Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 180: A fair settlement! A new era never seen before!

Chapter 180: A fair settlement! A new era never seen before!
To punish war criminals, we naturally have to catch the ringleaders.

Just like after World War II, the number one war criminal on trial was Hideki Tojo.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was also the number one war criminal of the Japanese pirates who invaded the Ming Dynasty's border.

What's more, before this, he had massacred the envoys sent by Zhu to Japan twice.

This alone is enough to sentence him to death.

Zhu Yunhuan had previously deliberately paralyzed Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

This was because the Ming navy had just landed in Japan and had not yet taken control of the emperor, let alone reached a secret agreement.

The time is not yet ripe to deal with him.

It was not until the Ming soldiers took control of the Shogun's Office, the Imperial Palace and Kyoto, and had reached an agreement in private with the Japanese Emperor, that they suddenly launched the attack.

In fact, on his way to Japan, Zhu Yunhuan had already formulated a plan to eliminate Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

One is to punish war criminals and avenge the innocent people of the Ming Dynasty who died, and to let the Japanese samurai understand that even the shogun will be punished if he offends the Ming Dynasty, so that they will never dare to cause trouble in the Ming Dynasty again.

Second, it is easier to control two emperors than a single shogun, and arresting and punishing them will be beneficial to the Ming Dynasty.

Third, with the endorsement of the Japanese royal family and the achievement of suppressing the rebellion of the shogun, the Ming army can better demonstrate that it is an army of justice and can also greatly reduce the resistance of the Japanese people.

Fourthly, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu killed Ming envoys twice. It would be false to say that Zhu Yuanzhang was not angry at all.

It was only out of helplessness that they did not send a large army to attack and punish them.

He made the expedition to Japan on his own initiative without Zhu's permission.

Capturing this man would just please Old Zhu.

With the cooperation of the Japanese emperor and the fact that the Ming army had already taken control of the central locations and important government offices of the Japanese court, the operation to eliminate the shogun went extremely smoothly.

The Emperor of Japan had actually been extremely dissatisfied with the Shogun for a long time.

At this time, with the support of the Ming army, they were ruthless when taking action.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's entire family was exterminated, and the Shogun's power in Japan disappeared from then on.

of course.

The shogunate actually ruled Japan for hundreds of years, and it itself was the most important representative of the samurai class in Japan. It would be impossible to uproot all forces at once.

But as soon as the leader was removed, coupled with the threat of the Ming army and the call of the two emperors, the forces that originally relied on the shogun quickly scattered.

Now that the two emperors are in power personally, they are each attached to one of the parties.

Many of them even came secretly to ask for an audience with Zhu Yunhuan, hoping to cling to the power of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yunhuan took this opportunity to balance the power of the two emperors.

Anyway, the goal is to make them evenly matched.

We also need to settle the war reparations for the Ming Navy with them.

Only after all matters were settled did he lead the Ming naval fleet on the return journey.

Several months have passed in the blink of an eye.

If it were any later, it would have been the typhoon season.

That is an extremely terrible thing.

Especially with the scientific level of this era, it is impossible to make effective predictions in advance.

Just avoid that time period.

On this return voyage, forty-one warships brought back a total of 20 million taels of silver.

The vast majority of it was war reparations from Japan to the Ming Dynasty, and a small part was the tribute for the first year.

It has to be said that although Japan is short of other mineral resources, it is extremely rich in silver mines.

Of course, collecting 20 million taels of silver almost emptied Japan's treasury.

But Zhu Yunhuan had a very clear account.

Shells are expensive.

The "expensive" here does not refer to the production cost, but the sales price.

For a rare item like cannonballs, after being produced by the Ming Manufacturing Bureau, it is fair to sell them at one hundred times the production price.

If any country really wants to buy the "cannonballs", this is the price!
A lot of artillery shells were consumed in annihilating the Japanese pirate army in the harbor, which amounted to an astronomical figure.

In addition, a more important compensation was the compensation for the killing, burning and looting committed by the Japanese pirates in the Ming Dynasty over the years.

So many warriors who had been to the Ming Dynasty and committed acts of burning, killing and looting had been captured. Of course, we had to calculate each and every loss they had caused to the Ming Dynasty and how we should compensate them!

Although the person has been executed, compensation must still be paid.

This was a conviction by the Japanese government, and the Ming Dynasty definitely did not wrongly accuse them.

Therefore, when Zhu Yunhuan made this request, although the civil and military officials in the Japanese court were stunned, no one could give a reason to object.

The Ming Dynasty did not ask for more money from them, nor did it extort them by force. It only demanded compensation according to the price.

Highlight fairness, justice and rationality!
In addition to silver, they also brought back the shogun, the war criminal Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the Ming traitor Huang Zicheng, and the descendants of the two Japanese emperors.

As envoys of friendship between Ming and Japan, these descendants will go to Ming to study and undergo cultural and ideological transformation so that they can be canonized and recognized by Ming in the future and come back to inherit the throne.

Standing on the deck of the command ship, admiring the beautiful scenery of the sea and sky, Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said to Ma He beside him: "You have performed well and made great contributions in this expedition of the Ming Navy. What reward do you want?"

Ma He's leadership and military management were both remarkable, especially when it came to recovering Taiwan.

He did an excellent job, intimidating the indigenous tribes on the one hand and effectively reducing conflicts with them on the other.

If someone else had led the team, I'm afraid the task of recovering Taiwan would not have been so smooth.

After coming to Japan, he was in charge of Zhu Yunhuan's security arrangements and the deployment of troops to control Kyoto, the Shogun's Mansion, the Japanese Imperial Palace and other places, without any mistakes, which shows his strong ability to handle affairs.

What's more, Ma He admired Zhu Yunhuan very much.

Of course, we should show kindness to such people and make them our confidants.

Hearing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asking him, Ma He became a little excited: "Your Royal Highness, I am a eunuch and I have no children."

"Gold, silver, jewels, beauties, and mansions are of no use to me, my humble servant."

"If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince appreciates me, I have a humble request."

"I would like to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to give me a surname." Zhu Yunhuan was stunned for a moment.

Granting surnames has always been one of the means used by the superiors of this era to win over meritorious officials and nobles.

But he never thought of doing it this way.

After all, in Zhu Yunhuan's view, surnames were passed down from ancestors, and it seemed inappropriate for those in power to change them.

I never thought that Ma He would take the initiative to ask for a surname.

But soon, Zhu Yunhuan understood.

Ma He was already a eunuch, and he wanted to change his surname in order to cut ties with his past self and his past family.

A new surname means a brand new beginning.

"Then I will grant you the surname 'Zheng'." Zhu Yunxun said: "From today on, you will be called 'Zheng He'."

"Zheng He?" Ma He muttered his new name, a smile on his face: "Thank you, Your Highness."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded slightly, and then smiled and said, "I will expand overseas in the future, and I am afraid I will send you to sea in the future. Are you willing?"

Zheng He bowed and said, "Your Highness, the blue sky and the vast sea are the most beautiful sights in the world. Floating on the sea is enough for my life."

"Not to mention that I can also make great achievements and serve the court and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Even if I have nothing, I am willing to stay on the sea for the rest of my life."

"If His Royal Highness needs to send people to sea in the future, Zheng He is willing to serve you."

Zhu Yunhuan laughed loudly, then turned to look at Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu on the other side and said with a smile: "You two have performed well. After returning to the court, I will reward you according to your merits."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu both looked delighted. "It is our honor to be able to follow Your Highness."

"As for the reward." Zhu Neng pondered for a moment, then said hesitantly, "Your Highness, may I ask you a question?"

Zhu Yunxun smiled and said, "It's okay to ask!"

"Huang Zicheng said that sending him to Japan was a deliberate arrangement by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince used this strategy to lure the Japanese army out to sea so that he could annihilate them. Is this true?"

Zhu Neng expressed the doubts that had been lingering in his mind.

Zhang Fu also showed a curious look.

Along the way, they followed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to destroy the Japanese pirates, recover Taiwan, and conquer Japan. Many of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's commands seemed to be assisted by God, which always made them feel incredible.

But thinking about it afterwards, it seemed natural.

For example, supporting two emperors in Japan while arresting and punishing the most powerful shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, was something they would never do.

In their view, it was enough to make Ashikaga Yoshimitsu surrender.

But after His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did it, the two of them suddenly realized.

Your Highness, this is a brilliant move!
There was also the matter of annihilating the Japanese army at sea.

In their view, this was a chance to seize the intelligence that Japan was going to go on an expedition and annihilate the enemy as soon as they left the port.

That’s all!

This can be called a superb command.

Gather intelligence, hide the army's tracks, seize the best opportunity...If you can do these, you can be called a famous general in the world.

But when Huang Zicheng said that all this was arranged by the Crown Prince, and that it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who used him to urge Japan to send troops, Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu both became uneasy.

If this is true, then His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's strategy is too far-reaching.

"Only those who plan for the overall situation can plan for a place; only those who plan for eternity can plan for a moment." Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "In fact, I just casually placed a chess piece."

"The Japanese Kingdom just completed the unification of the Northern and Southern Dynasties not long ago, and it is now a time of great ambition."

"If someone stirs things up at this time, it will easily breed ambitions that shouldn't exist."

He stretched lazily and said, "Anyway, if Huang Zicheng's provocation fails, I won't suffer any loss, so why not do it?"

Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu both showed understanding on their faces.

This is easy to say, but it is another story to actually do it.

The key lies in grasping and controlling people's hearts.

"What if Japan did not send a large army?" Zhang Fu asked again.

"Then let's bombard the Japanese ports and force them to fight." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile: "Although it is not difficult to go ashore and defeat the Japanese army, it will take a long time."

"As long as we use a small amount of artillery fire to give Japan the illusion that we can win the battle, they will definitely go out to sea to fight a decisive battle with our Ming Navy."

Zhu Neng slapped his thigh and said, "Yes, Japan has never seen such powerful artillery fire. They have no idea."

Zhang Fu bowed deeply and said, "Your Majesty is a master in military operations. I am far behind you."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled faintly and said, "This is probably the only time in my life that I will lead troops to war."

"If there is another war in the future, I will have to rely on you generals."

"I brought you here specially because I hope you can understand it well and be of use to the court in the future."

"Times have changed!"

Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu were both startled.

Several months of fighting left an indelible mark on the two men's hearts.

Times have changed!

The mode of war has also changed completely!

Before this, the two were already experienced veterans on the battlefield.

But I never thought that war could be fought this way.