Looking at the heavy rain outside. Pang Ning was in a daze and said this to himself.
The overwhelming heavy rain covered the south of the Guandong Plain, covering all the residential buildings and paddy fields not far away in the rain. Rainwater leaked from the tiles and gradually wetted the wooden walls under the eaves.
There is a large pond in the yard. There is a small island in the middle of the pond, which is connected to the land outside the pond by an arch bridge. The huge and dense raindrops created countless ripples in the garden and countless splashes and foam on the wooden bridge. The water splashed into the eaves and wet Pang Ning's thick-soled silk shoes.
Outside the yard, the pier of Edo Bay was so white that nothing could be seen. Only the heavy rain could be heard, falling quietly across the whole world.
Pang Ning was sitting cross-legged under the eaves, next to the courtyard, on the wooden corridor above the ground.
This is the Edo Pier, and this courtyard is inside a small castle at the highest point of the Pier. It is now early September, and Pang Ning's fleet has arrived in Edo Bay. Under the bombardment of hundreds of artillery pieces, Pang Ning occupied this small dock without any effort. This small Japanese-style castle by the dock is now Pang Ning's frontline headquarters.
The Tokugawa shogunate devoted all its efforts to the battle of Iwami Ginzan, and only 10,000 troops were left to guard Edo Castle. Pang Ning arrived at the Edo Pier with the fleet. There were four thousand sailors and two thousand vanguard troops. Supported by a large number of artillery, these well-armed troops could obviously directly attack Edo Castle with a strength of 10,000. But Pang Ning didn't do that. Pang Ning stayed on the dock, waiting for Qin Mingtao who came overland.
Looking at the vast rain curtain, Pang Ning didn't know what he was thinking, and he was a little lost.
The wooden door was suddenly pushed open, and Zhao Ru appeared outside the wooden door. The "eldest son" of Nanhai Kingdom obviously didn't like the feeling of getting wet in the heavy rain. He angrily threw the coir rain hat on his body to the guard outside the door and dragged off his wet shoes.
"Master, King Tou has already passed through Nagoya. The Todo family of the Tsu domain not only expressed their surrender, but also sent a force of two thousand people to accompany King Tou, saying that they would attack Edo together. With these two thousand people, There are already 10,000 Japanese local troops rushing to Edo to pledge their allegiance to us." Looking at his wet footprints on the wooden floor, Zhao Ru grinned and cursed,
"These shameless Japanese pirates will turn their backs faster than turning the pages of a book."
Pang Ning heard Zhao Ru¡¯s report and did not look back. Looking at the rain curtain outside, he just
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? nodded.
Zhao Ru looked at Pang Ning, came over and sat cross-legged next to Pang Ning.
"Master, the Eastern King came all the way. A lot of princes along the way tried their best to express their allegiance to the Eastern King, but I heard that he didn't reply. Just now, a ship came from Nagoya, saying that the Eastern King sent people to use fast horses to carry out allegiance to the Eastern King. All the letters have been sent to me and will be delivered tomorrow."
Pang Ning was stunned and turned to look at Zhao Ru. It's always in the eyes that are full of energy. This time with deep disappointment.
Zhao Ru looked at the master's expression and said nothing.
Pang Ning thought for a long time, suddenly there was an unnatural look on his face, and he looked at the raindrops in the yard almost in a daze. That look on his face was one of extreme disappointment, one so disappointed that there was nothing he could do. Pang Ning's look made Zhao Ru a little surprised.
When I was in Wuyuan Valley, my master was thinking about how to flirt with women every day, and how to compete with the young men in Changhua City by reciting poems. Sometimes when I encountered trouble, my master would show such a look of disappointment and helplessness from time to time. . But since fighting as a pirate in the South China Sea, fighting bloody battles with Zheng Zhilong in Chishan Port and Penghu, and being knocked out of a pool of blood again and again, Zhao Ru hadn't seen such an expression on his master's face for a long time.
Zhao Ru swallowed his saliva, not knowing what to say.
"Is Liaodong that good?"
After muttering to himself, Pang Ning turned to look at Zhao Ru and said, "There are more than 10 million people in Japan. With Qin Mingtao's military strength and strategy, if we cooperate with him, we can force those local lords to surrender to him." Tax. It doesn¡¯t need to be much. If a person can collect half a tael of head tax, it will be five million taels a year. If Qin Mingtao stays in Japan, he can use so much money to train many soldiers."
Seeing that Zhao Ru did not speak, the disappointed Pang Ning seemed very unhappy and said loudly, "Isn't that right? He likes to do water conservancy, let's help him!"
Seeing the master¡¯s appearance, Zhao Ru quickly nodded.
Pang Ning looked at Zhao Ru's expression, and gradually became a little angry, and said loudly and oppressively, "There is a lot of water in Japan, and there are small rivers everywhere in the Guandong Plain. Build water conservancy, and we have ships! We can forcefully transport 10 million immigrants from Guangdong and Guangxi When the Han people come over, they will all be his subjects! Iwami Yinshan, as well as the customs duties of all Japan, these wealth will be his when the time comes. Compared with LiaodongThe last person, Tokugawa Iemitsu, took a breath and was speechless. Although he relied on his extraordinary determination, until the last moment today, he still couldn't deal with it calmly.
After a long time, he calmed down and said slowly,
"Everyone knows the current situation after thinking about it. The Maeda family of the Kaga Domain has turned to the Nankai people and sent three thousand troops to Edo to participate in the siege of Edo. The Satake family and the Uesugi family joined forces to attack the Sakai family. Territory. Yesterday, I came to report that Master Sakai's Shouchi Castle has been captured. The Date family is said to have written a letter to the Nankai people to express their surrender and are willing to send troops to surround Edo. The so-called idea of ??holding on to Edo Castle is now There is no hope anymore.¡±
"Decades ago, each family followed my Tokugawa family and fought in Japan, making countless contributions. It was precisely because of the following of each family that the Tokugawa family's shogunate could be established. But in one dynasty, the world was lost."
"The predicament that the Tokugawa family is in today, all the wrong decisions are caused by me alone. It has nothing to do with the other families who follow the Tokugawa family."
"Today, I asked you all to come here to end my life under your witness. I hope that by having a caesarean section, you can forgive me for the disaster my missteps have caused to each family."
In the conference hall, dozens of dark heads were lying on the floor, and no one spoke.
"The world of the Tokugawa family, together with my life, will end at the castle tower in Edo."