Zhu Yuanzhang did not really understand what later generations meant when they said the Kamakura shogunate's grain reserves had been drained by the Mongol invasions.
But the Mongol expeditions themselves were something he had studied closely.
In the eleventh year of Zhiyuan, the Yuan army sailed from Hepu with thirty thousand men and nine hundred ships. They destroyed Tsushima, entered Iki, and eventually landed in Japan, fighting for over a month. Supply shortages forced them to withdraw. On the return journey they ran into violent storms. Warships smashed against reefs and cliffs. By the time they limped back to Hepu, thirteen thousand men were gone.
Seven years later, the Yuan launched another invasion, this time in two routes, one force of fifty thousand, the other of a hundred thousand. They carried three months of provisions and even brought farming tools, intending to establish military colonies once ashore.
The result was no better.
The eastern force failed to secure a decisive victory. Ships rotted, grain ran out, and they were left with no options. After linking up with the Jiangnan army, they sailed as far as Takashima, where a great storm struck again. Of four thousand vessels, barely two hundred survived. Of the one hundred fifty thousand soldiers sent, fewer than two in ten returned.
And so the invasion ended in a miserable anticlimax.
From both campaigns, the Ming emperor had drawn only one conclusion:
Heaven's winds and clouds are never predictable.
The cost had been horrific. For that reason, Zhu Yuanzhang had always believed he understood the nature of war with Japan quite well.
Yet as the boy on the screen traced events backward step by step, that confidence began to give way to embarrassment.
"So the root of this disaster… was me…"
Empress Ma sighed, leaned forward, and lightly tapped the Hongwu Emperor on the head with the end of her brush.
"You, Chongba…"
She carefully set aside the paper she had been copying onto, then stood and pried open his clenched fist finger by finger. Gently she traced the rough lines of his palm and spoke in a soft voice.
"If you had seen Japan start a war for no reason, would you have feared the storms that destroyed the Yuan fleets?"
After thinking seriously for a moment, the emperor shook his head.
"If the Japanese pirates dared insult us like that, we would fight to the death. Otherwise the Ming would never know peace."
Empress Ma laid her hand over his.
"And if the islands shouted that they would conquer the four hundred prefectures of Ming?"
"Then I'd drag that Toyotomi fellow here, haul him into Jinshen Hall, and slap his mouth bloody!"
The emperor's teeth were clenched again. Empress Ma laughed.
"Then you certainly wouldn't be the cause of anything."
Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to understand, but he still could not fully shake his confusion.
It was only the thirteenth year of Hongwu. Did that mean he would send another envoy to Japan next year?
And when exactly had he declared them a "non-conquest state"?
…
Luoyang – The Villa
When Kongming first saw the mushroom-shaped cloud, he had shown little outward reaction.
But when he heard with his own ears the answer that the girl studied "Japanese history," he finally set down his brush and sighed for a long time.
"The later generations comprehend Heaven and Earth. The path of science lies far beyond what I could imagine."
Liu Bei understood that feeling.
"And the problems they face must be a hundred times more difficult than ours. What a hard world that must be."
Lu Su remained silent. He thought of the great clans in Jiangdong. In their domains, most of the common people and even their servants knew only the names Gu, Lu, Zhu, Zhang, Sun. They no longer knew the Han of Liu at all.
Only Zhang Fei seemed optimistic.
When he heard the girl's answer, he frowned for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"If Han men can end up serving the Jin and speaking foreign tongues, then one child who knows Japanese history but not her ancestors isn't so strange."
"But I reckon there are still plenty in later times who know the heroes of Ming history. Not just the ones writing on that screen."
"Strategist, did you forget those children reciting the Memorial at your temple?"
When they had toured Chengdu earlier, the Temple of Marquis Wu had taken up the largest part of their visit. And of everything they had seen, aside from that half-rotted timber, what lingered most was that brief glimpse of children reciting the Memorial on Sending Out the Troops in unison.
Kongming's brow relaxed slightly, though he still corrected him.
"Do not say it is my temple. That is Chancellor Zhuge's shrine…"
"I know, I know. It's Big Brother's Zhaolie Temple."
Liu Bei's eyes immediately narrowed.
"Fine, fine. Then it's your Huiling tomb, alright…"
"Yide, stop running!"
"Big Brother, put the sword down first! I won't call it Huiling anymore!"
Kongming and Lu Su's eyes met. They spoke almost at the same time.
"Zijing, forgive them. My lord and Yide are simply…"
"Lord Xuande and the Third General truly are like flesh and blood brothers…"
They both stopped, smiled, and bent back over their documents.
Whether the current campaign or the future governance of the realm, both demanded constant thought. It was something they were long used to.
…
The Song Court
"Yizhou Island…"
Zhao Kuangyin rolled the name over in his mind.
Chancellor Zhao Pu stepped forward quietly.
"The later generations have mentioned sea routes and this island several times. I therefore made inquiries in advance."
"Former subjects of Wuyue now living in Bianliang say that during the Tang Yuanhe era, a top scholar known as Qizhenzi led his clan across the sea to escape unrest."
"His descendants called the place Penghu Island, and judging by its position, it is most likely this Yizhou."
"During the Wuyue kingdom, merchants often rested there. They say Qizhenzi's descendants still live on the island, and that in the lands they opened stands a Tang stele from the Kaiyuan era."
Hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin recalled more.
"The Yuanhe reforms were widely praised… The An Lushan chaos had ended only two generations before. No wonder people longed for the Kaiyuan years."
Zhao Pu nodded. Qizhenzi was hardly the only one. During those troubled times, countless writers had composed pieces mourning the glory of Kaiyuan.
"This large island is now called Liuqiu by Wuyue merchants. Wealthy traders have long built rest stations there."
Zhao Kuangyin frowned slightly.
"If it is so important, why has no official ever submitted a memorial proposing defenses there?"
Zhao Pu struggled to gesture in the air, then rose and fetched the map of Song territory the attendants had copied earlier. Pointing to it, he explained:
"Wuyue maritime trade now follows only two main routes, north and south."
"The northern route runs directly toward Shandong and Liaodong. Ships leave Mingzhou and hug the coast northward. It is the busiest route and does not require passing Liuqiu."
"The southern route heads into the southern seas. Ships sail south from Mingzhou to Liuqiu for resupply, then west past Zhuyai into Sanfoqi. From there they either continue west to India or remain to trade with Arab merchants."
"Another route goes south from Yizhou into the lands of the Wu people. There they may seize labor or plunder wealth. The Kunlun slaves popular in Tang times mostly came from there."
Listening nearby, Zhao Guangyi could not help interjecting.
"Is that not little different from piracy?"
The Song emperor frowned. Zhao Pu's expression did not change. He shook his head.
"Your Reverence does not know. In the Zhenguan era, the Wu lands suffered great floods. The Kunlun peoples moved north in large numbers into Yizhou, hoping to seize it. They fought repeatedly with the Huan-si royal house of Liuqiu, which itself had fought the Sui armies many times."
"That region has always been a contested land. In such places, strength decides everything. How can one speak of pirates?"