Zheng Zhilong's estimate was very accurate. A riot in Osaka was imminent.
By the way, the Ming Dynasty merchants who were still stranded in Osaka were in a very bad situation. Most of them had gone bankrupt and had their shops confiscated, and became handicraftsmen or shop assistants working as coolies.
For example, Zheng Wangcai originally ran a bank and was engaged in currency exchange.
However, since the shogunate locked down the country, Zheng Wangcai was banned from engaging in currency exchange business. He had no choice but to sell the business to the Sumitomo family and changed from a shopkeeper to a clerk in the business.
For example, Xu Sanguan, who used to be a good seller of groceries, now works as a smelter for the Sumitomo family.
Xu Sanguan and another smelting worker entered the store carrying baskets of Chongzhen Tongbao and winked at Zheng Wangcai behind the counter. Zheng Wangcai understood and immediately left the counter and went to the store's latrine on the pretext of going to the toilet.
When Xu Sanguan came to the hut after delivering the Chongzhen Tongbao, Zheng Wangcai was already waiting.
"Sanguan, how are your preparations going?" Zheng Wangcai asked as soon as they met.
Xu Sanguan looked around and said proudly: "We have contacted more than 3,000 people."
"More than three thousand people?" Zheng Wangcai was stunned for a moment and said, "Where did these three thousand Ming people come from?"
"It's not just us Ming people." Xu Sanguan said with a smile, "Many Japanese people are also dissatisfied. Sumitomo's family is too evil. Not only does he pay less, but he also doesn't let the craftsmen have enough to eat. I just asked casually, and many Japanese people wanted to
Join in, and I'll go to a few other workshops before I know it, and I might be able to instigate more Japanese people to participate in the riot."
"You idiot, do you know that you will ruin big things like this?" Zheng Wangcai was extremely angry, "We in the Ming Dynasty are united and it is not easy for the news to leak out, but now that you have provoked so many Japanese people, it will be difficult to keep this matter a secret.
.”
"I haven't thought about this." Xu Sanguan was obviously a simple-minded person with well-developed limbs. He scratched his head and said, "What should we do now? Or else we should reject those Japanese craftsmen?"
"Reject the Japanese?" Zheng Wangcai wanted to slap Xu Sanguan in the face with a brick. What about playing house?
However, Zheng Wangcai quickly calmed down. He must be calm. The more critical the moment, the more calm he must be.
"In this case, you go back now and gather all the craftsmen you have contacted. First, take control of the Sumitomo family's smelting workshop, and then build weapons overnight. When our guys from the company start to attack the Dojima rice market, you will bring the weapons with you.
Come here to support, remember to buy more weapons, otherwise we won't be able to defeat Masato Inaba's Osaka Bankata."
"I understand." Xu Sanguan agreed, turned around and left happily.
Watching Xu Sanguan go away, Zheng Wangcai suddenly felt regretful.
Perhaps we should not have allowed Zheng Yiguan to launch a riot.
But now it is impossible to quit.
We can only bite the bullet and rush forward.
…
Zheng Wangcai's caution saved his own life and the lives of many compatriots.
In fact, the news that merchants and craftsmen of Ming origin were going to riot has been leaked.
It was Sumitomo Tomosada, the youngest son of the Sumitomo family, who ran to inform the Lord of Osaka Castle. Hearing that the Sumitomo family's Ming dynasty craftsmen were about to launch a riot, and that many Japanese craftsmen were participating, Inaba Masato immediately became nervous.
The background of Inaba Masato is not small. He is the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu's wet nurse, the third generation general of the Tokugawa shogunate. Their relationship is equivalent to that of Emperor Jiajing and Lu Bing, and he served as the shogunate's junior surnamed Ban, which is equivalent to a big boss.
The commander of the inner bodyguard is now the head of Osaka Banfang, the commander of the Osaka Legion.
There are more than 1,000 banners or imperial families in Osaka.
Counting their respective retainers, there are probably nearly 4,000 troops.
The size of this garrison was second only to Kyoto and Edo in Japan.
Four thousand garrison troops sounds like a lot, but you have to compare it with what it is.
If you compare it with the craftsmen of Sumitomo's several smelting workshops, it will immediately seem a little unsatisfactory.
Because the Sumitomo family opened several smelting workshops in Osaka, with more than 20,000 craftsmen! Once the more than 20,000 craftsmen of the Sumitomo family collectively launched a riot, Osaka Banfang alone would not be able to suppress it.
Moreover, the riots in Sumitomo's workshop will soon spread to the whole city.
Once the whole city of Osaka falls into riots, there will be big trouble.
So Inaba Masato decided to strike first and send troops first.
Inaba Masato immediately dispatched half of the number of Hatamoto and Imperial family members.
Unfortunately, Inaba Masato's actions were still a step too slow.
As soon as Osaka Bankata's two thousand samurai were dispatched, Sumitomo's craftsmen launched a riot in advance, and the riot quickly spread to nearby workshops, and more than half of Osaka's workshops were involved.
The rioting craftsmen seized the tools of the workshop and started a fierce battle with Osaka Bankata.
Although Osaka Banfang was a regular army, the number of rioting craftsmen was more than ten times theirs, and they were all strong men who had been engaged in physical labor all year round, so Osaka Banfang quickly fell into a bitter battle.
At this time, Zheng Wangcai also led the company's clerk to start a rebellion.
Many Japanese people who had no means of livelihood were demolished and even the ronin took the opportunity to smash, loot and burn.
The commercial port outside Osaka City suddenly fell into chaos, and half of the city was plunged into a sea of flames.
Inaba Masato was originally planning to lead the other half of his army to rescue the Sumitomo family, but after seeing this scene, he decisively gave up, quickly retreated into Osaka Castle and closed the gates.
At this time, there was no time to worry about suppressing the riots, so we had to close the city to protect ourselves.
The rioting ronin, bankers and merchants took the opportunity to loot all the shops outside the city and the rice market in Dojima. Finally, they joined the Sumitomo family's craftsmen and defeated half of Osaka Banfang who had left the town.
By this time, Zheng Wangcai had lost the leadership of the rebels.
Zheng Wangcai had no choice but to take Xu Sanguan and other Ming Dynasty associates and craftsmen to seize half of the ships in Osaka Port, laden with various supplies snatched from the shops along the street and rice snatched from the Dojima Rice Market, and headed to Kankong.
Island retreat.
The Japanese rebels, led by a ronin named Maruyama Sada, launched a fierce attack on Osaka Castle.
Obviously, these Japanese rebels already had higher political goals, especially their leader Maruyama Sada, who even had the idea of rebuilding Osaka Namba Kyo and moving the emperor from Kyoto back to Osaka.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Good guy, this is really trying to imitate Cao Cao and hold the emperor hostage to order the princes.
The world line of Japan has changed, and there is an Osaka riot.
Moreover, the scale of this riot was unprecedented, and it quickly alarmed Tokugawa Iemitsu.
After receiving the urgent report from Inaba Masato, Tokugawa Iemitsu took it very seriously and immediately summoned 20,000 bannermen to suppress the rebellion in Osaka. At the same time, he ordered the Matsudaira family, Okabe family, Iin family, and Honda family around Osaka. Wait for the daimyo to send troops to assist the shogunate in suppressing the Osaka rebellion.
At this time, the Tokugawa shogunate's appeal was still very high.
After the edict was issued, the daimyo of Kinki sent troops one after another.
Within half a month, an army of 100,000 men was gathered.
…
Of course, all this did not happen in a short time.
The Osaka riot occurred in late November, but by the time the Tokugawa shogunate gathered a hundred thousand troops to suppress it, it was already mid-December.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty's naval fleet was less than five hundred miles away from Osaka.
Chongzhen and Zheng Zhilong did not know that there was such a big riot in Osaka. They were even in the mood to drive the Zhou Yu to rob a Portuguese armed merchant ship they encountered on the way.
The most important thing is to see the combat effectiveness of the Zhou Yu.
The Zhou Yu has never participated in a battle since it was commissioned, so it was just a good time to use the Portuguese merchant ship in front of us to test its skills.
By the way, not only the Ming Dynasty’s navy did this, but all the navies of all countries in this era did this. All navies in this era were pirates. Once they encountered another ship at sea, they would never let it go as long as they could defeat it.
Therefore, the risks of sea trade were very high at that time. If you were not careful, your goods would be lost, and you would be captured and sold into slavery.
Of course, high risks often also mean high returns. If you can arrive safely, the income from just one sea trade trip will be enough for you to live a life of worry-free food and clothing.
But for the Portuguese merchant ship in front of him, it was obviously a wishful thinking to return to Lisbon safely.
Because the speed of this three-masted armed merchant ship was obviously slower than that of the Zhou Yu, it was impossible to escape by running.
As a result, the sailors on the ship suddenly turned their heads and turned the merchant ship sideways, aiming its side at the Zhou Yu. At the same time, dozens of dark holes were drilled on the side, and dozens of black holes were poked out from inside. Honor the cannon.
At this time, the most standard approach for the Zhou Yu is to turn the ship sideways as it slows down.
Then both sides use naval guns to bombard each other until one side is sunk or loses its ability to resist.
If you feel that the naval gunfire is not enough, you can also directly rush up to the opponent's warship and engage in a battle.
However, as the performance of artillery continues to improve, traditional naval warfare methods such as boarding battles and fire attacks are gradually being abandoned, because after entering the seventeenth century, it was difficult to have the opportunity to launch boarding battles or fire attacks.
But Zheng Zhilong wanted to test whether the Zhou Yu's armor could withstand the opponent's shelling.
Therefore, Zheng Zhilong did not order to slow down, but let the Zhou Yu continue to maintain its course and ram straight towards the Portuguese merchant ship.
Soon, the Zhou Yu entered the range of Portuguese merchant ships.
Dozens of cannons on the side of the Portuguese merchant ship opened fire one after another.
Accompanied by the screeching sound of artillery shells, there was a bang-bang crash.
One of the shells even crossed the bow of the Zhou Yu and hit the front of the official hall.
Hearing a loud "bang" from the front wall of the official hall, Zheng Zhilong was not surprised but overjoyed. He even ran to the deck to inspect the front wall of the official hall himself, regardless of the objections of his subordinates.
I saw a dent in the armor on the front wall of the official hall, but it was very shallow.
Zheng Zhilong bent down and picked up a solid iron bullet from the deck, with a caliber of about two and a half inches.
Obviously, two and a half inch caliber black powder shells were not enough to pose a threat to the Zhou Yu's armor.
At that moment, Zheng Zhilong said with a ferocious smile: "Give me the order, sprint at full speed, rush up and sink the Portuguese merchant ship! Let the Portuguese fall into the sea to feed the fish, hahaha!"