The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 429: Ming Dynasty: A Country of Etiquette
The second batch of Japanese prisoners will be released.

This time it was Uesugi Kagekatsu, Date Masamune, Gamo Ujisato and their men.

Wanli even held a special banquet to see off these daimyo and their generals.

It was still around noon that day, and in the dining hall of the Yangxin Palace, all the captured daimyo and generals were invited.

We should sit at separate tables.

Wanli's table was occupied by Li Xuancheng, Shan Sinan and two deputy generals of the Beijing camp. The captured daimyo and generals were divided into four tables.

However, this time, Uesugi Kagekatsu, Date Masamune, Gamo Ujisato and several of their generals were gathered at the same table.

The relationship between the three of them was not good. Uesugi Kagekatsu and Date Masamune once fought each other in Echigo Province, and Gamo Ujisato was deliberately transferred to Mutsu Province by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to restrict the development of Uesugi Kagekatsu and Date Masamune.

Although the territories of these three guys are all in the northeast of Honshu, they are hostile to each other and it is impossible for them to sit at the same table for dinner.

It's good enough if they don't fight.

This time, because they were going to be released together, Wanli forced them to sit at the same table.

They didn't know whether they were giving face to Wanli or were really happy to go back. They were so harmonious and their faces were full of joy. If you didn't know them, you would think they had a good relationship.

Wanli naturally knew the relationship between these three guys, so he deliberately released them together to pave the way for the subsequent chaos in Japan.

He raised his glass hypocritically and said, "You three are about to go back. I am truly sad to see you go. However, all good things must come to an end. You will all go back eventually. Come, let's drink this glass. I wish you all a safe journey."

Please don't be reluctant to leave us.

Uesugi Kagekatsu, Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato quickly raised their glasses to express their gratitude.

The other daimyos and generals were filled with envy and raised their glasses to congratulate him.

Wanli drank the cup with them, and then asked everyone to eat some food. Then he said politely, "Three of you, your territory seems a bit far from Nagoya. How about I order the navy to escort you directly back to your territory?"

Their territory is thousands of miles away from Nagoya.

If they were sent to Nagoya, they wouldn't know how to get back.

Although the main force they brought to the vassal state of Korea this time was only 40,000 to 50,000, Japan does not have so many naval warships now. If they were asked to walk back, it would take at least several months.

The three of them nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, okay, thank you, Your Majesty."

Wanli nodded slightly, and then pretended to be polite and said, "I promised you a shipload of delicacies from land and sea, and 10,000 sets of the Four Books and Five Classics for each person. I have prepared them all and will send them to you this time."

The Four Books and Five Classics were fine, but they really wanted that boatload of delicacies from land and sea.

The Ming Dynasty's naval warships were 800 tons each. Even if they were not fully loaded, they would still carry at least 50,000 to 60,000 kilograms of cargo, which was enough for them and all their families to eat for a year or two.

The three of them bowed repeatedly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Wanli nodded slightly, raised his glass again and said, "Masters and generals of Jiuzhou, I never intended to hold you captive.

However, you, Taiko Toyotomi Hideyoshi, have no sincerity in peace talks. I have made great concessions and no longer ask for the cession of Kyushu Island. I only ask you, Taiko, to pay an additional one million taels every year, but you still disagree.

You are all from Kyushu, so you naturally know how many fields there are and how much grain it can produce. This one million taels is nothing compared to the grain produced in Kyushu every year. I really don't know why you, Taiko, don't agree.

But don't worry, I will find other ways, and you will all go back eventually, so don't worry, come on, let's drink this."

Upon hearing this, the daimyo and generals of Kyushu all had complicated expressions on their faces.

What does Toyotomi Hideyoshi mean?
Wanli did not scold Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but the daimyo and generals of Kyushu, including Uesugi Kagekatsu, Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato, all had some opinions about Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

They all knew how extravagant Toyotomi Hideyoshi was, and they had all been to the Golden Teahouse in Osaka Castle.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi even invited them to visit the castle tower. He did this just to show off, because the gold decorations in the castle tower were worth more than one million taels of silver.

Now Toyotomi Hideyoshi is unwilling to pay an extra one million taels a year in exchange for so many daimyos, generals and two or three hundred thousand soldiers in Kyushu. This guy really doesn't take them seriously.

After Wanli had a good talk with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he sent Uesugi Kagekatsu, Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato on their way.

The next morning at about noon, he specially invited all the daimyos and generals to the Imperial City Pier and personally sent these guys on board.

The navy warships these guys were riding on were also covered with colorful flags, all of which were printed with large Japanese characters, such as "The Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette", "The Ming Dynasty is not good at fighting wars", "We are not here to attack the Japanese mainland", "We are here to send prisoners back home", "Please do not misunderstand me", etc. He seemed to be afraid of being misunderstood on the way to send these guys home. In fact, this was also part of his strategic layout.

Because Uesugi Kagekatsu's territory was Echigo Province, Date Masamune's territory was the area around Iwadeyama Castle in Mutsu Province, and Gamo Ujisato's territory was the area around Aizu in Mutsu Province.

Not only are their territories located in the north of the state, but they are also located on both the east and west sides.

In other words, when the navy fleet sent them back, it was actually circling Honshu Island.

He had no intention of having the navy fleet hide its whereabouts along the way. He let the navy fleet sail along the coastline of Honshu, and even asked them to stop at the ports and docks along the coast of Honshu, just to replenish some fresh water or something.

His purpose was to let people on the shore see the words on the colorful flags and the captives on the ship.

What would the Japanese think when they saw the words on these colorful flags and saw that their captives were released in tens of thousands?

Their group of about a hundred warships, all hoisted with colorful flags, set off.

This time, the fleet did not go to the large seaport terminals in Liaodong and Dongfan to pick up their tens of thousands of troops, nor did it go to the large transshipment terminal in Jeju Island.

They headed straight for the original Japanese naval transfer terminal on Tsushima Island to join forces with tens of thousands of troops under their command.

That guy, the thousands of warships docked at the Tsushima Island Navy transfer terminal are also full of colorful flags, red and green, which look very conspicuous and festive from a distance.

After the two fleets joined together, they headed straight for the Tsushima Strait, then split to the left and right, circling both sides of Honshu Island towards Echigo Province and Mutsu Province.

This time, the fleet will sail around the coastline of Honshu Island in a grand manner, and will choose to dock at a larger port along the way for one night every day.

Seeing this, all the Japanese pirates guarding the harbor and docks on Honshu Island were stunned and didn't know what to do. However, the civilians along the coast followed the fleet and watched.

The fleet even docked at a harbor near Osaka for one night to disgust Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and then docked at a harbor in Edo Castle for one night to let Tokugawa Ieyasu take a good look at it.

It is still unknown what Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu would think when they saw the colorful flags, but the common people along the coast of Honshu had already been talking about it.

It seems that the Ming Dynasty is really a country of etiquette!

They captured so many prisoners and yet they released them all.

Moreover, in order to avoid misunderstanding, all the warships were filled with colorful flags.

What did His Majesty Taiko say about the Ming Dynasty attacking the Japanese mainland?

Such a huge fleet was not used to attack the Japanese mainland, but to return prisoners.

The Japanese pirates who had been guarding the harbor along the way began to have doubts in their hearts.

Will the Ming Dynasty really attack the Japanese mainland?

If the Ming Dynasty really wanted to attack the Japanese mainland, why would it release so many captives?
These are not just a few people, dozens, hundreds or thousands of people, but tens of thousands of people!

The Ming Dynasty released tens of thousands of prisoners and then attacked the Japanese mainland?
Is not this contradictory?

Wanli's actions confused Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

If you want to send prisoners, just send them. Why are you putting up so many colorful flags on the ship?
What do you mean the Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette? The Ming Dynasty is not easy to fight. You just want to embarrass me, right?

The problem is that Toyotomi Hideyoshi knew that these colorful flags were not in his favor, but he had no way to deal with them.

He couldn't send people to the Ming army's warships to tear down all the colorful flags.

If he really did that, it is not known whether the Ming army would take action, but the captives on the ship would probably beat up their people.

You bastard, you won’t let us go home, right?

This is another overt conspiracy, it's all too obvious.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi knew clearly that the information printed on the colorful flags was not in his favor, but he had no way to do anything about it.

However, this is just an appetizer, and the bigger conspiracy is yet to come.

(End of this chapter)