Chapter 829: The Secretary of the Secretariat with a Heart of Submission

The conditions proposed by Gao Qiyu became increasingly harsh, each time more so than the last.

At the very beginning, when Gao Qiyu forced Oda Nobunaga to surrender, he only demanded the garrisoning of the mines and nothing else; after Oda Nobunaga died, the Great Ming army began to demand the ownership of Owari Province on the grounds that the Oda family was in Great Ming; when Nagato Castle was breached, Great Ming demanded the relocation of the Japanese King, the Emperor, to Great Ming.

These nine articles now represent all of Gao Qiyu's demands; no matter which one, viewed from before, they would have been completely unacceptable.

But now, Toyotomi Hideyoshi has no choice but to agree and sign.

Someone had once told Toyotomi Hideyoshi that the first conditions proposed by Great Ming are often the most generous, the second set of conditions are acceptable, and there is no third time; the third time, one must pay an extremely expensive price.

This is not a rumor; the Great Ming Emperor has a character of "once, twice, but never thrice," and Great Ming is the same now.

At the very least, Great Ming did not demand that Toyotomi Hideyoshi go to Great Ming again.

Gao Qiyu wants to keep Toyotomi Hideyoshi to suppress the resistance forces within Japan, completely cutting off Japan's last path to rise from the ashes through an uprising.

The darkness before dawn is the most deathly silent, and after Japan signed this "Treaty of Kyoto," it would never see dawn again.

Japan's vigorous Ikki movement—whether it be the commoners, the samurai, the kokujin, or the Ikko-ikki—when oppression and injustice forced an uprising, they had to face the joint strangulation of the semi-feudal, semi-colonial shogunate, the Japanese comprador brokers, and the Great Ming imperial garrison.

It is hard for Gao Qiyu to imagine what kind of core spirit could support a nation to reconnect its broken spine under such joint strangulation and such heavy burdens and mountains.

At the very least, Japan does not possess this spiritual core.

Gao Qiyu even believes that Great Ming does not either.

This is unjust. Zhu Yijun never thought of using the Ministry of Rites to wash this behavior into a righteous act. From the moment the Nagasaki Governor's Office was established, Zhu Yijun very clearly told everyone that he was simply taking revenge.

The Japanese people in Nagato Castle and Kyoto wailed in the raging fires; from the 20th year of Jiajing to the 2nd year of Wanli, the Japanese pirate scourge caused beacons and smoke to rise from Shandong to Guangdong, and the common people also wailed.

Chen Tiande's entire family, entire village, and entire clan were killed by the Japanese; all his houses were burned to the ground. Chen Tiande himself became a eunuch; he lived only for revenge.

Ye Xianggao, from a family of officials, encountered the Japanese scourge while still in his mother's womb. He was born in a dry latrine. By the time he was three months old, he had learned to stop crying. He kowtowed to the army led by Qi Jiguang, thanking the Qi Family Army for allowing them, who had been displaced, to return to their hometown.

Sun Keyi, from a thousand-year-old noble family in Songjiang Prefecture, saw the flames of the Japanese scourge burn to Songjiang Prefecture. His entire family died in the scourge, leaving only him and a disabled older brother. If not for the rescue by Luo Gongchen, the Assistant Prefect of Coastal Defense at Yuegang, all the wealthy households in Songjiang Prefecture would not have been spared.

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From the powerful and wealthy down to the poor and struggling, the Japanese scourge lasted for more than twenty years. How many people were displaced, how many died unjustly? There were thousands of miles of farmland without a single able-bodied man; in the chaos of war, children were sold and people traded their children to eat. Countless tragedies occurred repeatedly in the southeast coastal regions.

Those tragic scenes, those tragedies, those wronged souls—Zhu Yijun, as an Emperor, the Great Ming Emperor, cannot ignore the wailing of these wronged souls, especially when Great Ming has the ability to take revenge.

One harsh treaty after another, the evil triangular trade of the outward, middle, and return voyages, the wailing of the Japanese "Nanyang sisters"—these are all Zhu Yijun's revenge. He will continue to do this until he dies.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi can no longer afford to lose, and the Great Ming army at the Ying'en Hall is not afraid of death at all.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi could, of course, wipe out the remaining Great Ming army.

The Great Ming army that set fire to Kyoto lost over five hundred men, and the remaining nine hundred-plus could be taken down without too many casualties, because the Great Ming army's supplies are not infinite, especially arrows, firearms, and the like. If Toyotomi Hideyoshi hardened his heart, he could certainly completely eliminate the Great Ming army that burned Kyoto.

But what happens when the Great Ming army arrives?

If 1,500 men can burn Kyoto once, then if 100,000 troops from the Capital Battalion arrive, Toyotomi Hideyoshi will die, and all the daimyo will also die.

Therefore, no matter how harsh the agreement, Toyotomi Hideyoshi has no choice but to sign it and hand over the entire Imperial family to Gao Qiyu.

Gao Qiyu does not intend to break his word; he wants to sink the Emperor's family into the sea. He did some wrong things back then and needs the Emperor to hold some leverage that can strike him down completely with one blow, so that Gao Qiyu can continue to be promoted.

The life or death of the Japanese Emperor is unimportant; regardless of how many years he has reigned, regardless of his so-called ten-thousand-generation lineage, or his status as a spiritual totem, none of these are as important as Gao Qiyu's own official career.

He could not stand by and watch his fellow sect brothers soar to success while he remained trapped in a quagmire, unable to extricate himself.

On the twenty-third day of the fifth month of the sixteenth year of Wanli, the Japanese Emperor moved to Sakai. The Ming maritime defense inspector, carrying Gao Qiyu's memorial, sped toward the Ming Empire. The formal peace treaty would not be brought back to the capital by fast sailing ship; instead, it would be brought back together when Gao Qiyu himself traveled back to the capital by fast sailing ship.

The hydrofoil sailing ship reached Tsushima Island and Jeju Island, then proceeded to Penglai in Shandong and Tanggu in Tianjin Prefecture, and was finally delivered by fast horse to the presence of the Emperor at Tonghe Palace.

"Hmm, issue an imperial decree to Sakai immediately: have the Emperor's family move to the Ming Empire and live with Ashikaga Yoshiaki. Tell Gao Qiyu that there is no need to sink them into the sea; bringing them to the Ming Empire is more beneficial to the Ming." After reading the memorial, Zhu Yijun immediately issued an imperial decree, very clearly stating his requirements.

Sinking them into the sea might be satisfying, but not sinking them yields greater profit.

As long as this family remains in the Ming Empire, the orthodoxy of Japan resides in the Ming, not in Japan, even if Japan engages in some "revere the Emperor and expel the

traitors" or "restoration of imperial rule," the legitimacy remains with the Ming, not Japan.

With orthodoxy in the Ming, Japan cannot establish another Emperor.

In fact, the sinking of the Little Ming King into the river was, in the long run, more detrimental than beneficial to the Ming. Originally, Zhu Yuanzhang was the Prince of Wu enfeoffed by the Han Song dynasty. If the Little Ming King had not died at the hands of Liao Yongzhong, the Ming could have completely allowed the Little Ming King to abdicate, making the legal basis very clear—Tang, Song, Ming; the Han Song was also a Song dynasty.

The Yuan dynasty in between could be ignored or omitted; there would be no need to recognize the Hu Yuan as the legitimate successor, nor to acknowledge Kublai as a true ruler of the grasslands.

At the beginning of the founding of the dynasty, there would not have been so much passivity, and when liquidating the remnants of the old Yuan, it could have been done with greater justification.

As Zhu Yijun wrote the imperial decree, he said, "Why did I spare Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and Oda Nobunaga's sister and son? Leaving these Japanese carnivores alive is to give Toyotomi Hideyoshi a reassurance pill. This is a retreat route; even if the situation in Japan deteriorates to an irreparable state, he can still flee to the Ming Empire and continue to live as a wealthy man."

"This retreat route can allow him to suppress the internal uprisings in Japan without worries and with all his might, preventing them from disturbing the Ming Empire's mining operations."

"Your Majesty, this... the Japanese King usurping the title of Emperor is a crime deserving death." Feng Bao said with a hesitant expression, "If this were brought to the capital, there would certainly be people demanding his public execution."

Zhu Yijun blew the ink dry on the imperial decree and shook his head, saying, "Confused. This retreat route is applicable to Oda Nobunaga, applicable to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, applicable to Tokugawa Ieyasu, and applicable to all the Shoguns of Japan. Only in this way will they have no scruples; only in this way will Japan be locked into its current predicament, sinking into this purgatory for generations to come."

"Your servant... obeys the decree." Feng Bao finally understood the Emperor's intention. Killing the Emperor's family only provides emotional value, not actual benefits.

The Ming Empire has completely occupied Kyushu Island, where Nagasaki is located, and occupied Tsushima Island, geographically locking down Japan;

Now, having obtained mineral resources through war and peace negotiations, this is a soul-locking nail in military terms;

Supporting the Shogun to rule in Japan is a political blockade; and the circulation of Ming treasure notes in Japan is an economic blockade;

These layers of shackles have completely locked down every possibility for Japan.

"Gao Qiyu is always overthinking. Regarding the events of the past, I was still young, and the Master also said, 'let bygones be bygones.' When the ruler is young and the state is suspicious, it is not strange for any bizarre things to happen. His having this heart is enough; his merit is already great enough. In the next chapter, the Ministry of Personnel—no, the Ministry of Personnel—will appoint Gao Qiyu as the Senior Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites through court recommendation." Zhu Yijun was increasingly satisfied as he read the treaty, and he promoted Gao Qiyu.

It looked like a lateral transfer, and he was still managing the affairs of the Court of State Ceremonial, but he was now a court official of the Wenhua Hall, formally entering the decision-making layer of the Ming Empire.

Likewise, Zhang Juzheng had no reason whatsoever to block Gao Qiyu's promotion and transfer again.

"The Great

Ming army lost over five hundred men at the Ying'en Pavilion outside Kyoto. In the next chapter, the Ministry of Rites shall write a eulogy. This eulogy must be carved onto the stele of the Shrine of Loyalty and Righteousness in front of the Tonghe Palace gate. Do not be careless." Zhu Yijun issued another clear decree.

The Tonghe Palace is not large, but there is still space to establish a Shrine of Loyalty and Righteousness. Zhu Yijun planned to set up a dedicated stele next to the Dragon Pool to commemorate those who performed meritorious service for the Ming Empire, to be worshipped annually.

"Your servant obeys the decree." Feng Bao bowed his head to receive the order. The Emperor showed extreme grace and honor to these soldiers who bore the heavy burdens for the Ming Empire. This time, he specifically erected a stele for the five hundred sacrificed soldiers and would personally offer sacrifices.

"Your Majesty, the Hai family of Qiongzhou has sent a child to the capital. Xue Yunlong took the child to the Qingqin Garden and sent Hai Zhongshi back to Qiongzhou." Feng Bao reported the progress of Hence Hai Rui's affairs to the Emperor.

Xue Yunlong was a Jinshi from the eleventh year of Wanli and, like Hence Hai Rui, was from Qiongzhou—a fellow townsman. Moreover, Xue Yunlong was Hence Hai Rui's niece's husband, considered family, and could make decisions. Xue Yunlong was a Jinshi, and his status was established here; even if he did not care about his reputation, he could not possibly occupy Hence Hai Rui's family property under the Emperor's pressure.

A head should stay on its neck!

"Good. After the imperial physicians have examined him, how is the health of the Censor-in-Chief Hai?" Zhu Yijun asked about the matter he cared about.

Feng Bao said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Rites has already drafted the posthumous title."

According to the diagnosis of the imperial physicians, Hence Hai Rui might not survive this year. He is old and has labored with his heart and strength for so many years; his body is completely hollowed out. This frame is getting worse by the day, and he is now bedridden. Fortunately, he can still recognize people, and his mental state is still quite good.

"I understand." Zhu Yijun said with a hint of sadness. He is only twenty-six years old; such scenes will only become more frequent. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the common lot of humanity, but when truly encountered, it still makes one feel endlessly sad.

Wang Guoguang's health was much better than Hence Hai Rui's; it was just that his energy was failing, so he left the whirlpool of power.

Zhu Yijun continued to process various memorials. He blocked Zhang Juzheng from conducting purges, but the wind of purges still blew from Shanxi to the capital.

The Ministry of Personnel began an audit of various government offices in the capital, and the accounts were simply shocking.

In the various government offices of the Ming capital, the number of officials and clerks on duty was actually less than sixty percent. Because of various reasons, these officials and clerks had not signed in for more than three years, and there were even more than 177 officials and clerks who had not been to their offices for over ten years. The disaster areas in this regard were the Imperial Academy and the Hanlin Academy.

Among the 177 officials and clerks, the Imperial Academy accounted for 122. Academic directors, teaching assistants, academic recorders, registrars, etc. —wherever the Method of Assessment could not reach, they were all disaster areas.

"I did not let the Master investigate because one cannot investigate everything. Look, now that something has really been investigated, the imperial court must deal with it."

"However, these academic directors are all very difficult to deal with. One academic director has several disciples. These disciples, some are Juren, working as administrative officials in various

government offices; some are even Jinshi, and some have even brighter futures." Zhu Yijun looked at the long list provided by Zhang Juzheng.

"It offends people."

Zhang Juzheng offended too many people. The Ming Empire had reached the age of over two hundred years, but anyone who wanted to do something had to offend people, and many of them.

When Xu Chengchu took office, the first job he did was to provoke Song Shanyong, the instructor of the Tianxiong Academy, and he ended up covered in trouble.

As the old saying goes, "If you don't look at the monk's face, look at the Buddha's." Since these academic directors dared not sign in at the Imperial Academy for ten years, they had confidence; more clearly, they had people in the court.

Dealing with one was already troublesome enough; dealing with 122 would be a court earthquake, and the national treasury savings would be very limited.

Zhang Juzheng's meaning was: purge them all! Since the court could operate normally without them, there was no need for the court to pay this salary. The court's silver did not come from a strong wind!

This job was truly very offensive.

"Then follow the Master's words and purge them all." Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and chose to approve. Actually, it was no big deal. He did not have the concept of "the law does not punish the masses" here. If these academic directors' disciples were really willing to gamble their futures for their academic director in the Imperial Academy,

then Zhu Yijun would admire them as real men, and then throw them to the Jinchi Viceroy's Office to build the Greater and Lesser Jinchi as a warning to others.

Even in Confucianism, "Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Kin, Teacher"—he, the Emperor, was ranked ahead of the teacher.

"Eh?" Zhu Yijun opened a memorial, looked at it for a long time, and said with surprise, "Attendant Feng, you go personally to see if the Imperial Uncle is busy. If he is not busy, have him come over. If he is busy, I will go find him at the Academy of Sciences after I finish my work."

The memorial was a set of blueprints sent up by the Academy of Sciences, utilizing pulleys to achieve the purpose of saving effort. Saving effort does not save work; originally, a 120-jin bow could be pulled open with 90 jin of force, but the price paid was a longer draw length.

The power of this new bow differed from the elasticity and wooden recurve of traditional bows, adding the bending of steel bow limbs to increase power.

There were many recurve bows in the Ming Empire, and the main power of a recurve bow is the bending of the bow limbs, but the Academy of Sciences replaced the bow limbs with steel.

Zhu Zaiyu was indeed very busy, but no matter how busy, when the Emperor summoned, the Prince of De still found time to come before the Emperor and explain the ingenious aspects of this new type of bow: long draw, low force, allowing everyone to pull a "Tiger-Strength Bow."

Zhu Zaiyu said with some helplessness, "Your Majesty, this bow looks very powerful, allowing ordinary soldiers to pull a Tiger-Strength Bow, and even more stable when aiming, because of the pulley design, maintaining a full draw only requires very little force."

"Without so much shaking, it will be more precise."

"But it has some shortcomings. I asked the soldiers, and they all treated

this as a toy. This bow is not suitable for the battlefield. The first is the slow rate of fire. Your Majesty can pull a Tiger-Strength Bow, so you must be very clear that a slow rate of fire is fatal."

Zhu Yijun could pull a Tiger-Strength Bow, shooting at most ten arrows a day, after which he had to rest for two days. People like Li Rusong and Xiong Tingbi, who were born with divine strength, could pull it fifteen times a day and continue the next day. Talent is talent; for someone like Zhu Yijun, who had undergone over a decade of training to be able to pull a Tiger-Strength Bow, the upper limit was set there.

Rate of fire is very important. Bows and arrows on the battlefield are all fired in high arcs. During the process of the enemy approaching, the difference between firing two rounds or one round is too great.

"Secondly, it was born at the wrong time. Now firearms are in vogue; the power of firearms is stronger, and in the case of dense line volleys, the killing speed of firearms far exceeds that of bows and arrows." Zhu Zaiyu mentioned the second shortcoming: born at the wrong time.

If it had appeared earlier, it might have shown its glory in the final moments of the cold weapon era, but it was unlikely that a composite bow relying more on laminated materials for power would appear before firearms.

Because this type of composite bow relying on laminated materials for power required a breakthrough in materials, especially the bow limbs. The Ming Empire found a new approach in the "pouring steel method" popular in Fujian, which led to the use of a large amount of high-quality steel.

"Finally, it cannot store power; it cannot be kept ready to fire."

"Its rate of fire is slow, and loading is slow. In scenarios where scouts need rapid response, such as meeting on a narrow road, slow loading is even more fatal. Therefore, scouts are elites, able to nock and shoot the fastest, shooting and killing the enemy one step ahead." Zhu Zaiyu stated its third shortcoming.

This type of gear-set composite bow has the advantages of saving effort and precision, but the battlefield has already developed toward the era of firearms.

"Since the Imperial Uncle puts it this way, it seems that it really has no use on the battlefield." Zhu Yijun fell silent for a moment, feeling some emotion. Such an ingenious weapon was invented, yet it had no place to be used and became a toy.

In Zhu Yijun's view, the training cost of a composite bow is lower—after all, there are very few who can pull a Tiger-Strength Bow—and it is more precise. Maintaining a full draw requires less effort, so there is no shaking, making it more precise and allowing for faster training of archers.

Zhu Yijun did not count on this thing to play a role on the battlefield.

"I originally thought that if this thing were issued to the archers of the Inspectorate, it would be extremely useful for hunting jackals, wolves, tigers, leopards, bears, and other animals. Tiger infestations are not only in Korea; they are also very serious in the Ming Empire. But since the Imperial Uncle puts it this way, it seems it won't work. After all, hunters hunting often require rapid response." Zhu Yijun said with great regret.

Hunting, especially the hunting of these large carnivorous animals, often depends on reaction. A toy like a composite bow is still not as useful as a traditional recurve bow for hunting.

Zhu Zaiyu said with a smile, "Therefore, the doctors of the Academy of Sciences have also made a few composite crossbows to solve the above three shortcomings."

"Imperial Uncle is amazing." Zhu Yijun immediately said with a full face of smiles, "Present them quickly."

Actually, Zhu Zaiyu played a little trick, fishing for the Emperor. The blueprints for the composite bow were the bait; what was truly to be presented to His Majesty was the composite crossbow.

Zhu Zaiyu knew this kind of "playing hard to get" trick. He was not ignorant of human relationships and worldly wisdom. Back then, Wan Shihe had been in charge of the administration of the Academy of Sciences and had taught Zhu Zaiyu these worldly ways.

It was just that most of the time, it was not worth Zhu Zaiyu's effort. Now, he took the time to humor His Majesty the Emperor.

This feeling of first suppressing and then elevating, suddenly becoming clear, was quite good.

Zhu Yijun naturally could see this little trick, but he was quite indifferent. He valued results and often did not value the process very much.

Procedural justice is naturally important, but in Zhu Yijun's eyes, substantive justice is more important.

A total of five composite crossbows were presented before the Emperor. All the composite crossbows had safeties. According to Zhu Zaiyu's explanation, good steel was used on the smaller-sized composite crossbows, and inferior steel was used on the larger-sized composite crossbows. The composite crossbows before Zhu Yijun were all standardized at 120 jin.

The Academy of Sciences was also designing crossbows with greater bow power, such as reversing the crossbow limbs, increasing the draw length of the bowstring, and other ways to improve them.

Only the crossbow, no crossbow bolts—this was a sign of a submissive heart.

"Good, good, good. Get a few dodos, and get the crossbow magazines." Zhu Yijun prepared to test the composite crossbow.

The composite crossbow was designed very ingeniously, with a lever at the rear that could quickly pull the bowstring. The composite crossbow had a crossbow magazine, which could pop a tailless crossbow bolt onto the guide rail when the lever was pulled.

The two small-sized composite crossbows had magazines; the magazine design was for use at closer range, while the three slightly larger-sized composite crossbows had no magazine design.

If the archers of the Ming Inspectorate were equipped with such crossbows, only strict control of crossbow bolts would be needed to solve many tiger and wolf infestations.

"Your Majesty, the number of dodos is still small. If these are shot dead, I fear the Grand Minister of Agriculture will be nagging again." Feng Bao hesitated and said, "How about changing to chickens?"

"Then change to chickens." Zhu Yijun waved the composite crossbow and said, following the advice.

Feng Bao knew very well that the Emperor shot very accurately; the animals taken would all be on the dinner table tonight.

Soon, the Martial Arts Room of Tonghe Palace had a few chickens with somewhat confused expressions, which then fell amidst the whistling sounds of arrows. Zhu Yijun tried all five composite crossbows one by one. High precision, fast loading, ability to store power, cheap price, recyclable bolts, and no reliance on gunpowder.

If preserved properly, one crossbow could be passed down for three generations; the person leaves, but the crossbow remains.

"Tsk tsk, this thing—first equip the garrison troops of the Nine Frontiers, then equip each inspector of the Inspectorate with one." Zhu Yijun did not directly arrange for all the inspectors

of the Inspectorate's archers, but first equipped the border troops, and then the inspectors.

The power of the composite crossbow was sufficient, but if this thing were to become rampant, this composite crossbow would likely become a sharp weapon in the hands of powerful and wealthy families to bully the common people. The ban on crossbows and armor among the people was not actually to guard against the common people, but against the powerful and wealthy families and the local gentry.

The common people actually could not see high-ranking officials, nor could they see the Emperor, and it was also difficult for them to have surplus money to purchase such expensive items, but the powerful and wealthy families had this spare money.

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhu Zaiyu intended to take his leave. The auspicious sign had already been presented; how to use it was His Majesty's business. He made this trip specifically to tell His Majesty that the Ming Academy of Sciences was not wasting national treasury funds and not working!

Zhu Yijun hesitated for a moment and said, "Imperial Uncle, the Divine Fire Flying Crows burned Changmen City and also burned Kyoto in Japan. Many, many people died, too many to count. This thing is very powerful."

Wooden houses burn up; once the wind blows, the entire city can be burned clean.

"Whoa! Even Kyoto was burned?" Zhu Zaiyu said with surprise, "Good, good, good. Where is Changmen? I don't even know, but I do know Kyoto. When the frontline soldiers send back the pros and cons, we will find ways to improve it further. In any case, practice will reveal the truth."

"Many people died." Zhu Yijun said with a strange expression.

Zhu Zaiyu asked without understanding, "Weren't the ones who died Japanese?"

"They were Japanese."

"Ah, I understand. The Japanese are not people." Zhu Zaiyu finally reacted to what His Majesty was saying.

The doctors of the Academy of Sciences invented the terrifying weapon of the Divine Fire Flying Crow, creating endless killing sins, but in Zhu Zaiyu's heart, the Japanese were simply not people. The Ming distinction between Hua and Yi was itself a consensus, and coupled with the fact that the ones who died were Japanese pirates, it mattered even less.

Zhu Zaiyu was just of noble status, and his identity as the head of the Academy of Sciences was very important; otherwise, he would have had to cross the sea to set one off himself!

When the Ming court was poor, it would really withhold the stipends of the imperial clan. Zhu Zaiyu was also a victim of the Japanese pirate scourge. Back then, when the Japanese pirate scourge broke out, the court's finances were tight, and his Zheng Wangfu had not been repaired for many years.

Now that the court had money, it immediately repaired the Ten Kings City. The reason was grand and upright, expressing His Majesty the Emperor's fraternal love. Of course, it was mainly for the land surveys in Henan, Shanxi, and Shandong, but the Ten Kings City was still the Ten Kings City—luxurious, with full stipends, and life was much better than in the provinces.

"Your Majesty, the Academy of Sciences is still designing composite bed crossbows and cart crossbows to launch the Divine Fire Flying Crows. The Divine Fire Flying Crows need an initial velocity to take off. If this initial velocity relies entirely on gunpowder, it is a bit too wasteful of gunpowder. If the power of gunpowder increases in the future, the Divine Fire Flying Crows can launch themselves, which will be even better to use." As Zhu Zaiyu was leaving, he told His Majesty that the improvement of the Divine Fire Flying Crows had only just begun.

Zhu Yijun looked at Zhu Zaiyu's back with a full face of smiles. The Emperor had thought too much; Zhu Zaiyu himself had no moral burden at all.

The Ming scholar-officials also seemed not to care much about what kind of killing sins the Emperor had created in Japan; after all, there were no Ming officials of Japanese origin.

"Your Majesty, the Diary of Activity and Repose." Feng Bao specifically brought the Diary of Activity and Repose for His Majesty to see. The Secretariat Drafters had a submissive heart.

"Let me see." After Zhu Yijun finished reading, he handed it over without any suggestions for modification.

The Secretariat Drafter recorded: "The Emperor sent an envoy to Japan to negotiate peace. The Japanese slaves were wild and rebellious, surrounding and killing fifteen hundred soldiers. With few against many, a great victory was won. The Japanese had internal strife, and Kyoto was burned."

According to the Secretariat Drafter's record, Kyoto was not set on fire by the Ming army; the killing sins were all the Japanese's own doing, and internal strife ignited Kyoto. This scholar simply swapped the order of events, making the Ming Empire the victim.

With such a slanted pen, in future Spring and Autumn judgments, there would likely not even be moral judgment. Coupled with Zhu Yijun blacking out the original memorials, official history would absolutely not record these things.

Perhaps in the future, the cruel Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun might even earn the title of a benevolent ruler.

Therefore, the Ming Empire must win. The victor will not be judged, and will not even be morally condemned.