Outside the city, the Shangchuan family brought a thousand soldiers to ask for an audience.
Seeing this scene, Jinchuan was a little dissatisfied.
He doesn't really want to cooperate with other families. After all, the Ming army is his first friend, and he should get the most share of the pie.
If possible, he even hoped that the Ming army would go to Kyoto now, defeat the Ashikaga family, and let him occupy Kyoto.
It's a pity that the Ming army remained unmoved.
They have been recuperating their strength in the city and have no intention of starting a war.
Jinchuan said that the Uesugi family was not as powerful as him and could be ignored.
However, under Li Xiao's instructions, the people were still let in.
Immediately, Jinchuan's expression changed, and he enthusiastically welcomed the Uesugi family in and entertained them with a banquet.
"Welcome to the Uesugi family."
Jinchuan held a grand banquet, and all three parties sat in the hall. Zhu Gaoxu, Li Xiao and others sat at the main seat, and the other two families sat on the left and right sides of the hall.
He first introduced each other, then looked at the Kanagawa family and said, "I wonder what the Uesugi family is doing here today?"
"I heard that your Jinchuan family tied up a big tree. There is an old Chinese saying that it is better to lean against a big tree to enjoy the shade. Our Uesugi family also wants to lean against this big tree."
At the beginning, Uesugi expressed his intention to come, then looked at Zhu Gaoxu, put his right hand on his chest, and said respectfully: "Respected and powerful Ming army, there is an old saying in China, you can't start early without benefit. Lord Hanwang, I didn't know you were here. What is the real purpose of our Japanese country?"
Zhu Gaoxu took a sip of tea, smiled slightly, rubbed his fingers, and said: "Of course it is to earn a lot of gold and silver, and the first purpose of earning gold and silver is to get rid of the Japanese pirates at sea, you Japanese bandits. There are too many, and this Jinchuan family is the most loyal partner of our Ming Dynasty. I will help him control the Japanese country and completely eliminate the Japanese pirates."
These were the words Li Xiao had prepared for Zhu Gaoxu a long time ago.
Japan has the largest gold and silver deposits in the Far East and very huge gold and silver resources.
During the Qing Dynasty, it promoted the prosperity of Kangxi and Qianlong.
In the early Qing Dynasty, there was a monograph "Eastern Japanese Examination" introducing the Japanese country. The book mentioned the huge profits of Chinese goods in the Japanese country.
As the saying goes, "The price in mainland China is probably one, but in Japan you can easily get five."
And when the goods are returned, one gets two."
In other words, Chinese goods can be exchanged for five times the profit when they are sent to Japan, and then they can be used to buy Japanese goods back home, and they can be exchanged for 100% of the profit.
You know, the European "sea coachmen" who shuttled between Asia and Europe in the Age of Discovery only made 400% of the profit from the spice trade.
And Chinese merchant ships only need to go to Japan once and for all to make huge profits ten times as much!
If we look at it from the perspective of later generations of economists, the Japanese country exchanged non-renewable precious metals for renewable resources grown on Chinese soil and produced excess consumer goods, which could only make the Japanese country poorer and poorer.
Obviously, such remarks were quickly recognized by the Uesugi family.
He knelt on the ground and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, King of Han, our Uesugi family is willing to surrender to the Ming Dynasty and the King of Han, and together we can create a prosperous era of friendship between the Ming and Japanese countries."
As he said this, he smiled and said, "To show our sincerity, we will also bring a gift to the King of Han."
The words fell.
A group of young women in kimonos walked in with small steps, holding fans, their faces painted as white as the wall, and their mouths were very red.
"If you didn't tell me, I would have thought it was a ghost. It scared me."
Zhu Gaoxu frowned and waved his hand: "I don't like these things, so please step back."
General Jinchuan on the side agreed very much and said: "Master Hanwang is not good at women, Uesugi should change him."
Uesugi had no choice but to wave his hand, and then asked a few people to carry the box in. When he opened it, he saw that the box was full of gold and silver.
Zhu Gaoxu smiled at this time, "You are sincere and I am very happy. In that case, the Uesugi family will join my command."
Uesugi immediately bowed: "Hi!"
That's it.
The Ming Dynasty army had 8,000 more puppet troops.
Eighteen thousand puppet troops were organized again. Half a month later, under the command of Zhu Gaoxu, the army finally set off.
The puppet troops who were familiar with the local conditions led the way, and the journey went very smoothly.
Li Xiao discovered that these puppet troops were also very cruel to the Japanese enemies. When they passed the villages ruled by the Ashikaga family, they would kill, burn, kill, loot and smash, leaving a mess wherever they went.
The women were humiliated, all the men were killed, and the food was taken away, leaving no grass growing.
Naturally, Li Xiao would not care about these. In fact, it was the same situation during the disputes in China. War is inherently cruel.
Upon seeing this, the Ashikaga family immediately began to prepare for war, and strengthened soldiers to guard the cities along the way.
When the Ming Dynasty troops came to Qian Town, they failed to persuade them to surrender.
Zhu Gaoxu ordered his men to bring out the cannon and bombard the city gate indiscriminately, directly blasting through the city gate.
"The front army, the left army, and the right army all attack and attack the city!"
Zhu Gaoxu gave an order and directed all the puppet troops to attack the city.
Jinchuan asked cautiously: "Hanwang Sang, your elite troops."
Zhu Gaojiu pushed him back with just one sentence: "The elite troops are at the rear, what? You want to enjoy the benefits of being a fisherman? This will help you defeat the Ashikaga family. If you are dissatisfied, the Uesugi family will perform better and give him land by then. , but it’s hard to say.”
"Hi!"
Jinchuan immediately replied: "Please take a look at the performance of my Jinchuan family, Hanwang Sang!"
In this way, under the leadership of Zhu Gaoxu and other generals, they led the puppet army to attack the city. They easily captured the former town, killed the Ashikaga garrison inside, and captured the deputy general.
"Chai Gonghuang, surrender! There is an old saying in China that he who knows the current affairs is a hero."
After some coercion and inducement, several of the defenders were persuaded to surrender, and half of the soldiers were integrated into the front army and became cannon fodder.
The puppet troops in the city began to have a carnival. Zhu Gaoxu allowed these people to massacre in the city for three days, then rested and set off again.
The two families, Jinchuan and Uesugi, tasted the sweetness and found that the Ming army's artillery attack on the city seemed to have divine help, so they worked harder.
Immediately afterwards, they continued to attack Nishi Asai and captured it in three days.
Then he went south to attack the important military town of Takashima and captured it in ten days.
After many battles and victories, they finally reached Kyoto directly.
Kyoto was heavily guarded by troops, the city walls were high and thick, and the Ashikaga family was strong and clear. It was difficult to capture it easily, so Zhu Gaoxu directly ordered the army to turn around and capture Kusatsu Castle and occupy it.
Within two months, it was already a great achievement to capture four cities. Under Li Xiao's suggestion, he slowed down his offensive trend and began to defend the captured territory and recruit troops.
With the thunderous momentum of the Ming army, the Ashikaga family suffered heavy losses and lost territory one after another. The princes under his command also began to get ready to make moves and had different intentions.
In this way, the Japanese country, which had finally entered a period of peace, was suddenly about to split into the Warring States Period, a period of chaos and war between princes.
Li Xiao, on the other hand, waited quietly, waiting for the opportunity to capture Kyoto in one fell swoop.
Sure enough, the opportunity came quickly and several more joined.
After several agitation, many soldiers raised their flags.
One night, the army attacked at night!
Kyoto was stained with fire and blood.
The war lasted for a month, and Kyoto fell.
In this way, the Ashikaga family completely withdrew from the stage of history. The King of Han took control of the political power in Kyoto, enfeoffed various princes, and successfully controlled the Japanese country.
Next, the troops were stationed to strictly guard the various ports. Once the Japanese pirates came ashore, they would immediately launch an attack. This move was quite effective, and half of the Japanese pirates on the sea were directly eliminated.
The remaining half of the Japanese pirates had no shore to go to, so they began to flee towards the coast of the Ming Dynasty.
Li Xiao and others left a thousand elite soldiers in the Japanese country. At the same time, they also left Wei Zhongxian in the Japanese country, making him prime minister and taking control of the political power.
He led the remaining soldiers back to the ship and went to chase the remaining Japanese pirates, thus completely wiping out the Japanese pirates in one fell swoop!
The other side.
Nanjing City Palace.
In the Hall of Cultivation of the Heart, Zhu Di was lying on the armchair rocking, crossing his legs, feeling a moment of leisure.
I have to say, it feels so good without Zhu Yuanzhang nagging in my ears.
Everything was left to the eldest son, and he became the hands-off shopkeeper.
"Dad, it's not good. Urgent military report. Today, the number of Japanese pirates has increased significantly along the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Guard stations in various places are in emergency. I am afraid that there are 70,000 to 80,000 Japanese pirates scattered along the coast."
Zhu Gaochi, who had just come from the Ministry of War, had an anxious look on his face and held the plan given by the Military Aircraft Department in his hand, "Dad, I plan to send troops to destroy him. Please take a look."
According to the normal historical line, the eighth year of Yongle, that is, eleven years later.
In order to resist Japanese pirates, Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, set up six Japanese divisions in Shandong, Yangzhou, Jinshan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and began to clean up the Japanese pirates. It took ten years to wipe them out.
Now, Zhu Yuanzhang's method of dealing with Japanese pirates is to ban the sea and relocate the people.
Therefore, it is somewhat difficult to resist such a large-scale Japanese pirate attack ashore.
"What? The Japanese pirates are so rampant? What's going on!" Zhu Di asked.
"The specific situation seems to be that the Japanese suddenly started to snipe the Japanese pirates and prevent them from landing. Those Japanese pirates had no reliable shore, so they had to harass our Daming coast." Zhu Gaochi replied.
Zhu Di was a little confused: "Why is this situation happening? The various princes of the Japanese country deliberately allowed the Japanese pirates to plunder our Ming Dynasty's property. Why did they turn against them?"
Zhu Gaochi shook his head and said: "This is puzzling. The specific situation is still being investigated."
Zhu Di thought for a while and said with a smile: "But that's fine. In this way, the problem of Japanese pirates can be completely solved. Once and for all, just send troops to destroy them."
Zhu Gaochi nodded: "Dad, my child thinks so too."
Zhu Di smiled slightly and took the plan, which stated that he ordered the local guards and county towns to move the people into the city and only defend but not attack, waiting for the imperial court to send reinforcements to annihilate them in one fell swoop.
The generals sent were Xu Huizu as the general and Guo Ying and others as the staff generals.
"Change this."
Zhu Di handed the plan back.
"Change what?"
Zhu Gaochi said doubtfully.
Zhu Di shook his head: "The selection of the general is inappropriate. Xu Huizu has not fought in a single battle for many years. The actual combat is worrying. What if he becomes the next Li Jinglong? How should I explain it? Should Gu be punished or not? He is Gu's uncle. elder brother."
They were all excuses. How could Zhu Gaochi not know what Zhu Di was thinking? He chuckled and said, "Which general do you think is better?"
Zhu Di laughed and said, "The best candidate is the one who is far away and right in front of you!"
"The eyes are in the sky and the eyes are close."
Zhu Gaochi pretended to be surprised, looked at Zhu Di with his head held high, and said, "Dad, you didn't say that you would take action personally, right?"
He hurriedly said: "Dad, this is wrong, your status is precious, what if there is any damage?"
"Cut the nonsense."
Zhu Di slapped the table and said displeasedly: "Gu is the crown prince. If the emperor is not here, Gu has the power to supervise the country. If Gu is not here, you, the grandson of the emperor, have the power to supervise the country. Before Gu leaves, whatever Gu says will be whatever he says." Do you understand?"
After waiting for so long, Zhu Di finally got a chance to fight.
Although we are fighting Japanese pirates, isn't it still a war? ?
"this"
Zhu Gaochi was suppressed by his identity, so he could only nod and smile: "Father, that's alright, I'll arrange it for you. The treasury has been abundant these years, and I'll let you fight a rich war."
"Rich?" Zhu Di was delighted: "How rich are you?"
Zhu Gaochi smiled and said: "My child has been arranged for you a long time ago. It was originally used for the Northern Expedition, but now it can also be used to deal with Japanese pirates. Aren't you good at cavalry? The three major battalions have recently purchased 30,000 new horses and armors. , weapons, crossbows, and arrows are all newly prepared, and I will send you 50,000 elite cavalry, okay?"
Zhu Di was stunned for a moment, then looked at Gao Chi and said movedly: "Gao Chi, dad is indeed right about you. You still miss dad in your heart!"
Zhu Gaochi said with a smile: "Since dad is planning to go, the children have naturally made arrangements. Food and grass have been collected, and they are traveling lightly. This time, the Japanese pirates seem not to go to the sea, but to occupy the top of the mountain and occupy the mountain as king. There are five in one group. Thousands of Japanese pirates have set up camp on a mountain in Cengang, Zhejiang Province. You don't have to worry about food and grass. The children will be adjusted separately and will be delivered safely."
"Okay! Great! My great boy."
Zhu Di was overjoyed. With such a son working in the rear, he could really go to war with confidence and boldness. "Without further delay, let's issue the order quickly."
"Okay daddy."
Zhu Gaochi immediately sat down and began to write the edict. He suddenly raised his head, looked at Zhu Di and said, "Dad, what general title would be better for you?"
Zhu Di didn't care about this, "Whatever."
Zhu Gaochi thought for a while and then wrote: "Anti-Japanese General!"
That's it.
The decree was quickly promulgated, but many officials in the court stopped it. After being scolded by Zhu Di, they became honest.
A few days later, the army set off from Nanjing.
Zhu Di led 50,000 cavalry and rushed towards Zhejiang.
And at this time.
Han Wang Zhu Gaoxu, Li Xiao and others also landed on the shore and began to eliminate Japanese pirates.
Although they knew that there was a huge group of Japanese pirates entrenched in Cengang, Li Xiao and others were not in a hurry.
Their purpose is to deal with the Japanese pirates who are running around. It is the most troublesome to deal with Japanese pirates like this.
Compared with the Japanese pirates who gather together, they can be eliminated in one fell swoop.
Li Xiao and others' method of dealing with Japanese pirates was also very simple. The cavalry rode fast horses and held flintlock guns to beat them. Once they were found, they would quickly deal with them on the spot.
[Xiaolang, the Japanese pirates here have been eliminated. How is the situation over there? Please reply if received. 】
[It has just been wiped out. There are flares twenty miles to the southwest and thirty miles to the southeast. They are scout signals. You go to the southwest, and I will go to the southeast. Please reply if received. 】
【Received, received, I love you. 】
[Copy that, I love you too. 】
Because of the presence of signal bombs, a thousand cavalrymen were divided into five teams and attacked quickly, quickly wiping out thirty-five Japanese pirate gangs with a total of 5,800 people.
The remaining Japanese pirates were so frightened that they fled towards the big stronghold of Cengang. More and more Japanese pirates gathered in Cengang.
Li Xiao and others hope to see such a situation, just like a cat chasing mice, driving them into a cage, and finally catching the turtle in an urn.
That's it.
Zhu Di's army arrived quickly.
Li Xiao is also about to drive the Japanese pirates to one place.
The two sides are about to meet.
Another place.
Beiping Prefecture, Honghua Village.
Zhu Yuanzhang had been resting in the village for some time before he recovered.
After all, I am getting older, and it was a little hard to accept that I suddenly saw something like a movie. It took me a long time to accept this fact.
In the past few days, Zhu Yuanzhang has been wandering around Honghua Village.
He discovered that the land had indeed been taken over by the Beiping Prefecture, and all the people were exempted from taxes. Not only were the head taxes exempted, but even the land tax was exempted.
Zhu Yuanzhang was about to lose his temper.
However, it was quickly discovered that although the land was exempt from tax, fees were required to be paid to the court for contracting the land.
He instantly understood that the contract fee might include land tax.
This made Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes brighten up. In this way, it seemed that there would never be any tax exemption or shrinking the land and hiding the rope. He could easily get the tax revenue, which Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but admire.
Although I don’t know how Li Xiao did it in the first place, he did it.
In this way, Zhu Yuanzhang could not wait to see Li Xiao and ask him face to face what he had done all these years.
In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang also discovered that among those who contracted the land were the original landlords and gentry, and they were still very wealthy.
However, there are also some ordinary farmers who were brave enough to borrow money from banks to contract land, and they also turned around and turned from poor farmers into rich farmers.
Moreover, according to his observation, he found that every common people seemed to have a smile on their face.
No matter how you look at it, the crop yield of the land is much higher than that of other places. The ears of wheat are so heavy that they bend the poles.
"Okay, okay, no matter whether the people have land or not, as long as every household can afford food and have meat to eat, we will be happy."
Zhu Yuanzhang said to himself that although he thought it was incredible, the facts were right in front of him, and he planned to continue to investigate openly and secretly.
It's early morning.
Compared with the sweltering daytime, the morning breeze is particularly cool and comfortable.
After leaving the capital these days, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly felt that this life seemed not bad.
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was exercising in the yard and stretching his muscles.
Suddenly, he discovered that Wang Jianlin next to him was also moving his body, performing a strange set of boxing techniques.
Zhu Yuanzhang walked around and stared at him: "Young man, what kind of boxing are you doing?"
Wang Jianlin smiled and said: "Military Boxing is practiced in the army."
Military boxing is a boxing technique that combines punching, kicking, throwing, grabbing knives, grabbing guns and other fighting movements. Military boxing training is often carried out to cultivate soldiers' perseverance, bravery and tenacious fighting style. of great significance.
Zhu Yuanzhang stood aside with his hands behind his hands and observed carefully. The more he looked, the more he felt something.
This boxing technique is of moderate length, concise movements, clear rhythm, easy to learn and understand. You don’t need to start practicing martial arts from a young age to learn it, but it is easy to popularize.
"Erhu, practice with this little brother."
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Erhu. He wanted to see how the people trained in the army were doing.
Erhu came out and put on a posture: "Please enlighten me."
"this"
Wang Jianlin smiled awkwardly: "I'm afraid of hurting this brother, which wouldn't be good."
Erhu sneered: "If you can hurt me, I will take your last name."
Wang Jianlin asked: "What's your last name?"
Erhu said: "My surname is Wang."
Wang Jianlin: "."
Zhu Yuanzhang: "."
In the end, the two of them opened up and planned to have a friendly discussion.
Erhu waved his hand, indicating that he should come first.
"Accepted."
Wang Jianlin shouted, rushed over, raised his leg and kicked him over.
The two tigers turned their fists into palms to push away easily, and then turned their palms into claws again, using the Xingyi Fist capture method, wrapping large and small silk, and using their arms to grab people.
Wang Jianlin's expression changed, and he realized that this person was very unusual. He hurriedly elbowed him sideways, and then used his hand to block the opponent and retreated a few points.
"Come again!"
Wang Jianlin became serious and struck Erhu with his fist again.
Erhu, on the other hand, responded with ease and ease. Instead of subduing the opponent with one move, he explored the opponent's weakness and strength. After ten consecutive moves, he used the Bengquan move to knock Wang Jianlin away.
Of course, Erhu didn't use all his strength, otherwise this punch would hurt the opponent's internal organs and cause internal injuries.
This was a confrontation between ancient martial arts and modern fighting techniques, and ancient martial arts easily won.
Of course, it is also related to Erhu's martial arts training since he was a child, otherwise he would not be able to bear such an important task of protecting Zhu Yuanzhang.
On the other hand, Wang Jianlin had only been a soldier for a few years. He was already beyond the age of martial arts and could still develop such skills, which already surprised Erhu.
"Thanks for showing mercy."
Wang Jianlin cupped his hands, and then he realized that there is a sky outside the sky, and there are people outside the world.
He is still considered a good player in the army, but he can't get any benefit from these two tigers. It seems that his old man is not an ordinary person.
"Concession."
Erhu arched his hands.
Then he walked next to Zhu Yuanzhang and whispered: "Master Huang, I have been a soldier for three years, and I have developed this skill from an ordinary person. The army must have changed its training methods, and this military boxing should not be underestimated."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly.
He thought to himself, it seems that Li Xiao can indeed reform the general system.
Common people must serve in the army, and they have to go to class every day to learn to write, sing military songs, and cultivate patriotic culture. Because they no longer have to cultivate military fields, they have plenty of time to conduct various trainings to quickly improve their strength. Even if they are not military households, they can Become a qualified soldier quickly.
Of course, you can't just listen to one person's words. He will naturally have to go to the military to test it himself.
"Not bad."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction, looked at Wang Jianlin and said, "Young man, we are leaving today. See you again if we have the opportunity."
After getting along with each other for the past few days, Zhu Yuanzhang also liked this enthusiastic young man very much.
Erhu took out a one thousand tael silver note and handed it to Wang Jianlin.
Wang Jianlin was shocked: "What are you doing?"
Erhu said: "Then, aren't you talking about getting a thousand taels of silver every day and going to do big business? My husband sees that you are kind, even if he becomes a big businessman, he is still a good businessman, so I will invest you a thousand taels of silver." , when you make a lot of money in the future, remember to think of our master and benefit the people, you know?"
This is what Zhu Yuanzhang meant. Since everyone can engage in business, he hopes that Ming Dynasty will have more good businessmen like Li Xiao to benefit the people.
Wang Jianlin took the silver tremblingly, feeling so shocked in his heart, "How can this make Mr. Huang, where do you live and what is your name, so that I can repay you in the future?"
But at this time, Zhu Yuanzhang had already walked out of the hospital, waved his hand and said:
"When you make your mark, we will see you again if we have the chance. If you become a big profiteer in the future, we will be the first to deal with you."
After finishing speaking, he got on the carriage and drove towards the main road.
Watching the carriage go away, Wang Jianlin bowed deeply, "Master Huang, when I make money, you will hold half of the shares! If I lose, I won't lose it, right?"
Zhu Yuanzhang returned to the main road along the rural road.
The carriage drove in the direction of Peiping.
We walked for nearly half an hour.
There are many big houses on the roadside, and inside the big houses are gathered many people carrying burdens, who seem to be on their way.
Immediately afterwards.
Wuwuwu——
Suddenly a very loud sound sounded, causing the horse to neigh and stop, daring not to move.
Bang-dang, bang-dang, bang-dang, bang-dang——
Immediately afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang even felt the ground shaking regularly!
"What happened again?"
Zhu Yuanzhang stuck out his head and ordered:
"Erhu, what is this sound? It's so loud. Go check it out quickly!"
(End of chapter)
