Gao Jingshi and Li Zongcheng knew each other very early. When Gao Jingshi first arrived in the capital, he had some interactions with Li Zongcheng. At that time, Li Zongcheng was still young, and his father Li Yangong was only the Marquis of Linhuai.
His ancestor, Marquis of Linhuai, Li Tingzhu, hoped to take advantage of the turmoil in Wei Guogong's family to get the post of guarding Nanjing. Therefore, he asked Li Yangong and Li Zongcheng, who had traveled far and wide, to contact Gao Jingshi, hoping to get some inside information. Of course, if it was convenient, it would be best to get direct information. support.
Li Tingzhu's expectation coincided with Gao Jingshi's plan at the time, so Gao Jingshi intervened slightly, secretly suppressed the Duke of Wei, and promoted Li Tingzhu to the position of guarding Nanjing. From then on, the Linhuai Marquis Li family took advantage of the situation and became one of the few "allies" among the nobles who founded the country.
In short, the Linhuai Marquis Mansion can be regarded as a force belonging to the Gao pragmatism faction. Unlike the Wei Guogong Mansion, which is aloof and somewhat wavering despite the influence of Gao pragmatism, it can be regarded as Gao pragmatism's most die-hard supporter among the nobles in Nanjing.
However, this is not the main reason why Li Zongcheng was able to serve as the canonized envoy. He became the envoy mainly because his father Li Yangong wrote a book called "Nihon Kao". Li Yangong ascended the throne in the third year of Wanli, but he liked to travel since he was a child. Because he wrote "Japan Examination", he was regarded as one of the "Japanese Knowledge School" in the court.
Originally, due to the relationship with the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance, almost all the nobles of the Jingnan Clan are now the "Japanese Knowledge Faction". However, according to tradition, the Japanese tribute trade location in the Ming Dynasty has always been in Ningbo, so Nanjing has always been responsible for dealing with Japan. The problem is, since Japan was to be canonized this time, the imperial court subconsciously considered selecting someone from Nanjing first, so it thought of Linhuai Marquis Li Yangong.
However, Li Yangong's health has been very bad in recent years, and he will definitely not be able to go to Japan as an envoy (historically, he died in the 27th year of Wanli, and now he has not long to live), so Li Zongcheng took over as the Marquis of Linhuai. The envoy position should be held by his father.
Li Zongcheng is usually a bitch-like person, and his performance in front of Gao Pragmatic was not bad, but in the final analysis, he is just familiar with the methods of the Ming Dynasty officialdom, which does not mean that he is not a playboy, so he There will be as embarrassing a performance as in the original history.
Even so, the Linhuai Marquis Mansion is now a supporter of Gao Jingjing. Gao Jingjing cannot let Li Zongcheng make such a big mistake, so he naturally has to give him a lot of advice and arrange his tasks. Just follow the instructions.
Originally, Gao Jingshi clearly expressed his opposition to the Japanese canonization in the court, and the emperor was persuaded by him. However, due to the simultaneous deployment of troops, Li Rusong was transferred back to Liaodong and Ma Gui was transferred to North Korea. Therefore, this Which takes a while.
In order to ensure that Japan was stabilized while the Ming Dynasty mobilized troops and stockpiled combat supplies, the result of the cabinet discussion was that the canonization should remain as usual. According to the plan, when the canonization matter breaks down and Japan takes the initiative to provoke trouble again, Ming Dynasty will once again defeat it in an upright and complete manner.
Eh? Why did the imperial court think that the canonization issue was bound to collapse?
That was of course because Gao Pragmatic exposed Shen Weijing's trick of deceiving the superiors and concealing the truth from the superiors, and reconnected the whole incident in his own way.
Although Shen Weijing and Konishi Governor's tricks of cooperating with each other to deceive their monarchs may seem ridiculous, they are actually historical facts. It was precisely because of their tricks that the Japanese invaders fought in the original history. Two battles before and after.
Gao Pragmatic predicts that Shen Weijing will still follow the same pattern this time, in order to establish an "immortal merit" and gain maximum political benefits for himself. So when Shen Weijing returned to Beijing for the last time, Gao Pingshi suddenly called him to his house and easily revealed his plan, scaring Shen Weijing half to death.
However, a scare is a scare, but Gao Pragmatic asked him to continue to execute it. Shen Weijing was greatly puzzled. After asking, he found out that Gao Jingshi only needed him to delay time, and eventually angered Toyotomi Hideyoshi, causing Japan to launch another active attack. At that time, the Ming Dynasty was already prepared and just waited. The Japanese army threw themselves into a trap.
Oh, by the way, not only that, Gao Pragmatic also tricked North Korea in the plan, but this is an afterthought, let’s not mention it for now.
Shen Weijing naturally did not dare to disobey Gao Pragmatic, but he was still very worried. Since the matter had been exposed to Gao Ge Lao, there was no guarantee that it would also be exposed to other Pavilion Lao Lao and even the emperor. Then he would be dead if he didn't control it?
Gao Jingshi had known that this old boy would react like this, so he told him that he had already reported Shen Weijing's plan to the emperor. However, in front of the emperor, he said that the plan was arranged by someone Gao, and his purpose was to delay time. , so he helped Shen Weijing clear up the relationship.
Only then did Shen Weijing feel relieved. First, he thanked Gao Pragmatic profusely, and then he accepted the new task with high spirits and embarked on the "journey" from Busan to Japan.
As for Li Zongcheng, Gao Pingshi knew that he only gained the reputation of a "Japanese Knowledge School" by relying on his father Li Yangong's "Japan Examination". In fact, his knowledge of Japan was very average. Although he also participated in the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance's trade with Japan, it was different from the Jingnan clan's self-built fleet. He participated in the form of a shareholding and dividend. He did not build a fleet of his own. It can only be said that he was acting as a long-term investor.
Gao pragmatic knew that this guy had no backbone and was definitely not the material to be an imperial envoy, so he had no intention of letting him actually set foot on the Japanese archipelago from beginning to end. His only task was to delay as much time as possible in Busan, and finally said "because of the If you are unable to persist due to illness and regretfully quit the mission, you can get part of the credit and avoid the possibility of accidents. From this perspective, Gao Pragmatic was extremely benevolent and righteous to him.
It is necessary to mention the mobilization of the Ming army. As the Japanese army withdrew to around Busan, the Korean army vigorously "recovered lost ground." The Ming army did not accompany them southward, but only sent some "military observers" acted by Gao Jiading of the Jinghua Trading Company to various parts of southern Korea to temporarily draw terrain maps—— Jinghua actually drew maps of North Korea, Northeast Asia, etc., but those maps were not too detailed, and now they need to be more precise.
As for the Ming army, except for Song Yingchang who led a small number of southern troops to remain stationed, the Liaodong army was already rapidly withdrawing northward. Li Rusong himself was even among the first to return to Liaodong to take charge of the recruitment and training of Li Jiajun's servants.
At the same time, the corresponding response was naturally the arrival of Ma Gui's army. Unlike the Liaodong Army, Ma Gui did not bring only the direct Ma family army - of course the Ma family army was not that large in scale. What he brought was a mixed force, the main force of which was drawn from the towns of Xuanfu, Datong, Jizhen, Taiyuan and Beizhili.
Over the years, the armies of the above towns have often been mobilized and used intensively, but the people who unified them always seem to be highly pragmatic. There are some exceptions this time. It stands to reason that they will be under the command of Song Yingchang, and the actual military affairs will be handled by Ma Gui Admiral - Since Li Rusong returned to Liaodong, Ma Gui took over the post of Pingwo Admiral (originally it was not called Pingwo, but Yuwa, but it was changed this time).
In addition, not only the army, but also the navy or the Ming Navy must be mentioned. It turns out that Chen Lin has long been appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the admiral of the Navy (Yu Japanese has been renamed as the Ping Japanese Navy). However, the Ming Dynasty Navy has not carried out large-scale combat missions in the open sea for hundreds of years. The establishment of this Ping Japanese Navy took a long time. time, during which many difficulties were overcome.
The main difficulty is of course the formation of the fleet. Like the land division, the Ming court's requirements for the navy are: Even if the scale does not necessarily exceed North Korea, the combat effectiveness must become the real backbone. In other words, it must be better than the North Korean navy to ensure that the power of the overlord country can be shown, which is more troublesome.
In recent years, the Ming Navy has basically eliminated the pirates along the coast of the Ming Dynasty because Beijing's two-ocean fleet has been too powerful. As a result, the Navy has further degraded and is basically only responsible for offshore patrols.
Although the size of the naval fleet appears to be as high as a thousand ships on the books, in fact most of them only exist on the books, and the ships have long since been lost. The rest are almost all "old and young". There are no more than fifty ships that can go to sea to fight, and they are widely distributed in the long coastal ports from Tianjin to Guangzhou, and these fifty ships There are not a few big ships in the fleet, so we can't take them out at all.
What to do if there is no boat? According to the past habits of the Ming Dynasty, of course it was temporarily built or requisitioned. But there is another problem here. The government-run shipyards of the Ming Dynasty have long been in decline. The remaining technical capabilities of more than 20 years ago have been lost due to high pragmatism and the poaching of technical backbones in order to establish the Jinghua system shipyard.
Later, in order to fight against Jinghua, Jiangnan maritime merchants also delayed the last remaining remnants of the official shipyards. So now, all the official shipyards have collapsed, and there is simply not enough to temporarily build a decent Eastern Expedition force. fleet.
So Chen Lin argued and coordinated with the imperial court for several months, and finally gave up the imperial court's plan to temporarily build warships, and instead ordered warships from Jinghua and other private shipyards. Of course, the bulk of the shipbuilding cost went to the strongest Jinghua department. shipyard, and the other part was given to the Jiangnan chaebol shipyard.
The construction of a sailing battleship is no longer as long as that of modern battleships. It is normal to build a large ship in a few months if the shipyard has material reserves.
Moreover, the slipways required for shipbuilding at this time were far inferior to the extremely professional slipways of modern times. As long as the location of the shipyard was not too bad, it was easy to temporarily build a slipway. In short, as long as various types of wood that have been dried have been prepared in advance, the construction itself can be suddenly expanded in scale.
However, no matter how hurriedly it is, it will take a year or so to build an ocean-going fleet that can overwhelm the North Korean navy. Therefore, Chen Lin did not catch up with the battle during the war with Admiral Li Rusong until this day. It was finally late and it was time to join the war.
In the twenty-third year of Wanli, the fourth year of Wenlu in Japan, the first month. The Ming Dynasty canonization mission finally arrived in Japan with great delay. The mission was welcomed into Osaka and was received by Governor Konishi.
After President Konishi made arrangements for the delegation, he immediately met with Deputy Envoy Shen Weijing in private for discussion. He asked nervously: "Does the Ming Emperor have any decree regarding the transfer of the south of the Han River to Japan?"
Shen Weijing replied: "It is a pity that the Holy One has not approved the transfer of the south of the Han River to Japan, but only canonized the King of Japan. I have tried my best to do this. However, the Holy One has his own considerations. As a minister, I really cannot influence the Holy Spirit easily." Heart."
Governor Konishi was very angry about this, and his expression suddenly changed: "What are you talking about? That means that except for the canonization, none of the original conditions can be met? General Shen, even if you are cheating, you have to look good. Such a Come on, how will I explain it to Taige! Please think about it, we are in Japan now, it will be easy for me to take your lives."
Shen Weijing was a bachelor, so he argued stiffly: "It's not just the canonization, but also the withdrawal of troops, isn't it also arranged? I have already explained from the beginning that this matter is a fraud. Neither you nor I want to fight anymore, and you are worried My own safety is why I came up with this strategy to help you. Regarding the cession of territory, I have always said that I will ask the emperor for an order, and I have not guaranteed that I will be able to convince the emperor. I have never betrayed my trust."
Governor Konishi had no choice but to admit this, so he said: "Yes, of course I remember that according to your design at that time, it would be difficult to start a war easily. Once it is exposed, you and I will only have to blame each other on the other side. That’s it. Therefore, we must be careful during this period. You and I must work together to control the canonization ceremony. Our Highness will only receive you first tomorrow and will not directly accept the canonization. What are your plans?"
Shen Weijing said: "I heard you say before that although many of your lord's subordinates understand Chinese, many of them only know the dialects of Suzhou and Hangzhou. You are almost the only one who is proficient in northern Mandarin, and I, the Ming Dynasty envoy, only have I am proficient in Japanese, so I plan to read out the meaning of your lord in Japanese after my Ming Dynasty envoy reads the edict. After your lord replies, I will also reply to the edict according to the situation, and will never let the truth Exposed."
Shen Weijing's words are obviously nonsense. The Japanese side is indeed what he said. Since the tribute trade to the Ming Dynasty was almost all carried out in Ningbo, most Japanese who understand Chinese can actually only speak the dialect of the Jiangnan area, and those who understand the northern Mandarin not much.
However, there are quite a few people in the Ming Dynasty’s envoys who understand Japanese. However, because the entire canonization is a play arranged by a high pragmatism, of course everyone will cooperate with Shen Weijing’s passionate performance, so Shen Weijing can brag as much as he wants, and he is definitely not afraid.” exposed".
President Konishi always felt a little uneasy, but at this point he could only warn: "I always feel vaguely uneasy. I hope you and I can get through this difficulty together. If you are exposed on the spot, you should know that it will be very dangerous. General Shen, I am not being alarmist, His Highness Taige has been moody in recent years, so please be careful."
Shen Weijing replied: "Thank you for the tip, please feel at ease as usual. You'd better pray that your master will be tired of using troops by the time you find out. I also need to make preparations quickly, just in case." After repeated instructions from Governor Konishi , also rushed to report to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was very excited about the arrival of the Ming Dynasty mission, and ordered that the etiquette of all supplies for the mission must comply with the highest standards, but at the same time he also had doubts as to why the Ming Princess and the North Korean Prince did not come together - -According to the original conditions, it included the emperor marrying the Princess of Ming Dynasty and detaining a North Korean prince as a hostage. But now that no one was seen, Hideyoshi asked Konishi Yukinaga.
President Konishi replied: "Your Highness, according to the envoy, there are many rituals for a princess's marriage, and it will take time to prepare for it. Also, because the rituals are complicated, we need to have a lot of discussions with us about this. As for North Korea, they The work efficiency is extremely poor. I heard that we haven’t decided which prince to choose as hostage yet, so this time we just canonized him first.”
Toyotomi Hideyoshi said displeased: "What kind of tricks does North Korea still want to play? It's been so long, why can't it decide which prince will be? I think it's time to intimidate me. If I weren't busy with domestic affairs and receiving envoys, I would definitely It will make them regret it. By the way, when will the division of the south of the Han River be decided?"
President Konishi replied: "I haven't said much to my subordinates about this matter. I just told them that I will inform His Highness the Crown Prince tomorrow."
Maeda Toshiie suggested: "Your Highness Taikaku, just stop here today. Anyway, we will see the results tomorrow. Regarding the canonization etiquette, we still have a lot of things to prepare. The Yodo Palace is still waiting for you to come. Please move. step."
When Hideyoshi heard this, he immediately beamed with joy: "Ah, right? It's my son who misses his father again, haha. Well, let's listen to Mingguo's attitude tomorrow and then decide when to enthrone him. Xiaoxi , You have worked hard too, please rest early." President Xiaoxi breathed a sigh of relief and resigned.
After Governor Konishi retired, Toyotomi Hideyoshi hurried to the tea room in the side room, hugged and kissed his newborn son, Shi, and promised to give him a real world. Seeing that Hideyoshi was so happy, Chacha asked why, and Hideyoshi told Chacha about the arrival of the envoy. Chacha praised him repeatedly, which made Hideyoshi even happier.
----------
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your monthly ticket support, thank you!
