The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 190 The Japanese Envoy Was Executed by Flogging in the Imperial Court

Although Koizumi Kameshiro said those words, the coldness in his eyes seemed to be a tangible reality.

All the civil and military officials in the court saw it clearly, but no one cared.

Judging from the attitude of the grandson of the emperor, Zhu Xiong Ying, one can tell that the future of Japan is bleak.

Although they didn't know where they had offended the Crown Prince, they couldn't get involved with the Japanese envoy.

Officials from the Ministry of Rites became secretly wary.

As an official in the Ministry of Rites in charge of diplomacy, it was the most lucrative job in the entire Ministry of Rites. The items used by the envoys were all luxurious and rare in the Central Plains. Although they were not common in their own lands, they were rare treasures in their hands.

If you escape and continue, you can definitely build a fortune for yourself.

It was already a common practice for these officials of the Ministry of Rites to accept bribes.

However, everything has its limits. If they continue to act recklessly like they are today, the Imperial Guards who will raid their homes may not be far off.

Seeing that he would likely gain little benefit from losing face, Koizumi Kameshiro continued speaking.

"The Great Ming Dynasty is a celestial empire, rich in resources and vast in territory. Our Japan, on the other hand, has suffered from years of war and its land is barren with no arable land. We hope that the Emperor of the Great Ming can bestow Jeju Island and even the Penghu Islands upon Japan. I believe that the people of Japan will be grateful for His Highness the Crown Prince's kindness!"

The military officers in the court were instantly in an uproar upon hearing Koizumi Kameshiro's words.

Although these eastern islands are not of great use, they are still part of the Ming Dynasty's territory, and the Ming Dynasty has stationed troops on them. How could they be handed over to other countries so easily?

Many civil officials in the imperial court were pondering the pros and cons of this matter.

At this moment, an official stepped forward.

"Your Highness, Jeju Island and the Penghu Islands are of little use; on the contrary, they require a great deal of wealth and troops to garrison them!"

"Since there aren't many people here anyway, why not bestow them upon other countries? That way, all the countries under heaven will surely submit, and our Great Ming will enjoy lasting peace and stability!"

Before he could finish speaking, one of the military officers stepped forward.

"Nonsense! The Penghu Patrol Office was established by our Great Ming Dynasty precisely to manage these islands. These islands are the territory of our Great Ming Dynasty, so how can we easily give them away to others? This is a path to national disaster!"

The civil official then turned his gaze to Ni Yuanlu, the Minister of Rites.

Seeing that she couldn't avoid it any longer, Ni Yuanlu stepped forward and spoke up.

"Your Highness, the Penghu Islands and Jeju Island have submitted to our Great Ming Dynasty, which is a sign of our trust in our Great Ming Dynasty. If we abandon them easily, it will surely hurt the feelings of our vassal states. Moreover, it is not scarcity that is a concern, but inequality. If we agree to the demands of the Japanese envoy today, what if one day the Annam envoy wants Yunnan, or the northern envoy wants Shanxi and Liaodong?"

Everyone was extremely surprised, not expecting that the Minister of Rites would support the military general's idea.

In the imperial court, civil and military officials were at odds.

No matter what the opinion was, if it came from a military officer, the civil official would refute it.

Civil officials would then only find fault with the military officers they recommended.

Among the civil officials, there were three groups: the Huaixi gentry, the Northern gentry, and the Jiangnan gentry.

Previously, the most powerful faction in the court was the Huaixi nobility, but after Li Shanchang fell, the power of the Huaixi nobility was greatly weakened.

On the contrary, it was because Zhu Xiong Ying valued it.

The Zhejiang School, led by Liu Bowen, has received widespread attention.

However, Liu Bowen, the Imperial Censor, was always low-key, and even the Censorate did not have a unified voice, so he naturally did not care about the people below cheering him on.

Upon seeing the Minister of Rites step forward, Yang Siyi, the Minister of Revenue, spoke.

"Although Jeju Island and the Penghu Islands do not produce a large amount of grain, they can serve as transit points for our Ming Dynasty ships, and we can also harvest a large quantity of fish, shrimp, and other seafood there!" "This is of utmost importance and should not be given away casually!"

Now that the two bigwigs of the Sixth Department have reached a consensus, the others naturally didn't say anything more.

The Minister of Personnel, Zhan Tong; the Minister of War, Li Cheng; the Minister of Works, Fan Jingwen; and the Minister of Justice, Hu Zhen, all believed that the territory of the Ming Dynasty should not be given away.

This change stunned everyone in the court.

Especially Hu Weiyong.

Although Hu Weiyong is still a member of the cabinet, his power and status are far less than before.

In particular, thanks to his efforts, the only people he currently has a relatively good relationship with are Zhan Tong, the Minister of Personnel, and Fan Jingwen, the Minister of Works.

However, even these two people did not refute Zhu Xiong Ying's words, which clearly shows that Zhu Xiong Ying's control over the court has reached a very deep-rooted level.

Thinking of this, he sighed. The defeat of Li Shanchang, the Duke of Han, was not unjust.

Koizumi Kameshiro's face was grim.

This mission not only yielded no benefits, but also left them battered and bruised.

Kameda Higo, unable to contain his anger, shouted loudly.

"Our country, Japan, is about to be unified from north to south. At that time, our country's strength will surely increase greatly. If the Ming Dynasty does not give it to us, then we will have no choice but to take it by force!"

"I hope Your Highness will consider this carefully. If it really leads to something unfriendly between the two countries, I'm sure you can't bear the responsibility!"

Zhu Xiong Ying's face was icy cold.

These Japanese are increasingly failing to recognize their own strength, daring to steal from the Ming Dynasty.

"Did those two envoys mean to declare war on the Ming Dynasty?"

Just as Kameda Higo was about to speak, he was stopped by Koizumi Kameshiro.

"I am the envoy in charge; you must not speak nonsense!"

"Your Highness, what are you saying? Japan is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty and would never dare to have any disloyal intentions. Mr. Kameda's mistake was unintentional, and I hope Your Highness will forgive him!"

Koizumi Kameshiro dared not fall out with the Ming Dynasty at this time.

Even if Japan were to exert all its national strength now, it might not be a match for the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, according to their strategy, the first thing they should do is defeat Goryeo.

By seizing Goryeo's territory, they gained a land base for advancing into the Ming Dynasty; otherwise, given the Ming Dynasty's coastal defenses, they would have had no chance of breaking in.

"Since the Japanese envoy has no intention of betraying our Great Ming, then please send your troops to deal with the Japanese pirates appearing along the southeastern coast of the Great Ming. If those Japanese pirates harm even one of our Great Ming's people, our Great Ming will hold your Japan accountable!"

Koizumi Kameshiro also looked worse; this was truly not something he could decide.

Although some of the Japanese pirates in the southeast were indeed defeated samurai or lords.

However, a considerable portion of them were established by the lords of various families.

The Ming Dynasty was rich in resources, especially in the southeastern region, where there were many fine things.

The profits from raiding the Ming Dynasty are far greater than what they earn from trading with smaller countries, so these people would never give up such a lucrative opportunity.

"Your Highness, that's not quite right. Those Japanese pirates have nothing to do with our country. It's really unreasonable to impose their crimes on our country!"

(End of this chapter)