Chapter 808 The Japanese State sent food to Goryeo
On the surface, Japan was using Goryeo, and Goryeo was making use of the grasslands.
However, conversely, the truth is the same. Everyone knows it well, but they are just taking advantage of each other.
Don’t underestimate the Japanese state during this period. You must know that before the Ming Dynasty invaded the Japanese state, the only threat to the Japanese state was the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.
In addition, the Japanese country did not have to worry about threats from other countries.
After several years of development, coupled with the high-yielding crops brought by the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese country is now in a period of population explosion. If Kyushu Island had not been occupied, the population of the Japanese country would be estimated to approach tens of millions in less than ten years.
's pass.
A large country with a population of tens of millions is definitely at the top of the world in this era.
You must know that Timur occupied the entire Central Asia, and the population was only about 30 million.
In fact, even if the Japanese state cannot afford troops at this time, Zhu Ying will free his hands from the grassland to deal with the Japanese state.
Goryeo was very close to Japan, and Li Chenggui's words quickly reached Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty Navy had not yet launched a blockade against Japan.
"Your Excellency, General, Goryeo is simply bullying others. He dares to ask for five hundred thousand dan of food. Is he really just dreaming? How dare he ask for such a big offer."
"That's right, Your Majesty General, now Goryeo has raised troops. Even if they regret it now, it is too late. Ming Dynasty will still deal with him. We can completely ignore Goryeo now."
"Half a million shi of grain is enough to feed our army. Now many warriors only eat sweet potatoes and can't even eat rice."
Chikuzen Kingdom Temporary Palace.
The news about Goryeo came from Tsushima Island, and as soon as he received the news, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu convened a military meeting.
When the conditions of Goryeo were known to the big names, they were all opposed. No one was willing to give Goryeo 500,000 kilograms of food.
Listening to the commotion below, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu just remained silent and did not speak, expressing neither objection nor rejection.
His confidant Kuroda Daimyo secretly observed Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's expression, and estimated in his heart that the General wanted to give him this food, and even if he gave him less, he probably wouldn't refuse.
Unlike the Takeuchi clan, the Kuroda clan did not support many samurai. The previous family fiefdom was on Kyushu Island, but it was moved to Honshu Island because it was occupied by the Ming army.
There were many families like the Kuroda family who moved from Kyushu Island. However, Honshu Island was the political and cultural center of Japan, so there was no fiefdom left for them at this time.
In the end, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu spoke up and asked the wealthy clan to carve out a small space for them to survive.
Among these relocated families, the Kuroda family is doing well, and at least they still have a chance to fight together here.
The Kuroda Daimyo relied on his deep understanding of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
"I think Korea must be provided with food, and we should try our best to provide half a million shi of food."
When Daimyo Kuroda's voice sounded in the room, everyone's discussion stopped.
When they saw that it was Kuroda speaking, everyone's expressions turned bad.
Daimyo Oda wanted to reprimand him. In his eyes, the Kuroda clan was nothing. He dared to refute the meaning of so many great names on his side. He simply didn't know how to write the word "death".
However, when he was about to speak, his sleeve was pulled by the daimyo next to him.
Oda turned his head and glared, and saw the daimyo next to him gesturing towards the general with his eyes.
Oda followed his gaze and saw that His Excellency the General, who had been silent before, was smiling and nodding. He was suddenly shocked and looked at the daimyo next to him with a grateful look.
"Oh, everyone says we can't give it. Why do we have to give it to you when we get here? You have to give me enough. Daimyo Kuroda, you have to give me a good explanation. Otherwise, it goes against the meaning of all daimyo."
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said with a smile, but anyone could hear that his tone was gentle and even a little bit appreciative.
Now, all fools know the general's tendency.
Daimyo Kuroda's eyes flashed with pride, and he knew that he had figured out the general's intention, so he stood up and bowed: "Half a million koku is indeed a lot of food, and it is immeasurable for any daimyo."
The numbers are small, but if you put them together, it’s not impossible to come up with them.”
"The King of Goryeo said that the Ming Dynasty will now block our sea areas. Although we have not received the exact news, according to the habit before the Ming Dynasty, it is certain to block the sea areas."
"Back then, our Japanese Navy devoted all our resources to fight against the Ming Dynasty, but ended up in a complete defeat. Over the years, we have endured the humiliation and redeveloped the navy, but you should also know that it is impossible to defeat the Ming Navy.
"
"Once the sea area is blocked, we will be completely cut off from contact with Goryeo, so we can only rely on our own strength."
"What we need now is a strong ally to help us share the pressure brought by the Ming Dynasty. Goryeo is this ally now. Helping Goryeo is equivalent to helping ourselves."
"As long as we can recapture Kyushu Island and drive the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty out of our Japanese country, I think it is worth not to mention 500,000 shi, but even 1 million shi of food."
"If we don't produce this food now, when Goryeo is quickly defeated by the Ming Dynasty, how will we be able to bear the threat of the Ming Dynasty alone?"
After saying this, the other daimyo fell silent, and some even had angry looks on their faces, staring at Kuroda daimyo with evil intentions.
In fact, most of the daimyo also knew that Goryeo shied away from gold and jewelry and wanted food, and this food would definitely have to be provided.
But there are a lot of considerations in who will bear the main responsibility if there is more or less.
The big names with strength and confidence all wanted to let the general take the lead, and they felt free to do so, so they raised objections one after another.
If no one stands up, the last person to stand up will be the general himself. In this case, the general will definitely have to provide most of the food.
Takeuchi, who is also a confidant and a long-time ally of the Ashikaga family, had not spoken before.
Whether I really don’t understand or I don’t understand on purpose, I can’t say.
Unexpectedly, Kuroda stood up.
If Kuroda speaks up, it will be difficult for the daimyo to object. If they object again, it will be obvious that they are at odds with His Majesty the General.
"What Kuroda said makes sense. In fact, I guess that Goryeo's need for so much grain was probably not for its own use."
"Goryeo is also growing the same high-yielding crops as the Ming Dynasty. In addition, Goryeo has not had any disasters in recent years, and there is still no shortage of food."
"Now I don't want gold or silver, I just want food. I guess it's not for my own use."
"I heard that the Ming Dynasty had 600,000 troops hunting Mongolians on the grasslands. The Ming Dynasty has been blocking the grasslands for almost two years. There are even rumors that one or two meters of gold are worth one or two meters on the grasslands."
"These five hundred thousand shi of food should be for the Mongols."
"The King of Goryeo was also a smart man. He knew that Goryeo alone could not deal with the Ming Dynasty. The only thing he could do was to unite with the Mongols."
"Goryeo and the Mongols unite together, maybe they can really stop the Ming army and buy us enough time."
"So these five hundred thousand shi of grain are crucial. With this grain, the Mongols can deal with the Ming Dynasty more easily. This is what the King of Korea had in mind."
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu made the final decision and decided to immediately arrange for the navy to send food to Goryeo.
This time is very tight, because no one knows how fast the Ming Dynasty Navy will blockade it, or whether it is already on its way here.
With Kuroda's help, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu powerfully arranged the amount of grain that each daimyo would be responsible for.
Then they simply used the food currently in the army and hurriedly sent it to Goryeo.
In order to successfully deliver food to Goryeo, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu spent a lot of money this time and mobilized almost half of the Japanese navy. Including the current rations for the army, only less than ten were left. Wait for it to be delivered from the rear.
The Donghai Navy of the Ming Dynasty was actually very fast. As soon as it received the imperial edict, it dispatched a fleet to cut off the connection between Goryeo and Japan.
However, it is still difficult to completely intercept the Japanese navy, because they also have the task of transporting 200,000 troops to Kyushu Island.
The Japanese Navy cannot be compared with the Donghai Navy in terms of equipment or other aspects.
But the Donghai Navy did not dare to pull too far. No matter how many warships there were in this vast sea, it was not enough.
What's more, being too spread out is very risky. Too many ants can kill elephants. It would be embarrassing if they were defeated by the Japanese navy.
Even if they control Tsushima Island, Japan can still sail from Honshu Island to Goryeo.
This is also true. Goryeo quickly received the five hundred thousand dan of grain.
Li Chenggui, who received the grain, did not withhold the grain, but sent it to Arutai intact.
After Arutai and the Tatars ran away, they naturally retreated towards the east. Their current temporary camp was where Uliangha and the three guards of Duoyan stayed.
This place happens to be adjacent to Korea.
At the earliest time, it was actually not Li Chenggui who contacted Arutai, but Li Chenggui who was contacted by Arutai.
Because of the blockade, the grassland people had no food, so they naturally thought of Korea.
At that time, Li Chenggui secretly sent food to the grassland. Firstly, it relied on Goryeo's own reserves, and secondly, they could buy it from the Ming Dynasty at a high price.
The Ming Dynasty only embargoed the grasslands, but did not embargo Goryeo.
Li Chenggui acted very cautiously. He didn't buy much each time, and he still took out a lot of it from his own hands.
Arutai and Tatar have a lot of gold and silver jewelry in their hands. These gold and silver jewelry cannot be eaten, so most of them were stolen. Now they are all trading with Goryeo.
Goryeo bought it at a low price, then sold it to Ming Dynasty to earn the difference, then purchased grain and transferred it to the grassland.
Over the past year, Li Chenggui made a lot of money and made a lot of war fortune.
This was also the source of his confidence to win over ministers and establish himself as king.
Assut Department.
Benya Shili looked at the carts of grain being continuously delivered, and couldn't help but exclaim loudly: "It's still the great master. Goryeo actually gave us 500,000 dan of grain. If I hadn't really seen it, I would never have dared."
believe."
"With this food, we can deal with the Ming Dynasty for a longer time. I don't believe that the Ming Dynasty's treasury has gold and silver mountains. How long can such consumption last?"
"Now Goryeo and Japan are fighting against the Ming Dynasty, which has also shared a lot of pressure on us. I believe that in a few months, it will be difficult for the Ming Dynasty to truly gain a foothold on the grassland. As long as we survive this period, the grassland still belongs to us.
of."
Benya Shili's words made the surrounding clan leaders extremely excited.
At this time, they finally saw hope.
For more than a year, Ming Dynasty really drove them away like dogs. Every time they finally found a pasture, Ming Dynasty's army came over.
Now the war horses of all tribes are losing weight seriously, and the elderly in most tribes can no longer hold on and have volunteered to serve as marching rations.
With these five hundred thousand stones of grain, they no longer have to worry about food issues in a short period of time. Besides, everyone is rebelling against the Ming Dynasty now. Maybe they can drag the Ming Dynasty to death. Taking back the grassland is not a dream.
Arutai was not too happy after listening to Benya Shili's words. Instead, he sighed: "The Ming Dynasty is really too rich. I heard from the intelligence that now the Ming Dynasty is not only fighting us on the grassland, they are also fighting against us."
They also sent troops to Nanyang, and even to the islands in further areas, Ming troops went there."
"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was not a fool. He dared to attack other countries when he was attacking the grasslands. This shows that there was so much food in the Ming Dynasty's treasury that it could no longer be contained."
"Fifty thousand dan of grain sounds like a lot, but it is not enough for us to eat for a long time. We still need to send a message to the King of Korea and ask him to find a way to get more grain for us."
"We don't have much gold, silver and jewelry in our hands. How long do we have to give them all to the King of Korea? If we can escape this Ming Dynasty's siege, the gold and silver given to Korea will be able to get back one day. Now
It’s a burden to carry around, so don’t be stingy.”
"Food alone is not enough. We must ask Korea to provide us with some more firecrackers and artillery. Otherwise, how can we help them hold off the Ming Dynasty."
"If we lose, Li Chenggui won't survive for a few days."
Arutai has seen clearly, and now everyone has been exposed to the obvious. The so-called prosperity and loss are nothing more than this.
Therefore, the lions of Arutai can open their mouths freely and get as much as they can from Korea.
Nowadays, the grassland tribes are having a hard time living. They and the Tatars are doing relatively well, at least they have Korea helping them.
I heard that life was even more miserable over there in Oara. They were chased all the way by the Ming army and now they can only escape into their ancestral land, which is the primeval forest.
Wala originally came out of the virgin forest, and now he has to go back and continue to be a common man in the forest. It sounds a bit ironic.
However, the virgin forest seems to be a huge barrier, but it is actually a prison.
If you are still trapped inside in winter, it will be completely cold in Wala.