, Xiong Tingbi is a man of both literary and military talent, a rarity throughout history, but His Majesty has been too kind to him, even spoiling him.

Even His Highness the Crown Prince shouldn't use a single country as a practice subject, but Xiong Tingbi is using Japan as a practice subject to gain experience.

That makes sense; His Majesty values ​​talent.

The Ming emperor's indifference is the most troublesome issue for Japan right now.

If Your Majesty wishes to wage war and launch a full-scale attack on Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi can immediately rally the people to fight against the Ming Dynasty. If peace is desired, a treaty can be signed directly, after which the Ming army will withdraw from Japan and Japan will be allowed to close its borders. This would also achieve the goal of calming the seas and securing the coastal regions.

But His Majesty didn't care.

This lack of concern meant that Japan could neither quickly unite the people by resisting the Ming Dynasty, nor could it close itself off from the world and use an iron fist to suppress all popular uprisings and stabilize its rule. As a result, Japan was filled with lackeys and traitors who were loyal to the Ming Dynasty. The two people in front of us, Ujimasa and Ujinao, are typical examples.

Now look what's happened! These two have only raised a royal banner, yet they've already reaped such a huge reward. They are the very bones of the horse that were bought with a fortune. In the future, many more Japanese daimyo will become the lackeys and hounds of the Ming Dynasty, carrying their own provisions and running around to protect the Ming.

The current suffering of Japan is due to His Majesty's indifference, and it is also what the Japanese deserve. For twenty years, the Ming Dynasty suffered from the Japanese invasion, and not a single scholar-official dared to stand up and say that we should pacify distant peoples.

No one dared to advise him; if they did, His Majesty would kill them in the street.

So what if Xiong Tingbi failed? Failure can be seen as accumulating administrative and military experience. Even if he fails, the Ming Dynasty can continue to cooperate with the local court nobles, samurai, shogunate, and daimyo of Japan, using these lackeys to suppress the increasingly violent peasant uprising, and continue to use these lackeys to capture Japanese slaves and Southeast Asian women to maintain the triangular trade.

That's how pioneering works: as long as you abandon morality and conscience, you can reap countless benefits without being judged or even having to apologize.

The Japanese pirates weren't captured by Ming Dynasty merchants themselves, but by the daimyo (feudal lords).

The daimyo were not guilty of capturing Japanese and sending them to the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office, since it was the Governor-General's Office of the Ming Dynasty, a civilized place.
The Nagasaki Governor's Office had thousands of pig castrators who could cut and pull with their knives and make a pair of bells. The pig castrators were doing their jobs by order.
The Governor-General's Office was helpless. Japan did not have enough production to buy goods from the Ming Dynasty. Even if all the silver was given to the Ming Dynasty, it would not be enough. They could not simply refuse to accept payment for the goods.

As for the merchants, they also have something to say: these things all grew out of the ship's hold!
No one is guilty, everyone feels at ease. Breaking down a heinous crime into countless reasonable and legal steps can effectively avoid taking responsibility. This is the kind of accountability tactic that bureaucrats use, and it is equally effective.

“Since Tokugawa Ieyasu has left behind 30,000 samurai, let’s prepare to annihilate them all.” Xiong Tingbi looked at Tokugawa Ieyasu’s garrison.

The first battle must be fought brilliantly, deterring Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu from attacking.

(End of this chapter)