Di Ming

Chapter 317 The Ming Dynasty Princess Marries the Emperor, But Can Only Be a Consort!
There are many North Korean businessmen in Japan, and some of them have been living in Japan for many years.

Normally, due to the trade between Japan and Korea and the collection of commercial taxes, the daimyo of various regions were relatively tolerant of Korean merchants. These merchants also frequently offered tribute and were considered quite submissive.

At the foot of Mount Nagoya, on the shore of Cape Hato, this place was once the guesthouse for Korean envoys, but now it has become the execution ground for Korean merchant Choi Kwang-se and his son.

At the invitation of the Japanese side, Zhu Yin and Zheng Guowang led a delegation to witness the execution of the "mastermind" behind the scenes.

A large crowd had already gathered around, including law enforcement officers, Japanese dignitaries, and even Japanese sailors from nearby ships who had come to witness the execution.

Choi Kwang-se and his two sons knelt on the beach, their faces pale with grief and indignation. Behind them stood a samurai wielding a katana, who was also their executioner.

The officer in charge of criminal law loudly read out the execution order personally signed by Hideyoshi, announcing the "crimes" of the Cui family father and son in assassinating the Ming envoy and provoking a decisive battle between the two countries tomorrow. Given that it concerned a major diplomatic matter and was extremely heinous, the execution was to be carried out immediately.

After the execution order was read, the sounds of conch shells and hand drums rang out, chilling everyone to the bone, like the death knell of hell.

Immediately afterwards, the samurai performed a very ceremonial action, gripping the hilt of their swords upside down, and then dramatically and skillfully drawing their swords.

Several flashes of cold light flew up, and the warriors roared "Ha!" as their sharp katana easily severed the heads of the Cui father and son.

Their knives were swift, and their swordsmanship was superb; the severed heads fell straight down without rolling away.

Blood gushed out like a fountain, and three headless bodies collapsed to the ground, their bodies trembling as the blood gushed forth.

"Yoshi!" The Japanese samurai watching cheered like jackals, rubbing their hands together excitedly.

Immediately afterwards, several more warriors stepped forward, gave the executioner a few Yongle coins, and then drew their katana.

Yongle Tongbao coins were very valuable in Japan. One string of Yongle coins was worth ten taels of silver, which meant that one hundred Yongle coins were worth one tael of silver. This was because Japan had a lot of gold and silver.

The warriors gave the executioner Yongle money, then roared and swung their swords at the bodies of the three corpses!
With a few sharp cracks, three headless bodies were severed at the waist.

"Yoshi!" The samurai were quite satisfied, and then swung their swords to cut off the thighs of the corpses, each time severing them with a single stroke.

"After severing the torso, the blade flicks out blood without sticking to the blade, proving its sharpness."

"Sharp as a thunderbolt."

Upon witnessing this scene, Zhu Yin felt a chill run through his heart.

At this time, Japan's laws were lax, and its judicial system was extremely brutal, a significant regression from the Heian period. Both trials and executions were barbaric, lacking the well-developed three-judicial system of the Ming Dynasty.

Not to mention that daimyo, city lords, and dukes have the power to make decisions on so-called criminals with a single word, even village chiefs can operate autonomous courts to execute "death row inmates" in their own villages.

Many so-called death row inmates are convicted entirely based on the personal will of law enforcement officers, and most are executed directly without going through a trial by the "town magistrate".

Or it could become a "raw body" for samurai to "test" the sword, used to test the sharpness of the blade and to hear the "beautiful" sound of the blade entering flesh.

Not to mention the Choi family, who were scapegoats among the Korean merchants, many Japanese townspeople, farmers, and fishermen were also frequently killed casually in the street by samurai who took pleasure in killing.

The fact that the three members of the Cui family were able to go through a "trial" and be "publicly executed" is already considered "lucky".

But the Cui family's misfortune was not over. The town magistrate's subordinate, the magistrate, announced the confiscation of the Cui family's property and turned all of the Cui family's wives and daughters into military concubines.

The verdict stated: "Let these guilty Korean women comfort the brave warriors of the divine kingdom and conquer their own homeland."

Such despicable and insidious methods seem to be taken for granted by the Japanese.

That wasn't the end of it. They then announced that all Korean businessmen in Japan were suspected of being spies.

The punishment was the confiscation of family property, with men forced into hard labor to build castles and warships, and all women becoming military princesses.

The number of Koreans in Japan involved is in the thousands.

Taking advantage of the assassination attempt on Zhu Yin, Japanese high-ranking officials rounded up all Korean businessmen in Japan.

The wealth accumulated by Korean merchants over many years, amounting to at least millions, all went to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He was able to give an explanation to the Ming Dynasty delegation, eliminate the Koreans, seize the Korean merchants' ships, and replenish his ranks with forced laborers and military women.

At the same time, the large-scale elimination of Korean merchants boosted the morale of the Japanese army. In addition, they sowed discord between the Ming Dynasty and Korea, linking the killing of Koreans to the Ming Dynasty's envoys.

The monkey truly lives up to his reputation as a man who rose from the bottom to conquer the world; this move kills multiple birds with one stone, it's both ruthless and vicious.

Among the onlookers were some ninjas who all knew that the Cui father and son were scapegoats.

After killing the "criminal," Asano Nagamasa approached Zhu Yin with a serious expression and said:
"Chihu-kun, the mastermind behind the assassins has been killed, but there may still be some who have escaped and may still cause trouble for you. Please be careful."

He was also worried that the real mastermind would target Zhu Yin again.

After all, Zhu Yin was A-Shi's adopted son and had a very favorable impression of Japan.

Zhu Yin feigned sincerity and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Excellency Taiko and Lord Nagamasa. I will certainly take it to heart. Please convey my gratitude."

After Asano Nagamasa and the others left, Zhu Yin noticed that many samurai around him were glancing at the delegation members with sinister eyes, sometimes staring at them and sometimes staring at them.

Why would Japan entertain these cowardly and incompetent barbarians (Ming people)? Food from the divine kingdom is very precious.

They desperately wanted to swarm in and slaughter all the Ming people. However, since the delegation was now a guest of the Taiko (Prince Tai), they dared not act rashly.

Sensing the menacing, murderous gazes of the surrounding Japanese samurai, Zhu Yin, Xu Wei, and the others pretended not to notice.

But the Jurchens were different.

The Jurchens under Nurhaci were very fierce and had always been ruthless barbarians. How could they possibly tolerate this?
Many Jurchens glared at the Japanese samurai with fierce eyes, like wild beasts in the forest ready to devour their prey.

As the two sides stared at each other, the Japanese samurai were surprised to find that their opponent seemed to be even more ruthless than they were!
"Baka!" Finally, a Japanese samurai couldn't help but spit out a curse as he gripped the hilt of his sword.

The fierce and ruthless nature of the Jurchen warriors caused them some injuries.

However, they dared not act recklessly anymore. Their gazes even dared to dart away, avoiding eye contact with the beast-like Jurchen warriors.

That's true. Although Japanese samurai were warlike and cruel, their height was truly impressive.

The Jurchen warriors were significantly taller than them. In contrast, most Japanese were short and stocky, while the Jurchens were tall and robust.

If the two sides were to fight one-on-one, the so-called warriors of the divine kingdom would probably be no match for them. As for their horsemanship and archery skills, the difference would be even greater.

Nurhaci, Eidu, Feiyanggu, and others also revealed cold smiles.

Their main purpose in coming to Japan was to familiarize themselves with the situation and assess Japan's strength. Firstly, they wanted to see if Japan truly possessed abundant wealth, and secondly, they wanted to gauge the strength of the Japanese people.

As it turned out, they didn't know whether the Japanese soldiers were strong or not, because they had never fought them, but the Japanese were indeed short!
They are much shorter than Han Chinese and Koreans.

The Japanese are indeed very fierce, as can be seen from their massacres throughout Korea. These short people are extremely cruel and warlike.

However, being warlike and cruel does not equate to being powerful in combat.

Just like a woman, she can be cruel and vicious, but how much fighting power does she have?
Nurhaci was confident that if a real battle broke out, his more than one hundred elite Jianzhou warriors could easily defeat several times their number of Japanese samurai.

Having experienced countless battles, his judgment was certainly accurate. The strengths of Japanese samurai lay in their warlike nature, agility, and nimbleness. However, their weaknesses were also apparent: they were short in stature and physically weaker than the Jurchens. Once they donned armor, these disadvantages became even greater.

If he had 10,000 armored Jurchen warriors, he could defeat tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers, plunder vast amounts of wealth and slaves, and return home laden with spoils.

Let's pull this off!
It all depends on whether Japan really has a lot of gold and silver.

In fact, Zhu Yin's judgment was also based on this. A major reason why Zhu Yin and Xu Wei dared to formulate that plan was because they had over a hundred ruthless Jurchen men under Nurhaci's command.

They were no ordinary Jurchen soldiers, but the elite of the elite, the direct personal guards of the Wild Boar Skin Army. Most of the Later Jin generals in history were among them.

Besides Nurhaci himself, three of the five ministers of the Later Jin were present: Eidu, Feiyanggu, and Huerhan.

These three were all renowned warriors of Jianzhou, tiger generals of their time, not much inferior to Lancha.

With these hundred-plus Jurchens, plus his own hundred-plus soldiers as guards, Zhu Yin was 80% confident that the plan would go smoothly.

It's totally worth pulling off!
Just as Zhu Yin and the others were about to leave the coast, they suddenly heard cheers from the port. They saw white sails like clouds on the sea, and it turned out that a Japanese fleet was returning.

Soon, the fleet docked, and amidst the Japanese soldiers' rough shouts and curses, groups of young men and women dressed in Korean attire were escorted off the ship.

It turns out that another group of North Korean prisoners of war has been brought back.

When Zhu Yin saw more than 10,000 Koreans being escorted back like pigs and sheep, his heart grew even colder.

He knew very well how dire the situation was in North Korea at that time; it was truly a living hell.

The actions of the Japanese army gave him a familiar sense of humiliation that transcended time.

For more than six months since the Japanese army invaded Korea, it has implemented the so-called "Three Hunts" policy, which means "kill all, burn all, and loot all".

The Jinju Massacre, the Pyongyang Massacre, the Seoul Massacre...

The "ear mounds" at Fangguang Temple alone contain the ears and noses of hundreds of thousands of Koreans, used to showcase the "glorious military achievements" of the Japanese army.

They also abducted tens of thousands of Korean women to be their concubines and slaves.

Many artisans were also captured and taken to Japan.

The Japanese army's horrific atrocities were truly countless and utterly depraved.

Conservative estimates suggest that North Korea had lost at least two million people by this time. North Korea's total population at that point was only slightly over eight million.

Zhu Yin was thinking, what if Japan successfully annexed Korea and then invaded the Ming Dynasty?

It's not impossible.

Back then, Japanese pirates were able to wreak havoc on several coastal provinces, causing heavy casualties. How much more so when Japan mobilized the entire nation to conquer the Ming Dynasty?
Just then, a group of samurai rushed forward, laughing wildly, and shouted, "Raw body! Raw body!"

As they spoke, they drew their katana one by one, leaping up like monkeys and hacking at the Korean prisoners who had just disembarked. "Thud! Thud!"

The beach was instantly filled with a sea of ​​people.

It turns out they were "testing the waters".

Every year, samurai used these "raw bodies" to test their swords and kill thousands upon thousands of people, mainly townspeople and farmers.

Samurai were granted the privilege of killing with their swords. This was known as the "license to kill," meaning they had a license to kill.

At this time, Japanese samurai also enjoyed holding "killing contests".

After committing murder, a samurai only needed to write a report to the magistrate's office, stating the reason for the murder, and everything would be fine.

However, this step is currently unnecessary. Since the "raw meat" they use to test their swords is Korean, which is even inferior to local townspeople and farmers, there is no need to write a report to the magistrate's office.

Throw a handful of silver coins at the samurai escorting the prisoners back, and they can enjoy their "freedom of life."

Even Nurhaci and others found it hard to believe, thinking the Japanese were crazy.

Weren't these prisoners of war? They could have been slaves, they were valuable assets, why were they just killed like that?
why?
The Korean prisoners offered no resistance; they were as docile as cattle and sheep. Since they were so obedient, they were good slaves, so why were they simply killed?

Do Japanese people enjoy killing so much?
Unlike the Japanese, the Jurchens preferred servants and generally only killed those who resisted or posed a threat.

If you behave like a servant, they won't kill you easily. They have their logic.

The Japanese pirates were different; they took pleasure in killing and didn't have much rational thinking.

Many Jurchens did not know the term "wasteful"; they simply felt it was a pity and a waste.

Xu Wei said in a low voice: "When the Japanese pirates landed, they also used Han people to test their swords. When the Japanese pirates occupied Wenzhou, they used rows of Han people on the city wall to test their swords. Heads and blood fell from the city wall. The Japanese pirates even recited a poem: 'Heads fall from the city wall, blood rain stains the Oujiang River.'"

"When they occupied Taizhou and Shaoxing, the killings were extremely brutal, the stench of corpses filled the air, and they abducted more than 10,000 Han women."

Zhu Yin remained silent, calmly watching the Japanese samurai wielding their swords and slaughtering Koreans, his pupils slowly turning leaden gray.

It's time to collect the interest.

……

On the morning of the third day, Zhu Yin led the delegation into the city and formally announced the "letter of state".

At the same time, he brought along the emperor's private state gifts: eight jade opium pipes and two hundred catties of top-grade opium.

Dressed in full regalia, Toyotomi Hideyoshi summoned the Five Elders, the Five Commissioners, and the various daimyo to receive the "letter of state" from the Ming Dynasty atop the castle tower of the Honmaru Palace.

Of course, guards were not allowed to enter; only the chief and deputy envoys and a dozen or so subordinates were permitted to enter.

Amidst the sounds of ritual music inherited from the Tang Dynasty, everyone from Toyotomi Hideyoshi to the retainers of daimyo, dressed in their finest attire and crowns, gathered at the Honmaru Palace.

Hideyoshi's thousand-carved gourd-shaped horse seal stands tall in the castle tower.

Hideyoshi did not use the samurai's seated posture, but the courtier's formal posture (kneeling), sitting upright on the platform, surrounded by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Mori Terumoto, Maeda Toshiie, Date Masamune and others.

The top nobles of the Wu family are all here.

Two women holding closed fans sat beside Hideyoshi; they were his concubines, Chacha and Kaihime.

At this moment, Cha Cha was observing Zhu Yin, who was dressed in a python robe and wearing a crown, with a curious and focused gaze. He was handsome and refined.

Back then, Xiushan Maru was only six or seven years old. After nine years apart, she had long forgotten what he looked like. But now, she felt he looked very similar.

The more I look, the more certain I become that Zhu Yin is Xiushan Maru.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi looked exceptionally well today. This was his second time seeing Zhu Yin, and his attitude had changed considerably since the first meeting. Considering Oichi and Chacha's feelings, he naturally had to be friendly as well.

More importantly, he wanted to win over Zhu Yin and have him act as an inside agent within the Ming court, secretly serving Japan.

But then Zhu Yin read aloud: "...Japan and Korea are separated only by a strip of water, their education is widespread, their culture is refined, and they are both part of China, certainly not barbarian countries..."

Although Hideyoshi, Ieyasu, and others disregarded and scoffed at this so-called official letter, they did not become angry.

I just felt that the Ming Dynasty couldn't see the bigger picture, was grandiose but impractical, and ridiculously pedantic.

After all, the tone of the letter was relatively polite, and it was meant to persuade Japan to withdraw its troops. It did not presume to be a superior nation and presumptuously lecture Japan.

So they listened patiently, without any anger, but rather with a hint of contempt.

This is utter bullshit! It's just a bunch of empty platitudes about benevolence and morality.

Little did they know, this was not a genuine letter of state.
If Zhu Yin had read the true letter of state, I'm afraid some warriors would have drawn their swords on the spot.

After Zhu Yin finished reading the "state letter," it was presented to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Hideyoshi opened the letter of state, glanced at it, then put it aside with little interest, and said:

"Your Excellency, the Ming Envoy, have worked hard. Since the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has sent a letter of state and gifts, expressing his sincere desire for peace talks, Japan is also willing to negotiate. A ceasefire and peace talks are also what I would like to see."

Toyotomi Hideyoshi said hypocritically. How could he possibly be willing to cease hostilities?

"Ieyasu, as the chief elder, please represent me and tell the Ming envoy about Japan's peace terms."

"Hai." Ieyasu bowed and said solemnly to Zhu Yin:

"Your Excellency, on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor and Japan, the Taiko formally presents the following five conditions for a ceasefire to your country."

Zhu Yin said calmly, "Lord Ieyasu, please speak."

Tokugawa Ieyasu coughed, slowly opened his folding fan, and said with a smile:

"First, when the Ming Dynasty marries a princess to His Majesty the Emperor as a consort, she must be a real princess; an ordinary member of the imperial family cannot be used to impersonate her."

"Second, cede the entire eight provinces of Korea to Japan. The Ming Dynasty must recognize the Divine Kingdom's occupation of Korea."

...

What?! Upon hearing this, Deputy Envoy Zheng Guowang and the others all changed color.

Is this Japan's five-point peace treaty?

Arrogant! Utterly arrogant!
Before Zheng Guowang and the dozen or so others could finish listening, they couldn't help but show their anger.

Only Zhu Yin remained calm and composed, showing no signs of being flustered.

On one hand, he needed to pretend. On the other hand, he knew that during the Sino-Japanese peace negotiations in history, Hideyoshi had proposed marrying a princess, and it was the first condition.

So he wasn't surprised at all.

At this very moment, Hideyoshi and other important figures were taking this opportunity to observe the changes in the expressions of the Ming Dynasty envoys.

Hideyoshi noticed that the vice envoy and others were all angry, but Zhu Yin showed no anger.

He became even more certain that Zhu Yin had Japan in his heart!
Otherwise, Zhu Yin would have been furious. After all, Zhu Yin was just a boy; even if he were a child prodigy, he wouldn't have such deep cunning.

This only shows that Zhu Yin did not fully stand on the side of the Ming Dynasty.

After listening to Tokugawa Ieyasu finish speaking, Zhu Yin frowned and pondered for a moment before saying:

"Your Highness, it is not impossible for you to marry a princess to the King of Japan. There has been talk of marriage alliances between the Central Plains since ancient times."

"However, marrying the King of Japan as a concubine is absolutely impossible. The Ming Dynasty... the Ming Dynasty would never agree to it. If it were to become an empress, the Emperor and the court might consider it."

In fact, at this moment he wished he could kick Hideyoshi and Ieyasu to death.

Screw you! How precious are princesses of the Ming Dynasty? Even if she is Wanli's daughter, she is still a descendant of the Taizu Emperor. What right does this bullshit locust have to be worthy of her?
Marrying a Ming princess to Tianhuang, even if she becomes empress, would be an insult to our ancestors!

Of course, Zhu Yin still had to put on a show and discuss it in a serious manner.

Many Japanese daimyo and samurai were somewhat taken aback.

Why wasn't Zhu Yin angry? His self-control is truly remarkable.

Only a few people, including Hideyoshi, "knew" this because Zhu Yin had grown up in Japan, was Oichi's adopted son, was breastfed by Japanese people, and had a deep affection for Japan.

“You, Your Excellency…” Zheng Guowang glanced at Zhu Yin, “How can the Ming Dynasty marry off a princess for a political alliance? The Ming Dynasty does not engage in political alliances!”

Zhu Yin's face darkened. "Vice Envoy, please calm down. I am the plenipotentiary ambassador. Since you are sincere, why can't we discuss this? When has His Majesty and the court ever said that this matter cannot be discussed?"

Following Hideyoshi's instructions, Ieyasu smiled seemingly honestly and said, "Being empress is definitely out of the question. The empress of Japan must be of noble birth. Therefore, if a princess of the Ming Dynasty marries the emperor, she can only become a concubine. And the son of a princess of the Ming Dynasty cannot become the crown prince."

Zhu Yin said, "Let's set aside this point for now; we can discuss it slowly. But the second point, which requires your country to annex Korea, is something the Ming Dynasty absolutely cannot agree to!"

"Oh?" Ieyasu's smile vanished. "Korea was won by the warriors of the Divine Kingdom through their battles. It is already the Emperor's overseas territory, not belonging to the Ming Dynasty. Why can't we agree to it?"

Zheng Guowang was the deputy envoy, so he naturally had the right to speak. She couldn't help but say:
"Your country is sending troops to seize a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, while the Ming army has already sent troops to Korea. Once the war starts, the people will suffer greatly. Your country's army is isolated overseas. Do you really have a sure chance of victory?"

But at that moment, a samurai carrying a banner on his back, holding up an official document, suddenly shouted:

"Good news from North Korea! Good news from North Korea!"

"The Ming army suffered a crushing defeat at Pyongyang, and Ming general Yang Shaoxun was captured!"

(End of this chapter)