Chapter 30 Chapter 9: The No. 1 Scam in East Asia (Part 1)

Naito Ruan received a warm welcome in Beijing, the first Japanese to arrive in the capital as an official envoy in decades.Both Shi Xing and the officials of the peace faction regard him as an angel of peace, and hope that his arrival will bring a glimmer of hope to the peace talks between the two countries.For this reason, the imperial court also specially granted permission to allow Naito to cross the tower without dismounting - this is already a treatment at the level of a prince. Naito Ruan was placed to live in Chengguo Gongzhuang outside Chaoyang Gate, and Shen Weijing lived with him.This was originally the residence of General Jingnan and Cheng Guogong Zhu Neng in Beijing. The eighth grandson Zhu Shizhen committed suicide as early as the 14th year of Wanli. So far no one has taken the title, and Zhuangzi is also vacant, which happened to be cheap for the Japanese.

After lingering for several days, on December 11th, Naito Ruan finally met Emperor Wanli, the supreme ruler of Ming Dynasty, at the Meridian Gate Tower. Emperor Wanli received Naito Roan with the etiquette of meeting with North Korean and Ryukyu envoys. The ostentation was huge, with hundreds of officials accompanying the class, and hundreds of Han generals in bright armor stood on both sides.Naito Ru'an had never seen such an aura before, he was so frightened that he kowtowed to the bottom, and behaved extremely submissive, like a sheep seeing a lion, and obediently presented the fake Guan Baijiang Form.After reading Wanli's scroll, he couldn't help nodding slightly.

The tone of this condescension was low and trembling, as if he was afraid of offending Daming.This made Wanli very satisfied.As for the emperor, there is no shortage of gold, silver and jewelry, all he wants is face.Now that the Japanese Guan Bai has sent over his face, Wanli is naturally Longyan Dayue. Taking advantage of his joy, Wanli asked Ruan Naito several questions, such as "why Hideyoshi invaded North Korea" and "why stayed in North Korea after the defeat" and other questions.Naito Ruan's answer is also a cliché, nothing more than "North Korea blocks the way of our country's tribute", "begging for a reward from the upper court" and so on.These topics have been noisy in the court for the past few months, and there is nothing new.

Wanli said: "Let the Ministry of War send someone to Busan to tell Governor Konishi that North Korea cannot keep troops, and all the castles built there will be burned down." Naito Ru'an knelt on the ground and swore to the sky, vowing that he would obey the will of the court, Change your mind and start a new life.Wanli was overjoyed, and instructed, "If you can be so obedient, then everything is easy to discuss. Go and study the details with Shi Xing and the others." It didn't take long for the audience to end. The emperor only needed to express his political attitude, and the details had to be discussed with the people below.After seeing Wanli in peace, Naito went to the office near Zuoque Gate on the 20th.There, Shi Xing, Zhao Zhigao, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Sun Piyang, and ministers from relevant departments formally proposed three conditions for Ming Dynasty to Naito Ru'an:

One, all Japanese people go back to Japan. Second, Hideyoshi was granted the title of king of Japan, but Tonggong was not allowed. Third, vowed never to invade North Korea again. Compared with the arrogant "Seven Points of Show" proposed by Hideyoshi, Emperor Wanli is already quite magnanimous. He neither mentioned punishment nor compensation. As long as you return to the state before the war, let's forget about it up. It's okay if your words don't count.Wanli has already drawn the bottom line: "If it is determined that the Japanese will be resigned, the previous game will be over; if the Japanese are not willing to do so, or if there are other requirements, then there will be no further reconsideration and insist on fighting." The meaning is very clear. If you honestly retreat, then things will be closed as usual; if you still babble, then we will see you on the battlefield!

Regarding these three requirements, Naito Ruan accepted without hitting a single one, so both parties were very happy. Then Shi Xing chatted with Naito Ruan for a while. Naito Ruan answered every question and was very obedient, but it was a pity that he was full of nonsense, and it was obvious that he was bullying Daming and other officials. No one understood Japan. This section is recorded in detail in "The Record of the Two Dynasties", which is very coke. Shi Xing asked Naito Ru'an: "Since Hideyoshi has unified Japan, why doesn't he become king himself, and come all the way to Daming to ask for the title?"

Ruan Naito: "Hideyoshi sees that North Korea has a title, and his heart is reassured. He is very envious, and wants to ask for one." Shi Xing: "I heard that Japan has an emperor and a king, are they the same thing?" Ruan Naito: "Yes, yes, it's all the same thing. It's a pity that the emperor has been killed by Oda Nobunaga..." Listen, what kind of nonsense is this. Let's talk about how Naito was sent home, and the court's policy was determined, and a group of courtiers began to chatter out their ideas.Some suggested launching a naval force from four provinces from Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong to attack Japan directly and break into the lairs of Japanese pirates; If you don't agree with Guan Bai, you can make a difference.In short, reliable and unreliable proposals appeared all at once, and it was really lively.

Shi Xing ignored these proposals and concentrated on preparing the Japanese seal with officials from the Ministry of Rites.Just at this time, the front line reported that the thirty-six Japanese ships from Xiongchuan Island had returned to Japan. Shi Xing patted his legs and was overjoyed, saying that this time the peace talks must be right. Shi Xing is confident because he believes that the Japanese are sincerely negotiating peace this time.But the more confident he is, the less confident some people are... This unconfident guy is Shen Weijing who single-handedly concocted Guan Baijiang Biao.

When Shen Weijing heard the news that Daming had decided to canonize Japan as the king, he first breathed a sigh of relief, and then heaved a long sigh. He was relieved because he had finally fooled the Ming court, and sighed because he had to figure out how to fool Hideyoshi with President Xiaonishi next.This daring guy has now deceived the two big countries in East Asia, and he is already on the verge of riding a tiger, so he can only continue to make up lies. This international joke gets louder and bigger, and the more he blows, the more guilty he feels, but he has to blow it.Shen Weijing knew that if he told the truth to Shi Xing, he might be hacked to death before he could even pass the gate.

what to do?Bite the bullet and continue cheating! On January 30, the 23rd year of Wanli, the canonization regiment of the Ming Dynasty was formally established, with Li Zongcheng, Marquis of Linhuai, as the official envoy, and Yang Fangheng, the governor of the Zuojun Governor's Mansion, as the deputy envoy. Hideyoshi's Japanese king Jinyin left Beijing and went to Japan. Li Zongcheng is a descendant of Li Wenzhong, the founding father of the country, a typical dude. He was sent as an envoy mainly for the face of his father Li Yangong, so that he could accumulate some political capital—whether Wanli or Shi Xing thought it was a trip It's a beautiful job, it's not dangerous, it can be used as a favor.

The canonization mission was the first to arrive in Busan, and it was two officials from the Ministry of War and Sipu Temple. They arrived in Busan in February and informed Xiao Nishiyuki that the mission had already left, and asked the Japanese army to withdraw quickly, leaving only 300 people on Tsushima Island. Waiting for orders. President Xiaonishi and the generals under his command responded strongly to this good news and cheered happily.The two officials saw that the Japanese were really planning to withdraw their troops, so they went back and wrote a report, saying that the Japanese generals were tired of fighting and wanted to return, but they forgot to count the number of ships in Pusan ​​Port. After receiving the official's report, the canonized mission became more at ease, and then slowly packed up and started to set off from Beijing, via Liaodong and North Korea to Japan. This canonized mission represented the face of the Celestial Dynasty, and it carried a lot of guards of honor, and the speed of travel was quite slow.Shen Weijing really couldn't bear the torment in his heart in the team, he had to talk to President Xiaonishi first to discuss how to deal with the canonized mission and Hideyoshi. So he told Li Zongcheng and Yang Fangheng that I would take a step first and see how the Japanese were preparing.Li and Yang had no idea about Japan, seeing Shen Weijing being so loyal and diligent, they readily agreed. On April 19th, Shen Weijing arrived in Pusan ​​early, and saw a Ming official waiting in Yingkou from a distance, he was puzzled, and when he got closer, he found that it was actually the governor Xiaoxi.It turned out that this master heard that he had been awarded the title of commander, so he sent someone to order a set of official uniforms of the Ming Dynasty. He wore monkeys and crowned himself, and happily changed into his clothes to serve as a minister with Shen Weijing. Shen Weijing was furious, at what time did you still make such a move.Next to him was a North Korean official, Huang Shen, who didn't want to say much, so he had to pretend to have a meal with Xiaoxi and Monk Xuansu, and then found a chance for them to have a private conversation. Shen Weijing asked President Xiaonishi, I have taken care of the Ming emperor's side, what are you going to do with Hideyoshi? Ordinarily, President Xiaoxi is a businessman, so he should have a very shrewd mind.But the strange thing is that Xiaoxi didn't realize the seriousness of the matter at all, or he thought he could handle Hideyoshi completely, so he waved his hand and said leave it to me, and promised that when the envoy and deputy envoy arrived, a Japanese Neither will stay in Busan. After bidding farewell to Shen Weijing, President Konishi returned to Japan on April 30 and went to Nagoya to report to Hideyoshi. Of course Xiaoxi didn't dare to tell the truth about the canonization of the envoys. He only picked the good ones and told Hideyoshi that although Daming didn't agree to all the "Xiu Qitiao", he promised a huge benefit. The messenger is already on the way.After hearing this, Hideyoshi felt that the title of Daming King was also good, and was very happy, and praised Xiao Xigan's beauty repeatedly.President Xiaoxi took the opportunity to say that the Japanese troops stationed in North Korea have been exhausted for a long time, and now that Daming has softened, ceding North Korea is a matter of time, so it is better to withdraw them first. Hideyoshi agreed. On June 26th, Governor Konishi returned to Busan with Hideyoshi's withdrawal order, called all the other generals stationed in the DPRK, and began to assign tasks.Whoever retreats first will retreat later; whoever is responsible for burning Wocheng is responsible for preparing for the reception, and the arrangements are well-organized. This suddenly annoyed his old enemy Kato Kiyomasa. In Kato Kiyomasa's camp, there has always been an envoy named Tan Zongren.He is Shen Weijing's deputy. He went to Kato Kiyomasa's camp to negotiate and was put under house arrest.Kato Kiyomasa has been communicating with Liu Ting through Tan Zongren.Kato Kiyomasa felt that, not to mention whether he should withdraw the army to negotiate a peace at this time, even if it was a peace negotiation, it should be his own credit, so why give it to the drug dealer? So his First Legion resolutely refused to leave, ignoring Governor Xiaonishi's urging again and again.President Konishi was afraid that Kato would disturb the progress of the peace talks, so he sent someone to notify the canonized mission, saying that there was an annoying ghost making trouble, and he would come back after I persuaded you, so please stay in Seoul for the time being. The canonized mission then stayed in Seoul for several months.Shi Xing in Beijing waited anxiously, thinking that half a year had passed, and he had never had any formal contact with Lianchao, which was really shameful.Every time he wrote to ask, the answer was either "the tide is not going well", or "the palace is not yet completed", or "the etiquette is not prepared", in short, there are various reasons. Emperor Wanli and others were puzzled, how could it be possible for hundreds of thousands of troops to cross from Japan to North Korea; how could two envoys not cross from North Korea to Japan? At this time, Shi Xing had already bet all of his wealth on the peace agreement, so he could only reject the opinions of all the people and said that there would be no problem with his chest.He was afraid that it would take too long, and the peace talks might change again, so he quickly dispatched Yang Gao, the deputy military envoy, to North Korea to investigate and find out what was going on. As a result, Yang Hao was too lazy, he only went around Liaodong, and reported back that the Japanese hadn't withdrawn at all, they just burned the small camp and merged it into the big camp, which seemed to be lacking in sincerity.Shi Xing was very dissatisfied with this answer, so he sent another Datong garrison commander named Chang He to Busan to investigate. Sealing matters cannot be taken lightly." This was not the answer Shi Xing wanted, so instead of sending civil servants, he sent two confidants to investigate, one named Zhang Zhu and the other Wang Huzi.And the destination of these two people is no longer Busan, but Japan. It is conceivable that Shi Xing must have given them face-to-face instructions before setting off.So the two of them traveled around Japan and North Korea, and came to the conclusion that there was no problem. Shi Xing finally got the result he wanted, and repeatedly urged Li and Yang to go to Japan as soon as possible. Under the pressure of the Ministry of War, Li Zongcheng and Yang Fangheng together decided to divide into two waves.The first wave was led by Yang Fangheng and came to Busan in October.Yang Fangheng inspected around Busan, and found that the people who had withdrawn to Japan before were all old, weak, sick and disabled, and the main force hadn't moved at all.What's even more strange is that the Japanese soldiers in other camps—especially the members of the Kato Legion—didn't know about the retreat at all, and spoke a lot of disdain for Chief Konishi. Yang Fangheng went to Xiaoxi to question him, and Xiaoxi's president explained: "We have no other requirements except the three agreed by Emperor Wanli. Don't trust other people's words. We have a lot of soldiers and a lot of luggage, and we will not be able to move all the time." Yang Fangheng was skeptical , but Li Zongcheng believed it, and rushed to Busan to join the deputy envoy. When President Xiaoxi saw that both the chief and deputy envoys had entered Busan City, he felt relieved.He had suffered from Li Rusong's fraudulent title as an envoy in Pyongyang before, so he became suspicious and cautious, for fear that Daming would do the same thing again. Li and Yang entered the Busan barracks and urged the Japanese army to retreat quickly.President Xiaoxi told Li and Yang that part of the Japanese army had withdrawn, and the large-scale retreat had to wait for Master Guan Bai to decide, and it would take some time to report across the sea, so you just have to wait a few more days. After securing the envoy, President Xiaoxi found Shen Weijing, and started the key step of their shocking deception. The two acted separately, and President Xiaonishi sent someone to report to Hideyoshi, saying that Daming's mission had arrived in Busan and could cross the sea at any time to be entrusted.When Hideyoshi heard this, he was very happy, and said that since he came, he should send it here as soon as possible. As for Shen Weijing, he went to the envoys Li and Yang and made a request.Shen Weijing said that the Japanese pirates are all bumpkins and don't know etiquette at all. If they go to the canonization rashly, they may make a joke and lose Daming's dignity. It's better to send someone to bring props to teach them to practice, so as not to make mistakes on the spot. When Li and Yang heard it, they felt that it made sense, saying that you should work hard for old Shen. At the beginning of the twenty-fourth year of Wanli, Shen Weijing took canonized gifts such as python dragon clothes, jade belts, Yishan crowns, maps of the Ming Dynasty, and seven books of martial arts, and set foot on a large ship bound for Japan. Four characters: "Diaoji two countries".He also ordered 277 horses from the Liaodong Army to be loaded onto a ship and transported to Nangeya, Japan, nominally for his entourage to ride, but actually as a gift to Hideyoshi. So far, the plan of President Xiaoxi and Shen Weijing has become obvious.They planned to let Shen Weijing pretend to be an envoy of Ming Dynasty, first express his obedience and surrender to Hideyoshi, and fool Mr. Guan Bai. From the forgery of the Guan Baijiang watch, the plan of these two guys has a distinctive feature: they care about their heads and ignore their backs.Every step they take is to solve the immediate crisis, but they have no long-term consideration at all.For example, Shen Weijing pretended to be a Ming envoy this time, so he could hide it from Hideyoshi for a while, but sooner or later, Hideyoshi will let Daming sell half of North Korea according to the "Show Seven Points", and it will definitely leak the truth; He could be stranded in Busan, but if he didn't see Hideyoshi for a long time, he would realize something was wrong sooner or later. The outbreak of these fundamental contradictions is inevitable, all the efforts made by Xiaoxi and Shen Weijing are just drinking poison to quench their thirst. We have analyzed Shen Weijing's psychological motives before.He was really forced to do nothing, because only peace talks could prove his worth, and once the peace talks broke down, he would die without a place to bury him.In order to survive, he had to tighten the rope tied around his neck again and again. And what about President Konishi? Hideyoshi had already suffered from severe anorexia during this period, and his weight had been losing weight, and time was running out.Hideyoshi's successor, Hideyori, is still in his infancy. If Hideyoshi dies of illness, it is almost certain that one of Ishida Mitsunari and Kato Kiyomasa will exercise the guardianship and regency power.Konishi Governor and Ishida Mitsunari belong to the Wenzhi faction, and they have been fighting openly and secretly with the Arbitrary faction headed by Kato Kiyomasa, preparing for the redistribution of power after Hideyoshi. If Shen Weijing, who pretends to be a Ming envoy, agrees to all Hideyoshi's rude demands, Hideyoshi will be very happy, and he will rely more on President Konishi, so that the Wenzhi faction will have more political initiative. As for whether this scam will be exposed because it cannot be implemented, President Xiaoxi is not worried.It took two or three years for the peace talks between China and Japan, and it would take at least five years to implement the "Seven Points of Hideyoshi." Going deeper, although Xiaoxi ran around in this matter, there was always a shadow of Wenzhi faction behind it. Ishida Mitsunari, Otani Yoshitsugu, and others, the main cadres of the Wenzhi faction, all knew about Xiaonishi's activities and kept in close contact with them.If you think about it, you can understand that one of Hideyoshi's most trusted people is Ishida Mitsunari. Without the cooperation of the Wenzhi faction, President Konishi would never have been able to keep Hideyoshi for such a long time—so it's not so much a matter of tossing around between Xiaonishi and Shen Weijing. Rather, it is one of the tactics of the Wenzhi faction trying to control Hideyoshi. The Wenzhi faction's calculations are not imprecise, but the more precise the plan, the easier it is to collapse once there are variables. Variables, and a variable that no one expected soon appeared.