If he remembered correctly, Kuroda Rusui should be Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Zhuge Liang. He was known as the Kuroda Imperial Guard, a strategist who helped Toyotomi Hideyoshi establish his hegemony. He was quite difficult to deal with. Unfortunately, he later fell out with Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Otherwise, the Toyotomi Clan wouldn't have fallen so quickly. However, he was now here as a replacement for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Did that mean that Kuroda Rusui had sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu?
Xiao Ruxun felt a little strange. However, after thinking about it, this was probably a side effect of his appearance. He remembered that in the original history, Kuroda Rusui had the ambition to dominate the world. However, in the face of Tokugawa Ieyasu's overwhelming strength, he chose to give up the fight for hegemony. He spent his life in the mountains and did not care about the world.
Now, his opponent was him, and this guy was definitely not easy to fool.
"Mr. Kuroda knows about the seven requirements of Daming, right?"
Kuroda Rusui nodded. "Of course."
"The third, fourth, and fifth requirements are about opening the port to trade. Mr. Tokugawa has already agreed to them, right?"
Kuroda Rusui nodded again. "Of course."
"Alright, there's nothing more to discuss about these things. Next, let's move on to the Daming. This requirement concerns Mr. Tokugawa and Mr. Kuroda. Why didn't Mr. Tokugawa and Mr. Kuroda agree to it?"
When it came to the key point, Kuroda Rusui was no longer reserved. Instead, he gradually revealed his sharpness. "Commander Xiao, don't you think that this requirement is a little too much of an insult to Japan? Japan was not North Korea. It had no subordinate relationship with Daming. It had always been independent and on equal footing with Daming. It had never submitted to Daming and had never been defeated by Daming. This was one of the reasons.
Secondly, the one who started this war is Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He is determined to do things his own way, ignoring the opposition of the majority and forcefully starting the war. There are also a large number of people in my country who oppose him. Lord Tokugawa and I are both staunch opponents, which is why we proposed the idea of overthrowing the Toyotomi clan and wanted to cooperate with the Daming Empire. However, Admiral Xiao turned a blind eye to our sincerity. Instead, he made our country lower its status and become a vassal. Would the Daming Celestial Empire do such a tyrannical thing? "
Xiao Ruxun nodded. He was not as angry as Kuroda Rusui had expected.
"It is true that the Daming Empire does not have a vassal relationship with Japan. I admit this, but even if it becomes a vassal of the Daming Empire, it does not mean that it will only become a vassal after being defeated by Daming. Take North Korea for example. When has Daming ever sent troops to suppress North Korea? North Korea is also the most loyal vassal of the Daming Empire and has always been protected by Daming. This time, they even spared no effort in sending troops to restore North Korea.
Mr. Kuroda, let's put Toyotomi Hideyoshi aside and talk about Japan. Isn't it a good thing for Japan to become a vassal of the Daming Empire? They can get the protection of the Daming Empire, trade with the Daming Empire, pay tribute to the Daming Empire, and even get the title of the Daming Empire. They can get the recognition of the Daming Empire and have normal relations with the Daming Empire. Isn't this a good thing for Japan? "
Kuroda Rusui smiled and said, "It's because of this that His Excellency Tokugawa agreed to the three trade terms. Also, because the Daming Empire is the Celestial Empire, he agreed to let the Daming Empire manage the Daming Empire's merchants in our country and even rent land to the Daming Empire. This is the greatest sincerity of Japan. However, our country is isolated overseas and has never been invaded by foreign enemies, so there's no need to trouble the Daming Empire to send troops to protect us. Therefore, there's no need for us to become a vassal state.
Xiao Ruxun didn't get angry and said, "It's normal to think that way. Some countries claim allegiance to the Great Ming Dynasty, but internally, they call themselves emperors. This also exists, and the Great Ming Dynasty doesn't care much about it. However, the title of the Emperor of Japan really displeases the Great Ming Dynasty. The Great Ming Dynasty's Emperor is called the Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven, and receives orders from the heavens. And your Emperor is called the Emperor of Heaven, the Emperor of Heaven. In my country, only one of the three ancient emperors can be called the Emperor of Heaven.
Why do you insist on changing the title? "Although Xiao Ruxun's tone was light, the threat in his words was very strong. Kuroda Rusui was very clear that any small factor could become an excuse for the Daming Empire to start a war against Japan. Therefore, he couldn't be careless.
"The Daming Empire and Japan are two different countries with different customs, different titles, and different understandings of each other. Perhaps the Daming Empire is a very important topic in Japan, but in Japan, it's very common. It doesn't matter. Whether it's the Emperor of the Daming Empire or the Emperor of Japan, they are both emperors of a country. To the people, there's no difference. Why do you insist on changing the title?
What's more, the title of the Emperor of Japan has been in existence for two thousand years. It has never changed for a thousand years. If we suddenly change the title of the Emperor, I'm afraid it will cause turmoil in the whole of Japan. In this case, the people of Japan may not agree. If there's any trouble, what will His Excellency Tokugawa do?
Admiral, His Excellency Tokugawa is going to replace Toyotomi Hideyoshi as the Shogun of Japan and wield great power. The first thing he needs to do is to stabilize his rule. If the people's hearts are wavering and the imperial family is dissatisfied, how can His Excellency Tokugawa replace Toyotomi Hideyoshi and take control of Japan and the Daming Empire? Admiral, please think twice before you act! "
Kuroda Rusui's words were very sincere. Xiao Ruxun couldn't find any good reason to refute him. Of course, Xiao Ruxun didn't want to refute him either.
"Both of us have our own opinions on this issue. Let's not talk about it for now! As for the request of the imperial family of Japan to send hostages to the North Korean government to appease the hearts of North Korea, I think it's necessary. "
Xiao Ruxun chose another topic to expand on, leaving the impression that Kuroda Rusui was at a loss for words. This made Kuroda Rusui more confident about the success of the negotiation. He said, "Admiral thinks it's necessary, but I don't think it's necessary. The reason why I say this is because the Emperor isn't an emperor with real power. Compared to the Daming Emperor, he doesn't have the right to speak on state affairs. Even if the imperial family sends a hostage, it won't be binding on Toyotomi Hideyoshi or His Excellency Tokugawa."
Xiao Ruxun pretended to be stunned and quickly said, "Then let's change to Tokugawa Ieyasu to send a hostage!"
"Admiral Xiao! What mistake did His Excellency Tokugawa make? Do we need to send a hostage? Since His Excellency Tokugawa is willing to cooperate with the Daming Empire to kill Toyotomi Hideyoshi, not only will it be a meritorious deed to the Daming Empire, it will also be a meritorious deed to North Korea. It's fine if you don't reward the meritorious deed, but you still want to send a hostage. Aren't you afraid of disappointing the meritorious deed? "
Xiao Ruxun pretended to be in a difficult position as he looked at Kuroda Rusui.
"If we're talking about meritorious deeds, you're indeed meritorious for helping me Daming Empire … How about this, as long as you agree to one other thing, I can make the decision on these two things and not pursue it further."
Kuroda Rusui smiled and said, "Please speak."
"We can give up Ishikami Kingdom, but all the silver from Ishikami Silver Mountain must belong to the Daming Empire."
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