Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Ping Zhongmheng led people to the castle town and found that there was no trace of invasion here, and the shops seemed particularly lively.

Even in the low thatched shop, some Ming soldiers were sitting and spending money - the acting was actually a bit overdone, and the Ming soldiers didn't like the junk stuff inside at all.

The main focus is to show wealth!

In the process of showing wealth, Zhu Xiaozhong also conducted deep reflection. He believed that soldiers should not be allowed to wear tattered armor, as this was not in line with the image of Ming soldiers being stupid and rich in money.

So he dug out the cloth from the cabin, then asked local craftsmen to tan the leather, and secretly made cloth-leather mixed armor.

After it is made, nails are painted on the surface.

Then paint was applied and decorations were added to make the armor look fancy.

When Ping Zhongsheng approached the city gate, he was startled by the defenders. That mighty and bright armor is actually worn on the guards?

Until he came to the front, Ping Zhongsheng couldn't help but laugh. It turned out that they were just fake.

Moreover, one or two of these soldiers actually smelled of alcohol and stood lazily at the gate of the city, yawning.

He was taken to the inner city to see Zhu Xiaozhong, who was sitting in the palace drinking and having fun with two girls in his arms.

After Ping Zhongsheng entered the palace, Zhu Xiaozhong asked drunkenly: "Is this the Japanese envoy?"

This scornful name did not arouse any protest, because when translated, the pronunciation of "Japanese King" is basically the same as "He Wang".

Ping Zhongsheng asked: "Why did the Ming Dynasty send troops to occupy Ishimi without authorization?"

Zhu Xiaozhong smiled disdainfully: "This small country dares to falsely claim to be the emperor, and dares to attack our Chinese fleet. His Majesty, the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, sent me to teach you a lesson. In addition, there are immortals in the Dasen Mountain of Shijian Kingdom. From now on, Shijian Kingdom will It is under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty. When the elixir is obtained, the Japanese king swears that he will no longer call himself the emperor, and submits his credentials to the Ming Dynasty. At that time, I will withdraw my troops and leave."

"General, we can discuss diplomatic relations later, but your country must withdraw its troops first," Taira Takaramori said.

Zhu Xiaozhong seemed particularly impatient. Before the translator could finish speaking, he angrily shouted: "Get out! Don't bother me drinking."

Two soldiers rushed over, held Ping Zhongmheng up on his left and right sides, and dragged him outside.

Ping Zhongsheng clearly felt that the two guards were wearing iron armor.

He is a little confused now. What is the situation of the Ming army in front of him?

Ping Zhongsheng once competed with the Song Dynasty soldiers under Xue Daoguang's command. He led his warriors to launch a surprise attack, and the Song Dynasty soldiers were caught off guard. But still relying on their excellent armor, they calmly retreated to the ship, and counterattacked with the hard crossbow on the ship, and even killed them and snatched back the corpses of friendly soldiers.

After that, Xue Daoguang's fleet ran away and plundered Japanese coastal cities. Ping Zhongsheng couldn't catch him at all. Every time he rushed to grab it, he had already finished it. In the end, he had another water fight and was defeated.

Since the Ming Dynasty destroyed the Song Dynasty, the Ming army should be more capable than the Song army.

Why do some of the Ming army here wear real armor, while others wear fancy clothes?

Also, why didn’t you see Xue Daoguang, the imperial onmyoji of the Ming Dynasty today?

Just as Ping Zhongsheng was dragged out of the city gate, a guard ran out and shouted: "The general said that this man is rude and wants to punish him severely and strip him of all his clothes!"

This time, all the soldiers who rushed out quickly surrounded them with guns and bows, and disarmed the samurai under Ping Zhongsheng.

"What did they say?" Ping Zhongsheng asked the translator he brought with him.

The translator said: "The general of the Ming Dynasty said that we were rude and wanted to strip us naked and humiliate us."

Ping Zhongsheng was shocked and was about to draw his sword to resist, but he was held down by Ming soldiers, took off his clothes and dragged him to the castle town to parade in public.

Not only that, all the samurai brought by Taira Takaramori were stripped naked and paraded through the streets.

"Asshole, let me go!"

"I am an envoy sent by the King of France, and I am a brave warrior from the north!"

"..."

Countless people came to watch, and a group of warriors were so ashamed that they wanted to commit suicide. They were so naked that they were so embarrassed.

Taira Taira was so angry that his eyes were red, and he clamped his legs tightly to cover his crotch. He was dragged along the street and roared: "I swear in the name of Amaterasu, I will lead my troops to kill you all..."

After being humiliated for a long time, the Ming army threw these guys on the ground, laughed at them and left arrogantly.

Ping Zhongsheng quickly rushed into a private house with his crotch covered and shouted: "Get my clothes back quickly!"

The warriors ran naked to look for clothes, but saw that their clothes and armor were actually worn on a group of prostitutes, and there were Ming soldiers laughing next to them.

After struggling for a while, civilians were finally asked to donate their clothes, and Ping Zhongmheng and the samurai escaped in embarrassment.

Xue Daoguang stood on the city wall and witnessed the whole farce. He frowned and asked, "Isn't it a bit too much?"

Zhu Xiaozhong had an indifferent attitude: "If you don't push them into a hurry, how can you bring the army back at all costs for revenge? When I left the capital, His Highness the Crown Prince said that as long as I can get money back to my country, I can use any means. "

But Ping Zhongsheng left in embarrassment and walked along the valley for several miles. Suddenly a group of warriors came out and Yuan Sheng led others to kneel in the valley.

"Who are you?" Ping Zhongsheng asked.

Motomori replied: "I am Tsushima Shou appointed by Dazaifu. My name is Abiru Motomori."

Ping Zhongsheng had an impression: "You have defected to the Ming Dynasty?"

Yuansheng burst into tears and cried: "Those Ming troops suddenly came to Tsushima Island, and I was forced to surrender. The territory of Tsushima Island has been occupied by the Ming troops. They said it would be useful. The land exchange of Ishimi Country only compensated me, the Masuda clan, for one-third of the land. If the compensation was real, it wouldn't be a big deal, but it was just a show. All the samurai there were conquered by the Ming army. I can't command anyone. The food harvested in the future will definitely be taken away by the Ming army."

After hearing these words, Ping Zhongsheng gradually regained his composure and asked: "Why do some soldiers of the Ming Dynasty wear iron armor, while others wear beautiful cloth armor?"

Yuan Sheng began to recite the lines: "This General Zhu is the adopted son of the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, and he is extremely favored by the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty. Those under his command who wear brightly colored cloth armor are all children of the nobles and rich men of the Ming Dynasty, and they can only cross the sea with the army through bribery." War exploits. These people don’t know how to fight. They drink and have fun every day. They are all very rich."

"And those wearing iron armor are the real warriors of the Ming Dynasty. These warriors are very powerful. The capture of Tsushima Island and Iwami Castle relied entirely on these warriors to charge forward."

Ping Zhongsheng asked: "How many Ming troops are there who drink and have fun all day long? How many Ming troops are able to wear iron armor and fight?"

Yuan Sheng said: "Each person has half, the total number is more than two thousand."

Ping Zhongsheng thought about it and said to Yuan Sheng: "If you defeat the Ming army in this battle, I will personally ask for a reward for you."

Yuan Sheng said: "I don't dare to expect anything else, I just want a Taima Shou position. A real Taima Shou!"

Tsushima Island is currently not an official territory of Japan and is equivalent to a forward position to guard against pirates. The leaders were only appointed by the county and were not recognized by the central court. They had no legal positions and salaries, and did not have to pay annual tribute to the county.

In other words, Yuan Sheng is not even a serious official in Japan, he is just a mercenary leader stationed on the island!

Ping Zhongsheng immediately made a promise: "As long as you stay in Shijian Kingdom as an internal response, and after defeating the Ming army, I will ask you for a formal official position."

Yuan Sheng was so happy that he knelt down and kowtowed, crying with gratitude.

Ping Zhongsheng praised: "What a loyal and righteous man."

…

Taira Takaramori, who suffered humiliation, ordered his samurai not to talk about today's events again, let alone let the scandal spread back to Heian Kyo.

He returned full of anger and said to Emperor Toba: "More than two thousand soldiers came from the Ming Dynasty. Half of them were wealthy children. They didn't know how to fight. They drank and had fun every day. The other half were real samurai, all well-dressed. With iron armor, one can defeat ten or twenty. Your Majesty, I need to use two thousand warriors and thirty thousand troops!"

"Do you need so many troops? The Ming army only has more than a thousand troops capable of fighting." Emperor Toba was a little surprised.

Ping Zhongsheng said: "I have seen those iron armors, and it is difficult to get swords."

Emperor Toba pondered for a moment and said, "Just recruit as many troops as you want!"

Emperor Toba, who had just taken over the throne, urgently needed a victory to consolidate his position of power.

Ping Zhongmori also wanted to gain military honors and trophies, and he couldn't wait to seek revenge after being humiliated.

Both the king and his ministers wanted to fight.

This has troubled the wealthy families in Gyeonggi and surrounding counties. The northern samurai group controls many local samurai groups. The wealthy families were members of local samurai groups. They usually used this status to consolidate their status, but at this time they had to send troops and food to help the emperor fight.

For a battle involving 30,000 people, Emperor Toba did not need to provide much food, most of which had to be borne by the local wealthy families themselves.

In order to recruit troops and food as soon as possible, Ping Zhongsheng began to publicize the wealth of the Ming army, saying that the ships were full of treasures and food.

This greatly increased the enthusiasm of the wealthy families, who invited friends and companions to leave their hometowns with warriors, peasants and soldiers.

Because he had seen the power of the Song Dynasty fleet, Ping Zhongsheng did not dare to take the entire sea route.

He recruited a large number of river and sea ships to transport supplies in the Seto Inland Sea, while his soldiers marched westward along the coast. Troops continued to join from the counties and counties along the way, and when they arrived at Anyi Country, there were even more than 30,000 people.

Then following the mountain passage, Ping Zhongmori personally led the main force and marched toward the northeast.

As a deputy general, Minamoto no Yoshitsune led thousands of partial troops and immediately went northward in Bingo country.

The armies led by the two men launched a pincer-shaped offensive from the southwest and southeast of Shijian Kingdom to attack the Ming soldiers.

Minamoto no Yoshi's old habit was committed again. After taking control of the partial division alone, he looted along the way to Bingo country. Not to mention cities, when they encounter larger villages and towns, these guys will set up troops and rob them.

The wealthy families of Bingo Kingdom were miserable and recruited samurai and peasant soldiers one after another, and hurriedly joined Minamoto no Yoshi's team.

I just hope that after becoming an ally, Yuan Weiyi can be merciful when looting.

At the same time, Taira Takaramori also sent people to Nagato and Shu to defend the two countries, asking the local wealthy families there to quickly gather troops and fight from the west of Ishimi Country, forming a three-pronged army encirclement and suppression situation as soon as possible.

The Japanese army was waiting impatiently in Shijian Kingdom.