Ashikaga Yoshimitsu walked slowly in the courtyard full of pines, cypresses and flowers.
Pure white cloth socks were stepped on the bright floor, with his left hand holding the jade handle of the samurai sword, and a folding fan with a jade pendant swinging on the fingertips of his right hand.
There was no expression on his face, but his eyes were very deep.
Suddenly, his eyes fell on the shrine in the hall, and he stopped.
Behind him, a long list of the shogunate's confidants also stopped at the same time.
"Envoy of the Ming Dynasty!" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu spoke slowly, with a bit of ridicule, "You insult me too much!"
His tone was calm, as if he was talking about something insignificant and irrelevant to him. But his eyes were so sharp, staring at the shrine as if he wanted to split it open with a knife. And when his men heard this,
After speaking, his face was instantly filled with a look of hatred.
They had seen with their own eyes the arrogance and arrogance of the envoys. The so-called concept of humiliating ministers to death was even more prevalent in Japan.
"Lord!" One of the ministers of the shogunate, a young general with a sword and bright eyebrows bowed and said, "I will take people to kill the envoy of the Ming Dynasty!" As he said this, he turned around and raised his leg with a sullen face.
"Ami Shika!" Shogunate Deacon Shiba Yishou said, "Shinyumon Guard, are you going to provoke a war between the two countries?" He said, staring at the other party, "Can you shoulder this responsibility?"
The muscles of the samurai named Shinyumonwei jumped wildly, "They insulted the lord, so what about the envoys of the Ming Dynasty? Japan is not Goryeo, let alone a country like Ryukyu that regards the Ming Dynasty as its parent country. If the lord is insulted, Japan is insulted.
.If I kill him, the worst I can do is commit seppuku!"
"Gah!" General Sibo said angrily, "Who do you think you are? That's an envoy from the Ming Dynasty!"
"That's enough!" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said, and the hall suddenly became quiet. He turned around with a smile, looked at his subordinates who were angry and unequal, and slowly sat down on his knees, "There is a national saying that the two countries will not fight until they are at war. Even if it is clear.
No matter how arrogant the envoys of the country are, we, the masters, must be tolerant!"
As he said that, he suddenly frowned again, "Moreover, the envoys of the Ming Dynasty are deliberately irritating me and our shogunate!"
"Nani?" the ministers exclaimed, very puzzled.
"Father!" Ashikaga Yoshichichi, the future heir to the shogunate, said, "My son is puzzled by a few things. First, no matter how stupid the Ming envoy is, we, the shogunate, all came out to greet him with the most solemn etiquette. Why should he?"
He should humiliate us. Secondly, could it be that he came all the way from thousands of miles away just to humiliate us?"
This was exactly where the people in the shogunate were confused. What the envoys of the Ming Dynasty did really left them confused and even more unbelievable.
"Actually, I have received news a long time ago. This time the Ming Dynasty envoy came here not to be canonized or to submit credentials, but..." Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had a sarcastic smile on his face.
, looked around at the courtiers who were listening, and continued to smile, "Just to reprimand me!"
"Nani?" The shogunate officials were instantly furious.
"Why does the Ming Dynasty dare to be so rude to Japan?"
"The emperor of the Ming Dynasty really thinks that Japan is afraid of him?"
"Maybe the emperor of the Ming Dynasty forgot the lessons learned from the previous dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty!"
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu still had a smile on his face, "Don't be impatient! It's a joke to be so impatient!" Then he added, "Do you know why the Ming Dynasty reprimanded me and the shogunate?"
"According to the news from other daimyo, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was very dissatisfied with me for asking the emperor to recognize my wife as his godmother, and said that I am Dong Zhuo of Japan!" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said with a smile, "Say that I am Dong Zhuo of Japan!"
The rebellious ministers and traitors say that the shogunate is a vassal town, and they use the emperor to command the princes!"
"Gaya deer!" Ashikaga Yoshimichi cursed, "Father, you are Dong Zhuo? Isn't it Cao Cao who holds the emperor in power to order the princes?"
"The emperor of the Ming Dynasty said that I am not worthy of being Cao Cao!" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu smiled bitterly, "They all regard me as a cruel and rebellious minister. This time the envoys came to use the name of the Celestial Kingdom to force us to return power to the emperor.
!”
With a cry, all the shogunate officials stood up, furious.
"The unification of Japan today was bought with the blood of our shogunate warriors. What did the emperor do? Without our shogunate, he might not even be the emperor!" someone shouted loudly.
"Did the Ming Dynasty treat us Japan as slaves? They are so bossy!"
"Lord, drive them away and let these rude guys leave our Japanese land!"
Everyone cursed angrily, but only the shogunate's deacon Ishiba Yishou looked at Ashikaga Yoshimitsu calmly, "My lord, since you already knew about it in advance, why do you still have to greet me with such a big gift?"
The smile on Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's face disappeared, "If we don't let them come to Kyoto, doesn't that mean that our shogunate is a rebellious minister and will sever ties with the Ming Dynasty?"
As he spoke, he sighed slightly, "Since the reunification of the north and the south of Japan, I have been seeking a good relationship with the Ming Dynasty, and I even lowered my status to seek canonization from Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty. Why?"
"After decades of war, both the north and the south of Japan have suffered losses. The most important thing now is stability and prosperity. For us, the Ming Dynasty is a behemoth, and good relations can bring us much more benefits than bad relations.
!”
"And even if I, the shogunate, don't have any contact with the Ming Dynasty, many of our famous princes in Japan are secretly flirting with the Ming Dynasty!"
"With the support of the Ming Kingdom, the legitimate title, and the trade permission of the Ming Kingdom, in a few years, we can make the disobedient daimyo princes in the country surrender without any bloodshed!"
"Only Japan with one voice and one fist is qualified to say no to the Ming Dynasty. But now, if we have an enemy with the Ming Dynasty, the first thing we have to guard against is not the Ming Dynasty, but the enemies in Japan who are eyeing and hiding in the dark!
"
This is the extraordinary political wisdom of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. A qualified leader focuses on the overall situation, rather than the temporary gain or loss of personal reputation. A man is able to bend and stretch, and exchanges temporary bows for huge benefits.
"But my lord, now that the envoys of the Ming Dynasty have come to reprimand you, haven't all the things you have done come to nothing?" General Si Boyi sighed, "The Ming Dynasty wants to dictate our internal affairs in Japan. If you just tolerate it,
, not only made the Ming Dynasty think that we are weak and can be bullied, but also gave other famous princes in the country an excuse to criticize you!"
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sighed and looked out the window. Several gardeners were pruning the pine and cypress branches in the courtyard. In the pond under the sun, the scales on the koi carps shone slightly.
"But now that we are at odds with the Ming Kingdom, the gains outweigh the losses!" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said in a low voice.
His ambition is great, and of course it is not just as simple as being a shogun. If he just wants to be the uncrowned king of Japan, the title of a Japanese king is enough, and the power of a shogun is enough.
But what he thought was that the inheritance of the emperor and the shogunate would always be in his hands. The descendants of his eldest son would always be shoguns, and his second son would legally obtain the position of emperor by changing his surname and other means.
The Ashikaga family was descended from the Minamoto clan, and was actually very close to the emperor in blood. He forced the emperor to be his wife's adopted son, and he became the emperor's adopted father in name.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu wanted Japan's supreme and powerful people to return to the blood of the Ashikaga family. He had never revealed this ambition to anyone, and kept it deep in his heart. It was his lifelong ambition.
If this is to be done, it must be recognized by the Ming Dynasty, otherwise the name will not be justified. Although Japan paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty and was canonized, it has never been a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. The two countries cross the strait, and even if they are hostile, the possibility of war is unlikely.
.
But reputation is sometimes nothing, and it is not rare to wipe your butt. But when you need to use it, it is more precious than anything else.
(https://.bqkan8./41379_41379500/11213676.html)
.bqkan8..bqkan8.
This chapter has been completed!