Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"Jiang Lang, I still don't have confidence."

On the night of farewell to practice, Li Jinglong was still feeling uneasy.

Jiang Xinghuo grabbed a duck leg from a salted duck and asked vaguely while chewing it.

"Why don't you have confidence?"

Li Jinglong hesitated to speak.

He has heard the rumors among the government and the public. Regarding his mission to Japan this time, it goes without saying that there are eccentric civil servants. As for the military ministers, whether they are Hongwu Xunchen or Jingnan upstarts, they have a unified attitude.

——Not optimistic.

The reason is also very simple. Unlike other vassal countries, the Japanese are submissive on the surface but are actually arrogant and unreasonable. This is something everyone knows.

As for the Japanese being so polite before, they were just asking for the Ming Dynasty's "exploration and trade cooperation". But as the Ming Dynasty put aside the matter, the Japanese attitude had already undergone earth-shaking changes.

You must know that during the two years when Emperor Jianwen was busy fighting Zhu Di, there were many Japanese pirates along the coast.

But the most critical point is that the emperor could not directly agree to give Japan the power to explore trade. This was not so important to the Ming Dynasty, but it was very important to the Japanese general who conquered the barbarians. It directly determined his decision on the Ming envoys. Attitude.

What else are we talking about?

And what's even more terrible is that Li Jinglong, who clearly didn't have any chips in his hand, had to pretend to reprimand the King of Japan, well, it was actually Ashikaga Yoshimichi, the Japanese general who conquered the barbarians.

No one knows whether this will offend General Ashikaga Yoshinori.

But if you were Ashikaga Yoshimochi, and as the shogun, you were shamelessly reprimanded by the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, and you still didn't get any benefits, what would you do?

And this envoy was also the head of the Ming Dynasty's officials.

So do you guess that the General Zhengyi will choose to take Li Jinglong as a hostage, or will he just watch the Ming Dynasty Duke pretend to be cool and run away?

Most likely it's the former.

Therefore, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty generally looked down upon Li Jinglong.

Li Jinglong knew this very well.

Moreover, what made him most uncertain was the emperor's attitude.

Did the emperor hope that he would be hacked to death by the shogunate as soon as possible so that the Ming Dynasty could avenge Cao Guogong's army, or would he wait until the Ming Dynasty and Japan broke up with each other and that he would lose the use value of being held as a hostage and be hacked to death by the shogunate of the shogunate Ashikaga Yoshimochi?

In short, even though Li Jinglong learned about the situation in Japan from Jiang Xinghuo, he still felt unsure.

Li Jinglong thought about it in his mind, and without stopping, he drank the wine in the cup and groaned.

"The wind is rustling and the water is cold. A strong man will never return once he is gone!"

"Don't be so pessimistic. You won't pay back anything." Zhu Gaoxu also drank a drink with him and said.

Li Jinglong looked at Zhu Gaoxu: "Do you have confidence in my mission this time?"

"No." Zhu Gaoxu said casually, "I think it's a question of whether you can reach your destination smoothly. If you can't get there at all, you won't have to pay anything back."

Li Jinglong: "."

"I have full confidence in you."

Jiang Xinghuo finished chewing the duck leg, wiped his palms and said.

"Really?"

Li Jinglong asked in surprise.

Everyone was not optimistic about him, even he himself was not optimistic about himself. But at this moment, Jiang Xinghuo told himself that he was very confident in himself!

"Don't worry too much. Although there are a lot of Japanese pirates in Ryukyu, they are all insignificant. With naval escort, you will definitely arrive safely. Just pay attention to the storm on the sea."

"Also, the kings of Ryukyu are generally afraid of the Ming Dynasty and will not do anything to you."

Hearing this, Li Jinglong was silent for a moment. Did he want to tell Jiang Xinghuo that he was not going to Ryukyu, a small country, but to Japan, a big country?

After thinking about it, Li Jinglong asked from a different angle: "What about Jiang Lang, for example, for example."

"The king I have to face has a bad temper, and he has been seeking more trade with Ming Dynasty to gain profits, but Ming Dynasty has never let go."

"The king is full of expectations for my arrival and feels that I can bring him benefits, but I am destined to disappoint him, and I will also reprimand the king severely on behalf of the Ming Emperor."

"At this time, if he loses his mind and goes crazy, he plans to take me as a hostage and ask Daming for ransom. This is his territory, and it is difficult for me to resist or escape. What do you think I should do?"

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a moment and then said.

"How about we stop going?"

"I can't go if I don't go!" Li Jinglong grimaced.

If he could not go, he would have stopped going long ago, but if Zhu Di asked him to go, would he dare to say "no"?

"In this case, I will teach you another trick."

Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu and Li Jinglong perked up. The tricks Jiang Xinghuo taught them last time were quite useful at the court meeting.

"Giving gifts."

Jiang Xinghuo's words were concise and to the point.

The two looked at each other, what kind of trick was this?

"Think about it, no matter which king of Ryukyu, what you are worried about is that this kind of little king who has never seen the world will get mad and detain you without getting any benefits."

"right!"

"Da Ming can't give him benefits, so why don't you just give him benefits?"

Jiang Xinghuo took a sip of wine, but became thirstier and thirstier: "When you get to the place, I will definitely arrange for you to stay. Then, if you don't say anything else, give gifts first, and give them to everyone you see, especially the people around the king."

"There will definitely be a welcome banquet after a break, right? Don't say anything, just give gifts, big gifts!"

"Since you want to save your life, don't be afraid of spending money. Send gifts to your place and shout long live the king."

"When the king's favorability level is full, you can tell him in advance that the emperor of Ming Dynasty asked me to read the edict, not my intention. Please understand, king."

"Of course, the most important thing about this is [don't let anyone know]."

"Otherwise, once someone in the mission finds out that you gave a gift to the other king, and the news reaches the ears of the emperor, the emperor will most likely think that you, as an angel, have done such a thing to disgrace the country, and it's hard to say how he will deal with you. ”

"If you can keep it a secret, then after you finish reciting the moves, before the king's favorability drops away, give him a gift!"

"As the saying goes, the enemy is short-handed, so just tell him that I have made a promise to be your friend. When you return to the Ming Dynasty, I will give you gifts during the New Year and holidays. The king will not be embarrassed to embarrass you, so he will definitely let you back."

"clear?"

Li Jinglong nodded, this is a good idea.

It might not have been unexpected by others, but Li Jinglong was used to being arrogant and domineering with the respect of the Duke of the country. He always returned gifts when others gave him gifts. He rarely gave gifts to others on his own initiative and continuously gave big gifts.

Not to mention, the chiefs of small barbarian countries who were not worth mentioning in his eyes before.

Fortunately, Li Jinglong is an extremely pragmatic person. As long as he can save his life, he is willing to spend money and does not care about his face. Li Jinglong immediately made up his mind and asked the housekeeper Afu to find more good things from the warehouse of Cao Guogong's mansion and bring them on board to the Japanese shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori.

With Jiang Xinghuo's advice, Li Jinglong felt a lot more at ease. He drank a few more glasses of wine before falling asleep drunkenly.

Although Jiang Xinghuo only gave a few casual instructions to save his life, there was no expectation that he could actually complete his mission successfully and return to the Ming Dynasty.

And Li Jinglong will soon embark on a naval ship bound for Japan amid the funeral-like farewell of civil and military officials.

No one was optimistic about Li Jinglong's mission of reprimanding the shogun and returning successfully.

The sea stretches as far as the eye can see, the sky is blue, and a few white clouds float in the distance, giving people a sense of tranquility and peace. The occasional bird passing by makes it even more beautiful.

"vomit!"

Li Jinglong was holding on to the railing of the boat and vomiting wildly. His face was as pale as paper, his lips were purple, and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked like an evil ghost crawling out of hell.

Li Jinglong never thought that he would get seasick.

He was on the Qinhuai River, but he never got seasick.

"How is the Duke doing?"

Next to him, a short man with a mustache and a sinister appearance walked over. He was Cao Afu, the steward of Cao Guogong's mansion.

Although there is only one word difference between him and Emperor Wu of Wei Cao Ah Man, their temperaments are really very different.

This housekeeper has been accompanying Li Jinglong to dogfights and brothels since he was a child. He has no serious skills and is a man of low-level knowledge.

"It's okay, it's okay, my country's public fertilizer immortal is blessing me, seasickness and other things are just small vomiting!"

After Li Jinglong suppressed his nausea and said this, he lay on the railing of the boat and coughed violently, as if he wanted to vomit out all his internal organs.

Now he only felt that his head was dizzy and his body was too limp to lift up any strength. Moreover, as time passed, his vision became more and more blurred, and his body swayed, as if it was difficult to stand.

"You guys should help Duke Cao back to his room to rest first. Don't let him catch the cold." The man waved his hand and ordered the capable guards of Duke Cao's Mansion beside him.

These guards were all the sons of the family who had been trained since the first generation of Cao Guogong. They protected Li Jinglong from several counterattacks from thousands of troops during the Jing Dynasty. They were the greatest personal safety guarantee for Li Jinglong when he went to Japan.

Soon, Li Jinglong was sent to the cabin.

"How far are we from Japan now?" Li Jinglong wiped his face with a hot towel and asked, suppressing the cramping pain in his stomach.

"Reporting to the Duke, we will arrive at Hirado Port (later Nagasaki Port) in half a day." Cao Afu said.

"okay!"

After listening, Li Jinglong nodded slightly. When he heard Hirado Port, he knew that the destination was indeed not far away.

"Why did Jiang Lang say that Hirado Port might become the hottest place in the world?"

Li Jinglong lay on the bumpy bed and frowned slightly. It was so confusing.

According to the information he knew, there were no big volcanoes near Hirado Port.

But he couldn't figure it out, so Li Jinglong simply stopped thinking about it. While he was still sober, he started to care about important matters involving his wealth and life.

"Is the gift I brought to the Japanese general conquering the barbarians okay?" Li Jinglong asked.

Cao Afu, the steward of Duke Cao's Mansion, took out a thick stack of gifts from his sleeve, handed it to Li Jinglong, and said.

"My lord, the gift list is here, please take a look."

Li Jinglong waved his hands irritably and said, "I'm feeling sick right now. I won't watch it. There's nothing interesting to see. Just make arrangements."

"okay."

Li Jinglong was worried and gave another instruction: "Remember what I told you before, [don't let anyone know] about the gift I gave to the Japanese general who conquered the barbarians, otherwise it will very likely bring destruction to our Duke Cao's mansion. disaster, you know?”

"My lord, I understand!"

Cao Afu rolled his mouse eyes and put the stack of gift sheets back into his sleeve.

"What about the Duke, those spies with unknown origins who were stuffed into the mission?"

Everyone can see that some of the personnel in the mission do not look like serious clerks or guards at all. Instead, they are all specially selected to be short in stature and dressed in various styles, including those from all religions and nine schools. In Korean.

Li Jinglong said weakly: "Don't worry about it. Don't worry about our affairs. They have their own mission, which is to wear the skin of an envoy."

Cao Afu nodded. Seeing that his master had fallen asleep, he quietly rubbed oil on his feet, retreated and left the cabin.

Japan's coastline soon became visible in the distance.

Drawing on experience and lessons, this time I wrote an anti-routine branch plot that would not be lengthy and ensure that the narrative was smooth and interesting at the same time.