The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 367 Japanese Tabloids

Why did Wanli predict that Toyotomi Hideyoshi would send troops to encircle and suppress the vassal state of Korea, Yi Sun-sin's army?
If we infer that most warlords are shameless, Toyotomi Hideyoshi would most likely choose to withdraw his troops.

Even if he severely humiliated Toyotomi Hideyoshi in front of Konishi, it seemed to be of no use.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi could have pretended not to hear it. As long as he ordered Xiao Xifei not to spread it, no one in Japan would know about it.

In other words, as long as Toyotomi Hideyoshi silently endured his humiliation, he could still do what he was doing as if nothing had happened.

Of course he had figured this out long ago.

That's why he asked Li Yuansheng whether it was easy to bribe the Japanese ronin.

Since the Japanese ronin are willing to kill and burn people just to get enough food, this is easy to deal with.

He planned to print some tabloids for Toyotomi Hideyoshi and let the Japanese ronin throw them everywhere!
It is absolutely impossible for Toyotomi Hideyoshi to pretend that nothing has happened and continue to pretend to ask for peace and withdraw his troops to play dirty tricks!
The next morning at about noon, he came to the Yangxin Palace as soon as he finished dealing with the memorials.

At this moment, Li Tingji, Jiao Hong, Tao Wangling, Li Guozhu and others were sitting in the study in the side hall discussing things.

Li Tingji probably thought it would be convenient for everyone to sit around a huge table to discuss things, so he also ordered someone to prepare a large table.

This time, the person sitting in the main seat was Li Guozhu.

It seemed that Li Guozhu was holding a book published in Japan and telling stories to Li Tingji and others. Li Tingji and other top scorers were listening attentively with pens in hand like students, and would write down a few words from time to time.

This story is naturally about Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Li Guozhu was very studious. In order to learn Japanese well, he bought a lot of books published in Japan, which came in handy now.

When everyone saw Wanli coming, they quickly stood up and saluted.

Wanli raised his hand to signal them to sit down, then asked, "Er Zhang, how are things going? Have you prepared a few articles?"

Li Tingji awkwardly took out a piece of manuscript paper and handed it over, saying shamefacedly, "Your Majesty, I don't really know much about Japan, so I wrote this article based on your suggestions."

He was the one who titled this article: Toyotomi Hideyoshi is a Woman.

The content is pretty much the same as what he said to Konishi Fei to humiliate Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

However, Li Tingji polished it up a lot.

The opening line is that the Ming emperor commented that Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a sissy.

What follows is exaggeration and ridicule.

The last sentence is particularly classic. It means that, daimyo, you should quickly prepare women's clothing for His Highness Taiko, so that he can wear it for the Emperor of Ming to admire.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi would probably be so angry that he would vomit blood after seeing this.

After reading it, Wanli could not help but nodded slightly and said, "Well, not bad, let's write it like this. What are you going to write next?"

Li Tingji quickly explained, "We were listening to Kunisuke talk about Toyotomi Hideyoshi's major battles in Japan. We wanted to start with Toyotomi Hideyoshi's defeat."

This is a good idea.

The question is, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was so boastful, how could he possibly fail?

Wanli picked up the manuscript paper written by Li Tingji out of curiosity and took a look at it. His eyes almost popped out. Toyotomi Hideyoshi had suffered many defeats.

In the fourth year of Tensho in Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi led his army to support Shibata Katsuie in Hokuriku against the Uesugi clan. Seeing that Katsuie was at a disadvantage, Toyotomi Hideyoshi immediately withdrew, resulting in Katsuie's defeat in the Battle of Tetori River.

In the 10th year of Tensho, the Honnoji Incident occurred. As soon as Oda Nobunaga died, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was originally attacking the Mori clan's Takamatsu Castle, immediately secretly negotiated with the Mori clan lord to withdraw his troops.

In the 12th year of Tensho, Oda Nobunaga's second son Oda Nobuo joined forces with Tokugawa Ieyasu to oppose Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Toyotomi Hideyoshi led his army to fight the two in the Battle of Komaki Nagakute. At the beginning of this battle, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had an advantage in military strength, led his army directly to the Tokugawa clan's territory, and the two sides confronted each other at Komaki Mountain.

In order to break the deadlock, Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent Ikeda Terumasa and others to lead a surprise attack on Mikawa Province, the territory of Tokugawa Ieyasu, but they were ambushed by the Tokugawa army on the way. Generals under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, such as Ikeda Terumasa and Mori Nagayoshi, were killed in the battle. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was defeated. However, this guy used sweet words to subdue Oda Nobuo and forced Tokugawa Ieyasu to withdraw his troops.

In the 14th year of Tensho, Toyotomi Hideyoshi married his sister Asahihime to Tokugawa Ieyasu as his principal wife, and sent his mother Omasatoshi to Tokugawa Ieyasu as a hostage. Tokugawa Ieyasu then became a vassal of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

After reading this, Wanli couldn't help but wonder, "How many major battles did Toyotomi Hideyoshi participate in?"

Everyone looked at Li Guozhu.

Li Guozhu thought carefully and said, "About ten times."

Wanli thought about it carefully and asked again, "How many major battles did he personally command?"

Li Guozhu recalled, "It seems like only five or six times. On two occasions, he led a force several times larger than the enemy's to show off his might."

well.

Wanli nodded slowly and said, "Then let's write an article about Toyotomi Hideyoshi's poor command of war. He commanded five major battles, lost three, fled twice, and only won the other two with troops several times greater than his opponent's. Even a fool could have won such a battle. That's basically it."

Li Tingji and others nodded repeatedly and took note of it.

Wanli pointed at the manuscript in his hand and said, "Next, write an article about Toyotomi Hideyoshi's best tactic being escape. Write about how he escaped at the Battle of Tetori River and caused Shibata Katsuie's defeat.

In the next article, Toyotomi Hideyoshi liked to negotiate and withdraw troops, so the story of Toyotomi Hideyoshi negotiating and withdrawing troops from Takamatsu Castle of the Mori clan was written.

Another story, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was no good, he couldn't defeat Tokugawa Ieyasu even with superior military strength, and he also lost several generals. Another story, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was shameless, in order to get the throne, he gave his sister and mother to Tokugawa Ieyasu.

You guys split the bill, write quickly, try to finish it within three days, and then print a million copies."

How many articles are there?

Upon hearing this, Li Tingji said cautiously, "Your Majesty, these are only six articles, they can't even fill a single court report."

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "The news we send to Japan does not need to be as formal as the official gazette, nor does it need to be printed so large. Double-page or even quarter-page will do. From now on, this kind of news sent to Japan will be called the Japanese Tabloid.

This isn't a regular publication, and you don't need the formal headings or even the borders. Just lay out the layout and print it, so Toyotomi Hideyoshi won't guess it was us who printed it."

Oh, there’s no need to make it so formal as a court bulletin.

Li Tingji nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Er Zhang, how is the preparation of the lead type going?"

Li Tingji picked up a Japanese book on the table and explained, "We engrave the typeface based on the font used in their books. We're currently working on it. If it's just a tabloid with six articles, two or three more days should be enough."

Wanli nodded slightly and asked, "Guozhu, does Japan purchase paper from our Ming Dynasty?"

Li Guozhu nodded repeatedly and said, "Their papermaking technology is far inferior to ours. They buy all the better paper from us."

That's good.

Wanli said without hesitation: "Then pick the one that is sold cheapest in Japan and quickly buy one million of them."

Li Guozhu bowed repeatedly and said, "I understand."

There seems to be nothing else after that.

Wanli thought about it carefully again, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, everyone, hurry up and get ready. One million copies of the Japanese tabloid must be printed within two weeks."

As a result, Li Yuansheng rushed back from Japan before the Japanese tabloid was finished printing.

At about 5 p.m. that day, when it was getting dark, he quietly came to the palace again.

This time, Wanli met him in the imperial study.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli could not help but ask, "Well, what did Tokugawa Ieyasu say?"

Li Yuansheng explained in detail: "This guy really has rebellious intentions. The supplies he wants are similar to those of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. We have most of them in stock, but he also wants something special."

Something special?
Wanli asked, "What special thing?"

Li Yuansheng said cautiously, "He heard that our kerosene tanks are very powerful and wants to buy some as a trump card."

This guy knows how to pick good things.

The kerosene can is not only a rare weapon in naval battles, but also in city defense battles. It is an excellent weapon for burning ladders.

The question is, can this thing be sold to Tokugawa Ieyasu?

It would be troublesome if this guy used kerosene to resist their attack.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then asked, "Is Tokugawa Ieyasu very rich?"

Li Yuansheng nodded slowly and said, "He said money is not a problem. His territory not only has silver mines but also gold mines. He has saved up a lot of real money."

It would be more troublesome if we don’t earn this money.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then nodded slightly and said: "Okay, you can sell him the kerosene can, but you have to tell him that this thing is strictly controlled by the Ming court. If you want to get it, you don't know how much money you will have to pay him.

Therefore, the price of this kerosene can is very high. You can offer him a price of 100 taels each and see how many he wants. If it is more than 10,000, you can say that you can’t get the goods.”

Oh my God, one hundred taels each!
It seems that there are only two kilograms of kerosene in the kerosene tank?
The most expensive lamp oil on the market now costs ten kilograms for one tael of silver!

Kerosene is a thousand times more expensive than lamp oil!
However, Tokugawa Ieyasu will most likely be the scapegoat.

Because the victory of ten thousand kerosene cans may not be determined by one or two major battles, it is very likely that Tokugawa Ieyasu will completely defeat Toyotomi Hideyoshi with the help of these kerosene cans!
Upon hearing this, Li Yuansheng nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli thought about it carefully and then said, "Wait for a few days in Wanshou Palace while I prepare the Japanese tabloid.

When it is printed, you can take it directly to Japan. I will also send the Japanese envoy Xiao Xifei back. You should bribe the ronin who leaked the tabloid there first.

After Xiao Xifei returns to Japan, you will talk to Tokugawa Ieyasu about business matters, and then let those ronin throw the tabloids everywhere, preferably in all the cities and crowded places in Japan.

Remember, you can't show up in person. Let your trusted ronin do it, and tell them that no one should know that you paid someone to steal the tabloid."

This is not a big problem. Money makes the world go round. If you give those ronin ten taels of silver and ask them to secretly go to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's house, they would probably dare to do it.

Li Yuansheng nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

(End of this chapter)