The information from Japan was passed on to the capital.

Zhu Yuanzhang then called his eldest grandson to discuss the matter together.

"It is difficult to pacify Japan in one fell swoop. The morale of the soldiers is already declining. If this continues for a long time, it will easily change."

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke after letting his eldest grandson read the battle report.

Although the Ming Dynasty has the advantage of firearms in its war with Japan, Japan is a country with many islands.

These islands are extremely easy to hide people, and it is very troublesome to clear them out.

Coupled with the previous rainy season, it would also have a great impact on the Ming army's firearms.

If the situation keeps dragging on like this, it will be difficult to deal with the hundreds of thousands of Ming troops if they suffer a major defeat.

Zhu Ying pondered for a while and said, "The situation of Japan is actually much more difficult than ours. The Kyushu Island area that our army controls now occupies a large grain-producing area."

"The consumption of 500,000 troops is a burden that Japan cannot bear. In a little over a month, it will be the rice harvest season."

"We have more than 300,000 auxiliary troops, plus the Japanese people under our rule, so there will be no problem with the rice harvest."

"It's just that morale is really hard to sustain. I think we can ask the Japanese envoy to come and discuss the issue of compensation."

The area of ​​Japan was still very large, and its overall area was almost the same as that of the current Yunnan Province.

However, the environment in Japan made it difficult for most Ming army soldiers to adapt.

Japan itself is a country prone to disasters, such as volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, and droughts.

There are also landslides, mudslides and so on in the aftermath.

This made the Ming army living in Japan complain bitterly.

Although under the guidance of the imperial court, Feng Sheng and Zhu Di, Zhu Gang, Zhu Gui and others all gave the soldiers many policies to implement, such as allocating Japanese women, land and a series of other measures.

But the vast majority of soldiers still wanted to return to their hometown.

Moreover, if all the military forces of the sixty-six countries of Japan were to be gathered together, even if the Ming army and the Goryeo army were to join forces, it would be an extremely difficult process to win the battle in one fell swoop.

"Da Sun thinks we should ask them to pay compensation."

When he heard about compensation, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

War is the continuation of politics. A war without any benefits is a meaningless loss for the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, in this country headed by the emperor himself, sometimes a huge war would be launched just for the sake of face.

To put it simply, it's not a fight for money, but a fight for reputation. Whoever makes the emperor lose face must pay with his life.

Zhu Ying naturally already had a rough plan for Japan.

"My grandson thinks that Japan must first set aside a piece of land, at least ceding three countries, to supply our Ming Dynasty for commercial purposes and to support the lives of the remaining Japanese soldiers."

"There must be adequate compensation for the pensions of our soldiers who were lost in the war."

Zhu Ying knows this all too well.

He has been thinking about this since the beginning of the war of conquest against Japan.

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Okay, this time the conversation with the Japanese envoy will be fully responsible by your eldest grandson."

…

The capital, Tianjie Temple.

If we were to say which foreign envoys have the most visitors recently, they would be the envoys from Japan.

Not to mention anything else, the number of envoys alone has reached two hundred, plus the Japanese beauties, various warriors, and servants they brought with them, a total of more than five hundred people.

In the area of ​​Tenkai-ji Temple where the Japanese live, there are quarrels every day, and the monks of Tenkai-ji Temple have warned them many times.

Minamoto no Tomonobu, a member of the Kawachi Genji, the most famous samurai family in Japan, was the person with the highest status among the Japanese envoys this time.

The Kawachi Genji family is the oldest branch of the ancient royal family of Japan.

The Minamoto family has been a samurai family since ancient times. Many samurai and generals have emerged from the family. Hachiman Taro, the most famous samurai in Japan, is a descendant of the Minamoto family.

Three hundred years ago, he was praised by Emperor Shirakawa as "the most courageous man in the world".

Not only the Minamoto family, but also members of the other three most famous families in Japan, the Taira clan, the Fujiwara clan, and the Tachibana clan, came as envoys.

Like others such as the Hyuga clan, Toyotomi clan, Tokugawa clan, Matsudaira clan, Takahashi clan and so on.

Those who are qualified to represent Japan are naturally the largest families in Japan.

However, every Japanese envoy who came here has never met a representative of the imperial court, and the letters they brought with them have received no response after they were handed over.

As time went on, these envoys began to blame each other. Most families already had conflicts, and now that they lived together every day, naturally there were more problems.

It was on this day that a eunuch walked in with several eunuchs.

All the Japanese envoys became quiet immediately after seeing this.

Li Zhongming, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, looked at the Japanese envoys filling the yard and suddenly burst into laughter.

In his opinion, these Japanese envoys were barbarians.

"Is there anyone among you who can make the decision?" Li Zhongming asked in a clear voice.

After many Japanese envoys looked at each other, Minamoto Tomonobu naturally stood up and bowed quickly, saying, "Minamoto Tomonobu, the Japanese envoy, greets His Excellency."

Li Zhongming nodded, this attitude was quite good.

"Your Majesty has ordered the Japanese envoys to come to the Fengtian Palace for an audience."

Minamoto Tomonobu immediately kowtowed and said, "I am Minamoto Tomonobu, a humble official of the state, obeying the order of His Majesty the Emperor."

Seeing this, Li Zhongming said, "You three can go and make a decision quickly. If you keep His Royal Highness waiting for too long and get punished, it won't be our fault."

Upon hearing this, many Japanese envoys immediately started arguing, but the final key point was still about the four major families in Japan.

If three of the four major families go, obviously one family cannot go.

But the current situation obviously would not give the Japanese envoys too much time. After just a dispute, two more people stood up.

Li Zhongming nodded, not bothering to ask more questions, and left with it.

…

Zhu Yuanzhang would not directly participate in the negotiations with the Japanese envoys.

All matters can be left to the eldest grandson to decide.

Originally, it was Da Sun's idea to launch this expedition against Japan, and it seems to be going relatively smoothly so far.

Zhu Ying was naturally accompanied by dozens of officials including ministers, vice ministers, and Hanlin scholars.

In the Huagai Hall, many officials, under the chairmanship of Zhu Ying, began to discuss the compensation demands that would be made to Japan.

In fact, according to the so-called style of a great power before, a small country usually admits its mistake, compensates with some gifts or something, and then submits to the country, which is basically the same.

This also concerns the most common issue of the Celestial Empire's reputation.

But this time, Zhu Ying won't care so much.

The direction was clear before the discussion.

The first is the compensation of money pension.

The compensation is naturally silver.

"Although Japan is a small country, it has a mountain of silver. Let me first tell you the number."

Zhu Ying said, holding up a finger.

One of the officials below couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, isn't this 10 million silver a little too little?"

Since ancient times, people have always insisted on asking for a high price and paying back on the spot.

In the eyes of many officials, small places like Japan are very poor. The annual income of the Ming Dynasty in the previous year was only tens of millions of silver. It was amazing that such a small place like Japan could produce millions of silver.

But when it comes to negotiations, you can't just say a certain amount the moment you open your mouth. You have to offer a higher price so that you can negotiate more.

Zhu Ying shook his head and said, "Where there is a mountain of silver, why would we talk about 10 million? It must be 100 million taels of silver."

"My Great Ming has 500,000 soldiers going there, plus the current pensions, the fleet expenses, including various living expenses, 100 million taels of silver are necessary, there is no room for any more."

Meng Zhengsheng, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, could not help but ask, "Your Highness, can such a small country come up with so much silver all at once?"

Zhu Ying looked at him with disdain and said, "If you can't pay it back in one go, then pay it back in installments. If one year isn't enough, then three years. If three years isn't enough, then ten years. Let's discuss the details later."

Hearing this, Meng Zhengsheng, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, lowered his head in shame.

For most of the literati officials in the court, they all learned Confucianism, which means they will not haggle over matters like negotiations, as they feel it is disgraceful and like a petty person.

Most officials have a mentality that we are a great country with abundant resources, so what is there worth taking from small countries?

This kind of thinking is wrong, so Zhu Ying wants to change this thinking.

"Don't underestimate Japan's financial resources. They are rich in silver, so silver is definitely indispensable."

"Japan is located on an island. Nowadays, maritime trade is flourishing. We need to seek enough benefits for the maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty."

"Many of our Ming soldiers in Kyushu Island in Japan have married and had children in Japan and acquired land. Most of them will definitely stay in Japan as our Ming garrison."

"Therefore, there must be an enclave of our Ming Dynasty within the borders of Kyushu Island in Japan. Japan should allocate enough land for our Ming Dynasty's civilians and soldiers."

"The second is about trade in various parts of Japan. When our Ming merchants go to Japan, they should have the right to travel freely and do business in Japan. The Japanese royal family and government should not interfere in any way."

"As a lower country, Japan has no right to punish any Ming people who violate the law in Japan. If they are sent back to their country, they can be tried. Japan has no right to punish them."

Listening to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's continuous narration, the ministers below looked at each other in bewilderment.

They have never had such an idea before. From another perspective, this is already the ultimate exploitation of Japan.

Will the Japanese envoys agree to these regulations?

Seeing the expressions of the officials, Zhu Ying knew that they had no idea about this area at all.

Not to mention a treaty like this, there were many more unequal treaties in later generations.

But now that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has set the direction, the ministers immediately understood how to treat the Japanese envoys and negotiate a ceasefire agreement.

When Minamoto Tomonobu arrived outside the Fengtian Hall, he was not called into the hall immediately, but waited outside the hall.

At this time, many ministers were still discussing some specific matters regarding the treaty in the Huagai Hall.

During this time, a eunuch came to report that the Japanese envoy had arrived, but Zhu Ying ignored it as if he had not heard it.

The eunuch was naturally a shrewd man and of course he understood what Zhu Ying meant.

So let's just leave the Japanese envoy alone for now.

After waiting for about an hour, some general plans were finalized, and Zhu Ying said, "I am a little tired today, so I will go back to the palace to take a nap. You guys should go first to have the first conversation with the Japanese envoy."

After saying this, Zhu Ying got up and went back to Kunning Palace.

The ministers naturally knew that this was to give the Japanese envoys a warning.

Anyway, Japan is much more anxious than the Ming Dynasty now.

These Japanese envoys probably have no right to directly decide the content of such negotiations, and they must report back to their country.

Even if Nanjing goes along the Yangtze River into the sea and then goes out to Japan, it is considered relatively fast, but a round trip will take at least more than a month.

So just take your time first.

In the Fengtian Hall, when the door opened, Minamoto Tomonori entered with great anticipation, only to see that the dragon throne was empty.

He thought he would have to wait for a while, but unexpectedly, the Minister of Personnel Zhan Hui came over and said, "You are the Japanese envoy. Tell me, what do you want this time?"

The tone was somewhat cold and direct, even a bit indifferent, which made Yuan Youxin feel a little embarrassed and annoyed.

He bowed and asked, "I wonder when His Majesty the Emperor of the upper country will come here."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone burst into laughter.

Zhan Hui even said, "Your Majesty is busy with many things every day, so he doesn't have the time to argue with you envoys from small countries. Now, regarding what you are asking for, His Majesty has given His Royal Highness the full responsibility."

Although Yuan Youxin felt a little embarrassed, he still had a humble smile on his face: "I wonder when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will come over."

Zhan Hui smiled and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince has dealt with a lot of affairs today and is a little tired. He has already returned to the palace to rest."

"If there is anything today, we can discuss it with you in detail."

When Minamoto Tomonobu and the other two heard this, they immediately felt humiliated. Fujiwara Kazuo even said angrily, "We have been waiting in the Tianjie Temple for more than a month. Now we are in the Fengtian Hall. Do we have to wait any longer? How long do you want us to wait?"

"This is a matter of peace between the two countries. How can we be so frivolous? This is really unbecoming of a great power."

After Fujiwara Kazuo finished speaking, the faces of the officials on the Ming side suddenly changed. Zhan Hui even scolded them, "How dare you! You are just officials of a small country. What qualifications do you have to talk to His Majesty the Great Ming and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince at will?"

"It would be better if your emperor came here, but you dare to slander the imperial family of the Ming Dynasty. Come, drag these three people away and give them twenty lashes before we talk about anything else."

Hearing this, Fujiwara Kazuo shouted: "Two countries at war do not kill envoys. How can the Ming Dynasty treat us like this?"

Zhan Hui sneered, "How shameless! This is not a precedent set by our Ming Dynasty."