Emperor Gokomatsu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had died.
Yes, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu unified the Northern and Southern Dynasties, defeated Toki, Ouchi and other daimyo, and brought the Ashikaga Shogunate to its peak. His achievements cannot be ignored.
However, it is an indisputable fact that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu used the emperor as a puppet and repeatedly overstepped his authority. Now that the puppeteer is dead, the puppet finally has a chance to take back his dignity and power.
It stands to reason that the death of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu is a bit strange and should be investigated carefully. However, Emperor Gokomatsu did not want to investigate, Ashikaga Yoshitoshi did not want to investigate, and Gogameyama of Daikakuji Temple did not say anything. Only Ashikaga Yoshitsugu wanted to investigate. use.
In order to avoid long nights and nightmares, Ashikaga Yoshimichi and Nijo Ryoki sent his body to Tomochi Temple the day after Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's death, piled it with firewood, and sent it away with a fire.
Although Ashikaga Yoshimochi was very fast, he still gave Ashikaga Yoshimitsu great respect. The abbots of the temples near Kyoto came, including the Dainagon Hino clan, the leader Yoshishog Shiba, Sekihaku Nijo Ryoki, etc. More than 3,000 people saw him off.
On the sixth day after Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was burned to ashes, a bone collecting ceremony was held.
The so-called bone picking is actually a study of Central Plains culture. It is a secondary burial ceremony. Three to five years after the person is buried in the soil, when the corpse has decomposed and only the bones are left, it is dug out, wiped and exposed to the sun, and then buried from the bottom. On the top, the golden poppies are placed in the order of toes, feet, legs, thighs, spine, chest, hands and head, and the Feng Shui master chooses the time for burial.
I don’t know if I didn’t learn everything when I was studying, or if I was clever and made some changes, the shogunate’s bone-picking ceremony was arranged after the cremation.
It was all burnt to ashes, and I didn’t know what bones could be picked out. Anyway, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu didn’t leave any bones, so he had to grab a bunch of ashes as a ritual.
Etiquette and impoliteness are just formalities, and not many people actually shed tears for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
After the issue of ashes was resolved, the Shiba clan, the Hosokawa clan, the Hatakeyama clan, the Akamatsu clan, the Yamana clan, etc. all expressed their stance and clearly supported Ashikaga Yoshimachi.
The Palace of Flowers.
Ashikaga Yoshimochi liked the Flower Palace, but did not like the splendid Kitayama Palace.
With the support of a group of daimyo and ministers, Ashikaga Yoshimochi gained a firm foothold. In order to maintain the "brotherly" relationship, Ashikaga Yoshimochi did not directly attack Ashikaga Yoshitsugu. Promoted to the second position.
After the overall situation was decided, Ashikaga Yoshimichi began to renegotiate the Northern Expedition.
Zeami firmly supported the Northern Expedition, continued Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's legacy, conquered Korea, and swallowed up the Ming Dynasty. He also cited a lot of allusions about the weak defeating the strong and eating the big to increase his persuasiveness. Most of them were from the history of the Central Plains before the Tang Dynasty. allusion.
Regarding this, Zeami was also a little helpless. He had no choice but to find so many cases in a small country with few people...
No matter what, we can't do without fighting. This is Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's arrangement. As the successor, you should first implement my principles and policies. Besides, the orders for war mobilization have been issued. How many troops have begun to gather? So many people have big eyes. Staring at it, you suddenly said you wouldn't fight. Isn't this the second edition of "Fenghuo Opera Princes"?
This time you deceived a group of people. After the Ming army really comes and kills them, do you still expect them to help?
Zeami's worries were not unreasonable, but Ashikaga Yoshimichi was indeed intimidated by the Ming Dynasty's military and national power, and he did not want to send troops to conquer and seek death.
Knowing Ashikaga Yoshimochi's concerns, Nijo Ryouki proposed a compromise plan: "We will not announce a cessation of troop recruitment and war preparations for the protection of foreign countries. At the same time, we will send Azu and Hito to North Korea or the Ming Dynasty to try our best to contact the Ming Dynasty and resolve the crisis as soon as possible. "
Guan Bai's proposal received support from everyone.
Faced with more and more clear intelligence, no one is willing to go to war with the Ming Dynasty, which is at its peak and whose national power is immeasurable. Coupled with the tragic defeat on Iki Island and the bloody massacre on Tsushima Island, it is proved that the Ming army is more ferocious than beasts. beast.
Considering that this mission was related to the life and death of the shogunate, under the strong advice of Nijo Yoshiki, the governor and others, Ashikaga Yoshimichi chose Hino Miko, who has noble blood, outstanding talent, and extraordinary beauty, as a gift, and followed Azu, Hitomi and others. People carry big pens
Gold and silver as ambassadors...
Jeju Island.
Geng Xuan, the commander-in-chief of the Donghai Navy, stood at the port and greeted Luo Guanying, Shen Wei and others against the whistling north wind.
Seeing Luo Guanying walking unnaturally, Geng Xuan stepped forward and asked, "But there was a big storm when we came here. How come you were injured?"
Shen Wei smiled and told Luo Guanying that he had smashed Luo Guanying's teeth and was beaten by the emperor. Geng Xuan clenched her fists and looked at Luo Guanying angrily: "You are the first Marquis of Dengdu. You have experienced hundreds of battles." , a person who crossed the endless sea, why did he only hit one censor, he deserved to be beaten!"
Luo Guanying's eyes widened. A censor received twenty sticks in this beating. If he wanted to hit a few more, how many sticks would he receive? By this time, his name must have been written on the monument to the heroes, right?
Geng Xuan, who was dissatisfied with Luo Guanying, slapped Luo Guanying on the buttocks and shouted that she wanted to cleanse the few Jiefeng. Luo Guanying's teeth were itchy with hatred. These grown men were all perverts. If it hadn't been for them, her injury would have been cured long ago...
"Where's Wan Qinglin? This guy is promising and he didn't come to pick us up?"
Luo Guanying couldn't bully Geng Xuan. He was also the Marquis of Changxing and the commander-in-chief of the navy, so he decided to find a soft persimmon to bully.
Geng Xuan pointed to the west: "As you know, this island belongs to North Korea. There are some Koreans on the island. That's not right. They should be Mongolians and a group of war horses. Wan Qinglin went to negotiate and planned to buy a group of war horses. The war horses will also be useful in future battles.”
Shen Wei was a little confused: "You shouldn't talk to Li Fangyuan about buying a war horse, why do you say it here?"
Geng Xuan disagreed: "How many war horses can Li Fangyuan sell to us? What's more, Li Fangyuan doesn't know how many war horses there are here. It's good to have a few war horses. As long as we give them some benefits, the war horses will be easy to discuss..."
"A female businesswoman..."
Luo Guanying hit the nail on the head.
There are more than a thousand sergeants busy at the port of Jeju Island. If you only need to dock the Dafu Ship or the like, you can completely rely on the port left over from the Yuan Dynasty. However, the Ming Dynasty needs to park treasure ships here, and it is not enough to just rely on the infrastructure left over from the Yuan Dynasty. used.
The Yuan Dynasty once used this place as a military base, leaving many buildings behind. From a historical perspective, Jeju Island was once the territory of the Yuan Dynasty. As the Ming Dynasty that overthrew the Yuan Dynasty, it was natural that it had ownership of this territory. Unfortunately, the people of the Yuan Dynasty felt that this land was too far away to be managed, so they gave it to them. It is difficult for Ming Dynasty to accept it now.
The large warehouses built by Geng Xuan are all made of reinforced concrete. For the sake of safety, explosion experiments were also conducted to ensure that if this warehouse exploded, it would not have a direct impact on another warehouse and avoid an accident that could destroy it. all.
The warehouse adopts a "Feng"-shaped design and has six gunpowder ammunition warehouses, each of which has stored 3,000 gunpowder shells. After inspecting it, Luo Guanying, Shen Wei and others were very satisfied with the warehouse.
Geng Xuan handed the gunpowder allocation documents and waistband to Luo Guanying, and said seriously: "The emperor has said that after you come, I will return to Tianjin Port immediately, and the affairs here will be left to you."
Luo Guanying, Shen Wei and others all knew that the Donghai Navy was busy now. Zheng He also went to Tianjin Port. How many ships needed to be mobilized and logistical preparations all needed to be arranged. Geng Xuan was indeed not suitable to stay in Jeju Island.
After sending Geng Xuan away, the group moved into a simple mansion in the port, rummaged through documents and information, and discussed the next action. After Wan Qinglin came back, he was very happy when he heard the news about the great harvest, but when he talked about Wang Zhen, the atmosphere turned cold again.
Luo Guanying waved his hand and said seriously: "Like other brothers, he will live in our hearts! The most important thing now is to reconsider whether to continue to attack Japan, and if so, where is the most appropriate place to attack."
Wan Qinglin pointed to a pile of intelligence: "According to the information currently available, the Ashikaga Shogunate is actively preparing for war, and the target is North Korea. I think it is better not to disturb them at this time and let Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and Li Fangyuan fight, we It would also save some effort.”
Shen Wei looked at the map, nodded and said, "Although this strategy is not aggressive enough, it is indeed the best way. At least it can weaken the power of Japanese sergeants with the help of North Korea."
Luo Guanying was a little dissatisfied: "These are all military merits. For one Korean leader, our brothers will lose one military merit! Everyone knows that military merits become more and more rare as time goes by, especially the navy. After defeating Japan, they want to be promoted. , I’m afraid I have to wait for qualifications! I would rather Ashikaga Yoshimitsu take everyone to stay in Kyoto, than let him send everyone to North Korea!”
Zhao Shiyu looked at Luo Guanying, who was eager for quick success, and said with a smile: "Military merit is of course necessary, but more important is this land. With this land, the soldiers' achievements will be guaranteed. Besides, you don't really think that Li Fangyuan's Can the soldiers stop Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's soldiers?"
Luo Guanying did not know the combat power of the Korean soldiers, but he knew the combat power of the Japanese soldiers very well. In the battle of Yangjiang, if it were not for the support of firearms, the sergeants of the Yangjiang Station would have suffered heavy losses. .
Fighting with real swords and guns, the combat power of this group of people is not inferior to that of the sergeants of the ordinary guards of the Ming Dynasty.
After discussion, Luo Guanying and others finally decided to stand still and wait and see.
Zheng Huai and Yu Zhu returned to Jeju Island and brought shocking news:
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu died, and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu planned to sue for peace.
Faced with the sudden change, Luo Guanying, Shen Wei and others were a little dumbfounded. You have dispatched your craftsmen, recruited your sergeants, and mobilized for a fight. Suddenly, you just gave up?
"This guy's fate is bad."
Luo Guanying sighed.
Shen Wei thought for a while and said leisurely: "You should say, this guy's life is really good."
Luo Guanying and others nodded repeatedly. Yes, at least he died without much pain, otherwise...
