A side story of Wu Sorrow (go back to Mars at any time for the lord
Chikuzen Country, Dazaifu.
This is located on Kyushu Island, the westernmost island of the Japanese Islands. At the northernmost tip of Kyushu Island, it is a large city that the Tang army must first conquer after landing.
On the ninth day of February, two thousand Tang army infantry had set out to attack Dazaifu.
Shi Hui followed behind with the military quartermaster leading the baggage team. As he walked, he learned about the Dazaifu from the captive Zuo Zhifang.
"Dazaifu is the western capital of the Kingdom of the Rising Sun."
Zuo Zhifang mentioned the city in front of him with pride in his tone, singing a song and praising it: "It is the distant court of the great king and the best city in the world."
After the interpreter translated these words, the surrounding soldiers turned their heads one after another. Some were stunned, while others laughed.
Shi Huisui imitated the Japanese accent and asked: "Coaxing?!"
Zuo Zhifang nodded vigorously and said: "The Dazaifu was built according to Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty. Chang'an City has been destroyed, but our Western Capital is still there."
"Coaxing?"
Shi Hui asked again, finally getting a little excited.
It had been three days since he arrived in Japan. Looking around, he saw barren land and mountains and forests. He was really looking forward to seeing a big city.
After driving for more than 20 miles from Kiyosato, the baggage finally arrived at Dazaifu before nightfall.
There is a Tang army encamping ahead.
Shi Hui stepped forward and handed over to the commander of the Tang army's infantry. The other party was a commander in his forties named Fan Xueyi.
"General Fan, we are camped outside the city, but we haven't captured Dazaifu yet?"
"Captured." Fan Xueyi said: "One hundred thousand Japanese troops have not yet been seen. They are still so-called 'samurai' fighting on their own. Six hundred warriors defended the city, and they were brought down with two rounds of fire cannons."
Shi Hui asked: "Then why is the general still camping outside the city?"
"A small town with a square area of four miles cannot be garrisoned."
After all, Shi Hui was disappointed with the Western Capital, the "distant court of the great king".
Dazaifu is not big, but it is indeed built after the layout of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty. In the middle is a "Suzaku Street", which is more than thirty steps wide.
The problem is that such a street only occupies a quarter of the entire Dazaifu.
Zuo Zhifang was very excited and gave Shi Hui pointers and introduced the city.
"Hundreds of years ago, when envoys came to visit, they would first check into the Chikushikan on the coast. After arriving at Dazaifu, they would organize the ceremony at the guest house over there, and then walk through the straight Suzaku Street to the government office in front..."
Shi Hui looked up at the sky, but he only felt depressed.
He will be stationed here temporarily and cooperate with the military quartermaster to mobilize the army's logistical equipment.
The next day, the government office.
Fan Xueyi got up early, put on his armor, and prepared to lead his troops south.
The Japanese army had already gathered in the south of Kyushu Island, and the Tang army was preparing to ambush them at the Kawajindai floating bridge in Chikugo.
Shi Hui believed that this battle should not be difficult to fight, because Navy Marshal Zhang Gui had already landed on the west side of Kyushu Island. In addition, the navy from Laizhou, Taicang and other routes were already converging on Kyushu Island.
But he felt that Fan Xueyi's face looked a little solemn.
"Master Wang's momentum is overwhelming. I wonder what General Fan is worried about?"
Fan Xueyi said: "I'm not worried about the war. What I'm worried about is how to garrison the camp."
"Of course..." Shi Hui learned a word that he could use in Goryeo, so he stroked his beard and said loudly: "Of course it belongs to the county."
"I was also born in military supplies." Fan Xueyi said: "In such a barren place, it will be very difficult for the army to establish a military camp until those croaking warriors surrender."
"Is the General worried too far?"
"Didn't you see?" Fan Xueyi frowned and said, "The people here are so poor that the men only wear their crotches and the women don't even wear clothes."
Shi Hui actually saw it, but didn't think much about it.
As for Fan Xueyi's worries, he has not yet fully understood them.
He will be stationed here for at least another year...
~~
Peking.
Miyagi main hall.
Shi Jun stood directly in front of the civil servants, holding a document in his hand and reading it for a while. Then he asked Yan Yunyun and several officials from the Municipal Shipping Department: "Why not?"
Also present in the hall were Zhao Liangbi, Hao Jing, and some ministers who had been on envoys to Japan.
"On this point, I agree with what the Right Prime Minister said." Zhao Liangbi answered for Yan Yunyun first, saying: "Since Your Majesty has sent troops, I also believe that as long as the troops and horses are not withdrawn, the money and food for logistics supplies cannot be cut off.
"
The reason why there is this discussion today is because reports of the war on Tsushima Island and Iki Island came out, and some ministers in the court wrote a letter, thinking that Japan can be pacified within three months, and maybe some money and food supplies can be reduced, and part of the food can be eaten locally.
Military rations.
Yan Yunyun's reaction to these sounds was extremely strong, and he immediately went to the palace to see him.
"Your Majesty, I do not feel pity for the Japanese people, but because Japan is so poor that it will never be able to provide food and pay for a large army!"
Li Xia seemed to smile, but he didn't know what he was laughing at.
Shi Jundao: "Don't be excited, Prime Minister. What these officials are saying is that after the Japanese are pacified, the garrison will gradually be garrisoned..."
"The Prime Minister Zuo may not understand how poor Japan is, but I can tell you. Japan is full of mountains, there are no big rivers, there are very few fields, and the soil has no fertility, and there are continuous natural disasters."
Yan Yunyun had previously refused to say these words in court, because they were too likely to become the reason for the courtiers to oppose this war.
But when the war started, the courtiers could not imagine how poor that place was, and it might affect the entire war.
She turned around and took a look. Behind her, an official from the Shipping Department who had been to Japan came out. He saluted the emperor and started talking.
"Because it was too barren, the Japanese king even forbade the Japanese people to eat animal meat, so as to avoid having no cattle for farming, no chickens to lay eggs, and no dogs to keep watch at night. In order to be able to eat meat, the Japanese people classified rabbits as birds and called them 'One-Feather Rabbits'.
As for the rice, it is also mixed with coarse bran and has a hard texture that is difficult to swallow, so it is called 'strong rice'. Even the nobles can only eat rice with pickled radish on weekdays."
There were already officials in the palace looking at each other, and they all secretly said that it was the right minister who insisted on asking the emperor to conquer Japan at that time. It is better now that the conquest is in such a place.
It's like a rich man trying to steal a poor house.
"It is precisely because of such poverty that the life of the Japanese is very short. For example, the so-called Hojo Tokimune, who was in charge of power, had an adult ceremony at the age of six and got married at the age of ten. His father died at the age of thirty-six, and his ancestor died at the age of twenty-seven.
Very few Japanese can live beyond the age of fifty. After seventy, they will take the initiative to go up the mountain to starve to death."
"Yes, the poverty of the Japanese country is different from the temporary poverty during the war in the Central Plains. The poverty of the Japanese country has been barren since ancient times, year after year, month after month, thousands of years. The army is stationed there, but it is true that no matter how hard it is, there is no food and grass."
"Such things show that the land is barren, so we must not stop the supply of military rations!"
After hearing this, Shi Jun frowned more and more.
If he had known this earlier, he would have opposed the conquest of Japan even more resolutely.
"Your Majesty!" Shi Jun no longer wanted to talk to Yan Yunyun, and turned to Li Xia and said: "If we want to supply military rations for many years, how much expense will it cost? So, why not give that arrogant small country a lesson and order it to become a vassal and pay tribute...
…”
Yan Yunyun said: "I dare to guarantee to Prime Minister Zuo that the gold and silver minerals in this land will be able to make up for it..."
Shi Jun was furious and shouted: "The war has reached this point before the right prime minister is willing to speak out about the poverty of the Japanese country! How can everyone in the court believe what the right prime minister says now?!"
"My letter."
Li Xia finally spoke and said: "Shi Qing, please be patient for a moment. I might as well tell Shi Qing again. In that place in Japan, not only is it so poor that you can hardly believe it, but its people are also so unfaithful that you can't understand it."
, because you have never experienced the extent to which generations of hunger can make people cold and indifferent to the core, and how despising life can be."
"Your Majesty, in that case..."
"Because of this, I will not give up until Japan is destroyed."
~~
February 15th.
Kyushu, Chikugo, Sichuan Jindai.
After a big battle, there were corpses everywhere.
The progress of the war was completely different from what Fan Xueyi thought. He originally thought that the samurai from Usuki, Huji, Matsuura Party, Kikuchi, and Harada would join forces and come together with a large army to fight.
But in fact, as soon as the Japanese army arrived at a group, they immediately rushed up to kill them.
This allowed the Tang army to kill them easily.
But the problem was that the Tang army could not win in just one battle. Instead, it felt like there was an endless supply of enemies.
"Damn, I think the Japanese army may really have 100,000 people. General, but I really don't understand why they use this kind of attack?"
Faced with this problem, Fan Xueyi thought for a while and responded: "Because Japan has too many islands and too many mountains."
"Mountain?"
"This kind of messy terrain has allowed the Japanese to have a large number of...local feudal towns? Think of them as small feudal towns." Fan Xueyi pointed to the flag not far away and said: "You see, they are not subordinate to each other."
"Damn, what a bullshit army." The soldier spat, but he also sat on the ground tiredly. After a while, he said: "General, but why do I feel that fighting like this will make me more tired?"
Fan Xueyi actually thought about it and explained: "The Japanese are stubborn and stubborn. They think that they can win with their bravery. They don't ask if all their allies are dead, and they charge directly. The more people you kill, the more people you surrender.
Less, of course it’s tiring.”
"Then just kill them all."
Fan Xueyi nodded, but there was some worry in his eyes.
He began to worry that if the fighting continued like this, there would be too many corpses and a plague would result.
Not far away, some soldiers were urging the prisoners and locals to move the bodies, and occasionally they would talk a few words.
"The Japanese don't seem to be afraid of death."
"Ha, this is such a shitty place. Life is worse than death. Of course I'm not afraid of death."
~~
The ninth day of March.
Shi Hui has been stationed in Dazaifu for a month.
He disliked it here more and more.
After the local Japanese people saw how powerful the Tang army was, they began to welcome the Tang army with an overly enthusiastic attitude.
But Shi Hui couldn't feel their sincerity.
Sometimes when he walked in the countryside and looked at the men and women lying naked in the sun, he always felt a chill that penetrated his bones.
On Tsushima Island, he saw the eighty samurai rushing forward to die, screaming, but here it was deathly silent.
Between every movement and silence, there is a kind of indifference to life soaked in thousands of years of barrenness.
"I'm old, but I still want to live."
Shi Hui would often sit in front of the government hall and chat with some wounded soldiers, revealing his homesickness.
"I used to be a water bandit, and together with my brothers, we were known as the Eighteen Monsters of Jiangpu. Although we killed people and stole goods, we were very lively and happy together. I was also happy in the navy, and my colleagues fought with me. I am a big man
Even though they are old, they still want to make achievements. Look at those Japanese people, they are lifeless when they are in their teens."
As Shi Hui spoke, he felt more and more depressed and murmured: "I asked General Ma to transfer me to the Laizhou Army just to fight this battle. Damn, look at the thatched roof of this No. 1 'Western Capital' in the world."
.”
"Old Shi, it's only been a month."
"Yes, I have to stay for another year. At this age, I don't know if there is still time to return home."
"Do you think I can stay here? Damn it, those Japanese people eat less than birds. It's like I came to rob them."
Shi Hui was both funny and sad, his eyes turned red and he sighed.
"well."
"How about... let's go listen to music?"
"Listen to music?"
"There is an okiya right here in Dazaifu."
Shi Hui finally had expectations for the loot again, but he still gave a reminder, saying: "I heard that many people died of illness here, and there is a shortage of medicine. You should be careful. If someone in the army dies because of flowers and willows, I will
It’s hard to explain when you’re on the top.”
~~
Shi Hui had heard before that in recent years, sea trade has gradually expanded, and some sea merchants have become rich by selling Japanese female slaves. Therefore, he thought that those geisha must be very charming.
However, when he actually arrived at the art studio, he was shocked. He really couldn't appreciate the white face and black teeth.
"I still have military duties..."
"Hey, everyone is here, just like we sent out troops, everyone is here, sit down."
Shi Hui sat down, took a sip of tea, and his whole face wrinkled again.
"astringent."
"Damn it, what I drank when I was a water bandit was better than this dog's urine."
It's been a few years since he cursed, but he's been in a really bad mood lately.
On the stage, the geisha with white face and black teeth knelt down in front of Shi Hui, said a few words of flattery gently, and then began to play the piano.
Surprisingly, she played very well.
The more Shi Hui listened, the sadder he became...
But after listening for a while, a man suddenly said something in a small room behind him.
"Oh, it's a small country with few people. It's miserable and sad for itself. It's like being left behind."
Shi Hui was stunned, thinking that this piece of music was obviously good.
He moved towards the wing and heard the man continue to comment: "This is a majestic piece of music. I listened to Aunt Wu playing it in Hangzhou. The golden light broke through the clouds, showing the magnificence of the people of our great country. When these Japanese women played it,
However, it has become the so-called 'wusai', which is boring."
Shi Hui suddenly woke up and realized that although the man behind the curtain sounded arrogant, his knowledge was extraordinary.
The man then said, "Tea is also hard to drink."
"Mr. Pu, this is the Japanese tea ceremony."
Shi Hui couldn't help but be a little surprised, thinking that the voice sounded like a military quartermaster.
But I haven't heard of any high-ranking official named Pu coming, and he needs to be entertained personally.
"Tea ceremony? The Japanese country didn't even have tea trees. It was passed down from the Sui and Tang Dynasties. This method of matcha is complicated and difficult to eat. It is also the only island country that is isolated overseas and does not make improvements. It is proud of being closed-minded. It is ridiculous."
When Mr. Na Pu said this, he paused, changed his tone, and said: "Let me put it bluntly, Wang Shi's expedition to Japan seems to be unstoppable, but in fact there is a crisis. The important ministers in the DPRK all said, 'The Japanese are poor and the people are cunning, so don't conquer them.
"It is advisable" is indeed not an empty statement. You see, military morale, fighting spirit, food and grass, all kinds of troubles will appear in the future. If there is no profit in fighting, how can we continue?"
"Is Mr. Pu here to shake the morale of the army?"
"No. Since the imperial court dares to conquer Japan, it is fully confident. However, someone needs to help Master Wang solve the problem."
"Yeah?"
"Yes, to tell you the truth, my master and the Prime Minister are sworn friends. The purpose of sending my fleet this time is not to make profits, but to help the army fight this battle. You know this very well, otherwise you would You won’t let me here.”
"Tell me, how can I help?"
"Let me use an analogy. The soldiers eat dry military rations every day. How many years can it last for a month or a year? We only have wine, tea, and all kinds of cakes on our merchant ships. In addition, in addition to the slutty Japanese in Dazaifu, there are also What? Are the soldiers squatting in the barracks and counting for fun after being paid military pay? To use another analogy, our company wants to hire a large number of workers, and in turn needs help from the military. As for the future, the imperial court will open a bank in Kyushu mine……"
"enough."
Shi Hui was listening attentively when he suddenly heard the chief officer shout like this and couldn't help but feel disappointed.
In his heart, he felt that Mr. Pu was right, and he really didn't want the chief officer to refuse.
Even if it is reported to the court, it would be good.
Then the chief officer seemed to whisper something.
Mr. Pu couldn't help but laugh and said: "What's the big deal? It's not a shameful thing. It's the same everywhere. We are all soldiers of the Tang Dynasty outside, so we have to give them some hope."
Shi Hui then realized that the other party might have an unusual background.
But he does have hope for the future life.
~~
Kamakura, Sagami Bay.
The weather was very clear, and Mount Fuji could be seen faintly in the distance.
The big ship sailed slowly towards the coast, and the soldiers were running on the deck, adjusting the muzzles of the guns.
The enemy was about to be attacked, and Jiang Cai was busy preparing for battle.
On the third floor of the building, there was an old man in his seventies wearing a big cloak, sitting on a chair and looking out with a telescope by the window.
Accompanying him were several pretty maids disguised as men.
"Dong Weng, there's going to be a war, go in."
"It took a lot of effort to get here, but I just want to take a look." Jia Sidao smiled and said: "At my age, I might be able to become a god in Japan."
"What's so interesting about this small country? Dong Weng looks young."
"I have invested all my wealth in this business." Jia Sidao patted his knees and murmured: "After ten years of operation, I have finally accumulated all this capital, connections, and business routes. I just wait for Yan Yunyun to leave." He escaped and made himself so rich that he could rival the country. Unexpectedly, he was caught by the Public Opinion Department. Emperor Tang tried every possible means, but didn’t he just want me to come and see what to do with this tiny country?”
"Then what should Dong Weng say?"
"Of course it's to open its gold and silver mines and sell them... I'm not kidding."
Halfway through, Jia Sidao paused, pointed to the coast in the distance, and changed his tone.
"In such a barren and closed country, its people are hungry, mournful, and sick. If we want to cure the disease, we must first open the country and facilitate trade. Then, we must cure it so that the people no longer suffer from hunger and despair." His body, and then his mental illness will be cured."
"Dong Weng turns out to be so compassionate."
"Yes." Jia Sidao stroked his long gray beard and sighed: "It's better that you understand me, unlike Gui Hepu who only pursues profit."
"Hehe, if you ask me, Dong Weng is still planning for the right prime minister. If it weren't for Dong Weng, the right prime minister would have persuaded your majesty to send troops to conquer Japan. It would be difficult to maintain long-term peace and stability."
"Haha, without me, she wouldn't even be able to be the right minister."
At this time, loud shouts came from above.
"fire!"
Jia Sidao looked far into the distance and thought of Yan Yunyun's hard work on the coast over the years, and also thought of what Li Xia ordered Jiang Fan to say when he found him.
"boom!"
He watched as shells exploded on the coastline ahead.
It shattered the arrogance of this island country and also changed its morbid state after being extremely sad...