The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 239 "No one can stand in the way, including yourself."

More than two hundred samurai rushed out of the Matsudaira family's house and formed a battle formation at the door. Some of them also stood in a row with muskets in their hands.

A retainer of Matsudaira Sadanobu said dryly:
"Our master has caught a cold and can't go out..."

Liu Wei, the battalion commander under Tian Yiming, immediately said:
"Our Ming Dynasty military doctors are the best at treating colds. If Master Matsudaira comes with us, we will surely cure your illness."

The other party immediately yelled:

"Don't be unreasonable. Our master didn't make things difficult for Tanuma, so don't go too far."

Liu Wei asked back very seriously:
"Who is making trouble? General Tian, ​​the Ming general stationed in Japan, asked Mr. Matsudaira to discuss matters. What does this have to do with Mr. Tanuma?
"The Matsudaira family of the Mutsu-Shirakawa Domain refused the invitation of the Ming Dynasty to discuss matters. Are they openly making enemies with the Ming Dynasty?"

The other party was obviously stuck for a moment, but soon reacted:

"Our master is ill. He will definitely visit General Tian after he recovers..."

Liu Wei realized that simple bickering was useless:
"Then let's say goodbye."

Liu Wei waved his hand and led more than one hundred of his soldiers to retreat slowly, gradually retreating to more than one hundred meters away.

The musketeers of the Matsudaira family relaxed a little when they saw Liu Wei retreating.

Then, they subconsciously judged that the enemy had already opened up a distance of more than 100 meters, and the muskets were no longer meaningful, so they put down their guns.

Then they immediately felt a pain in their chest, and then they fell backwards to the ground with a scream.

At a distance of more than 100 meters, for a bolt-action rifle, the target can basically be hit wherever it is pointed, and it is almost impossible to miss a person's body.

More than one hundred soldiers of Liu Wei quickly pulled the bolt and fired three bullets in a row. More than two hundred samurai in front of Matsudaira's house all fell to the ground like wheat being cut.

After killing the guards, Yanagi immediately rushed into Matsudaira's house with his soldiers.

The soldiers at the back door of the Matsudaira family heard the gunshots from the front door and rushed in directly.

The samurai of the Matsudaira family had already gathered together. When they heard the gunshots outside, they knew that a fight had broken out, and a group of them immediately rushed out to provide support.

They were greeted by more rifle bullets.

After more than a dozen people died in succession, they were certain that they would die if they went out, and then they waited inside the door.

Some of them were holding muskets, some were holding swords, as it was inconvenient to use rifles in the yard.

But what they were about to face were more than a dozen bitter acid grenades.

Amid the extremely violent explosion, more than a hundred warriors gathered behind the courtyard gate once again fell to the ground with collective screams.

Liu Wei's soldiers rushed in immediately, holding their rifles and stabbing them with bayonets.

After killing more than a hundred samurai again, the Matsudaira family finally no longer had a large-scale armed force, but there were definitely still samurai retainers who acted alone.

Most of the soldiers brought by Liu Wei were born as Japanese samurai and were most familiar with the character of the retainers of the noble families.

Most of them will not surrender easily. They think that death is the safest thing.

So Liu Wei didn't give the enemy any chance and shot directly when he saw a warrior holding a sword.

Only those truly ordinary low-level servants who are unarmed have a chance to save their lives after kneeling down and surrendering.

The soldiers at the front and back doors of the Matsudaira family eventually blocked Matsudaira Sadanobu in the main hall of the house.

When Matsudaira Sadanobu heard the gunshots outside, he knew he was wrong. Tian Yiming's request was not a Hongmen Banquet at all. How could it be called a Hongmen Banquet if they came to his door?

Liu Wei came to the shocked Matsudaira Sadanobu:
"General Tian asked you to discuss matters. Mr. Matsudaira is in good health, but he claims that he is ill. Is this a disrespect to the Ming Dynasty?"

Matsudaira Sadanobu felt that his death was imminent, so he did not treat the other party well:
"What exactly does Tanuma Omiaki want? You could just say it clearly instead of being so mysterious."

Liu Wei laughed dryly and said:
"Didn't we tell you what General Tian wanted? We asked Mr. Matsudaira to go to the palace to discuss matters. Why did Mr. Matsudaira lose his composure?"

Matsudaira Sadanobu suddenly felt that it was a bit absurd:

"You killed all my retainers just to invite me to a meeting? Don't you think that's ridiculous?"

Liu Wei continued:
"We are soldiers, and a soldier's duty is to obey orders and carry out missions.

“Our mission is to invite Mr. Matsudaira to discuss matters.

“Whether Mr. Matsudaira is alive or dead, healthy or seriously ill, we must go to the palace to discuss matters.

“We all have to complete the mission at all costs.

“No one and nothing can stop Mr. Matsudaira from going to the palace for a meeting, including Mr. Matsudaira himself.

"So Mr. Matsudaira still wants to stop it?"

Matsudaira Sadanobu felt that his brain was twisted. What kind of weird logic was this?

However, Matsudaira Sadanobu was barely a powerful official, and he soon realized that this logic itself was meaningless.

This twisted logic only emphasizes that what they ask must be done and you must obey them.

However, this logic also shows that the other party does not have to kill him, and this meeting is not a Hongmen Banquet.

It should be that Tanuma Okitsugu used the power brought by his grandson from Ming Dynasty to help him regain the throne and humiliate himself. Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't want to die after all, and he figured it out after realizing that he didn't have to die.

He let out a long breath and patted his clothes:

"Okay, I'll go to the meeting."

Yanagi was quite satisfied and arranged a hundred soldiers to stay and control the Matsudaira family.

He led other soldiers to escort Matsudaira Sadanobu to the Japanese royal palace.

At the same time, the heads of the other three great families and three nobles all accepted Tian Yiming's invitation after either gentle or fierce persuasion.

That afternoon, five Tokugawas, including Tokugawa Jiyasu, Tokugawa Jibao, Tokugawa Munemachi, Tokugawa Jiji, and Matsudaira Sadanobu, gathered in the Ohiroma, the main hall of the Japanese Imperial Palace.

Tokugawa Ieharu, the adopted son of the late Japanese King Tokugawa Ieharu, was also brought to the palace.

Tanuma Okitsugu, who was already seventy years old this year, and Tokugawa Ienari, who was sixteen years old, knelt on the main seat in the center of the great hall.

Liang Xu, the commander of the First Division of the Ming Dynasty in Japan and the Ming Dynasty's Edo Recruiting Envoy, stood in front of them on the left and right sides.

Tokugawa Jiyasu, Tokugawa Jibao, Tokugawa Munemichi, Tokugawa Jiji, and Matsudaira Sadanobu were arranged to kneel in the positions of ministers opposite them.

After everyone arrived, Tian Yiming first looked at Liang Xu:

"Mr. Liang, please make the announcement."

Liang Xu cleared his throat and said:

"Since the death of the Japanese king of the Ming Dynasty, treacherous ministers have abused their power and deceived their master. Now that the Ming army has arrived, they have put order out of chaos.

"Since Japan is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, the succession to the throne should be decided by the Ming Emperor.

"Therefore, the so-called practice of the three families and three ministers discussing the establishment of a new ruler is actually a barbaric and outdated custom that leads to political chaos, and it shall be abolished forever from now on.

"A country cannot be without a king for a day. Since the late Japanese king has an adopted son, Tokugawa Ienari, it is only right that we ask the Ming Emperor to appoint Tokugawa Ienari as his successor.

"Before the imperial edict of the Ming Dynasty arrives, the successor can take charge of Japan's state affairs.

"The current acting governor of Japan, Tokugawa Ienari, is young, so the regent should be an experienced and loyal minister of the country, so the best person to be the king's chief minister, Tanuma Okitsugu, is the best."

Tokugawa Ienari and Tian Yiming are less than a year apart in age, but they look like they are not of the same age at all.

Tokugawa Ienari has lived his life as the heir of a military noble family since he was young. He has never seen the outside world and now looks like a half-grown child.

He has not yet experienced complicated power struggles, and his mind is still quite simple.

Tian Yiming has been fighting outside for four years. Now he is an adult and is no longer surprised by all kinds of life, death, injuries and illnesses.

He has also been responsible for handling affairs in overseas countries and is now able to handle affairs on his own.

And Tokugawa Ienari still needed an adult to serve as regent for him.

Tokugawa Ienari's mind was completely confused at this time. He knew that he would succeed to the throne and become the shogun sooner or later, but he had never thought that he would succeed in this way.

But no matter what, this can be considered a good thing. He doesn't have to endure the agony of watching his biological father and the three great families continue to do inexplicable things.

Following Tian Yiming's advance warning, Tokugawa Ienari sat in the middle of the hall and tried to speak in the calmest voice possible:
"I, Tokugawa Ienari, the Acting Governor of Japan, ask Mr. Tanuma to be my regent."

Tanuma Okitsugu immediately turned around, and in front of the Gosanke and Gosankei, he knelt down and saluted the Tokugawa family:

"The old minister obeyed."

Then Tanuma Okitsugu turned around again, returned to Tokugawa Ienari and knelt down, and announced to the powerful officials of the Tokugawa family below:
"According to the order of the Great Ming's superiors, the custom of the three great families and three nobles presiding over the succession of the heir to the throne is completely abolished from today onwards.

"The Gosanke, Gosankei, and Matsudaira clan masters took advantage of the king's death to abuse their power and deceive the king, and their salaries and rewards were cut in half.

"Remove yourself from all positions within and outside the kingdom, and confine yourself to reflect on your mistakes for three years."

The Gosanke, the Gosankei, and Matsudaira Sadanobu were all in despair at this time.

In their view, the punishment imposed by Tanuma Okitsugu was nothing. The key point was that the Ming Dynasty had taken control of the heir.

The next shogun, Tokugawa Ienari...will probably be the real king of Japan in the future.

He was directly enthroned by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and his succession had nothing to do with the traditions of the Edo Shogunate, nor with the Gosanke and Gosanke.

In the eyes of this king, he was the adopted son of the old king and should have succeeded to the throne directly.

However, the three great families did not allow him to succeed to the throne immediately. Instead, they made trouble before he succeeded to the throne and arranged everything in advance for him to accept the established facts and become a nominal monarch.

When the Ming Dynasty arrived, they first helped him ascend the throne, and restored the court structure during his adoptive father's lifetime, allowing Tanuma Ojirochu to continue to be in charge.

He had a stronger favorable impression on the Ming Dynasty, and felt disgusted with the three great families of Tokugawa and even the shogunate.

He will most likely regard himself as the real Ming Dynasty King of Japan in the future.

However, the reality is not as troublesome as they thought. Now Tokugawa Ienari's appearance is just a formality. After Japan abolishes the feudal domains and establishes provinces, he will be thrown directly into Africa.

Tian Yiming looked at several Tokugawa officials who knelt down and accepted orders with conflicted expressions, feeling both amused and disdainful.

(End of this chapter)