Somewhere along the coast of Kyushu Island.

A large number of Japanese were forcibly recruited to continuously repair the city.

In addition to holding their ground, many Ming troops also participated.

On the city wall, Zhu Di stood on it and looked at the bustling scene below.

"Your Majesty, do we really need to give them so much food? The food we got from the general is only enough for us for more than a month."

"Now we have to share it with these Japanese. I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for a month."

As a general under the command of Prince Yan, Zhu Neng asked in confusion.

Some time ago, General Feng Sheng divided his troops into four groups.

Zhu Di, Prince of Yan, Zhu Gang, Prince of Jin, and Zhu Gui, Prince of Qi, each occupied a city.

The center was occupied by Feng Sheng.

Instead of launching a direct offensive against Japan, after occupying the city, they gathered Japanese civilians in the wild to form a line of defense, as if they were prepared to fight to the death.

Zhu Di occupied one of the relatively good cities.

As for this city, its previous name is no longer important.

Zhu Neng's tone was somewhat disrespectful and sounded like a question.

Zhang Yu next to him immediately scolded: "You have to butt in on the prince's arrangements."

"In the prince's mind, there are rules. We don't need to think too much. We just need to do our job well."

Prince of Yan Zhu Di waved his hand, interrupting Zhang Yu's intention to continue scolding him, and explained:

"I came to Japan not to be like those Mongols on the grasslands, burning, killing, looting, sweeping away everything and leaving."

"We may have to stay in this country for a long time."

"If you kill all the Japanese people around you, who will farm for you, cook for you, and clean your armor?"

"If we want to gain a foothold here, we must rely on the Japanese people. At least on the surface, we can't be too bad."

"Besides, you have to understand one thing. The Japanese people have been the descendants of our Shenzhou since ancient times. This is what my father specifically told me before I left. Avoid killing people."

"Now, do you understand what I mean?"

Zhu Neng lowered his head in shame and could only explain, "Brothers below, although the food is much better than those Japanese, it is very uncomfortable to see them eating our own food."

"These cunning Japanese hid all the food and are now eating ours. The brothers are resentful."

Zhu Di heard this and said after a moment of silence, "Go and tell the brothers below that if they perform well, I can reward them with a Japanese concubine."

"In addition, I will set up a teaching office in the city. Those who have made contributions will be eligible for the selection quota."

Zhu Neng's eyes lit up and he immediately asked, "Your Majesty, can I go?"

Zhu Di laughed: "Yes, of course, everyone can go, but in this case, priority will naturally be given to soldiers with meritorious service."

"Okay, go down and inform the brothers. There's no need to wait long."

Zhu Neng clasped his fists and bowed, then left quickly.

Zhang Yu frowned and asked, "Your Majesty, I dare to ask you a question."

"Your Highness wants to win over the Japanese people, but if we set up a Jiaofang Division, it will not be good for the reputation of our army."

"Although the brothers enjoy it, the Japanese will naturally be very resentful."

Zhu Di laughed and said, "Zhang Yu, Zhang Yu, it seems that you didn't know much about the Japanese before you came to Japan."

"Before I came to the capital, I had many in-depth discussions with Li Jinglong, Duke Cao, about educating the Japanese."

"The most detailed record among them is the record of what Zhao Liangbi, a former Mongol envoy, heard during his three years in Japan."

"Originally, I had never found this record, but after some research, I discovered that it was kept by the Minister of War, Ru Yan."

"Later, Duke Cao went to borrow it and read it. Only then did I know that the people of Japan actually have this custom."

Having said this, Zhu Di paused slightly.

Zhang Yu was already listening with great interest, but was suddenly stopped. He could not help but clasp his fists and bow, saying, "Please enlighten me, King Yan."

Zhu Di smiled and continued, "The Japanese have different personalities from our Ming Dynasty. They worship the strong."

"It's like a Japanese woman who is eager to borrow sperm."

"There's no need for force. Once I spread the word, they will come to me voluntarily."

When Zhang Yu heard this, he felt that his three views were shattered.

Could it really be like this?

This is something Zhang Yu didn't know, but the Japanese worship of the strong men from the Central Plains has almost become a custom now.

The peak period was the prosperous Tang Dynasty in Central China.

In ancient times when information exchange was greatly restricted, one of the key factors that enabled Japan to carry out the "Taika Reform" was the existence of the Tang envoys.

It was also because of the continuous dispatch of envoys to the Tang Dynasty that Japan was able to divide the Central Plains culture into pieces in a planned manner and ship them back to Japan for assembly.

The existence of envoys to the Tang Dynasty enabled Japan to learn about the Tang Dynasty in a timely and accurate manner.

During the peak period when Japan was learning from the Tang Dynasty, Japan would usually respond quickly to any new laws or measures issued by the Tang Dynasty.

For example, the Tang Dynasty changed the Zhongshu Province to "Ziwei Province", and Japan also set up the "Ziwei Zhongtai" a few years later.

The Tang Dynasty changed the original "nian" to "zai", and Japan also changed "nian" to "sui" eleven years later.

Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty issued an edict requiring every household in the Tang Dynasty to possess a copy of the Book of Filial Piety, and Japan quickly followed suit.

From the reign of Emperor Jūmei to the reign of Emperor Uda, Japan sent envoys to Tang Dynasty 19 times in 264 years.

Excluding the three missions that failed to materialize, there were actually sixteen missions to Tang Dynasty.

It is also because of this that, although the Tang Dynasty did not confer it an imperial decree, Japan has always regarded itself as a vassal state of the Central Plains.

Even towards the Song Dynasty, they have always been respectful.

The fundamental significance of the two Mongol invasions of Japan was that Japan believed that the Mongols were not qualified to occupy the Central Plains.

Even though he was so powerful, he still disapproved of the Mongol envoys.

This caused Kublai Khan to become furious.

So when it came to Zhu Yuanzhang, Japan felt that it had defeated the Mongols and was culturally closer to the Central Plains than the Ming Dynasty, so it refused to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty.

The Japanese pirates did not first appear in the Ming Dynasty, but in the Yuan Dynasty.

It’s a bit funny to say, but the Japanese pirates initially appeared with the intention of attacking the Mongols and helping the Song Dynasty.

From a certain perspective, it is a righteous army.

However, after feeling the thrill of plundering, he gradually went astray.

Even after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese pirates' desire for wealth could not be stopped.

Of course, the worship of the strong is the same in Japan from top to bottom.

It was because Zhu Di saw these records and observed them that he came up with such thoughts.

"Your Majesty is a man of great talent. I am far inferior to you."

Zhang Yu's flattery came at the right time, making Zhu Di particularly proud.

If it was just an ordinary war, Zhu Di would naturally not consider too much about the emotions of the soldiers.

But it is different now. Now it is more like the concept of stationing troops, and in a foreign country, the emotions of the soldiers can easily become a problem.

In this situation, the simple and crude Jiaofangsi was the most convenient place for the soldiers to vent their emotions.

At this time, a soldier suddenly came up to report: "Your Highness, there is a Japanese who wants to see you. The Jinyiwei said that he seems to know where the grain is hidden."

Zhu Di raised his eyebrows and said, "Let him come over."

Soon, an old Japanese man who looked relatively clean and decent came to Zhu Di under the escort of a group of soldiers.

Zhu Di naturally did not understand Japanese, but before he came, he had obviously anticipated such a situation. Zhu Yuanzhang arranged for a large number of translators who knew Japanese to accompany him from the Jinyiwei.

When the old man saw Zhu Di and noticed how he was dressed, he immediately knelt on the ground respectfully and started talking incoherently.

Zhu Di frowned and asked, "What is he talking about?"

Jinyiwei quickly translated: "Your Highness, he said his name is Ishihara Tsuneo, the head of the Ishihara family, and he would like to send his regards to you on behalf of the Ishihara family."

Zhu Di nodded and said, "Tell him that I am a good king. He said that he knows where the Japanese army hides their food. This is true."

The Embroidered Uniform Guard quickly translated Prince Yan's words.

Upon hearing this, Ishihara Tsuneo nodded repeatedly.

Jinyiwei translated: "He said the food is hidden in three caves not far away."

Zhu Di asked: "Why did you tell this news to me?"

The old man started talking quickly with a lot of gibberish, his tone full of tears.

The Jinyiwei felt a bit overwhelmed after hearing this, so they could only translate briefly: "Your Majesty, what he meant was that they had never met a monarch as good as yours."

"The general's warriors always bully them, make them eat the worst food, and do the most work."

"When the prince arrived, he did not treat them as slaves, but instead used his own grain to give them as food."

"So they decided to tell the prince where the Japanese soldiers hid the food."

Hearing the words translated by the Jinyiwei, Zhang Yu, who was standing by, was stunned.

I can't help but say: "Your Majesty is really a master of foresight."

Although Zhang Yu scolded Zhu Neng before, he was actually thinking in his heart that distributing the soldiers' food to the Japanese people was not a good thing.

Who would have thought that the reversal would come so quickly? In just two or three days, the Japanese revealed the hiding place of the grain.

So many Japanese were interrogated strictly before, but it was all in vain.

Zhu Di was actually very surprised about this matter. He didn't expect that the flowers he planted intentionally would not bloom, but the willows he planted unintentionally would grow into a shade.

That's how the food problem arose.

Those Japanese warriors are very stubborn and would never tell anything even if they are beaten to death.

Maybe some of them really don’t know.

Anyway, now that I have it, it won’t be a big problem.

"Tell him that if he can find enough food, I will allow him to be registered in the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Di was happy and said to him.

The Jinyiwei translator reported Prince Yan's words to Ishihara Tsuneo.

After listening to this, Ishihara Tsuyoshi bowed his head and kowtowed repeatedly.

In fact, for the common people, whether they are the people of Japan or the people of the Ming Dynasty, they do not have a strong concept of nation.

It doesn’t matter who rules you. What matters is whether you can have a full meal.

Ishihara Tsuneo said that he was a family head, but what distinguished the high and low nobles in Japan was the Central Plains Mandarin.

Those who cannot speak Mandarin are naturally of a very low level.

After Ishihara Tsuyoshi kowtowed, he did not leave immediately, but talked a lot of nonsense.

Zhu Di frowned and said, "Could this guy possibly want to make some conditions to me?"

The Royal Guard quickly translated: "Your Majesty, he was talking about the construction of the city wall. He hopes that Your Majesty can stop the construction of the city wall."

Zhu Di wanted to reprimand him, but suddenly remembered that the city wall here seemed a little special, so he suppressed his temper and said, "Let him tell us why we should stop building the city wall."

After the Jinyiwei translated the words, Ishihara Tsuyoshi began to explain the reason.

It turns out that in the early days of Japan, there were no cities built. There were defensive fortifications similar to strongholds or settlement trenches, which were the prototypes of Japanese castles.

After the Taika Reform, successive emperors learned from the Central Plains emperors to build palaces and began to embark on the path of true castle cities.

Large and small palace-like capitals such as Kokenda Palace, Okamoto Palace, and Baekje Palace were built.

These buildings were influenced by the Tang Dynasty and are almost complete replicas of the Tang Dynasty.

This is true for both city walls and the capital.

For example, the city currently occupied by Zhu Di looks no different from that of the Ming Dynasty.

Japan has many hills and few plains, and is located in an earthquake zone. The tall city walls could collapse in the event of an earthquake.

That's why it's so low.

Ishihara Tsuneo wanted to tell Zhu Di not to waste too much labor building a tall city wall.

Hearing this, Zhu Di's face turned serious.

During his many years of career, he has experienced earthquakes.

He also heard from the translator that Japan is a place where earthquakes are frequent.

Even the slightly higher city walls cannot withstand the earthquake, which shows how dangerous it is.

This is very important news.

Very important.

The reason why Feng Sheng divided his troops into four groups was to station them in garrison first.

It is to find out the situation in Japan.

Apart from the early period of the Yuan Dynasty, it can be said that Feng Sheng and others were the first time in the Ming Dynasty and the second time in history that the Central Plains used military force against Japan.

In the eyes of the Ming people, apart from knowing that Japan is an island country, they know nothing about it.

Even the map is just a very rough map.

This is a huge taboo when deploying troops, because you are not even familiar with the roads. In such a large area, you may not even be able to find the location of the Japanese army.

Japan is a country with many islands. If you don't advance carefully, you might be ambushed.

The troops at the front, including Feng Sheng, had no idea about news like the frequent earthquakes.

In fact, Zhu Ying had also explained this, but no one took it seriously. Even now that they have come to Japan, no one has ever taken this issue seriously.

The same was true for Zhu Di, which is why he built the city wall first.