Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 474: Royal Minister
Under the shogunate system, once you lost your domain, it would be difficult to get it back.

Relative vassals, hereditary successors, outer vassals... castle lords, jinya... the shogunate was able to maintain its rule by distributing the benefits of territories to clan relatives, meritorious officials, and local powerful families.

In the north and south of the area known as the "Chukuda Mountains" are the Saigoku Sanyodo and Sanyindao respectively.

Now that Ma Chengxun has taken over Yamabuki Castle and the Iwami Ginzan territory, there is only the Hamada domain left in the Iwami Reizo province.

The branch of the Matsudaira clan in Iwami was a close daimyo.

To its southwest is the Mori family, and to its southeast is the Fukushima family.

The Mori coalition no longer had to divide Iwami and Bingo, and the Sanyin Road was cleared by the Ming army and the Korean vassal army.

Ma Chengxun continued to attack Izumo, which was controlled by the Matsudaira clan in Echizen. Mori Terumoto and Fukushima Masanori had to face many hereditary daimyo located in Bingo, Bitchu, Bizen, and Mimasaka - they were the symbol of the shogunate's military power because they were newly enfeoffed here when the Tokugawa family took control of the world.

"Terumoto-san, really, has Nagato given up?"

Fukushima Masanori and Mori Terumoto ride on horses together on the banks of the Ota River in Hiroshima.

"Masanori-san, I was worried about you and me. Hiroshima Domain almost fell into the hands of the Asano family." Mori Terumoto said calmly, "In the future, there will be no more domain leaders, so how can we say we give up? You and I chose this path, and now we have to really walk on it."

Fukushima Masanori remained silent.

"Let's go. Don't hesitate any longer. What was the result of joining the Eastern Army?" Mori Terumoto looked ahead. "The Hiroshima Plain is more suitable for that lord to move here. I will go three times and it will be closer. If you are more resolute, we can meet at the bank of the Ashida River and capture Bingo first. In that case, that lord can move directly to the Fukuyama Plain, and you don't have to worry about Hiroshima."

The Mori clan was going to go to the Miyoshi Basin in the "Chukuda Mountains" and then attack the Fukuyama Plain on the Ashida River from the north.

The Fukushima clan advanced along the southern coastal route.

As Mori Terumoto said, he gave up Nagato so that the Ming army could completely eliminate their worries about the Kanmon Strait and allow more Ming troops to set foot on Honshu Island.

But Nagato is at the westernmost end after all, and compared to there, the Hiroshima Plain in the lower reaches of the Ota River is more suitable for them to come.

If they could capture the Okayama Plain as soon as possible, the Ming army commander would be more certain of their position and they could directly assemble in the Fukuyama Plain and Okayama Plain areas.

"Let the Mongols only plunder in Bizen, Bizen, and Bizen." Mori Terumoto looked at him deeply. "There is no turning back, Masanori."

"…Mizuno Katsunari, that devil Hinata…"

"Even if he was extremely brave in the battle of Daoming Temple, and the Bitchu clans gathered, if I conquered three times first, the Fukuyama area would only have 200,000 koku." Mori Terumoto looked at him deeply, "Masanori, let's go to Kyoto together."

"And, Mori Tadamasa of Mimasaka..."

"You are the leader of the Seven Spears of Kanegaku!" Mori Terumoto said in a louder voice, "You have already failed once. Now that things have come to this, you just need to be brave! Do you want to end your life with the shameful reputation of being a sentimental person and the number one traitor of the Warring States Period?"

Fukushima Masanori's personality was one of great emotional fluctuations. After being stimulated by Mori Terumoto, the old man couldn't help but tremble all over.

"That's right! Terumoto-san, let's go to Kyoto!" Fukushima Masanori said loudly, "See you in Fukuyama!"

Since Ma Chengxun landed in Wenquanjin, the Mori coalition forces moved eastward, and the Ming Dynasty's northern and southern armies first met on Kyushu Island, the Ming Dynasty's eastward expedition officially began.

Around Harima, where the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army was located, the last line of defense began to come under attack.

The decisive battle is still a long way off and will definitely take place after next year.

The news of the Goi army headquarters reached Edo. Faced with this situation, Tokugawa Hidetada had to mobilize the "Gosanke" and other close vassal clans to provide support.

The so-called Gosanke means that if the Tokugawa family has no heirs who can inherit the position of Shogun, they can choose someone from these three branch families to succeed.

They were just like the Sanchuan system that Mori Motonari planned for his descendants at that time.

But to fight against such a huge and powerful opponent, the three great families alone are far from enough.

The shogunate needed to mobilize sufficient troops and food and military supplies from Kinki, Kansai, Kanto and other places which were still stable at this time.

How many troops are needed?
At least 300,000, maybe 500,000 would be relatively safe.

But a territory of 10,000 koku can only support about 400 soldiers. To mobilize such a large force and meet the needs of a protracted war of attrition, can the shogunate, which has lost the western part of Japan, Kyushu, and even the later Shikoku and Kinki, afford it? It also needs to have sufficient maritime defense forces, but there are too many bays to defend.

Such a large-scale mobilization was too much pressure for the shogunate, which had only been recuperating for less than twenty years.

This mobilization had already begun two or three years ago, but due to the dissatisfaction of the outer daimyo under the "Laws of the Samurai Houses", it has now become a more difficult situation.

"Stick to it!"

In the Imperial Palace, Tokugawa Hidetada instructed them to increase the concentration of harvests from the fields this year.

"The western countries are in rebellion, the foreign soldiers are landing, and the refugees are all blocked in Kansai. Let Sakai-kun organize them into an Ikki! Give the order. Regardless of the relatives, hereditary successors, or the outsiders, it is time to resist the powerful enemy together and protect their territories and gypsum! I will go to Sekigahara in person and wait for them to arrive with their troops!"

The so-called Sekigahara is located in the north of what is later called Nagoya. Its location is already east of Kyoto. The headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army is located west of Kyoto.

There was no doubt that it was a lucky place for the Tokugawa family. Tokugawa Hidetada wanted to order the eastern daimyos who had not yet assembled to gather there, to remind them where Edo rose from, and to look forward to another victory in the Battle of Sekigahara.

Yes, the headquarters of the Imperial Army was indeed further west, but that was only the location of the first battle. Then there were Kyoto and Osaka...

The royal family will definitely flee eastward, and the Ming army will definitely pursue them.

The only way was to maintain a stalemate. Even if the shogunate was under great pressure at this time, if the Ming army controlled the entire southwest, could it still advance without any scruples?
"It's an all-out war! After success, all the feudal lords there will be the ones who have made great contributions!"

With the fall of Kyushu and the rebellion of the Mori coalition, Tokugawa Hidetada could no longer stay in Edo. He had to get closer to the front line to boost morale.

In Fukuyama, Okayama and Shikoku areas, large numbers of mountain people and islanders fled from the "Chukuo Mountains" and Shikoku Island to Harima, Osaka and even farther places.

On Kyushu Island, order is being redefined.

The Han Chinese maritime merchants who had originally occupied the Goto Islands suddenly had a much higher status, but the burden they shouldered also became heavier.

In the future, the feudal system will no longer be adopted here, so the inventory of land and population on the island will be a huge workload.

The most difficult ones were the former daimyo and their retainers who "surrendered" to the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty only showed its butcher knife to them at this time. The previous promise was given by Mori Terumoto and Fukushima Masanori, and the imperial decree brought by the Ming Dynasty was to appoint officials.

Seeing that their interests were about to be taken away, how could they be willing to obey?
But the Beiyang Fleet and the Eastern Fleet were both there, and the main force of the Ming army had been landing on the island in a steady stream, so this rebellion on an isolated island was destined to be nothing.

The Ming Dynasty does not need many old dignitaries.

Liuchuan Tiaoxing - no, he who was already called Liuxing, worked very hard.

His fate is the example that the Ming Dynasty prepared to give to the retainers of the various vassal states: there will be no more great names in the future, and everyone will be a subject of the king!
Being a minister to anyone is fine, so why should I just be a retainer?
Tian Le instructed him: "Remember, in the future, there will only be 3721 Huaxun in the entire archipelago, and each king will have only seven. On Kyushu Island, I will represent Your Highness to win the hearts of the people first. This move of registering the people and measuring the land, I want the Japanese people to know that the future will be better than before. As long as you are diligent, you will have your own land and houses. When the army sets out to the east again, you Hua people must lead the Huayong to assist the heavenly soldiers."

"I understand! I understand!"

His target was exactly one of these twenty-one Huaxuns.

Being able to become the future lord would be like being an original daimyo, and it would be hereditary.

The so-called tens of thousands of stones of gypsum are just an evaluation of the output of the territory, not the actual income that can be obtained.

Even if one has a territory of 100,000 koku, the tax cannot be too high. It has to be distributed among retainers and samurai, and a certain amount of military force and other expenses must be maintained.

But the lord system is a system that directly pays salaries and has many privileges such as the ability to run other industries.

Those of them who used to be retainers have already done the math on this matter. Of course, it is much better than before. After all, they will no longer have their names mentioned above.

He especially hoped that in the future, based on what he had done for the Ming Dynasty, he would be qualified to represent the king in maritime trade.

That is the endless benefit!

(End of this chapter)