The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 311 The Shogun's Women

The second day of the twelfth lunar month in the first year of the Tianqi reign.

There are only six days left until Grand Tutor Liu’s 22nd birthday.

The news that the Kaiyuan Army would have a decisive battle with the shogunate spread like wildfire.

General Liu will personally lead the army to defeat Japan in one battle.

My 22nd birthday is about to be spent on the battlefield again.

Chikuzen Domain Moji Port.

After reading the intelligence sent back by the Minoyi Guard from Edo, Liu Zhaosun asked Shen Lian and others to go first, frowning.

"It turns out that being henpecked knows no boundaries. Even the dignified Shogun is afraid of his wife. Could this Ajiang be a stunning beauty? Or perhaps a shrewd roar?"

"What is my husband talking about?"

After the outbreak of the Kyushu War, Shen Lian and Liu Xingzuo led the Minoyi Guard to lurk in various places in Japan.

There are Kaihara intelligence forces in several important cities such as Nagasaki, Satsuma, Edo, and Kyoto.

Compared with the previous intelligence bureau, the Suoyi Guard is an upgraded version with stronger infiltration capabilities, more professional spy warfare qualities, and the ability to kill without leaving any traces. Under the leadership of several spy chiefs such as Shen Lian, Liu Xingzuo, and Zhang Dong, the Suoyi Guard successfully carried out several missions, achieved a good start in Kyushu, and killed a large number of Japanese ninjas.

After the outbreak of the Kyushu War, in order to obtain as much information as possible, the feudal lords hired a large number of farmers - or should we say, ninjas - to rush to Kyushu to spy on the military situation in Kaihara.

Unfortunately, these ninjas had low combat power, and most of them never returned and were discovered and killed by the Mino Guards.

As the saying goes, "It is impolite not to reciprocate." After the Minoto Guards repelled the Japanese ninjas in Kyushu, they moved on to Shikoku, Honshu and other places, fighting in various feudal castles, tooth for tooth, blood for blood, and causing many terrorist incidents.

Their targets of assassination were not limited to family elders and samurai, ronin and civilians would also become targets of the Mino Guard.

Although Grand Tutor Liu repeatedly forbade the indiscriminate killing of innocent people, Japan was a dangerous country and being kind to the enemy was being cruel to oneself. Zhang Mazi understood this principle better than Liu Zhaosun.

“Only when you fall into hell can you see the Buddha’s heart.”

Whenever it was late at night and everyone was asleep, Liu Zhaosun would always comfort himself in this way.

After assassinating the Dewa clan daimyo Shimamoto-sama, the Minotoshi Guard became famous. Even the Kaga jonin and Iga genin would choose to stay away from these Ming Dynasty warriors wearing straw raincoats.

Through the screen window, Liu Zhaosun looked at Mojiko in the night and explained to Jin Yuji:
"The decisive battle took place on the Sekigahara Plain, not far from Edo. Hidetada was extremely obedient to his wife, Ae, and it is said that this woman had chosen the battlefield."

"Ajiang? Is that Tomie?"

Jin Yuji recalled the ghost story her husband had told her about a woman named Tomie (Note 1), and she couldn't help but shudder.

"She's the wife of the Shogun? No wonder the Japanese pirates are henpecked, hahahaha."

Liu Zhaosun laughed and gently hugged Jin Yuji.

Jin Yuji teased:

"Your husband is also a shogun. Are you really not afraid of becoming a royal consort? You just accepted the stunningly beautiful Zhang Yan, and now you want to take in a Japanese woman? You're so greedy, be careful that A Jiang will come after you."

Liu Zhaosun shook his hands repeatedly.

"No, no, no, I absolutely did not mean that. Zhang Yan was an accident. As for Ah Jiang, forget it. I am Ning Caichen again."

Life is always full of surprises.

For example, being accidentally pushed down by Zhang Yan.

Unexpectedly, he fought a decisive battle with Tokugawa Ieyasu's son at Sekigahara.

I unexpectedly talked with Jin Yuji about the past before I traveled through time.

Let’s talk about the Battle of Sekigahara first.

Both sides have a group of younger brothers watching over the scene.

The vassal army of Kaiyuan included:
The Korean army, Mongolian herders, Jianzhou surrendered troops, and the fleets of Li Dan and Portuguese merchants;
Needless to say, all the daimyos in the eastern provinces obeyed the command of the shogunate under Tokugawa Hidetada, and it is said that they also had several European allies as external aid.

When fighting like this, different forces engage in endless fighting, so it is called a combined battle.

Both Hidetada and Liu Zhaosun claimed to be the Shogun.

The implication is that the other party is a barbarian who needs to be annihilated.

It is no longer clear who is good and who is evil.

Then let’s use force to resolve it.

Liu Zhaosun came close to Jin Yuji and said with a solemn oath:

"Madam, you know me well. I'm the one who gave myself the title of Shogun. Why would I be afraid of a royal consort? I'm not afraid of anyone except you. There are no stunning beauties in Japan, a tiny country. Even if there were, I'm not lustful..."

"That's hard to say. Who said he was Liu Xiahui, who could remain calm even when a woman's lap was on his side? He said it the moment Zhang Yan took him."

Liu Zhaosun smiled awkwardly.

"That was an accident."

It turns out that Jin Yuji is still brooding over what happened to Zhang Yan.

This woman is really good at controlling men. Thinking about what happened that night, she still regrets it.

……

A cold wind swept across the harbor, and the Kyushu coast was bitterly cold in December.

Ping Liaohou took off his own cloak and put it on her.

Braving the chill wind, the two walked eastward along the seawall until they reached the end of the Kanmon Strait. Across the shallow waters, five hundred steps away, lay the Nagato Domain.

The samurai of Nagato Domain looked at the west bank anxiously, stealing glances at the Kaihara Army as if they had seen a ghost.

The Nagato clan already knew what happened in Kyushu.

The warriors are about to face the invincible Kaiwon Army and a group of bloodthirsty and cruel Koreans bent on revenge.

The central army guards General Ping Liaohou in the center.

Liu Zhaosun gently pushed aside the shield in front of him and pointed at the Nagato warrior opposite him.

"Tomorrow we are going to the battle, a decisive battle with Tokugawa Hidetada, at Sekigahara."

"Tomorrow, so urgent?"

Jin Yu Ji was surprised. She had originally thought that she could return home after the battle of Kyushu, but she didn't expect that she would have to fight again.

Ever since she met her husband, she has been caught in an endless battle.

Even if the generals can maintain their fighting spirit, what about the soldiers under them?
In a distant foreign country, it is difficult to find any reason for them to keep fighting.

"The shogunate sent an envoy to agree on a decisive battle at Sekigahara on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, which is my birthday."

"Where is Sekigahara?"

"In Mino Province, 22 years ago, Tokugawa Hidetada's father, Tokugawa Ieyasu, fought a decisive battle with the Toyotomi clan here and ultimately won."

As Liu Zhaosun spoke, he took out a simple map of Japan from his arms.

He spread the map on the ground, pointed to the waist of Honshu Island, and introduced it to Jin Yuji.

"This is Sekigahara, the battlefield of this battle. The lord of Kyushu Domain is hiding in the mountains and dares not come out. The other domains are all watching."

Liu Zhaosun paused for a moment and concluded:
"The situation isn't too bad."

"I thought the shogunate would surrender, but I didn't expect the shogun's wife to be so stubborn and force Tokugawa Hidetada to fight our army at knifepoint."

Jin Yuji exclaimed in surprise, "A heroine among women."

Liu Zhaosun looked on with disdain:
"What hero? I'm afraid he's just a vixen recruited by the Tokugawa family."

Jin Yuji laughed and stared at the map.

"Mino Province is so far away from Kyushu, do we have to fight all the way there?"

Liu Zhaosun smiled and shook his head.

"Of course not. First, we will use warships to transport the soldiers to land at Totomi, then march north to capture Mikawa, and finally engage them in a decisive battle at Sekigahara."

Jin Yuji was uneasy:
"What are the chances of success if we send our troops on a long expedition?"

Liu Zhaosun thought for a while and stretched out five fingers.

"About 50%. The various domains in Kansai fought on their own and basically refused to obey the shogunate's orders. They were all in disarray. The Hizen domain, which obeyed Hidetada's orders, was already massacred by the Korean soldiers."

The combat power of the various domains in Kanto is far superior to that of Kansai. If the domains risk their lives to fight to the death with the Kaiyuan army, the Kaiyuan army will definitely suffer heavy casualties.

The purpose of this Eastern Expedition was to inflict pain on Japan, establish a new order in East Asia, or to build some kind of co-prosperity sphere.

I'm not here to fight the Japanese pirates.

"If someone on the battlefield turns against us and joins the Kaiyuan Army, our chances of victory will be 70%."

This is how Tokugawa Ieyasu won the Battle of Sekigahara twenty-two years ago.

Now, the time traveler wants to use Tokugawa's tactics to defeat Tokugawa.

Suddenly I remembered Kurosawa's movie "Ran".

Could it be that Mrs. Ajiang, who exceeded her authority and gave orders, was trying to destroy the Tokugawa family like the heroine in the movie "Ran"?

"The Shogun's woman is terrifying."

Liu Zhaosun shuddered and muttered softly with his back to Jin Yuji.

"If only the Shogunate Army and the Eastern Army participated in the battle, the Kaiyuan Army would definitely not lose. But if the Red Haired Barbarians also joined in the fun, it would be hard to say for sure."

"Take care, husband."

"Take care of yourself, ma'am."

Jin Yuji stood still and suddenly took out a small wooden box from behind her.

"Husband, this is your birthday present. Open it when you get to the battlefield."

Liu Zhaosun took the wooden box, smiled knowingly, turned and walked towards the military camp. After a few steps, he turned back and shouted.

"When I return triumphantly, I will make you queen."

……

On the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the army left 20,000 men to garrison Hizen to prevent the Kyushu feudal lords from backstabbing.

The remaining 60,000 troops all set out and boarded ships towards the interior of Honshu Island.

At the same time, the second Shogun issued an order to defend the emperor, calling on the samurai and daimyo of each domain to rush to Sekigahara for the sake of the emperor and the honor of the samurai, and prepare for a decisive battle with the barbarians of the Ming Dynasty.

Note:
1. Tomie, a girl full of mystery, no one can tell her origin. She has a beauty that makes all men crazy. The most peculiar thing is her special physique, which allows her to reproduce endlessly with her body cells. The movie "Tomie": a Japanese thriller directed by Ichikawa Nakata and starring Miho Kanno and Asami Nakamura.

(End of this chapter)