Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 372 Sit on the Diaoyutai

Golden rooster announces dawn, sleepless night...

During the whole night yesterday, the Ming army had different ways to let the peasants come and dance around the bonfire in shifts. Everyone listened to the nostalgic singing and the rebellious content.

Many people pretended to be asleep, but actually closed their eyes and listened to the singing, feeling uncomfortable.

Perhaps in the eyes of future generations, this group of peasants and ashigaru who have no land and no salary have no reason to fight for the shogunate.

It's just that for ordinary Japanese people who have been ruled by the Japanese rulers for more than a thousand years, they seem to think that they are born inferior.

Emperor - general - daimyo - samurai - urban people - peasants.

They were born as the lowest class of people. Even if someone said hello that they would be liberated, they would be dubious and even think it was impossible.

Of course, Daming would not liberate them purely and kindly, but if compared with the people of the shogunate, then the rule of Daming, said to be "liberation" and "being the master of the house" is quite in line with it.

According to Yang Wenyue's written to Zhu Youjian, which has not yet arrived, in the "Correlation of Wobo Matters", Yang Wenyue's suggestion is to allow each Yingzhou person to own one mu of their own land.

With Yingzhou's output, this mu of land can't support a person at all, at least four mu of land is needed.

Therefore, in order to survive, the farmers could only help the government to farm as tenants in the early stage, but when the Han people migrated, the land decreased, and the farmers could only be forced to work in the city.

The location of this work is first of all the roads in Yingzhou. Only when the roads are cleared can supplies be transported, and the supply market towns in North America can be opened up to the north.

It sounds like it will take a long time, but in fact, in the face of hundreds of thousands or millions of Yingzhou farmers who go out to work, the construction of a market town will not take them too much time.

If 30 peasants intensively cultivate [-] mu of land, they can develop the [-] mu of land in one year. Although they can only grow sorghum in the second year and wheat in the third year, anyway, [-] mu of land can be cultivated. The land is large enough to serve as a supply town.

Yang Wenyue had seen the "General Map of Kun Yu Wan Guo" sent by Zhu Youjian, and also saw the locations of several market towns marked by Zhu Youjian.

The four northern islands in the north of Hokkaido, and then nine supply market towns including the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Amuk Strait Islands.

Counting Hokkaido, that's ten.

Although Yang Wenyue hasn't figured out how much food, manpower and material resources each market town needs to spend to build it, in his current opinion, Yingzhou's tax revenue is definitely enough.

Nearly ten million men in Yingzhou are suitable pioneers, and Yingzhou with 3000 million mu of arable land will also be a good supply terminal.

Even if Daming only collects 700% of the tax here, it can collect more than [-] million shimimai every year, which is enough to build multiple supply towns.

Take it from the people and use it for the people. This is the way of managing the world, and Yang Wenyue naturally knows it.

What he has to do is the same as what Zhu Youjian did, but Zhu Youjian uses work as a substitute for relief, while he wants to use work to reassure the people.

In the bones of the scholar-bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty, they still could not escape the art of controlling the people, even if it is the way of managing the world, it must focus on exhausting the people.

Giving wages and food to the people of Yingzhou is not to pity them, but the imperial court needs them to develop North America.

Thinking of this, Yang Wenyue, who was standing on the watchtower, straightened his clothes, while Wu Aheng, who was holding clairvoyance, turned his head and said:

"The two artillery battalions are ready, and today is still five hours of shelling?"

"Five more hours of shelling, and then send people to the capital, let Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xiang lead a battalion of sailors and two battalions of infantry in the rear, and cross the sea to attack Edo." Yang Wenyue said calmly:
"Let other soldiers and horses quickly take down Gifu and other counties, and cut off all retreats of Tokugawa Iemitsu."

Yang Wenyue's words were simple and clear, and Wu Aheng also smiled and stroked his beard after hearing this:
"In this way, you will really be besieged on all sides, and you will be caught in a urn."

"Catching is necessary, and it doesn't even need to cost a single soldier." Yang Wenyue raised his clairvoyance and looked at Nagoya Castle.

From his point of view, Nagoya Castle has been tormented by shelling for two consecutive days and turned into a dilapidated half ruin.

The reason why it is said to be half a ruin is because the gaps that were blasted were filled by the Japanese army in the city with other things.

Although it is very ugly after filling, it can at least block the shelling for a period of time.

But Yang Wenyue didn't care, even if the walls of Nagoya Castle were gone now, he wouldn't launch a general attack.

When he can play strategy, he never fights bravely...

"put!"

"Boom bang bang-"

The roaring cannons rang out again, with a shrill sound piercing through the air, as if they were coming from the underworld, continuously bombarding the city wall of Nagoya.

The physically and mentally exhausted Japanese army had no voice to yell, and everyone curled up at the base of the city wall, just wanting to pass the day as soon as possible.

Even though they all knew that it would be even more difficult for them at night, there was nothing they could do right now.

Time is boring and tedious, it passes by unconsciously.

The ashigaru and the civilian husbands took the fist-sized corn ball in their hands, tore it up little by little, and carefully placed it on the dry mouth.

A few drops of soy sauce are added to the corn rice balls, except for the taste of soy sauce and a trace of sour taste, people can't eat any taste.

The cold corn and rice balls were finally eaten in such a torment, but everyone's stomachs were still not full and their stomachs were rumbling.

Finally, dusk came again, and the armored warriors impatiently brought rice buckets, each with rice balls wrapped in leaves, and there was only one for each person.

It seems that only when they see these rice balls, the ashigaru and the peasants are alive.

They took the warm rice balls one by one, but the rice balls didn't feel right in their hands.

"It seems to be a little less than yesterday..."

"It's a little less."

"Stop talking, let's eat first..."

Some young ashigaru were dissatisfied with opening their mouths, but were quickly appeased and scolded by the older ashigaru.

Helpless, they had no choice but to sit back at the base of the city wall again, looking at the corn and rice balls that were smaller than yesterday, with mixed feelings in their hearts.

Before they could start eating, the rich smell of meat came from outside the city again, stimulating everyone's taste buds.

Some people couldn't help kneeling behind the parapet, lying on the parapet, looking at the Ming army camp.

This is already the third day that they have heard the smell of meat coming from the Ming army camp, and people are very curious beings.

If they could bear it on the first day, it became unbearable on the second day because of the homesick singing.

Today, the weight of the rice balls distributed by the shogunate has decreased, coupled with the singing last night, many people have accumulated very heavy grievances against the samurai and daimyo of the shogunate.

Some people even thought that when the Ming army came to fight, they would put down their weapons and surrender, and let the Ming army capture the shoguns and daimyos.

This kind of thinking is naturally worse than that of the prostitutes in the Wanli period, but in Japan, where the hierarchy is strict, such thinking is enough to be executed.

It can be seen from this that in fact, the ashigaru and the civilian husbands of the shogunate have been unbearable, but because of their long-term obedience, they have no concept of capturing their generals alive to surrender in their minds.

However, as long as this concept is proposed, more and more people will implement it...

"home……"

The song outside the city sounded again, and many ashigaru and civilian husbands did not eat the ball carefully this time, but ate big mouthfuls, as if they wanted to vent their dissatisfaction.

The samurai on patrol were stared at by them, and their hearts were a little hairy.

"What kind of eyes are you looking at? You bastard..."

A samurai couldn't stand being stared at fiercely by the lowly ashigaru and civilian husband, and immediately grabbed the hilt of his sword.

"Kawada-kun!"

At the critical moment, another samurai next to him stopped him and motioned him to look around.

The samurai didn't understand, but when he looked around, his mouth felt parched.

I saw some peasants and ashigaru on the horse path at the head of the city secretly touched their weapons. Obviously, once he made a move, he would be attacked by a crowd.

"Let's go first."

The samurai dragged Kawada away who had reacted, and the other Ashgaru relaxed their weapons when they saw this.

But after putting down their weapons, they looked around at the person who responded just now, and everyone in sight nodded.

Apparently, the anger was almost suppressed. Their hungry stomachs, exhausted bodies, and nearly collapsed spirits challenged them, turning them who were originally farmers into executioners.

Soon, Date Masamune was notified of the events in the castle, and Date Masamune also found Tokugawa Iemitsu in the castle tower with the news.

As the two sat in their seats, Date Masamune's face became more and more ugly:
"The cavalry of the Ming army cut off our supplies on land, and now we can only reduce the quota to maintain the defense of Nagoya Castle."

"Today, they dared to rebel against the warriors like this after cutting only one or two corns. It's hard to say whether these lowly people will turn against each other in a decisive battle of life and death."

In the dim castle tower, Date Masamune's words and the erratic candlelight reflected his entire face like a ghost, and Tokugawa Iemitsu, who was sitting opposite him, also frowned tightly.

Since the loss of the southern part of the main island, Kyushu, and Shikoku Island, and the attack of the Ming army on the Nobi Plain, the shogunate has been unable to provide food directly. Now the land food road has been cut off.
The 12 troops in Nagoya Castle need to eat two thousand shi of corn every day, as well as "expensive" military supplies such as rice and dried fish.

These things seem to be rare, but combined with the time they need to keep, it is an astronomical sum.

"How much corn do we have left?" Tokugawa Iemitsu tightened his grip on the hem of his clothes.

"The 15 shi of corn can only last for 68 days according to the previous distribution method." Date Masamune looked sad.

"68 days..." Tokugawa Iemitsu naturally knew that this amount of time was nothing to the battlefield.

The Ming army seized a large amount of supplies from the shogunate, and their small number could completely drag down the Japanese army.

Therefore, Tokugawa Iemitsu can only say:
"Continue to maintain the quota of 14 taels of corn and rice balls per person, and anyone who dares to rebel will be beheaded!"

"Hi..." Date Masamune replied, but there was a sense of helplessness in his words.

None of them wanted to lose their domain. As long as the Ming army said they were willing to let them become Ming's vassals, they would definitely surrender without hesitation.

But the problem is that the Ming army didn't even give them this chance.

The long night was long, and the morning came again, along with the Ming army's sharp artillery and stone bullets.

The entire Nagoya was shelled again, and this was just the prelude to today's shelling.

At dusk, the entire five hours passed, and the Ming army returned to the camp to rest as usual, cooking sheep and slaughtering pigs, and the smell of meat was overflowing, while the Japanese army was still eating the corn and rice balls that were short of catties and taels.

The fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day...

When seven days passed like this, many of the peasants and ashigaru in Nagoya lost a whole circle of weight, while the peasants of Yingzhou who danced every night became fatter and fatter.

"The gunpowder is gone."

On the seventh day, when Wu Aheng frowned and walked up the watchtower, Yang Wenyue on the watchtower was making tea with Tao Yi's sentiment.

"Sit first..." Yang Wenyue raised his hand to signal Wu Aheng to take a seat, but Wu Aheng could only sit down with a frown.

After sitting down, he looked at the already ruined Nagoya Castle, and couldn't help asking:

"How long do you have to wait, the current heat is ready?"

"Not enough..." Yang Wenyue picked up the tea, smelled the fragrance, blew on it, and then took a sip and said:

"I have asked Yan Siqi and the port of Osaka to transport the remaining 12 catties of gunpowder, and Gifu County has already been captured."

"Zheng Zhilong's third battalion has already arrived in Xindao, and they will be able to reach Edo Castle in six days at the latest."

"Edo Castle still has [-] ashigaru recruited by Tokugawa Hidetada, and his three battalions may not be able to take down." Wu Aheng frowned, but Yang Wenyue shook his head and said:

"Don't want him to fight down, just let him scare Edo Castle enough."

"The scale of Edo Castle and the demand for foreign food are not small. Once they are frightened, under the grain of the merchants and nobles, many civilians have to face high food prices, and finally starve to death in the street market."

"At this time, if it is spread that Edo Castle and Gifu County have been captured by our army, how long do you think Iemitsu Tokugawa can survive?"

Yang Wenyue took a sip of tea: "Of course, I won't give him a chance to surrender, because once the false news of the fall of Gifu and Edo comes out, he will have to face the rioting Ashgaru and Minfu."

"So, we don't need to shell any more in the past few days, and the 12 catties of gunpowder we transferred will be saved until the last night."

"You want them to think that we have transferred the artillery away?" Wu Aheng squinted his eyes, and Yang Wenyue nodded slightly:

"Pretend that our army transferred the artillery away, and then took the head of the Gifu daimyo, got some corpses pretending to be Tokugawa Hidetada, and threw the head of the Gifu daimyo into Nagoya Castle."

"At this time, do you think they will believe it?"

"Trust!" Wu Aheng nodded without hesitation, because only Zheng Zhilong's soldiers and horses were restrained in the Edo Sea, and Tokugawa Hidetada had no way to send troops to support him and open up the grain road to Nagoya.

Tokugawa Hidetada has not supported, so Tokugawa Iemitsu and Date Masamune can only choose to believe that he has died in battle.

The distance from Nagoya to Edo was less than [-] miles, and the food road was cut off. It took at most half a month for the whole army to dispatch troops, and the normal time to open the food road was only eight days.

Once these 23 days were exceeded, Edo Castle would either be besieged or captured, and Iemitsu Tokugawa couldn't believe it.

Even if he doesn't believe it, what about the group of warriors under his command?
"Zheng Zhilong will hold Tokugawa Hidetada for half a month, and they will mess up without us attacking the city."

Yang Wenyue raised his teacup and drank it down, and Wu Aheng also raised his teacup and drank it down.

The teacups of the two were put down, and in the next few days, the Ming army did not launch any more shelling, and even the artillery was not placed on the position.

Such a move made the ashigaru and the civilian husbands who guarded the city relax a lot, but Tokugawa Iemitsu and Date Masamune felt uneasy.

"Have they run out of gunpowder?"

Standing on the attic of the castle tower, Tokugawa Iemitsu looked at the Ming army camp, but Date Masamune said:
"Probably not. If they run out of gunpowder, they should actively attack the city. It won't be like this."

"Now it's either that they are preparing for a second move, or they are preparing to withdraw their troops."

"Do you think they look like they are about to withdraw?" Tokugawa Iemitsu was a little dissatisfied, because in his monocular clairvoyance, the Ming army had been actively preparing for war.

"I'm old and stupid, and now I can't figure it out..." Date Masamune could only choose to give in to his dissatisfaction.

His obedience did not calm Tokugawa Iemitsu, but made Tokugawa Iemitsu even more depressed.

Since the beginning of the war, they have been passively beaten. Now that the Ming army stopped beating them, they are not used to it.

"Is it possible to organize cavalry to break through the grain road?"

Tokugawa Iemitsu pinned his hopes on getting through the grain road, but Date Masamune shook his head and said:
"Our cavalry has only 3000 people, and the Ming army has six or seven thousand, and their cavalry is brave. Once our cavalry leaves the city, it is very likely that all of them will be eaten..."

"Oh!"

Tokugawa Iemitsu kicked over the table, startling Date Masamune.

"I can't beat the iron cannon, the artillery can't beat it, and now the cavalry can't do it, so what are we going to win?!"

Tokugawa Iemitsu couldn't help cursing, but Date Masamune couldn't answer this question either.

This war was originally a war of national subjugation and genocide, and it was impossible for them to win. The reason why they fought was to keep themselves alive, not to obtain any material.

But right now, such an idea has become a luxury.

"Send three thousand cavalry and three thousand foot light out of the city."

"General!" Hearing Tokugawa Iemitsu's words, Date Masamune knelt on the spot:

"Please take it back."

"Huh?" Tokugawa Iemitsu was a little dissatisfied, but Date Masamune gritted his teeth and said:

"Mobilizing the cavalry is equivalent to weakening our control in the city."

Date Masamune's words made Tokugawa Iemitsu react. His current opponents are not only the Ming army, but also the Ashgaru and civilians in the city who are gradually dissatisfied.

Once he mobilized [-] warriors out of the city and was defeated, the number of warriors in his hands would be only [-].

Using 11 samurai to manage the remaining [-] ashigaru and civilian husbands sounds a bit dangerous to anyone.

"That's all!" Tokugawa Iemitsu waved his hand, reason finally defeated impulse, and he withdrew his military order.

But even so, he still frowned and said:
"We have been besieged for seven days. When do you think Father will send troops to relieve the siege?"

"Hidetada-sama's [-] ashigaru have only been trained for two and a half months. Counting these seven days, it is not three months. I thought they would send troops in half a month, at least not more than one month." Masamune Date's judgment Yang Wenyue's judgment took a little longer because he had information about his own army.

"One month..." Tokugawa Iemitsu murmured, then turned sideways to look at the Ming army camp at the edge of the sky, clenched his fists before saying unwillingly:

"Then I will wait another month. After one month, our 15 troops will join forces. I will cut off the head of the Ming general opposite and throw him into the volcano!"

"Hi!" Date Masamune was like a paper maker at the moment, or a master of psychological counseling.

Not only did he have to take care of the mentality of the people below, but he also had to take care of Tokugawa Iemitsu. If this continued, he suspected that he would go crazy.

It's just that he would rather go crazy now than die in battle.

At least now, after he goes crazy, he can forget the result of the war and live in his strong memory of Date.

"You go down."

"Hi……"

Tokugawa Iemitsu waved his hand, and Date Masamune got up and retreated when he saw this.

But just as he got up, there was the sound of hurried footsteps on the wooden floor, trotting all the way up to the castle tower.

"Shogun-sama, Date-sama, Ashigaru and Minfu killed three samurai!"

　I still overestimated myself, and it is easy to get dizzy if I write too much in a row.

　　It is estimated that the second update will not be written until around twelve o'clock.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)