Zhu Changluo did not go to Nanyuan in Jeolla Province to appease and inspire the people according to the originally announced plan. He was afraid that as long as he was delayed in Nanyuan for a while, he would be blocked by Dong Yiyuan who was holding the imperial edict and was about to protect him, and would have to obey the imperial edict. He wanted to go to Pyongan Road and Hamgyeong Road in the rear area, so he just used the excuse of chasing the escaped "Kobayakawa Takakage" to avoid going to Nanyuan.
Anyone who flees for his life will definitely be in a panic and no one knows where he will go. Therefore, it is normal for Zhu Changluo to disappear from everyone's sight. This will just get rid of Dong Yiyuan who came to deliver the order. .
Of course, under the circumstances at that time, how could Kobayakawa Takakage escape? The reason why an excuse is an excuse is often accompanied by deception, fooling and acting. Kobayakawa Takakage "escaped" under such circumstances. If such a big figure escaped from under his nose, anyone else would have pursued him. The pursuit led by Zhu Changluo left no doubt about his original intention.
The reason why Kobayakawa Takakage is said to be a big shot is certainly well-founded. Not to mention that he is Japan's most famous intellectual general and one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's five elders. He is the daimyo of the three counties of Echizen, Chikugo, and Hizen, with a total of 373,300 koku, sitting on the Hakata Port, and guarding the key points of the Tsushima Strait. , is the head of the Numata and Takehara Kobayakawa families. He can even act on behalf of the Mori family, one of the largest families in Japan, and has a deep connection with the Mori family.
Kobayakawa Takakage's original name was Mouri Takakage. He was the third son of Motonari Motonari, the governor of the Mouri family, who was known as "Japan's first wise man". When Kobayakawa Takakage was twelve years old, the head of Takehara Kobayakawa, a branch of the Kobayakawa family of Aki, died of illness and had no heirs. Since his wife was the niece of Motori Motonari, Moto used this opportunity to order Takakage into the Kobayakawa family and become the Kobayakawa family. Well, that means Kobayakawa Takakage became his cousin or stepson.
Moto Motoharu is known as "Japan's No. 1 Wise Man", and of course he is not in vain. Not only did he let his third son join the Kobayakawa family and become the heir of the Kobayakawa family, he also let his second son Motoharu join the Yoshikawa family. There is nothing he can do about becoming the heir of the Yoshikawa family. Who wants him to have more sons? In this way, Maori Yuan effortlessly took control of the other two powerful families without using a single soldier, and achieved Maori Yuan's "Maoli two rivers" policy.
After the death of Gensuke Moori, the Maori family has become unprecedentedly powerful. With the help of the Kobayakawa family and the Yoshikawa family, the Maori family has dozens of counties and counties. It is one of the most powerful daimyo in Japan's Warring States period, with strength as high as that of Toyo. Compared with Tokugawa Ieyasu, who even Hideyoshi was afraid of, he was not much inferior.
Among the five most powerful daimyo under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, among the five great elders, Kanto Tokugawa Ieyasu ranked first with 2.56 million koku, and second was the contemporary Maori family governor Mori Terumoto. He had a More than 1.2 million koku, not including the estates of his two uncles Kobayakawa Takakage and Yoshikawa Motoharu. As one of the five elders, Kobayakawa Takakage himself has more than 300,000 koku, plus Yoshikawa Motoharu's food estate, so the Maori family is not much weaker than Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Originally, Kobayakawa Takakage was not optimistic about this second imperial expedition. Coupled with other reasons that were not humane to outsiders, he did not intend to come to Korea in person. He just sent the heir of the Kobayakawa family and his adopted son Hideaki Kobayakawa. . Reluctantly, Toyotomi Hideyoshi heard that Zhu Changluo, the eldest son of Emperor Ming Dynasty, was in North Korea. In order to be more sure of catching Zhu Changluo, he eagerly attracted Kobayakawa Takakage, known as the "wise general".
Kobayakawa Takakage had no choice. In the eyes of outsiders, he had always been loyal to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He even recognized Toyotomi Hideyoshi's adopted son Toyotomi Hideaki as his adopted son and established him as the heir to the Kobayakawa family.
However, Kobayakawa Takakage never expected that this trip to North Korea would actually have such a result - before the war started, a wise general who was famous in Japan would actually lead an army of more than 20,000 people. No one escaped, including himself, he was captured alive
As a prisoner, due to his special status and the fact that Kobayakawa Takakage was over sixty years old, he was not tortured or tied up. Instead, he had a lot of freedom, at least when he was camping with Zhu Changluo's army. , just have a separate tent, and no abuse in food.
Kobayakawa Takakage was sitting in the tent, his brows showing decadence, and he completely lost the calmness and calmness he had when facing the Ming Dynasty. He really couldn't understand what the eldest son of the Ming Emperor would do to him, behead him? Beheaded alive? Or other torture? He doesn't know, and he's not afraid of death. The only thing he worries about is that after his death, the Maori family will be in trouble. Although his nephew, the contemporary Maori family superintendent Maori Terumoto, is still brave, he is just a little impulsive in doing things. This is his fault. The biggest shortcoming of that nephew is when he thinks about the consequences if he fails to invade the DPRK again this time
Shaked his head, Kobayakawa Takakage sighed. He knew very well that as long as the invasion of Korea encountered some setbacks, Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of the five elders with him, would definitely take this opportunity to get rid of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the war in Japan would be reignited with him. Knowing Tokugawa Ieyasu, that old fox, he would never miss this opportunity. He is not worried about Japan rekindling the war. What worries him most is that if he becomes the target of the Ming Dynasty this time, the Maori family will definitely not be Tokugawa Ieyasu's opponent. The power is already comparable to that of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
When it came to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Kobayakawa Takakage sighed again. Although he had always obeyed his advice over the years, as the Mori family, the Kobayakawa family and the Yoshikawa family became stronger, and the Mori family occupied the second place among the five elders, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had begun to worry, and he took decisive measures to adopt his adopted son to himself. Isn't it obvious that he wanted to merge the Kobayakawa family into the Toyotomi family?
Kobayakawa Takakage now understands what it means to be stronger than others. He can now understand how those two families felt when his father adopted him and his second brother to the Kobayakawa family and the Yoshikawa family. But what can be done about this? ? Perhaps if the battle to enter the imperial court fails again this time, then we can have Alas, but now that I have been captured by mistake and dead, what can I do? Do God really want to embarrass the Maori family? Does Amaterasu no longer protect the Mori family?
However, thinking of the strange eldest prince, Kobayakawa Takakage became a little more energetic. Maybe maybe he doesn't have to die, right? Otherwise, why didn't the noble eldest prince escort himself and the 20,000 captured soldiers back to a safer place in Seoul or even the capital of the Ming Dynasty? Think about it, although he is not as noble as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, why? He said that his reputation in Japan is not small, and he is one of the five elders. As long as the prince escorts him and more than 20,000 captives back to the Ming Dynasty, his prestige will definitely be greatly improved.
What is the reason why the prince of Ming Dynasty did not escort himself to a safe place, but was willing to take the risk of bringing only a few troops to Pusan, the Japanese base camp in Korea? Kobayakawa Takakage couldn't understand. He certainly wouldn't think that Zhu Changluo's confidence had greatly increased because he captured him alive. He only brought a few thousand troops to pick up the Japanese base camp of Busan, which had a stockpile of more than 100,000 troops, and thereby achieved unparalleled military exploits. That would be a fool. Obviously, in the opinion of Kobayakawa Takakage, Zhu Changluo would never be a fool.
Unable to understand Zhu Changluo's strange behavior, Kobayakawa Takakage considered countless possibilities. Although none of them were certain, he also had a vague idea in his mind that was not yet mature. As long as it was realized, he might not die.
"Join Your Highness"
While Kobayakawa Takakage was still considering and perfecting his idea, he heard the kowtows of the guards guarding him outside. He knew that only when meeting the young prince, these guards called Kinyiwei would be so respectful and loud. Bow down.
The curtain of the tent was opened, and as expected by Kobayakawa Takakage, Zhu Changluo walked in with his hands behind his back, followed by several secret guards.
"Your Excellency Kobayakawa, are you still used to living in this tent?" Zhu Changluo looked at the lean old man with a big beard in front of him and asked first, not caring whether Kobayakawa Takakage saluted him.
Kobayakawa Takakage tried his best to look calm and calm, bowed slightly, and said a lot of words in Japanese. Zhu Changluo frowned, waved his hand to stop the translator of the secret guard behind him who knew a little Japanese, and said with some displeasure: "You Japanese devil, I have told you so many times that I don't like to listen to your birdsong. Since you can barely understand the official dialect of this prince, let¡¯s switch to the official dialect of the Ming Dynasty.¡±
Kobayakawa Takakage opened his mouth, and finally pursed his lips helplessly. In this situation, if he wanted to survive, he had to do what he did. He was not afraid of death, but he thought about the big family behind him, the Mouri family, the Kobayakawa family and so on. What can the Yoshikawa family do?
"Your HighnessI'm sorry, Ilistensimplycomplexlylearned without speakinga little bit of work that I don't understand, what, the work of Japanese devils" Kobayakawa Takakage stumbled. It took him a long time to finish these words, leaving Zhu Changluo to guess, and then he knew the general meaning of what he said.
The corner of his mouth curled up, and Zhu Changluo said seriously: "You don't understand what Dongyangjiizi means? I'd like to tell you that Dongyangjiizi is an honorific for you Japanese people, equivalent to words like "Your Excellency." You understand. ?¡±
Kobayakawa Takakage suddenly nodded, and said sincerely: "I am greatly honored to receive His Highness'srespect." After saying that, he bowed seriously. The princes of the Ming Dynasty are not like the emperor and princes of Japan, who are just decorations. The royal family of the Ming Dynasty are the real rulers of the Ming Dynasty. He feels respected by being able to let the princes of the Ming Dynasty use honorifics.