"Japanese pirates?"
Gongshu Chou looked at Ning Que in confusion.
He didn't know much about the Japanese pirates.
I've had some dealings with them before.
These people are very generous.
I never bargain when buying things.
In addition, the Japanese had close contacts with the Shang Dynasty.
"They harbor evil intentions, offering small gifts but lacking in great virtue." Ning Que waved his hand. "Hundreds of years ago, they came to Qi. They came to Chang'an under the pretext of studying. Emperor Wen was in power at the time, and he wanted to befriend them. They were willing to submit, even signing a letter of credence, becoming a vassal state of Dafeng, paying tribute annually, and even sending their princesses to marry. Dafeng treated them with impeccable kindness, teaching them everything they knew. They learned Dafeng culture and various other civilizations. But later, they took advantage of the Tian clan's rebellion to attack Qi!"
"Is this even possible?!"
"certainly."
Ning Que waved his hand calmly.
Gongshu Chou had lived in Liaodong for a long time, so it was understandable that he was unfamiliar with Dafeng's history. Furthermore, this incident happened two or three hundred years ago, and with the exception of a very small number of people, most people were unaware of it. Initially, Dafeng had a friendly relationship with the Wa Islands, treating them with unconditional kindness, practically like their own sons. After all, they were far away overseas, and could be used to counterbalance Goguryeo and create trouble for them. Since they were so sincere, Dafeng would not treat these vassal states unfairly. The tribute they offered was actually of little value, but the gifts Dafeng gave in return were always valuable.
What's the result?
They colluded with the Tian family and attacked Qi.
Thinking that we could divide it up together.
But they were fooled by the ancestors of the Tian family.
They had painstakingly supported the Tian clan to ascend to the throne of King of Qi, only to be surrounded and attacked by the Tian clan. Emperor Wen had no choice but to acknowledge the Tian clan's status as King of Qi. However, he no longer had any good feelings towards the Japanese pirates, and even issued an edict that all Japanese pirates would be killed without mercy. If they hadn't been far away overseas, Dafeng would have sent troops to kill them long ago!
Although the Japanese pirates were tricked by the Tian ancestors and even ordered to be killed by Dafeng, they never gave up on Dafeng. They always wanted to seize Dafeng when it was weak. After all, they were a small country with few people. Because they were an island nation, their resources were extremely scarce. They could not compare with the vast land and abundant resources of Dafeng, which made them eager to seize land.
They have always wanted to get involved in Dafeng.
Later, they considered using Goguryeo as a springboard, feigning trade with it. This was precisely why Gongshu Chou had some dealings with the Japanese. It was through Goguryeo that they entered the Liaodong region. However, with the subsequent recovery of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the Japanese no longer dared to act so brazenly. However, Ning Que had heard Cui Genshuo mention that there were still many Japanese pirates and merchants in Goguryeo. They had even formed a distinct faction, holding a considerable position within Goguryeo.
Ning Que encountered some Japanese when he attacked Goguryeo, but he had no good feelings towards them.
Anyone encountered would be killed.
As for their property, it was all used as military pay.
What Ning Que didn't expect was that they actually came to Min Yue!
If you think about it carefully, it seems that they did so in history.
After all, the Min Yue region should be considered as the Fujian area.
"They're a bunch of ungrateful people, worse than animals." Hai Zai was extremely angry and gritted his teeth. "They were shipwrecked and kindly rescued by the Min Yue people. At first, it was fine, but they seemed to realize that Min Yue was not strong. Soon, more and more Japanese arrived. They abandoned their hypocrisy and began to annex and occupy Min Yue's territory. They even enslaved the Min Yue people and killed countless people there."
These stories were reported by the Min Yue people who fled to Nanyue, and they haven't stopped since last year. Min Yue and Nanyue may have a long-standing feud, but they are still the people of the First Ancestor and considered family. Now that the Japanese are repaying kindness with hatred and want to massacre the Min Yue, Nanyue will surely not stand by and watch them perish.
Jie Jun had also sent troops to aid Minyue last year, but was defeated. It was said that although these Japanese were short, they were well-trained in combat. They wielded fine iron swords and crushed them. Fortunately, their archers still had some advantages, allowing them to withdraw in time.
"So Minyue was annexed by them all?"
"Not entirely." Hai Gui, driving the ox cart, shook his head and said, "No matter how powerful the Japanese are, they can only rely on their own two legs. Many people in Minyue have retreated to the north, and now we are basically separated from the Japanese by a river. However, through our spies' investigation, we found that the Japanese have been sending people to land in Minyue in recent years."
"Oh, they really don't give up."
Ning Que sneered immediately.
That's how the Japanese are.
Their island's resources were scarce, and life was quite miserable. As far as he knew, the Japanese primarily relied on marine fish as their primary meat supplement. Other meats were largely irrelevant to the common people. The limited land was mostly used to grow rice, including the cultivation methods, which were all learned from Dafeng. Because of the limited output, life was extremely tight.
The Japanese people's idea is to expand outward and actively bring resources back to the island of Japan. Otherwise, their lives will be very miserable.
"Hey, Junior Brother, you must have some ideas, right?"
"Um."
Ning Que smiled sinisterly and pointed forward, saying, "Originally, I was hesitant about how to deploy our troops next. After all, we're new here, and it wouldn't be appropriate to use them rashly. Now that the Japanese have invaded Minyue, we should use the banner of our ancestors and help Minyue defeat the Japanese. Then, we can take advantage of the situation and recruit the Minyue people for our own use."
When fighting a war, one must have a legitimate reason.
Even a powerful nation like Dafeng was like this. Regardless of the reason, the most important thing was to convince the soldiers to fight for their lives, and to minimize the influence within the country.
Take the two wars Ning Que participated in, for example. The Northern Expedition against Liao was because they repeatedly invaded the border from the south. And Dafeng wanted to recapture the ancestral land of Shuofang and ensure that no more barbarians from the north would invade the south.
As for Goguryeo, it was even simpler. They were the ones who were servile and repeatedly provoked Dafeng. They also promoted various laws and regulations in an attempt to steal Dafeng's culture and claim that they were the orthodox of Kyushu.
This approach upset many civil officials who had always advocated for peace. For example, the Eastern Expedition to Goguryeo was entirely driven by civil officials. In fact, some military generals did not support the Eastern Expedition, after all, Dafeng had just defeated the Liao Kingdom.
So it doesn't matter what the reason is.
The important thing is to have a reason.
This is also true in Lingnan.
After all, they are outsiders and need to convince Jie Jun.
"Haha, I've been waiting for you to say that!"
Haejae laughed heartily.
Ning Que also smiled at each other.
"Then let's see how the firearms are."
"As long as we have a few hundred muskets, we will be more confident!"
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