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

Chapter 276 Japan's Defeat
The entire territory of Japan was shrouded in the smoke of war.

All the Ming soldiers mechanically pulled the triggers in their hands, then loaded gunpowder into their weapons. With each explosion, many Japanese soldiers were blown to pieces. Apart from a few who escaped, the rest were all taken prisoner.

At this moment, the Shogun, along with his guards, hurriedly fled the area. They turned back to look at the Ming army before them, still somewhat shaken. The Ming army's weapons were simply too terrifying; they were no match for them. In the first engagement, their men were driven back before they even reached their destination. He regretted his actions. Although he had brought his and the Emperor's entire army with him, his main force had suffered heavy losses. If he returned, his life would be difficult.

The brothers Wu Liang and Wu Zhen were very excited. They had been worried about the lack of miners to mine ore for them, but now they had plenty of prisoners in the area. They quickly sent news of the battle back to the Crown Prince Zhu Xiong Ying. Zhu Xiong Ying nodded in satisfaction, saying, "Well done!"

Now we've finally taken over a piece of land.

However, the silver mines in the Japanese region cannot provide them with enough assistance in the short term.

After the Shogun fled back, he looked at his remaining army and felt utterly desperate.

I thought back to when I set off with such a large army, full of pride and confidence.

But when they returned, they were in such a sorry state that they had hardly any men left under their command.

The Japanese emperor was extremely pleased to see the army under the command of the shogun suffer heavy losses.

The two had been vying for power, but unfortunately the shogun had far more troops than he did, making him no match for him. So he had always been at the mercy of the shogun.

Although he lost a lot of men in this war, the Shogun's forces were almost completely wiped out, so he might be able to take this opportunity to regain power.

The Shogun's expression turned extremely grim as he watched the Japanese Emperor's actions become more frequent and obvious.

"Damn it, how dare they seize my power at this time? Do they think I'm made of dough?"

"The Ming army is already at our doorstep. If we start fighting amongst ourselves now, we don't know how many men we'll have left!"

At that moment, an official stepped forward and spoke.

"General, the Great Ming has always been known as a land of propriety. This matter concerning the Celestial Empire is far too bizarre. Why don't we send someone to inquire with the Ming court to lodge a protest and find a way to gain the support of other countries? With the support of other countries, even if these people want to deal with us, we will have to consider whether it will have any impact!"

"We can even use this as leverage to force them to give us sufficient compensation!"

Upon hearing this, the Shogun's expression began to change constantly, and he was at a loss as to what to do next.

After some thought, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Given the situation, we have no choice but to do this: immediately send an envoy to inform the Ming Emperor and condemn their act of aggression!"

"Furthermore, the matter in Tianhua also needs to be resolved. All troops from other regions should be gathered here, and a large amount of money and beautiful women should be given to the Ezo in the north. We want a ceasefire with them. As long as they are willing to cease hostilities, anything is acceptable!"

Now he wants to bring back all his troops in the north, only then can he focus all his efforts on dealing with the Emperor's army.

After conquering the southern territory, the brothers Wu Zhen and Wu Liang did not continue their offensive. Instead, they chose to defend the area, now needing to prepare for what to come. They already had enough men, and given the vast territory they controlled, they needed to fully integrate it before they could truly conquer it.

Within the Ming Dynasty, everyone remained silent about the actions of the Ming army. No one had expected that Zhu Xiong Ying's methods for dealing with these Japanese pirates would be so ruthless. Not only the Japanese pirates, but all the families associated with them were wiped out.

Some families in Jiangnan who had connections with the Japanese pirates trembled with fear. They decided they could no longer have any dealings with these pirates, otherwise their families would be doomed.

The process of implementing the land tax reform in the entire Southern Zhili region was much faster than before.

At this moment, Zhu Xiong Ying turned his gaze to the vast land in the northeast, where many tribes lived.

However, Zhu Xiong Ying knew very well how fertile this land was, and it would be a waste to graze livestock on it. Therefore, he sent many troops to that place.

The court officials were puzzled and did not know why Zhu Xiong Ying was doing this. Many even submitted memorials, but all of them were rejected by Zhu Xiong Ying.

Seeing this, these people dared not say anything more.

All the officials in the thatched cottage had their heads bowed. Today was no simple matter for them. Many countries, including Japan, had suddenly come to the Ming Dynasty. This matter was definitely not simple.

Previously, the Ming Dynasty sent troops and directly seized the southern region of Japan.

They were very surprised when they learned of this, even though they knew that the brothers Wu Zhen and Wu Liang had trained a powerful navy in the southeast.

However, they did not know what the purpose of this army was, and they never expected that they would use this army to attack Japan.

In their view, Japan was one of the countries that Zhu Yuanzhang personally designated as non-conquerable. Doing this now was disobeying Zhu Yuanzhang's orders. They were worried that Zhu Yuanzhang would be furious if he found out about this, and everyone was looking forward to watching the show.

Who could have imagined that Zhu Yuanzhang acted as if he hadn't heard about this matter at all, and didn't seem to care at all, and not even a single word of it came from him.

The envoys from various countries are now appearing in this place, of course, for this very reason.

The Minister of Rites stepped forward.

"Your Highness, envoys from many countries, including Japan, have come to pay their respects. May Your Highness grant them an audience?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xiong Ying couldn't help but sneer.

He knew perfectly well why these guys were here, but he had no intention of backing down.

Since they're planning to take the medicine themselves, let's see who ends up being the unlucky one.

(End of this chapter)