Shimazu Tadatsune looked at the arrogant Ming merchant. Although he was very angry, he still kept a smile on his face. The merchant took one look at Shimazu Tadatsune's attire and felt that this Japanese man seemed no ordinary Japanese. He wanted to show off in front of Shimazu Tadatsune and pointed at the horse-drawn cannons and said, "Speaking of Western cannons, I think you know a little bit. Don't underestimate this. It's much smaller than those Western cannons. In terms of power, it is much more powerful than those Western cannons."
As a foreign lord, Shimazu Tadatsune knew about those Western cannons. He had two Western cannons in his hands. When he bought them, Shimazu Tadatsune tried them and saw that they were extremely powerful. He was amazed. However, Shimazu Tadatsune did not know that the two Western cannons he bought were discarded from Tang Tong's army.
"Could it be that this kind of cannon is newly invented by Westerners?" Shimazu Tadatsune carefully observed those small cannons and muttered softly, but although his voice was low, the merchant heard it.
"What Westerners are making? This is made in our prince's factory. Don't underestimate its small size, its range is much longer than Western cannons, it can reach a distance of twelve miles. With such a weapon, what city wall in the world can stop it? To be honest, the prince is too kind, always hoping that others can understand the situation and is reluctant to use force. If it were me, I would just blast my way through and then everything would be ours.
"Shimazu Tadatsune felt bitter when he heard what the merchant said, thinking that if this were true, the entire Japanese country would be reduced to ruins.
Shimazu Tadatsune had something on his mind at this time. Looking at the troops marching towards the port in groups, he wondered which unlucky foreign country would be in trouble. He didn't want to say anything to the merchant anymore. He took his men to find Tang Tong. In the past, he thought he had some money to negotiate some terms with Prince Tang. Now it seemed that the army of 20,000 farmers under his command was just a bunch of cannon fodder. If he hadn't seen the opportunity early, he was afraid that Prince Tang would have attacked him. The 20,000 farmers under his command were no different from a group of sheep in front of these artillery.
Although Tang Tong said that he would personally lead the expedition to Japan, he did not need to go forward to command the battle. This time, the front-line commander appointed by Tang Tong was Li Dingguo. At that time, Li Dingguo had grown up as a young man, studied in the military academy for three years, and fought in the battlefield several times, and became a colonel. Because the officers under Tang Tong were all young people, people like Zhang Yiheng, Zhao Yapeng and Heipi who led troops earlier had become government officials, so a colonel rank like Li Dingguo was the highest in Tang Tong's army. At that time, Li Dingguo led a brigade of troops. When there was a major battle, Li Dingguo often commanded tens of thousands of troops. This time, Tang Tong gave him tens of thousands of troops.
When Shimazu Tadatsune came to Tang Tong, Li Dingguo was listening to Tang Tong's speech. Li Dingguo was the most outstanding military strategist in the late Ming Dynasty. Tang Tong spent a huge price to buy him from Zhang Xianzhong. At the beginning, Li Dingguo was very unhappy that Tang Tong bought him like an animal. However, after Tang Tong sent him to a military school, Li Dingguo began to gradually feel grateful to Tang Tong.
Li Dingguo did not learn much cultural knowledge when he followed Zhang Xian at the age of ten. After arriving at the military school, Tong not only hired someone to teach him the basics of cultural knowledge, but also personally taught Li Dingguo some military knowledge about later generations. Li Dingguo was much stronger in military theory than the one in history. After graduating from the military school, Li Dingguo quickly showed his military talents, especially in large battles. Li Dingguo's overall view was much better than that of his teacher Tang Tong.
Tang Tong also trained Li Dingguo into a famous general, and there was also Zheng Chenggong, who had grown up. However, Zheng Chenggong was not as good as Li Dingguo in military talent. Tang Tong trained Zheng Chenggong in the navy, and Zheng Chenggong also commanded a fleet to cooperate with Li Dingguo in this anti-Japanese operation.
Shimazu Tadatsune waited for a moment in the outer hall before seeing a young man emerge from the Tang prince's reception room. Seeing the young man in green holding the rank of colonel, Shimazu Tadatsune was slightly surprised. He was well aware of the military system under Tang Tong. As a lord of a foreign kingdom, he had intelligence spies under his command. It was impossible for Shimazu Tadatsune to be unaware of such public information.
Shimazu Tadatsune, a colonel, was a trusted general under Tang Tong. Since Shimazu Tadatsune had decided to join Tang Tong, he naturally had to pay close attention to his trusted subordinates. When Li Dingguo emerged, he spotted Shimazu Tadatsune in the hall. Although he smiled at him in a friendly manner, Li Dingguo ignored him. Li Dingguo held such a spineless figure in his disdain. Unlike Tang Tong, Tang Tong now had to consider political matters, while Li Dingguo only needed to focus on military matters.
Therefore, Tang Tong would be friendly to Shimazu Tadatsune. Li Dingguo, on the other hand, would not show any sincerity to Shimazu Tadatsune. Shimazu Tadatsune's smile was met with a cold face from Li Dingguo. Shimazu Tadatsune felt quite annoyed. But Shimazu Tadatsune could not do anything. He was not the kind of person who would sacrifice his life for justice or dignity.
Shimazu Tadatsune followed Li Xiangjun to see Tang Tong. Walking behind her, Shimazu Tadatsune's eyes flickered with lust. He once again lamented his own fate. "Look at Prince Tang. He has such a beauty. A life well lived," he thought, as he followed Li Xiangjun into Tang Tong's living room.
The moment he entered, Shimazu Tadatsune had already turned his gaze away from Li Xiangjun. The lustful look in his eyes had vanished. He bent slightly and said to Tang Tong in a flattering tone, "Your Highness, I failed to complete your instructions. I have failed your trust. I beg your pardon."
Shimazu Tadatsune was referring to a negotiation with the Japanese Emperor. Emperor Mizuo, outraged by Shimazu Tadatsune's support for Tang Tong, had flatly rejected the offer. Tang Tong noticed that Shimazu Tadatsune was even more humble this time, referring to himself as a subordinate. It was clear he had truly made up his mind to join him. He then said, "Forget it. That retired emperor is ungrateful. The blame isn't on you. On the contrary, you still deserve credit for this." The king decided to first take Kyukoku Island.
The people will be liberated first. If Mr. Shimazu is interested, the king plans to be the governor of the province. Well, the name Jiuguo doesn't sound very nice, so let's call it Jiulu Province.
”
When Shimazu Tadatsune heard that Tang Tong wanted him to be the governor of the Nine Kingdoms, he was overjoyed. But then he heard Tang Tong say that the Nine Kingdoms didn't sound good and that he wanted to change it to the Nine Deer Province. He couldn't help but feel a little depressed. He thought that if the Nine Kingdoms didn't sound good, the Nine Deer Province would sound good. Shimazu Tadatsune was very depressed, but he didn't dare to have any opinion on Tang Tong's words. He bent his waist even more fiercely. Tang Tong said more respectfully: "Your Highness, you are right. The name of the Nine Kingdoms is really not good, but the name of the Nine Deer Province is very appropriate. I am very grateful for your kindness, Your Highness. I am willing to serve you."
"Well, Mr. Shimazu, from now on, the governance of the Jiulu area will be up to you. In order to commend Mr. Shimazu's contributions, the King has decided to confer upon you the title of Baron Jiulu. I hope Mr. Shimazu can make persistent efforts and make more contributions to the Jiulu Province." Tang Tong was very generous to Shimazu Tadatsune. Tang Tong naturally wanted to give better treatment to this foreign lord who was the first among the Japanese to surrender to him. After all, if he rebelled, it would also cost him a lot of time, manpower and material resources.
When Shimazu Tadatsune heard that Tang Tong had conferred another title of baron on him, he was even more delighted. This title was much more valuable than his Japanese title. If this Prince Tang could replace the Ming Dynasty, Shimazu Tadatsune would become a baron of the Celestial Empire and a truly prestigious person in the world.
After Tang Tong talked with Shimazu Tadatsune about some things about governing Kulu Province, he asked someone to prepare an appointment letter for Shimazu Tadatsune and let Shimazu Tadatsune take office. Tang Tong had considered it many times before appointing Shimazu Tadatsune. This place was mostly inhabited by Japanese people. Not many people from the Ming Dynasty were willing to come here if he wanted to immigrate to this poor place. This was not the era of later generations that loved the Japanese. The Ming Dynasty in this era completely looked down on this wild and desolate land, so few people were willing to come to such a place.
If Tang Tong did not carry out a massacre, in order to appease these Japanese, he would have to establish a Japanese as a puppet to govern this place, use time to assimilate the people here, and use the gap between the rich and the poor to move the people here little by little to other places.
After Shimazu Tadatsune received the appointment letter, other officials of Kyushu Province went to Shimazu Tadatsune's territory to start planning the central administrative city of Kyushu Province. Tang Tong also sent an army to take over the defense of Satsuma. The original 20,000-strong army composed of farmers under Shimazu Tadatsune was disbanded on the spot, and the strong laborers among them were conscripted into the Japanese auxiliary army to receive military training.
Shimazu Tadatsune could only accept Tang Tong's disposal of his army in silence. No matter what, being alive is better than being dead. Shimazu Tadatsune often comforted himself in this way. However, the other foreign lords on Kyukoku Island were not as lucky as Shimazu Tadatsune. When tens of thousands of troops set foot on the territories of those foreign countries from the sea, the lords of those foreign countries began to regret.
After these annexation wars, there were four foreign countries on the Kyushu Island in addition to the Satsuma country. The military strength of these four foreign countries was similar to that of the Satsuma country. The four countries had a total of 80,000 peasant soldiers. If all the men who could fight in the foreign countries' territories were recruited, there would be more than 300,000 people. When Tang Tong was gathering troops in Kokura Castle, the lords of these foreign countries adopted a wait-and-see attitude, and secretly recruited some men who could fight in their territories.
The total number of people seemed large, and the lords of these foreign countries also felt that they had some confidence. Therefore, when Tang Tong hoped to negotiate, there were few clear-headed people like Shimazu Tadatsune who could see the situation clearly. It was not until Li Dingguo led 100,000 people to set foot on the territories of these four foreign countries, under the artillery fire, that these foreign lords suddenly realized that they had made a wrong decision.
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