Chapter 913

“Defeated!”

Nagasaki. Just a day later, Yamada Nobunaga received the news of the disastrous defeat at Nagitsu. Takasugi’s death in battle, seventy thousand musketeers wounded or killed—this was almost his entire elite force.

The feudal troops of the Tokugawa family, Sato family, Otomo family, Mori family, and Rokkaku family also suffered heavy losses.

Now, these routed soldiers were on their way back, and the most miserable among them, the Tokugawa family, had fled directly to Nagasaki. The one bringing him the news now was precisely Tokugawa Ieyasu.

“Two hundred thousand troops lost like that to twenty thousand Great Yu Empire soldiers? All our naval warships annihilated?” Yamada Nobunaga said in disbelief.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was in a sorry state. His clothes were full of holes, and his face was streaked with black and white, like a beggar.

“Lost, all lost. The Great Yu Empire’s firearms are too powerful. We are no match for them. I and the other daimyo held out to the end, but the soldiers still collapsed,” Tokugawa Ieyasu said, tears and snot running down his face.

If it had been before, Yamada Nobunaga might have suspected this was Tokugawa Ieyasu’s excuse, but now he understood it was the truth.

For him, this news was like a basin of cold water poured over his head, extinguishing the hope that had ignited in his heart.

“If that’s the case, how did you return?” Yamada Nobunaga asked coldly.

At the mention of this, Tokugawa Ieyasu’s face showed guilt. “A general named Liu Chen let us go. He asked me to relay a message to Lord Daimyo.”

“Speak!”

“Army Commander Liu Chen said that as long as Lord Daimyo surrenders to the Great Yu Empire and signs the Nagitsu Treaty, the war between our two countries can stop. If Lord Daimyo remains stubborn, their next target will be Nagasaki, until Japan is completely devastated,” Tokugawa Ieyasu said cautiously.

“What Nagitsu Treaty?” Yamada Nobunaga frowned.

Tokugawa Ieyasu immediately took out a copy of the treaty from his bosom and handed it to Yamada Nobunaga. Taking the treaty, Yamada Nobunaga merely glanced at it and then stood up in fury.

“Bastards! Bastards! Two hundred million taels of silver in war reparations! Are they planning to make us slaves to the Great Yu Empire forever, generation after generation?” Yamada Nobunaga was furious.

Tokugawa Ieyasu sighed, “Even if we don’t eat or drink, gathering all the daimyo’s strength, it would still take over ten years to repay.”

Yamada Nobunaga’s chest heaved violently. He forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and read on. Besides the first article, demanding two hundred million taels of silver in war reparations from the Great Yu Empire, the second article of this treaty disgracefully designated Japan by the name the Great Yu Empire gave them. The third article demanded that they recognize the independence of the Sanshan Kingdom, and from then on, Japan must not covet the Sanshan Kingdom and its series of southern islands. The fourth article demanded Japan cede Nagitsu City, open ports such as Nagasaki, Shimoda, Uraga, and Kanagawa, and provide coal and water to vessels traveling to and from the Great Yu Empire.

Fifth article: the Great Yu Empire possessed navigation rights on Japan’s inland rivers. Attacks on Great Yu Empire warships and vessels in inland rivers would be considered an act of war.

Sixth article: all expenses for the Great Yu Empire garrison stationed in Nagitsu would be borne by Japan. All Japanese islanders in Nagitsu who were not approved by the Great Yu Empire were required to leave Nagitsu within three months. All buildings and materials within the city would become property of the Great Yu Empire.

Seventh article: Japanese cities would allow Qingzhou Bank to establish branches, agree to use Great Yu Empire currency for domestic transactions, grant Great Yu Empire merchants most-favored treatment, and levy no taxes whatsoever.

Then, it further stipulated the timeline for Japan to repay the war reparations. These two hundred million taels of silver were to be repaid in eight installments. The first payment to the Great Yu Empire would be forty million taels, with the remaining seven payments decreasing sequentially.

Having read the entire treaty, Yamada Nobunaga almost fainted. This treaty was a blatant humiliation for Japan. If he signed it, he would be infamous for ten thousand years.

“I’m so angry! So angry!” Yamada Nobunaga leaned on a pillar and slowly sat down. He furiously threw the treaty to the ground.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was even more anxious than Yamada Nobunaga. Nagitsu was the Tokugawa family’s property. Ceding it was more painful than cutting off his own flesh.

“Daimyo, the Great Yu Empire is too deceitful. Why don’t we gather all the daimyo and fight them to the death?” Tokugawa Ieyasu said angrily.

Yamada Nobunaga shook his head painfully, covering his head. He said, “We cannot win. Perhaps we can achieve a brief victory, but the Great Yu Empire only dispatched twenty thousand men this time. What if it were one hundred thousand, or two hundred thousand? The most important thing now is to preserve our status.”

Tokugawa Ieyasu immediately understood. He knew what the Great Yu Empire had done in Goryeo, and now, recalling it, he couldn’t help but shudder.

“The world has changed. If we don’t keep up, we will be left far behind. We can agree to these conditions, but the Great Yu Empire must agree to let us send people to study abroad,” Yamada Nobunaga said.

“But will the Great Yu Empire people agree to us?”

“If they don’t agree, we will fight them to the death, until the last man,” Yamada Nobunaga said, narrowing his eyes.

Tokugawa Ieyasu nodded upon hearing this. “If that’s the case, I will now send someone to relay the message.”

With that, Tokugawa Ieyasu called for a cavalryman and had him return to Nagitsu with the message.

The next day, the message reached Yue Yun.

“Hahaha… This Yamada is somewhat interesting. He demands to send samurai to study abroad in the Great Yu Empire,” Yue Yun handed the letter to Liu Chen.

“It seems His Majesty was right. This Yamada Nobunaga does have some foresight,” Liu Chen asked, “So what should we do now?”

Yue Yun already had a contingency plan. He said, “His Majesty said when I came that if Japan proposes such a condition, we can agree, but we must raise the war reparations to three hundred million taels, and at the same time, as a defeated nation, Japan must hand over its military command and, without the Great Yu Empire’s approval, may not form an army, only retaining soldiers for maintaining public order.”

“His Majesty agreed?” Liu Chen said in disbelief. “Why? What if Japan becomes strong because of this?”

“His Majesty must have thought about this more thoroughly than we have. Even if Japan sends personnel to the Great Yu Empire, what they teach and how much they teach will be under our control. Otherwise, if they go and learn from Europe, it will be even more troublesome. As for industry, with the capabilities of the Great Yu Empire’s merchants, they can completely seize the opportunity to control Japan’s economic lifelines. All of this is for a deeper control of Japan. Most importantly, we cannot get bogged down in a quagmire of war right now. We need to implement a strategy of gradual encroachment, currently focusing on plundering resources.”

Liu Chen nodded, “Yes, it is unrealistic to keep Japan at this technological level forever. Now that they have been defeated by us, and they understand the formidable power of industry, it’s even more unrealistic. They will certainly try every means to develop industry.”

“Therefore, rather than letting them secretly steal our technology or learn from the West, it is better to let merchants, with some technology, seize the opportunity to control their industrial lifelines. Coupled with military and political control, Japan will hardly have a chance to rise again,” Yue Yun said coldly.