Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 248: A letter that frightened the shogunate and brought shame to the Kingdom of God! [Subscription Request]

Lou Kui said, "According to the information I just received, it was Toki Yoriyasu's son, Toki Mitsutada, who secretly informed Ashikaga Yoshimitsu about the 'replacement of rice with mulberry trees'."

"Ashikaga Yoshimitsu likely doubted our intentions in recommending the 'replacing rice with mulberry' policy to the foreign daimyo. Furthermore, he has always been deeply wary of our Ming dynasty. This is why he secretly orchestrated a plan to capture Shen Ji and five other great sea merchants and three Guangming Guard spies."

Zhu Di frowned and asked, "How much do Shen Ji and the others, as well as the captured Guangming Guards, know about the 'replacing rice with mulberry trees' plan? Do they know the ultimate purpose of this plan?"

Lou Kui thought for a moment and said, "We haven't told Shen Ji and the other merchants the ultimate purpose of their plan to 'switch rice to mulberry trees,' but they should be able to guess a thing or two."

"As for the captured Bright Guard spies, they didn't know much about this plan to begin with, and they've all been rigorously trained. Even under torture, they wouldn't reveal the Ming Dynasty's secrets."

Zhu Di stood up and said, "If Ashikaga Yoshimitsu knew of our plans to implement 'converting rice to mulberry trees' and 'immigration' in Japan, I'm afraid he would not only obstruct us, but might also use this to rally the daimyo of the northern and southern regions of Japan to join forces against us."

"By then, all the plans the imperial court had formulated against Japan would have been ruined, and none of us would have escaped the blame."

"To avoid this situation, we must rescue Shen Ji and others from the Ashikaga Shogunate as soon as possible!"

Lou Kui looked embarrassed and said, "Your Highness, the Guangming Guards are mainly responsible for gathering information in Japan. We don't actually have much military force under our control. The Ashikaga Shogunate is heavily guarded, so it will be difficult to rescue Shen Ji and others."

At this point, he gritted his teeth and said, "If we kill Shen Ji and the others, although it will be difficult, it may not be impossible to succeed. At least it is something we can try with the power of Japan."

Zhu Di hesitated for only a moment before shaking his head and saying, "Shen Ji and other sea merchants, as well as the Guangming Guards, all work for the Ming Dynasty. Now they have fallen into enemy hands. If we do not try to rescue them, but instead silence them, who will dare to serve the Ming Dynasty wholeheartedly in the future?"

Although Lou Kui proposed the plan of killing people to silence them, he was relieved when he heard Zhu Di rejected it - he was also afraid that he would be trapped in the enemy camp in the future and be silenced by the court.

"Then how can we save this person?"

Zhu Di looked towards Japan, a sharp gleam in his eyes, and said, "I will now send a letter directly asking the Ashikaga Shogunate to release them. By the way, the three captured Guangming Guards all have legitimate Ming Dynasty identities, right?"

Lou Kui was stunned for a moment, then nodded, "Yes—they are either merchants who have settled in Japan, or down-and-out scholars or warriors who have wandered over there."

Zhu Di said, "I will have someone draft a letter. You prepare the staff and send it to the Ashikaga shogunate as soon as possible. Make sure Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sees it!"

Lou Kui couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, can a letter make Ashikaga Yoshimitsu release the people?"

Zhu Di smiled inexplicably, "If he doesn't release them, next year we'll have to face the Ming army."

After saying this, Zhu Di returned to the courtyard where he lived and prepared to discuss with Daoyan and other staff members how to write this letter.

Speaking of which, Zhu Di also watched a lot of videos from later generations, and came up with this method from the game between various countries in later generations.

He threatened Ashikaga Yoshimitsu with a letter to release the people. If he succeeded, he would implement the original plan of "converting rice to mulberry" and "immigration", and let Japan slowly bleed to death.

If Ashikaga Yoshimitsu is unwilling to release the hostages, the Ming Dynasty can use this as an excuse to send a large army to invade Japan!

Use a war to destroy the Ashikaga shogunate and replace it with a puppet shogunate that is willing to cooperate with the Ming Dynasty in implementing various policies toward Japan - this was the strategy they agreed upon in Fengxian Hall that day.

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Snapped!
The sound of whips lashing was heard from the dark dungeon.

There were also people scolding and yelling in Chinese that sounded rather awkward.

"Say or not?"

"Damn Mingren, I'm going to beat every inch of your skin to pieces. I won't believe you won't tell me!"

"Please spare me, I really don't know anything, I'm just an ordinary merchant..."

"Be tough!"

clap clap clap!
In a cell, Shen Ji, who had not yet been tortured, heard the sounds of beating and screaming outside. Thinking that he would also be tortured, he couldn't help but tremble with fear.

'How did it come to this?'

He couldn't figure it out.

It was obvious that these Ming Dynasty merchants were very popular among the daimyos of the northern and southern regions of Japan, and were treated as guests of honor wherever they went.

Who would have thought that the Ashikaga shogunate would suddenly send people to arrest them, torture them severely, and force them to tell the real purpose of proposing the policy of "changing rice to mulberry" to the daimyo.

Speaking of which, although the court only asked him to do this and did not tell the court's intention, Shen Ji was born into the Suzhou Shen family, and his family had been engaged in maritime trade for three generations. The Shen family was once rich enough to rival a country. Although he was born out of wedlock, he was also knowledgeable.

He felt that the imperial court asked them to induce the Japanese daimyo to switch from rice cultivation to mulberry cultivation, probably because the Ming Dynasty would really be short of raw silk in the future. He had heard about the Jinling Textile Factory in the capital a long time ago. Since it could weave cotton, it would not be difficult to weave silk.

If the efficiency of silk production increases by dozens of times, the Ming Dynasty will indeed have a large shortage of raw silk in the next few decades, just as he said to the Japanese daimyo.

Secondly, he speculated that the imperial court wanted to use this method to cause food shortages in Japan and artificially induce famine.

Since the imperial court opened the sea and established several garrisons in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, it has become more eager for Japanese women.

He heard that most of the military households sent to overseas garrisons were bachelors, so in order to reassure them, the court promised to give them wives.

It was impossible for the imperial court to forcibly recruit women from decent families in the country and send them overseas to be betrothed to military households. Therefore, purchasing women from Goryeo and Japan became a solution.

If there were a famine in Japan, the price of human life would surely drop, making it easier for the Ming Dynasty to purchase Japanese women, or even young men—young men could be sent to Southeast Asia as laborers, earning them the same amount of money. Although Shen Ji speculated on these reasons, he didn't intend to speak them out.

If he didn't keep his mouth shut and revealed these things, not only would he never be able to return to the Ming Dynasty, but his family and relatives would also suffer. Those sea merchants were tortured severely, but they refused to tell the truth. In addition to not knowing the court's intentions, they must have been concerned about their relatives and friends.

But how long can they endure such severe torture and torment?
Logically speaking, they were arrested because of the missions assigned by the court, so the court should try to rescue them?

But it was the Ashikaga shogunate that arrested them, how could the imperial court save them?
Even if we wanted to send a large army to invade Japan, it would take several months or even more than half a year to prepare, right?
Just as Shen Ji was daydreaming, there was movement at the entrance of the dungeon, and it seemed that a group of people came in.

The group said in Japanese: "Stop fighting. The general wants them all taken out and treated."

The dungeon boss asked in confusion, "Why?"

"I heard that the general wants to release these Ming people."

"Ah? Why is that? Aren't these Ming people said to be plotting something bad in our country?"

The visitor said impatiently, "Don't keep asking why. How would I know what the general is thinking? Alright, just do it!"

Then, someone came to release Shen Ji and others.

Even after they were released from the dungeon, treated by a Japanese doctor, and helped by lovely Japanese women to bathe and change clothes, Shen Ji and others still could not recover.

They were just released like that?

Why is this?

An hour later, Shen Ji and others, who were full of confusion, were brought to a rather spacious and grand hall.

There were several powerful Japanese people kneeling inside, and besides that, there was a man dressed as a Ming Dynasty general.

"Friends from the Ming Dynasty," the middle-aged man sitting in the main seat said, "Before, this governor believed the words of a treacherous villain and misunderstood you, so he invited you here."

"I'm sorry for all the hardship you've endured these past few days. Here's some gold and silver as compensation. I hope you don't mind."

Hearing this man call himself Kanrei, and considering his age, Shen Ji realized that the middle-aged man sitting in the main seat was actually Sasaki Yoshimasa, an important official of the Ashikaga shogunate.

In the Japanese system, if we ignore the emperor who is actually a puppet, the shogun is no different from the monarch - if Ashikaga Yoshimitsu is the "monarch" of the Northern Dynasty of Japan today, then Sasaki Yoshimasa is the prime minister.

Given the status of Shen Ji and others, it was already a rare opportunity to be summoned by Sōma Yoshimasa, let alone to apologize in person.

For a moment, Shen Ji and others felt that today's experience was just like a dream, and they were afraid that they would wake up later and still find themselves in the dark shogunate dungeon.

It was not until the Japanese brought in boxes of gold and silver that Shen Ji and others came to their senses.

The box containing gold and silver was not big, but it could hold several hundred taels. Seeing that it was half gold and half silver, someone couldn't help but pinch his thigh hard, feeling the pain, and then he was sure that he was not dreaming.

At this time, the Ming general said, "I am Zhu Liang, a captain of the guards of His Highness Prince Yan. I have come here on His Highness' orders to rescue you."

"Although the shogunate's arrest of you was a misunderstanding, you have suffered hardships and even been tortured in the shogunate. If you are dissatisfied with the compensation, you can speak up now."

Shen Ji and others did not expect that the court would not only rescue them so quickly, but also seek justice for them.

Everyone was grateful at that moment.

However, both the sea merchants such as Shen Ji and the three Guangming Guards, after weighing the pros and cons, decided not to create unnecessary trouble - after all, they were still in the Ashikaga shogunate. If they put forward some excessive conditions and the shogunate went back on its word and kept them, it would be a waste of time and effort.

So Shen Ji and the others exchanged glances and shook their heads.

Zhu Liang didn't seem surprised by this. He stood up and looked at Sasaki Yoshimasa. "Your Highness, Prince Yan, has another message for me to pass on to General Ashikaga. Now that the Ming Dynasty has opened its seas, Japan, as one of its major trading partners, will undoubtedly attract more merchants from the sea."

"Since Japan recognizes the Ming Dynasty as its suzerain, it should treat Ming Dynasty citizens living in Japan with courtesy, rather than arbitrarily arresting and persecuting them."

"Since this is Japan's first offense and they are willing to apologize and make amends, we can let it go. However, if this happens again, our greeting to the Ashikaga Shogun will not be a letter, but the warships and troops of the Ming Dynasty."

After saying this, Zhu Liang clasped his fists slightly, then left with his entourage, Shen Ji and others.

After Zhu Liang and others disappeared from view, several Japanese dignitaries in the hall, who had already been filled with indignation, could no longer hold back and started swearing.

"idiot!"

"Akito is too arrogant!"

"I really don't understand. They're just a few sea merchants. Let alone capturing them, even if they were killed, what would happen? Could it be that the Ming Dynasty really dared to send troops to attack them?"

"The general released them and even apologized to them just because of a word from that King Yan. He has truly brought disgrace upon our kingdom!"

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　First update

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)