Japan is a despicable and treacherous country. They know small manners but lack great righteousness, are bound by trivialities but lack great virtue, value minor details but disregard integrity and shame, fear power but do not cherish virtue, and when strong, they will inevitably become thieves and bandits, and when weak, they will inevitably become subservient.
From the end of the Yuan Dynasty, due to the political turmoil in China, some Japanese fishing boats began to harass the coastal islands on a small scale. After getting a taste of success, they became even more brazen, and there were even shadows of Japanese nobles behind them. It wasn't until the Yongle era, when Zheng He made seven voyages to the Western Seas and the Ming Dynasty's navy reached its peak, that the Japanese pirates were restrained for several decades. Unfortunately, after Zhu Di's death, the Ming Dynasty once again banned the sea, and the Japanese pirates began to repeat their mistakes.
"We've arrived." Li Daoyi flew through the air and saw a distant silhouette of land, which was the territory of Japan.
He slowly flew to the dragon boat, and everyone rushed over to greet him. Although they had been traveling for days, and it was the first time that the emperor and many generals had ever been on a boat for such a long time, everyone was extremely excited.
"Daoist Master," Zhu Houcong said, bowing.
"Your Majesty, you may issue the order now. Japan is only fifteen li away," Li Daoyi said.
"Great, that's wonderful."
"Pass down the order: all ships will land according to plan. After landing, proceed according to the previous plan. Everyone must fight bravely against the enemy. Remember, women and children are spared, but the rest must be killed without mercy." Zhu Houcong exuded imperial majesty.
"Amitabha." Fang Zheng felt a pang of pity, but at this point, he dared not say anything more.
"Yes." Everyone immediately accepted the order.
Soon, the emperor's decree began to spread to all the ships, and people became excited.
Kyushu, the name of the Japanese islands, was also the first stop for the fleet's landing.
At this moment, some short fishermen were casting their nets in the nearshore waters when they suddenly noticed a large, dark mass on the distant sea surface, lined up and heading towards them.
Some fishermen, out of curiosity, rowed their small boats to get closer and take a look. Before long, they realized that it was a boat, a lot of boats.
The fisherman was startled and hurriedly rowed back, but he was no match for the sailboats. Before long, the large ships were getting closer and closer to him.
The fishermen immediately stopped, knelt down on the boat, and kowtowed repeatedly in front of them.
However, the approaching ships seemed not to see them at all, and ran over the small boat. The fishermen cried out as they fell into the water, but one ship after another appeared. As soon as the fishermen surfaced, they were hit by the ships and sank to the bottom of the sea.
"Prepare the small boat, everyone ashore."
Because the water is shallow at the beach, some large ships cannot get close at all and have to put down small boats and row themselves ashore.
Before long, the first batch of hundreds of small boats carrying martial artists and numerous soldiers began to land.
At this moment, the Japanese on the shore also seemed to realize the danger and scattered in all directions, shouting.
When they were still dozens of meters from the shore, some people with excellent light-footed skills left the small boat and used their skills to rush towards the shore by stepping on the seawater.
"Kill!" The one leading the charge was none other than Linghu Chong.
"Moo..."
Then came the sound of a cow mooing, and Li Daoyi's blue ox carried Lin Pingzhi, Yue Lingshan, and the others away on the waves.
"Alas, it's a pity we didn't have time to bring the Tiger Cannon from the capital this time." Lu Bing stood on the boat with a slight regret.
"Lord Lu, why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut?" someone said.
Then everyone laughed.
As more and more people came ashore, many samurai appeared on the Japanese pirate side, numbering about several hundred. They had strange flags planted behind them. At first, these people were very arrogant, shouting and yelling as they charged towards the crowd. Obviously, they recognized that these people were from the Ming Dynasty, and even showed excited expressions on their faces.
Unfortunately, this time these people were not encountering those impoverished military households and unarmed civilians, but the true elite of the Ming Dynasty and many martial arts heroes. After only a few rounds of fighting, these Japanese pirates realized that they were no match for them and retreated one after another. But how could they be allowed to retreat now? Some soldiers began to take out their bows and arrows and shoot. Before long, more than a hundred corpses lay on the ground.
"Damn it, slow down! I didn't get any!" someone complained.
"Don't let your guard down, let's go," someone shouted.
Then everyone ran off into the distance.
On the ship, Li Daoyi and the others were drinking tea. He was in a very good mood because his points had risen to more than 130,000. His feat of breaking through the storm a few days ago had given him a gain of 120,000 points, which was a great harvest.
"Master, what should I do with Japan in the future?" Zhu Houcong asked.
"Transform it into the territory of the Ming Dynasty, establish a naval base here, and use this place as a stepping stone for the Ming Dynasty to conquer the seas in the future."
“If you follow the steps I’ve told you, within twenty years, the Ming Dynasty will dominate the entire world,” Li Daoyi said.
Zhu Houcong was thrilled to hear this, and his face flushed, but it quickly dimmed again.
"I don't know if I'll live to see that day," Zhu Houcong sighed.
He is now forty years old and doesn't know if he can live another twenty years.
“Your Majesty, no more, no less, you still have twenty years left to live.” Li Daoyi’s words made Jiajing’s face turn deathly pale.
"Daoist, Daoist Master, you, you didn't need to say that." Jiajing paused for a moment, then smiled bitterly.
"Fine, twenty years it is. How many people can live to sixty?" With that, Jiajing stood up and walked to the bow of the ship.
At this moment, thick smoke was already rising from the distant land, indicating that people had already stormed the nearest city.
"I used to be very afraid of death, but now I am not afraid anymore. There are still twenty years left, and I can still do many, many things," Zhu Houcong said, holding onto the boat with both hands.
Li Daoyi also got up and walked over.
Those around them stood still, not daring to approach, as everyone knew that there were many things the two were saying that should not be listened to.
"What if I give you the chance to extend your lifespan?" Li Daoyi looked at Zhu Houcong with amusement.
His body trembled slightly as he turned to look at Li Daoyi, his lips quivering and his eyes filled with shock.
"While I cannot grant you immortality, it is not difficult to extend your life by another hundred years."
Zhu Houcong's eyes lit up immediately, and he was about to kneel down, his body trembling.
Li Daoyi waved his hand to stop him.
“There’s no need for that. This is the result of my observation of you over the past few days. Although you still have many flaws, you also have your strengths. You are very intelligent, you understand the way of being a ruler, and you know how to care for your subordinates. The future of the Ming Dynasty will not be too bad if it is handed over to you. But you must remember that you must never blindly worship gods and Buddhas again,” Li Daoyi said.
"Why?" Zhu Houcong was taken aback. He was somewhat puzzled. "Aren't you a deity? Why won't you let me believe you?"
“Alas, there are no gods or Buddhas in this world. Continuing on will only make you sink deeper and deeper,” Li Daoyi sighed.
“But, Daoist Master, you…” Zhu Houcong looked puzzled.
“I am the only one,” Li Daoyi said.
Zhu Houcong's pupils contracted sharply, but then a glint of light appeared in them as he looked up at Li Daoyi.
“I know what you’re thinking. I can tell you that I won’t stay here for long. I’ll be leaving soon.”
Where to?
Li Daoyi shook his head, unwilling to say any more.
Zhu Houcong stared at him blankly for a long time before letting out a soft sigh.
"Master, thank you. What you said makes sense. I will remember it. No matter where you are in the future, please remember my Great Ming."
"I will." After saying that, Li Daoyi took out a bottle.
“If you start drinking this liquid every ten years, I can guarantee you will live to be two hundred years old.”
Zhu Houcong hurriedly accepted it with trembling hands.
The liquid in the bottle was refined by Li Daoyi using twenty spirit peaches he exchanged for two thousand points.
"Thank you, Daoist Master." The emperor solemnly put the bottle into his robes.
More than twenty days later, the Ming army and the martial arts practitioners conquered one Japanese city after another, including Edo, Nagoya, Osaka, Kosaka, and so on, and finally arrived at Heian-kyo, the capital of Japan.
At this time, the Japanese emperor sent an envoy, willing to cede half of his territory, pay a large amount of gold and silver in reparations, and even agree to be a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty forever, all in order for the Ming Dynasty to withdraw its troops.
Zhu Houcong naturally rejected this outright; what he wanted was the entire territory of Japan.
With Niu Er's fierce charge, the gates of Heian-kyo were smashed open as if made of paper. Thousands of soldiers and knights braved the rain of arrows and rushed into the capital of Japan. The end of Japan had officially begun.
On the Double Ninth Festival, the entire country of Japan was completely occupied, and the Japanese people were almost entirely wiped out. The head of the Japanese emperor was personally beheaded by Qi Jiguang.
From then on, the entire Japanese kingdom was destroyed.
Several days later, the group stood on the walls of the Japanese Imperial Palace, looking at Heian-kyo after the war, their hearts filled with complex emotions.
"I never imagined that Japan had learned from China to such a profound extent."
"That's right, our writing is everywhere, but it's a little different in some places."
"You didn't see that the books displayed in those noble homes all came from my Central Plains, and there are even more books in my own home than in my own."
Everyone was amazed that such a small country as Japan had such capabilities. It was foreseeable that if given more time, they would become a major threat to China in the future.
"Your Majesty, Daoist Master."
Huang Jin walked over at that moment, carrying a large stack of things.
"The statistics are out?"
"Yes, in this attack on Japan, our imperial court dispatched a total of 64,000 troops and 30,000 martial arts practitioners, for a total of 96,000 people. 3,360 people died and 12,000 were injured."
"hiss…"
"Why are there so many?" Zhu Houcong frowned.
"Most of the people His Majesty died were from the very beginning. The Japanese pirates were ruthless and often liked to use the method of mutual destruction. Our people did not pay attention at first and were merciful to them, and as a result..." Lu Bing stepped forward and said.
"Hmph, I have reminded you many times not to be soft-hearted and not to be merciful just because the other party is playing the victim, but you still don't listen," Zhu Houcong said angrily.
"Yes, Your Majesty is right. After that, everyone stopped being soft-hearted, and the mortality rate dropped significantly," Lu Bing said, forcing a smile.
"Alright, the injured must be healed, and the dead must be registered. In the future, I will erect a monument here and engrave their names on it."
"Your Majesty is wise."
"What about Japan?" Li Daoyi asked.
"Master, it's impossible to count, but the number is no less than eight million," Huang Jin whispered.
"Hahaha, good, good, good, good to die." Li Daoyi burst into laughter instantly.
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