My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 200 The wind is rustling and the water is cold

"Master Cui, the guys from the Southern Dynasty are very cunning. You must not listen to them!"

Yoshimasa Sasaki was immersed in the wine. Just one glass made his face flushed as if he had a fever, his stomach and intestines felt warm, and his whole body felt comfortable.

The Ming Dynasty is worthy of being called the Celestial Empire. This fine wine is simply irresistible. Compared to the sake I drank before, it is as bland as water and has no taste at all!

He was afraid that he would never be able to drink such delicious liquor again, and was thinking about how to persuade the Ming Dynasty to trade with the shogunate and buy and sell this liquor. When he heard what Sugawara Tadatsugu said, he immediately became anxious.

"How can the Ashikaga clan of your shogunate have any integrity? You rebelled against the Kenmu Restoration, held your so-called emperor hostage, and threatened the daimyo to obey your shogunate. Do you think that your shogunate is virtuous by doing this?"

Sugawara Tadatsugu also responded bluntly.

"You! Baka, you damn Yoshino bastard, stop talking nonsense!"

Sasaki Yoshimasa immediately became angry because Sugawara Tadatsugu had hit the sore spot of their shogunate.

After Emperor Go-Daigo ascended the throne, he changed the era name to "Kenmu" and implemented a series of reforms aimed at restoring the emperor's power, namely the Kenmu Reform. The reform was mainly based on court nobles, which led to the decline of the status of the samurai family, shook the fundamental interests of the samurai family, and aroused their strong dissatisfaction.

The samurai family, which developed from the samurai class system, is the Japanese aristocratic class specializing in military affairs. The current leader of the samurai family is the Ashikaga clan, who originated from the Yoshiie line of the Kiyokawa Genji clan.

As the leader of the military family, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's grandfather Ashikaga Takauji reacted violently to the Kenmu Restoration. He even rebelled and established a new government, sidelining the emperor, thus establishing the Muromachi shogunate and enthroning Emperor Go-Komatsu, which directly led to the division of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

This act of rebellion was regarded as a shameless betrayal of the emperor by all Japanese nobles and even the imperial families of the north and south!
This incident also became a handle for the Muromachi shogunate to be criticized by the Japanese archipelago, so Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had an urgent need to establish tributary relations with the Ming Dynasty.

That is why Sasaki Yoshimasa was so angry about Sugawara Tadatsugu's ridicule that he even cursed "Baka" in the Ming Dynasty palace.

The envoys from the Southern Dynasty also glared at Sasaki Yoshimasa and others. They didn't allow others to comment on what they had done?
The envoys of the two dynasties knew that the reason why the Ming Dynasty showed them precious items such as frosted sugar and fine wine was to tell them clearly that these things could be traded.

Whoever obtains the trading rights for frosting sugar and fine wine will be able to obtain supreme status in Japan. They know this truth better than anyone else.

So they cursed the people of the Northern Dynasty without any hesitation. For a while, all kinds of "Baga", "Tiemie", "Kusuo" and "Kekexiu" were flying in the Huagai Palace.

The envoys of the two dynasties no longer cared about their image at this time. They argued with each other until their faces turned red and they wished they could tear each other apart with their bare hands!
Cui Wenyuan was neither anxious nor annoyed. On the one hand, although he knew that "Baga" was not a good word, he was not a Japanese and could not understand the strong offensive sentiment contained in it. On the other hand, the more fiercely the two sides fought, the more beneficial it would be for the Ming Dynasty, right?

This is why both parties have to come to the Huagai Palace together.

Cui Wenyuan understood the story of killing three men with two peaches, and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty understood it even better!

"Hey, everyone, please don't hurt the harmony. There is an old saying in the Ming Dynasty that goes, harmony brings wealth, harmony brings wealth!"

With Cui Wenyuan's mediation, the two sides finally stopped. Ono Hideyo said to Cui Wenyuan breathlessly:

"Master Cui, please tell His Majesty the Emperor that we are loyal to the Ming Dynasty!"

"Lord Cui, we are loyal to the Ming Dynasty!" Sasaki Michio also said hurriedly.

Cui Wenyuan waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, as long as you establish tribute with the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty will never treat you unfairly."

When the envoys from both sides heard this, they were overjoyed. Seeing that the time had come, Cui Wenyuan ordered the eunuchs to take the envoys from both dynasties to the Wenhua Palace and the Wuying Palace respectively, in order to sign a specific agreement with them.

There, officials from the Ministry of Rites and grand secretaries were waiting for them. Of course, in order to prevent these literati from becoming "suckers" again out of excitement, Zhu Yuanzhang also specially dispatched the Ministry of Revenue and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to keep a close eye on them.

As for the Ministry of Revenue, it was naturally Minister Yang Siyi who took the lead. One of the goals of the Ming Dynasty was to control Japan with currency and commodities, so Yang Siyi was the most appropriate person to lead the charge. Although they had also wanted to let Minister of Works Li Min take part, he was currently in Songjiang, focusing on the construction of a shipyard, so the idea had to be abandoned.

At the same time, in the inner hall of the palace, Zhu Yuanzhang was accompanying Daoyan to watch "General History of China".

Although the documentary "General History of China" was extremely popular in Yingtian Prefecture during this period, Daoyan spent all day in the temple studying Japanese and the situation of the Japanese archipelago, so he was not aware of it.

Although he had already experienced the baptism of anti-Japanese documentaries, his soul was once again deeply shocked after watching "General History of China".

Naturally, he also understood His Majesty's good intentions in asking him to read "General History of China", which made him more determined about the path he would take next.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the inner hall was quite heavy. Zhu Yuanzhang and Daoyan both knew in their hearts that Daoyan might never come back after going to Japan.

However, Daoyan was able to take it calmly when he thought of Jing Ke's imposing aura in the documentary he had just watched.

Even in his opinion, if he died in a foreign country, it would be another form of martyrdom, martyrdom for the country, and eternal immortality.

As if to ease the somewhat heavy atmosphere, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Master, how well have you learned the Japanese language?"

Daoyan performed a Buddhist salute, but when he spoke, he sounded somewhat contemptuous, "The language of the Japanese country is the result of our Chinese characters not being fully understood, and we still need to use hiragana and katakana to assist in expressing meaning. This is simply an insult to Cangjie's feat of creating characters!
If my students learn like this, I will definitely smash their hands!"

"Hahaha!" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed loudly, sweeping away the heaviness just now. "Master, what you said is very true. Those Japanese are uneducated. We should not argue with them!"

Then, Zhu Yuanzhang said seriously: "Master, please wait a moment. I have something to show you."

As he said this, he went into the study, took out the Japanese mineral map that Li Han had sent him, and then spread it out in front of Daoyan.

"Master, please read this. This is a top secret of our Great Ming Dynasty, and it is also one of the main goals of your trip!"

"This is……"

Daoyan gasped when he saw the map of Japan's mineral resources. Not only was the topography of the Japanese archipelago clearly depicted on it, but also the locations of different minerals were marked in detail.

I don't know who had such perseverance and determination to draw a map in such detail. The geography, directions, mountains, and rivers are all clear, and one can clearly see the topography of Japan at a glance.

"Master, please look here. This is the Iwami Silver Mine, and there are also the Sado Silver Mine and the Kaga Silver Mine. After you go to Japan, you need to investigate the situation of these three places. Which sphere of influence each place belongs to, who controls it, what the terrain is like, etc. These are all the information that the Ming Dynasty needs to master at present."

Zhu Yuanzhang said solemnly: "In addition, on Sado Island, there is the Sado Gold Mine and the Hishikari Gold Mine, the largest in the Japanese archipelago, which are also our targets."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. I believe that it won't be long before all these mineral deposits belong to the Ming Dynasty!"

A cold light flashed in Daoyan's eyes, and he set his sights on the entire Japanese archipelago!

(End of this chapter)