Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

After passing through a short hilly area, the valley ahead suddenly opened up.

There are hills on all sides and a large area of ​​low flat land in the middle. The castle was built on a hill, and the castle town was located on the plain below the hill.

Hundreds of peasants and soldiers had fled in all directions, and some simply climbed up the hill.

The noble warriors rushed towards the mountain city. The Ming Qingqi chased these people because they had the best armor.

He was captured first without riding a horse, and he knelt down to beg for mercy without daring to move.

Zhu Shouyi took the lead, passing through a large number of broken troops along the way, and only stared at Masuda Akira in pursuit.

Seeing that the pursuit was getting closer, Masuda Akiaki's son Masuda Akiaki shouted: "Father, return to the city quickly, I will stop the pursuers!"

This guy was so young and energetic that he actually reined in his horse, turned around, raised his gun and charged back at the Ming cavalry.

Zhu Shouyi accelerated his horse. When the two horses crossed each other, he drew his gun and knocked Masuda Akiaki off the horse, and then continued the pursuit without stopping.

Masuda Akiaki was injured but not dead. He struggled to get up. The Ming Dynasty cavalry who rushed to him shot him in the throat again.

"Open the city gate quickly!" Masuda Akira shouted.

There are two inner and outer walls in the Ishimi Imperial City, and Masuda Akira has rushed to the outer city. However, there were not many soldiers defending the city, and most of them were dragged out to fight. The few defenders saw the pursuers coming and were too frightened to let Masuda Akira in.

Masuda Akira turned his head and looked even more panicked: "Open the city gate quickly!"

Due to this man's usual prestige, the soldier could only open the door with all his might.

As soon as the city gate opened a crack, Masuda Akiaki dismounted and got in, shouting at the same time: "Close the door, close the door!"

Several archers on the city wall also shot arrows at Zhu Shouyi.

Zhu Shouyi did not pursue anymore, turned around to surround the defeated troops, and waited for the large troops to come and attack the city.

The castle town has become a mess, and the people have closed their doors to hide, and those who are farther away have fled into the mountains with their families.

When Zhu Xiaozhong came to the castle town with three thousand soldiers, the captured nobles and warriors, as well as the common people who had not escaped, were all stunned by these terrifying legions.

Japan imitated the imperial army system of the Tang Dynasty and established an anti-personnel system, also known as the legion system.

Just like the Tang Dynasty's military system, the land system collapsed, and the anti-human system also collapsed.

In the Tang Dynasty, the Jian'er system was supplemented, which was somewhat similar to the military household system (not involving family members) and a bit like professional mercenaries. In addition, the early Jian'er still retained some of the characteristics of government soldiers.

Japan also followed suit and also adopted the gymnastics system.

Athletes gradually evolved into the samurai class in Japan!

There were roughly two types of samurai at the end of the Heian period.

One type is public land warriors, who are maintained and dispatched by government officials.

One is the township lord samurai, which is the private armed force of the big landowners.

But no matter what kind of samurai, at the official level, they are all "athletes" under the athlete system. To put it bluntly, they are professional mercenaries and have not yet become a social class!

Since they are professional mercenaries, the Ming army can also hire them.

Yuan Sheng pointed to the prisoners kneeling on the ground and whispered to the translator: "These athletes can be hired, but in order to show their loyalty, they must obtain the consent of their masters."

Zhu Xiaozhong listened to the interpreter and immediately smiled and said: "All the athletes are here."

The translator shouted: "Athletes, come here!"

The captured warriors came to the front of Zhu Xiaozhong one after another and knelt on the ground again.

Zhu Xiaozhong pointed to the wealthy families and asked: "Are you willing to transfer these athletes?"

How dare the wealthy people say they don't want to?

He quickly agreed.

Zhu Xiaozhong asked about the wages of the warriors again. After hearing this, he curled his lips and said, "If you follow me from now on, the rice you will receive every month will increase by 30%."

The warriors were overjoyed and sincerely knelt down to thank him.

Since the wealthy family agreed to transfer Jian'er and promised on the spot that they would no longer have any affiliation, Zhu Xiaozhong asked the warriors to hold an allegiance ceremony.

It is not allegiance to an individual, but allegiance to the Ming Dynasty.

The warriors probably understood that they would be the "common land athletes" of the Ming Dynasty from now on.

"Bring rice!" Zhu Xiaozhong shouted.

The crew brought rice from the port, advanced wages to the newly recruited samurai on the spot, and gave each person an extra dou of "transfer fee."

The warriors carried grain bags and shouted: "Swear to the death of the Ming Dynasty, swear to the death of the Ming Dynasty!"

The local wealthy people were too angry to speak out, and at the same time they were extremely frightened.

Because they know that these athletes are really loyal to the enemy.

This is not yet the age of the samurai family, and the samurai class has not yet been fully formed. How loyal can we expect a group of professional mercenaries to be?

Zhu Xiaozhong said to the warriors: "You all go back to your hometown and bring your family here to settle down."

This is not only taking the samurai's family as hostages, but also freeing the samurai's family from the control of the original owner.

Zhu Xiaozhong was not in a hurry to attack the city. He sent soldiers to accompany the local warriors back home, and spent more than half a month gathering the warriors' families. Then, he occupied a residential area in the castle town and allowed all the newly recruited samurai and their families to move in.

In this way, nearly half of the main fighting force of Shijian Kingdom, the jianer warrior class, was subdued by Zhu Xiaozhong.

Immediately, through the information provided by these warriors, Zhu Xiaozhong sent troops to capture the Masuda clan and completely annex the land under the Masuda clan's name.

He gathered the captured nobles together, pointed at the Masuda clan members and said, "Kill all the adult males!"

As heads fell to the ground one after another, the captured wealthy people were so frightened that their whole bodies became weak.

Zhu Xiaozhong then said to Yuan Sheng: "One-third of the land of the Yitian family will belong to your Yuan family from now on. You can recruit talented people by yourself."

Yuan Sheng was so excited that he wiped away tears and shouted: "I will swear allegiance to the Ming Dynasty and General Zhu to the death!"

Zhu Xiaozhong then said to the newly recruited warriors: "One-third of the land of the Masuda clan will be distributed equally to you. From now on, you will not only be the great athletes of the Ming Dynasty, but also the minor masters of Ishijian Kingdom."

The warriors looked at each other, then knelt down to thank him.

Land can buy people's hearts, and land can buy loyalty. The samurai in front of them, after acquiring the land, were determined to be loyal dogs of the Ming Dynasty. Even if the emperor sent troops to kill them, they would fight to the end.

The remaining one-third of the Masuda clan's land, as well as many common lands in Ishimi Kingdom, will be used as common lands for the Ming Dynasty's overseas legions from now on.

In fact, it does not collect much tax. It is mainly symbolic and represents the Ming Dynasty's rule over Shijian Kingdom.

Zhu Xiaozhong stood up with a smile, and deliberately imitated Prince Zhu in every word and deed. He pointed at the mountain city of Shi Jianguo and said: "Attack the city tomorrow!"

There are not many soldiers left in the city.

Before attacking the city, Zhu Xiaozhong also asked the warriors to shout.

"Listen to the athletes in the city, the Masuda clan has been killed, and the Masuda clan's land has been confiscated. We have all received land rewards. As long as you open the city and surrender, you will also be granted land and become a minor master. Kill Masuda Akira, There are also rewards for meritorious service!”

Can athletes be given land and become nicknames?

Is there a big reward for killing Akira Masuda?

The few warriors left behind in the city couldn't help but look at Masuda Akira.

Masuda Akira was horrified: "As long as the national city is defended, the emperor's army will soon be able to..."

Before he finished speaking, a warrior rushed over.

The rest of the samurai were afraid that they would not be able to get a big reward, so they also raised their weapons and tried to steal Masuda Akira's head.

Defending the national city?

Are you kidding me? There are so many Ming soldiers outside the city. They can't defend it even with their three heads and six arms.

Soon, the city gate opened.

Peasants and soldiers shivered and knelt on the ground, while warriors came over with human body parts in their hands to claim credit and receive rewards.

The one who grabbed the head was rewarded with five measures of grain and an additional acre of land.

Those who grab other parts will also be rewarded.

Everyone is happy.

In the city of Shijian, Zhu Xiaozhong summoned the powerful clans in the country and said to them: "The Masuda clan refused to surrender, so the genocide was annihilated. If you didn't resist and cause rebellion, our clansmen would not be killed, and you would not be confiscated." Nata. Even when the Emperor's army comes, you can join, as long as you don't contribute. When I defeat the Emperor's army, you will officially surrender to the Ming Dynasty. "

These conditions are very lenient and considerate of the wealthy family.

Everyone was convinced, knelt in front of Zhu Xiaozhong, and vowed never to go against Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Xiaozhong added: "Seeing that there are silver mines in the country, you each mobilize your clansmen and subordinates to go to the mountains to find the silver mines and silver veins. Once you find them, you will be rewarded heavily. If you find them but hide them, I will destroy his entire clan." !”

The wealthy families accepted the order and stayed in the city to have a good meal, and then returned to their hometowns to look for silver mines.

In more than a hundred years, Iwami Yinshan will be discovered. However, due to low mining technology, only open-pit silver mines were initially mined. It was not until the Chinese learned technology from the Ming Dynasty that deeper silver mines were officially mined.

During the special period when Spain was frantically mining American silver, Iwami Ginzan actually accounted for one-third of the world's silver production!

But it is said that these wealthy families, after escaping back to the countryside, actively searched for silver mines for the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time sent people to Ping An Jing to seek reinforcements.

If the Emperor's army is defeated, they will seek refuge with the Ming Dynasty and dedicate their silver mines to the Ming Dynasty.

If the emperor's army wins, they can also perform meritorious service and divide the silver mines afterwards.

Anyway, it’s not a loss.

…

Emperor Toba, what are you doing right now?

Clean up the court!

His immortal grandfather finally died, and from now on he has the final say.

First of all, he wanted to welcome Yasuko Fujiwara into the palace to gain the support of his relatives, the Fujiwara family, and use the Fujiwara family to suppress the forces promoted by his grandfather.

Secondly, consolidate your own administration and reject the administration left by your grandfather.

This guy is playing with fire. His grandfather vigorously promoted the middle and lower nobles, with the purpose of strengthening centralization.

But Emperor Toba did the opposite and actually reused his relatives and nobles. This eventually led to the birth of Japan's first shogunate era, with the emperor becoming a complete puppet.

"Your Majesty, the Ming army defeated the Nagato navy and quickly captured Iwami Castle!"

When Emperor Toba first heard about this, he was really confused and asked: "Which country is the Ming Dynasty? I only know the Song Kingdom, the Jin Kingdom and Goryeo. Where is the Ming Kingdom?"

"Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty is the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty has died, and the new emperor of China founded the country with the name of Ming Dynasty."

"How could China send troops to kill them? And instead of coming to attack Ping An Jing, they went to the remote Shi Jian Country?"

"I don't know."

"Call the army immediately! Before sending troops, send an envoy to Shi Jian to ask for clarification."

(Three corrections in previous chapters: first, Niron Mongolia was brain-beaten and became Sauron Mongolia; second, the light cavalry did rarely use super long lances, which have been changed from four meters to three meters; third, Ishimi The location of Guocheng has been corrected.)