Chapter 414: Cut off all the restless minions
Also sent to Emperor Meiko of Japan was the head of Fujiwara no Maro, who died with his eyes open.
Emperor Meiko and all the Japanese officials and nobles were all terrified.
Although the news of defeat had been reported back long ago, they had never imagined that Chang Suining would actually bring his mighty army to the border of their country!
Need advice?
This person is clearly here to take my life!
But the fact of defeat was already in front of us, and Dong Luo had already turned against Da Sheng...
Previously, in order to attack Dasheng, they had gathered almost all the troops they could use, sending out more than 100,000 soldiers, but almost all of them were wiped out...
This huge war lasted more than a year from preparation to defeat, and the financial and material resources invested were naturally unprecedented and astonishing.
But all these efforts did not bring any "return" at all, and instead ended in complete failure.
At this moment, facing the aggressive Sheng army, do they have any other choice besides making amends? But it is said that Chang Suining is bloodthirsty and brutal, so he may not pay attention to their apology...
In any case, there was no time to delay or hesitate. The trembling Emperor Mingxiao, accompanied by officials and nobles, went personally to welcome Chang Suining to the island.
After the Japanese army received the order to let go, Sheng Jun's ships successfully arrived at the ferry closest to the Japanese capital, Heijokyo.
Emperor Mingxiao and his ministers, who had been waiting here for a long time, soon met the commander of the Dasheng Army, who was bloodthirsty and brutal in their eyes.
They had heard that it was a woman of only seventeen years old, but seeing with their own eyes that it was a very young girl who was followed by a group of Sheng army generals wearing armor and with a solemn temperament... This scene still brought them an indescribable feeling of surprise and doubt.
Is it really this girl who led the army all the way here, almost annihilated them, and personally killed the most experienced and skilled samurai of the Fujiwara family? The generals of the Sheng army disembarked, and the sound of armor and swords clashing made a terrifying sound.
The tall girl with a ponytail was wearing a black cloak with snow-white fox fur on the edge. No matter how you looked at her, it seemed that such a girl had nothing to do with bloodlust and cruelty.
Her appearance was also unexpected, her face was extremely delicate... until someone saw her eyes -
Her pupils were dark and bright, but there was a cold and chilling air between her brows, like a cold blade unsheathed, making people almost dare not look her in the eye.
Emperor Mingxiao and the people behind him knelt down in fear, kowtowed repeatedly in the direction of the capital, Dasheng, with a look of shame and remorse on their faces, and apologized with tears.
He spoke both Japanese and Dasheng Chinese. The Japanese part was relayed by the equally trembling interpreter beside him.
"… His Majesty the Emperor had already ordered Fujiwara no Maro to withdraw his troops and return to apologize half a month ago, but Fujiwara no Maro insisted on his own way and did not obey the order!"
"Your Majesty was deceived by Fujiwara no Maro and made a big mistake..."
"Please show some mercy to the innocent islanders..."
There were also countless apologies from the landlords and nobles. Most of them had a look of remorse and self-blame on their faces, and they humbled themselves to the ground, and would even shed a few tears when necessary.
Chang Suining's eyes fell on these dignitaries.
On this island, most of the poor people and slaves have no surnames.
The emperor also has no surname, but that is because in the eyes of the Japanese, the emperor is a god, not a human, so he does not need a surname.
In addition, those who can have a family surname here are all powerful people.
At this moment, Chang Suining looked at these well-known dignitaries and finally spoke up, pointing out several big families headed by the Fujiwara clan -
The nobles whose surnames were called did not dare to be negligent and looked solemn and uneasy.
"The people in charge of each family that I just named, the officials who advocated war, and the generals who led more than a hundred troops in this war—" Chang Suining looked at Emperor Mingxiao and said, "Your Majesty, within half a day, I need to see their list, as well as all the living people on this list."
Her tone left no room for negotiation.
But at least there is no intention to start a massacre immediately.
Emperor Myōkō did not dare to hesitate for a moment, and repeatedly responded with "yes". He then nervously invited Chang Suining, Jin Chengyuan and others to enter the city to rest.
Jin Chengyuan looked at Chang Suining.
Chang Suining nodded and agreed.
Only then did Emperor Mingxiao dare to lead everyone and prepare carriages and horses.
Before getting on the horse, Chang Suining looked in the direction of Heijokyo and said casually, "In the third year of Emperor Ninto's reign, you established your capital here because you were influenced by the Feng Shui concept of 'hiding the wind and getting the water' in our Dasheng Taoism."
Emperor Mingxiao, who followed closely beside her, didn't know what she meant by that, but he still responded, "That's right..."
"A thief who forgets his origin and tries to monopolize a treasure that is beyond his reach will surely suffer a fatal disaster."
While the girl was speaking, she had already climbed onto the horse.
After the interpreter's halting retelling, Emperor Meiko looked increasingly uneasy.
He wiped the sweat from his head and followed immediately.
Chang Suining entered the city with two thousand personal soldiers led by She Cai and He Wuhu. Bai Hong and Yuan Xiang led their troops to the surrounding areas, one in charge of the island and the other in charge of the water. Together with the Dongluo army, they closely monitored and controlled the movements of the Japanese army.
This means that if Chang Suining is slightly dissatisfied with Japan's attitude in the following process, Sheng Army and Dongluo Army can mobilize troops at any time.
Kim Seung-won and Chang Sui-ning went to Heijokyo together, and Emperor Myōkō showed the most humble attitude and gave them the highest degree of courtesy.
Before dark, Emperor Meiko and his ministers came to ask for an audience with the list of names that Chang Suining wanted.
Those officials who advocated war and the heads of various families had all arrived at the scene, and at this moment all of them had faces full of shame.
The list of Japanese generals who participated in the war was also very detailed, and nine out of ten of them had died in the battle. The remaining few were among the Japanese army that fled from Runzhou.
At that time, the defeated army split into two groups during the rout. One group returned to Japan, but it was not the group headed by Ishimoto Takehiko as Fujiwara no Maro had originally speculated, but Fujiwara no Maro's subordinates.
At this moment, all the generals, both big and small, in this team of more than 20,000 people were brought over.
On the contrary, there was no news of return from Takehiko Ishimoto's 10,000-man team.
Chang Suining learned this from Emperor Mingxiao at this time. Because he could not hand over the people in that team, he did not dare to hide it.
Chang Suining had a bad feeling in his heart.
During the pursuit of Fujiwara no Maro, she also asked people to investigate the whereabouts of the defeated army, and the result was that they withdrew towards Japan. Unexpectedly, only a part of them returned to Japan?
However, she clearly had people repeatedly check most of the sea areas west of Jiangdu, and warned all states to conduct strict investigations. Although they killed some scattered small teams during these days, they did not find any trace of this team of 10,000 people.
"We have sent letters many times to recall Ishimoto Takehiko, but we have not found any trace of him. Perhaps he has been engulfed by the winter sea waves..." A Japanese official gave a friendly enough speculation.
However, Chang Suining found it difficult to take it lightly. She raised her eyes slightly and looked at shepherd's purse.
Shepherd's Purse immediately understood, turned around and left, instructing his men to report the matter immediately and continue to expand the scope of the sea exploration, making sure to find the trace of the Japanese army led by Ishimoto Takehiko.
Upon seeing this, Emperor Mingxiao repeatedly assured Chang Suining that he would find out the whereabouts of the team as soon as possible and give a clear explanation.
Chang Suining did not comment and looked at the people who were brought here.
These people, to a greater or lesser extent, played a role in this war against Sheng.
From what she saw, under the scolding of Emperor Meiko, those people knelt down and apologized.
Chang Suining's face was not moved at all. What flashed before her eyes were the faces of the soldiers on the casualty list, and the cruel scene she would see once the Japanese army invaded Jiangdu.
She wasn't here to listen to these people apologize and cry about their regrets.
Chang Suining, who was sitting at the head of the group, turned to look at Emperor Meiko who was standing beside him and gave him two choices: "Does the Emperor want to deal with these criminals himself, or let my men do it?"
A brief look of fear flashed across Emperor Mingxiao's face.
She actually wanted to... kill all these people? Among them were the leaders of the major families of his country, and many capable officials... And if all those generals were killed, where would his country have military generals to use? Chang Suining seemed to understand his hesitation at this moment, and said calmly: "After this matter is settled, we can try to listen to the emperor's intention to seek peace."
The implication was that she would not consider making peace before that.
Can everything be written off just by these people kneeling down and kowtowing a few times and shedding a few tears? Of course not.
She wanted Japan to pay back a hundredfold and to cut off all their restless minions.
Emperor Meiko responded with a trembling voice.
Naturally, he didn't dare let Chang Suining's men take action. He was afraid that once Sheng Jun took action, he would not be able to stop easily.
But those people, especially the heads of noble families, would never be willing to die.
They quickly rebelled, even scolding outright, completely changing their previous expressions of remorse.
Regret is just their means of survival. It is okay to admit mistakes with tears, but asking them to pay with their lives to repent is another matter.
Before the situation became more chaotic, Emperor Meiko, out of fear, ordered the soldiers to drag all these people out and suppress them with heavy troops.
Angry curses, pleas for mercy, and screams mixed together in the yard.
The blood of hundreds of people almost dyed the huge front yard red, and this place became a place of execution.
The officials in the hall, as well as Emperor Meiko, all had pale faces and were covered in cold sweat.
Jin Chengyuan remained silent throughout the whole process, but he subconsciously looked at Chang Suining.
The girl sat there, her expression unchanged.
After the execution was over, she said in a casual tone: "Now, the Emperor can show his sincerity in seeking peace with our Dasheng."
Emperor Mingxiao suppressed his fear and ups and downs and presented the letter of peace he had prepared long ago to Chang Suining for his review.
This letter of peace was written in two languages. After reading it, Chang Suining nodded, seeming to be quite satisfied.
The amount of tribute promised was more sincere than ever before.
When Chang Suining closed the letter of request for peace, he said, "Besides this, I also have two suggestions."
Emperor Meiko immediately showed an attitude of listening attentively and asked the interpreter to record it.
"First, I want you to strictly abide by the maritime boundaries. From now on, without the document of Dasheng's permission, you are not allowed to enter Dasheng's waters at will. This restriction is especially aimed at Japanese pirates, so I need you to send troops to strictly control the proliferation of pirates and Japanese pirates, so that there will be no more Japanese pirates plundering and killing Dasheng fishermen and merchant caravans on the sea." Chang Suining said: "If it happens again, the Jiangdu Navy will hold them accountable."
Emperor Mingxiao quickly agreed.
"As for the second proposal, I personally think that it is a reflection of my sincerity." Chang Suining smiled slightly when he said this.
Emperor Mingxiao became inexplicably nervous, and bent down a little lower, pretending to listen.
"This proposal requires you to set aside an island city nearby—" Chang Suining said, "I plan to petition the emperor of our dynasty to establish Dingwo Prefecture here, so that our officials and soldiers can be stationed here to supervise your country's fulfillment of the agreement to restrain pirates, and in the future, it can also help your country and our country to have more diplomatic relations."
Emperor Mingxiao's eyes trembled slightly, and the officials behind him began to whisper.
In this way, wouldn't it give Dasheng the right to station and govern? If this continues, it will inevitably interfere in their internal affairs!
This was not just their random speculation, but was exactly what Chang Suining intended.
She chose to stop the war because she could only kill so many at this time, and she did not have the energy to annihilate the entire Japanese country in one fell swoop. Moreover, at this juncture, destroying the country would be condemned by other countries, which would be detrimental to the precarious relations of Dasheng with foreign countries, and the loss would outweigh the gain.
Moreover, even if she tried her best to occupy Japan at this moment, she did not have the ability to govern it remotely for the time being. It would be better to slowly infiltrate it through control measures, and then act according to the situation of the two countries.
In the past, Japan would never have agreed to the request to establish Dingwafu in Japan.
But at this moment, they had just witnessed an unprecedented defeat and an execution that dealt a heavy blow to the upper class.
All this meant that they would not be able to stand up and bark again within a hundred years.
More importantly, this was not an equal negotiation. Her soldiers and warships were waiting for her orders behind her at any time.
If what she wanted was just the ordinary contents of this peace letter, why would she come here in person? Emperor Mingxiao did not even dare to show too obvious hesitation. Every part of his body was trembling silently, and finally he bowed deeply: "Everything... follow the wishes of the country."
Chang Suining nodded in satisfaction: "In that case, I will have someone draft a memorial to the capital of our dynasty to ask for instructions on the peace negotiation. Based on our agreement today, if our officials have any additional suggestions in the future, please cooperate with the emperor."
Jin Chengyuan, who had listened to the whole process, turned his head and looked deeply at the girl sitting there.
She is not a military commander who only knows how to fight and kill. Her current method is no more "merciful" than sending troops to destroy Japan. It contains mature political skills that surprised him.
Checks and balances, toughness, self-interest, and long-term.
And this time, she "allowed" him to accompany her, perhaps to "remind" him of the intention of the new king of Dong Luo.
Such a great power has the ability to make him surrender.
With such a Dasheng in her, she has the ability to make him willingly submit.
Chang Suining only stayed in Japan for three days.
On the day of departure, Chang Suining learned the whereabouts of Ishimoto Takehiko's team. In addition, she also heard another piece of news about Cui Jing.
Thank you all for your monthly tickets, good night, see you tomorrow~ (End of this chapter)
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