Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1127 1122 [The Shogunate is the best way to rule Japan]

When Zhu Guoxiang came to Luoyang to celebrate the New Year, the situation in Japan had already become chaotic.

Moreover, it is more chaotic than in history!
Firstly, when the Ming Dynasty occupied Iwami Silver Mine, it triggered the Heian-kyo Civil War in Japan, and the main family of the Fujiwara clan was replaced by another branch; secondly, the impact of Ming Dynasty's goods and currency caused certain forces in Japan to become stronger.

If we put it in a simple and understandable way, the king is written as emperor and the regent is written as prime minister, which is the following:

The retired emperor and the prime minister had a falling out, and the prime minister sided with the retired emperor.

Because of the issue of the heir of the Minamoto clan, the former emperor and the military official Minamoto no Tameyoshi fell out. The Minamoto clan was thus split, with Minamoto no Tameyoshi siding with the former emperor, while his son Minamoto no Yoshitomo was loyal to the former emperor.

Fathers and sons turned against each other, and brothers fought against each other.

Due to the uneven distribution of profits from maritime trade, the power of the retired emperor continued to split, and each family demanded that Taira no Kiyomori hand over control of the Seto Inland Sea and the ports.

This summer, a bloody conflict broke out between the two factions over a dispute over cargo at the port of Osaka, which then turned into a riot and finally into a coup.

The prime minister, who had been deprived of half of his power, brought together forces loyal to the retired emperor and launched an attack on Taira no Kiyomori's residence.

All factions were soon drawn into the chaos, and the Emperor even invited Buddhist monks to quell the rebellion.

The Heian-kyō Rebellion lasted 13 days, with more than 200 warriors killed or wounded on both sides. The Taijo-jo side won, and the defeated Taijo-jo was deposed.

Minamoto no Yoshitomo killed his eccentric father Minamoto no Tameyoshi with his own hands!
But after this chaos, the emperor's elderly wife became seriously ill and soon died.

Civil strife broke out again and turned into a confrontation between the Genji and Heike clans.

Taira no Kiyomori supported the recently deposed emperor and controlled the navy and the power in the capital.

Minamoto no Yoshitomo regarded the emperor who had no real power as the orthodox one, controlled the local samurai groups in the east, and gained the support of a large number of civil servants.

After a battle, Minamoto no Yoshitomo was defeated and fled Heian-kyo. He returned to the East and led an army to Kyoto, where he led a group of Eastern warriors to purge the court.

Since the Taira clan's control over the western part of the country was far less than that of Minamoto no Yoshitomo in the eastern part of the country, the difference in the army strength between the two sides was quite large. This top student who had studied in Luoyang for several years was actually beaten back step by step. It was obvious that he did not learn the essence of Ming Dynasty.

Winter came and the two sides temporarily ceased fighting.

……

The 72-year-old Xue Daoguang owned a Taoist temple on the outskirts of Heian-kyō and was also granted dozens of acres of surrounding land.

A few dozen acres of land, too shabby.

But this is the outskirts of Heian-kyō, and the fertile fields have long been occupied. Xue Daoguang was able to own dozens of acres of land thanks to his status as a high-ranking Taoist priest in the Ming Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, it was only because of Emperor Zhu that some land was given to him!
Taira no Kiyomori, who currently controls Heian-kyō, walked into the abbot's room. He had a mouthful of white teeth and a Ming dynasty bun. If you ignore his height and clothing, he looks like a Ming dynasty scholar.

Taira no Kiyomori bowed properly and said in fluent Ming official language: "Kiyomori greets Taoist Master Xue."

Xue Daoguang picked up the kettle and made some tea: "Please take a seat, distinguished guest."

Picking up the teacup pushed by Xue Daoguang, Taira no Kiyomori thanked him and tried to get closer: "Every time I come to Taoist Xue, I recall the time in Luoyang and Kaifeng. That was so nostalgic."

Xue Daoguang said: "I haven't been home for many years, and I miss my hometown a little bit after hearing what you said."

Taira no Kiyomori continued to express his love for Ming: "Sometimes I often wonder if I was a Tang person in my previous life. Before I went to Ming, I seemed like an uncivilized monkey. Ming is another world, where all the greatest things exist."

Xue Daoguang asked with a smile: "Why don't you move to Daming and settle down?"

Taira no Kiyomori chuckled twice and changed the subject to talk about the scenery of Luoyang.

After beating around the bush for half an hour, Taira no Kiyomori finally said, "Master, can you help me contact the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?"

Xue Daoguang said: "I am just an old man, how can I be worthy of such a position? There is a governor's office over at Iwami Silver Mine."

Taira no Kiyomori said, "I have already sent people to Iwami, but the governor has not given a clear answer. I have heard that the Taoist priest has a history with the emperor. You just need to help write a letter. After the matter is completed, all the five-mile radius around this Taoist temple will be given to the Taoist priest."

Xue Daoguang did not comment.

Taira no Kiyomori said: "I only ask to borrow 200 brave cavalrymen from the Iwami Governor-General's Office and obtain the approval of His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

Xue Daoguang thought for a long time, and finally said: "I can only help you write the letter, I can't guarantee whether it will succeed or not."

"That's enough." Taira no Kiyomori said.

After Xue Daoguang finished writing a letter, Taira no Kiyomori personally put it away.

He left the Taoist temple and returned all the way to Heian-kyo.

If Taira no Kiyomori had continued to develop for a few more years with the help of the benefits of maritime trade, he would not have had to borrow troops from the Ming Dynasty.

If Taira no Kiyomori is willing to share the profits from maritime trade, he will also gain more support from Western warriors and will not have to borrow troops from the Ming Dynasty.

However, Taira no Kiyomori liked to eat alone.

Not to mention sharing the profits from maritime trade with the Western warriors, he was even unwilling to share them with his own father. Only now that the war situation was unfavorable did he share a port with his father in exchange for his father's full support.

This guy is a dictator.

Historically, after he seized power by force, he owned more than 500 manors in tiny Japan and controlled large tracts of land around the manors. He sent children to inquire about public opinion, and killed nobles and civilians if he had any suspicion. Looking at the countless dilapidated thatched houses outside the city, Taira no Kiyomori became increasingly annoyed.

Luoyang and Kaifeng are both capital cities, but the outside of the cities are so prosperous. These thatched houses in front of us are simply unsightly.

Taira no Kiyomori really misses his time studying abroad in Ming Dynasty!
Everything is so beautiful.

The longer he was back in Japan, the more his memories of it were embellished. He automatically ignored the discrimination he had suffered in the Ming Dynasty, missed some of the friends he had made, and even asked Ming Dynasty merchants to help him send letters to his friends.

Many daily necessities in Taira no Kiyomori's home were imported from the Ming Dynasty.

A few years ago, someone brought tea seeds to Japan, and they are still only planted in a small area. However, the trend of drinking tea has already prevailed in Heian-kyō, and the nobles mainly drink tea from Zhejiang and Huainan.

Taira no Kiyomori, however, liked to drink Sichuan tea and Fujian tea because the two Ming emperors also loved to drink them.

He looked down on the Japanese nobles who drank Zhejiang and Huainan tea, thinking that they were just a bunch of bumpkins. He would rather spend more money to drink the same tea as the Ming emperor.

The following year, early spring.

Japan's East-West war has begun again.

Minamoto no Yoshitomo fully utilized his diplomatic talents to expand the Eastern Army.

This man was hated by his biological father because of his grandfather. Although he was the eldest son, he was deprived of inheritance rights since childhood.

His father threw him back to the countryside and left him alone. However, he used his adoptive father's connections to win over a bunch of local forces when he was in his teens, and by the time he was 20, the number of warriors he controlled surpassed that of his biological father.

He now has two wives and a large number of concubines, and each wife or concubine represents a force.

In contrast, Taira no Kiyomori was simply despised and abandoned by everyone.

In a battle in the spring, Taira no Kiyomori was defeated again.

In desperation, Taira no Kiyomori took out a large amount of wealth and rewarded it to the western samurai group, and promised benefits to attract some monk soldiers, and finally curbed the advance of the Minamoto clan's front line.

The reply from the Ming court also arrived.

After reading the letter, Taira no Kiyomori was furious - Emperor Zhu asked him to cede Kyushu Island!
Kyushu is a poor place indeed, but there are also some parts that are not poor.

Fukuoka is especially important. It is a hub for Sino-Japanese exchanges. The Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty set sail from Fukuoka. Various advanced Chinese technologies, including rice, also entered Japan from Fukuoka.

Fukuoka was developed very early, and around the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, maritime trade became increasingly developed. The Hakata area of ​​Fukuoka has now developed into a major port city, and is ranked among the top five in Japan in terms of urban population.

Taira no Kiyomori sat there for a whole day, reading Emperor Zhu's reply.

Although Emperor Zhu opened his mouth wide, he also offered more favorable conditions:
First, the Ming Dynasty provided two thousand elite soldiers to help Taira no Kiyomori defeat the Eastern Coalition Forces, and did not require Taira no Kiyomori to provide military funds and food.

Second, the Ming Dynasty was willing to lend Taira no Kiyomori 100 million kan at a low interest rate, using tax revenues from ports in the Seto Inland Sea as collateral.

Third, the Ming Dynasty presented Taira no Kiyomori with 500 sets of armor.

Fourth, the Ming Dynasty recognized the king supported by Taira no Kiyomori and supported Taira no Kiyomori as regent in the capacity of shogun. However, the Japanese emperor, who had been renamed as the king, could only be called the king, the lord of the country or the great king in the future.

Fifth, the Ming Dynasty supported Taira no Kiyomori's exclusive trading rights in the Seto Inland Sea.

Sixth, the Ming Dynasty sent 30 prospectors to help Taira no Kiyomori explore gold, silver and copper mines, and taught more advanced methods of smelting gold, silver and copper.

Seventh, the Ming Dynasty could open a mint in Fukuoka to help Taira no Kiyomori turn gold, silver and copper mines into Japanese coins. Taira no Kiyomori could use this to control Japan's coinage rights and influence and control the economic activities of local counties and kingdoms.

into the night.

Taira no Kiyomori lit the whale oil lamp, read the letter carefully again, and then placed the letter over the lamp and lit it.

He agreed because the Ming Dynasty offered too much.

With the support of the Ming Dynasty, he would be able to abolish the Insei system, establish the shogunate as the shogun to control the king and the country, and enjoy the huge profits from the trade in the Seto Inland Sea alone.

As for Kyushu, just cede it to Ming Dynasty. It’s not his territory anyway.

Taking something that was not originally yours and trading it with the Ming Dynasty was actually a very good deal. As for the stigma of ceding territory, there was no need to worry about it. If you killed a few more people, they wouldn't dare to blame you.

Emperor Zhu, who was far away in Luoyang, could not help but write this letter with a sense of bad taste.

The Shogunate's Twenty-One Demands?
Apart from the bad taste, Zhu Ming made a lot of money.

They salvaged Kyushu Island, the two major ports of Fukuoka and Nagasaki, and countless gold, silver and copper mines in Kyushu.

Moreover, Emperor Zhu helped Taira no Kiyomori to explore for minerals and taught him advanced mining techniques. His only intention was to allow Japan to mine more gold, silver and copper, and then the Ming Dynasty would earn those precious metals through trade.

Helping Taira no Kiyomori to mint coins was a disguised way of obtaining the right to mint coins in Japan.

In addition, supporting Taira no Kiyomori in establishing the shogunate was also a way of castrating Japan.

Once the shogunate was established, the shogun's policies would become increasingly conservative in order to control the local areas, and the Japanese nobles would become more corrupt and degenerate. It would also be difficult for the local military to develop because the shogun would actively weaken the local military.

If Japan wants to develop, it must overthrow the shogunate!
The Ming court would send troops to help the shogun suppress the rebellion at a critical moment. At that time, the shogun would have to provide military expenses, and if it could not afford it, it would use Japanese tariffs to offset it.

(End of this chapter)