I'm really not doing business

Chapter 837: The Flying Crows of Divine Fire Burn Kyoto

Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu never doubted that the Ming people might go back on their words. The Ming envoys or the emperor's edicts always kept their promises and did what they said.

As long as a treaty is reached, the Ming Dynasty will definitely implement it resolutely, even if the treaty may be disadvantageous to the Ming Dynasty in the short term.

It's not just the Ming Dynasty. All dynasties in the Central Plains seemed to have a kind of confidence, the confidence to keep their words.

The origin of this confidence is very simple. As long as the time dimension is extended, an unfavorable treaty will become favorable to China because of its firm implementation.

For example, the Ming Dynasty and Altan Khan concluded a peace treaty. In the short term, it seemed unfavorable to the Ming Dynasty, but in the long term, Altan Khan's rule fell into crisis; for example, the Treaty of Chanyuan between the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty.

Because the world situation will change over time, factors that were unfavorable in the past may become favorable.

This is actually very normal. China has been the leader in visible territory for thousands of years. This superior position throughout thousands of years has laid the foundation for China's self-confidence. It is also because of this superior position that China has more historical experience and lessons.

China can even use self-criticism as a tool to serve itself. Chinese scholars call this self-cultivation "examining oneself three times a day."

Now, the Ming Dynasty began to accept criticism from others. The Ming emperor would solicit the interests of all classes in the Ming Dynasty, as well as the opinions of visitors such as foreign envoys. This was an extremely humble attitude, but no matter how humble it was, it could not conceal the pride that came from within.

When self-criticism was combined with criticism from others, the Ming Dynasty had unprecedented vitality both inside and outside.

For example, the triangular trade of outbound, mid-bound and return journeys would definitely be regarded as a landmark event of the collapse of rituals and music in the past. But today, the literati of the Ming Dynasty keep silent about it, do not observe, care or discuss it, pretending not to know about it, and thus assume that it does not exist.

The literati's main focus was on responding to the emperor's reforms and doing their best to correct his overly radical or conservative policies, and they had no time to pay attention to these misfortunes.

However, these two seemingly ordinary skills, self-criticism and accepting criticism from others, are skills that the Japanese will never be able to learn.

Because once the Japanese begin to criticize themselves, they will fall into self-doubt and self-collapse; once they accept criticism from others, especially from the Ming Dynasty, they will fall into an identity crisis, which is the ultimate question of "Who am I?"

This phenomenon was summarized by Legazpi as follows: The Rome of the East never disappeared, so that all the surrounding countries fell into an identity crisis at the same time. They were unable to reflect or accept criticism from the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, all the consensus established by resisting the Ming Dynasty would collapse.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Ming people, the Japanese are somewhat strange. Blind, proud, arrogant, but at the same time short-sighted, inferior, and stubborn. This seems particularly torn and contradictory, but the Japanese live in such a contradictory way.

When Gao Qiyu came to Ying'en Hall in Kyoto, Japan as an envoy, he saw this contradiction. Especially during the negotiation process, the Japanese thought that the outcome of the war had been decided and they had to admit their defeat. But on the other hand, they believed that the factors of their defeat were accidental and that if they had another chance and made better decisions, they could win.

The fall of Nagato seemed to have plunged Japan into a state of complete madness.

Some people shouted loudly that they would die with honor and fight to the end. They seemed willing to sacrifice everything for Japan, but they were unwilling to die on the battlefield.

Some people kept calling for peace and wanted to kneel down completely, which seemed very rational, but even if they were asked to sign the peace treaty, they were unwilling to bear the historical responsibility.

Gao Qiyu received the first letter of surrender from Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In this letter, Toyotomi Hideyoshi allowed the Ming army to be stationed in the mine in the name of protecting the Japanese pirate mines. This was the biggest compromise in the letter of surrender.

Japan was still in the final stage of the Warring States Period, with only nominal unification. The local areas were still highly autonomous, and the daimyo were still fighting each other. In order to ensure the stability of silver production, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, as the shogun, invited the Ming army to station around the mines to protect production from the impact of the civil war in Japan.

The profits from the mines still belonged to the local daimyo, not the Ming;
However, the Ming Dynasty had the right to purchase mineral products first and was allowed to use treasure notes for payment.

The entire compromise is full of self-deceptive logic, it's just deceiving oneself.

It seemed that as long as Japan ended the Warring States Period, it could send the Ming army away; it seemed that as long as the silver was not directly brought to the Ming Dynasty, and the treasure notes were exchanged as equivalent once, the mineral resources would still be in the hands of Japan.

Japan called it still being in control; Ming called it a controllable collapse.

Gao Qiyu had no intention of letting Toyotomi Hideyoshi go. He asked the Emperor of Wa to live in Ming Dynasty and let Toyotomi Hideyoshi give up more interests.

"Grand Herald, the divine fire crows have arrived." Li Chengli was very reluctant to talk to Gao Qiyu, as he felt that talking too much to this scholar would turn him into a bad guy, but he still had to say what he needed to say.

Qi Jiguang released 60,000 Divine Fire Flying Crows at one time in Nagato City, which directly broke the morale of Japan to resist to the end. However, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty always liked to give the enemy a light blow, so he sent another batch of Divine Fire Flying Crows to the Osaka Bay Garrison Thousand Households, and then to the Ying'en Pavilion outside the Japanese capital.

Gao Qiyu picked up the teacup, used the lid to stir the foam, and asked with a smile, "How much did you deliver?"

"Thirty thousand." Li Chengli said calmly.

"Clang."

The teacup Gao Qiyu was holding fell to the ground and rolled around, spilling the tea all over the floor. He quickly stood up, cleaned up the water stains on his body, and asked in surprise, "How many divine fire crows are there?"

"30,000." Li Chengli said with certainty, "Changmen City released 60,000 crows. Your Majesty sent a total of 30,000 divine fire crows, including open fire, poisonous fire, flying fire, divine fire, and fierce fire."

Gao Qiyu was silent for a moment. His Majesty was ignorant of military affairs and his action was really too harsh. These 30,000 Divine Fire Flying Crows were released at the same time. One should know that there were only 100 crossbows in Ying'en Hall for releasing the Divine Fire Flying Crows, and they were carried on the side chariots.

There are thirty thousand divine fire flying crows. Even if you break the tendons of the chariot crossbow, you still can’t release them all!
The release of the Divine Fire Flying Crow is like stringing a powerful crossbow. The fire of the Crow is ignited and then released. The fire is ignited in the air at the same time, and under the combined effect of elasticity and gunpowder, the flying distance is as high as two hundred and fifty feet.

The accuracy of this thing is really terrible, but as the number increases, the accuracy becomes unimportant.

"If Toyotomi Hideyoshi refuses to surrender, then let's give it a try." Gao Qiyu did not hesitate much.

These nobles and daimyo in Kyoto had never seen the power of the Ming Dynasty's new firearms and still clung to their chances. If they insisted on resisting and refused to agree to the treaty, then Gao Qiyu could not be blamed for being ruthless.

Gao Qiyu was waiting for Toyotomi Hideyoshi's response.

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi took Oda Nobunaga's position, he realized why Oda Nobunaga was so stupid and wanted to kill Gao Qiyu. He resisted to the end because the situation in Japan had deteriorated to the point where there was no solution.

After repeated consideration, Toyotomi Hideyoshi found that he was likely to follow the same path as Oda Nobunaga.

Fukushima Masanori walked hurriedly in the corridor with the "Oriole Singing" floor. This floor got its name because it makes the sound of an oriole singing when you step on it. In fact, it is because of the deformation of the floor due to disrepair, and the sound of friction between nails and wooden boards. He hurriedly walked into the Honmaru Palace with a five-story castle tower.

"General." Fukushima Masanori knelt on the ground, put his hands together to show respect, sat up straight, bowed again, and then sat up straight.

Fukushima Masanori is the leader of the Keitake Seven Spears. The Keitake Seven Spears are the most direct descendants of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. They are the seven most valiant samurai when Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie fought a decisive battle at Keitake, and Fukushima Masanori is the leader of the Seven Spears.

"The Tang envoy has brought the latest peace document." Fukushima Masanori handed the peace document in his hand to the eunuch.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi opened it and read it for a long time, then said with a grim expression, "This is simply too much! Not only did they promise to station troops at the mine, they actually asked my king to go to Ming."

After serious consideration, Toyotomi Hideyoshi came up with a solution that was not a good solution, which was to let the emperor come forward and sign the peace treaty on behalf of Japan. This would mean that the emperor would bear all the sins and infamy, which would also be convenient if he broke his promise in the future.

During this time, the emperor was like a toilet paper, used when remembered and thrown away when done.

The shoguns had no respect for the emperor at all.

But now, the Ming envoys have shattered Toyotomi Hideyoshi's dream. No matter whether the King of Wa's request to go to the Ming Dynasty can be achieved in the end, Toyotomi Hideyoshi will not be able to let the Emperor come out to be scolded.

As the shogun, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had to protect his emperor, his safety and his reputation. Whether he did so sincerely or not, at least in name it was true. He was now the shogun, and all the legal principles came from the emperor's enthronement and bestowal of the surname.

Fukushima Masanori clasped his hands together, said nothing, and waited for Toyotomi Hideyoshi to make a decision.

The general was now in a very difficult situation. On the one hand, the Ming Dynasty was being aggressive, and on the other hand, Toyotomi Hideyoshi would never bear the infamy and guilt of negotiating peace.

"Call up the troops, follow me and kill the Tang envoy!" Toyotomi Hideyoshi stood up suddenly and said in a stern voice: "The Ming Dynasty is ruthless, so don't blame me for being unreasonable! One thousand five hundred troops are stationed outside Kyoto, forcing us so hard!"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi fell into the trap of Oda Nobunaga. Oda Nobunaga had made the decision to kill Gao Qiyu and fight to the end. The dilemma at that time was not resolved, but became more difficult. Toyotomi Hideyoshi could only fight to the death.

"Yes, General." Fukushima Masanori hesitated, bowed again, and chose to accompany his general and try again.

The Minister of Rites Shen Li once believed that the difficulties in multiple dimensions such as geography, politics, military, economy, and culture would eventually push the supreme ruler of Japan to make a decision to gamble on the fate of the country. And not just today, but as soon as there is an opportunity, the Japanese will gamble all their national destiny and take a gamble, which is a gambler's dilemma.

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi mobilized his troops, the Ming army in Ying'en Hall soon learned about it. There were many Ming Dynasty watchtowers and coastal defense inspectors conducting reconnaissance in Kyoto City. In addition, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's troop mobilization made the divisions in the entire Kyoto even more serious.

On the morning of the third day of May, as the distant morning bell rang from the five-story pagoda of Toji Temple, the mist in the mountains quietly dissipated in the wind. It had been a bit dry these days, so it was a good day for setting a fire.

The sky was as clear as jasper, the morning glow gradually dyed the edges of Dongshan Mountain with a layer of gold.

The green waves of the Kamo River rippled gently, reflecting the graceful figures of the weeping willows on both sides, as well as the figures of the samurai. Toyotomi Hideyoshi planned to rush straight to Ying'en Pavilion, kill the 1,500 soldiers at the door of the house, kill the Ming envoys, and force all the differences in Kyoto City to become unified.

The townhouses in the Kakuchu area are lined up one after another, with dark brown wooden lattice windows half open and light smoke from morning cooking rising from the roofs.

The townspeople walked hurriedly in straw sandals, the peddlers carrying loads on their shoulders hawked Kyoto vegetables and Kiyomizu-yaki, complaining that business had been getting worse in recent days, and the nobles riding in ox carts seemed terrified; from behind the warm curtains of the teahouse came the gurgling sound of a boiling clay kettle mixed with the sound of tea leaves being ground, but no one was interested.

The shadow of war loomed over the city of Kyoto. Early that morning, a hundred crossbows were lined up, aimed not at the direction where the samurai might attack, but at the city of Kyoto.

There were originally two capitals, Luoyang in the East and Chang'an in the West. After Chang'an gradually declined, Luoyang was the only capital left.

Gao Qiyu stood next to a row of crossbows. Huang Bin followed Gao Qiyu in the formation. Gao Qiyu's steps were slow and firm. He was checking the crossbows and wondering whether he should release the divine fire crows equipped on these crossbows.

He was not worried about sin, because all the members of the Ming army today were wearing the chilling three-inch round dragon flag sticker.

Your Majesty will pay for all the sins.

Gao Qiyu was a scholar, and he didn't want to commit so much murder, but if it were the Japanese, it would immediately become reasonable.

After the two checked all the chariot crossbows, Gao Qiyu nodded to Li Chengli. Li Chengli drew out the Qi family's military knife and raised it above his head. In the early summer breeze, the knife light reflected the golden red of the morning sun, and the flag behind him fluttered in the wind, making a rustling sound.

"Shoot!" Li Chengli swung his saber.

The ivory flags turned, the sound of drums and trumpets became more passionate, the flags in the army began to wave, six people were on a crossbow, and they placed a number of Divine Fire Flying Crows on the crossbows. After the small flags were waved, the soldiers lit the fire, opened the safety, and released the Divine Fire Flying Crows.

The sound of mechanical expansion was clacking, the crossbow strings made a crackling sound, and a hundred divine fire crows, with flames flashing at the bottom, flew towards Kyoto City.

After the Divine Fire Crow took off, the ignition wick burned out, and two blazing gunpowder tubes were ignited at the bottom of the Crow, leaving an inconspicuous trail in the air. The whistle sounded like a carrier pigeon, resounding throughout the sky of Kyoto. This was a flying whistle designed by the doctors of the Academy of Gewu in order to judge the speed of the Crow.

When the flying crow was ejected, the whistle was sharp and high-pitched, and became low as the speed decreased. After the fire was ignited, it began to accelerate again, and the whistle became loud again. The two wings of the flying crow were slightly bent downward to keep the flying crow stable. At the tail of the flying crow, there was not the scattered tail feathers of the past, but a triangular wing to maintain the balance and center of gravity of the flying crow.

Three minutes later, the second round of one hundred flying crows took off into the sky, and the whistles sounded like a majestic piece of music in the air.

The third round, the fourth round...the Flying Crows were firing continuously.

The Japanese people in Kyoto all looked up at the sky in confusion, as the whistle came rather suddenly.

In fact, Qi Jiguang was not optimistic about firearms like the Feiya. In his eyes, cannons and muskets were the real firearms. He did not like things like the Feiya that were only for show, mainly because they was a waste of gunpowder and were a bit like setting off fireworks.

A Flying Crow weighs nearly six and a half pounds, most of which is gunpowder. Gunpowder is really expensive, even in the Ming Dynasty.

The biggest reason why Qi Jiguang did not like the Flying Crow firearm was that it had no accuracy at all. Even though the doctors of the Academy of Gewu had tried their best, the wind had a huge impact on it. If the wind changed slightly, it would be impossible to tell where the weapon was blowing.

Qi Jiguang was right. After the fire on the two wings was burned out, the crows began to float in the wind, and the ones that flew higher flew farther.

One of the flying crows was not very lucky. It flew a little low and crashed headfirst into the roof of a townhouse. It bounced twice and with a click, the spring at the tail of the abdominal cavity pushed a small section of flint into the abdominal cavity of the flying crow. This is a collision device. After the fire is burned out, the safety rope of the mechanism will burn off, and it will be activated with a slight collision.

The safety pin that the soldiers pulled out was an iron pin for easy transportation, and the one that was burned by the propellant was the rope safety.

The flint was pushed into the abdominal cavity, where there was a flint and steel, sparks flew everywhere, and the flying crow exploded.

"boom!"

More than three kilograms of gunpowder exploded in the abdominal cavity, as brilliantly as the largest firework. The white phosphorus in the interlayer was dispersed by the explosion, leaving trails of smoke in the air and began to burn.

Several townhouses were set on fire, and the wind fanned the flames, causing the fire to grow larger and larger.

The Divine Fire Crow has too many shortcomings, such as instability. Some Crows don't even have time to land. The expansion machine is activated in the air, and a big firework is set off in the sky, but this firework is not a celebration, but a death knell for Kyoto. Gunpowder and burning materials fall into the city.

(Explosion scene, similar.)
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi's troops arrived at Ying'en Hall, the Ming army released thousands of divine fire crows in all directions, and the entire Japanese capital of Kyoto was engulfed in flames. The Ming army stopped releasing the crows, not because they had no firearms, but because their bowstrings were beginning to fatigue and needed to be replaced.

A quarter of an hour later, the whistle of the Divine Fire Crow began to sound again.

Li Chengli led three hundred soldiers and stood in front of Ying'en Hall. Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army had already arrived.

"Jade plate, jade plate, the jade plate hangs in the air to illuminate the battle; in all directions, in all directions, the Yi and Qiang are all around;"

A soldier strapped on his armor and fastened his arm brace with a smile on his face. After hammering it, he suddenly started to sing loudly. This was a war song composed by His Royal Highness Prince De of the Gewu Academy, which blended the Hongwu Zhengyun with the low, slow drum beats.

"Jingguan Jingguan, Jingguan is majestic and shakes the world; thousands of tents, thousands of tents, thousands of tents with lights wafting through the dust;"

The soldiers began to sing in unison, and then wrapped their knives with cloth and tied them together to prevent the knives from becoming slippery due to the blood and unable to chop during the battle. They worked in groups of three, and each of them wore a three-inch round dragon flag sticker and checked that it would not fall off.

"Big river, big river, the big river flows eastward with flags flying; on the Long Mountains, on the Long Mountains, travelers walk on the stars and frost;"

Death is never scary, just like the river flowing eastward, people are destined to die. The soldiers put on their helmets, and their voices became deep. When the helmets were put on, the whole battlefield became solemn and murderous.

Gao Qiyu, Huang Bin, Li Chengli, Ma Wenying, Yang Tingyong, Zhang Wenyuan, Yang Zhi and others have never forgotten that their trip to the capital was dangerous, just as Toyotomi Hideyoshi could not escape the fate of Oda Nobunaga, and the 1,500 people in Ying'en Hall have never been out of danger.

"Chang'an, Chang'an, a hundred thousand Japanese skulls are piled up in the clouds; a lone goose, a lone goose, a lone goose holds a bone in its mouth, its heart is broken;"

"kill!"

Ma Wenying launched a mutiny in Luomuying, Hangzhou Prefecture, but was later pardoned by the emperor and "exiled" to the Osaka Bay Garrison, where he made meritorious contributions while serving his sentence.

When Hu Zongxian formed the 9th Zhejiang Battalion, it was for the purpose of avenging this blood feud one day. However, Hu Zongxian did not wait for that day. Instead, he starved to death in the Tianlao, leaving behind only the words "The sword is buried in the wrongful imprisonment, and the loyal soul is surrounded by white clouds."

At that time, Ma Wenying was only fourteen years old. He never dared to forget for a moment his family, his relatives, and the children in his hometown who died at the hands of the Japanese pirates. He never dared to forget for a moment.

"Returning for burial, returning for burial, I still see my loving mother mending the arrow wound; the sharpness of the sword, the sharpness of the sword, the horse's lance picks the moon on the gate;"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Japanese pirates rushed forward, and cannons and firearms began to roar, reaping the lives of the Japanese pirates like harvesting wheat. The warriors without armor fell down row after row before the rain of lead bullets.

The Japanese warriors fell one after another, but the charge did not stop for a moment. The Japanese pirates rushed towards the front line frantically, and like a raging wave, crashed into the wall formed by the trap camp.

The killing begins.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi discovered something was wrong. Indeed, the Ming army had only 1,500 people, while he mobilized more than 30,000 people.

No matter how you look at it, 30,000 versus 1,500, the advantage is on me.

But these 1,500 people were as strong as the rocks on the coast, blocking the endless charges. When the first wave of charges was blocked by the Ming army's firearms and artillery, Toyotomi Hideyoshi knew that he might have miscalculated.

"Jade plate, jade plate, the jade plate is sometimes round and sometimes incomplete; moonlight, moonlight, the moonlight of the Han family is round in the old days."

After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's first wave of attack ended, the soldiers' melodious and slow war songs sounded again. All the soldiers organized their armor and firearms in an orderly manner and collected the corpses of their comrades.

They stayed in Kyoto, Japan forever. There were children of the powerful and wealthy, children of rich families, and poor laborers.

Some scholars said that war was about farmers' sons killing farmers' sons, but Li Chengli knew very well that there were 300 real rich kids among the 1,000-household garrison officers in Osaka Bay. The danger here was self-evident, but they still came here and now died here.

When the nest is empty, no eggs will remain intact.

Thirty thousand men besieging fifteen hundred men should have won no matter what. However, after three hours, the first to collapse were Toyotomi Hideyoshi's warriors, and no one dared to charge again.

The Ming army suffered heavy casualties, with more than 500 people killed in this battle. Four lines of defense had been defeated, and the last line of defense, the chariot crossbow formation that released the divine fire crows, was right behind the soldiers.

But the morale of the Ming army remained high, and war songs were always heard in the intervals, and the Japanese paid the price of at least 5,000 samurai lives for this.

Ma Wenying, Yang Tingyong and Zhang Wenyuan, three captains from Luomuying in Zhejiang, died on the battlefield. They led the Xianzhen Camp and stood on the front line. They were also the first to fall in the flood of Japanese enemies. Only Yang Zhi was still alive, but he was also seriously injured.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi retreated, knowing that he could not win because the morale was no longer there.

The entire Kyoto had become a sea of ​​fire, with smoke billowing and flames shooting into the sky. Japanese were fleeing everywhere, shouting in fear that the fire was coming from the sky. If Toyotomi Hideyoshi didn't leave and put out the fire, the entire Kyoto would probably be burned down.

The Ming army never thought of retreating, all they wanted was to perish together with their enemies.

Gao Qiyu led the remaining Ming soldiers, collected the remains, and buried them hastily on the small hill behind Ying'en Hall.

Standing in front of 500 newly dug graves, Gao Qiyu looked at the setting sun in the sky, looked at the wooden tombstones, and said solemnly: "Your Majesty asked us to come here to exchange the smallest cost for the greatest benefit. Your sacrifice will be remembered forever by the Ming Dynasty, and it will not be in vain."

"Five thousand Japanese warriors and the Japanese capital will be buried with you."

The fire in Kyoto lasted for three full days before it was slowly extinguished. Three days later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, surrounded by the Emperor of Japan, came to Ying'enkan to surrender.

Even if Gao Qiyu was killed, it would be meaningless, because the people in Kyoto already knew the terrible power of Ming Dynasty's firearms. The consequence of killing the Ming Dynasty's envoy would be to face the wrath of Ming Dynasty.

"I actually don't mind you killing me." Gao Qiyu sat on a high seat, looking at Toyotomi Hideyoshi kneeling on the ground and said, "Before I left, I left a farewell poem for Your Majesty. If I die in Japan, the Ming Dynasty will have a sufficient reason to sweep Japan."

"A group always has various voices. My death can make these voices become unified."

"It's a pity that you don't have the ability to kill me."

"Now, sign this treaty."

The contents of the treaty include:

The Ming army sent soldiers to station in various mining areas;

Ming has the right to explore for minerals in Japan, and the ownership of the mineral deposits discovered belongs to Ming;
Ming people enjoy absolute immunity in Japan, and all Ming people who commit crimes will be dealt with by the Ming Nagasaki Governor's Office;
Sakai was designated as Ming territory, and Japanese were not allowed to enter;

There shall be no Japanese mountain fortifications from Sakai City to Kyoto, and the Ming army shall be stationed in Kyoto;

Punish the officials who were responsible for the invasion of Korea and the attack on the troops of Yeong-eun-gwan, including the commander of the army that invaded Korea and Fukushima Masanori who attacked the troops of Yeong-eun-gwan this time;

1500 million silver coins were to be paid in years to support the military, with the customs and salt taxes of the coastal cities of Japan as collateral;
Pay 500,000 silver coins every year as the cost of Ming garrison troops;
If there are any additions to the nine major items, including the residence of the King of Wa and the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, supplementary clauses will be signed separately.

(End of this chapter)