How could Tokugawa Iemitsu not know about Shimazu Mitsuhisa's little thoughts!
For him, he was more worried about the domestic stability of Japan rather than the Ming army's attack.
After all, it is basically unrealistic for the Ming army to attack Japan. Too far away! There is no land connection!
Therefore, no matter what the final cause was on the Ryukyu side, the Satsuma clan eventually caused so many things, which made Tokugawa Iemitsu very dissatisfied.
So, after he asked about the situation, he put Shimazu Mitsuhisa in prison. The reason was that without his order, Shimazu Mitsuhisa secretly went to war against the Ming army!
As for Shimazu Mitsuhisa's little tricks, it's impossible to fool anyone like Tokugawa Iemitsu!
………………
During the 20th year of Chongzhen's New Year, the Ming army officers and soldiers in Satsuma Domain did not have a good time, but were running the occupied Satsuma Domain territory.
Regarding the local Japanese, the Ming army posted a notice stating that anyone who dared to confront the Ming army would be severely punished if their family members were among the prisoners. The obedient Japanese will receive blessings from their captives and their families, and the Ming army can deal with them as appropriate.
If the Japanese escaped, their houses and land would be confiscated and distributed to those who did not escape.
The land owned by the Satsuma clan's daimyo Shimazu Mitsuhisa and the middle- and high-level samurai were all confiscated and distributed to those Japanese who were friendly to the Ming Dynasty and originally had no land.
All of these are based on a premise, that is, the local Japanese must register their household registration, land information, etc. with the Ming army within the specified time.
In addition, the local Japanese could exchange things with the Ming army, and then Ming merchant ships would come over to do business. Those who abided by the Ming army's regulations would not be bullied by the Ming army. As for pricing power, of course it is not the Japanese who have the final say.
After these measures were taken, the territory of Satsuma Domain immediately stabilized. At least on the surface, most of the escaped Japanese returned to their places of residence. Because they have nowhere to go, and as long as the Ming army doesn't kill people, they will eventually come back.
The Japanese state at this time was nominally ruled by the Japanese emperor, but actually ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate. Then came the daimyo and samurai from various places, and finally the ordinary Japanese.
Among them, the Tokugawa shogunate's method of governing the country actually treated ordinary Japanese as serfs for daimyo from various places, and their living conditions were extremely difficult. This is also the reason why the Shimabara Rebellion broke out under the natural disaster.
Even Shimazu Mitsuhisa felt poor in the Satsuma Domain, and naturally the people in his territory were even less likely to live comfortably. Moreover, within the Satsuma Domain, the fields were actually very limited and were basically owned by daimyo and samurai at all levels. Most ordinary Japanese people are landless.
Now, after the Ming army captured this place, they were able to get land. Of course, they were very surprised by this. But at the same time, they were also very worried, fearing that the Japanese army would come back to kill them and drive away the Ming army. Those who occupied the land would become the wronged souls of the Japanese army.
Therefore, although they all returned to their residences, they were not enthusiastic about taking over the land from the Ming army.
In this regard, the Ming army did not force it, but only took the prisoners to build a military base on Sakurajima.
Time soon came to the end of January in the 21st year of Chongzhen. The envoy of the Edo shogunate, Yagyu Jubei, finally came to Kyushu Island and soon appeared at the border of Satsuma Domain.
This Yagyu Jubei was very famous in the Japanese country, and even had many legendary stories in later generations.
His full name is Yagyu Jubei Sangan, and he is a famous swordsman in the history of Japan. Yagyu Jubei, his grandfather Yagyu Ishishusai Munegan, and his father Yagyu Tajima Mori Muneki are collectively known as the "Yagyu Three-Day Dog".
Tokugawa Iemitsu was able to finally implement the seclusion of the country and suppress the Japanese daimyo that had been inherited from the Warring States Period. This was due to three people, the so-called "Three Tripods".
This "three tripods" refers to the three important ministers who fully supported Tokugawa Iemitsu's rule from different angles and contributed the most. They are Ieyasu's wet nurse and Kasuga Bureau (Afu) who established the Ooku system (popularly understood as the shogun's harem). They are dead at this time.
There is also Matsudaira Izu, who put down the Shimabara Rebellion and assisted Tokugawa Iemitsu in completing various domestic and foreign policies. He is known as the wise Izu.
The last one was Yagyu Tajima Mori Muneki, who served as Tokugawa Ieyasu's swordsmanship instructor and shogunate chief, and was similar to Tokugawa Iemitsu's adoptive father. He was also dead at this time. The person who succeeded him was his son, the equally famous Yagyu Jubei.
The official position of this daimofu is actually the highest censor of the shogunate, responsible for supervising the daimyo of each domain and officials of the shogunate. In Ming terms, it is the official position of the commander of the Kinyiwei.
Tokugawa Iemitsu finally handed over the important task of spying on the situation of the Ming army and ascertaining the intentions of the Ming army to his "Commander of the Kinyi Guards".
His status was here, so the person who accompanied him to the border was Hosokawa Yukitaka, the daimyo of the Uto domain. Along the way, he was explaining to Yagyu Jubei what he had learned about the Ming army.
Suddenly, in front of them, a group of warriors emerged from hiding and stepped forward to salute.
When Hosokawa Yukitaka saw it, he said to Yagyu Jubei: "Sir, if you go over there, you will reach the territory of the Ming army!"
"Huh?" When Yagyu Jubei heard this, he immediately snorted loudly, appearing to be very dissatisfied, "This is the territory of our great Japanese country, where does the Ming army's territory come from?"
After hearing this, Yukitaka Hosokawa knew that he had said the wrong thing. He immediately changed his words and said, "What the official meant... What the official meant..."
"Okay!" Yagyu Jubei didn't want to hear his explanation, so he interrupted him directly, "Be careful in the future!"
After saying this, he drove his horse forward with his men brought from Edo.
When Hosokawa Yukitaka saw it, he was slightly relieved. Looking at the back of Yagyu Jubei, he quickly shouted to please: "Sir, if there is anything wrong, just send someone to deliver a message, and I will lead the troops in immediately!"
After hearing this, Yagyu Jubei just showed a hint of sneer silently. If Yukitaka Hosokawa really has this ability, why do we still need him to make this trip?
Therefore, he ignored it at all.
……………………
Li Dingguo was discussing logistics supplies with the Ryukyu Prime Minister Zheng Xiangming who had arrived. Suddenly, someone came to report that the Tokugawa shogunate had sent someone to see him.
When Zheng Xiangming heard this, he was a little surprised. He didn't expect that the Tokugawa shogunate sent an envoy first instead of sending troops to attack. Is it possible that they know how powerful the Ming army is?
In this regard, he felt it was still a bit impossible. Because the Japanese country is so powerful, it is impossible for the Ming army to be afraid of the Ming army just because the Ming army defeated the Satsuma clan. Even though the Satsuma Domain was indeed one of the powerful vassals in Japan, it was just a powerful vassal.
It is said that the current shogun has a huge hereditary samurai group called "Hatamoto", which is said to have 80,000 people, and can achieve absolute suppression of the daimyo of each domain through force. If the Tokugawa shogunate had sent this army, the Ming army would definitely not be able to defeat it with just this few troops, right?
While he was thinking this, Li Dingguo smiled and said to him: "Let's go to the other side to meet this Edo envoy!"
I went to the other side because I didn’t want the envoy from Edo to know the details of the military base on Sakurajima.
Zheng Xiangming was a little surprised after hearing this, and confirmed: "Is the lower official going too?"
"What? Are you afraid that the Edo envoy will hate you, so you don't dare to see him?" After hearing this, Li Dingguo asked with a half-smile.
Upon hearing this, Zheng Xiangming's face suddenly turned red and he immediately said: "How is that possible! I definitely didn't mean this!"
"Okay, let's meet together!" After hearing this, Li Dingguo walked out first.
Soon, they took a boat to the other side and arrived at Shimazu Mitsuhisa's original seaside residence, where they met the envoy from Edo.
………………
After Yagyu Jubei entered Satsuma Domain, he was very surprised by what he saw and heard along the way.
Because he keenly discovered that the various measures taken by the Ming army seemed to mean that they would stay in Satsuma Domain for a long time. If this is the case, then is it really possible for the Ming Dynasty to plot against Japan?
For him, of course, he did not want a behemoth like the Ming Dynasty to attack the Japanese country. Even if he could win, it would definitely destroy the Japanese country's situation that was finally stable.
Moreover, from Yagyu Jubei's perspective, although he saw not many Ming army soldiers along the way, all of them could be considered elites.
Although he was considered tall in the Japanese country, the Ming army soldiers he saw were basically much taller than him. Invisibly, there is a kind of pressure.
Arriving at the Satsuma Domain daimyo's mansion, Yagyu Jubei felt a little humiliated again while waiting for the arrival of the commander-in-chief of the Ming army.
Because this is the territory of the Japanese country, but now, he has become an outsider and needs to wait for the reception of the owner here. When did such a thing happen in Japan?
Looking at all this, he came to a preliminary conclusion in his mind, and immediately made a plan. He was determined to kill the commander of the Ming Dynasty to prevent them from thinking that the Japanese country was easy to bully, so as to prevent them from staying in the Japanese territory for a long time. possible!
Therefore, when Yagyu Jubei saw the commander-in-chief of the Ming Kingdom appear, he shouted arrogantly: "We, the Japanese Kingdom, and your Ming Kingdom are not in conflict with each other. Now that they suddenly invade the territory of our Kingdom, the Japanese Kingdom, you are not afraid of me." Can’t you come back with a million-strong army?”
At this point, he saluted in the direction of Edo, and then continued: "Thanks to the benevolence of my great Japanese general Zhengyi, before the wrath of the thunder, I sent my envoy to warn you, don't be stubborn, do your own thing, and retreat immediately This is your life-saving strategy!"
Yagyu Jubei's words were of course Japanese. To Li Dingguo's ears, they sounded like gibberish, and he couldn't understand them at all. However, even though I didn't understand what the Japanese envoy from Edo said, I could tell from his words and deeds that he probably didn't mean good things.
So, he turned to look at Zheng Xiangming, asking him to translate.
