The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

While the battle raged on one side, the imperial court's letter of accusation against Japan also reached Japan.

Of course, separated by thousands of miles, the angels couldn't just quickly travel by boat to punish them; the cabinet directly issued orders to the Han camp in Omori Township via telegram.

He appointed Kuang Ping as chief envoy and Jia Cong as deputy envoy, and sent them to Heian-kyo to warn Japan to withdraw its troops from Korea.

Kuang Ping was completely bewildered when he received the telegram.

He first turned to his left and asked, "Has Japan lost its mind? Instead of focusing on unifying the country and improving people's livelihoods, it's going to fight Korea?"

On the left is Jia Cong, a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He said, "If a person is used to getting something for nothing, he will see diligence as hardship; if a country is used to plundering resources, it will not be able to tolerate the slow pace of building up people's livelihoods."

Kuang Ping turned to the right and asked, "The imperial letter needs to be stamped with the imperial seal, but the court only sends a telegram without the seal. How are we supposed to get to Heian-kyo?"

On the right was his confidant, Wu Han, who had been promoted from among the miners. He said, "It's just a mere Japanese country. Your Excellency can use your official seal to stamp it, stating that it is His Majesty's decree. With the National Preceptor's birthday approaching, Japan will also send an envoy there. If they have any doubts, they can file a complaint against you after arriving in the capital."

Also.

After a moment's thought, Kuang Ping said, "Send another telegram to confirm the contents of the order and the letter of credence with the cabinet, and keep a copy."

The telegraph operator agreed, and after confirming the information several times, Kuang Ping began to draft the official letter.

Although he was an official of the Ministry of Works, civil officials in the Ming Dynasty would circulate among the Six Ministries, and he had also spent two years in the Hanlin Academy, so drafting the national document was not difficult for him.

Kuang Ping revised it twice, and after confirming that it was correct, he took out the sacred silk, spread it out, and copied it stroke by stroke.

"My lord, how many men should we take to Heian-kyo?"

Kuang Ping said nonchalantly, "Seven or eight people are enough. The rest of you can guard Dasen Township. Do you think the Japanese would dare to kill an angel? Put on your official robes, we're perfectly safe."

Jia Cong hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Kuang Ping ignored him, finished writing the letter of state, stamped it with his official seal, thought for a moment, and then asked him for his official seal.

Jia Cong clutched the official seal at his waist: "What do you need my official seal for?"

“My official seal alone on the imperial edict seems too thin. Let’s stamp yours on it too. You are the deputy envoy, so stamping yours on it wouldn’t be wrong.”

Jia Cong reluctantly took off his official seal and gave it to him.

After Kuang Ping finished building, he nodded in satisfaction.

Put away the official letter and let Jia Cong select the accompanying personnel.

It's not far from Omori to Heian-kyo, but the roads in Japan are difficult to travel because of the many powerful forces and bandits in the mountains and forests. Those so-called ronin, who are said to be like the Jianghu people of the Ming Dynasty, are actually half-human and half-bandit.

In the Ming Dynasty, regardless of whether they were righteous or demonic, the slogans they shouted were basically about chivalry and justice.

Don't underestimate the demonic path. In the Ming Dynasty, the so-called demonic path was originally all about chivalry. It's just that they killed too much in the process of doing chivalry, which conflicted with the beliefs of most people. So the righteous path turned into the demonic path and was hated by everyone.

He was an official in the Ministry of Works, which, apart from the Ministry of Justice, had the most dealings with people from the martial arts world, so he knew a little about things in the martial arts world.

After arriving in Japan, he worked hard to learn about the country in order to integrate into Japanese society.

Oh, of course, the arduous task of gathering information was done by the Embroidered Uniform Guard; their hard work lay in observing and understanding. The ronin of Japan were different; they all called themselves samurai, but in Kuang Ping's eyes, they were all unemployed vagrants, penniless and jobless, scoundrels forced to wander the Jianghu.

Speaking of which, the term "ronin" also originated from the Central Plains. In the Northern Wei Dynasty, Jia Sixie's "Qimin Yaoshu" recorded, "Do not listen to ronin treading on melon vines, or overturning them."

In Kuang Ping's view, Japan only needs to solve two problems to achieve unification: first, the ruler is weak and the ministers are strong; second, the problem of displaced people.

Kuang Ping had never served as an envoy; this job was usually done by his colleagues from the Ministry of Rites and the Court of State Ceremonies. But even if he had never eaten pork, how could he not have seen pigs run?

The envoys of the state were also divided into three ranks: superior, middle, and inferior.

A low-ranking envoy can simply deliver the letter of state to that young general.
Envoys from medium-sized countries not only had to deliver their official letters, but also warn Japan, making them hesitate, anxious, and suspicious. This was to express the Ming Dynasty's dissatisfaction and sense of justice, and also to deter Japan from sending more troops to Korea.

The envoy from the superior state was to achieve the ultimate goal: to make Japan recall its army and dare not send troops to Korea again.

Regardless of his abilities, Kuang Ping, as an official of the Ming Dynasty, should dream of becoming a Baozhong (a high-ranking official).

How do we compete for a spot?
Japan has many problems. Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, who sits in the position of Shogun, has come of age at nine and this year…

Kuang Ping turned his head and asked, "Is Ashikaga Yoshikatsu fifteen or sixteen years old this year?"

Huang Cong looked at him speechlessly: "Thirteen years old."

Kuang Ping said calmly, "That's old enough. Throughout history, there have been many people who achieved great things at the age of thirteen."

Huang Cong scoffed: "How can the Japanese compare to our Chinese ancestors? They are geniuses. Ashikaga Yoshikatsu was kept in captivity. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of the Imperial Advisor back then, which shattered the Ōuchi clan's monopoly, he would have been assassinated long ago."

Huang Cong was a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, whose job was to collect intelligence. He showed Kuang Ping intelligence on local customs and traditions, while more in-depth intelligence was only sent back to the capital.

As he was about to embark on his mission, he did not hide anything and said frankly, "When the Imperial Preceptor went to Japan to avenge the people of Quanzhou, Ashikaga Yoshikatsu had only recently ascended to the throne and had been assassinated many times. It was the Imperial Preceptor who came ashore and broke his inevitable death. Later, the court punished Japan, and the number of assassinations against Ashikaga Yoshikatsu decreased, which is why he was able to live to this day. Therefore, he has to thank the Imperial Preceptor and the Ming Dynasty."

Kuang Ping pondered: "So they kept him around to appease the court, so that our Great Ming could not use the pretext of restoring order and correcting chaos to interfere in Japanese affairs?"

Huang Cong nodded.

Kuang Ping: "Hmph, we're too lazy to interfere in their internal affairs, but the ruler is the guide for his subjects, and we can't break moral etiquette. This time when we go to Heian-kyo, we also need to ask the Ashikaga shogun on behalf of His Majesty. He is now twelve years old and should be personally handling state affairs to prevent his treacherous ministers from acting recklessly. Japan and Korea are both vassal states of our Great Ming Dynasty and are brothers. How dare they invade Korea? It's an extremely heinous crime."

Huang Cong didn't think they were heinous criminals; expanding territory was something they had always done. But he hated that they caused him trouble.

Moreover, why does Japan choose to seize Korea instead of the islands at sea? What is it trying to do?
Huang Cong suspected that their real intentions were not what they seemed, but rather the Ming Dynasty to the north of Korea.

Therefore, to prevent the Ming Dynasty from having another powerful enemy like the Oirat Mongols, it must be dealt a severe blow as soon as it emerges.

He said, "Bring the radio with you. If any problems arise, notify the capital immediately. The navy has been training for two years. If we cannot subdue people with virtue, then we should let the navy subdue them with force."

Kuang Ping: "The radio station that the Ministry of Works installed for us is very large and not easy to move."

"Doesn't Wang's Mining have a hand-cranked machine? Let's borrow it."

Kuang Ping: "Isn't this a bad idea?"

He just said it casually, then turned around and went to borrow from the Wang family's mine. (End of Chapter)