The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 701: Burning Heart
At the end of December in the fourth year of Guangde, the tragedy of the Tokugawa shogunate officially began.

On December 28, after half a month of air raid preparation, the Qi army, with the Sixth Corps as the vanguard and the three major corps of the empire as the main force, joined forces with the Ryukyu and Korean armies to launch a general attack on Honshu Island, totaling 120,000 people.

Zhao Lujiao thoroughly implemented the strategy of "thorough cleaning" of the emperor.

On the first day of the first lunar month in the fifth year of Guangde, the Sixth Corps arrived at Choshu Domain and slaughtered all the Japanese soldiers who tried to resist along the way. On the third day of the first lunar month, the Qi army headed straight for the domain city of Ogihara.

On the third day of the first lunar month, the retired emperor's palace was moved from the eastern part of Kyushu to Ushigaseki Castle on the westernmost part of Honshu Island.

Mori Hidemoto realized that his domain was about to face a devastating disaster, so he hurriedly sent a third wave of envoys to ask for peace from Qi.

Hidemoto begged the retired emperor to "let bygones be bygones" and spare the Choshu clan this time.

As long as the Choshu clan could be preserved, the Mori clan was willing to serve as the vanguard of the Qi army and lead it to attack Osaka and Edo castles.

However, the retired emperor was not interested in the land and population of Japan, and the Mori clan never dreamed that the reason why Liu Zhaosun continued his eastern expedition was simply to become an immortal.

~~~
Niuguan City Palace.

The retired emperor was still meditating in his secret room and had no time to meet with the envoy.

Dongfang Zhu's expression was stern. The envoy knelt respectfully on the ground and presented the seal of the Choshu lord and the map of the domain.

"I need to remind you all that the Emperor never mentioned that you could surrender."

Dongfang Zhu didn't even look at the respectful Choshu envoy in front of him, and said to the Japanese in the soft and gentle tone that only eunuchs can use:
"The Emperor, the old man, does not need any prisoners now."

Upon seeing this, Maori Hidemoto's envoy hurriedly said, "Why do you say that, Eunuch Dongfang? China and Japan are close neighbors, and we have long-standing friendly relations. Although there were pirates who invaded the Ming Dynasty in the past, those pirates were ronin samurai from the Kyushu domain, and had nothing to do with our domain. Our Choshu domain has never participated in any invasion of China. Please, Eunuch Dongfang, speak a few good words to the retired emperor and let His Majesty know our domain's difficulties..."

As the Choshu envoy spoke, he held up a box of treasures and stuffed it into Dongfang Zhu's sleeve.

"If you can surrender to Da Qi, my lord will personally lead the samurai of our domain to conquer Osaka and serve as the king's vanguard."

Dongfang Zhu pushed the treasure away with both hands as if he were pushing away a hot potato.

The envoy said anxiously: "Although there have been conflicts between the Choshu clan and the Great Qi, it is better to resolve the feud than to create it. Moreover, the retired emperor can even accept the Satsuma clan, so why can't he accept our clan..."

"You all misunderstood." Dongfang Zhu said kindly, "Please forgive me. This has nothing to do with any new or long-standing grudges."

The high priest rubbed his big nose and shrugged his shoulders: "It's not personal."

The Portuguese patiently explained to the envoy, "The Emperor needs to slay more descendants of the evil gods. This is a magical cultivation method. You, the descendants of the evil gods, are the material for the Emperor's immortality. Do you understand?"

The Choshu envoy was dumbfounded and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Dongfang Zhu smiled, patted the messenger on the shoulder, and said in a pleasant manner:

"The High Priest has made it very clear. Our Emperor is not interested in land or population. Don't compare Da Qi to the Mongols. That's an insult to us. Da Qi is the Kingdom of Heaven, not a barbarian nation. The Eastern Expedition is justice sent down from heaven."

The messengers looked at each other in confusion.

Dongfang Zhu continued, "Our emperor is indifferent to fame and fortune, and has no desires or requests. His only wish is to kill you, or be killed by you."

"So, please leave your heads here first and contribute your humble efforts to our emperor's great cause of cultivating the profound."

After saying that, Dongfang Zhu waved his hand, and the surrounding guards rushed forward, immediately knocked the Japanese envoy to the ground, and dragged him out of the camp.

Amidst the heartbreaking cries of the Yamedie, the Japanese pirates were beheaded.

To be fair, the Choshu domain, ruled by the Mori clan, was one of the empire's most lucrative vassal states, and Mori Hidemoto had always shown sincerity in his allegiance to the Great Qi—otherwise, he wouldn't have sent three waves of envoys to surrender. Mori Hidemoto's elder brother, Mori Terumoto, was the nominal commander-in-chief of the Western Army during the Battle of Sekigahara and one of the most important forces there.

At that time, the Mori Corps had the largest force in the Western Army, with a total strength of more than 30,000. However, in the actual battle, Terumoto did nothing and stayed in Osaka Castle, implementing Mori Hidemoto's strategy: hold on and do not go out.

Mori Terumoto's plan was this: if the Western Army won, as the general, Mori would be the greatest contributor. If the Eastern Army won, at least his territory would be safe.

The ideal is plump, but the reality is very skinny.

After the Battle of Sekigahara, the Mori clan was suspected by the Tokugawa family and their territory was greatly reduced, leaving only 37 koku in Suo and Nagato. They lost the five provinces of Aki, Bingo, Iwami, Izumo, and Oki, the three western counties of Hoki, and Bizengo Province west of the Takahashi River.

The strength has plummeted.

Mori Terumoto's cleverness backfired and he died in depression.

After his younger brother Mori Hidemoto inherited the position of head of the family, the shogunate continued to attack the Choshu clan.

Twenty years ago, when Liu Zhaosun first invaded Japan, the Choshu clan was quite passive in fighting against the Ming army, which aroused the jealousy of the Edo shogunate.

This time when the Qi army landed in Honshu, the Choshu clan naturally became cannon fodder again.

~~~~
When the news of the failed peace talks reached Hagi Castle, the headquarters of the Choshu clan, everyone, from the daimyo to the foot soldiers, was shocked.

The people of this domain have long heard about what the Qi army did in Kyushu. It is said that the Satsuma domain was conquered after only two days of resistance... How long can the Choshu domain hold out?

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, when the attacking and defending sides were fighting fiercely on the walls of Hagi Castle, the extremely desperate Mori Hidemoto chose to end his life. He led his entire family to hang themselves in the domain government residence. The reason he did not choose to commit seppuku was because he was afraid of pain.

Although Mori Hidemoto was dead, the battle for the Choshu clan was not over yet.

After taking the city gate, the Sixth Corps drove more than 2,000 Ryukyu and Korean soldiers to engage in street fighting in the city, clearing out the Choshu clan troops from house to house and alley to alley.

The Korean soldiers liked to throw lit Molotov cocktails through the window into the wooden house where the defenders were staying, laughing loudly and watching the Japanese pirates being burned into fireballs and rushing out of the house.

The Ryukyu soldiers were not so bored. They held flintlock pistols in their hands and suppressed the enemy's counterattacks, covering each other. After getting close, they shot the Choshu clan soldiers in the head, blowing off half of their heads, and rushed to harvest the enemy's scalps.

According to the military merit reward and punishment system established by the retired emperor for the soldiers of the Ryukyu Province, cutting off a piece of Japanese pirate's scalp on the battlefield could be exchanged for thirty taels of silver or equivalent grain and cloth...

The rewards were quite generous, and the Ryukyu people worked very hard. By the time the Sixth Corps troops entered the city, more than one-fifth of the houses and buildings in the city had been burned down by Korean soldiers.

If the Ryukyu people fought so hard for the reward of silver, then the only reason they supported the Korean soldiers so madly was the irreconcilable hatred between them and Japan.

On the tenth day of the first lunar month in the fifth year of Guangde, the Sixth Corps completely occupied Hagi Castle. Zhao Lujiao ordered all camps to conduct a large-scale search for the Japanese soldiers who had managed to survive in the city, and to thoroughly "clean up" the Japanese soldiers and civilians who might pose a threat to the army.

On the twelfth day of the first lunar month, the retired emperor finally arrived in Hagi Castle. As soon as he arrived, he announced that he would forgive some of the descendants of the evil gods and would not pursue the crimes they had committed.

Of course, at this time, the number of surviving Japanese in Choshu was less than 2,000 from more than 30,000 before the war, and most of them were women, children, the elderly and the young.

At the Hagi Palace, the retired emperor met Zhao Lujiao, who was already bloodthirsty.

Zhao Lujiao was commanding a group of Korean soldiers to continue the massacre. When he looked back, he found that Liu Zhaosun was standing behind him at some point.

"Don't be anxious. Make the Japanese pirates feel fear, not despair. A cornered dog will bite." More than 1,500 captives survived, and they will be sent back to Da Qi in batches to receive the empire's kingly teachings.

"Preserve the head of Mori Hidemoto with lime and saltpeter, place it in a wooden box, and send it to Edo. Give it to Tokugawa Iemitsu to see, so that the Shogun will know what the final fate of those who oppose the Great Qi is."

(End of this chapter)