The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 678 Anger

In September of the fourth year of Guangde, when the three major corps of the empire were killing people and slaughtering people in Fukuoka Domain, Kyushu, Zheng Yishi led the Northern Corps from Sakhalin Island to the south and quickly occupied the Southern Kuril Islands.

On September 25, the Northern Corps landed at Cape Soya in Ezo (Hokkaido).

Zheng Yishi sent the indigenous people of Sakhalin Island to serve as representatives of the Qi army to negotiate with the Ainu people, the indigenous people of Ezo.

During the Ice Age 40,000 years ago, the Ainu people entered Ezo from Sakhalin Island.

Sakhalin Island and Ezo are very close to each other. The indigenous people of the two places share the same origin, language, and belief in the bear god.

The Ainu people believe that the bear god lives in heaven but has come down to earth in the form of a bear. If people treat him well, he will not harm them. However, if they anger him, he will fly into a rage, attacking the village food sheds and harming the villagers.

So to this day, the Ainu people in Hokkaido still preserve the tradition of bear sacrifice.

Back to the battlefield of the Eastern Expedition in the fourth year of Guangde's reign, when the Sakhalin envoys met their southern relatives, there was no extra greeting between the two sides. The Sakhalin people got straight to the point and said:

"The Western Great Qi Emperor is the God of All Gods, possessing supreme magical powers. The Northern Eternal Heaven, the Shaman God, and the Bear God you believe in are all his servants, worshiping him. The Tatars (Mongols), Jurchens, Han Chinese, and Koreans have all submitted to the God of All Gods. Why haven't you, the Ainu, servants of the servants of the gods, submitted yet? Aren't you afraid of the wrath of the gods?"

After the Sakhalin envoy finished speaking, he raised the flintlock pistol in his hand and pulled the trigger towards the roof where they lived.

Bang!
A lead bullet had punched a hole in the birch-wood roof, letting in a cold wind. The dried sardines hung on the beams for the winter swayed in the wind like hanged corpses.

Under the horrified gaze of the leaders, the relatives from Sakhalin Island put away their smoking muskets, raised a scepter engraved with inscriptions, and like a shaman, muttered something and smashed the scepter to the ground.

This iron rod forged by Qi's industry made a heavy sound.

The Ainu leaders' faces were as pale as the snow on the roofs of their wooden houses.

Whether it was a flintlock pistol or a wrought iron scepter, to them, they were nothing short of alien objects.

The Qi army envoy wrapped himself tightly in his bearskin cloak and continued speaking to the Ainu people in the room:
"The Wa are servants of the evil god, the root of all evil. They bully you, just as the Rakshasas bullied the Kuyi people. The Rakshasas on Sakhalin have been destroyed. Now, the gods will punish the Wa... The gods' army will pass through Ezo, through your territory, across the strait (Tsugaru Strait), and attack Edo Castle, the home of the Wa. But before that, the gods say, we must first destroy the Matsumae domain."

"Now, you have two choices!"

Matsumae Domain was a colonial outpost established by the Japanese in the southern part of Ezo.

Since the middle of the Muromachi period, Japanese people have been carrying out colonization activities in southern Hokkaido. The Matsumae clan, the ancestor of the Matsumae domain, was one of the best among them.

After the Kamozaki clan crossed the Ezo region to the north, they continued to gain advantages in the war with the Ainu people and gradually established a foothold in southern Hokkaido.

During this period, the Kamizaki clan successively conquered other small powerful families and gradually gained the upper hand.

During the Warring States Period, the Kakizaki clan was under the command of the Dewa daimyo Andō clan, and established the status of a Warring States daimyo through extensive political marriages with the Mutsu daimyo.

In 18, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ended the Odawara Campaign and began the Oshu Shiki rule over the Tohoku region. The head of the Kamizaki clan, Kamizaki Yoshihiro, accompanied his lord, Andō Saneki, to Kyoto as the deputy governor of Ezo and expressed his submission to the Toyotomi regime.

In the 19th year of Tensho, the Kyuho Masazane Rebellion against the Toyotomi regime broke out in Oshu. As the daimyo of Ezo, Kakizaki Yoshihiro received orders from Hideyoshi to mobilize a large number of Ainu people to join the battle to suppress the rebellion. He made great military achievements, which stabilized his daimyo status within the Toyotomi regime.

After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, Kamizaki Yoshihiro quickly approached Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was in power, and changed his surname from Kamizaki to Matsumae (a tribute to the Matsudaira and Maeda clans).

As Tokugawa Ieyasu later conquered the world, became the Shogun and established the Edo Shogunate, the Kakizaki clan, who successfully took sides, retained their rule over the Donan region of Ezo and established the Matsumae domain.

The above is a brief account of the establishment of the Matsumae domain.

When the Ainu tribal leaders from all over Ezo heard the words "Matsumae Domain", deep hatred immediately appeared in their eyes.

The Ainu leader clenched his fists, pointed his fingers at the sky, and uttered vicious curses.

The Sakhalin envoy waited patiently for them to finish cursing before continuing:
"You have two options: Gather the Ainu warriors and serve as the vanguard for the Great Qi army. Attack the pirates southward, reclaim your homes, and march into Edo Castle to slay the pirates. Alternatively, accept punishment alongside the pirates. I must remind you that if you become an enemy of the Great Qi, the wrath of the gods will burn Ezo to ashes, and the bear and shaman gods will not spare your souls."

The Ainu people were not interested in the evil god's headquarters, whether it was Osaka Castle or Edo Castle. However, they hated the Matsumae domain with a vengeance and wanted to skin the Japanese people of the Matsumae domain like they did in the bear festival.

The Wazu were the Ainu's sworn enemies. For thousands of years, at least a thousand Ainu had died at the hands of the Wazu.

Blood debt must be paid with blood.

"The God of All Gods will give you half a day to consider."

After the Sakhalin envoy said these last words, he stood up and returned to the military camp.

After weighing the pros and cons, the Ainu people decided to accept the "God of All Gods" from the West and follow the Qi army to attack Matsumae Domain and punish the servants of the evil god.

The Matsumae clan's original name was the Kakizaki clan. They claimed to be a illegitimate offspring of the Kai Genji and Takeda clan. However, there are also claims that he was just a local tyrant in Mutsu who pretended to be a illegitimate offspring of the famous Takeda clan.

But none of this matters now, because the Matsumae clan will soon disappear completely from history.

After three generations of hard work, by the time Matsumae Ujihiro took over the position of lord, the Matsumae domain had already occupied one-third of the land in Ezo, with a Japanese population of nearly 30,000 and more than 800 samurai ronin, and was still constantly encroaching on the indigenous lands to the north.

The Matsumae domain was located in a high-altitude and cold area, where rice could not be grown at all (at that time), so it was impossible to determine the koku of rice according to the shogunate's system. The shogunate reluctantly determined the koku of the Matsumae domain based on the lowest level of 10,000 koku.

The southern part of Ezo, where the Matsumae domain was located, was the largest production area of dried sardines (the main source of meat for Japanese cuisine) in Japan.

Whenever the daimyo of each domain wanted to buy sardines, they could only go to the Matsumae domain to buy them.

The Matsumae family desperately exploited the Ainu people, even buying sardines from the natives for free, while at the same time monopolizing the Japanese dry goods market and limiting the supply to each feudal domain, thus making a fortune.

One koku, according to Japanese measurement, weighed about 20 kilograms. Twenty koku could support one samurai, and ten thousand koku could support five hundred. Adding the income from selling sardines, it was reasonable for the Matsumae domain to support eight hundred samurai. However, if eight hundred samurai were to face a fifty-thousand-strong Sai army, I wonder if Matsumae Ujihiro would have the courage to commit seppuku.

~~~~
While the Northern Army joined forces with the Ainu to annihilate the Matsumae clan, Qin Jianxun led the Southern Army and, under the cover of the Seventh Corps Navy, began to approach the Kagoshima clan.

Unlike the commanders of the Northern and Central Armies who advanced aggressively and decisively, the Southern Legion commanded by Qin Jianxun did not fully implement the emperor's edict that "I need a clean Japan." In other words, they did not start burning, killing, and looting right away, and clean up the Japanese pirates like worms or cockroaches, but chose to convince people with reason.

On September 25, the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Corps, together with the vassal troops of the Ryukyu Province, 2,000 warships of various types and more than 60,000 troops, threatened the waters outside Kagoshima with the momentum of a dark cloud pressing down on a city.

Although it is a bit exaggerated to describe the war between the Southern Army and the Satsuma Domain as a lion attacking a rabbit, it is clear to all that the Shimazu clan would undoubtedly be defeated, and lose miserably, by using the strength of a single domain to fight against the four major armies of the Great Qi.

If nothing unexpected happened, an accident still happened.

The Satsuma Domain traded with Southeast Asia and Britain for many years and had astonishing wealth. Commander Qin Jianxun made a temporary decision to convince the people with reason first.

Ignoring the dissuasion of his deputy generals Wu Aheng and Pu Gang, he sent a team of Ryukyu envoys to land in Kagoshima and head to Tsurumaru Castle, the headquarters of the Satsuma domain, planning to negotiate peace with the domain lord Shimazu Mitsuhisa and use peaceful means to force this southwestern domain to give up its illusions and surrender voluntarily.

Qin Jianxun had a backup plan. While arranging peace talks, he actively mobilized troops and prepared for landing.

Of course, his opponent, Shimazu Mitsuhisa, is no pushover either.

The Satsuma Domain was also known as the "Kagoshima Domain" because its headquarters was located in Kagoshima Castle.

Its territory included all of Satsuma and Ōsumi provinces and most of Hyuga province, and its actual koku was about 36 koku (36 times that of the Matsumae domain).

Satsuma Domain was known for the tough character of its people and was the second largest domain in Japan after Kaga Domain.

By the time the Qi army arrived in the east, the population of the domain exceeded 200,000, and the domain army was close to 20,000. Kagoshima was well-equipped with artillery and had tight defenses.

~~~~~~
"Nani, the Tatars are attacking?"

The second-generation feudal lord Shimazu Mitsuhisa, who was full of martial virtue, did not show any panic when he heard that the Qi army was attacking. Instead, he thought it was a good opportunity to achieve great things.

"The Tatars did not attack the city, but sent envoys down the ship, probably to persuade them to surrender."

At the Tsurumaru Castle residence of the Kagoshima Domain, the family elder Komatsu Kawamaru knelt in front of Shimazu Mitsuhisa and reported loudly.

Komatsu Konmaru's real name was Kanzuki Nagoro. His elder brother Kenro inherited the position of head of the Kanzuki family. Because he was the third son, he was adopted by the auspicious lord Komatsu Kiyomaru early on and became his adopted son.

He was later promoted by the Shimazu family and became the elder of the Satsuma clan.

Not only did Komatsu come from a prominent family, he was also known for his tolerance, eloquence, and cheerfulness. He quickly became a close confidant of Shimazu Mitsuhisa.

"The messenger was not killed?"

Shimazu asked.

Mr. Xiaosong said calmly:

"Of course not. I have already arranged for people to lead the Ryukyu people around Kagoshima."

"As the saying goes, it is unbecoming of a good general to engage the enemy before putting on his armor."

"well done."

Shimazu nodded in satisfaction.

Although the weather was cold, the lord still waved a paper fan.

The family elder waited quietly for the feudal lord's order.

Shimazu waved a paper fan, stepped on wooden clogs, and sang Oda Nobunaga's dying haiku.

"Life's fifty years are like a dream, like an illusion. Life is followed by death, so a brave man should have no regrets."

He suddenly stopped and sneezed loudly.

"Ah!"

Only then did he put down the paper fan engraved with the Satsuma clan crest of chrysanthemums.

"Our army is strong and capable, ready to fight. Today, we will drive out the Tartars and restore Japan. We will order our troops to strengthen the city defenses, seek aid from the shogunate, negotiate peace with the Tartars, and buy time!"

On September 27, when the Ryukyu envoys finished the peace talks and walked out of Tsurumaru Hall with great pride in their victory of occupying Kagoshima without bloodshed, the samurai Narahara Kizaemon and Kaieda Nobuyoshi who were lying in ambush in the courtyard suddenly drew their swords and killed the Qi envoys.

At the same time, Shimazu officially ordered the war to begin.

At noon that day, the 300 coastal defense guns of the Kagoshima Fort suddenly fired at the Qi fleet that was landing.

The Qi army, which had been prepared in advance, formed a long snake formation and used 8,000 naval guns to attack the artillery position.

Soon, Kagoshima was turned into a sea of fire.

(End of this chapter)