"This Xu Fu... Why did he ignore such an important matter of finding the elixir of life?" Zhu Cixiang interrupted Zhang Huangyan, shaking his head repeatedly, looking very disappointed!
Zhang Huangyan is also a little disappointed - why do you, a wise man, want to take the elixir of life? This thing has deceived many emperors since ancient times!
Zhu Cixiang asked: "What happened next?"
Zhang Huangyan said quickly: "Your Majesty, Xu Fu later fought on these three big islands. With 500 boys and 500 girls and some alchemists, sailors, and soldiers who went with the ship, he fought bravely and conquered many enemies. Aboriginal tribes. The indigenous people on these three islands call themselves the Japanese people, and also call the place where they are located the Japanese country..."
"Japanese country? Isn't that Japan?" Zhu Cixiang said in surprise, "Then did Xu Fu find gods on the land of Japan?"
"I don't know about this," Zhang Huang said, "but it is very likely that Xu Fu left behind descendants!"
"Really?" Zhu Cixiang was very interested, "Who are his descendants?"
"The current Japanese king is very likely to be after Xu Fu!" Zhang Huang said, "because Xu Fu is probably the ancestor of the Japanese king, the Shenwu Japanese king. And his Shenwu Japanese king was granted the title of the First Emperor!"
"What? The First Emperor made Xu Fu the Shenwu Japanese King?" Zhu Cixiang was stunned, "Then Japan has been a vassal of our Celestial Dynasty since ancient times?"
"Yes!" Zhang Huangyan said, "It has been since ancient times... So the Cabinet Office suggested that the imperial court send personnel to Japan to investigate the matter. If it is true, it would be a great disobedience for the Japanese king to arrogantly proclaim himself emperor!"
"We must find out!" Zhu Cixiang said, "We also need to find out if there is an elixir of life!"
A few strange eyes were cast on Emperor Zhu. Emperor Zhu seemed to be aware of it and quickly added: "It's not that I want it... but it's for the Supreme Emperor and his old man! The Supreme Emperor is old and his health is getting worse every day. One day, I urgently need the elixir of life to prolong my life!”
I see!
The courtiers thought: After the Emperor is over 40 years old, his dragon body is indeed not as good as before. The number of the Emperor's children born in the past two years is much less than the previous two years. Last year, only 5 children were added...
"Who can take this trip?" Zhu Cixiang asked again.
"Your Majesty, I can go to Japan." The one who volunteered was Navy Commander Zheng Jiangong.
Not long ago, he asked Zhu Cixiang to be appointed as the admiral of the Eastern Fleet, and he had already received the approval. Now he can wait for Gu Rong (Gu Sanmazi) to come back from Beiyang to take over as the naval commander, and then he can go to Jiaozhou Bay to take up the post.
The Oriental Fleet has established strongholds in Nagasaki, Goto Islands, and Uraga. Zheng Jiangong went to inspect as usual after taking office, and happened to stop by to ask about Xu Fu.
"Okay!" Zhu Cihong said, "Thank you for your hard work... If the Japanese king is really the queen of Xu Fu, he must ask about the elixir of life. The emperor is waiting to take it!"
When it comes to the elixir of life, Zheng Jiangong certainly cannot delay! So he didn't wait for Gu Rong and set off immediately after the New Year, going to Shanghai first. Then he boarded the newly commissioned gunboat Yingtianfu there and headed straight for Japan.
The Yingtianfu gunboat is a so-called bombardment gunboat, which is a sail battleship specially designed to be equipped with bombardment guns.
The deadweight tonnage of the Yingtianfu is as high as 1,000 tons! The upper deck is very flat, with no high bulges in the forecastle and stern, and no superstructure. In addition to three tall masts on the deck, there are four uncovered turrets arranged diagonally. The turret is located on the edge of the deck, protruding slightly outward. Placed on it are four of the latest 32-pound bombardment cannons, which can rotate 180 degrees.
Two of the 32-pound cannons can fire forward, and the other two 32-pound cannons can fire backward.
Of course, it is more troublesome when the two 32-pound guns located near the bow of the ship fire forward. The sail on the bowsprit must be completely retracted first, and the bowsprit of this class of warships is particularly straight, almost It extends forward horizontally, and there is no bowsprit upper mast - just add a section of upward mast to the bowsprit to hang the sail, which is a common design of Dutch warships.
In addition to four 32-pound guns, the Yingtianfu-class battleship is also equipped with 16 24-pound short guns, which are placed on the gun deck below the upper deck. In order to prevent fire and explosion, each two 24-pound cannons have a separate gun cabin-a thick wooden board painted with fire-retardant paint is used to separate the two sides to create a "small room" in which two 24-pound guns are placed. Cannons, one to the left and one to the right.
When a warship of this level is engaged in an artillery battle, if it meets the enemy with its broadside and fires up to 10 bombardment guns at the same time, the firepower is considered very powerful!
However, at this time, there were no Spanish privateers in the Eastern Sea that dared to attack the Ming Dynasty ships. After the Battle of Xisaka Castle and the Battle of Fuuchi Castle, the Spanish began to make arrangements to retreat, so the ships of the Spanish Eastern Fleet and they could collect All the ships that arrived and were willing to serve King Philip were used to transport people. First, the Spaniards on Luzon Island were transported to Kyushu, Japan. After arriving in Kyushu, they picked up other Spaniards and Japanese and evacuated to the New World together...
And the Ming Navy did not interfere with the Spanish retreat - there were five to six million Spaniards in the New World, not more than these few thousand. The evacuation of the Spanish from the Western Pacific meant that Ming merchant ships were no longer wary. The naval fleet, which was closely related to Ming merchants, was naturally unwilling to stop Spain from leaving.
Therefore, Zheng Jiangong's journey to Japan was neither surprising nor dangerous. On February 13, the 13th year of Hongxing's reign in the Ming Dynasty, he successfully arrived in Uraga Town. Two days later, he arrived in Edo together with Zheng Hongkui, the ambassador to Japan, and met Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the shogunate, at the Mito feudal residence.
"What? Is His Majesty the Emperor really a descendant of Xu Fu?" Tokugawa Mitsukuni frowned, "And Xu Fu was also named the Jinmu Japanese King by the First Emperor? So speaking of it...the legend is completely true! "
"Yes, it's true!" Zheng Jiangong said, "The evidence is conclusive... Wu Sangui dug up the tomb of the First Emperor and obtained records of Xu Fu's expedition against the Japanese and his petition to be crowned king."
"Elder brother," Zheng Hongkui looked at Tokugawa Mitsukuni, "your family is descended from Emperor Seiwa and is also a descendant of Xu Fu! I wonder if the elders in the family have ever mentioned the elixir of life?"
Elixir of life? Tokugawa Mitsukuni was really dumbfounded, and shook his head quickly: "No, no... If there is, God Lord will definitely take it!"
"That's right!" Zheng Hongkui nodded lightly, "If there really was...a divine king, wouldn't he be alive to this day?"
"Is there any royal family that day?" Zheng Jiangong asked.
"The Emperor of Heaven... I don't know about this!" Tokugawa Mitsukuni thought for a while and said seriously, "The appearance of Xu Fu's memorial is a big deal. We must find out whether the ancestor of His Majesty the Emperor is Xu Fu or Amaterasu. "
This is a big deal!
If the emperor's ancestor is Xu Fu, then he has no godhead...
If the emperor's ancestor is Amaterasu... then Amaterasu should have the elixir of life, right? Hurry and offer it to the Emperor of Heaven!
Therefore, Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the elder of the Tokugawa shogunate, prepared to lead 20,000 troops, go to Luo according to the general's family policy, and personally consult His Majesty the Emperor on this matter.
Mitsukuni's army had not yet left Edo, and his memorial had already been sent to the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, which frightened Emperor Gosai.
"Your Majesty, is the late Emperor Shenwu actually Xu Fu? If not, the court should issue an edict to clarify it as soon as possible to set the record straight!"
"Yes, we must look at it seriously...because there have always been rumors among the people that it is the former Emperor Shenwu who is Xu Fu."
The people who were talking to the emperor who was sitting behind the bamboo curtain in the Shichen Hall of the Imperial Palace were Nijo Mitsuhei Sekishiro and his left minister Takashi Fusuke.
These two Fujiwara and Tsinghua-born ministers are the most powerful figures in the Japanese court today - in fact, they don't have much power anymore. The power lies with the shogunate, so they can play an important role in the court's "official appointment game". Receive some gifts by the way.
Emperor Gonishi immediately realized the seriousness of the problem after receiving the memorial from the shogunate, so he immediately summoned the two men into the palace. But judging from the tone of these two people, they were not worried at all... They thought this matter was a legend!
