Chapter 1629: Eloquent Words Against Ten Thousand Troops

His roar was echoed by the senior retainers of the Tachibana clan, who one after another placed their hands on the swords at their waists, looking ready to cut down these Shimazu envoys at the slightest provocation and fight the Shimazu clan to the death.

To a domain lord and his retainers, territory is everything. With territory, they belong to an exalted class and can do as they please within their domain; without territory, they must either throw themselves at the mercy of another domain lord and live under someone else's thumb, or become commoners with nothing at all — both outcomes utterly unacceptable to them.

"Since the Great Han has given the Shimazu clan such a promise, it will honor that promise. Once Kyushu is conquered, it will certainly be handed over to them." In this atmosphere, Shimazu Tadayoshi and the other envoys had all turned ashen-faced, but Zhou Pu remained unhurried. "Moreover, we deal with others in good faith. Since we agreed to such terms, we are not afraid to state them openly. However... the domain lord need not be impatient. Although the island of Kyushu will go to the Shimazu clan, other places can surely accommodate the Tachibana clan, can they not?"

Tachibana Muneshige had by now recovered from his earlier fury. He looked at Zhou Pu, who had seized the initiative from Shimazu Tadayoshi, his gaze suddenly sharpening.

"Who are you?"

Under that stare, Zhou Pu felt slightly uncomfortable, but he endured the discomfort, rose unhurriedly to his feet, and once again bowed deeply to Tachibana Muneshige.

"Lord Tachibana, I am Zhou Pu, an envoy sent to Kyushu by the Son of Heaven of the Great Han. I have long heard of the domain lord's heroic reputation. Seeing you today, your fame is indeed well-deserved!"

"An envoy of the Great Han's Son of Heaven?" Tachibana Muneshige's eyes widened slightly, then he suddenly gave a cold laugh. "You have quite the nerve, daring to come here on your own..."

"If I lacked nerve, I would not have accepted the Great Han Son of Heaven's command to come to this place." Zhou Pu raised his head and smiled faintly at Tachibana Muneshige. "Besides, I have come to help the domain lord. Why would the domain lord wish me harm?"

Though he spoke boldly on the surface, he kept repeatedly mentioning the Great Han Son of Heaven precisely to wave the emperor's banner to bolster himself, and to make Tachibana Muneshige think twice before turning hostile.

"Your Great Han has wantonly invaded our country and slaughtered our people, and you still dare claim you have come to help me?" A trace of anger appeared on Tachibana Muneshige's face. "You run rampant so recklessly — do you not fear suffering divine punishment like the Mongol invaders of old?"

Although he spoke with visible anger, Zhou Pu inwardly felt like laughing.

The Great Han's offensive was now sweeping forward like splitting bamboo, and Tachibana Muneshige knew that talk of armed resistance carried no deterrent force — so he actually resorted to invoking divine punishment...

Zhou Pu had been taught since childhood to respect spirits and ghosts but keep them at a distance. The Japanese believed deeply in such talk of gods and spirits, but he felt nothing of the sort. Nor did he believe Japan's luck could hold out so well a second time, that another divine wind would come to halt the Great Han's advance.

"On this point, Lord, I must disagree. The Mongol Yuan of those days were northern barbarians, thieves who usurped the Central Plains. My Great Han, by contrast, is a Han dynasty that righteously defeated the Ming and seized the sacred vessels — the undisputed Son of Heaven of the Central Plains. The Son of Heaven naturally enjoys Heaven's protection; how can there be any talk of divine punishment?" He answered with a cold laugh. "Furthermore... we have marched our troops into Japan to chastise the shogunate and restore proper order to your country. This is an act that accords with the hearts of the people and the principles of Heaven, and it is the assistance your country's Imperial Court fervently desires. Where is the violation of Heaven's principles? On the contrary, this is precisely in accord with Heaven's principles!"

Zhou Pu's righteous rebuttal did not anger Tachibana Muneshige; rather, it stirred something within him. This Great Han envoy was indeed a man of both courage and resourcefulness — no wonder he had won the favor of the Great Han Son of Heaven.

Whether the Great Han Son of Heaven truly followed the Way of Heaven was not something he actually cared about, so he did not press the argument. What concerned him most now was just how many benefits his own Tachibana clan could ultimately obtain.

Moreover, he had a lingering worry in his heart — forty years ago, he had led troops into Korea as a general under the Taikō's army, and had fought fiercely against the Ming there, leaving considerable enmity on both sides. Although times had changed and both the Ming and the Toyotomi house had vanished into the remnants of history...

"The Imperial Court... what benefits does the Imperial Court intend to give you?" he asked directly.

"As neighboring countries, as neighbors bound by a narrow strip of water for generations, the two nations ought to support each other. We did not come to strike at the shogunate for any benefit; we merely wish to uphold justice for the Imperial Court and the sovereign of our neighbor." Zhou Pu promptly replied.

"Spare me these deceitful words!" Tachibana Muneshige furrowed his brow. "I may not be a particularly clever man, but I have at least lived to this age. Do not speak to me with words meant to fool children, lest in my fury I do something you will deeply regret."

"The domain lord can certainly make us deeply regret. However, the Great Han officers and soldiers on Kyushu are equally capable of making the domain lord deeply regret. So... let us each take a step back, Lord. Do not speak in absolutes." Zhou Pu countered, neither servile nor overbearing. "If the domain lord thinks capturing me will serve any purpose, you are mistaken. I did not come to Kyushu alone; I have a deputy. Even if you seize me, you can threaten no one — it will only leave both sides with no room to maneuver."

As soon as these words were spoken, Tachibana Muneshige's expression grew even uglier. The Great Han envoy's statement made it crystal clear that the Great Han would not care in the slightest about his life, and that capturing him would provide no leverage for threats or bargaining — undoubtedly cutting off yet another of his paths.

It seemed only one path remained before him now, yet to walk it without any guarantees whatsoever was far too galling to accept.

"Very well... it seems you do not wish to reveal your secret agreement with the Imperial Court... Fine, you must keep your word as well, so say nothing if you will not." He sighed and finally chose to yield slightly. "But I must still tell you this: if our Tachibana clan has no place to call home after the war, then we would rather fight to the bitter end, until death takes us!"

Then, with considerable contempt, he glanced at Shimazu Tadayoshi, who was still ashen-faced. "If you have come to persuade us to accept reality and become vassals of the Great Han or the Shimazu clan, you may take your leave now. Rest assured, you are envoys, and I will not do anything to you. Even if we die in battle, we will die cleanly and honorably."

His words were impassioned, but Zhou Pu discerned the implication beneath them — if there was no place to settle, they would fight to the death; but if there was a place to settle, there would probably be little will to resist.

Very good, this was exactly the effect he wanted.

"Lord, if we truly did not intend to give your domain a place to settle, we would not have made a special trip here. Would not speaking with swords and spears be far more meaningful than speaking with lips and tongues?" Having roughly gauged Tachibana Muneshige's bottom line, Zhou Pu appeared even more composed. "As we said earlier, to thank the Shimazu clan for being the first to cooperate with us, so long as we can defeat the shogunate, after the war the entire island of Kyushu will be granted to the Shimazu clan as hereditary domain for generations — this is a matter personally approved by the Son of Heaven and cannot be altered."

He deliberately invoked the Great Han Son of Heaven again to increase his own deterrent force, then laid out the plan in his mind. "The Tachibana clan's domain is currently in Kyushu, so when the time comes it will certainly have to be given to the Shimazu clan. However... this is absolutely no loss for the Tachibana clan, because we will never treat any who cooperate with us unfairly. So long as the domain lord helps us, we can find a piece of land elsewhere to compensate the domain lord."

"Compensate...?" Tachibana Muneshige asked, somewhat skeptically.

"Indeed. If our side is victorious after the war, then your country's Imperial Court will naturally regain authority under our arrangements, and at that time they will surely remember our contributions, and will also firmly remember those meritorious retainers who helped the Imperial Court overthrow the shogunate..." Zhou Pu deliberately spoke very slowly. "If at that time we specially instruct them to compensate a few meritorious retainers, they will certainly agree. What does the domain lord think?"

Although Zhou Pu spoke very obliquely, Tachibana Muneshige understood. If the Great Han truly defeated the shogunate, regardless of what became of the shogunate, the Imperial Court's status would certainly rise greatly after the war, and it might even come to possess vast direct territories — though the Great Han had clearly not come solely to help the Japanese Imperial Court, and would obviously take many precautionary measures.

If this situation could be exploited, the Tachibana clan should indeed be able to find a place to settle.

In his youth, he had been full of fighting spirit, fearing nothing in heaven or on earth, and had stirred up who knew how many great incidents. But now he was old and weary. Over a decade of setbacks had worn away his sharpness; he no longer wished to accomplish earth-shaking deeds, but only to preserve his family.

When the Great Han first attacked, he had already been somewhat panicked. Even in his remote corner, he had long heard of the Great Han army's fearsome might — moreover, he had fought against the Ming back then and had witnessed the strength of the Ming's elite forces and the abundance of their financial resources. A Great Han that could directly destroy such a powerful Ming — how powerful must it be? At the very least, it was not something his single Yanagawa Domain could match.

As news successively arrived of shogunate forces collapsing everywhere and the Great Han army driving deep inland, his panic grew even more intense, and he feared that his family and his entire domain would become sacrifices to the Great Han army. Having lived so many years, he did not fear death, but he could not let go of his family.

When he had earlier received the shogunate's urgent notice, he had hastily summoned the domain's soldiers and put them on strict alert — yet he knew full well how many men a small domain of a hundred thousand koku could muster. And such a hastily assembled force would certainly be no match for the Great Han army.

Precisely because of this, he had kept his troops in place and refrained from action. Even when he received envoys from the shogunate requesting reinforcements, he had never dispatched troops. He simply did not want to break with the Great Han and become their primary enemy.

He had been constantly seeking a way to compromise with the Great Han, or at least to stay out of the conflict, but had been tormented by anxiety because he could not make contact with them. Now it seemed the situation was proceeding a little more smoothly than he had anticipated.

"How much compensation can there be?" After a long silence, he suddenly asked.

"How about three hundred thousand koku?" Zhou Pu asked casually. "We Han people place the greatest emphasis on repaying a drop of kindness with a gushing spring. If the domain lord helps us greatly, we will naturally repay you with the utmost sincerity. A domain three times the size should surely satisfy the domain lord, would it not?"

His expression was utterly nonchalant, but among all those listening, it caused an enormous stir.

Three hundred thousand koku — this was no small sum, roughly the total output of an entire province under the old system. The others had all been worried that they would have to face the Great Han's military might and perhaps even perish together with their domain, so suddenly hearing such news — who could fail to be overjoyed?

Like the others, Tachibana Muneshige felt his brow twitch at the terms proposed by the Great Han envoy, but he had, after all, the experience accumulated over many years, so he maintained his composure and did not let his delight show on his face as the others did.

"It sounds good, but your promise can only be honored after the Great Han is victorious, and it must also be approved by the Imperial Court." He forced himself to keep his tone as even as usual, betraying no sign of his relief. "Yet we would have to take on a tremendous risk. Three times may seem like a lot, but weighed against the risk... it may not be adequate compensation."

He deliberately avoided committing himself, merely probing to see if he could extract more benefits, secretly planning to "reluctantly" agree if it really came down to it.

Tachibana Muneshige had not expected that this envoy from the Great Han would be far more straightforward than he had imagined.

"Then how about five hundred thousand? A domain of five hundred thousand koku should surely compensate for the risk your domain would bear, should it not?" Zhou Pu immediately pressed. "Merchants will flock eagerly to anything for a fivefold profit, even breaking the law... Lord, opportunities for fivefold gain are rare in this world. Whether in the Kanto or the Kansai, so long as the Tachibana clan possesses a domain of five hundred thousand koku, it will become a preeminent great house. What need would you have to fear anyone?"

After speaking, he looked intently at the old man across from him, awaiting his final answer.

He was indeed very confident, because on one side lay a dead end, and on the other, a fivefold expansion of territory — surely any normal person would know which to choose. No matter how unruly and untamed Tachibana Muneshige might be, at his age he had to consider his clan (even though he had no biological son, only an adopted son, Tachibana Tadashige). Had Zhou Pu not seen through this, he would not have dared to come here and gamble.

In the final analysis, it was the military might of the Great Han's great army that gave him sufficient deterrent force, making others understand that apart from death, their only option was to cooperate with him — and these domain lords would generally make the wise choice.

He was indeed very generous. The shoguns of the past had all regarded territory as the most precious thing and had been extremely stingy in granting it to others, yet he had no such inhibitions, casually offering three hundred thousand or five hundred thousand.

This was, of course, because he was not the ruler of Japan, nor could he become the ruler of Japan. Whether he gave someone three hundred thousand, five hundred thousand, or even eight hundred thousand or a million koku of territory, it made no essential difference to him — it was all other people's land anyway, and he felt not the slightest pain in giving it away.

Moreover, he had a deeper consideration — at the previous national affairs conference, the Chancellor had personally instructed him that his mission was not only to win over the various great houses of Japan to pave the way for the Great Han's military offensive, but also to pay attention to creating a postwar situation of checks and balances on all sides, so that no one could grow too dominant. In this way, the Great Han could stand aloft, balancing between them, and reap the benefits of the fisherman.

Once the Shimazu clan held Kyushu, their territory would be vast, probably close to two million koku, and after the war they would certainly become one of the most powerful figures in Japan. But Zhou Pu had no desire whatsoever to see a postwar situation where the Shimazu clan could do as they pleased, so he wanted to create several great domain lords and then, together with the Japanese Imperial Court, use them to check the Shimazu clan, lest that family become difficult to control.

Once the Tachibana clan received a domain of five hundred thousand koku, they would certainly be intent on defending their territory and would no longer obey anyone blindly — this was precisely the effect he wanted. He planned to continue seeking out more people in Japan who could be propped up, creating more great domain lords. In short, the more complicated Japan's postwar situation, the better.

The silence dragged on. The two men, each harboring his own thoughts, said nothing more, while Shimazu Tadayoshi and the others had already set their hearts at ease — they had realized that Tachibana Muneshige had no intention of taking their lives.

"I am loyal to the Imperial Court. If the Imperial Court issues any decree, I will accept it." After a long while, Tachibana Muneshige suddenly raised his head and let out a long sigh. "Though I am advanced in years, my hair already white, if the Imperial Court wishes me to chastise any enemy of the court, I will surely muster my last remaining strength to share the Imperial Court's burdens."

In truth, as a famed general who had survived the Warring States era and roamed Japan for so many years, he had long grown accustomed to betrayal and vassals turning on their lords — when had he ever truly cared about the court? This was merely giving himself a graceful way out.

Of course, neither Zhou Pu nor Shimazu Tadamune had any intention of exposing him.

"The domain lord is indeed loyal and righteous! That the nation can be upheld by such a domain lord is truly a great blessing for all under heaven!" Shimazu Tadamune shouted, prostrating himself once more. "My master is willing to work together with Your Excellency, to fight once again to overthrow the tyranny of the Tokugawa house!"

Although the Han envoy's sudden proposal to grant the Tachibana family a fief of five hundred thousand koku after the war had caught him completely off guard, as far as the Shimazu family was concerned, so long as they received their promised post-war rewards and enfeoffments, they cared nothing for how the Tachibana family was dealt with. They had no say over how the lands on Honshu would be divided anyway, so all they needed to do was cheer loudly.

At that moment, as if playing along, all the Tachibana family retainers nearby also knelt down before Tachibana Muneshige. In the end, only two people remained standing in the entire hall, facing each other.

Zhou Pu gazed at him calmly. He had heard many stories about Tachibana Muneshige before, but at this moment, standing before him was merely a white-haired old man — an old man ready to be driven and commanded by him. He felt no trace of intimidation.