Song Gexing

Chapter 202 The anxious Hou Lengquan
The peaceful capital of Japan——

Emperor Go-Lengquan, who finally got the news, quickly convened his ministers for discussion. But at this time, not to mention the port of Nagasaki, the entire Kyushu Island was captured by the Song Army.

This was a bolt from the blue for the Japanese country. You must know that although the Heian nobles regarded everything outside Heian Kyo as the countryside, there was an exception in Kyushu.

Miyazaki Prefecture in later generations was the birthplace of the first Emperor Jimmu of Japan, and was called Hyuga Country. This is where the name Japan comes from.

Moreover, the Yamatai regime also started here. What worries them most is that Kyushu is too close to Honshu, with only a 600-meter-wide Kanmon Strait.

If this is occupied by a powerful enemy, the opponent can easily enter Honshu Island at any time. By then, Heian Kyo will no longer be safe.

Hou Lengquan was so anxious that his back felt cold, but misfortunes never come alone in the world. Before the results of his discussions with the ministers came out, someone had quietly left the capital and went to Kyushu to contact the Song army.

This time it is really not the work of the powerful Fujiwara family, but rather the fact that some of the estate owners in various places are dissatisfied, and most of them are dissatisfied.

This has to do with the politics of Japan during the Heian period. During the entire Heian period, Japan was actually in internal strife, and even moving the capital could not change it.

In the late Nara period, the Japanese state was actually similar to the scene after the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty. The contradiction between the nobility and imperial power was irreconcilable.

This was caused by the land policy of the Japanese state. In fact, it was the same as the land annexation in the late Ming Dynasty. Private ownership of land was pursued without restricting the common people from annexing land. Naturally, powerful people owned more and more land.

The Japanese people call them manor owners. People can cultivate the land, and whoever cultivates it will own it. The nobles who are getting richer and richer will naturally compete for political treatment after grabbing wealth.

The imperial power was gradually eroded, and the conflicts between the two sides became more and more serious. Until Emperor Tsunemu moved the capital to Heiankyo, he left the old nobles in power in Pingcheng.

Then came the rebellion and counterinsurgency. The imperial power won, but the result of the counterinsurgency was the creation of another group of powerful nobles, which also emptied the imperial power.

Among them, the one with the most power and the ability to depose the emperor like Cao Cao is the Fujiwara family, who is called Regent Guanbai.

During the Heian period of more than 300 years, the Fujiwara family had absolute power for more than 200 years, which naturally caused dissatisfaction among most local powerful people.

But in the absence of external force, these people have no choice but to save up for a long time before they dare to overthrow the Fujiwara family.

But now that the Song Army is here, it seems like a ray of light has illuminated these people. The leading party is not just the puppet soldiers and traitors of the past, there are such people in every country and nation.

This accounted for most of the reasons why Jiuzhou was captured by the Song Army so quickly. Otherwise, it would not have been so fast. Even if there were not many main troops here, the resisters were not just regular troops.

But the surrender of local powerful people is fatal. These people are rich and powerful, have high reputation in the local area, and have many followers who respond to them.

Zhang Dun is not an ordinary person. This Wuxi barbarian who can make rebellions continue. When he was in charge of the two lakes, they all chose to surrender. He has more than just force.

He is good at grasping the divisions of people's hearts and dismantling resistance, and using local powerful people. At the same time, he uses both kindness and power to make those powerful people who surrender willingly serve him.

The most important thing is that he formed a puppet army composed of Japanese people, with a total strength of 10, and absorbed a large number of retired samurai.

The samurai class had just emerged in this era and did not form a hierarchy. They still existed as housekeepers and thugs serving the nobles.

In the Heian period, apart from the ruling class, the people who were most respected by the people were not samurai, but onmyoji, the most representative of whom was Abe Seimei.Onmyoji is a characteristic of the Japanese country. They are like Chinese wizards, Taoist priests, and officials of the Qintian Prison. They are responsible for divination, astronomical horoscopes and other services for the court, and they also catch ghosts and expel monsters among the people.

The Japanese court had a special Yin Yangliao to support these people, and these people were passed down to the people in the form of families, masters and apprentices.

As the strategist of this Eastern Expedition, Zhang Dun will never use these heretics who are talking about gods. Therefore, under his plan, he will improve the status of warriors and let these budding classes sprout early.

Another major event that caused the collapse of Go Lengquan happened. Minamoto Yoriyoshi, who was in Mutsu Kingdom, actually called on all the nobles to put down their weapons and not to be hostile to the Song army.

For this reason, he wrote to the emperor and said impassionedly that Japan was originally a student of the Tang Dynasty, and master and apprentice were like father and son. Now that the Song Dynasty has inherited the Tang Dynasty, it is the country of Japan's parents. How can it resist its parents?

This blow was too heavy. Minamoto Yoriyoshi was no ordinary person. The contemporary head of the Qingwa Gen clan had commanded heavy troops to suppress the rebellion in the Kanto region.

He not only has soldiers in his hands, but also has a high reputation. He is a powerful faction among the nobles of the Japanese country.

Why Minamoto no Yoriyi would engage in such a drama, in fact, to put it bluntly, it was caused by an internal struggle for power.

Seven years ago, the Ezo people of Mutsu Kingdom resisted the rule of the Kazu clan under the instigation of Abe Yoritoki. Minamoto Yoriyoshi served as the Mutsu shou at this time, and it was naturally his job to suppress them.

Mutsu Kingdom is located on the edge of the Higashiyama Road of Japan, which is most of the three prefectures of Fukushima, Miyagi, and Yamagata in later generations. It is one of the large vassal states of Japan.

When Minamoto no Yoriyi killed Abe Yori three years ago, the resistance had not been completely subdued. The four-year war had cost Qing and Genji a huge price.

Naturally, Minamoto no Yoriyoshi hoped that the imperial court would share the burden and replenish supplies to restore the Mutsu country's economy, but the Fujiwara family, which controlled the government in Heian Kyo, disagreed. They wanted the imperial court to pay for the rebellion in their own territory, which was a good idea.

Ordinarily, the Fujiwara family's idea is correct. After all, the Japanese country implemented a feudal system, but the problem is that the Japanese feudal system is different from the European feudal system.

The Orientals abandoned the feudal system very early and implemented a nominal division of the country. The Japanese country, which had been learning from the Central Plains dynasty, was no exception.

Although the enfeoffment of the Japanese state had greater power than that of the Central Plains dynasty, they still had to pay taxes to the central court.

And it is not a hereditary system, but an appointment system. To put it bluntly, the division of the Wa Kingdom is actually similar to the first-level unit of the Great Song Road, but it is more like a feudal town.

When the feudal town failed to obey the imperial court's orders, the imperial court itself was responsible, but the Fujiwara family's actions angered Minamoto no Yoriyoshi.

It's just that the Fujiwara family is too powerful and there is nothing they can do.

But now someone contacted him and told him that the Song Dynasty's army had occupied the entire Kyushu Island. If he didn't seize this opportunity, he would be a fool.

Originally, Seiwa Genji couldn't stand the Fujiwara family. You, a descendant of a minister who was given a surname by the Emperor, have greater power than me, a descendant of the Emperor. Now you are targeting me. Who else will I do if I don't do it to you?

To put it bluntly, it was caused by the Fujiwara family's continuous suppression of the old aristocracy after they gained power over the world. This matter has nothing to do with right or wrong, but is actually a struggle for rights and interests.

(End of this chapter)