All the Japanese soldiers breathed a sigh of relief. With their short legs, it was really not easy to get from Seoul to Pyongyang in such a short time!
The commander of the Japanese army, Matsudaira Nobutsuna, a veteran of the Tokugawa shogunate and the most trusted by Tokugawa Iemitsu, ordered the army to rest and reorganize. However, the scouts could not stop and continued to advance north to spy on news about Liaodong.
Standing at the top of Pyongyang City, looking at the Taedong River flowing southward, and looking at the grain fields outside Pyongyang City, Matsudaira Nobutsuna couldn't help but smile. These are all good places. Now they are owned by the Japanese country. Just this large piece of land from Busan to Seoul can support countless Japanese people.
In the past, the Japanese state was limited by land, but now it is the opposite, limited by population. When I meet the General later, I should suggest encouraging childbearing. Only when there are enough Japanese people can we have enough troops to occupy the entire world. Otherwise, even if the Ming Dynasty was conquered, the Japanese country would not have that many people to rule it?
Thinking of this, he suddenly turned his head and glanced at the Qing man not far behind him.
Naturally, Matsudaira Nobutsuna already knew that this Qing man was actually from the Ming Dynasty, and he was also a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, but he devoted himself to serving the Qing Dynasty. There should be many people like him. When the Japanese Empire occupies the entire Ming Dynasty, there should be many Ming people vying to serve the Japanese Empire.
Thinking of this, he suddenly had an idea and reached out to Fan Wencheng.
Fan Wencheng revisited his old place and saw the city of Pyongyang again, and he actually felt emotional in his heart. I think back then, the Qing Emperor Huang Taiji led the main force of the Qing Dynasty to attack Pyongyang. In that battle, he almost captured Pyongyang and wiped out the Dongjiang Army. Unfortunately, he fell short and failed to kill Lu Xiangsheng.
While he was thinking, he suddenly saw Matsudaira Nobutsuna waving to him, so he quickly walked over, imitating the Japanese manner, nodded and bowed and said, "Sir?"
There is probably little hope of being able to save the Qing Dynasty. Fan Wencheng knew this well. In this case, it is better to please this Japanese dignitary first, so that you can get protection when you are desperate!
Matsudaira Nobutsuna looked at it and suddenly asked with a smile: "You were famous in the Ming Kingdom, why did you end up working for the Qing Kingdom? The prosperity of the Qing Kingdom and the Ming Kingdom are not even the same."
Fan Wencheng never expected that Matsudaira Nobutsuna would ask such a question. After being stunned for a moment, he quickly showed an expression of indignation and said: "The emperor of the Ming Dynasty was stupid and unruly, and the treacherous ministers in the court were in power, so that the people had no life and lived in dire straits. Although a certain person is not talented, he cannot bear to see such injustice in the world. Gu vowed to fight against injustice and bring peace to the people of the world!"
"Oh?" After hearing this, Matsudaira Nobutsuna said with a half-smile expression on his face, "But our Japanese country has a lot of contacts with the Central Plains Dynasty, but I have also heard a saying, a son does not think his mother is ugly. Even if the elders are different, , we should try our best to change it instead of killing it, right?"
"..." After hearing this, Fan Wencheng's face suddenly turned red and he felt a little embarrassed. He was a little confused for a moment, why did this Japanese suddenly ask this question? Is there something wrong with his mind?
But no matter what, he is a person who is less than one person and more than ten thousand people in the Japanese country. Even if the questions he asks are difficult for him, he still has to answer them well.
Thinking like this, Fan Wencheng said: "To be honest with you, Lao Zhong, the kings and ministers of the Ming Dynasty are in a state of decay. How can it be like the Ming Dynasty, where the kings and ministers are virtuous and prosperous, which makes people yearn for it. The villain thinks that the Ming Dynasty is in a state of decay. The Zhu family and the world are hopeless, and it is time for the Central Plains to change its master. In this way, the villain may be able to follow the dragon's merits, and he will be able to honor his ancestors and be famous for generations to come!"
Hearing this, Matsudaira Nobutsuna was very impressed, and nodded and said: "Yes, those who know the current affairs are heroes. You are very good, very good!"
Hearing the compliment, Fan Wencheng smiled quickly and was about to test him again to see what official position he would be entrusted with if he defected to the Japanese country.
But at this moment, I suddenly saw a scout coming from the south direction. Looking at the hurry, it seemed that there was something urgent. So, he had to give up this idea first, because Matsudaira Nobutsuna had also noticed that the smile on his face had disappeared, and he turned to look at the scout speeding outside the city.
But before the scouts arrived, a voice sounded behind them: "Sir, the food carried by the army is consuming a lot now. Is it better to reduce the supply during the rest period?"
When Matsudaira Nobutsuna heard this, he turned around and saw that it was his forage officer. He frowned and thought for a moment before replying: "No, the army is about to face a strong enemy, so we cannot treat the soldiers badly in terms of food. The food delivered by the Navy should not be much slower than on land. It will arrive in a few days, so there is no need to worry about the food!"
"Hi!" Upon hearing this, the grain and grass officer responded, turned around and left to arrange food and lodging for the army.
This Japanese army has been planning to conquer the mainland for a long time. Since there is a chance to occupy the land, they have started preparing since last year. When the army sets off, the food and fodder are of course well prepared. Therefore, regarding the food problem encountered by the Qing Dynasty, he did not think that the Japanese army would be responsible, so he could safely explain it.
However, before the forage officer even walked down to the top of the city, the scout had already rushed up to the top of the city. He was still some distance away from Matsudaira Nobutsuna, so he eagerly reported: "Sir, we encountered a navy on the beach. Soldiers, they say that the grain transport navy encountered the Ming Dynasty navy, and now the entire army has been wiped out!"
"What?" Matsudaira Nobutsuna was shocked when he heard the news and asked in a voice.
Fan Wencheng next to him is studying the Japanese language diligently these days. He has just mastered some of the more important vocabulary. He just understands words like "food" and "navy", combined with the expressions and behavior of the scouts and Matsudaira Nobutsuna. , suddenly, he felt something bad, and he guessed that the food route of the Japanese country had been cut off by the Ming army!
After the scout repeated the story again, Matsudaira Nobutsuna's face was already very ugly. He stared at the scout and asked him: "Why did you encounter the Ming Navy so far away in Korea? Why? Why? Why?" Yes, how many warships did the Ming Navy have and who was leading them..."
A series of questions were asked as if the scout was the commander of the navy.
However, this scout met the navy soldiers who had escaped ashore at the beach. He could only understand the general summary and knew that the matter was serious, so he ran back to report it immediately. Then why did he know so much?
Matsudaira Nobutsuna was in a hurry. Seeing that the scout couldn't answer, he stepped forward and opened his bow left and right, cursing "Baga, Baga" incessantly.
The scout didn't dare to resist, so he could only say "Hi" every time he was slapped, which meant "You hit him right, you hit him well, you hit him as you like."
After venting for a while, Matsudaira Nobutsuna finally felt a little more comfortable and came back to his senses. He knew that he was a little anxious, so he stopped slapping him and shouted sternly: "Immediately find out the military situation and make sure there is no mistake." !”
"Hi!" When the scout responded, his mouth was already full of blood, and his words were a little unclear. Looking at Fan Wencheng next to him, he felt his mouth hurt a little. If you surrender to the Japanese country in the future, and your master is dissatisfied and slaps your big ears like this, will you have to lower your head and bend down and let these dwarfs slap you?
Watching the scouts running quickly down the city, the forage officer became anxious when he heard the noise and waited aside to see how Matsudaira Nobutsuna would handle the matter.
At this time, Matsudaira Nobutsuna was very angry. The army arrived in Pyongyang, but the food sent by the Navy was gone. How could the army go to Liaodong? Marching for many days suddenly seemed ridiculous. Maybe, the army won't even be able to stay in Pyongyang, and will have to retreat until food and grass can be supplied!
In any case, since he is known as "Smart Izu" and is Tokugawa Iemitsu's most trusted confidant, he certainly understands the impact of insufficient food and grass on the army.
In fact, the battle that made him famous that year was the suppression of the Shimabara Rebellion. The reason why he was able to suppress it more easily than the previous generals was because he surrounded the rebel army and left the rebel army without food and supplies.
Therefore, he actually attaches great importance to the issue of food for the army.
However, according to previous news, the navy of the Ming Dynasty was all in Liaodong, and the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was attacking the Qing Dynasty in Liaodong. According to the news that the scouts had previously detected, Korea should be a terra incognita at this time. The Navy transported food here, and it was only from the mouth of the Datong River to Pyongyang, and it was far from the border of Liaodong. No matter what, it was very safe!
However, now the entire army of the grain transport navy has been wiped out. That is to say, the navy of the Ming Dynasty must be huge to annihilate the grain transport fleet escorted by warships in one fell swoop. In this case, the question arises, why did the Ming Navy suddenly appear on a large scale so far away from Liaodong? Did they get the news that the Japanese country was sending troops to North Korea and that food was transported to Pyongyang by sea?
This idea flashed in his mind, but Matsudaira Nobutsuna thought it was impossible, so he rejected the idea. Because in terms of time, the possibility that the Ming Dynasty could spy on this news and then respond to it is very small!
Unable to figure it out, Matsudaira Nobutsuna felt a pain in his head. There was a problem with the military rations. This was going to be a big deal!
He quickly ordered the grain and grass officer to halve the food supply to save food. In addition, he also began to retreat and did not want to continue north to Liaodong.
If we don’t have food, what if we go to Liaodong? Sending a sheep into a tiger's mouth? This kind of thing must not be done, even if the Qing Dynasty is the father of the Japanese country!
While he was worrying about this food, he saw a group of his own scouts coming towards Liaodong at a high speed. Looking at the anxious look, he knew something was wrong. Suddenly, Matsudaira Nobutsuna's heart skipped a beat. Could there be another bad news?
Getting closer, he suddenly saw something was wrong, because one of the scouts was obviously tall and strong, and he could not be from Japan at first glance.
Who is that person? This question suddenly popped into Matsudaira Nobutsuna's mind.
Miaoshuwu
