Text-only online reading, the domain name of this site, mobile phone synchronous reading, please visit

Chapter 109: The End of the Fifth Year of Chong (continued)

Japan, Kyoto, the leader of the Fallen Shogunate Alliance, the self-proclaimed "Western Exploration" Choshu Domain Lord Mori Shu on the Nijo Imperial Palace

Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan in the mountain city of Katsuno, has developed into a large city with a radius of nearly 40 miles and a population of nearly 200,000 at the beginning of the Edo period.

From the very beginning of the construction of the castle in the 9th century, the city of Kyoto was carefully planned: Suzaku Street, which runs from north to south and is 60 steps wide, divides the city in two and leads to the main entrance square of the Emperor's palace. The chessboard-shaped streets and alleys crisscross the city, cutting the city into neat alleys. On both sides of the street, willow cherry blossoms are lined up, and houses are continuous in the middle of the lanes...... Let the visitors indulge in the meantime and forget to return.

Unfortunately, as the political center of Japan, Kyoto is inevitably destroyed by war and destruction every time troubled times come, but even if it is burned to the ground, this ancient capital will soon be renovated again, and it will never lose the unique elegance of the ancient capital of this island nation.

At this moment, this ancient city with a long history has once again begun a cycle of destruction and reconstruction......

Accompanied by the sound of horses' hooves, Hale, alias Paul Okamoto, led the war horse out of the Nijo Imperial Palace, the castle that once belonged to the shogun, and the current headquarters of the front line of the Shogun, while looking at the surrounding streets of Kyoto.

As far as the eye can see, it is a scene of decay and decay that is broken to the extreme.

Filthy streets littered with garbage, crumbling and dilapidated wooden houses, unkempt and scruffy citizens, and empty markets that are almost dead silent.

-- The Edo shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, deliberately set fire to the castle by using scorched earth tactics before coercing the imperial family and ministers into withdrawing from Kyoto. Although a heavy rain soon fell, it managed to save the ancient capital, but it also burned down about a tenth of the houses in the city.

With the war brought about, the business travel that lasted for nearly half a year was cut off, so that the city lost all its vitality and all industries withered.

As a result, even the well-preserved bustling towns of yesteryear are now few pedestrians, cars and horses are extinct, shops of all kinds are almost closed, and the remaining residents have no way to find work. In this depressed atmosphere, the samurai who hung the cross of the "Chezhi Dan" fell into the curtain were quite eye-catching, one by one, carrying a war knife at their waists, holding a woman in their arms, and carrying a wine jug drunkenly swaggering through the market, which caused everyone to tremble.

Although compared with the previous Onin Rebellion and the Warring States Rebellion, the Choshu Mori family's military force was not cruel, but the destruction of various historical sites in Kyoto was far greater than that of any of the princes' daimyo in history, such as Kinkaku-ji Temple, Jishoji Temple, Kiyomizu-dera Temple, and Daigo-ji Temple...... These ancient temples, steeped in history, were seized by fanatical Christian crusaders and converted into churches in the brutal atmosphere of the wars of religion.

-- Riding a horse past the old temples that looked like demolition sites, looking at the striking cross that had just been erected on top of the five-story wooden pagoda, and the seated statue of the Virgin Mary that had been remodeled from a stone statue of Guanyin or Buddha, Hale really felt like he couldn't laugh or cry.

What's worse is that these fanatical Christians destroyed the Buddhist temple, and then drove out the monks and nuns with knives and guns, and forced them to trample over the Buddha's portrait as an insult to the Buddhist faith...... In the face of such a great upheaval, there are certainly many eminent monks and bhikshunis who have a nimble mind and lack of discipline, decisively take off their robes, throw away the Buddhist scriptures, put on Dharma robes and Bibles, and become pious servants of Christ Jesus. But there are also more stubborn people who refuse to obey this, and even secretly organize underground resistance groups to assassinate and sabotage.

Therefore, since the Shogunate army entered and occupied Kyoto, under the pretext of "catching the remnants of the shogunate", every day there were dozens to hundreds of prisoners who were escorted to Kyoto and beheaded in Rokujo Kawara. All kinds of fresh and rancid human heads can be found everywhere on the streets of Kyoto and on bridgeheads.

Although the atmosphere in Kyoto is already so terrifying, it is far from the worst place - Kyoto is the capital of the Son of Heaven after all, the headquarters of the coalition forces, and no matter where they come from, the "fallen warriors" and "believers of the Lord" who come here usually have to abide by some rules, at least not slaughter in the streets. In the face of the current turmoil, the church not only adopted orphans and orphans (later became minor friars and nuns), but also gave food to the poor, so as to induce people to listen to the missionary sermons...... Under the threat of force from the "Japanese Crusaders" and the tongue of the missionaries, at least tens of thousands of people in Kyoto have been converted to Christ.

Outside the city, many rural areas have become so desolate that there are no human tracks to be seen because of repeated attacks by Crusaders and Buddhists. Countless once prosperous villages were slaughtered in the brutal religious wars, and the fields were littered with stenching corpses. Most of the remaining villages and towns have also degenerated into chaotic places without any law and order. Anyone who walked out of the city of Kyoto would step on a few pieces of armor from time to time and cut off the sword. If you're unlucky, you'll kick out a few rotten and smelly stumps in the grass......

Continuing to expand the field of observation to the periphery, a radius of two or three hundred miles centered on the line from Kyoto to Osaka, where the country was once the most densely populated, economically developed, and culturally prosperous, is now as miserable as locusts transiting, and the flames of war are still unextinguished.

-- In the vast majority of times of turmoil, the people at the bottom are innocent and helpless, and the ambition and madness of those in power are the root cause of war, and the final result is often not as good as originally imagined - for both Buddhists and Christians.

Then, as the scale of the War of the Curtain and the Wars of Religion further expanded, the entire Japanese archipelago was threatened to become a scorched earth of purgatory, and thousands of living beings would suffer the suffering of bloodshed and famine. But those Buddhist temples and shrines are difficult to easily convert without resistance, and hang the cross and the statue of the Virgin......

Hale thought so sadly as he watched flipping a "sensibility" back and forth in his hand. This is what he had just received in Nijo Castle, and it bears the signature of Mori Hidemasa, the lord of the Choshu domain. The content is to the effect that he commended his exploits in the sweep campaign, and praised him and his subordinates for killing monks and witches, burning temples and demolishing shrines, and destroying all kinds of "pagan" idols without psychological pressure, and was really a good warrior of the Maori family and a loyal believer in Jesus Christ:"...... Today, there is an overseas righteous man Okayama clan who led an army to help Shangluo, promote the holy religion, and be loyal and unparalleled, and can be called the pillar of the world and the pillar of the country...... "In the end, it is the meat of the play: he was given a fief near, so that he could join the ranks of the princes and daimyo.

“…… 200,000 stone in the mountain castle of Yamato County? Tsk, our Maori lord, we are really 'generous' enough to treat you......"

-- Yamato Province, also known as Washu, roughly equivalent to modern-day Nara Prefecture. In Japan, it is a veritable "central place". To the northeast is the majestic Kasaki Mountains, and to the south are the Yoshino and Kii Mountains, where mountains overlap. The Nara Basin, where agriculture flourished in the southwest, was home to the ancient capital of Japan before Heiankyo, such as Asuka-kyo and Heijo-kyo. Ancient Japan was named after Yamato, so just by the name, you can tell that this is the birthplace of Japanese civilization and the ancestral mausoleum of the Imperial family. The total stone height of the country is 450,000 stones, and the county mountain castle is the place of governance.

Geographically, Yamato is located behind Kyoto, and most of the rest of the Kinai region is plain, only Yamato has many mountains, and it is very close to Kyoto, so it can be attacked and defended, and has an innate strategic geographical advantage. In the era of the Northern and Southern Dynasties in the past, the weak Southern Dynasty was on Mt. Yoshino in Yamato Province, and by virtue of its geographical advantages and the long relationship between the imperial family in Yamato Province, it was able to confront the Northern Dynasty for a long time, which had many soldiers and generals.

At first glance, the Maori family seems to have been generous this time, enclosing Hale a large piece of Feng Shui treasure land with abundant products and important geographical location. But the problem is that, because of its long history, Yamato is also one of the most powerful and profound places in Japan for Buddhism.

Nara, the ancient capital of Yamato Province, is famous for its many temples. These temples are the first of a country in a country with large tracts of land, a large group of monks and soldiers, a staggering amount of wealth, and a monopoly on religious discourse throughout Japan. And these monasteries have often been standing for nearly a thousand years, and their influence has been felt throughout the country. Not to mention the emperor, even heroes like Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga are difficult to control, but they have to be restrained everywhere. For the Crusaders who had fallen under the banner of jihad, these Buddhist monasteries were the most stubborn enemies of the faith, and they were also the backbone of the resistance movement in various parts of the country.

Although in retaliation, the Shogunate army had just recently broken through Nara, killing and plundering the heads of monks and nuns, and burning several of the oldest ancient temples to the ground. However, instead of being suppressed by the bombs, the resistance movement in Yamato intensified. In the fields, in the mountains, in the towns, and in the streets, there were stubborn Buddhists and monks waging guerrilla warfare......

So, this time, the Maori family was not so much a generous raffle as it was a hot potato thrown to Hale to pacify - anyway, as Hale's Catholics, it was impossible to even try to collaborate with the enemy......

In fact, in addition to Hale's "Filipino Overseas Japanese Crusades", several other smaller, but extremely fanatical Christian armed groups also gained fiefdoms in Yamato...... The intention of borrowing a knife to kill people is really not too obvious!

In addition, the Maori family was clearly aware of Hale's overseas background and connections with the Spaniards, but they deliberately arranged an inland territory for him that was not close to the sea, and it seemed that they also had the intention of restricting and guarding against these "overseas expatriates".

As for waiting until the situation settles down...... The Tokugawa family will do such things as transferring and changing the territory, and it doesn't make sense that the Maori family doesn't understand.

However, for a revolutionary of Hale's profession, all the above calculations are trivial.

“…… Hmph, no matter what, the fiefdom of 200,000 stones has already been obtained. What if there are monks who are making trouble? A true revolutionary is never afraid of a powerful enemy! Let's start with this birthplace of the Yamato nation and bring hope for a new life to Japan. ”

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

At the same time, inside the Nijo Imperial Palace

“…… Syllable! Wall Knock ...... Syllable! Wall Knock ......"

In the white sand paving, rockery stream, and elegantly laid out courtyard, with the flow of the gurgling spring, the small bamboo waterwheel makes a pleasant light sound, and the gentle breeze blows quietly, sending bursts of plum blossom fragrance. Although it is the ninth winter, today is a sunny day, so it is not too cold. The afternoon sun fills the cobblestone pavement of the courtyard, while the tall fence effectively blocks out the hustle and bustle of the nearby street market.

Mori Hideya, the lord of Choshu Domain, who had just finished a collective summons and reward, sent his ministers out, was enjoying a rare leisurely time, holding a cup of tea in his hand, sitting on the floor of the corridor facing the courtyard, with a thoughtful expression:

“…… Is this the so-called 'people of the world'? It seems a little unreal! ”

Maori Shu muttered to himself in a bit of a daze--Thinking back to the past, did Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, these famous figures in Japanese history, also sit in this place, ambitiously directing the country and imagining the world?

Alas, the years have come and gone, and now it seems that it is the turn of my Maori family to operate, and to dominate the situation?

However, why is it that there is not much pride in my heart, but it is full of troubles and melancholy?

He thought about it as he turned his head to look at the treasure on the floor of the room that had just been brought out to play with - Japan's largest fragrant wood, "the world's first incense" orchid. This is a national treasure of Japan with a history of nearly 1,000 years. The two overlords of the world, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and Oda Nobunaga, in the past, only cut a small piece of a few inches and a few cents for their own use or rewarding meritorious heroes, which was considered a very face-saving thing.

And now, the whole "Lan luxury" was placed in front of Maori Xiu, and he was left to dispose of it at will.

-- Of course, this is not because his face is bigger than that of Oda Nobunaga and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, but because the Choshu New Army under his command has just entered Todaiji Temple in Nara, which houses the "Ranluxe" this month, and has burned most of this temple to the ground, and the remaining Buddhist halls that have escaped the catastrophe are also being converted into churches. And the precious "Lan luxury" naturally became a trophy and was presented to him.

In addition, none of the other temples in Nara, the "southern capital", escaped the doom of destruction, and this ancient capital of Japan and a famous Buddhist city was equivalent to being slaughtered in the hands of Japanese Christians who were bent on counterattacking and calculating. As for Mt. Hiei, another Buddhist holy place closer to Kyoto, "Kitage", it was burned down by the "Japanese Crusaders" as early as October.

(The religious status of the two holy places in the Japanese Buddhist circles, "Nandu and Beiling", is probably similar to that of Lhasa and Shigatse in Tibet.) ）

Thinking of this, Maori Shu couldn't help but smile bitterly - even the notorious "Sixth Heavenly Demon King" Oda Nobunaga just burned down the temple of Mt. Hiei, causing an uproar in the world. Now it's his turn, but not only burned down the "Southern Capital and North Ridge", but also turned so many ancient temples in Kyoto into churches, and the people in the area are estimated to see themselves as flood beasts.

Alas, when I was in the Choshu Domain before, I had been thinking about Kamiraku, but now I really sat in the "Shogun's City" of Kyoto's Nijo Imperial Palace, only to find out that this was actually a foot in a large fire pit, and every day and every night was suppressing rebellions everywhere, and there was no moment of stability......

The excitement and joy of riding a horse into Beijing disappeared in less than three months, and the current situation in the War is simply a mess!

Yes, the soldiers and horses of the shogunate army and the pro-shogunate feudal lords were still so rotten and incompetent, and they were defeated in several encounters, and they were no match for the fallen shogunate army on the frontal battlefield, and all major cities quickly changed hands. But then, under the instigation of various Buddhist temples, those villagers who should have kept to themselves and sat back and watched the change of the city lord and the lord of the country rebelled en masse, or at least maintained a non-cooperative attitude, which caught the fallen army by surprise.

Although relying on the strong combat effectiveness of the new army, one monastery after another was burned and destroyed, and rebellions everywhere were whirling and extinguishing. But after all, it turned into a big quagmire, forcing Mori Shu to disperse a large number of troops to various places to carry out security operations, and he was unable to continue the crusade in a short period of time. While he was in a dilemma in Kyoto and fighting with the Kinai Buddhist temples and believers, Tokugawa Iemitsu was still in the Edo nest in the Kanto region, accumulating strength, contacting the Kanto feudal clans, and preparing to make a comeback at any time...... I am afraid it is difficult to say where this Japanese hegemon belongs.

However, at this point, the fallen army and the Buddhist monks had already formed a blood feud, and the Maori family had no possibility of changing their ways, so they had to go all the way to the dark - at present, the entire Western Curtain Alliance, except for the fierce armies of the state domain, was largely united by the Christian faith. The fanatical Christian missionaries were of great help in mobilizing the masses and boosting morale.

If the Mori family had completely defeated the Tokugawa family and won the world, then in order to calm the hearts of the people, he might be able to restrain the missionaries and try to reconcile with the Buddhist temple. But now the outcome is undecided, and the Tokugawa family only lost the first game and withdrew to Edo, still having the power to turn the tables. To rashly implement a policy of religious tolerance under such circumstances is tantamount to suicide -- not only will it be difficult to win the understanding and support of the Buddhist community, but it will also undermine the morale of one's own people, and they will even be regarded as a weak move by those local wallgrasses who are intimidated by their own military might, and will further push them to the side of the Tokugawa family!

Rather than wearing the title of Buddha enemy and demon king and dying in the revil of the people of old Japan, it is better to wear the laurel crown of "holy warrior" and enjoy the reputation of a sage in a new Japan that worships Christianity - although it has only been four or five years since Maori Shu converted to Christianity, and his belief in Christianity is far from being pious, the reality has forced him to become a fanatic believer and use the most cruel means to exterminate all "enemies of Christ"!

Even if the whole of is slaughtered into a white field, the Maori family can only carry out the religious war to the end, and take a step back is an abyss!

Fortunately, despite the fact that the war situation in was so bad, the morale and combat effectiveness of the Shogunate army could still be maintained by relying on the huge amount of assistance provided by the "Huameng" side - food, ordnance, gunpowder, cloth, and herbs...... The large iron ships of the overseas came and went from various ports in the Seto Inland Sea and the Sea of Japan, bringing almost everything needed to sustain the war for the Shogunate. From time to time, they even went into the field to bombard the castles of rival feudal states near the sea, and sent the Japanese samurai army they recruited to land to help in the battle, which provided great help to the Mori family.

For example, at the same time that the "Choshu Shogun" Mamoru Nobuyoshi commanded 30,000 fallen shogunate troops to besiege Osaka, those "foreigners" also ordered the ronin they recruited to send troops to cooperate, and landed and attacked the Tokugawa family Kii domain south of Osaka, and in only three days broke through the fortified Wakayama Castle and cut off the main foreign aid of the Osaka Castle shogunate army. Then it took less than a month to sweep away the 550,000 koku Tokugawa family domain.

Without this strong cooperation, the battle of Osaka would have been full of twists and turns, and I don't know what kind of battle it would have been.

In exchange for all this strategic material and military aid, the Maori family did not need to spend too much real money, but only needed to provide some antique calligraphy, paintings, and rare books that could not be eaten or clothed, which were abundant in the homes of the elegant ministers in Kyoto, and many were hidden in various shrines and Buddhist temples, and the Maori family only had to order the soldiers to take care of the collection when attacking the temple.

Then there's the massive trafficking of human beings, supposedly by men for mining and women for rewarding breeding, which is not a problem. The samurai in Japan have a long tradition of "indiscriminate hunting" and "human hunting" (roughly similar to Lajandin), and in the increasingly brutal wars of religion, large numbers of samurai monks and Buddhist warriors are captured every day. For the Fallen Army, these guys are the most stubborn stones, neither able to be co-opted nor useful, and should have been killed in the first place. Now it can be sold to the merchants on the "Ao Song" big iron ship, which is already a waste utilization. Not only can they be exchanged for supplies, but they can also reduce their burdens - most of these warrior monks and samurai who are more capable of fighting are in good health, and going down the mines is a good place to go.

After the War of the Downfall, the descendants of the Mori family of the Choshu Domain alone sold about 60,000 troops to the Huameng. Combined with the sale of the population by other allies and the self-capture of Japanese mercenaries in Kii Domain and other places, it is estimated that at least 100,000 people will be sold. For this reason, the Maori family alone received more than 2 million koku of rice and various grains, which strongly supported the huge expenses of the war.

If it were not for this strong reinforcement, the Christianly fallen army, which had been completely isolated by almost the entire traditional Japanese society, would have been stumbling and even beginning to fall apart in the face of the current chaos in the Theater.

Therefore, when Taira Akimori, the commercial attaché of the "Huameng" in Japan, suddenly came to the Nijo Imperial Palace to bid farewell to him, saying that he was about to return to China with their Japanese mercenaries and asked the Mori family to send someone to take over the Kii Domain, the first thing Mori Shu felt was not the joy of the arrival of the new territory and the departure of outsiders, but some kind of ? The panic of abandonment - could it be that the golden thigh he is holding now suddenly doesn't want him, right?

Hey, he's slowly getting used to the status of the leg pendant right now, how can you just go?

“…… I wonder why you resigned in such a hurry? Maori Xiu asked carefully, "...... But what has been the neglect of my clan lately? ”

“…… Oh, don't worry, Lord Maori, my country's sincerity to your clan has always spared no effort, and you should have seen it these days. ”

Ping Qiusheng said with a smile, "...... Let's be honest! Our army is about to launch an attack on the mainland of the Ming Kingdom, so there are no more surplus forces to use on the Japanese archipelago...... Please rest assured, although the reinforcements cannot be withdrawn, the supply of ordnance and materials to your department is still guaranteed......"

-- In the face of such an explanation, Mao Lixiu had to sigh, and also wished His Excellency Ping Qiusheng a smooth journey and a long military fortune.

But when he turned his head, he still couldn't help but feel a burst of weakness - the biggest backer suddenly left, can he not be apprehensive in his heart?

“…… O Lord Almighty, you are my strength and you are my salvation. Hear my prayer, Amen. ”

In the midst of his prayers, he drew a cross with devotion to the Almighty Lord to grant him more victories, for the wicked heretics to fall into the abyss without salvation, and for God to come down on this troubled country of Japan to bless him as a loyal warrior and bring the power of the Maori family to the top......

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

At the end of December of the fifth year of Chongzhen, the Ming Empire, North Zhili, Tianjin, Dagukou

“…… Woo-"

With a long whistle, the last 10,000-ton steel giant ship on the dock slowly left the empty harbor and sailed through the cold sea covered with ice floe. The originally bustling market on the shore has become empty at this time, and there is no figure in sight, like a ghost town.

-- As the Bohai Sea gradually froze after the onset of winter, the merchant ships that had visited Dagu had to leave one after another. The deformed prosperity of the Dagukou Private Port Bazaar due to the large-scale smuggling trade in the past few months has also disappeared in the blink of an eye, just like a flash in the pan.

Looking at this fleeting and whirling trade base, Chen Xin, the former general soldier of Dengzhou Town, couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion for a while.

But what he is more concerned about now is what kind of follow-up military plan the organization has after the end of the Dagu ** Yi.

“…… Comrade Xiao Wang, General Huang Shi is now in charge of directing the Lingnan Raiders, I wonder what your next plans are? ”

“…… Organizationally, let me go to Nanjing. Wang Qiu replied, "...... The Jiangnan Raiders are also about to be launched, and the investigation team in Nanjing must be withdrawn! Alas, these old and shameless guys still claim to be some kind of university professors one by one! actually spent public money to drink flower wine on the Qinhuai River! ”

The fastest update, no pop-up window to read please.