Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 420 Shimazu Mitsuhisa's Choice

To avoid revealing their identities and causing unnecessary trouble for the Qiongzhou Camp, only one platoon of soldiers, or fifty men, accompanied the Japanese samurai to Zhejiang this time. Their presence was more symbolic. If the Japanese wanted to cause trouble, there was no real difference between fifty and one or two hundred men in front of two thousand highly experienced samurai. These guys were not like the muddle-headed garrison soldiers, a flock of lambs to the slaughter.

Surrounded by nearly a thousand Satsuma samurai with ill intentions, a platoon of soldiers was like a small boat on a vast ocean, easily swallowed up by a single wave.

However, these soldiers were not intimidated by the delicate situation before them. They gripped their rifles tightly, staring intently at the Japanese samurai on the perimeter, and did not falter in spirit despite their overwhelming numerical disadvantage. From the platoon leader to the soldiers, they had only one thought: if these Japanese were truly going to betray them, even if they were at such close range and didn't have time to reload, they would fight to the death with bayonets, taking a few of them down with them to meet their maker.

Shimazu Mitsuhisa's palms were sweating as he gripped the hilt of his sword. He was torn between his conscience and his conscience, unsure of what to do. If he followed his heart, he would not submit to a Ming Dynasty military officer. The reason he had been so respectful to Liu Ye and his men was because he feared their strength.

However, after entering Zhejiang, the invincible record of the Ming army in various places made him begin to doubt whether his choice to surrender to the Qiongzhou Camp was correct. The opponents he faced were all Ming soldiers, and the Qiongzhou Camp was no different. Even if they had giant ships and cannons, the fate of a country was still determined by real battles on land.

The platoon leader who reprimanded him coldly reminded him: "According to our general's plan, he is probably already on his way to Zhejiang with his fleet and army. Before you make any decisions, you should first think about how to withstand our general's thunderous wrath!"

Upon hearing the words "Thunder's Fury," Shimazu Mitsuhisa suddenly became much more alert. He immediately thought of the overwhelming barrage of cannonballs that had almost leveled Tsurumaru Castle, and couldn't help but shudder.

What was I thinking just now? Reality is far crueler than ideals. Even if we can hold our own against the Qiongzhou Camp on land, or even gain the upper hand, we have absolutely no chance against their sea monsters. If we anger them, they can deploy their massive fleet outside Tsurumaru Castle and bombard it again. The castle tower, the homes of the samurai and the common people will all be reduced to dust.

Thinking of this, Shimazu Mitsuhisa broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly assessed the situation. In any case, before finding a way to deal with the powerful ships and cannons, the Qiongzhou Camp could not be offended. He immediately put on a smiling face and bowed, saying, "Your Excellency is overthinking it. Mitsuhisa meant no disrespect. I was just thinking about how to restrain these ronin. After all, they are not my Satsuma Domain's direct subordinates, so it is inevitable that they are somewhat unruly. The current situation is not what Mitsuhisa intended."

The platoon leader secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was determined to die with the Japanese, who would want to die if they could survive? Judging from the other side's attitude, it seemed that they had some improper thoughts, but after weighing the pros and cons, they chose to submit again.

Now that things had taken a turn for the better, he softened his tone: "Since Lord Shimazu intends to restrain his subordinates, we are willing to cooperate and end the unrest in the city as soon as possible. I believe the general does not want to see this happen."

Shimazu Mitsuhisa nodded and bowed: "Yes, Mitsuhisa will immediately send men to restrain them throughout the city."

“Our people will go too.”

Shimazu Mitsuhisa ultimately chose to remain patient and, as requested by the Qiongzhou Camp, sent men to every street and alley in the city to dissuade these ronin who had been blinded by lust.

However, this attempt at dissuasion was largely ineffective. Shimazu Mitsuhisa and his Satsuma Domain samurai were already itching to plunder the castle after its fall, and perhaps even take advantage of the situation to have their way with some beautiful Ming Dynasty women. Now, forced to restrain their desires, they were naturally unwilling to try and dissuade others. The ronin, driven by lust, refused to accept this "foolish advice," and some, in their desperation, even drew their knives and violently confronted their temporary employers.

With a combination of factors, attempts to dissuade the rioters largely failed, and the unrest in the city continued. However, it did have some effect; at least the ronin were more restrained and stopped indiscriminately killing, shifting their focus to looting money and women. Although the city's residents suffered financial losses, and young women and wives from every household were also victimized, at least their lives were spared.

Starting at dusk, the ravaged populace, taking advantage of the approaching darkness, carefully avoided the roaming Japanese pirates and fled the city through various gates. However, those who left at this time were mostly people of modest means or even the poor. Wealthy families, reluctant to leave, were heartbroken over the silver in their cellars, land deeds, and the antiques and paintings in their houses. They clung to their homes, hoping that the pirates would leave on their own after looting their wealth.

Shimazu Mitsuhisa, too lazy to care about the civilians fleeing the city, led his men straight to the county and prefectural government offices. Since they were forbidden from participating in robbing civilians, they decided to change their targets and rob the officials. They found the county treasury and the prefectural treasury, ready to make a hefty profit. By this time, the soldiers guarding the treasuries had already deserted, and without the keys, the samurai simply cut the iron locks on the gates and stormed into the treasuries.

However, the state of the treasury left Shimazu Mitsuhisa feeling extremely unlucky. It turned out that the treasury contained only moldy silk, rusty weapons, and piles of old grain, but no gold or silver whatsoever.

Looking at this junk, Shimazu Mitsuhisa was furious. The officials in Jiangnan were so corrupt, emptying the treasury and leaving him nothing! This was intolerable! He grabbed a knife and led his men directly to the prefectural government office. With two blows, he felled the several guards who stood guard at the gate. He found Prefect Xu Shiluan secretly writing a plea for help in his study and vented all his pent-up anger on the prefect, shouting, "You corrupt official! Where is all that money you embezzled? Hand it over now, and I might consider giving you a proper burial..."

When Xu Shilu saw that the Japanese pirates had finally reached the prefectural government office, he lamented that he could not escape the disaster and begged for mercy, saying, "All my money is in the study... I can offer up all my possessions, just please spare my life."

Shimazu Mitsuhisa was too lazy to waste words with him. He chopped off Xu Shilu's head with a single stroke, letting the blood splatter everywhere. Then he coldly said to the corpse, "Knowing where you hid your money is enough. I don't need you to offer it up. I'll go get it myself."