The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 349: Japan's Cross-Sea Attack

On February Yiwei, the list of successful candidates for the Renchen imperial examination was initially finalized.

At about 5 p.m. that afternoon, as it was getting dark, the Minister of Rites, Lu Kun, hurried into the palace carrying the list.

Wanli had been waiting in the imperial study for a long time.

He didn't even take a look at the imperial examination this time, but he still wanted to take a look at the list of successful candidates.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, he asked Sun Hai and Ke Yong to slowly unfold the list of tribute scholars.

Seeing this, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

There seem to be only a few Donglin among the top hundreds, and they are not very famous.

He had no impression of the others.

After reading half of the list, he finally saw something that impressed him.

Zhu Xieyuan was a great contributor to the suppression of the She'an Rebellion in history.

When he looked back, he had no recollection of anything.

Let this imperial examination be as it is, he is too lazy to care about it.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi wanted to send troops while he was paying attention to the imperial examinations and the palace examinations. He had to keep a close eye on the Japanese pirates.

He thought about it and said simply, "Don't accept the first few as your disciples. Rank Zhu Xieyuan first in the imperial examination. You can handle the others as you wish."

what?
The top scorer has been chosen before the palace examination even begins!
Upon hearing this, Lu Kun was stunned.

On the 15th day of the third month, the emperor went to the Huangji Palace to test the tribute candidates.

In order to show his importance to this palace examination, Wanli sat on the steps in front of the Huangji Hall early in the morning, apparently to supervise the exam.

In fact, he didn't even look at those tribute scholars.

He stared at the southeast in a daze, as if he wanted to see through the mountains and rivers to see what the Japanese pirates were doing.

At this time, more than 300,000 Japanese pirates had gathered in the Karatsu domain in northern Kyushu, Japan.

The camps surrounding Nagoya Castle were like an ocean, and the harbor where the Karatsu clan was located was filled with warships so densely packed that there was no end in sight.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the regent of Japan, stood on a high city wall with shining eyes and a thin face full of greed and desire.

As long as I live, I will add Tang territory to my territory!

He muttered silently, and his eyes couldn't help but look towards the Ming Dynasty capital in the northwest.

At this moment, the Ming Dynasty court is busy with the palace examination, and the little emperor must be sitting obediently in front of the Huangji Hall and watching those weak scholars answer the questions.

You bunch of weaklings from the Long Sleeve Country!
You are not worthy of owning the four hundred states of Tang!
A gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and then he raised his hand and said loudly: "Eliminate one army, one crying thief!"

With the waving of the command flag, the First Legion led by Konishi Yukinaga, with nearly 20,000 troops, immediately rushed to the dock like a tide.

According to historical records, Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched the invasion of Korea, a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, in April of the 20th year of the Wanli reign.

actually not.

Because the sea route from the Karatsu Domain in Japan to the Busan Port in the vassal state of Korea is more than 400 miles, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi only had more than 700 large cross-sea ships.

The so-called big ships in Japan are actually only about 600 to 800 tons. Excluding the navy who operate the ship, each ship is considered good if it can carry 50 people across the sea.

In other words, even if the Japanese cross-sea fleet was fully packed, it could only transport 35,000 people at a time.

This time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi assembled more than 300,000 troops, and the first wave of attack consisted of nine legions of 150,000 to 160,000 troops.

The fleet under his command obviously lacked the carrying capacity, and it would be difficult to make a round trip of more than 400 miles on the sea just by rowing in a day.

Therefore, he chose to first transport the troops, food, and supplies of the nine legions by boat to Tsushima Island, more than 100 miles north of Busan, to rest for a while before launching a landing operation.

Historical records are actually very clear. Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued a military order on March 13, the 20th year of Wanli, preparing to attack across the sea.

The nine Japanese pirate legions prepared for nearly two days and launched the attack on time on March 15, moving towards Tsushima Island.

This day was the Renchen Imperial Examination, which was held every three years in the Ming Dynasty!
Toyotomi Hideyoshi calculated the time well. He wanted to catch the Ming Dynasty off guard.

He thought that the Ming Dynasty would definitely be unaware of it.

Little did they know that at this time, more than ten miles to the west in the direction of Hirado Domain, several centipede ships had already stopped at the back of an uninhabited island, and a group of people were lying on the top of the mountain of the uninhabited island, scanning this side with binoculars.

Li Yuansheng, under the guise of delivering strategic supplies, was treated courteously by the Matsuura clan of Hirado Domain. The daimyo of Kitakyushu could never have imagined that this Ming pirate was a spy sent by the Ming Emperor, and these people, deliberately befriended by his valuable gifts, treated him like a guest of honor.

No one cares about him running around Kitakyushu, so there is naturally no problem with him taking a few boats out to sea.

Today, the news that Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent troops to his vassal state of Korea spread throughout Kitakyushu, so they naturally wanted to investigate it carefully.

Yu Zigao, Li Yuansheng and others lay there and watched for nearly a whole day, until the more than 700 warships formed a long line and turned around. Then they boarded the speedboat and returned to Hirado Port, ready to set off back to Ming Dynasty.

It was only March at that time, and the north wind was still quite strong. The sailboat could easily travel more than 50 miles in an hour, if not more than 100 miles.

The huge fleet returned to the northern waters of the Ming Dynasty in less than three days.

Around 5 p.m. on the fourth day, as it was getting dark, Yu Zigao and Li Yuansheng sneaked into the palace again.

Upon hearing the news, Wanli immediately dropped his bowl and chopsticks and hurried to the Qianqing Palace. While still in the corridor, he couldn't wait to ask, "How is it going? Have you found out where the Japanese pirates are going?"

Yu Zigao nodded repeatedly and said, "We have found out that Toyotomi Hideyoshi rushed to the Karatsu Domain in northern Kyushu on the fifth day of the first lunar month to gather an army. He gathered a total of more than 300,000 troops.

Early in the morning of March 15th, around noon, the Japanese pirate fleet began pulling men, horses, and supplies northward. Judging by the time it took them to return, they likely didn't take them directly to Korea, their vassal state. Instead, they likely took them to Tsushima Island in the middle of the strait.

Karatsu clan?
Tsushima Island!
Wanli was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Let's go and look at the map."

After saying that, he led the two of them to a side hall where maps were placed.

At this time, the lights in the side hall were already on.

He took out a map of Japan, placed it on the table, and then asked, "Where is the Karatsu Domain?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Zigao hurriedly looked at Li Yuansheng.

Li Yuansheng pointed at the map and said, "Karazu Domain is in the northeast corner of Hizen Province, where this bay is located."

Oh, this is a little west of the middle of Kitakyushu, just south of Iki Island and Tsushima Island. A hundred miles north of Tsushima Island is Busan, the largest seaport in the southern part of the vassal state of Korea!
It seems that Toyotomi Hideyoshi also gave it careful consideration before building the forward base for invading the vassal state of Korea in Karatsu Domain.

Wanli swiped his finger across the map, then said loudly, "Quickly call Yuan Jing over."

After a while, Qi Jiguang walked in quickly.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli pointed to the map and said, "The Japanese pirates from Japan have already launched an attack across the sea on the day of the palace examination. They only have seven or eight hundred large ships capable of crossing the sea, so the personnel and supplies can only be transferred to Tsushima Island first.

It's estimated that it will take them more than ten days just to transport personnel and supplies. At this rate, they'd be lucky if they could launch their attack in earnest by early April."

Fortunately, fortunately, the attack can only be launched in April.

Even if the Japanese pirates marched hard every day and ran for their lives, it would be impossible for them to defeat the vassal state of Korea within a month.

Qi Jiguang nodded slowly upon hearing this and said, "It looks like they won't be able to reach Yizhou until at least June. We still have plenty of time to prepare."

Yes, no matter how vulnerable the vassal state of Korea was, or even if it did not put up any resistance, it would take the Japanese pirates until June to reach the vicinity of Yizhou.

There are still more than two months left, which is enough time for them to prepare.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Where are Yang Yinglong's 100,000 troops now?"

Qi Jiguang pointed at the map and said, "They have already reached the northeastern waters of Huai'an Prefecture in Southern Zhili."

It would only take a few days to move north from this location into the Liaohe River.

However, there's one person that needs to be dealt with first.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded slightly, then said decisively, "My dear uncle, I have an imperial decree. I have the Ministry of Personnel send a letter to the Shandong Provincial Criminal Investigation Department, ordering Yang Hao, the Deputy Envoy of the Liaohai Road, to return to Beijing immediately to report on his work. In addition, I have promoted Yuan Keli to the position of Deputy Envoy of the Liaohai Road."

Yang Hao didn't move at all because he didn't want to alert the enemy.

Now that the Japanese pirates have attacked, it doesn’t matter.

It is impossible for Toyotomi Hideyoshi to withdraw his troops immediately just because a deputy envoy of Liaohai Road was replaced.

Wanli thought about it carefully again, and then ordered: "Kemai, Yuansheng, you should quickly go to Nanyang to deliver the goods for the first half of this year, and then return.

In June, you will cooperate with Yun Qing to stage a drama in the waters of Fujian, pretending to have a big battle there and firing a few more cannons, and then Yuan Sheng will lead his fleet to continue the drama there, fighting against each other.

Kemai, you will lead the navy fleet to the harbor southeast of Songjiang Prefecture to assemble and await orders."

This is another act to fool people!
Yu Zigao and Li Yuansheng bowed repeatedly and said, "I understand."

The war is about to begin. How long can the vassal state of North Korea hold out?
Wanli stared at the map again, frowning and thinking.

(End of this chapter)