Di Ming

Chapter 315 This person may have changed the course of Japanese history!

Wu You said, "He always wears a human skin mask in front of us. The human face is completely peeled off, and at first glance, you might mistake it for his real face. As his direct disciple, I know that it is a human skin mask and is definitely not his real face."

"Hattori Haruaki not only cooperated with Tokugawa Ieyasu, but also with the Shimazu clan and Varian of the Kyushu Cathedral. In Kyushu, he was a local bigwig with private connections to many daimyo and powerful clans."

"There are only four Jonin in the entire Kyushu Island, and he is one of them. One of them is a female Jonin, who is also his lover."

Zhu Yin frowned: "So, he controls half of the ninja forces on the entire Kyushu Island?"

Wu You nodded: "That's right. On Kyushu Island, apart from some daimyo and powerful clans, he is the most powerful. He also has smuggling merchant ships, trades with wealthy smugglers from the Ming Dynasty all year round, and has ties with pirates and foreigners. He is not only a great ninja, but also a pirate leader. I suspect that he is the mastermind behind some pirates."

"This person was originally a pirate. But before becoming a pirate, he was probably born into an extremely wealthy family, and was probably the kind of person who had a life of luxury and extravagance in his youth."

Zhu Yin said, "So, it's going to be very difficult to catch him?"

Wu You sighed, “It’s very difficult. His ninja village is built in a valley that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The mountain rocks serve as natural walls, and the gaps are filled with huge stones. There are also many traps, poisoned spikes, mechanisms, and crossbows. In addition, there are hundreds of guards inside, as well as muskets, cannons, and fire mines. Even thousands of people would find it difficult to break in. We don’t even need to think about it.”

Zhu Yin asked, "Sister, you are also a ninja, and you've learned quite a few skills. But you don't know Hattori Haruaki's name, and you've never seen his face. At least you've heard his voice, right? What are the characteristics of his voice?"

Wu You replied, "Judging from his voice, he's probably in his forties or fifties. He speaks Japanese most of the time, only speaking Chinese when he's specifically teaching his students. He has a southern accent, but I don't know which province. I don't know much about the Mandarin spoken in different parts of the Central Plains either."

Wu You thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up and he said, “That’s right, when he speaks Mandarin, he says ‘eating’ as ‘eating rice,’ ‘chopping wood’ as ‘chopping wood,’ and ‘stubborn’ as ‘stubborn’… I can’t tell anything else is special.”

"Jiangxi dialect!" Zhu Yin narrowed his eyes. "This person is probably from Jiangxi! What are his tastes? What kind of food does he like?"

Wu You thought for a moment, “He likes to eat a kind of long, red gourd. It looks very nice, but it’s much spicier than ginger. He uses it as a side dish with rice. It was given to him by a foreign missionary and is called pepper. I’ve seen it in Southeast Asia.”

“That’s chili pepper!” Zhu Yin laughed. “They’ve started growing it in the south now, but not much yet. It’s still mostly used as a flower, and very few people eat it.”

"I estimate that Hattori Shunju was from Jiangxi. People from Jiangxi love spicy food."

“A Jiangxi native?” Wu You was taken aback. “Now that you mention it, I do remember him. He once talked to a merchant about porcelain from the Central Plains, saying that Jiangxi porcelain was the best in the world and unparalleled. He also said that Jiangxi had the most scholars who passed the imperial examinations. Now that I think about it, he seemed quite proud of Jiangxi.”

Zhu Yin then asked, "You once said that he has been in Japan for nearly thirty years. How many years exactly?"

Wu You shook his head, "I don't know. It should be at least twenty-five years, but definitely less than thirty."

Zhu Yin calculated that this person came to Japan around the end of the Jiajing era.

What major events occurred at the end of the Jiajing reign?
The biggest political event was the downfall of Yan Song, the beheading and confiscation of Yan Shifan's property, the execution of all his descendants, and the enslavement of his female relatives. Even collateral branches and maternal relatives were implicated.

Then Zhu Yin recalled a historical record about the descendants of the Yan family in the "Wanli Yehuo Bian":

"After Shi Fan was executed, his son Shao Ting fled overseas, or some say he defected to the Japanese... There are pirates in Fujian and Guangdong who call themselves 'remnants of the Yan family,' and it is suspected that he is the same person."

Yan Shaoting? Hattori Shunju, could he be Yan Shaoting, the grandson of Yan Song and the son of Yan Shifan?

If we make bold guesses and carefully verify them, wouldn't it make sense?

After reading many ancient miscellaneous books, Zhu Yin recalled a Japanese anthology called "Nanpu Collection".

The Nanpu Collection records some history of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (late Sengoku period) in Japan, including the incident of "descendants of Ming Dynasty officials who surrendered".

Since this matter was recorded in the book, it is very likely that this "criminal official" was not an ordinary criminal official.

He arrived in Japan nearly thirty years ago, enjoyed a life of luxury in his youth, was from Jiangxi, harbored hatred for the Ming Dynasty, and was involved with pirates… These many clues, combined with the accounts in *Wanli Yehuo Pian* and *Nanpu Wenji*…

Zhu Yin was now 70-80% certain that Hattori Shunju was Yan Shaoting!

Back then, the Yan family was large and prosperous, with many descendants; he was probably the only one who escaped the net.

Zhu Yin's aura grew even colder.

The Yan family's fate was indeed tragic. However, the Yan family committed heinous crimes, and their extermination and confiscation of their property were entirely deserved.

He held power for twenty years, which completely corrupted the Ming Dynasty's politics. He embezzled millions of taels of gold and silver, countless treasures and paintings, and also occupied more than 300,000 acres of fertile land, with his businesses spread all over the country.

They even colluded with Japanese pirates and other pirate groups, using their influence to their advantage. They embezzled military funds, leading to a mutiny among the border troops and indirectly causing the Gengxu Incident. The mansion they built resembled an imperial palace, and they also kept a large number of assassins.

When the Yan family father and son held power, "imperial edicts came from the Yan family," and "the world knew of Yan Song but not of His Majesty." However, the Yan faction, though in power, lacked public interest and only cared about their own selfish interests, causing widespread anger and resentment, and resulting in the destruction and death of countless families.

Their crimes are simply too numerous to list!
Even if Yan Shaoting hated the court and the emperor, he couldn't collude with Japan to take revenge on the Ming Dynasty.

In order to take revenge on the Ming Dynasty, he sided with the Japanese pirates and even killed himself, the Ming envoy, which shows that his humanity had been completely distorted by hatred.

Zhu Yin said in a low voice, "Your master Hattori Haruaki is very likely Yan Song's grandson and Yan Shifan's son Yan Shaoting."

"His Japanese name is 'Shunshu,' which means loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness. Therefore, when Confucius completed the Spring and Autumn Annals, treacherous ministers and rebels were afraid. He believed that the Yan family were loyal ministers who had been wronged. He also believed that the Yan family was guilty of both knowing and condemning others, which was the meaning of the Spring and Autumn Annals."

The Book of Poetry says: "The court is filled with the virtues of loyalty and filial piety, and people ascend and descend in their homes." This is also the etiquette of loyalty and filial piety in the Spring and Autumn period. The two names have the same meaning.

"What?" Wu You understood, and his expression immediately changed. "No wonder he wanted to assassinate my brother, this envoy of the Ming Dynasty. So, he sent my brother and the others to the Ming Dynasty on a mission just to... to assassinate..."

She didn't dare to think about it anymore.

Zhu Yin nodded, his expression also somewhat solemn. "That's right. The important figure he sent to the Ming Dynasty to assassinate is most likely the current emperor!"

"Heh, assassinating the king, what audacity!"

As a great ninja who served Japan for many years, and suspected to be Yan Shaoting's "Hattori Shunju," he must have known about the Japanese high command's plan to conquer Ming China, and might even have been one of the participants.

Two years ago, he knew that Japan was going to send troops to Korea.

Therefore, choosing to send someone to assassinate the Ming emperor before the Japanese army launched its attack was not simply a matter of settling a personal score with the Yan family.

This was likely also to align with the Japanese military's strategy and allow them to gain a greater advantage!
With Wanli Emperor's death and his sons all being very young, a struggle for the throne would immediately erupt in the Ming court, plunging the court into chaos.

If the imperial court falls into chaos, the resulting political crisis could throw the entire Ming Dynasty into disarray, even causing it to spiral out of control.

Under such circumstances, the Ming court was preoccupied with its own problems, so how could it possibly protect Korea? It certainly wouldn't send troops to aid Korea.

Then, the Japanese army would take advantage of the internal turmoil in the Ming Dynasty to calmly annex Korea.

Once the Ming Dynasty has finally stabilized internally, Korea will have been destroyed for some time. Japan can then use Korea as a springboard to launch a full-scale invasion of the Ming Dynasty!

Zhu Yin was certain that Hattori Haruki thought exactly that way!
Otherwise, why did he plan to assassinate the Ming emperor precisely before the Japanese army launched its attack? What was he doing all those years in Japan?
What a vicious plan!

Hattori Haruki truly lives up to his reputation as an ancient version of a master spy; his audacity and ruthless methods are astounding.

“Brother.” Wu You was, after all, Hattori Haruaki’s direct disciple. She was intelligent and had keen intuition. She quickly realized this as well.

"He sent my brother and other ninjas to the Central Plains on a mission when Hideyoshi was preparing to conquer the country. But I didn't know that the enemy and important figure he was to assassinate was actually the emperor!"

"His attempt to assassinate the emperor at that time was definitely aimed at creating internal strife in the Ming Dynasty to facilitate the Japanese invasion. I suspect that Hideyoshi, Ieyasu, and others knew about this assassination plan. The biggest beneficiary of the emperor's assassination was Japan. After all, the emperor's sons were still young and vying for the crown prince position."

"Huh?" Ding Hongying also looked surprised. "Your master is really a treacherous and vicious villain. No wonder he is Yan Shifan's son. He is a poisonous and evil person."

Zhu Yin said, "We can't be completely certain that he is Yan Shaoting. This man must have been quite confident in plotting the assassination, and it's probably not his first time trying to assassinate an important figure. Otherwise, what would have made him dare to devise such a grand plan?"

Wu You said, "I vaguely know that he planned something big ten years ago, killing a high-ranking Japanese figure, and he succeeded. This is my deduction; he didn't say it explicitly. But I guess the high-ranking figure he planned to kill ten years ago was no ordinary person; he held a very high position."

"He has a successful track record, so he dares to do it again and has the confidence to assassinate the emperor."

"Ten years ago?" Zhu Yin pondered. "Ten years ago was 1582, the tenth year of the Tensho era in Japan. Who were some of the most important Japanese figures who died that day?"

"Hmm, there's Oda Nobunaga, Akechi Mitsuhide, and Takeda Katsuyori." Zhu Yin fell into deep thought, his folding fan opening and closing repeatedly.

The cause of Oda Nobunaga's death has always been shrouded in mystery. Although he was ambushed by his subordinate Akechi Mitsuhide at Honno-ji Temple and forced to commit suicide, the reason why Akechi Mitsuhide suddenly rebelled has never been definitively explained.

It's as if Mitsuhide Akechi was suddenly stimulated by something, or possessed by a demon.

Why Mitsuhide Akechi rebelled remains a historical mystery, shrouded in mystery and shrouded in enigma.

Therefore, although Nobunaga's direct cause of death is clear, the underlying reasons are unclear.

Is it possible that it's related to Hattori Haruaki...? Wait a minute!
Suddenly, Zhu Yin raised his eyebrows. He thought of another major event: Oda Nobunaga's two large-scale military campaigns to annihilate the Iga ninjas resulted in the massacre of more than 20,000 ninjas, their families, and their subjects.

The Hattori clan, the most powerful and oldest ninja family, was almost wiped out by Oda Nobunaga!

Hattori Haruki was the son-in-law of the Hattori family, and his wife was a daughter of the Hattori family.

He was also one of the few members of the Hattori family who managed to escape capture.

That was in 1581, exactly one year before Nobunaga died!
In other words, less than a year after Oda Nobunaga massacred the Hattori clan, he was mysteriously betrayed by Akechi Mitsuhide and died inexplicably at Honnoji Temple.

Is this just a coincidence?

Oda Nobunaga lived for nearly fifty years, waged war for thirty, and encountered countless powerful enemies and perilous situations, yet he always emerged unscathed. However, less than a year after annihilating the Hattori clan, he suddenly died a violent death.

The more Zhu Yin thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

Is it possible that Hattori Haruaki orchestrated the assassination of Oda Nobunaga out of revenge, and that Akechi Mitsuhide was merely used by him?

Judging from Hattori Haruaki's vengeful nature, he must have hated Nobunaga. He even dared to assassinate the Ming emperor, let alone Oda Nobunaga?
Zhu Yin suddenly felt excited. He felt that he might have solved a historical mystery and found the real culprit behind Oda Nobunaga's death!

Probably.

Moreover, the death of Akechi Mitsuhide seems to confirm this speculation.

Just ten days after Akechi Mitsuhide rebelled against Nobunaga, he was assassinated by peasants!

Haha, who was Akechi Mitsuhide? Ten days after he killed Nobunaga, he was assassinated by a peasant while on the run.

What kind of farmer could be so powerful? Akechi Mitsuhide was a highly skilled samurai. Even in his most destitute state, he always had trusted samurai by his side. And yet he was assassinated by a farmer?

Isn't this nonsense?
Is it possible that his death was also orchestrated by Hattori Haruki to silence him?

The deaths of Nobunaga and Mitsuhide are both mysteries in the history of Japan's Sengoku period, and both occurred exactly ten years before Wu You mentioned, in the second year after the Hattori clan was wiped out.

If Zhu Yin's speculation is correct, then it means that both Nobunaga and Mitsuhide, two important figures, died at the hands of Yan Shaoting.

Yan Shaoting changed the course of Japanese history!
Just how deep is this person hiding? Zhu Yin's intuition told him that Hattori Shunju's plan was grand, and that he, like himself, was playing a big game.

He himself was fighting to reclaim the throne, while the other was fighting against the Ming Dynasty.

This could be a formidable counterpart: an ancient version of a master spy!

Wu You was even more worried. What would happen if his elder brother was really sent to assassinate the emperor? Would he come back alive?

The Wu family already harbored hatred for Zhu Di's descendants. Wouldn't their elder brother, Wu Lü, be eager to carry out the mission of assassinating the Wanli Emperor?

Wu You was in a state of utter confusion.

"You must keep this matter a secret," Zhu Yin instructed. "It's all just speculation."

Although Zhu Yin requested secrecy, he decided to order Huya to make Hattori Shunju, who was suspected to be Yan Shaoting, a key target!
He then comforted Wu You, saying, "Don't worry, Wu Lu has been sent out for more than two years, but the emperor has not been assassinated. The emperor stays in the deep palace every day, how could he assassinate him? He can't even get into the palace. He is definitely not dead."

Upon hearing this, Wu You felt much more at ease.

Zhu Yin, however, had a strange expression; he felt things weren't so simple. Hattori Haruki's assassination plan might be unexpected.

Historically, Emperor Wanli never faced assassination attempts, but now that history is beginning to change, things may change.

Just as Zhu Yin was thinking this, Kaihime's voice came from outside:
"Lord Chihu, you've been startled. I truly had no idea that an assassin had infiltrated to carry out the attack!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Kaihime appeared with a group of people.

It was just dawn when the steward of the inn finally went into the city to report to Hideyoshi.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi never expected that someone would dare to assassinate a Ming envoy in a residence outside the imperial palace!

This is no small matter!

After inquiring, he learned that the assassin was already dead. The assassin had successfully infiltrated the area and almost succeeded, but he was careless and was attacked by Zhu Yin's hunting dogs, who bit through his throat and killed him.

The assassin was not saved by Zhu Yin, so no confession was obtained and the mastermind behind it was unknown.

Even if they were saved, it wouldn't make much difference. Ninjas would rather commit suicide than reveal their secrets.

Hideyoshi quickly sent people to offer his condolences and at the same time investigated the origins of the assassin.

After such a major incident, he had to give Zhu Yinhe and the delegation an explanation.

Even if it's just a perfunctory gesture, you still have to put on an act.

Kaihime and Asano Nagamasa rushed to Zhu Yin's academy and the first thing they saw was the assassin's corpse at the entrance.

The assassin had a bandage on his neck, but unfortunately he was already dead.

Once someone is dead, it's very difficult to find any clues. Even if someone knows this ninja, they wouldn't know who his Jonin was.

Kaihime and Asano Nagamasa offered a few words of comfort to Zhu Yin, then asked, "Chikatora-kun, did the assassin get anything out of him before he died?"

Zhu Yin sighed and said, "No. I was only focused on saving him at the time and didn't have time to ask him before he died. I arrived in your country and was immediately attacked. Who wanted to kill me?"

Kaihime looked apologetic. "Don't worry, Chikatora-kun, I will do my best to investigate."

The phrase "try my best" already conveys the attitude that they won't really investigate to the end.

Zhu Yin sneered inwardly.

He knew very well that Hideyoshi wouldn't investigate thoroughly; he would only make a show of it.

The reason is simple: with a major battle imminent, Hideyoshi needs people right now. He's too busy trying to win over ninjas to offend any ninja factions.
Moreover, if something bad is discovered and it implicates people who shouldn't be involved, how will things be handled? It will also damage the morale of the Japanese army.

Hideyoshi, being such a cunning old fox, would only offer a perfunctory response, and that was already quite generous of him. If he hadn't considered himself Oichi's adopted son, he probably wouldn't have even bothered with a perfunctory response.

When Li Hongzhang later went to Japan, he was nearly assassinated. Under the scrutiny of the great powers, didn't the Japanese government also give a perfunctory response and fail to conduct a thorough investigation?

Kaihime gave the order: "Men! Hang this assassin's body outside as a warning, and offer a large reward for any clues!"

"I hereby issue this edict from the Taiko, requesting all Jonin and junior Jonin of Kyushu to come to Nagoya Castle for a meeting!"

"I am acting on the orders of the Taiko (Grand Historian), requesting that they investigate this matter!"

(End of this chapter)