Daming was definitely not unprepared for Japan. In fact, Daming was not ignorant of the fact that Japan was about to send troops to war. A war that involved hundreds of thousands of troops from three countries, even in modern society, was extremely difficult to hide.
Needless to say, in the Ming Dynasty, before the war broke out, there were many merchants traveling between China and Japan, in the name of traveling merchants, who lived in Japan and painstakingly collected the news that Toyotomi Hideyoshi was about to send troops to harm the Ming Dynasty, which was collected by patriots living in Japan.
Xu Yihou, Guo Guoan, Zhu Junwang, Chen Shen, Su Ba, these names may not have been heard of, but they must never be forgotten. Although they were lost in Japan, they never forgot that they were descendants of the Han family of Daming.
The precious information they sent back with passion and loyalty was more accurate and timely than the Imperial Bodyguard of Daming's professional organization. It was this information that made Daming mentally and physically prepared for the fact that Japan was about to launch a war.
From the fact that the Ministry of War Daming sent official documents to the coastal government in Shandong, Zhejiang, and Fujian within three months of the 19th year of Wanli, it could be seen that it was not that Daming did not believe that Japan would launch an attack, but Daming did not expect that Japan would choose Korea as a springboard to attack.
The past few decades of Japanese pirates coming from the sea brought too deep and painful memories to Daming. When talking about Japan, people immediately thought of Japanese pirates, and immediately thought of Japanese pirates attacking the hinterland of Daming from the sea, and thought of the Southern Japanese and Northern Barbarians in the past.
Not much time had passed and the memories of the people living along the coast had yet to fade. The alarm sounded once again and everyone, from the governor to the commoners, made preparations for the worst. Zhejiang, Fujian, and the other coastal regions immediately began to build warships to defend against the Wokou pirates. The navy trained every day, swearing to destroy the Wokou pirates outside the country's gates and protect the land behind them.
From the second half of the 19th year of Wanli until now, the coastal areas of Shandong, Zhejiang, and Fujian had prepared enough naval forces to kill Japan in the future.
At that time, Daming's upper echelons had also carefully considered this matter. For example, the cabinet ministers thought that everyone knew that Japan's ambition was not surprising.
However, Ryukyu and the coastal merchants kept sending warnings, but there was no news from North Korea, the eastern barrier of China. Logically speaking, North Korea was the closest to Japan, so it should be the first to know. Why was there no news until now?
In the second half of the 19th year of Wanli, the Daming Dynasty's suspicion and hostility towards North Korea reached its peak.
Did North Korea really collude with Japan?
In the cabinet at that time, only Xu Guo insisted that North Korea had always been friendly to Daming and had always followed Daming's orders. Why would they suddenly rebel against Daming?
This doesn't make sense.
However, most of the officials were extremely worried about this. Xu Guo couldn't ignore everyone's opinions, so he wrote a letter to the Liaodong Governor and asked him to ask what was going on with the North Koreans.
In fact, there were two kinds of rumors about Japan's imminent war. One was widely spread in the mainland of Daming, saying that the Japanese came from the sea. The other was that Japanese pirates joined forces with North Korea to come to Liaodong. Therefore, during that period, the whole Liaodong was spreading the news that North Korea was about to join forces with Japan to invade Daming, which shocked and angered the Han people of Liaodong.
Obviously, North Korea was not unaware of it. After the Liaodong Prefectural Commander made the inquiry in a harsh tone, the North Koreans panicked and quickly sent people to the capital to defend themselves repeatedly. They even argued in front of Zhu Yijun.
At that time, Zhu Yijun comforted the North Korean envoy with a smile and expressed his disgust for Japan. Then, he put forward a suggestion that almost made the North Koreans faint. "I have found two helpers for you. The three of you should join forces and destroy Japan!"
When the North Korean ambassador asked, he was even more confused. One was Ryukyu, and the other was Siam. What could they do with Ryukyu? The Siam was quite strong and had good firearms technology, but Siam was in Southeast Asia. You want them to cross the whole of Daming to help North Korea? The North Koreans were perfunctory. Zhu Yijun only came on a whim. After that, the North Koreans didn't take it seriously. Of course, the Daming would not shed blood for North Korea.
The North Koreans didn't take it seriously, but the Daming couldn't. North Korea had been peaceful for a long time. Most of the areas in North Korea were closed, but the Daming had never relaxed. Not long after the Japanese rebellion ended, the Daming was still very alert and hostile to Japan. The whole coastal area was preparing for the war.
Under such an atmosphere of surging undercurrents, Xiao Ruxun arrived at the capital on the 7th of June.
Along the way, the Ningxia Meritorious Regiments heard some rumors and slanders, and they were actually related to North Korea and Japan. Rumors of North Korea allying with Japan to plot against the Great Ming Dynasty spread like wildfire, causing Ye Mengxiong and Mei Guozhen to feel uneasy day and night. They called Xiao Ruxun over to discuss in detail — other than Ningxia, did something happen to North Korea as well? Otherwise, why were there so many rumors?
The answer was yes, but Xiao Ruxun wouldn't say it. He could only speculate that there was no groundless news in the world. Since there was this rumor, it proved that something related to it was going to happen. Regarding this, Xiao Ruxun wouldn't say anything. After thinking about it carefully, he found a way for Ye Mengxiong to survive.
Could he help Ye Mengxiong become the commander-in-chief of the resistance against the Japanese and help North Korea so that he could cooperate with him again?
Although the possibility of this was very low, Xiao Ruxun didn't want to give up the only possibility that could save Ye Mengxiong's future.
In addition, Xiao Ruxun's biggest worry when he came to the capital was his cheap father, Xiao Wenkui, who was a general in the capital. After all, he hadn't met his cheap father yet. If he really met him, what if he told him some secrets that he didn't know? What would he do if he was exposed?
However, as the sun was setting when the convoy arrived, the gates of the capital were quickly closed. When night fell, nothing could be done today. They could only stay in the residence and wait for the Emperor to summon them.
Xiao Ruxun wanted to visit his cheap father first, but he found out that according to the rules, officials who had rendered meritorious service couldn't move around before meeting the Emperor. They had to wait for the Emperor's reward before they could move around freely. Thus, they could only obediently stay in the posthouse and do nothing. Xiao Ruxun originally wanted Yang Caiyun to visit his father first, but Yang Caiyun said that she wanted to accompany Xiao Ruxun back, so she didn't go to visit his cheap father first.
With his wife by his side, Xiao Ruxun didn't feel lonely. They chatted for a while, and when it was late at night, his beloved wife had already fallen asleep. Xiao Ruxun's mind was in a mess. He walked out of the room and went to the courtyard to stare at the starry night sky in a daze.
Every time he thought that in another fifty years, this prosperous land would fall into the hands of outsiders, he couldn't help but worry. Just as he was thinking about how to deal with the great salt merchants and the little ice river, he heard footsteps behind him, and they weren't deliberately concealed.
Xiao Ruxun turned around and saw a pale, beardless old man and two armed men in embroidered robes pushing open the gate of the posthouse. They were led into the courtyard by a posthouse official and then stood in front of him. As soon as they arrived, the official hurriedly slipped away.
"You are?"
Xiao Ruxun asked with some doubts and wariness. The sudden appearance of these people made Xiao Ruxun very alert. In the dead of night, three people suddenly appeared in the courier station of the capital. What was going on? Moreover, their attire seemed to be a bit similar to the legendary Imperial Bodyguard … No! Was this the attire of the Imperial Bodyguard?!
"Xiao Ruxun, I didn't expect you to be up so late at night. This saves me a lot of trouble. Please follow this old servant, someone wants to see you."
The pale, beardless old man had a slight smile on his face, which made Xiao Ruxun freeze on the spot.
Imperial Bodyguard … Old servant … Pale, beardless …
Putting these three clues together, the identity of the person who wanted to see him was needless to say.
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