Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Ishijian Guocheng.

Xue Daoguang has little interest in overseas development. After landing in Japan, he has been practicing Taoism quietly.

Xia Yuqing had already rushed back and summarized other investigation information and said:

"Iwami Kuni Castle is surrounded by mountains. Going north from the castle town is the sea, which is in the direction of the fishing port where we took the boat to land."

"There is a valley to the southwest. It is not very long and can be walked in half a day. After walking through the valley, go over the mountains to the west and you will find a small bay. There is a small piece of flat land in the bay that can be cultivated. It faces the sea to the north. In addition, It is surrounded by mountains on three sides. There is a small fishing village there, with about a hundred families living there, farming and fishing at the same time."

"There is a valley to the southeast. Halfway through, the valley extends to the south, and then to the southwest. At the end of the valley, there are high mountains."

"When this valley turns from due south to southwest, there is a mountain path continuing to the south. There is little cultivated land in the mountain forest, but there are also farmers living there, and these farmers are also hunters."

"Follow the mountain path and cross the mountains, and you will see Omori Mountain further ahead. The silver mine is in Omori Mountain. Traces of silver mines are found in many places throughout the mountain, and there may even be copper mines attached."

"The north of Omori Mountain is a valley extending east-west. In the valley, there are not only farmers, but also famous fields. But the owners of the famous fields are not the big names, but some small famous owners (small landowners, homesteaders). After all, that valley It’s very narrow, the land is barren, and the daimyo look down upon it.”

"To the south of Omori Mountain, the mountains are much lower, and there are more cultivated lands and farmers. But the land there does not belong to any daimyo, but is occupied by a group of monks."

"Mining silver mines definitely requires the most suitable garrison locations near the garrison, which are all in the territory of those monks."

While listening to Xia Yuqing's explanation, Zhu Xiaozhong checked several exploration teams and drew a simple map that was spliced ​​together.

After thinking for a long time, Zhu Xiaozhong said: "There is no rush to mine silver mines for the time being. We don't have enough manpower. Road construction requires people, and mining also requires people. Forced recruitment of local people is not the best option. After all, they have to farm the land and pay for food. From now on, we cannot rely entirely on transporting food across the sea. Therefore, we have to fight a war with the Japanese court. Don’t kill indiscriminately and capture more prisoners. Those prisoners are all miners."

Xia Yuqing flattered him: "What a great idea, general!"

Zhu Xiaozhong said: "Before the Japanese imperial court sends troops, it must send people to find out the news. Either send envoys, or send envoys, or simply send envoys together. Warn the soldiers not to run around during this period, and the soldiers guarding the city should not wear clothes. Good armor, and some local tattered armor to put on."

"Go to the castle town to buy more things, or even spend money to find women. The more generous the money, the better. It will make us look rich. Let's brag to the locals that we have all gold and silver cloth in our hands. Iwami Kuni Castle Full of treasures.”

"Wearing shabby armor but being extremely rich, the Emperor of Japan must not be able to bear it."

"Starting from tomorrow, I will personally go out to explore the terrain. I must have all the terrain within a radius of dozens of miles under my control, and then bribe the people in the mountains to keep an eye on me. As long as the people in the mountains provide reliable information, I will reward them with cloth and rice."

"The more Emperor's troops come, the better. You can set up an ambush anywhere on the maps you drew!"

In the next month, Zhu Xiaozhong personally went into the mountains to explore the topography and landforms.

The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty took turns spending money in the castle town. All of them are extremely generous with their spending. They are spending public funds anyway and do not use the money as money at all.

The common people resisted the Ming Dynasty copper coins at first, but the wealthy families took notice.

When Japan had just moved its capital to Heian-kyo, money was issued indiscriminately in order to build the capital, and large amounts of copper coins were continuously minted, which led to serious inflation. In order to preserve value, rich people hoard good money crazily, bad money drives out good money, and all the money circulating in the market is bad money.

The proven copper mines were gradually exhausted, and the court no longer minted new money.

Over the past two hundred years, Japan has regressed back to the era of barter, except for a few large cities.

Therefore, most Japanese people have never seen copper coins...

"Good money, all good money!"

"The Ming Dynasty is so rich that even its soldiers can afford good money."

"Hurry up and transport all the goods from the countryside to the national city. You can make a lot of money by selling them to soldiers of the Ming Dynasty."

"You can also send girls. There are so many Ming soldiers, they must need women."

"..."

The local wealthy families don't care about national interests. They only know that the Ming soldiers spent a lot of money and liked to spend money in the castle towns, and all the money they spent was good.

These high-quality copper coins are considered hard currency in Ping An Jing, and even bribery is easier to do.

Historically, Japan resumed large-scale circulation of copper coins after the founding of the Southern Song Dynasty and the opening of the Kamakura Shogunate to the sea. The coins of the Song Dynasty quickly dominated the Japanese market. Even throughout the Yuan Dynasty, Japan still used Song Dynasty coins as its mainstream currency.

Strange situations soon occurred around Iwami Kokujo.

The local wealthy families regarded the foreign invaders as gods of wealth, and they transported all kinds of local specialties from their territory to the castle town for sale.

There were even more than twenty brothels opened, filled with girls from the countryside.

The wealthy families liked Ming Dynasty copper coins, which set an example. Small traders and farmers also flocked to copper coins.

Some mountain people even heard the news and boldly came to the castle town just to sell game and furs.

Zhu Xiaozhong took the opportunity to bribe the mountain people, promising that their future prey could be sent to the national city for sale at any time. If there is an army passing by nearby, the mountain people can also come to the national city. As long as they provide reliable information, they will be immediately rewarded with copper coins.

Zhu Xiaozhong’s spies are everywhere in the surrounding mountains and forests for dozens of miles!

…

On the other hand, Heian Jing was dawdling.

As the special envoy of the Emperor, Taira Taira finally arrived at Iwami Castle more than two months later.

This guy was discovered by a hunter twenty miles away, and Zhu Xiaozhong received the news that night.

Moreover, there were as many as thirty or forty people from the mountains who came to report one after another. They were mainly traitors in a saturated style.

The first messenger, Zhu Xiaozhong, was rewarded with three hundred coins.

The other messengers also received ranging from 20 to 80 coins, and also told them the reasons for such rewards, claiming that if they ran faster next time, they would be rewarded more.

Taira Takaramori did not come directly to the national capital, but went to the home of the wealthy Yoshiga clan.

Jihe Qiancheng led the clan to welcome him and hosted a banquet to entertain him.

After the banquet was over, Ping Zhongsheng asked, "Do you know why the Ming Dynasty sent troops?"

Yoshiga Kensei replied: "I heard that a few years ago when the Emperor of France was still alive, he attacked Ming merchant ships."

"The leader of the merchant ship is a monk named Xue Daoguang?" Ping Zhongsheng reacted immediately.

"How do you know?" Jihe Kensheng was very surprised.

Ping Zhongsheng was a little embarrassed.

Emperor Shirakawa was afraid that the place would lose control and did not allow any foreign merchant ships to trade in ports other than Heian Kyo. It has also sent troops many times to crack down on pirates and illegal foreign merchant ships.

And every time he fights "pirates", the general in charge is Taira Tadamori. After all, he is the beloved general of Emperor Shirakawa.

Ping Zhongsheng thought carefully and said doubtfully: "That Xue Daoguang seems to claim to be the envoy of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty. There was no Ming Dynasty at that time."

Yoshiga Kensei said: "The emperor and the prince of the Ming Dynasty were Xue Daoguang's friends before the founding of the People's Republic of China. I heard that after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Xue Daoguang became the emperor's imperial onmyoji. He was attacked a few years ago, and he would probably incite Ming. The emperor of the country sends troops."

"Oh, that makes sense," Ping Zhongsheng sighed and asked, "How do you know this information?"

Yoshiga Kensei said: "Those soldiers from the Ming Dynasty often hang out in the castle town, and they will talk about everything when they are drunk. In order to find out the news, I sent someone to hang out in the shop and specifically question the drunken soldiers."

Ping Zhongsheng praised: "You are very smart."

Of course Yoshiga Kensei would not admit it. He had been sending people to sell goods in the castle town recently, taking the opportunity to make a lot of small money from Ming soldiers.

He would not tell Ping Zhongsheng that the Ming army came to find the silver mine.

Because if the emperor's army drives away the Ming army, the local wealthy families can jointly mine silver mines, and the court must not know about this.

The longer you hide it, the better!

Ping Zhongsheng asked again: "How many people are there in the Ming army?"

Yoshiga Kensei said: "Two to three thousand soldiers."

Taira Takaramori stayed at Yoshiga's house, and sent his confidants to disguise themselves as civilians and go to the castle town of Iwami Province to inquire.

A few days later, a trusted samurai came back with a detailed report: "The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were really rich. They went out of the city to buy things every day. They went to taverns to drink, to eat shops to eat, and to brothels to find women. They all used fine copper coins. There were even some from the mountains. Orion, you can also exchange beast skins for copper coins."

Ping Zhongsheng said displeasedly: "That's all you heard about?"

The confidant warrior said: "The leaders of these Ming armies, one is named Xue Daoguang, who is the onmyoji of the emperor of Ming Dynasty. The other is named Zhu Xiaozhong, who is the adopted son of the prince of Ming Dynasty. The former emperor of Song Dynasty and the current emperor of Ming Dynasty, They all want to go to sea to find immortals and obtain the elixir for immortality. They call Japan Fuso and say that immortals appear here. They also say that there are immortals in Omori Mountain in Iwami Country."

Ping Zhongmheng felt that it was a bit nonsense: "They captured Iwami Castle just to find immortals?"

The confidant warrior said: "Those Ming soldiers who went out to drink in the city all said this. Moreover, they also brought a lot of treasures, which were rewards from the Ming royal family. I heard that half of the eleven ships in the port were filled with food, and some were Half of them contain treasures, which are all used as gifts to the immortals."

Eleven boats, half food, half treasure.

Even if it was just hearsay, it was enough to make Ping Zhongmeng's heart flutter.

This guy is capable and knows how to do things, but he is also greedy for money.

When Emperor Shirakawa was still alive, every time Taira Taira was ordered to do something, he would take the opportunity to make a fortune, but the way to make money was more civilized than Yuan Weiyi.

In order to control the local area, Emperor Shirakawa also asked Taira Takaramori to serve as a guard around the capital.

Everywhere he went, he used various means to unify the local warrior class and established several powerful warrior groups.

After taking control of the local samurai class, he reached out to the local wealthy families to ask for money.

Regardless of Taira Takaramori's current official position, which is only Bizen guard and Zumaquan head, he can mobilize the samurai from the north of the capital, as well as the armed forces of Hoki, Echizen, and Bizen. As for the warriors in the north, some of them can mobilize arms from other places.

Hoki, Echizen, and Bizen all have land illegally occupied by Taira Takaramori!

Taira Taira no Mori planned to keep 40% of the eleven ships' worth of food and treasure, give 40% to the other samurai, and leave another 20% to Emperor Toba.

In order to seize treasures and achieve meritorious service in battle, as long as the Ming army is not invincible, Zhongsheng will decide to go to war no matter how difficult the battle is to draw!

If there are too many casualties in the army, just use more goods to distribute them, and you can only monopolize three achievements.