Chapter 299 Six Years War
The fifteenth year of Li Yuan.

Due to the severe oppression of the common people by the nobles in Japan, Zhao Xi actually had an opportunity to unite the people.

But if you want to turn Japan into a county, or even establish a country, you have to find a better reason.

After some research, it turned out that Japan had already been a vassal of the Sui Dynasty.

Even the content of this letter has been preserved.

At the same time, it is said that the name of Japan was given to Japan during the reign of Wu Zetian.

Therefore, logically speaking, the Emperor of Japan should be a subject of the Sui and Tang dynasties.

However, this minister betrayed his master and joined Baekje in attacking the Tang Dynasty.

In his own country, he secretly called himself the emperor and shamelessly used the title of the Son of Heaven of the Tang Dynasty.

Is this what a loyal person should do?

Now that the Song Dynasty has inherited the will of the Tang Dynasty, it is bound to punish this disloyal minister.

As for their oppression of the people, the Song Dynasty naturally had no choice but to reduce the pressure on the people’s shoulders.

from now on……

On the island of Kyushu, all the people only had to pay 20% tax, two officials and eight civilians, and they no longer had to pay to the imperial court in Kyoto.

When the Great Prime Minister sent people to inform all the people on Kyushu Island of the news.

Although everyone knew that the Song Dynasty was actually the invader, many people still breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, compared with Japan’s tax rate of more than half, this rate of two officials and eight citizens is really too inhumane.

In addition…

Zhao Xi gathered together all the merchants from Kyushu Island.

Control their wives, sons, daughters and so on.

To know……

Dazaifu on Kyushu Island is the bridgehead for Japan’s foreign trade and foreign exchanges.

Business here is prosperous and cultural exchanges are active.

Controlling these businessmen would also help Zhao Xi gain financial resources.

Attacking Japan may not be such an easy task.

He needs to take it slow and steady and get his basic base under control first.

of course!

His father also wrote him a letter.

He said that killing all the locals would not be a big deal, as they would find a way to immigrate.

But to be honest, with rice, fish and meat every day, the living conditions in Japan are not necessarily that good.

Zhao Xin was actually not sure whether the people of the Song Dynasty were willing to immigrate.

Anyway…

The immigration plan is already being implemented.

If you are willing to go, go to the government office to register.

At that time, the government will organize those who want to immigrate.

Zhao Xi didn’t quite understand why his father would say such cruel words.

Because it seems that this was never said when attacking Jiaozhi and Goryeo before.

But think about it…

You can kill the landlord if you want, but if you don’t, are you really going to give the land to him?

There are irreconcilable contradictions between them.

Zhao Xi also felt that it would be best to kill all those landlords.

If we don’t kill them all, it seems like the soldiers will have no motivation.

Mainly, the situations are different.

Before this, his brothers had finished fighting in just two or three months.

But he has been fighting for three years, although it is actually just a little over a year, maybe a year and a half.

but……

If they stay here for a long time and you cannot offer them attractive rewards, the soldiers from Bohai and Goryeo will definitely complain.

Fortunately, this was Japan’s Heian period. If it were Japan in any other period, it would have been extremely poor.

The soldiers will certainly be even less willing to work hard next time.

So this year…

In order to motivate his soldiers, Zhao Xi also had to consider it.

After conquering a manor, should some of the property, slaves, women, etc. be divided out to be rewarded to the soldiers?

of course!

We can’t let them snatch it themselves. Whoever grabs it first owns it.

If this were to happen, it would be a serious violation of military discipline.

After the conquest, all the property should be gathered together, and then a meeting should be held to reward the meritorious officers.

Zhao Xi discussed this idea with Zhao Xu, but Zhao Xu remained noncommittal. After all, everyone could see the morale of the soldiers.

It’s a pity that the Japanese emperor has too little power.

And the power of those landlords has grown too great.

otherwise……

Zhao Xi felt that it might be better if the outcome could be decided in one battle.

It can also avoid a lot of unnecessary killings.

This year……

Zhao Xi began to send people to Honshu Island to eliminate the local landowners.

can only say……

We were unstoppable along the way.

of course!

The population in the western part of Honshu is still too sparse.

Some of those who had not yet been eliminated, after learning that the Song army had arrived on Honshu Island, also reinforced their manors.

Some of them were originally built with just wood, but now they are starting to use various stones.

This also made Zhao Xi realize that the longer the time was delayed, the greater the pressure of siege would be in the future.

but……

This is probably the only way for now.

By the autumn of that year.

News about Zhao Xin came again.

It was said that two thousand households were arranged for him.

Now we can arrange these two thousand households to the places that have been conquered.

and……

To be honest, we are all Han Chinese, so I feel more at ease.

It’s a pity that Japan’s four islands are fragmented and can be landed anywhere from the sea, which makes them very unsafe.

It doesn’t give people the feeling that everything will be fine as long as this place is taken down.

Two thousand households arrived at Honshu Island in the winter of that year after being transported by sea.

Zhao Xi also arranged people to build bastions to protect the people.

For Japan today, we can only say that there should be three to five million people.

In order to take over such a place, you must also have the corresponding population, so that you can swallow this place completely.

As the war progresses.

A large number of people from western Honshu also fled to the Gyeonggi area.

This has also brought a lot of pressure to the Gyeonggi area.

after all……

You have to deal with these people who have fled here.

This caused a new round of unrest.

The urban environment and public security began to deteriorate.

As for the Japanese imperial court…

Ninety thousand people went out and lost the battle.

The best solution for now is to strive for a ceasefire. If the situation gets worse, we have to fight even if we know we can’t win.

Emperor Shirakawa sent people to find Zhao Xi, hoping that Zhao Xi would stop the war. They were willing to do so, whether it meant surrendering or paying compensation.

Zhao Xi also responded that he would only consider it if he was compensated with 200,000 taels of silver.

But even if Emperor Shirakawa sold himself, he couldn’t come up with 200,000 taels of silver. Besides, if I gave it to you, you still wouldn’t stop the war, then I wouldn’t be able to do anything to you.

The only thing we can do is not respond for the time being, and then ask people to intensify their training.

in fact……

The imperial court’s soldiers are really not very good.

But the good thing is…

Now they have recruited a lot of desperate criminals, so at least they should be able to fight again, right?
This year……

After several small-scale battles, Zhao Xu also expressed that he felt the Japanese army’s fighting will seemed to be getting stronger and stronger.

Although those who come to fight may be elite soldiers who have undergone special training, this may not be a good thing for them.

After all, according to what Dazai said, Japan’s population is estimated to be between three and five million. Assuming that there are five people in a household and one able-bodied man in a household, Japan must have at least 600,000 to one million able-bodied men.

How long will this killing last?

The musket was smoking, but it couldn’t kill that many people. This also forced Zhao Xi to speed up the pace of conquering the capital area.

The sixteenth year of Li Yuan.

Attack Shikoku Island and then plunder it.

The seventeenth year of Li Yuan.

Attack the Gyeonggi region.

The population of the Gyeonggi Plain was emptied.

All the Japanese fled to Kyoto and even to the Kanto region.

More of them ran to the mountains and hid.

When Zhao Xi saw this…

I can only say that this is not a solution.

The damage was too severe.

How many years will it take for this place to regain its former prosperity?
But his brothers finished the battle in three months, and then just lay down and live their lives.

But when it comes to me, it’s different.

I need to reflect carefully on which step I made wrong.

but……

This is actually not his fault.

The main thing is the land of those nobles. If you refuse to hand it over, then I can only kill you all.

As for the civilians, most of them were scared away.

I didn’t send anyone to kill you, why are you running?
can only say……

This made Zhao Xi feel a little distressed.

But forget it!

Let’s just throw the jar away!
Anyway…

It was enough for him to have the people of Kyushu Island to supply the army.

Back then, it took Japan hundreds of years to strengthen the Yamato nation and drive the Ezo people to the north from the core area of ​​Japan.

In fact…

It has only been a few years since Zhao Xi made Japan what it is today, which is already quite good.

At this moment in Japan, without the support of the Gyeonggi region, the nobles in Kyoto suddenly became financially strapped.

There were many nobles who fainted from hunger every day.

Not to mention the common people.

Japan has reached a critical period of life and death.

They had to make a choice.

Some said surrender.

Some said to hand over the land.

Some say they fought to the death.

Some say they retreated to the Kanto Plain.

Others suggested destroying the Song army’s granaries in Kyushu.

otherwise……

They have always had sufficient food and supplies, how can we fight this war?
The people on Kyushu Island are truly traitors.

in fact……

It’s not that I haven’t tried it at all.

They really sent people to persuade the people not to pay grain as taxes to the Song army anymore, because they didn’t know the atrocities they were committing in the capital area.

But the problem is…

The people don’t seem to be very active.

As for whether we can find a prestigious local person to organize the people and rebel.

It can only be said that those who were more prestigious and powerful were all killed by Zhao Xi.

and……

The people are not stupid. They have two officials and eight civilians. How many of you are there?
This makes such a good idea directly unusable.

but……

To be honest, it did promote Japan’s self-reform.

Next…

Fully give local landowners greater power in exchange for their protection of the court.

only……

Something like this, which is a bit positive at the beginning.

After suffering a setback.

The prestige of the imperial court had begun to plummet.

at the same time……

Some nobles, because they had a little connection with the Prime Minister, began to rely on the Prime Minister’s relationship to skip the court and make peace directly with Zhao Xi.

Of course Zhao Xi was willing to accept it.

The main thing is that you can’t refuse to accept it.

If they don’t accept it and the war continues, the whole of Japan will be reduced to ruins.

Then what’s the point of being the King of Japan?

It will take dozens or even hundreds of years to restore this place.

but……

It is indeed possible to accept it.

But the condition is that you must hand over the land to the court.

The imperial court will be responsible for unified distribution.

The other party also said that whatever the son of the Song Dynasty official said was fine.

The local tyrants have managed to find a good way to make a living for themselves.

Then, where there is one, there will be two.

When they found out that someone among them had betrayed them, everyone must have been very angry at first.

But then I thought…

Can I do it myself?

Anyway…

Who is really willing to serve the emperor forever?

only……

It is really heartbreaking to hand over all the reclaimed land to the court.

Soon, as things progressed, the powerful people in various parts of Japan began to secede and become independent. Some surrendered, while others could only stay at home and wait for the arrival of the Song army.

This is completely a one-day-at-a-time attitude.

As for the Fujiwara family, which was the largest force in Japan at that time.

In fact, the Fujiwara family also considered whether to surrender.

only……

They are actually more like the emperor of Japan than the emperor. How could they be willing to give up their own privileges?

then……

What we saw next was that they had to send people to lead troops to deal with those who were known to have surrendered.

Japan’s civil unrest can only be said to have further escalated.

Zhao Xi, on the other hand, sat firmly on Kyushu Island.

On Kyushu Island, there is only harmony and peace.

The people work at sunrise and rest at sunset.

It’s a pity that Japan is too big.

In terms of length, it is equivalent to two Goryeos.

The area of ​​the plains is even twice that of Goryeo.

To rule such a large area, the key is that transportation is not that convenient. To go to other islands, you have to take a boat, which is really not an easy thing.

Zhao Xi also had a headache.

What to do next?
of course!

Given the current situation, Zhao Xi felt that it would be better to destroy the Japanese court first.

After they are eliminated, those landlords and powerful people will be leaderless.

Only then can we move on to discussing how to govern.

The eighteenth year of Li Yuan.

Zhao Xi had intended to end the war as soon as possible, so he arranged for an insider to surrender secretly in order to capture all the key ministers in the Japanese court and Emperor Shirakawa.

November.

It’s snowing in Kyoto.

This year……

Zhao Xin is forty-two years old.

This year, Li Shimin destroyed the Gaochang Kingdom.

(End of this chapter)