Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 30: Ping Japanese Battle

Time passed quickly, and Zhang Xiao and others quickly returned to the capital. When Zhang Xiao returned to the capital, he received an order from the emperor to go solo the next day.

The next day, in the imperial study room.

"You have worked hard on your journey. You wrote "The Conquest of Mexico" on the way there, and you also finished "Fifty Years in the World" on the way back." The emperor said while holding "Five Years in the World" in his hand. Ten Years" manuscript.

""Fifty Years in the World" has actually been written a long time ago, but this book is now involved in important court affairs, so I have to be cautious and proofread it a few more times. I didn't give it to His Majesty until I finished writing and revising it. Please also ask Your Majesty, please forgive me." Zhang Xiao replied.

"It is a good thing to be cautious, but after all, the book "Fifty Years in the World" is just a novel. In the next few days, you should also concentrate on writing the "Chrysanthemum and the Sword" and write down your analysis of the Japanese country. Be more detailed. If you have time, you can start writing "The Rise of the Great Powers". In particular, you can write more about the laws, regulations, equipment and armaments of these countries. In particular, it talks about artillery, muskets, and warships in detail. But don’t be too nervous, the things you write will be reviewed by the court and will not be used just like this," the emperor said.

"I sincerely obey His Majesty's holy orders," Zhang Xiao said.

"As soon as your book arrived, I took it and read it. This Japanese country, according to the ancestral teachings of Emperor Ming, is a country that cannot be conquered. But now they think of themselves very much and want to invade the inner vassals of the Celestial Dynasty, and even want to invade the Celestial Dynasty directly. This war will be impossible if we don’t fight it." The emperor sighed with emotion.

"Your Majesty, the Japanese country is an island country after all. It has a large population and so many warriors. Toyotomi Hideyoshi inherited the career of his former lord Oda Nobunaga, so the invasion of the Japanese country is inevitable. At present, it is While the Japanese are not fully prepared, they must prepare for war, otherwise it will be very troublesome. It is much more troublesome for us to transport grain and grass than for the Japanese," Zhang Xiao said.

"Oda Nobunaga's goal is to bring arms to the world, right? Needless to say, this slogan is indeed domineering. But it's a pity that he has been dead for so many years. Otherwise, I would like to get to know him well. After all, this is No one can be regarded as a traitor. Logically speaking, Oda Nobunaga was killed with swords and guns, but he was so unprepared that he was burned to death in the temple. It was such an ugly death," the emperor commented.

"Yes, Oda Nobunaga's death was indeed sudden. Akechi Mitsuhide was his general. He did not expect that Akechi Mitsuhide would dare to rebel and died in the fire without waiting for reinforcements. Akechi Mitsuhide's uprising was hasty. , and had no great righteousness, so Toyotomi Hideyoshi quickly mobilized the army to rush back, defeated him in one fell swoop, and had great righteousness from then on. Oda Nobunaga's legitimate son also died, and the remaining descendants were useless. The Oda family All we can do is watch the original servant Toyotomi Hideyoshi grow bigger and become more of a guest," Zhang Xiao said. "But in your book, why do you call Toyotomi Hideyoshi's march the 'Great Return of China'? Toyotomi Hideyoshi's marching speed is really good, which shows that he still has a way of running an army." The emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. The Japanese country has a place called China, which is an area in the west of Honshu, the largest island in Japan. I just used it directly. The Japanese people centered on their own capital and divided "near and near" according to distance. "China", "China" and "Yuanguo" mean the three regions, and "China" here means the central region." Zhang Xiao explained.

"It's okay, you can just change the name or make a note. I'm just curious about this place name. Now let's talk about the memorial "Bei Japanese Chronicles" that you wrote before. It's a memorial, and what you wrote is long enough. , Fortunately, you haven’t made any nonsense in it, otherwise it would have been difficult to talk about it at the time of Grandpa Taizu. After your memorial was sent up, I and several cabinet ministers also read it together. It was very well written. But You must tell me clearly, what is the basis for what you said? Do you believe that the Japanese will land from the Busan area? Also, why do you say that the North Korean army is so weak? North Korea has previously treated its northern troops The Jurchen tribe bullied them very much and expanded a large area of ​​land." The emperor asked.

"Please allow me to use a map to explain the choice of the landing site. It is actually easy to judge. The closest way from Japan to Korea is from Japan's Kyushu Island to Korea's Busan area. Moreover, in the middle of this sea, there is Tsushima Island. Tsushima is occupied by the Japanese. Previously, the Mongolian army also set sail from Hepo County in Goryeo to occupy Tsushima. If the Japanese wanted to fight over, they would have to roughly reverse this direction. Of course, if the ship technology is more reliable now, If so, you can also land directly from Incheon and capture Seoul in one fell swoop. That would be the fastest, but the Japanese must still take a short and reliable route." Zhang Xiao explained to the map.

"As for why the North Korean army is incompetent, there are several reasons. The two classes of nobles mentioned in the previous memorial are one reason. The North Korean royal power has fallen by the wayside, the civilians are in poverty, and there is no path to military success. Naturally, the soldiers basically have no fighting spirit. Although North Korea has some There are elite troops and some solid city fortresses, but they are mostly placed on the northern border to defend against the Jurchens. In the south, especially along the coast, there are no solid border fortresses. Some cities have very short walls or even no walls. So once the Japanese attack with all their strength, North Korea has no time to react and it is difficult to resist." Zhang Xiao continued to explain.

"When you say that, I seem to understand a lot. In the memorial, you said that the troops entering North Korea should bring enough food and grass, and not send too many cavalry troops at the beginning, so as not to be unable to supply. According to you, North Korea is The country is not too small. Not only can we defend Seoul, we can't even defend Pyongyang?" The emperor was still confused.

"Your Majesty, you should consider the worst in everything. Moreover, North Korea is very mountainous. If you send too many cavalry at the beginning, it will be difficult for the horses to move forward and it will be difficult to perform on the battlefield." Zhang Xiao explained. Zhang Xiao had no choice. He couldn't say that he had read the script. The North Korean army was so defeated when dealing with Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army that the Ming Dynasty even thought that North Korea was cheating on the match.

"It's good to be prepared. Also, please explain to me why you want me to translate these two novels? I found someone to find the Japanese version of "The Tale of the Heike" and "The Tale of Genji". It's really difficult. Translation, there are not many people in the court who can read Japanese. This "The Tale of the Heike" has some Chinese characters in it. I can roughly guess the meaning after reading it. This "The Tale of Genji" is all radicals, and not many people can understand it. ." The emperor complained.

(End of this chapter)