I'm really not doing business

Chapter 827 Death of Oda Nobunaga
The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty sent envoys to Kyoto, Japan to negotiate peace, which caught Oda Nobunaga off guard.

The Ming Dynasty tried too hard, causing daimyos like Oda Nobunaga to misjudge the situation. They thought that the Ming Dynasty was going to press on and directly attack the Japanese mainland. For a time, this caused all the daimyos in Japan to unite against a common enemy.

The stay-at-home order was issued in this context, and everyone responded positively.

As a result, the arrival of the envoy Gao Qiyu caused a huge flaw in the original common hatred of the enemy, and an unprecedented split occurred within Japan.

The Ming Dynasty seemed to be very good at this kind of pulling and tugging, and through this pulling and tugging, the cohesion of Japan was broken up, and differences emerged again.

Some daimyo of Japan believed that the Ming Dynasty, as the victorious party, only required the stationing of troops, which was truly a great favor from the emperor. Anyway, the only destination of these gold, silver, copper and iron after they were mined was to exchange them for treasure notes at the Nagasaki Governor's Office. Now that the Ming Dynasty had stationed troops, these minerals would be exchanged for circulating treasure notes based on the amount of mining.

Another part of the daimyos firmly believed that they should reject all the peace conditions of the Ming Dynasty, actively prepare for war and prevent a full-scale attack by the Ming army. This peace negotiation was to divide Japan. They must be vigilant and kill Gao Qiyu, leaving all the daimyos with no way out and they must unite to fight against the Ming Dynasty.

Oda Nobunaga was very conflicted, and he didn't even know what to do.

On the one hand, he knew that he could not win the battle. The casualties on the front line were too heavy and the morale of the army had been completely broken. At this time, resisting stubbornly was just a desperate struggle. The Ming Dynasty did not even need to attack itself. It could recruit a group of Japanese pirates along the coast and harass the Japanese borders everywhere, which would make Japan uneasy.

On the other hand, Oda Nobunaga knew clearly that if he agreed to peace talks this time, Japan would be completely finished, because people's hearts are like sand, once they are scattered, they can never be united.

They can still share a common hatred of the enemy this time, but through this peace negotiation, the Ming army had a break from the war and had a chance to rest. When the Japanese attack again next time, will the daimyo of Japan still be able to share a common hatred of the enemy like this time?
The answer is obvious, no.

"This surrender is a complete surrender. I am at the mercy of others." Oda Nobunaga said unwillingly, "I want to try again. When Gao Qiyu enters Kyoto, I will kill him."

Oda Nobunaga wanted to try one more time. If he refused to agree to peace talks, he would kill Gao Qiyu as a sacrifice, rely on the divine wind again, and create another miracle. He believed that he could still succeed this time.

"Take care." Oda City was a little sad. She bowed and chose to leave. She didn't know how to persuade, nor did she know what to say. The emperor sent her here just to show his sincerity. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty kept his word.

She was not an important person and she could not change Oda Nobunaga's decision.

This is undoubtedly a crazy decision.

Oda City can understand Oda Nobunaga's decision.

In the military, the Ming Dynasty had already moved from the semi-firearms era to the full firearms era. The huge size of the fast sailing ships made people despair. The traditional Japanese samurai tactical system was completely unable to compete with the new system of combat. The mountain city on which the Ming Dynasty depended for survival was nothing more than a tortoise shell that was difficult to open.

The Japanese samurai and foot soldiers were on the run, preferring to be humiliated by white chicken feathers rather than go to the battlefield and die, and the military was collapsing.

Economically, the Ming Dynasty completely opened up the sea, making Japan completely economically dependent on it. The mechanism of mineral treasure notes divided Japan on an economic basis, with some profiting and some suffering.

Oda Nobunaga foresaw the loss of economic sovereignty, and Japan's own small peasant economy was in disorderly collapse. It was not the Ming Dynasty that took the initiative to end the small peasant economy. The disorderly economic collapse destroyed all the consensus in Japan, and everyone was in confusion.

Culturally, the rise of the Pure Land religion represented the collapse of rituals and music in Japan, and the most basic order could no longer be maintained. Without order, there would be no stability in power.

The dilemmas in multiple dimensions eventually pushed Oda Nobunaga to make a decision to gamble on the fate of the country:

Oda Nobunaga did not blindly believe in the kamikaze, but was clearly aware that any conventional strategy was doomed to fail under the systematic attack of the Ming Empire.

Only by betting on the fate of the country and taking a gamble once, can there be a possibility of breaking the impasse.

The essence of killing the envoy is to forcibly maintain domestic consensus by creating irreconcilable conflicts. What is even more tragic is that Oda City knows clearly that whether Oda Nobunaga chooses war or peace, it will not affect the outcome. The Ming Dynasty is impacting the entire world, not just Japan, with an unprecedented attitude.

Oda Nobunaga's desperate struggle was just to buy time for possible changes, but what were those changes? Was it a divine wind? Was it an accidental military victory?
Even if they did win occasionally, the Ming Emperor's resolute character would never make him give up like Kublai Khan. The Ming could lose many times, but Japan could only lose once.

This was essentially a war called civilization. After the Ming Dynasty initially completed the Wanli Reform, it had already won.

Oda Nobunaga only told Oda City about his decision, but his plan to mobilize the samurai to attack the Ming envoys inevitably caused some groundless speculation in Kyoto. Soon, the news spread like wildfire to the inn in Sakai Port.

"From information from all sides, Oda Nobunaga is about to take action." Li Chengli analyzed the reports obtained from the coastal defense inspectors and came to a conclusion.

The Ming garrison had already informed Japan that it would bring 1,500 men to escort the envoy. Faced with such well-equipped Ming troops, Oda Nobunaga wanted to kill people, but the troops he mobilized could not be concealed from the intelligence network of the coastal defense inspectors.

"I still want to go." Gao Qiyu thought for a moment and said, "The Qianhu garrison doesn't need to fight with me, after all, this is the enemy's home ground."

Kyoto is Oda Nobunaga's home base. If Gao Qiyu insists on going there, it will be very dangerous, so there is no need to let the soldiers follow him to take the risk.

"We are following the Grand Herald. We have only one life left. Oda Nobunaga better be as brave as he said." Huang Bin said jokingly, "This is a game for the brave. Whoever bows his head first will be at a disadvantage in the competition."

The game of Jumanji is a bit like a fight between two children. No one is willing to give in. Whoever gives in is the one who surrenders. This is a very common game tactic in the field of diplomacy and a high-risk strategic game.

Both sides are taking risks, trying to overwhelm the other side through courage and strategy, forcing the opponent to make wrong decisions under high pressure.

For example, in the 16th year of Yongping, Ban Chao was sent as an envoy to Shanshan Kingdom in the Western Regions. The king was very friendly at first, but later became indifferent. When Ban Chao learned that the Xiongnu envoys had arrived, he said to his subordinates, "You can't get a tiger cub without risking the tiger's den." He decided to raid the Xiongnu envoy camp at night and force Shanshan Kingdom to submit to the Han Dynasty.

This was not the first time this happened. Fu Jiezi, an envoy of the Han Dynasty, was sent to Loulan because Loulan had joined forces with the Xiongnu to kill the Han envoy. When the Han army was about to arrive, they said to all the people of Loulan: Do not dare to move, or your country will be destroyed. So Fu Jiezi killed the king of Loulan and brought his head back to the Han Dynasty.

The envoy represents the reputation of the Ming Dynasty, and Gao Qiyu is determined not to give in.

"I want to see what he is capable of!" Li Chengli decided to go together. Gao Qiyu's words made it sound as if all the Ming Dynasty soldiers stationed in Japan were cowards!
On the second day of February in the sixteenth year of the Wanli reign, Gao Qiyu, the Minister of the Honglu Temple of the Ming Dynasty and the envoy to Japan, and Huang Bin, the governor of the internal affairs department, headed for the capital of Japan under the protection of 1,500 Ming troops.

There is a side house in the Akamatsu family in Kyoto, Japan. It is extremely ordinary and houses an ordinary man named Moriran Sosuke, who is 25 years old.

His grandfather participated in Oda Nobunaga's Tianxia Fubu and died in the attack, but he did not receive any compensation. His father violated the samurai spirit and escaped. He became a Sakai Port iron cannon merchant, traveling between Kyoto and Sakai Port to do business in large Ming Dynasty muskets.

Six years ago, his father died in Kyoto under unclear circumstances. Moriran Sosuke went to Kyoto several times, but to no avail. He couldn't even find out the cause of death.

Eventually, Moriran Sosuke learned some news from his former master, the Akamatsu family, that a comprador under the name of a daimyo did not want to pay for the batch of firearms, so he hijacked the firearms on the grounds that there was not enough gunpowder, and then killed his father and blocked all the news.

This daimyo was Gorozaemon-no-jo Niwa Nagahide, who was given the surname Korezumi. He was a direct descendant of Oda Nobunaga and one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

After several investigations, Moriran Sosuke was convinced that his father had indeed died at the hands of this comprador. Perhaps Niwa Nagahide did not know about this, but Moriran Sosuke was only 19 years old at the time and could do nothing.

Moriran Sosuke learned how to make iron cannons from an iron cannon merchant in Sakai Port. In fact, he was recasting the Ming Dynasty bird gun. He originally planned to avenge his father, but as time went on, this idea gradually faded. Later, Niwa Nagahide died of illness.

From then on, Moriran Sosuke decided to live a good life. He married a wife and lived with his mother. He worked hard and could barely make ends meet for his family.

He has a son and a daughter. Although life is stressful, he is still very satisfied with his current life.

Until the Pure Land Sect began to spread wildly in Japan.

Moriran Sosuke had heard of such extreme believers and tried to avoid contact with them to prevent misfortune, but three years ago, his mother disappeared with her young daughter, along with her father, a teppo merchant, and all of Moriran Sosuke's savings, leaving behind only a broken Buddhist beads bracelet.

The biggest characteristic of evil spirits is the pursuit of wealth.

Moriran Sosuke searched for a whole month before he found his mother and daughter in the wild. His mother and daughter had become corpses, their bodies separated and their heads hanging on a tree. The headless body, called a cavity, was split into two halves and hung opposite each other.

It was obvious that his mother and daughter were sacrificed as human sacrifices to the God of Bliss.

In great grief, Moriran Sosuke took in his mother and daughter, but the month-long search made their already tight life even worse. Moriran Sosuke's wife chose to become a tea girl in a tea ceremony house to supplement the family income.

Tea girls are not prostitutes, but assistants who are responsible for preparing water and tea sets or assisting the tea master in the tea house. Their work includes drawing water, boiling water, cleaning tea sets, etc. to ensure a smooth tea ceremony process.

Soon, Moriran Sosuke lost his wife. This time it was not because of the Gokuraku cult, but because his wife became a Nanyang sister, left Japan, went to Nanyang, and started a new life.

Even being a concubine in a Han town in Southeast Asia is better than the purgatory of Japan.

The creditor soon came to the door, and Moriran Sosuke realized that his wife left because she owed a huge debt and chose to leave to avoid it.

In addition to drinking tea, some people in this teahouse also run a gambling business. His wife lost a lot of money and borrowed a lot of money from the gambling house, but because of her beauty, she was qualified to board the ship to Southeast Asia.

Moriran Sosuke was beaten up, and his little remaining property was looted by the gambling house. He became penniless and became a wandering samurai. His son died of hunger and cold three months later.

At the end of the 15th year of the Wanli reign, Moriran Sosuke's former master, Akamatsu Norifusa of the Akamatsu family, met his old friend and was surprised at Moriran Sosuke's miserable state.

The Akamatsu family was originally the lord of Harima Province. Later, when Oda Nobunaga invaded, the Akamatsu family lost their position as lord, but they were still daimyo with a salary of 10,000 koku.

Akamatsu Norifusa met an old friend and rescued Moriran Sosuke.

On the morning of the second day of the second month of the sixteenth year of the Wanli reign, Moriran Sosuke received an order from Akamatsu Norifusa:
Akamatsu Norifusa ordered him to go to a high position in Nijo Castle, where three Ming Dynasty flat guns loaded with Ming Dynasty brown gunpowder were prepared. Akamatsu Norifusa asked Moriran Sosuke to kill Oda Nobunaga when he passed by.

Moriran Sosuke had worked as a craftsman in an iron cannon workshop, so he was familiar with all kinds of iron cannons. The Pingyi gun could penetrate the Ming Dynasty's iron armor at a distance of sixty steps, and the crudely made Japanese armor could penetrate armor at a distance of up to one hundred steps. There were yin and yang lines on the barrel, and the lead bullet would spiral out of the barrel, making it more accurate.

Moriran Sosuke is an extremely good gunner. In his hands, the Japanese cannon can hit a flying bird within twenty steps. This is also the reason why Akamatsu Norifusa saved Moriran Sosuke. What if such an excellent gunner can be used one day?

The order clearly told him that if he did not want to carry out the order, he could leave.

Akamatsu Norifusa had no idea about Moriran Sosuke's hatred, nor did he care much about it. He had dozens of such gunners, and three of them would be enough. As for the consequences of a failed assassination, Akamatsu Norifusa no longer cared about it.

For Akamatsu Norifusa, it didn't matter whether he was alive or dead. What was important was the death of Oda Nobunaga, who caused their family to lose the position of lord.

At noon, outside Nijo Castle, at Ying'en Gate, 1,500 soldiers holding various firearms formed a vertical array and arrived at Ying'en Gate. According to the intelligence of the coastal defense patrol, 1,500 samurai were ambushed here, ready to kill the Ming envoy. The vertical array soon turned into a horizontal array, and the 1,500 soldiers formed three rows of horizontal arrays, ready to deal with the charge of the Japanese.

Moriran Sosuke arrived at the place he was ordered to go very smoothly. There were indeed three flat-barreled guns loaded with gunpowder, but he was the only one there, with no one else.

He checked the three Pingyi guns and made sure they were in good condition, then lay down on the parapet. He felt very strange that there was no one patrolling such an important high point.

Oda Nobunaga's scarlet battle haori appeared in the granary corridor that was hundreds of steps long. The battle haori was often worn over armor. Oda Nobunaga liked red and also liked Taisai's cloak. Behind him were two teams of armored soldiers carrying mother's clothes, one team was scarlet and the other team was dark black.

These two groups of people are the Red Mother Clothes Group and the Black Mother Clothes Group. The cage-like things on their backs are Mother Clothes, which are used to protect against arrows.

Moriran Sosuke calmly placed the crosshairs above Oda Nobunaga's head. The weather was very good today, with no wind, as the wind would affect the accuracy of the Pingyi gun. Moriran Sosuke's face was very calm, and he counted silently in his mind. When he reached sixty steps, he pulled the trigger, and the flint was placed on the flint.

"boom!"

The lead bullet spun out of the barrel and flew towards Oda Nobunaga. The first bullet did not hit Oda Nobunaga, but hit the Akameyi people behind Oda Nobunaga. The formation in the granary corridor was in chaos, and Moriran Sosuke came to the second Pingyi gun with a calm expression.

The reason why the first shot missed was that Moriran Sosuke misjudged the power of the Pingyi gun, and the bullet naturally fell less than he estimated.

"boom!"

The lead bullet spun out of the barrel again, with a sound of breaking through the air, and flew towards the heavily protected Oda Nobunaga again. This shot still missed, but it was not because Moriran Sosuke missed, but because Oda Nobunaga was too well protected.

"boom!"

As soon as the third shot was fired, Moriran Sosuke knew that he had missed the target, because when the musket exploded, Oda Nobunaga made an evasive move, rolling over like a lazy donkey. Although he was in an awkward position, he avoided the fatal blow.

Moriran Sosuke sighed and sat cross-legged. He knew that his assassination attempt had failed. He took out a wakizashi (short sword) from his waist and prepared to commit seppuku. He did not want to implicate his benefactor, Akamatsu Norifusa, who had given him the sword.

He didn't make the wrong choice, so the knife had to be accurate and ruthless, and there was no possibility of saving the person.

Before committing seppuku, Moriran Sosuke reviewed his short life. He was hardworking and diligent, and even morally speaking, he was a good man, but his father died, his mother and daughter were sacrificed as human sacrifices, his wife betrayed him, and his son died of hunger and cold.

Was all this misfortune his fault, Oda Nobunaga's fault, or the world's fault?

But all these misfortunes were about to end. He raised the wakizashi high, inserted it into his abdomen with force, twisted it hard, pulled it horizontally, and blood spurted out and fell on the hirai gun, leaving spots on it. He felt severe pain, but he still stared at Oda Nobunaga fiercely.

Moriran Sosuke's expression soon became confused, because the warriors in the grain road did not rush up, but were engaged in a fierce battle. The shouts, the sounds of arrows breaking through the air, and the explosions of cannons and other firearms came one after another, and the entire grain road was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder.

Moriran Sosuke forced himself to stare at the battlefield. If he had known this earlier, he would not have committed suicide.

In the last moment before his consciousness faded, he revealed a satisfied smile and fell in front of the Pingyi gun. Because Oda Nobunaga was caught in a tough battle, more and more samurai rushed into the narrow food route.

It was not just Akamatsu Norifusa who rebelled. On this day, many daimyos chose to rebel.

Oda Nobunaga forgot whose life his was. It was not his life, but the life of the Ming Emperor.

Because during the Honnoji Incident, the Ming army, led by Li Chengli, entered Honnoji and rescued Oda Nobunaga.

It seems that the attack on Honnoji Temple was launched by Akechi Mitsuhide, but the fact that it happened shows that there was more than one person in Japan who wanted to be like Akechi Mitsuhide. The ambitions of many people were blocked because of the presence of the Ming army.

This was a tacit understanding. The Ming Dynasty conferred the title to the King of Japan, and the Ming Dynasty's Thousand Household Garrison provided protection. These daimyos did not dare to make any moves.

When Oda Nobunaga was about to attack the Ming envoy, this tacit understanding was broken and everyone started to take action.

"puff."

A katana chopped off Oda Nobunaga's shoulder, and soon, his back was cut by the katana again. With one slash, two slashes, and amid the flashes of swords and sabers, arrows and lead bullets whizzed towards him.

Oda Nobunaga fought back desperately, but he was completely exhausted. He knelt on the ground, and after being stabbed several more times, he fell in a pool of blood. Looking at the sky in the narrow corridor, he gasped, and suddenly he smiled with relief.

He was tired, really tired. He would rather be that big fool Owari again than be this unworthy ruler of the world.

He tried his best to lead Japan out of its predicament. He wanted the Japanese to live a better life instead of suffering from the wars of the Warring States Period. He tried hard and gave his all, but ultimately failed.

What made him helpless was that he did not die at the hands of the Ming army, but at the hands of his own people.

He tilted his head and looked at the daimyos who were running over in a hurry. They looked anxious and desperately fought off the attacking samurai. They rushed to Oda Nobunaga's side, shouting for the medical officer to come and treat them.

This is just a pretense. Even in Japan, no one is willing to admit that they are the traitor. They will wait until he is doomed to die before rushing over to show their concern.

As for what will happen to these daimyo and Japan in the future, only God knows.

Oda Nobunaga did not leave any last words. He slowly closed his eyes and passed away. He left the land he had protected with all his might and ended his life.

"Uh..." Gao Qiyu stood under the flag, holding a telescope, watching what was happening in Nijo Castle. He stared blankly for a long time before saying, "I came here with the intention of dying, just to watch them fight among themselves, right?"

"I have overlooked the Japanese tendency to overthrow their superiors." Li Chengli said with a look of confusion: "If it weren't for the Ming army, these daimyo would have taken action long ago."

Gao Qiyu said helplessly: "Let's stay at Ying'en Pavilion and wait for the outcome of the internal fighting in Japan."

They were all daimyo leading troops, and they could not reach a consensus. Oda Nobunaga secretly mobilized his own troops to attack and kill the Ming envoys. The Ming envoys did not expect this result.

In the afternoon, news came from Kyoto that Oda Nobunaga was seriously injured and was receiving emergency treatment, and asked the angel to be patient. As soon as this news came out, Gao Qiyu knew that Oda Nobunaga was dead.

If he is really seriously injured, the truth will be kept secret until there is a result, and then it will be announced to the public. Since it has been announced to the public as a serious injury, it is basically certain that he is dead, so everyone should be prepared.

Keeping the death a secret and confirming the transfer of power are not uncommon anywhere.

This wait lasted for twelve days, until February 14th, when the definite result came out: Oda Nobunaga was really dead. During these twelve days, the sound of fighting could be heard from time to time in Kyoto City, and once it even lasted for three days.

On February 14, the killing was still going on, but Kyoto City returned Oda City to the Ming envoys.

Oda City did not suffer any harm, and no one even alarmed her. The reason why the daimyos in the city did not take action was very simple, because she was sent by the Ming Dynasty.

Killing Oda City is no different from killing Gao Qiyu. Both are slaps in the face of the Ming Emperor. The Ming Emperor lost face, and it was the daimyo like them who suffered.

After waiting for another seven days, on February 21st, the fighting in Kyoto finally ended. Hashiba Hideyoshi was appointed as the regent and was appointed as the Grand Minister of State by the Emperor. He was granted the Toyotomi clan. From then on, Toyotomi Hideyoshi became the actual decision-maker of Japan.

"We do not agree with this assessment of Oda Nobunaga." After reading the document sent from Kyoto, Gao Qiyu expressed his attitude and handed the document to the messenger, asking him to take it back.

The first order issued by Toyotomi Hideyoshi as the regent was to convict Oda Nobunaga.

In this nearly 1,000-word Kanpaku-rescript, Oda Nobunaga became a great villain, a great devil and villain who relied on his own force to do whatever he wanted, intimidated the royal family, abused his servants, and destroyed the authority of gods and Buddhism.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi charged Oda Nobunaga with ten crimes.

The first was to despise Buddhism and kill saints, mainly by burning down Enryakuji Temple on Mount Hiei, turning the 3,000 Buddha Pavilion into scorched earth; slaughtering people at Nagashima Gansho-ji Temple, filling the ravines with 20,000 believers; and destroying Ishiyama Honganji Temple. The notoriety of his enemies of Buddhism spread far and wide in the Tang Dynasty. This is a fact, and it is also the reason why Oda Nobunaga was called the Sixth Heaven Demon King.

But the rest are just fabricated charges.

Some of it is nonsense, for example the second one is about disrupting the national system, using the name of military power to commit tyranny, forcibly conscripting farmers from 15 countries, causing thousands of starving people.

According to the long-term observation of the Nagasaki Governor's Office, the lives of civilians under Oda Nobunaga's rule were much better than those of other daimyo. After all, Oda Nobunaga's tax rate was one for the public and two for the civilians.

For example, the Seventh One had secret dealings with demons and evil spirits, and the problem of the rampant Gokuraku cult was directly pinned on Oda Nobunaga, as if it was Oda Nobunaga's indulgence that led to the evil spirits causing chaos.

Some people even pinned the collective blame on Oda Nobunaga alone.

For example, the Eight Disasters disrupted diplomatic relations, recklessly launched an expedition against the Korean Peninsula, and invoked the heavenly soldiers' thunder and lightning to punish the Japanese. This was not done by Oda Nobunaga alone. It was a collective decision made by these daimyo. Because of the soaring food prices, they could no longer afford to feed the daimyo, so they sent them to the Korean battlefield to fend for themselves.

Of these ten charges, only the first one is barely established. Gao Qiyu does not agree with this assessment, nor does it do so to clear Oda Nobunaga's name, but to exert pressure. To put it more clearly: he is looking for trouble, making things out of nothing, creating bargaining chips, and gaining more benefits.

Oda Nobunaga was the king of Japan who was clearly enthroned by the imperial decree of the Ming Dynasty, but he died just like that. His successor was not Oda Nobunaga's descendant, but Hashiba Hideyoshi. There are a lot of things that can be done about this.

Gao Qiyu had to test the bottom line of what Japan could accept little by little and strive for the best conditions. The long negotiations would not be accomplished overnight.

Gao Qiyu wrote the memorial and sent it back to Ming Dynasty through the coastal defense inspector. Oda City had already said goodbye and would return to Ming Dynasty with Gao Qiyu's memorial.

Oda stood at the port of Sakai City, which was still very busy. She looked in the direction of Kyoto, still unable to believe that her omnipotent brother was dead, died at the hands of his own people.

Oda City boarded the ship, seabirds flew over the deck, and the sea breeze passed through her fingers.

Perhaps, if Oda Nobunaga had died in Honnoji Temple, he would have suffered less infamy.

(End of this chapter)