Chapter 653: Oh no, it's the feeling of a racing heart

Zheng Zhilong glanced at his wife Tagawa Matsu and said with a smile, "What are you thinking? They won't need any of that. If that were really the case, they wouldn't have sent their own people. Sending one of their own along can't accomplish anything except alerting the enemy."

Hearing Zheng Zhilong say this, Tagawa Matsu relaxed and continued washing his feet. After thinking it over, she said, "Then why are they doing this? After all, they clearly want something big. And from the current situation, this approach of theirs would also alert the enemy."

Raising her head to look at Zheng Zhilong, Tagawa Matsu hoped he would give her an answer.

In this regard, Tagawa Matsu was not a woman without understanding — she wanted to know.

Zheng Zhilong said, "Maybe they simply don't care."

"Don't care?" Tagawa Matsu asked back, a hint of confusion on her face.

Letting out a sigh, Zheng Zhilong said, "On my way back, I actually fought against them, but I couldn't win. Not only did they destroy sixty or seventy of our ships, we were also captured. Yet in that entire battle, we didn't manage to sink a single one of their ships."

"How is that possible?" Tagawa Matsu's face was filled with shock. She raised her head to look at Zheng Zhilong, her eyes full of disbelief.

In Tagawa Matsu's heart, her man was an extremely capable person — whether in business or in battle, he was outstanding in every way. Having spent so many years at sea, he had experienced no small number of wars both great and small, and he was rarely defeated. How could he have lost so miserably?

They had lost so much, yet the other side had lost nothing.

"Their fleet is extremely powerful," Zheng Zhilong said helplessly. "Their cannons have an incredibly long range. Even before we could enter our own firing range, their cannons could already blast our ships to pieces. Moreover, their accuracy is extremely high — their cannonballs can strike our ships with precision. That is why they don't care."

"Even if we knew and prepared ourselves, it probably wouldn't do us any good against them. Once their warships arrive, all of Hirado will become a sea of blood."

Tagawa Matsu still found it hard to believe. This was truly beyond comprehension.

Yet she also knew how proud the man before her was — he would not use such matters to deceive her. Even if he wanted to deceive her, he wouldn't tell such an outlandish lie. That left only one possibility: it was true. But how could such a thing exist?

After a long silence, Tagawa Matsu raised her head and asked Zheng Zhilong, "Since they are so powerful, why don't they just attack directly? What did they send you here to do?"

"They want to persuade people to surrender," Zheng Zhilong said. "In the eyes of the Great Ming people, they need some people to stand in front. To put it plainly, if anyone surrenders in the future, they won't have to directly submit to the Great Ming people. That way, those people's resistance will be much smaller. After all, the Great Ming has sent few people — they can't directly occupy this Wa country."

"This time I managed to convince them and got their agreement. If the domain lord agrees, the Great Ming is willing to support him as the new shogun of the Wa country. Once the Wa country is conquered, he will become its shogun. The people the Great Ming sent over are also here to discuss this matter."

"Of course, if negotiations fall through, the Great Ming will attack. Once they occupy Hirado, or rather Hizen Province, Joseon will also send their forces over. The two sides' forces will merge into one and continue conquering the Wa country."

Tagawa Matsu fell silent once again.

After a long while, Tagawa Matsu looked at Zheng Zhilong and asked, "Do you think the domain lord will agree?"

Letting out a helpless sigh, Zheng Zhilong said, "To be honest, I don't have much confidence myself. This time I came back not only to persuade him, but also to protect you all. Once war breaks out, this place will become a battlefield, and casualties will be unavoidable. But I don't want you to die in this war — I want to protect you and take you away. That's why I came back. You also need to be prepared: once war breaks out, you must leave with me."

After a moment of silence, Tagawa Matsu raised her head and said, "If war doesn't break out, I have nothing to say. But if war does break out, I won't leave with you. Take our son with you — I'm staying. I am the daughter of the lord of Hirado."

Glancing at Tagawa Matsu, Zheng Zhilong felt very helpless. He sighed and said, "Why must it come to this?"

Tagawa Matsu said nothing more, only shaking her head.

In actual history, in 1645 Zheng Zhilong sent people to bring Tagawa to Anping, while his second son, Shichizaemon, was left behind in Japan.

In 1646, when the Qing army attacked Anping, Tagawa took her own life rather than submit.

Huang Zongxi's *Record of the Bestowed Surname* records: "Koxinga was filled with great hatred. Using the barbarian method, he cut open his mother's abdomen, removed her intestines, washed away the filth, and placed them back inside before sealing the body for burial." Commentators say that Zheng Chenggong's lifelong determination to resist the Qing was greatly connected to his mother's death at Qing hands.

Moriyoshi Moriyama's *Heihan Dialogues: Zheng Family Military Talk* holds instead that Zheng Chenggong's mother, fearless before brutality, died a martyr's death while struggling against the ferocious Qing Gushan and Handai — "She did not flinch in the slightest, cursing the Gushan until she died."

If Zhu Youxiao were here, he would understand Tagawa Matsu's choice.

She was a woman of tremendous integrity and unyielding spirit — even more so than Zheng Zhilong himself, this woman had greater backbone. That she made such a choice would not surprise Zhu Youxiao in the least.

Seeing that there was no way to persuade Tagawa Matsu, Zheng Zhilong did not press the matter further.

Matters had already reached this point, and continuing the discussion held little meaning. Besides, the actual situation had not yet reached an either-or extreme — things were not so dire that they needed to flee. These matters could be set aside for now.

Tagawa Matsu took Zheng Zhilong's feet out of the basin and picked up a cloth nearby to dry them.

Carrying the foot-washing water outside, Tagawa Matsu returned to Zheng Zhilong's side and said, "Go to sleep. If things develop as you said, things might get more and more troublesome ahead. When that time truly comes, who knows whether we'll still have such peaceful days."

Zheng Zhilong felt helpless, but he nodded and went to sleep together with Tagawa Matsu.

Having been apart for so long, he missed his wife dearly.

Meanwhile, in Hanseong of Joseon, there were still people who had not gone to sleep.

"It's too late — go to sleep." Song Xiang walked over to Zhang Yu's side and trimmed the dim oil lamp brighter, saying, "If you keep this up, your eyesight will get even worse."

Zhang Yu glanced up at Song Xiang, set down his brush, and helplessly rubbed his eyes as he said, "There's too much to handle. Before we make our move, we need to think through every possibility as thoroughly as we can — otherwise trouble will easily arise."

"The people from the Imperial Household Department have already arrived." Song Xiang looked at him helplessly and said, "Word came from our group — most of their people have also arrived and have already entered Hanseong. Everything is ready now; we can begin at any time."

Zhang Yu nodded and said with a smile, "After all this preparation, the day has finally come. Once the people from the Staff Office and the Imperial Household Department arrive, things will be much easier from here on."

"So you don't need to exhaust yourself like this," Song Xiang said, looking at Zhang Yu.

Since arriving in Joseon, Song Xiang's understanding of the man before her had grown considerably.

He was a man of brilliant talent with a great many schemes in mind. Most importantly, he did not care about the means when getting things done, yet he held his own convictions in his heart — that was a truly rare quality.

The more Song Xiang spent time with Zhang Yu, the more she felt he was an exceptionally outstanding man.

Zhang Yu glanced at her, then asked, "Has word come back from His Majesty's side?"

Song Xiang knew what Zhang Yu was waiting for.

Previously, Zhang Yu had submitted a secret memorial to the Emperor, the contents of which were simple — he had informed His Majesty of the plan.

Zhang Yu wanted to stir up trouble in Joseon, and this required the Emperor's permission. Only with the Emperor's approval would the others around him help Zhang Yu, allowing him to mobilize the Great Ming's manpower and resources in Joseon to do this thing well and do it beautifully.

Zhang Yu had been waiting all along for the reply to that secret memorial.

Song Xiang shook her head and said, "No word yet. The people at the Staff Office said His Majesty is already on the road back to the capital, and the message was just sent over. They didn't know His Majesty's whereabouts before either, but it should arrive soon. Once the message is delivered, His Majesty's decree will come, and the reply will be quick."

Zhang Yu nodded and said nothing more on that matter, instead asking, "Has Queen Inmok's illness mostly recovered?"

"Mostly recovered," Song Xiang nodded and said. "Recently, some outsiders have already begun making contact with the Queen. Should we consider making our move as well?"

"It's time we made a move," Zhang Yu nodded and said. "Tomorrow, let's meet with their elders faction."

"Alright," Song Xiang nodded and said. "I'll follow your arrangements."

The flame of the oil lamp inside the room continued to flicker. The two fell silent for a while, looking at each other.

Song Xiang suddenly spoke up: "Through our investigations these past days, we've found a man who suits our purposes very well. His name is Park Jeong-yang — a core member of the elders faction. He loves wealth, loves women, loves power, and has great ambition. However, within the elders faction, Park Jeong-yang's strength is not particularly formidable."

"I think this man is very suitable for us. As long as we ally with him, we can first overturn the elders faction. At that point, we can hold the elders faction in our hands and use it to provoke conflict between the elders faction and the young Turks faction, dragging both Queen Inmok and the King of Joseon into it. As long as the two sides start fighting, our opportunities will multiply."

"At the same time, we'll have Park Jeong-yang support the Second Prince of Joseon. That way, the King of Joseon will see the Second Prince as a thorn in his side, and they'll have no choice but to fight. The whole of Joseon will descend into chaos."

"However, I think this plan should only begin after they send troops to the Wa country. At that time, Joseon's domestic forces will be depleted, and these matters will become much easier to handle. If it truly comes down to the worst, our forces can also resort to armed action. If Joseon's domestic military strength is too great, it will weaken our advantage in this regard."