Chapter 1666: A Merchant Knows No Great Duty

"My lord, conditions this harsh — we would sooner die in battle than ever accept them!" With that bellow from Takagi Kiyoshi, his roar echoed through the small room, and in an instant the burly soldiers standing to the side surged forward with their weapons, ready to seize this insolent wretch.

Zhou Pu, far from being surprised, raised a hand to stop the soldiers. He knew full well that with terms so harsh, it would be strange indeed if the shogunate's envoy did not fly into a rage.

"You say these terms are harsh? May I ask in what way they are harsh?" He looked unhurriedly at Takagi Kiyoshi. "Your Tokugawa house has stirred up calamity on this scale, and has been named an enemy of the court by your own nation's imperial decree. By all reason, you ought to face utter ruin as a warning to others. It is our Great Han's sagely Son of Heaven, in his magnanimity, who intends to let the Tokugawa bloodline continue and to preserve your ancestral temples and domain. This is a tremendous act of grace — and yet your shogunate still finds the terms harsh?"

"To dissolve the shogunate and strip away the title of Shogun — this is no different from reducing the achievements of the Tokugawa ancestors, generation after generation, to nothing. On this point, His Excellency the Shogun can never, by any means, agree." The veins on Takagi Kiyoshi's face bulged from sheer fury, yet he forcibly suppressed his rage and addressed Zhou Pu in a trembling voice. "As for the domain, it too was won bit by bit through the toil of the Tokugawa ancestors and generations of retainers and warriors. It cannot lightly be ceded to others. If it were, how could we face the Divine Lord in the underworld?"

"So what you mean is, not a single concession can be made, and none of these issues can even be discussed?" Zhou Pu shot back with a cold laugh.

"The matter of land... it is not... it is not entirely beyond discussion." His face flushed crimson, Takagi Kiyoshi answered with difficulty. "Our Elder has said that the shogunate can cede governing authority over Kyushu to the Great Han, and will also respect the court's arrangements regarding the distribution of lands in the western provinces and the Kinai region."

"What a way to put it — as if, without the shogunate's consent and approval, we would have no means of carrying out that distribution ourselves?" Zhou Pu could not help but laugh aloud. "So it turns out the shogunate is merely being generous at others' expense, gifting us places we already occupy while suffering no loss of its own!"

"The shogunate still has several hundred thousand troops in the Kanto region at this moment. If Your Excellency truly believes you can seize more land from Kanto, then you are welcome to come and take it yourself." Takagi Kiyoshi countered with a stern expression. "At present, Your Excellency is still in the western provinces and has yet to even grasp the lands of the Kinai. How can you speak of us being generous at others' expense?"

The idea of allowing the Great Han and the imperial court to hold Kinai lands after the war was Doi Toshikatsu's personal opinion — one that Tokugawa Iemitsu himself did not yet know of. In Doi Toshikatsu's view, ever since the scorched-earth order had been issued, the Kinai region was certain to become a wasteland and would then find it very difficult to sustain a large army's prolonged presence. For the shogunate, maintaining a large force in the Kinai would therefore be extremely arduous. That being the case, it was better to offer it up to the court in order to shorten the battle lines and preserve the shogunate's foundation in Kanto.

Knowing that Tokugawa Iemitsu would find such terms hard to accept immediately, he had decided to put this condition forward first. If the Great Han could truly be persuaded by it to reach a compromise with the shogunate, then Tokugawa Iemitsu would not oppose this fait accompli.

Yet he had still failed to foresee that the Great Han would remain deeply dissatisfied with this offer.

In Zhou Pu's view, the negotiating terms the shogunate had provided would indeed let the Great Han return laden with spoils and gain immense benefits — but the shogunate itself would suffer no crippling loss, still retaining the vital heartland of Kanto. Moreover, Kanto had so far been untouched by the flames of war and would certainly recover far faster than the western provinces after the conflict. The shogunate would thereby gain an absolute advantage over both the western provinces and the Japanese imperial court.

If the Great Han agreed to such terms, then the moment the Great Han relaxed its grip, the shogunate would recover its vitality before long and then, just as Tokugawa Ieyasu had done, sweep through the western provinces and once more rule over Japan.

For this reason, he could not possibly accept the other side's negotiating terms. Even if a compromise were reached, the shogunate had to be weakened to a certain degree — so that after the war, it could never again shatter the balance he had single-handedly constructed.

"True, our army has not yet fought its way into the Kinai, and you can still cling to a few more gasps of life. But before the edge of our army's blade, the recovery of Kyoto is only a matter of days." Zhou Pu looked at the other man with brimming confidence. "When that time comes, even the shogunate itself will be hanging by a thread. What talk will there be then of ceding Kyoto to us?"

"If Your Excellency believes your army is certain to reach the Kinai, then I have nothing more to say. That can only be proven with blade and gun." Seeing that this first contact could not possibly yield any common ground, he added, "That being the case, I shall take my leave for now and return to confer with Your Excellency after some time has passed. I imagine by then Your Excellency will hold a different view."

So that the channel the two sides had so painstakingly established would not be severed, he did not now speak in absolutes, merely saying he would make contact again later. He had previously seen the imposing fortifications of Himeji Castle and was therefore deeply convinced that the shogunate's forces could later block the Great Han army's advance. He thus planned to wait until the Great Han had been frustrated beneath the walls of Himeji Castle and had cold water dashed over them before coming to negotiate with the Great Han envoy again. He imagined the treatment and terms he would receive then would be far better.

Zhou Pu, for his part, was equally confident now. He had witnessed the Great Han using siege cannons to assault heavily garrisoned strongholds, and so he believed that as long as he brought his great cannons to bear, he could absolutely breach any fortress the shogunate army held.

This was merely an initial contact. The two sides' standing at the negotiating table would, in the end, still be decided by the situation and their performance on the battlefield.

"The hour is already late today, and this region is now in the chaos of war. To let the envoy depart now would likely invite danger and go against our Great Han's principles of conduct. So, envoy, you shall stay here tonight." Having already laid out all his demands to them, Zhou Pu had no intention of further discussion. He waved a hand directly, signaling for them to be taken away. "Very well, go and rest first. I shall have you sent off first thing tomorrow morning! Your safety is guaranteed!"

After seeing off this group of shogunate envoys, Zhou Pu dared not be negligent. He immediately summoned his staff of adjutant officers. Because Huang Changguo had already led a detachment to occupy the port in Kojima District of Bizen Province, the adjutant officers were now headed by Huang Changguo's deputy, Su Zhao.

Once these adjutants had assembled, Zhou Pu at once laid out the situation he now faced for them to hear.

When they heard that the shogunate had actually already begun to sue for peace, these adjutant officers were both shocked and delighted, feeling that they had at last glimpsed the light of dawn on this campaign.

Yet they also quickly understood that the shogunate's strength still remained and its morale was still high; it would not lightly accept the peace terms the Great Han proposed. The fighting ahead was therefore still a long and heavy task.

"My lord, it seems that if we do not fight well from here on and break their backbone, they will truly believe they have the capital to bargain with our Great Han." Su Zhao frowned and said, "Let us pause for now. Once we bring the great cannons up and give them a few fierce bombardments, we shall see what these petty clowns still have to rely on!"

His words drew a chorus of agreement from the other adjutant officers. After years of campaigning, the ever-victorious Great Han army had become supremely confident — all the more so in the artillery firepower that was their pride.

"Be that as it may, we must not fail to take our enemy seriously." Zhou Pu was not as high-spirited as they were. "The shogunate's envoy has now been taken away by my order to rest. I am certain that, besides their mission to negotiate peace with us, they also bear a mission to probe the true strength of our forces and gather intelligence. We must guard against this."

At these words from Zhou Pu, the several adjutant officers were all somewhat startled.

Though this army on the march appeared vast in numbers, the actual number of Great Han troops within it was in truth extremely small — this had always been their gravest worry. If these shogunate envoys saw through to the truth, the consequences would be dire.

"Should we first detain these envoys and only release them after we have broken the enemy?" Su Zhao asked Zhou Pu hesitantly.

"As ministers of the Celestial Court, how could we do such a thing?" Zhou Pu countered with a smile. "These men wish to probe our true strength — then let us give them a good look."

Su Zhao was puzzled at first but quickly grasped Zhou Pu's meaning. "Does Your Excellency intend to stage a deception before them?"

"Correct. Rouse all the Great Han troops already encamped and have them march through the camp holding torches. Remember — have them circle back and repeat the circuit." Zhou Pu nodded and then laid out his plan. "We must let these envoys see the military might of our Great Han!"

"Understood!" Su Zhao and the others had a sudden revelation and immediately went to carry out the order.

And so, in the deep of that night, under the officers' commands, the Great Han soldiers sleeping in the camp were all roused.

In the armies of the former Ming, the high mental strain and tense relations between officers and men meant that the slightest disturbance at night could trigger a camp panic. The former Ming had therefore imposed extremely harsh rules on military encampments, forbidding all activity at night. But the Great Han army was superbly trained, and the trust between officers and men was deep, so the commotion in the night did not startle the soldiers. They were quickly roused and then, following their daily drill, swiftly assembled under the light of the lit campfires.

Next, these Great Han officers and soldiers took up the prepared torches and began to march in formation through the camp, creating the appearance of a continuous stream of reinforcements arriving at this position. Beneath the bright campfires of the night, the red uniforms these soldiers wore and the medal buttons affixed to them shone with even greater vividness, so dazzling they practically stung the eyes.

This back-and-forth maneuvering did indeed fall under the eyes of the shogunate envoys, who were spying in secret. After witnessing the Great Han army's nighttime movements and its stern, disciplined bearing, they grew even more awed by this force and even more alarmed by the Great Han army's strength.

Though they were civil officials of the shogunate, they were not entirely ignorant of military matters. Seeing the performance of these Great Han officers and men, they naturally understood by how much this army surpassed the shogunate's own forces. It was only because the distance was too great that everything appeared blurry, and they could not make out the faces opposite or the exact scale.

Only after midnight did this red-coated army end its maneuvers and slowly return to the encampment. The earlier din and clamor likewise subsided back into silence. By then, Takagi Kiyoshi and the others had also secretly calculated the scale of the Great Han force they had observed. By rough estimate, it was likely close to ten thousand men — at the very least, five or six thousand.

Perhaps the Great Han army was not limited to this one column; perhaps even more Great Han troops were advancing along various routes toward Himeji Castle and Kyoto. This realization pressed down on their hearts like a mountain, heavier still.

Early the next morning, the Great Han envoy proved true to his word and sent them on the road back to the city. They immediately hurried on their way toward Himeji Castle.

Zhou Pu, for his part, was thoroughly satisfied with his subordinates' performance the previous night. He knew he had accomplished the task of deceiving the other side. When these shogunate envoys returned, they were certain to report the intelligence they had seen to the shogunate's defending commanders. The larger their estimate of the Great Han troop numbers within this army, the more shaken and terrified the shogunate forces would be — this was also a form of psychological intimidation.

What was more, the more they believed the Great Han was throwing its full weight into an advance on Kyoto, the less they would suspect that the Great Han's true main thrust was aimed directly at Kanto for a decisive battle with the shogunate. Their military deployments would then be thrown into disarray.

After the envoys had been sent off, the Great Han army's pace of advance began to slow. Apart from Huang Changguo's column, which advanced smoothly and swept through the coastal towns of Bizen Province, Zhou Pu's main force began a steady march forward. In the end, it halted within the borders of Bizen Province, still several dozen li from Himeji Castle, and established its main camp there.

Throughout their advance, the shogunate army never sallied forth from the city to harass Zhou Pu's main force. It seemed that, just as Huang Changguo and the others had judged, the shogunate indeed intended to abandon the western provinces and then rely on fortresses like Himeji Castle to mount a desperate defense, using a strategy of delay to bleed the Great Han and ultimately force the Great Han to withdraw.

"They compare themselves to Goguryeo, yet they have not considered — how can our Great Han be compared to the Great Tang at its founding?" Surrounded by a throng of officers and soldiers, Zhou Pu offered this judgment as he inspected his great army. "Such passivity can only lead to a passive beating."

And it was just at this time that another group of people secretly approached him from the Kinai region.

This group, however, was not from the shogunate, but rather merchants from the Kinai region — primarily merchants from the city of Sakai and from within Osaka Castle.

Sakai had always been a traditional commercial city of Japan. Situated at the borders of Settsu, Kawachi, and Izumi provinces and blessed with extremely convenient transport links, it drew merchants from all three provinces to gather and trade there. Moreover, the Kinai region was rich in produce and lay close to a center of consumption like Kyoto, so Sakai became a commercial city.

During the Warring States era, Sakai became a self-governing city, filled with great merchant houses so powerful that even the daimyo of various domains had to treat them with a measure of caution and do everything they could to win their favor. Because of this special status, Sakai escaped the frequent slaughter among the regional daimyo and became a peaceful and prosperous city that even the missionaries envied.

Yet it was precisely because of Sakai's status and wealth that it soon drew the covetous and wary eyes of powerful daimyo.

Beginning with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the central authority had always done its utmost to suppress Sakai. Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent troops to break open Sakai's sturdy walls and then plundered the city, and when Tokugawa Ieyasu attacked Osaka he likewise reduced it to scorched earth. Sakai's merchants and its wealth suffered devastating losses.

However, thanks to Sakai's superb geographic position, after the shogunate was established, Sakai began to revive once more. The merchants within grew active again and restored it to a flourishing commercial city.

By this time, however, Osaka had also begun to develop as a commercial city and was starting to compete with neighboring Sakai.

Because Sakai was a self-governing city, it was suppressed, and many people were forced to relocate to Osaka, which was under the shogunate's direct administration. The Edo Shogunate went further, relocating its key commercial institutions and functions to Osaka, allowing Osaka to overtake Sakai and become another of Japan's important commercial cities.

Yet whether it was Osaka or Sakai, both had suffered bitterly at the hands of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Neither harbored any sentiment of loyalty toward it; some even nursed deep hatred for the shogunate because of its repeated attacks on Osaka.

When the Great Han landed on Honshu, plunging all of Japan into turmoil, and began its step-by-step advance toward the Kinai, the great merchants in these cities began to waver. They secretly started contacting one another to discuss strategies for dealing with the new situation.

Whether out of hatred or out of the need to protect their property, they all believed they must first establish some contact with the Great Han. That way, whether the Great Han and the imperial court were victorious or the shogunate prevailed, their property could be preserved as much as possible, rather than being left at the mercy of others as it had been during the Warring States era.

But how to actually make contact with Great Han gave them a real headache. Because the shogunate had previously monopolized trade with Great Han, they had all specialized in domestic business and rarely ventured into foreign trade; their channels of communication with Great Han were very few, and they could not find a negotiator they could trust.

Seeing that Great Han had already fought its way to the doorstep of the capital region, these wealthy merchants grew increasingly nervous. After discussing it back and forth, they finally decided to have the Mitsui family take the lead in making contact — the Mitsui family had previously done business on a very large scale, had already begun to venture into foreign trade, and had once established contact with the Great Han trading house in Nagasaki. In the eyes of these wealthy merchants, they were now the best candidate available.

And for the sake of their own lives and property, the Mitsui family dared not be remiss. They immediately dispatched someone trustworthy from within their own clan, traveling light and with a minimal retinue, who carefully crossed the battle lines of the two armies through their own channels, secretly infiltrated into Great Han's sphere of influence, and then tried every means possible to leak word of their presence to the Great Han army.

Through years of commercial accumulation, the Mitsui family was now an enormous mercantile clan, relying on blood ties as the bond for their family-style operations. Over several generations of propagation, the Mitsui family had already branched into several cadet lines, and the person sent this time came from a branch family whose blood ties were very close to the main house. His name was Mitsui Takamatsu. That he was sent in person also reflected the fear and importance that the Mitsui family, and even the entire body of capital-region wealthy merchants, attached to the Great Han army.

Upon learning of the arrival of the wealthy merchants' envoy, Zhou Pu also set aside the arrogance he had previously shown before the shogunate's envoy and received them with great courtesy.