I

"Me as the general to defend the enemy? Impossible. They would rather Edo City be breached than let me take power again." Abe Tadaki smiled coldly.

The daimyo who can really fight will die and retreat. The shogunate has no generals.

Abe Tadaki was the only one left, but because he opposed the expulsion of Chinese merchants, he was squeezed out of the court by the elder Sakai Tadaki.

When the ronin rioted in Edo, only Abe Tadaki opposed the expulsion. He believed that the reason why the ronin caused trouble was because they had no security in life, and the ronin should be allowed to work. From then on, he was isolated by other daimyo, and at the same time offended the shogun who had just succeeded to the throne.

By the way, Abe Tadaki is the lord of the Ninja Domain of Musashi Province, but unfortunately he is not as good at Ninjutsu as in the anime.

Masanori Inaba, the lord of the Odawara Domain, was appointed as the general at this time. This man is a generational daimyo, equivalent to a Conglong hero of the Tokugawa family. Coupled with the support of the powerful minister Sakai Tadaki, no one can oppose him as the general.

As for military ability and command experience, it can only be said that he has been on the battlefield and joined the army to suppress the Shiro Amakusa uprising.

The watchman came down from the hot air balloon and took the newly drawn castle floor plan to see Huang Fei, the commander in chief of the Japanese Conquest War.

Huang Fei is the nephew of Huang Long, the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town. He served as the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty Navy and was the first to lead his troops to submit to the Datong Army in Shandong. He is not young anymore. He will have to step down after this war and be transferred from the army to take up a position in the Governor's Mansion.

Huang Fei looked at the plan of the castle for a while and said: "This is a bit like a European bastion. There are angular corners on the city walls. There are mountains in the north, so it is inconvenient to attack with artillery. It is best to set up camp step by step from the south."

Except for the different architectural styles within the city, Edo Castle is very similar to a 16th-century European fortress.

There is a shadow of a bastion, but it only has the prototype of a bastion.

To the southwest is the outermost city, with only one gate to enter. In the middle and southeast is the second city, with two gates for entry. In the east and middle is the third city, which also has two gates to enter. To the northeast is the innermost castle, where the shogun lives.

In other words, the entire castle has four areas, each area separated by walls. Moreover, as the mountains undulated, the city walls became higher and higher, making it difficult to break through in the cold weapon era.

"The artillery positions have been measured. Let's demolish the houses." Huang Fei ordered.

The ronin who took the initiative to seek refuge took temporary Japanese civilians with them to demolish the houses closest to the city wall. Artillery positions need to be arranged there, and the dismantled wooden boards can also be used to make ladders and other equipment.

The demolished neighborhood was located in "Shitamachi", which was mainly home to small traders and craftsmen.

Groups of Edo people were driven away. They were full of resentment towards the Datong Army, but they did not dare to show it. They just lowered their heads and left silently. Especially for handicraftsmen, cheap goods from China put these people in danger of losing their jobs. The textile industry in Edo was almost finished, and only certain special fabrics were still marketable.

"Boom boom boom!"

The sound of artillery suddenly sounded, but it was the cannon fired from the city, aiming at the Japanese people who were demolishing their houses.

Those employed as civilian husbands by the Datong Army were all unemployed people in Edo. They were beaten back by shells and refused to demolish their houses again.

Huang Fei called a few ronin over and said to them: "Each of you will bring ten people to determine the houses you want to demolish. After the target is demolished, the team can rest. The sooner it is completed, the higher the reward." The first team to complete the demolition will be rewarded with one kilogram of rice per person. The second team to complete the demolition will be rewarded with half a kilogram of rice per person. The third team to complete the demolition will be rewarded with 20 kilograms of rice per person. From then on, each team will be rewarded according to their ranking. Decrease one pound."

After the white rice was brought out, the Japanese ronin and civilians immediately became motivated to demolish those houses under artillery fire.

Huang Fei is not afraid of wasting food. Anyway, after winning the battle, the shogunate will compensate for the lost military expenses.

Under the heavy reward, the house was demolished quickly.

Many Japanese carpenters were also forcibly recruited to turn the newly removed wooden boards into various siege equipment.

After two or three days of procrastination, a large block was finally demolished, and the moat had to be filled in next.

Inaba Masanori, the Japanese general who defended the city, went to the powerful minister Tadaki Sakai and said: "Your Excellency, the enemy has demolished civilian houses and is building rams and ladders for siege. Those siege equipment are not far from the demolished towns and streets. You can send some brave warriors to attack and burn them at night.”

"The night attack is a good strategy." Sakai Tadakiyoshi praised.

The plan was approved and Masanori Inaba took action immediately. He summoned 500 dead soldiers, distributed them grease, and asked the death squads to drink and set off.

Five hundred warriors wore white cloth forehead bands, received some settlement money, and waited for nightfall.

They drank half a bowl of sake, set off with high morale, and crossed the bridge in the dark carrying the cans. Everything seemed to be going well, and the Datong Army was unprepared.

"Dingling bell~~~"

In the quiet night, a bell suddenly rang. More than a hundred of his fellow soldiers, who were taking a nap with their eyes closed, suddenly opened their eyes and picked up their loaded muskets.

Only a vague figure could be seen outside, and all the soldiers were shooting at the figure.

After firing a bullet, he immediately attached his bayonet and rushed out.

The moment the five hundred warriors hit the bell, they knew they were furious. Some people subconsciously wanted to withdraw, while more people stopped hiding and rushed forward, screaming. The crackling sound of gunfire sounded, and not only a few were shot but fell to the ground, but the sound of gunfire calmed down the fanatical samurai, and more and more samurai stopped charging.

It was pitch black, and they were retreating again. Hundreds of warriors were completely unorganized and could only flee in the direction of the castle. They were stabbed with bayonets by the Datong troops who came up.

Less than half of the five hundred warriors fled back to the city.

"Why not, let's have peace talks." Tsuchiya Shu, who had just been promoted to Lao Zhong, said directly.

Kuze Hiroyuki echoed: "You can send someone to try."

Sakai Zhongqing looked at Lin Efeng: "You and your son have served as envoys to the Tang Dynasty several times. Your father has died of illness, and the important task of peace talks this time will be left to you."

"Yes!" Lin Efeng agreed bravely.

He is the son of the great Japanese scholar Luo Shan, his name is Lin Shu, and Efeng is his nickname.

Lin Efeng came to the outside of the city in a basket. After explaining his purpose, he was taken to see the hoopoe, a civilian official accompanying the army.

"Lin Shu, a young minister from my lower country, pays homage to the angel from the upper country." Lin Efeng bowed his head and said.

The hoopoe cupped his hand and raised it slightly: "Hopoe of Honglu Temple, your Excellency, please take a seat."

After Lin Efeng sat down, he turned out to be very tough and asked: "Dare you ask the angels, what is the purpose of the heavenly soldiers coming here? It is not a righteous fight if the troops are unknown!"

Dai Sheng sneered: "The vassal country expelled the Chinese merchants and confiscated the property of the Chinese merchants without authorization. This is Japan's way of doing things big? Even if Japan doesn't do big things, China doesn't need to do small things. If you are unjust, then China can be unkind. !”

The Confucian diplomatic concept can be summed up in four words: big things and small things.

Big countries should treat small countries with benevolence and justice, and should not bully them casually; small countries should serve big countries with wisdom, and should not provoke them easily.

Dai Sheng casually mentioned the contents of "Mencius" and directly labeled the shogunate as "not being too serious", which made Lin Efeng not know how to defend himself. Even if it can be defended, it is just a quibble, because Japan violates the basic diplomatic concepts of Confucianism.

In the verbal exchange between the two, Hoopoe had the upper hand.

Lin Efeng, who had questioned him as soon as he arrived, could only try his best to explain: "The seclusion of the country is Japan's internal affair. There may be some unscrupulous businessmen in China who violated the shogunate's order of seclusion and smuggled trade with local daimyo. The people expelled by the shogunate are not good citizens of China. , but Chinese traitors. Just like the Japanese pirates who robbed the Ming Dynasty, they were also the traitors expelled by our country. The Ming Dynasty killed the Japanese pirates, and Japan would only applaud. Those criminals who participated in smuggling, there is no need to let the two The soldiers of the country meet each other."

"Poof!"

Dai Sheng banged the table angrily: "Japanese pirates burned, killed, and looted in China. Did Chinese merchants ever plunder in Japan? How dare you confuse good Chinese merchants with the heinous Japanese pirates! You and I don't need to talk anymore. Come and see the guests off!”

"Angels, calm down, angels, calm down," Lin Efeng finally panicked, "If your majesty, the emperor, has any instructions for you, please tell me, angel. I will tell the general every word."

Dai Sheng said: "First, Japan must bear all the military expenses for this troop dispatch. Second, the property of Chinese merchants must be returned. Third, Japan must be founded. Fourth, China's gold, silver, and copper coins can be used in Japan. , Japanese merchants are not allowed to refuse. Fifth, Ezo Island (Hokkaido) originally belonged to the Ming Dynasty's Nuergandusi, but now it is the territory of our Datong China. I heard that Japan made a map and actually painted Ezo Island as Japanese territory. Immediately Change Japan’s map and recognize Ezo Island as Chinese territory!”

Lin Efeng wrote down everything and took it back to Sakai Tadaki.

Shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna read the terms and finally said a rare word: "Where is Ezo Island?"

Sakai Tadakiyoshi replied: "That is the territory of Matsumae Domain."

Tokugawa Ietsuna asked in confusion: "How come I didn't know there was another Matsumae clan?"

Sakai Tadakiyoshi said: "Matsumae Clan is a daimyo with no stone height, and only has the status of banner."

The reason why Sakai Tadakiyo knew so well was because Matsumae Domain's Hatamoto treatment was bought by bribing him.

Prior to this, Matsumae Domain was not even considered a flag. Its ancestor, Matsumae Kehiro, defeated the local Ezo people, led Japanese immigrants to build a stockade, and was recognized for joining Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and successfully became independent from the Andō family.

He was treated like a bannerman and didn't have Shi Gao's name. Who would care about his life and death?

Lao Naka Itakura Shigeki said: "It is rumored that Ezo Island is very cold and covered with ice and snow all year round. It is impossible to grow rice and can only hunt and fish. This kind of wild land is also the homeland of China. We don't need to hold it in our hands. . I suggest that the Matsumae clan be deprived of its title and the Matsumae family’s banner status be revoked. From now on, the Matsumae family are Chinese people, not my Japanese subjects.”

"It should be so." Many senior middlemen and counselors nodded.

No one takes Hokkaido seriously. What to do with a place where rice cannot be grown?

Among the five items in the contract, Hokkaido was the most important to Zhao Han, but the Japanese shogunate paid the least attention to it.