Japan, Daming Port.

This is the port closest to the Japanese coast in Ming Dynasty, and it is also the largest port in the entire Japan.

It was originally established when the Ming army invaded Japan for the first time and a large number of troops were stationed there.

Over the past year or so, due to the discovery of silver mines in Japan, the number of merchants traveling here has increased, and the Ming government also needs to transport large quantities of various minerals.

After rapid development driven by the economy, the port naturally grew to a huge scale.

There are not only merchants from the Ming Dynasty here, but also many merchants from other countries.

Most people are already accustomed to sea ships like the Ming Treasure Ship, which are as tall as city walls.

But the shock of hundreds of treasure ships sailing in from the seashore together is a spectacular sight that many people have never seen in their lifetime.

Afterwards, the entire dock was blocked by a large number of Ming troops.

"Who is this? It's such a big show that the whole port has been cleared out. My goods haven't even been unloaded yet. If this takes too long, I'll lose a lot of money."

"You should say less, lest you cause trouble. Haven't you heard that the Ming Dynasty's grandson will be on a diplomatic mission to Japan soon? With such a grand scene, it must be the Ming Dynasty's grandson coming."

The dock was crowded with people, and the huge ship slowly docked at the port.

Nearly 200,000 Ming troops opened the way and completely blocked all roads. Under such circumstances, ordinary people had no possibility of getting close at all, and could not even see what the Ming Crown Prince looked like.

A large number of cavalry began to patrol the surroundings. Now that there were artillery pieces, according to the travel escort regulations, they had to check the area within two miles around, and any hidden dangers that threatened the life and safety of the crown prince had to be completely eliminated.

You have to know that even now the range of granular artillery does not exceed one mile, and a range of two miles is absolutely safe.

As the Ming army approached, the most magnificent treasure ship among the many treasure ships slowly came ashore.

A huge staircase hung on the side of the treasure ship, and Zhu Ying and Sultana slowly walked down it.

There were already twelve dragon chariots waiting on the ground.

Next to the dragon chariot, there were four middle-aged men dressed in royal costumes waiting. They were Zhu Chong, Prince of Qin, Zhu Gang, Prince of Jin, Zhu Di, Prince of Yan, and Zhu Gui, Prince of Qi.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

The four of them bowed and saluted.

There are no uncles and nephews outside, only kings and subjects.

"Uncle, please don't be polite."

After completing the procedure, Zhu Ying followed the four imperial uncles to the palace that had been arranged long ago.

After Zhu Ying's diplomatic mission to Japan was confirmed, construction of a temporary palace immediately began here on the coast of Japan.

Thousands of craftsmen worked day and night to build a place for Zhu Ying to rest.

The temporary palace is naturally not as luxurious as the imperial palace in the capital, but it has basically everything it needs.

When Zhu Ying came over, the banquet had already been prepared.

Once in the palace, there was naturally no need to be as polite as outside. Privately, Zhu Ying and the many imperial uncles addressed each other as family members.

After three rounds of drinking, they toasted each other.

Zhu Chong was the first to ask, "Nephew, don't blame your uncle for being so nosy. We all know the military strength of Japan. There are only about 500,000 soldiers capable of fighting. How far is that compared to the Ming Dynasty?"

"There are hundreds of mineral deposits, including silver mines, in Kyushu Island alone, not including some that have not been discovered in the deep mountains and forests."

"I also went to Shikoku Island. If it weren't for the imperial edict from my father, it might have become a territory of the Ming Dynasty by the time you came here, nephew."

"If you ask me, my nephew brought 200,000 soldiers with him this time. If we brothers put our forces together, 200,000 soldiers won't be far behind."

"Why not just take over Shikoku Island and bring more mineral deposits to our Ming Dynasty?"

"What do you think, nephew? Once you give the order, I will lead my men to attack the city and seize the land. I guarantee that we will take it within ten days or half a month. What are we still talking to the Japanese royal family about? I don't think it's necessary to talk."

Zhu Chong has been feeling very unhappy these days.

Iyo Castle in Shikoku has already surrendered, and even Tosa Castle can be captured in less than two or three days.

As for the two castles of Sanuki and Awa behind, it is impossible to stop them.

All the fat in his mouth was spit out, which made Zhu Chong feel very angry.

Now that I've met the real culprit, I can't help but complain a few words.

After hearing these words, Zhu Ying put down the wine glass he had originally held and frowned slightly.

When everyone saw Zhu Ying's appearance, they were suddenly startled.

Zhu Chong himself was half sober.

It seems that the four great feudal lords established fiefdoms overseas, but Japan is so far away from the Ming Dynasty that it is no different from a local emperor.

But in fact, if you consider it carefully, you will find that the power of the princes is almost all under the influence of Zhu Ying.

Whether it is economy, military, logistics, or even officials, the Ming Dynasty has direct or indirect power.

Economically, Japan's economy itself is very weak. It is true that a large amount of mineral resources are money, but it also needs to pay taxes to the Ming Dynasty, and these transportations almost all rely on the Ming Dynasty's ships.

With the current strength of the Ming navy, it can even easily blockade the entire Japan.

The same is true in the military.

Although each of them has a quota of 30,000 personal soldiers and 50,000 auxiliary soldiers.

However, these middle-level officers were also gradually infiltrated by seniors who graduated from the Ming Military Academy.

For each prince, they really scrambled to recruit students who graduated from the Ming Military Academy.

These students not only have outstanding abilities, but most importantly, they strictly obey orders. They can not only complete the tasks assigned by the princes excellently, but also train new recruits on their own and integrate the discipline of the entire army.

Such talents will certainly be sought after.

Even for Zhu Chong, as long as there were more students, he would feel completely relaxed.

Who doesn't like to have a strong army under his command?

For soldiers stationed in Japan, they only need to complete the three-year period before they can apply to return to Ming Dynasty.

Most of their minds are still on the Ming Dynasty, and it is difficult to change them in a short period of time.

Not to mention the officials. Most of them who followed the feudal lords to Japan wanted to achieve good political achievements and display their talents and ambitions here.

As soon as his term of office is over, he will definitely find a way to return to Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Zhu Ying's power as the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty directly extended to Japan.

When the four feudal lords faced Zhu Ying in Japan, there was no difference between that and when they were in the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Today's Zhu Ying no longer needs to rely on Zhu Yuanzhang to survive as he did a few years ago. After the military power was gradually taken under his control and his reputation gradually increased, although Zhu Ying himself is not the emperor now, he actually has the power of an emperor.

"Grandson, please calm down. I was just drunk and talking nonsense. Please don't take it to heart." Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Zhu Chong quickly said with a smile.

He used to only be afraid of his father, but now there is one more person.

Just silence was enough to make him panic.

"Uncle, you're too polite. I was just thinking about how to tell the other uncles." Zhu Ying waved his hand to indicate that he was not angry.

After a moment of silence, he said, "What Second Uncle just said makes sense and is correct."

"Let's just close the door and talk among ourselves today."

"With the military strength of our Great Ming, it is not difficult to completely conquer Japan. Whether it is Japan or other small countries around it, they are like ants to our Great Ming."

"But the ant itself also has its uses. If I completely replace it, it will only cause me more trouble."

At this point, Zhu Ying glanced at Zhu Chong and said, "I have also heard about Second Uncle's bold words in the capital. He said that he wanted to conquer the entire Shikoku Island and make it his future fiefdom."

Zhu Chong was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly explained: "That was all drunken nonsense. I don't know which little bastards spread it to me. Grandson, please don't trust others."

Zhu Ying did not care too much about this matter. If it were really to be investigated, it would be a serious crime for Zhu Chong.

Because the territories conquered by overseas vassal kings needed to be conferred by the imperial court, and they could not do whatever they wanted.

"Whether it's conquering Shikoku Island or conquering Japan, these are not big things for you uncles."

"In my opinion, fighting is one thing, but if you really want to completely rule the vassal state, education is the key."

"Although I have not personally visited the mineral deposits in various parts of Kyushu Island, I can roughly guess that the Japanese people must have worked hard to obtain them."

"This is not good, very bad. It's like draining the pond of fish. Once it reaches a breaking point, it will bring more trouble."

"I asked my second uncle to return the Iyo Castle to the Japanese royal family because I didn't want to embarrass Japan and cause unrest in Japan, resulting in too many casualties."

"By the way, if the Japanese royal family is gone, will the Japanese people really obey the orders of our Ming Dynasty? Just like the late Yuan Dynasty, there will definitely be constant uprisings."

"When hatred grows deep, the price to pay becomes even more troublesome."

"The ruined Japanese country has no meaning to our Ming Dynasty, including all of you uncles. The mineral deposits on Kyushu Island are enough for us to mine. If there are more, we will not be able to manage them."

"I came to Japan to negotiate this time in order to suppress the possibility of the Japanese royal family mobilizing the entire country's troops."

"You know, in Japan today, there are more than 4 million people, and the army that the Ming Dynasty can station all year round is only 200,000. This is very similar to when the Mongols moved into the Central Plains."

"My dear uncles, what I want is not just a short-term rule over Japan. This fiefdom of Japan is also the future family business of many uncles. Who doesn't want a family business to last forever?"

In Zhu Ying's heart, especially in this era, population is the most valuable asset.

Almost no Han people are willing to leave their homes to work in the mining industry. You know, the probability of mine collapse is very high now, and it is very normal for a few people to die.

But these jobs have to be done by someone, and the Japanese are the most suitable people to do them.

Only a stable Japan can create more wealth for the Ming Dynasty. To thoroughly educate Japan is not something that can be done overnight. It can only be done by educating it for generations like Mu Ying did.

Zhu Ying is still young and can support at least three generations.

After three generations, how could Japan not belong to the Ming Dynasty?

Some things cannot be rushed. If you are too anxious, it will have the opposite effect.

Hearing this, Zhu Chong felt relieved.

No matter what, as long as he continues to serve as a feudal lord in Japan, nothing else matters.

Since the Crown Prince says he doesn’t want to fight, then let’s not fight.

At this time, Zhu Di, Zhu Gang, and Zhu Gui also roughly understood Zhu Ying's meaning. These words were one factor, but in fact they still wanted to control the fighting between the princes within the scope of Kyushu Island.

The Ming Dynasty is now taking big steps and is almost constantly educating the surrounding small countries, so it needs a huge number of talents.

The news of Zhu Ying's arrival in Japan naturally spread to the Japanese royal family and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu at the fastest speed.

The Ming Crown Prince came to Japan in person to negotiate, which was a great honor.

Emperor Go-Komatsu will of course come to the Daming Palace in Daming Port in person.

It is true that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was the shogun who held real power, but the nominal ruler was still Emperor Go-Komatsu of the Japanese royal family.

Compared with the Japanese royal family, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was considered a powerful general in the eyes of the Ming people, but he was still inferior to the later Emperor Komatsu.

Before Emperor Go-Komatsu set off, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu prepared a banquet to entertain Emperor Go-Komatsu.

"The Ming Dynasty's grandson said that he wanted to send Ming's high-yield crop seeds to our country of Japan. He must want to take this opportunity to divide the entire Kyushu Island into the territories of the various vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty."

"We in Japan are currently unable to compete with the Ming Dynasty. We can only quietly accumulate strength and wait for the opportunity to come."

"So we have to ask His Majesty the Emperor to consider the overall situation."

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu knelt on the ground and saluted Emperor Go-Komatsu respectfully.

How could Emperor Go-Komatsu not understand the meaning of these words?

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that it is a fact that Japan has ceded the entire Kyushu Island, and currently has no ability to snatch it back. It is simply a pipe dream to expect the Ming Dynasty to return it voluntarily.

The biggest concession was the return of Iyo Castle on Shikoku Island, and they also sent seeds of high-yield crops.

But someone must take responsibility for ceding territory.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu naturally did not want to bear the responsibility himself, and wanted to put the blame on Emperor Go-Komatsu.

Faced with the powerful Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Emperor Go-Komatsu had no possibility of refusing.

All he could say was, "Please rest assured, General."

Hearing these words, a smile immediately broke out on Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's face.

As long as the Japanese royal family bears the responsibility of this matter, it will not hinder his future real rule, and he can also take this opportunity to weaken the power of the Japanese royal family.

Three days later, a group of people led by Emperor Komatsu of the Japanese royal family, including Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, arrived at the coastal port of Daming to meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Daming.