It’s just that Ashikaga Yoshimochi is too young now.

Apart from anything else, it is impossible to truly control power, at least in the next few years.

After all, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was still alive, and the actual power of the shogunate could not be shaken at all. If Ashikaga Yoshimitsu could not even deal with his own ten-year-old son, then he would have lived in vain.

This was because Ashikaga Yoshimochi was too young and did not see the essence of the matter.

In his heart, if he were the adopted son of the Ming Crown Prince, his status would be infinitely elevated, and he could almost sit on the same level as his father, or even be compared to the emperor.

But what is the meaning of such status other than making Ashikaga Yoshimitsu more wary?

Officials from the Ming Dynasty have not yet entered the Japanese government, which means that the Ming Dynasty has no ability to interfere with the power of the Japanese government. The only thing it can do is to continue to annex Japanese territory.

Ashikaga Yoshimochi's idea of ​​acting by relying on the identity of Zhu Ying's adopted son can only be said to be extremely naive, but it is in line with the vision he can see at his current age.

Of course Zhu Ying could see through all of this.

Fame is false; having military power in hand is real.

"Nowadays, our Ming Dynasty is developing rapidly, especially in the military field. I have built a military academy in the capital of Ming Dynasty to train military talents."

"Although you are a little young, you can still reach the level. I intend to discuss with your father and, in order to promote friendship between the two countries, open a special recruitment class for the Ming Military Academy this year, allowing Japanese nobles of your age to participate."

"Regarding this matter, you should talk to your father about it when you return, and also tell him that this is why I summoned you here today."

Zhu Ying also put a lot of thought into it, which was equivalent to helping Ashikaga Yoshimochi to build a trusted team for the future.

It can be imagined that if the Ming Dynasty opens up quotas to Japan, many Japanese nobles will surely flock to it and send their sons to the Ming Dynasty to learn the most advanced military knowledge in the world. It will be worthwhile in any way.

The nobles who can compete for these places must be the great nobles who hold real power in Japan, and those who go there are basically the eldest sons or legitimate sons in the family who meet the age requirements.

Among his peers, although Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was already intending to vigorously cultivate his legitimate son Ashikaga Yoshitsugu, it is undeniable that Ashikaga Yoshimochi's status as the Shogun of the shogunate is now the most noble in Japan.

Moreover, after leaving Japan, people like Ashikaga Yoshimitsu would no longer have any influence on Zhu Ying. In addition, if Ashikaga Yoshimochi could not recruit all his subordinates after leaving Japan, there would be no need for Zhu Ying to support him any more.

After a few years, when Ashikaga Yoshimochi grew up, together with the sons of nobles who followed him to Ming Dynasty, he would naturally become the backbone of Japan in the future.

It would be much easier to divide Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's power.

When Ashikaga Yoshimochi heard that the Ming Crown Prince did not mention anything about adopting him as his adopted son, his face showed obvious disappointment. This was completely different from what he had imagined.

But after hearing the latter part, his expression gradually changed, and his eyes, which had originally been a little decadent, also brightened.

The last sentence sounded a bit strange. It was clearly me who came here to ask for a meeting on my own initiative, but the Ming Crown Prince said that he was the one who summoned me.

In just a moment, Ashikaga Yoshimochi immediately understood the deep meaning of the words of the Ming Dynasty's grandson, and kowtowed again, saying: "I, a minister of a small country, thank His Royal Highness the Grandson of the Celestial Empire."

Zhu Ying waved his hand and said, "Alright, no need to be polite. That's all for today. Come with your father tomorrow and we'll discuss it in detail."

Ashikaga Yoshimochi suppressed his excitement and said, "I will obey the order of His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince of the Celestial Empire."

…

"Are you saying that boy secretly went to visit the Ming Dynasty's grandson?"

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu knelt at the head of the palace, listening to the report from the servants below, and asked in a calm tone.

Unlike the architectural culture of the Ming Dynasty, most meetings in Japan were held in the inner rooms, without a layout like that of a palace or lobby.

Such meetings are relatively more private, like conference rooms in later generations.

"Lord Ashikaga, that is indeed the case," the servant replied affirmatively.

At this moment, in the inner room of the mansion, there were many confidants including Sasaki Yoshimasa.

Hearing this answer, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu smiled and said, "It seems that our shogun wants to have a good relationship with the Ming Dynasty's grandson, so that he can use the power of the Ming Dynasty to suppress us, hahahaha!"

As Ashikaga Yoshimitsu laughed, these trusted generals also laughed.

They mocked Ashikaga Yoshimochi for completely failing to understand the current situation and not knowing how to truly intervene.

Moreover, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu wanted to pass on the idea of ​​Ashikaga Yoshitsugu, which was something that all the followers of the family head knew very well.

In terms of status, even though Ashikaga Yoshimochi had acknowledged Hino Yasuko as his mistress, this was only for the purpose of legitimately inheriting the position of shogun.

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu was the real legitimate son, and he could not be compared to Ashikaga Yoshimochi, the fake legitimate son.

Behind it, there is the support of the Hino family.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's left-hand man, who was also Ashikaga Yoshimasa's confidant, was Hino Yasuko's father and the head of the Hino family, Hino Sukeyasu.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's wife, Hino Yoshiko, was Hino Sukeyasu's sister, which shows how important the Hino family was to Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

The Hino family not only had great military power, but more importantly, they were very rich in wealth.

Without the strong support of the Hino family, it would not have been so easy for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu to retake the Muromachi shogunate.

Including the subsequent Northern and Southern Dynasties War, the Hino family played a crucial role in it.

Like everyone else, Hino Sugayoshi also laughed, but the look in his eyes was quite intriguing.

Because he also has a little daughter, who is now over seven years old, named Hino Eiko.

At this age, she was just right to marry Ashikaga Yoshimochi.

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu is too young, and so many things are happening in Japan now. Hino Sugasu still has some regard for Ashikaga Yoshimochi. No one knows what Ashikaga Yoshitsugu will be like when he grows up.

The Hino family has an old saying, which in Chinese means "a cunning rabbit has three burrows, and you don't put all your eggs in one basket."

Multi-line investment has always been Hinoya's traditional style.

It is precisely because of this that the Hino family has such a status.

So Hino Sugayoshi was planning to marry his youngest daughter to Ashikaga Yoshimochi.

As for Ashikaga Yoshitsugu, it doesn't matter much. After a few years when the situation becomes clear, if Ashikaga Yoshitsugu can really take on the responsibility of the Muromachi shogunate, he may even combine the throne of emperor and the position of shogun.

The same would apply if I had another daughter and married her to Ashikaga Yoshitsugu.

No matter who wins the final victory, the Hino family will share the wealth with the winner.

After laughing, everyone returned to their previous discussion.

The Japanese worship the strong and also try to learn everything from them.

The current Ming Dynasty is exactly what the Japanese need to learn from. After long discussions and research, they found that the current Ming Dynasty seems to be just as powerful as the Tang Dynasty, and may even be stronger.

The Tang Dynasty was known to be a country where all nations came to pay tribute, with a vast territory and an extremely prosperous military and economy.

Looking at the current Ming Dynasty, it has expelled the Tartars, made an alliance with the Northern Yuan Dynasty to resolve border concerns, marched south to destroy the Annan army, and forced Champa to cede the city with a single decree without the use of a single soldier.

The sea routes were opened to promote commerce, and merchants from all over the world gathered in the Ming Dynasty.

During the most powerful period of the Tang Dynasty, the total military force reached over one million. However, the current Ming Dynasty, which has been established for less than 30 years, already has over two million soldiers.

Not to mention that Japan now has to give up even Kyushu Island.

The more this happened, the more the Japanese nobles felt that the Ming Dynasty was worthy of reliance and learning.

When Ashikaga Yoshimitsu gathered his confidants to discuss matters, in addition to some Japanese politics, most of the time they discussed how to reform the Japanese army, territory, and even the government.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu himself was a ruler who tended to reform. After he took control of the Muromachi shogunate, he made drastic reforms to various remaining bad habits. It was precisely because of his courage to reform that he was able to achieve the final victory in the dispute between the emperors of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

Now facing the Ming Dynasty, naturally many more reforms and improvements are needed.

Otherwise, the increasing pressure will eventually make the entire Japan unable to resist and eventually become the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Although Kyushu Island was ceded for the time being, it also bought a lot of time for Japan.

Especially in terms of mineral resources, the Ming Dynasty dispatched thousands of craftsmen to develop, transport and process them.

This has led to an increasing effort to truly rule Kyushu Island.

The so-called peace treaty was nothing more than a means of maximizing benefits. Including sending high-yield crops, it was actually just a convenient move by the Ming Dynasty.

After ruling Kyushu Island, the Ming Dynasty will inevitably bring high-yield crops to Kyushu Island for planting, and then Japan will also be able to obtain the seeds of these high-yield crops.

Today’s high-yield crops are just a favor from the Ming Dynasty.

Currently, the Ming Dynasty and Japan are preparing for a military competition to see who can develop faster.

Of course, this is not to say that Japan can compare with the entire Ming Dynasty. If that were the case, it would be better to surrender as soon as possible, at least you could still get rich.

They only need to compare themselves with the feudal lords of Kyushu Island.

In fact, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu still had great confidence in the feudal lords.

Because their actions are unlikely to gain the support of the Japanese people on Kyushu Island, especially when they vigorously develop mineral resources.

Mining in this world is an extremely dangerous thing. It’s not about whether people will die, but how many people will die.

Take the present for example, while mineral resources are being vigorously developed, mine collapses occur almost every once in a while.

Those who do the most dangerous and tiring work at the bottom of the mine naturally cannot be Ming Dynasty soldiers or craftsmen.

All of them were done by the people of Japan and were considered corvée labor within the feudal state.

All Japanese people on Kyushu Island had to perform labor service in mining.

Under such circumstances, the contradiction between the Ming Dynasty and the local Japanese people was very sharp and irreconcilable.

If we don't impose corvée labor, will we have to spend a lot of money to hire ships to transfer workers from the Ming Dynasty and pay them high wages and subsidies to mine?

Moreover, if a Ming Dynasty worker died in a mine collapse, he would have to pay a high amount of compensation.

Instead of using the ready-made corvée labor, you are transporting workers from the Ming Dynasty. Are you crazy?

It is obvious that the four feudal kings are not crazy and are very sober, so the Japanese people on Kyushu Island are now suffering terribly.

Even if young laborers were nobles, they were of no use. Except for a very small number of Japanese nobles who had status and were useful to the feudal lords, all the others had nowhere to escape.

Under such circumstances, naturally many Japanese people in Kyushu Island would flee to Shikoku Island or Honshu Island.

However, such an escape was very difficult. The Ming army had already stationed troops to prevent escape, and the system of collective punishment made the Japanese even more frightened.

If there was a person running away, the whole family would be punished. The wife and daughters would be sent to the Internal Music Bureau of the feudal domain, while the sons and brothers would be demoted to criminals, have their cheeks tattooed and be sentenced to lifelong hard labor.

Therefore, for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, it was the former Prince of Yan who made him more wary.

If these princes really acted like the Prince of Yan, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu would be worried to death.

Although the Japanese people on Kyushu Island live a hard life, the people's hearts have always been on the side of Japan, and that is enough.

One day, the Japanese people on Kyushu Island will rebel. Once Japan and these feudal lords really go to war, these Japanese people who are bullied on a daily basis will be the best weapon in Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's hands.

In fact, Zhu Ying had already discovered these situations after he came to Japan and took a casual look around.

Unlike Annan, Japan has too many mineral deposits. With the current industrial level of mining, the danger level is extremely high compared to later generations.

Either you want the mine or you want the hearts and minds of the Japanese people on Kyushu Island.

Zhu Ying is not qualified to make this choice. He can't be so stupid as to act like a saint and let his own people do it. He might as well go to that crooked tree and hang himself.

The original accumulation of capital always carries a bloody smell.

This is a historical inevitability and no one can change it.

And as for Japan, Zhu Ying felt that it was pretty good and there was no need to change it at all.

As for if the Japanese people revolt in the future, we will just suppress them, that's all.

Someone has to do the dirty work.

Ashikaga Yoshimochi didn't stay with Zhu Ying for long. He came back after saying a few simple words.

When he heard that his father was discussing matters with many of his confidants in the inner room, he asked his servant to go and report that there was something important to tell him.

"Humph, I want to see what kind of support this bastard has gotten from the Ming Crown Prince. He just came back and he can't wait to show off to me. Let him in."

There was a coldness in Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's tone. Even though Ashikaga Yoshimochi was his biological son, all his preference had now been given to his legitimate son Ashikaga Yoshitsugu.

Now Ashikaga Yoshimochi's status as shogun has become a thorn in the shogunate's side.

But now that he had become the Grand Minister, and his legitimate son Ashikaga Yoshitsugu was only two years old, it was impossible for him to let anyone else be the Shogun. So he had to let Ashikaga Yoshimochi take the position first.

Sasaki Yoshimasa and other confidants also had playful smiles on their faces. At the same time, they were also curious about what kind of promises and support Ashikaga Yoshimochi had obtained from the Ming Crown Prince that made him act so hastily and without any cunning at all.

Even Hino Sugayoshi, when he heard the news that Ashikaga Yoshimochi was coming to pay a visit, there was obvious disappointment in his eyes.

She was considering whether or not to marry her youngest daughter, Hino Eiko, to him.