A few days ago, when Zhu Yuanzhang was talking to Zhu Ying, Zhu Ying raised the issue of Japanese pirates along the coast.
This was not taken seriously by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Japanese pirates refer to Japanese slaves and bandits.
Japanese pirates have existed since the Tang and Song Dynasties.
However, because of the opening up of houses and trade in the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was not so powerful. This incident could only be regarded as piracy, and it did not reach a large scale.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Japanese people of the Japanese country were very yearning for the culture of the Central Plains, just like other small countries.
The biggest change came from the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.
Kublai Khan, the last Khan of the Great Mongol Kingdom, was also the founding emperor of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.
The King of Goryeo surrendered to Kublai Khan, and with the help of Kublai Khan, he successfully drove away the forces of military officials in the government and the public, allowing the King of Goryeo to regain power.
A year later, at the suggestion of the Koreans, Kublai Khan sent Mongolian envoys to Japan and asked them to come and surrender.
The Japanese state was influenced by the culture of the Tang and Song Dynasties, and had good diplomatic relations with the Southern Song Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, and Liao Dynasty.
Moreover, due to the profound influence of culture, the Japanese looked down upon the Meng Yuan very much, thinking that they were just a group of barbarians.
The Mongolian Yuan was powerful, but after all there was a sea separating the two sides, so the Japanese were not that afraid of the Mongols.
He ignored the request of surrender made by the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. Among them, Zhao Liangbi, the envoy of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, stayed in the Japanese country for three years.
However, he was not received by the Japanese emperor or the Japanese shogun, so he had no choice but to return.
Kublai Khan was a natural conqueror. Wherever the Mongols went, many regions and countries in Asia and Europe were unable to resist. He established an unprecedentedly vast empire.
As a conqueror, the blood of conquest flows in his bones. When everyone around him surrendered, only the Japanese country not only refused to surrender, but showed contempt for it.
How could Kublai Khan accept this?
He raised up 30,000 allied troops and nearly a thousand large and small ships, and started his first expedition to Japan with great fanfare.
Under the Mongol and Yuan armies, the Japanese nation had no resistance at all. However, just as they were about to complete their great cause, the natural disasters that followed annihilated the Mongol and Yuan armies.
Kublai Khan, who had everything going smoothly, failed in front of a small country, which aroused Kublai Khan's anger.
So the second expedition began.
However, there was another typhoon, half of the army was drowned, and the commander almost couldn't come back.
Zhao Liangbi submitted a memorial, saying that the Japanese country had poor mountains and poor waters, and the people did not respect etiquette and law, so it was not worth sending troops to attack.
However, Kublai Khan was willing to give up and continue planning the third expedition.
However, due to the opposition of a large number of courtiers and the chaotic situation in Cochin at that time, Kublai Khan gave up this idea.
It was also because the two expeditions cost a lot of money, suffered heavy losses, and achieved no benefits at all.
As a result, the Central Plains under the rule of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty became even more miserable and the people were in dire straits.
In less than a hundred years, the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty was destroyed.
The victorious Japanese country was not living very well either. Even if they did not confront the Mongolian and Yuan armies head-on, their losses were extremely heavy.
Among them, the Kamakura Shogunate, which won the war against the Yuan Dynasty, eventually perished before the Yuan Dynasty.
The Japanese Kingdom entered the Warring States Period, which saw the emergence of two emperors, commonly known as the Northern and Southern Dynasties period.
At this time, the Japanese country thought that even the Meng Yuan could not be protected by the divine wind, let alone the Ming Dynasty, which suddenly became very confident.
The envoys sent by Zhu Yuanzhang were all killed directly.
The Japanese pirates who emerged since the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty have already tasted the sweetness of invasion.
The feudal lords in Japan were divided into separate kingdoms and fought against each other for power and profit. During the war, they continued to invade the southeastern coast.
Since Kublai Khan, the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty has been worse every year. From the mid-term period, the succession to the throne has been chaotic, civil strife has been frequent, coupled with political corruption, conflicts have intensified, and the Japanese invasion along the coast has been completely ignored.
This also gave the Japanese pirates an opportunity to grow stronger.
When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty, the first thing he faced was long-term development and the Japanese pirate problem left over from the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.
In order to prevent coastal people from colluding with pirates and Japanese pirates, Zhu Yuanzhang formulated a "sea ban" policy, prohibiting private trade and even not allowing fishing at sea.
In the spring and first month of the seventeenth year of Hongwu, Japanese pirates frequently invaded eastern Zhejiang.
Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Xin Guogong Tang He to inspect the sea, build fifty-nine cities in Shandong, Jiangnan, North, East Zhejiang, and the West Sea, and set up a capital city in Xian to prepare for the Japanese.
In February of the 20th year of Hongwu's reign, two Zhejiang defense stations were set up to guard against Japanese invaders.
In April of the same year, Zhou Dexing, the Marquis of Jiangxia, was ordered to go to the four counties of Fu, Xing, Zhang, and Quan in Fujian to inspect the key points, build sixteen cities on the sea, and enlist the people as soldiers to prevent Japanese pirates.
Since the 22nd year of Hongwu and now the 25th year of Hongwu, the number of coastal Japanese pirates has been greatly reduced under Zhu Yuanzhang's policy of sea ban and defense.
This is also because Zhu Yuanzhang avoided talking about Zhu Ying's opinions, or his desire to conquer Japan.
More importantly, he wanted to convince Zhu Ying that there was no need to conquer the Japanese country.
Zhu Ying did not know that Zhu Yuanzhang actually had a certain understanding of the Japanese territory.
During the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties, Zhao Liangbi was sent to Japan as an envoy. During his trip to Japan, he recorded important historical materials such as the titles of Japanese ministers, the names of prefectures and counties, customs and local customs, etc., which were eventually collected by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Although a hundred years have passed, there is no gold or silver as Dasun said.
Just because he cherished his eldest grandson, Zhu Yuanzhang did not want to argue too much with his eldest grandson and cause conflicts.
However, when it came to the issue of Japanese pirates, especially when Dasun was engaged in overseas trade, after returning, Zhu Yuanzhang still ordered the Minister of War to report any traces of Japanese pirates along the coast immediately.
If Da Sun had not reminded him, the court officials and even Zhu Yuanzhang would not pay too much attention to the small amount of Japanese pirates causing trouble.
But after Sun Yan made it clear, this concept was completely different.
"It seems that our great grandson is right. The war in Japan is over, and those losers are wandering on the sea, which will soon have an impact on the coast of Ming Dynasty." Zhu Yuanzhang said.
"Your Majesty, the coast is too wide, especially the Japanese slaves and bandits, who frequently attack weak points, making it difficult to maintain it for a long time," said Ru Yu, Minister of War.
The coastline along the southeast coast is too long, so Japanese pirates generally do not engage in frontal attacks. Instead, they collude with coastal people, especially smugglers, and obtain intelligence to carry out burning, killing, and looting.
The large area of garrisoning troops to prepare for the Japanese put great pressure on the Ming Dynasty's treasury.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he looked at Ru Yu, thought for a moment, and then said: "After the court tomorrow morning, you will come out of the palace with us to meet someone."
"I think I can get some insights from him about the Japanese pirates."
When Ru Yu heard this, she immediately thought of the 'work-for-relief' method that His Majesty had mentioned before.
Those strategies were obviously not what His Majesty had in mind, but someone else.
After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he added: "You are not allowed to publicize this matter for the time being, but do you understand what I mean?"
Ru Yu hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I will keep my mouth shut."
It was sunset at this moment, and the rays of the setting sun shone on the ground of the Huagai Hall.
I remembered that I would be able to see my eldest grandson again tomorrow morning.