The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 403: Beat You to Death If You Don’t Listen

Wanli's method of teaching etiquette is really special. If you don't obey, you will be beaten to death!
Kato Kiyomasa was disobedient and was beaten to death.

The other Japanese pirate daimyos and generals were so frightened that their faces changed.

Seeing this, Wanli said sternly, "Come here, bring Toyotomi Hidekatsu up here."

Nani?

why me?
I'm not as fierce as Kato Kiyomasa!
Toyotomi Hidekatsu was so scared that he almost wet his pants.

He knelt down on his knees without anyone pushing him.

Seeing this, Wanli nodded slightly and then asked, "Toyotomi Hidekatsu, are you willing to tell me honestly which officials and generals in your vassal state of Korea are secretly helping you?"

Can I not want to?

If I don't want to, just hold me down and beat me to death!

When Toyotomi Hidekatsu heard the secret guard's translation, he immediately nodded repeatedly and said, "I do, I do."

You are indeed a playboy.

Wanli nodded with a fake look of satisfaction, then waved his hand and said, "Remove his shackles and let him get up."

Upon hearing this, the personal guard who was holding Toyotomi Hidekatsu immediately removed his shackles and pulled him up from the ground.

Toyotomi Hidekatsu was a little confused.

Is this enough?

It seemed like he hadn't confessed anything yet, but he just said he was willing to confess.

Wanli pretended to be sincere and taught him: "As long as you are willing to obey, go back and learn the official language of the Ming Dynasty. If you can write down the names of all the Korean officials and generals who secretly helped you in the Ming Dynasty, I will let you go."

Oh, I can really go back!
After hearing the secret guard's translation, Toyotomi Hidekatsu bowed repeatedly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Wanli nodded slightly, then waved his hand and said, "Well, not bad, let's go back to the train."

Upon hearing this, Toyotomi Hidekatsu quickly returned to his previous position and stood still.

Wanli said sternly, "Come here, bring Konishi Yukinaga up here."

Konishi Yukinaga's face was full of complicated expressions at this moment.

He didn't know what to do.

Kato Kiyomasa would rather die than confess, so he was beaten to death.

Toyotomi Hidekatsu immediately expressed his willingness to confess, and the Ming Emperor immediately ordered his men to remove the shackles from this guy.

Is this learning from Kato Kiyomasa or Toyotomi Hidekatsu?

He really didn't know how to make a decision.

Seeing this guy being pinned to the ground, Wanli calmly asked, "Konishi Yukinaga, are you willing to tell me honestly which officials and generals in your vassal state of Korea are secretly helping you?"

what should I do?
If you say no, you will be beaten to death!

Is there any point in being beaten to death like this?
Konishi Yukinaga hesitated for a long time, then said dejectedly, "I do."

Hehe, are you being honest now?

This is actually a kind of subtle influence.

Although not all Japanese pirates would rather die than surrender, there are quite a few who are very stubborn.

He just wanted to make these stubborn guys give in and soften up in front of so many people.

In this way, when they attack the Japanese mainland in the future, fewer people will fight to the death, and more people will surrender if they cannot win.

He didn't make any demands, and didn't even conduct a formal interrogation. He just asked if the person was willing to confess. As long as they were willing to confess, it was fine.

This may seem to have no effect, but it is actually quite crucial. The key is that these diehard Japanese pirates surrendered and softened in front of so many people.

His goal is that he can surrender in front of so many people now and he will surrender in the future.

As for who are the traitors in Korea, the vassal state, there is no rush. As long as they surrender, this will be a small problem.

Wanli nodded with a fake look of satisfaction, then waved his hand and said, "Remove his shackles and let him get up."

After Konishi Yukinaga was removed from his shackles and pulled up, his face was still dejected, and he seemed to have lost all his energy and spirit.

Wanli pretended to be sincere and taught him: "You should also return to the train and learn the official language of the Ming Dynasty. If you can write down the names of all the Korean officials and generals who secretly helped you in the Ming Dynasty, I will let you go."

After listening to the secret guard's translation, Konishi Yukinaga returned to the train with a dejected look on his face, showing no sign of joy. Next, Wanli picked out those stubborn guys one by one and questioned them again.

His trick of killing the chicken to scare the monkey is really powerful. If you don’t behave yourself, you will be beaten to death. Kato Kiyomasa was beaten to death. Who else dares to be dishonest?

Besides, Toyotomi Hidekatsu and Konishi Yukinaga have both been obedient, so why are they still stubborn?

The others, whether they were straightforward or hesitant, were all honest.

At least they appeared to be obedient.

Upon seeing this, Wanli nodded with pretended satisfaction, and then ordered the twelve deputy generals of the Beijing camp to take them back to study.

Qi Jiguang watched the group of people retreating and couldn't help but ask worriedly, "Your Majesty, I dare to ask, are you really going to let all of these people go? Didn't you say you were secretly helping Tokugawa Ieyasu? There are many of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's confidants among them."

Wanli stood up and walked towards the Qianqing Palace, saying meaningfully, "Tokugawa Ieyasu wants to help, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi also wants to help. We can't let Tokugawa Ieyasu win one-sidedly, otherwise it will not deplete their strength much.

We seem to be secretly supporting Tokugawa Ieyasu, hoping to get him to provoke a civil war in Japan. In fact, we are not helping either side; our goal is to make them fight to the death."

Your idea is really incomprehensible.

Qi Jiguang was puzzled and asked, "Will they still engage in civil war under such circumstances?"

Wanli nodded slowly and said, "The Japanese pirates are belligerent by nature, they will fight. As long as Toyotomi Hideyoshi gets into trouble and Tokugawa Ieyasu feels that he can seize control of Japan, this guy will take action.

Of course, this has a prerequisite, that is, Japan has not been invaded. I have to let them think that the Ming Dynasty has no intention of attacking the Japanese mainland, so that they will fight. If they know that I want to attack the Japanese mainland, they will definitely not fight. "

How to play this?
Now that they have sent out millions of troops, do Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu think that they will not take the opportunity to attack the Japanese mainland?

Wanli took them directly back to the Grand Council and ordered someone to call Li Yuansheng, who had been waiting for a month or so.

Li Yuansheng lived in the small courtyard of Wanshou Palace and arrived very quickly.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli said solemnly, "Yuansheng, you can now lead the fleet to Japan. Remember, first deliver the goods to Edo, and then go to Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Tokugawa Ieyasu will definitely ask you about the current situation in Korea. You can tell him that Korea has been recaptured by the Ming army and that almost all of their hundreds of thousands of troops have been captured. Don't say anything else. As a pirate leader, it's already quite good that you know this much."

Li Yuansheng nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli then solemnly instructed: "Your most important task this time is to make them believe that the Ming Dynasty no longer wants to fight.

Just tell Tokugawa Ieyasu that the Ming Dynasty has withdrawn a lot of troops from the border this time, and the northern barbarians seem to be ready to make moves again, so the Ming Dynasty may choose to negotiate and withdraw its troops.

Next, you ask him to negotiate with Toyotomi Hideyoshi first, and you wait there. If Toyotomi Hideyoshi wants to negotiate, you can have Kunisuke bring their envoys to the capital to talk to me."

This reason should be fine.

The Japanese pirates didn't even know the specific situation of the Ming Dynasty. The Northern Tartars were separated from them by the Ming Dynasty, so the Japanese pirates naturally knew even less.

These guys certainly don't know that the Northern Tartars were beaten so badly by the Ming Dynasty that they dared not invade the Ming Dynasty at all.

Hearing this, Li Yuansheng slowly nodded and said, "I understand."

This is only the first step.

Wanli then gave detailed instructions: "If Toyotomi Hideyoshi agrees to send envoys for peace talks, you will tell Tokugawa Ieyasu that the powerful minister you are currying favor with has great power in the Ming court and has a way to release some of the daimyo and generals. Ask him to give you a list."

This means that the daimyo and generals who are inclined towards Tokugawa Ieyasu should be released first, so that this guy's strength can grow enough to defeat Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Li Yuansheng bowed repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli thought for a moment and then instructed, "While you're waiting for news from Japan, make sure to find out what the situation is like there."

What is the current situation in Japan?

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

The Ming navy suddenly appeared and captured the Busan Port. Then the waters between Japan and its vassal state Korea were blocked, and their warships could not get around them no matter how hard they tried.

It has been more than a month now, and he has no idea what the situation is like in his vassal state, North Korea.

This is just one aspect.

What’s more crucial is that he hadn’t had time to transport last month’s food to the various armies.

The food in the hands of the various armies of the vassal state of Korea can't last for more than a month. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of troops are out of food by now.

You need to eat to have the strength to fight in this war. How can you fight if you don’t even have food to eat?
It’s good enough that hundreds of thousands of soldiers didn’t starve to death!

This made him very anxious, and he frantically ordered the coastal countries to quickly build warships. At the same time, he ordered the feudal states in the central and eastern parts of Honshu to frantically conscript able-bodied men. Both Tokugawa Ieyasu's territory and his territory were frantically conscripting men!

He already had a vague premonition that this time the Ming Dynasty would most likely take advantage of the situation to attack the Japanese mainland.

(End of this chapter)