Japan actually had a clear distinction between north and south like China, but because Japan is a long strip extending from southwest to northeast, the most common name in history is the combination of Kanto and Kansai.
Of course, this is a rough concept. Kanto refers to the area around Tokyo, and Kansai refers to the area around Kobe and Osaka.
Most of the conflicts and developments in Japanese history are manifested in the conflicts and peace negotiations between the Kanto and Kansai groups.
Historically, the political and cultural center of Japan has always been in Kansai, headed by Heian Kyo and Heijo Kyo. Kanto is somewhat similar to China's Kanwai.
Until Tokugawa Ieyasu regulated the Kinugawa, Tone River and other rivers and turned the Kanto Plain into the most important agricultural base in Japan, Kanto was a relatively wild land.
General Zhengyi, a title with an obvious pioneering nature, was originally also called General Zhengdong or Ambassador Zhengtong. Looking at the literal meaning, we know that this is a concrete manifestation of the Japanese central government's continuous expansion into Kanto in the past dynasties.
This situation has also resulted in the troops stationed in Kanto becoming somewhat similar to elite border troops.
Therefore, the internal fighting in Japan in the past dynasties was basically fought by Eastern warriors suppressing Western warriors.
Even during the Japanese occupation period, the Kwantung Army was still an elite representative of the ghost army. The Osaka Division in Kansai was even given various funny nicknames and storylines.
As for the places west of Kansai, Kyushu’s Hizen, Chikuzen, Bunzen and other countries, as well as the samurai of Nagato, Iwami, Izumo and other countries in the Chugoku region, among the Western samurai, they are all younger brothers, basically pulling the crotch.
synonym for.
The reason for this situation has a lot to do with the fact that the Kitakyushu region was historically the birthplace of civilization comparable to Nara and Kyoto in Kansai.
If the Kansai region is a civilization created by the combination of immigrants and local indigenous people, then Kyushu and China are pure kingdoms of immigrants and are not localized at all.
For example, the famous Yamatai Kingdom and Queen Himihu who often appear in the Three Kingdoms game, as well as the Dog Slave Kingdom that occasionally appears, etc.
Judging from their close contact and relationship with the Gongsun family of Liaodong, this Yamatai country was most likely a country established by the peninsula peoples who crossed the sea to Kitakyushu.
Their culture should be different from the Japanese culture centered on Nara.
Therefore, due to this situation, after the Japanese imperial court unified the Japanese islands, it tried its best to accept the immigrants, such as the Eastern Han family, Qin family, etc. as vassals, and ordered them to move to the Kansai area to win over them.
On the one hand, strict restrictive policies must be implemented against the local forces in northern China and Kyushu.
Specifically, in addition to setting up Dazaifu surveillance and stationing Mikasa, Toga and other legions in Dazaifu, they also strictly restricted the armaments of the samurai in these two places.
As a result, the so-called warriors in these two places only have a small amount of equipment with bamboo armor, only three or four bows, arrows made of sharpened animal bones, and most of their melee weapons are wooden spears. Even a broken iron sword can become a status weapon.
symbol.
Needless to say, with such military strength and combat effectiveness, well, the fishermen of Southern Tang and Wu Yue are probably not able to defeat them. No, it shouldn’t be approximately, but they definitely cannot defeat the fishermen of Southern Tang and Wu Yue.
Therefore, when Qin Pingtong saw an army all equipped with iron armor, holding fine iron swords, seven or eight foot bows, and six or seven types of large and small crossbows.
The horses were taller than the others, and the Zhou army, clad in armor like giant beasts from the wild, was immediately frightened.
After being stunned for a cup of tea, he rolled over in the dust and kowtowed, shouting exaggeratedly:
"It turns out that the heavenly soldiers from my hometown have arrived! The heavenly soldiers that our ancestors have been dreaming about have arrived! The Qin clan of Xihai Dao is willing to serve the king!"
And when he was crying, Murong Nobunaga was also dumbfounded. Recalling his and his father Zhang Shengren's analysis of the Japanese country, Murong Nobunaga felt for the first time that his father, who was like a god, had made some miscalculations.
Where did the five million people of this Japanese country come from? How could there be one hundred thousand with armor?
Based on the information provided by Qin Pingtong on the situation in Kyushu and China, the entire Japanese state has a maximum of three million people, and its area is almost as large as Hedong plus Hebei, but its armaments are extremely lax.
Based on the four legions stationed in Dazaifu, a total of 6,000 people, the entire Japanese country has a standing army of 15,000 or 6,000 at most. However, there are a large number of samurai among the people. As long as they are willing to spend money to recruit, they can recruit about 50,000 people.
However, Murong Nobunaga smiled. What kind of combat power did this kind of recruited warrior have compared with the warriors under his command?
I thought that Japan would be the most difficult to defeat, but now, Japan is actually a soft persimmon with little military preparation.
Actually, Murong Nobunaga's judgment was still wrong. There were indeed four legions stationed in Dazaifu, but that was a hundred years ago. Now I don't know if there are a thousand of them.
As for his estimate of the 15,000 standing army of the Japanese court, although Murong Nobunaga was already trying his best to imagine the lower limit of the Japanese army, he still overestimated it by a lot.
Because the old man didn't know yet, the Japanese country at this time did not have a standing army at all.
Currently, those guarding Heian-kyo and Heijing-jo-kyo are basically samurai from the emperor's and Gongqing's family estates, numbering about six to seven thousand people.
The Imperial Guards responsible for guarding the Emperor's Forbidden Palace only number a few hundred at most, and the rest are the Banjo Guards composed of noble children from various places.
Of course, this is still much better than me, Zhang Shengren, being deceived by the powerful cultural propaganda industry of Guida in later generations.
Looking at the entire history of Japan, it is incorrect to say that their battles were purely village battles.
At least by the end of Japan's Warring States Period, that is, the period of Toyotomi Monkeys and Tokugawa Turtles, it was still possible to mobilize tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people in Japan's civil war.
For example, in the Wanli Battle of Korea and the later Battle of Osaka, Japan was able to dispatch an army of about 200,000 to participate in the decisive battle.
But for a long time before that, especially during the mid-Heian period, village warfare was a very appropriate description.
In the decisive battle of the special Heijiangmon Rebellion, the 'big army' led by Heijiangmon totaled four hundred people.
The army led by Fujiwara Hidego who came to destroy him reached a "terrible" number of 3,200 people.
As soon as the battle began, the monarch Taira Shomon took the lead in attacking on his war horse, regardless of the command.
What's even more amazing is that, seeing Taira Shomon's bravery, about 2,900 peasants in Fujiwara Hidego's crusade suddenly dispersed, leaving only 300 elites still holding on.
So, in fact, what the Japanese boasted was that a shrine maiden appeared, a grudge of a general killed someone, a Kagemusha sixth-level clone, etc. It looked like a battle between gods and demons.
But in the actual Taira Shomon Rebellion, Fujiwara Hidego defeated Taira Shomon's 400 men with 300 men.
The result of the battle was that about two hundred people were killed on both sides, and three hundred flat shields (a small wooden shield) were captured, almost two hundred bows, and about fifty swords.
It's shabby enough. Please note that there is no mention of armor among the seizures here.
This is either because Fujiwara Hidego and Hei Sadamori were afraid of being taken away by the court and concealed it, or he really didn't have any armor.
Murong Nobunaga was already gearing up. He said to Li Hanqiong who was beside him: "If the Japanese military preparations are so good, it seems that there is no need to overhaul the warships and unite the army. If we kill them now, we can easily wipe out the Japanese."
Only Wang Pu still maintained a certain level of sobriety. He reminded Murong Nobunaga that in case the information was not true, he still had to collect it from multiple sources and never underestimate the enemy.
....
On Iki Island, the Qin Pingtong family is not only related to Ikimori, but their father is Ikimori, but it can be said that he is not Ikimori.
The reason why I say this is because Ikimori of the imperial court is a prominent official in Heian Kyo.
At this time, the government was corrupt, and the nobles often bribed the ministers of the interior to obtain official positions such as governors of various countries.
But after reaching official positions, not many people in a remote place like Kyushu are really willing to take up the post, let alone a remote place among remote places like Iki.
This gave the local tycoons, the local brave warriors, an opportunity.
The ministers and ministers of Heianjing wanted to take the official position of national guardian, not because they were loyal to the king, but because they wanted to plunder the place.
They have no interest in becoming officials, but they are very interested in making money.
Therefore, after receiving the news, local powerful people like Qin Pingtong's father would go to Ping'an Jing to establish connections and pay a visit.
Once you get on the line, you can obtain the identity of the family members of the ministers and ministers, and 'contract' all the affairs of this place from them.
Of course, the price is to pay a large sum of money every year to a meritorious minister who has a national official position.
This is the case with Qin Pingtong's father. Although he is called Iki Shou by the islanders, in fact he is just a white glove. He must pay 500 koku of brown rice to the real national shou of Heian Kyo every year in order to keep his position.
However, this poor Iki Island was only 3,000 koku high during the Tokugawa shogunate period. According to the devilish Japanese method of taxing the islands, they could only collect 1,500 koku in grain.
If this includes the cost of sending it to Heianjing, even if Iki is now three thousand shi high, after giving it to the big shots in Heianjing, Qin Pingtong's father will be left with some leftovers at most.
Therefore, what their father and son care about is not the high point of Iki Island.
What they care about is that Iki Island is stuck in a key position in the trade between Goryeo and Japan. While doing maritime trade, they can collude with Goryeo and even Toi pirates to lead the way and sell stolen goods.
However, the arrival of Murong Nobunaga completely shattered all this. The defeated Goryeo naval forces poured into Tsushima Island and quickly joined forces with the Japanese army on Tsushima Island.
These people knew that they would definitely be wiped out by Murong Nobunaga's navy, so they rushed to Japan to find a place to settle down.
After their request to the Daizaifu of Chikuzen Province to go ashore was rejected, these people simply went crazy and attacked the Japanese country, hoping to use this method to force the Daizaifu of Dazaifu to surrender.
Trade was interrupted and war broke out.
As a result, Iki Island, located southeast of Tsushima Island, fell into a desperate situation.
Without the opportunity to be an underdog on the sea trade line, Qin Pingtong and his father simply could not afford the tribute of 500 shi.
Without these five hundred stones, they would have no choice but to go back to the countryside of Bunzen Country and eat wild vegetable porridge.
The father and son had no choice but to find another way out. They finally decided to take the dozens of sailors under their command, accept the order of Dazaifu, and help Dazaifu wipe out the Goryeo pirates from Tsushima Island, thereby receiving rewards for their military exploits.
to fill the shortfall.
As a result, the battle was fought, the strength was exhausted, and there were heavy casualties. However, the commander-in-chief refused to admit his fault, and there was not even a penny reward or pension.
Qin Pingtong and his son were desperate and had no other choice. They simply decided to take advantage of the bandits' self-respect. As if it was not possible, I would just go and recruit the Heavenly Soldiers from the Central Plains.
Qin Pingtong held up a well-made ring-locked armor and respectfully handed it to his father Wei Zongshengsheng.
"Sir, as long as we are willing to take refuge in these gifts given to you by His Highness King Yan, my father can immediately become the guardian of Fengqian Kingdom."
Although Wei Zong was short in stature, he was still considered a veteran in battle. As soon as he saw this armor, he knew that it was definitely not ordinary. If it were in Ping'an Capital, it would probably be of the same level as the Great Armor of Gods and Demons.
"Your Highness, King Yan, has given such a generous gift, aren't you going to send troops?" Wei Zongsheng asked a little discouraged.
In his opinion, His Highness King Yan across the sea must have lacked confidence when he took possession of such a treasure at the level of the armor of gods and demons, and just wanted to bribe him to be a secret agent.
It is unreasonable to ask him, Wei Zong, to spend all his life to create conditions for the Yan State's army.
If you are really confident and think you can crush Japan, then why pay such a huge price to buy him a samurai who is not even Ikimori?
Qin Pingtong grinned. He finally understood what Zhou people felt when they saw him.
"Does father think this is precious? Not at all, because there are so many of them in the Zhou Dynasty!"
As Qin Pingtong spoke, he raised his right hand, spread his palm, and pointed his five fingers toward the sky.
Wei Zong was refreshed. If there were fifty collars for such a large armor, then there were only three hundred or even five hundred collars.
With so many armors, it is not something that the Heian Kyo court can easily deal with. At least there is hope of conquering Saikaidō.
Qin Pingtong took a deep breath, then shook his head, "Father, the king has five thousand collars!"
"Five thousand collars!" Wei Zong gave a shrill scream and stood up abruptly. Then he felt the dizziness of blood rushing to Baihui point. The world was spinning, and he sat down directly on the ground.
"Five thousand leaders of gods and demons have great armor. With such precious armor, it is enough to destroy the world. Does His Highness, King Yan, still need our father and son? What else can we do?"
Faced with his father Wei Zong's unconfident questions about his life, Qin Pingtong showed a fierce look on his face.
"Your Majesty needs me, the Qin family, to contact a group of warriors to find out the road map of the mountains and rivers from Xikai Road to Heian Kyo, and to record all the ministers and members of the Imperial family in Heian Kyo."
Wei Zong was confused all his life, "Why does your Majesty want these? These are meaningless!"
If there are five thousand armors of gods and demons, plus tens of thousands of sharp blades and armor, they only need to fight all the way through, and there is no need to consider the mountains and rivers geography!
In the entire Kingdom of the Rising Sun, no one has the strength to ambush these warriors."
But as he said this, this well-educated old warrior who was hiding his uneasiness about the status quo was suddenly startled, and then ecstatic. He looked at his son, and his mouth trembled twice:
"Your Majesty.."
"If my son's guess is correct, the king is here to take these five thousand miles of land back to the heaven.
Ever since they banned sending envoys to the Tang Dynasty, the ministers and ministers of Heianjing and the imperial family have become real Japanese, not Chinese!"
"Okay! Okay!" Wei Zong smiled and held his hands, "If the King of Yan doesn't want to kill people, it's hard for us to join him, because we might be liquidated when he leaves.
If he is willing to kill people, you and I, father and son, will have a future as ministers!
We don’t need this Poichi Island anymore. You and I, Pingtong, go back quickly and go to Bunzen Country to report the news to the family leader. Let’s organize all the samurai from Kyushu, Iwami and other countries to the King of Yan.”
...
Dali Kingdom, Mengkui Mountains, this mountain was located between Yiliang and Zhaotong in later Yunnan Province, and at this time it belonged to the Abang tribe and the Wumeng tribe.
As early as three years ago, the big and small heads of the Apang and Wumeng tribes were bribed by Guo Rong, who was stationed in Nanxi Prefecture.
Well, it may not be accurate to say bribery. In the eyes of these tribal leaders, this is the weak Zhou people who continue to use a lot of salt, sugar, tea cloth to buy peace. They do not admit that they have surrendered to the weak Zhou State.
These leaders who took a lot of benefits from Guo Rong looked down upon Guo Rong and even gave him a useless nickname to mock Guo Rong's weakness.
And now, that weak and useless Zhou official summoned them to gather at the foot of Mengkui Ridge.
The leaders of each tribe were extremely happy, because in the past, when the Zhou people invited them to have a party, they would basically send a large amount of goods.
How could no one like such a good thing? Therefore, Guo Rong did not need to vigorously promote it and just released a little news.
There are nine large tribes located on the border between Dali and Zhou, including Qiong, Luolan, Lianglin, Adu, Shama, Wumeng, Aganlu, Mangbu, and Weisa, as well as more than 20 small tribes who follow them.
.
A total of nearly forty leaders and their two hundred guards rushed to the northern foot of Mengkui Mountains, fearing that they would be late and lose some of the benefits.
Guo Rong was still wearing the white crotchless shirt he usually wore, but the look on his face was extremely serious.
Zhang Yongde walked into Guo Rong's room and whispered to Guo Rong: "The leader of the Abang tribe has been captured. He knows that if he dares to reveal even a little bit of information, no one in his family of 120 will survive.
"
Guo Rong nodded, but before he could say anything, Zhang Fei and Zhang Xiaobao ran in very quickly, limping on one leg.
"General Manager, Zheng Guogong personally led an army of 20,000 people from Sichuan Province and has arrived north of Qingxiguan. He will just wait for us to capture the leaders of each department, and he will immediately send his army south to attack Jianchang Mansion.
Zheng Guogong is the Yin Zheng Qi Yin Yaozi who is in charge of Chengdu.
Not long after, Zhang Xiancun, the emperor's eldest son and the Duke of Dian, also rushed over, and everyone hurried to see their half of the king.
Of course Zhang Xiancun knew not to act big in front of people like Guo Rong and Zhang Fei. While quickly helping them up, he also excitedly shook the letter in his hand and said loudly:
"Cui Huxin, the military supervisor of Ya'an Prefecture, Su Shangzhi, the consolation envoy of Kangding Prefecture, the eight tribes of Xishan and other places, the pacification envoys of the Tibetan and Qiang tribes, and An Quanquan's messenger have just arrived.
They have gathered the Tubo Qiang and Ya'an Prefecture two guard troops in Xishan, a total of 20,000 people.
Prepare to go south to attack Yucheng City (Deqin County, Diqing, Yunnan Province) on time in April next year. Before June, we will definitely be able to join forces with Yangju City (Dali)."
Qingxiguan is located in Jianchangfu, which is the north of Xichang in later generations. If Qingxiguan is destroyed, Jianchangfu, also known as Xichang, cannot be saved.
In addition, Cui Huxin and Su Shangzhi came south from the Hengduan Mountains and penetrated directly into Dali, which was enough for Dali to cope with it.
"Okay!" Guo Rong suddenly clapped his hands, looked at the officers and generals around him and said loudly: "We have been working hard for three years and have been treated as weaklings by everyone. Even your family members in your hometown feel that you are ashamed to see others. All this is just to numb you.
Dali Kingdom.
At this moment, it is finally time for Yixue to be humiliated. Please pass on the order and the warriors who came with me today will be on guard. Tomorrow they will capture the leaders and capture Wumeng City (Zhaotong)."