The Imperial City of Tokyo has learned of what happened in the distant East Island.
On the avenue north of Jinxiang Hall, the maple leaves on both sides have turned yellow, and the scattered fallen leaves on the brick ground are rustling and sliding in the wind, making the road look even neater and cleaner.
The majestic and magnificent Jinxiang Palace complex is magnificent and beautiful, standing in this quiet palace. Guo Shao got off the carriage and looked at it, but suddenly he felt a little sad.
How many people lost their lives in a foreign land because of all this? Zhang Yin was just one of countless officials and had only met Guo Shao a few times. However, when Guo Shao heard that he was killed in Dongdao, he was extremely upset.
The reason he was unhappy was that things became more difficult.
Guo Shao walked up the steps, put away his confused mood, and went straight to the Council Hall. The ministers had already arrived.
Long live the emperor
After a simple courtesy, Wang Pu quickly mentioned the matter of Dongdao. Although the officials of our dynasty had not discussed it with the ruler of Japan, the two countries have always been in harmony; the officials under the village who allowed our dynasty to build the fort were also officially appointed officials of Japan. Their subordinates had different attitudes from the court, which had nothing to do with our dynasty's fault. It was their internal affairs, and our officials could not be blamed.
Therefore, this matter is about the violent behavior of our country's monarch and ministers, and they must give an explanation to the court of Daxu.
As soon as he finished speaking, Shi Yanchao said: "We are all dizzy after talking so much and going around in circles. I thought it was not that complicated. If we can beat them, we should fight back. But it turns out that it is not that simple."
Everyone was stunned for a moment, but fortunately they were used to Shi Yanchao's behavior and were not surprised.
At this time, Han Tongdao said: General Shi, it is not a question of whether we can win the battle, but that we cannot reach them. The Mulan ship has not been built yet, and the merchant ships requisitioned for the light boats are all small boats with limited transport capacity. I heard that the East China Sea is getting more and more stormy this season, and the relationship between the two countries has deteriorated sharply, making it inconvenient to supply. The Jiaolong Army is finding it increasingly difficult to ensure the military supplies of hundreds of people, and is currently unable to invade Japan.
Wei Renpu said: "What the Korean Duke said is very true. However, I think that we can't give up the stronghold near Iwami Silver Mine after much difficulty. This concerns the reputation of the country, and it will also affect morale if all the previous efforts are wasted."
He clasped his fists and said to his superior: I think we should argue with reason and negotiate with the Heian-kyo court on the one hand, and at the same time keep our footing and wait until the preparations for the eastern expedition are more complete.
Guo Shao immediately made a happy decision: Just follow what Deputy Envoy Wei suggested.
The power structure of the Daxu court was obviously very different from that of Heian-kyō in Japan. It was a centralized system, with the entire army only loyal to the emperor and receiving royal pay; civil officials and the entire nation took loyalty and filial piety as their basic moral theories. The emperor had the highest decision-making power, and the actual power of law and ritual was supreme.
However, the East China Sea at this time was not as peaceful as Tokyo. The weather was very bad. The three Jiaolong Army light boats successfully passed the northern shore of Goryeo's Tamra Island in the early stage, but encountered huge winds and waves on the way to Tsushima Island.
The sea was surging with huge waves. Commander Wang felt that he had completely lost control of the other ships and his own ship. He and the other twenty or so people could only hold on to the wood in the cabin tightly, unable to do anything. If they let go, they would be killed.
Apart from lowering all the sails, they could do nothing. In the face of the wrath of God, they could only pray for good luck and could not control their own fate. The hull was shaking violently, with a very large amplitude. Fortunately, the ship was well built, otherwise it would have fallen apart long ago.
Ah! Suddenly everyone screamed in fear. It felt as if the boat was flying up. A huge wave lifted the boat up. A moment later, everyone felt their feet lighten, as if they had jumped off a cliff. The boat fell down with the waves.
Commander Hong Wang's heart trembled, and a great fear surged in his heart. If the hull was broken at this time, everyone would be buried in the sea. How could it be repaired
Then, with a splash, a stream of seawater broke through the wooden planks at the entrance of the deck and poured into the first-floor cabin, soaking Commander Wang's head. After feeling suffocated, he quickly shook off the water on his head, exhaled, opened his eyes and looked around, and a pale face appeared in front of him. He saw a soldier lying on the wet wooden planks, his face covered in blood.
Look at him, stop the bleeding and shout at him.
Get the order
Commander Wang shouted again: Check everywhere to see if there is any damage.
The storm continued, and everyone was nervous, frightened, and exhausted. After an unknown amount of time, and no one knew where they were drifting to, the storm gradually subsided.
Commander Wang immediately took his men to check the cabin again and went up to the deck.
A general went up to the deck to report that the cabin was not broken. Then more people climbed up. Everyone looked up and saw that the sun had already shone golden light from the dark clouds.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but before they could cheer, they had already found the floating planks and the sail used by Xu Jun on the sea. The other two boats had disappeared, and everyone was silent.
General Wang, what should we do now? the general asked.
Commander Wang immediately gave the order: "Raise the sails and search for survivors nearby. Use the compass to determine the direction."
The general clasped his fists and said, "I have received the order."
Commander Wang observed the sky for a while, and then ordered: Go to the bottom of the ship to check and bring the gunpowder up to dry.
The ship carried more than 20 people, and was mainly transporting a copper cannon, matchlock guns, gunpowder, food, shells and other supplies, which were military supplies to Iwami Castle.
Commander Wang looked around and saw a small island on the starboard side and a stretch of land on the horizon. He used a compass to determine the direction and found that the land was to the east. The long coastline in sight was definitely not Tsushima Island.
Everyone took out the nautical chart and pondered it for a while, guessing that the land to the east was the coast of Japan.
Commander Wang planned to search the sea for three days, then approach the coast, ask the locals for the location, and then find the direction to Iwami Province along the coast.
But after two days of searching, no ship or living person was found on the sea. I'm afraid the other two ships had been destroyed. The remaining twenty people were sad, but also glad that they had survived.
Commander Wang gradually calmed down from the chaos, opened the book, and recorded the date and the approximate direction of the wind and waves. The next morning, he decided to give up the search and go ashore to find a way; however, several people believed that Iwami Country should go north along the coast.
At this moment, there were two knocks on the command cabin door. Commander Wang, holding a brush in his hand, said without turning his head: Open the door!
A general on duty opened the wooden door, clasped his fists and said: General Wang, a large number of ships have been spotted on the sea. You'd better go up on deck and take a look.
Upon hearing this, Commander Wang hurriedly threw his brush on the table, strode out of the cabin, and leaned on the railing to look far ahead. As expected, he saw a large number of sailboats floating on the sea. They were all small boats, but there were a lot of them, at least a dozen or twenty.
The Japanese naval officer on duty frowned and pondered.
Commander Wang thought of the murder of the officials in Shijianbao, and he became alert. He calmed down, turned his head and looked at the red tassel tied to the mast, and said: It's very unfavorable, the northwest wind.
The officer nodded and said: It's really unlucky.
The northwest wind was very unfavorable to Xu's army at this time, because they had to get away from the navy coming from the Japanese coast and could not sail towards the shore, but could only sail west against the wind.
Commander Wang decisively ordered: Turn around and head south along the coast.
As soon as the gongs rang, everyone started to work. The light boat turned around and immediately set sail at full speed with full sail. The waterwheel below also gradually started to turn. The sailors in the cabin below the deck stared at the waterwheel intently.
Unexpectedly, an hour later, the fleet was spotted again in the south. The Xu State ships were surrounded from both north and south, and they had no choice but to turn around again and head west against the wind.
The Japanese ship pursued closely until the afternoon.
The wind direction did not change throughout the day, and everyone sailed against the wind. The fleet behind them was gradually approaching within two arrows' reach.
Commander Wang stood on the deck and watched for a long time. No matter how hard he ran, the distance was gradually shortening. He immediately shouted: "Pass the order, prepare for battle!"
Although he was the commander, he only had a team of twenty or so men under him, and there was no one to command him. The enemy was numerous and we were few, but the Japanese ships had been chasing us for most of the day, and their hostility was very obvious, so there was nothing they could do.
The gong sounded again, and the sailors who were pedaling the waterwheel in the cabin gave up their work. The soldiers were busy putting on armor and preparing weapons. Commander Wang turned his head to take a last look at the fleet behind him, walked into the cabin, opened a cage fixed to the wooden board with ropes, called the pigeons with a coo, and caught one from inside.
Two were prepared in a row and released from the door. Commander Wang looked up at the pigeons, hoping that they could fly smoothly across the sea and reach the Xu State stronghold on Jeonra Island. These pigeons were raised on Jeonra Island and were only three months old. They had also been tossed by the wind and waves a few days ago.
Commander Wang watched for a while, then went back into the house and asked his personal guards to help him put on his armor. Then he took out his sword and hung it around his waist. He picked up the bow and arrow in one hand, put on the helmet with the other, and strode out of the cabin.
On the deck, a group of soldiers in full armor and armed with sharp weapons gradually formed a formation. They noticed Commander Wang standing on the deck and looked up. The personal guards had already planted a square dragon flag on the deck, which fluttered in the wind.
Commander Wang said: We, the great soldiers, do not want to accept the humiliation of being prisoners. We have no choice but to fight.
While listening to him, everyone looked at the dozens of ships floating in the east.
Commander Wang exhaled a breath: "I will release the carrier pigeon back, and the emperor will know that we are fighting for our country in the East China Sea. The waves of heaven cannot overwhelm us. We will surely defeat the enemy."
He encouraged the troops to cheer up and shouted loudly.
Commander Wang shouted: "The Imperial Guards will fight to the last soldier to repay the Emperor's grace!"
Kill more than twenty people and shout, the momentum is quite impressive