Chapter 1040 Long Live for Five Years, North Korea's Prosperity and Revolution, He Guo's Brutal Looting, Great Mercy Descends!

"Oh! Blessed by the Buddha! Go and rob the rich and rice-eating North Korean country!...But, Mr. Watanabe, since the Ming country has such a powerful force, it can kill the evil ghost king of the Yuan Dynasty. Then the warriors from Kyushu looted North Korea Wouldn't the country be attacked by the Ming army?..."

"Yes! Maitreya Buddha witnessed! The North Korean country is so rich, it should be a giant! Their Korean warriors, who can eat rice all at once, should be very difficult to deal with... Would they die for the rice?..."

"Haha! Mr. Murakami, you don't understand the mystery of this. The shogun of Muromachi is afraid of the Ming Dynasty, but the samurai families under the general are not so afraid. Especially the smaller the samurai family, the less they need to be afraid of! Just like the shoguns of Kyushu It’s not easy for the Er and Ouchi families to make a clear move, but our Ryuzoji family...cough, but the Tsushima clan and the Hedo family’s Matsuura family often go to the coast of North Korea... The reason for this is like a giant beast can trample a crab to death , but it’s like an ant that can’t be trampled to death!…”

The white Sea of ​​Okhotsk, frozen by ice and wind, connects with the vast East China Sea through the narrow Sea of ​​Japan. And the story of the fight on the sea, like the mottled weapons buried on the beach, is silently engraved with death.

The "Japanese pirates" in history, or the East China Sea pirate group, can be roughly divided into three stages. There are also obvious differences in the composition of pirate groups, the scale of pirates, and the technical level of ships, which are closely related to the level of maritime trade.

The first stage is the early Ming Dynasty in the 14th and 15th centuries, or the period of Japanese pirates. Due to the fighting between the Northern and Southern Dynasties in Japan and the final failure of the Southern Dynasties, a large number of Japanese ronin who lost their masters appeared. These ronin traveled around in small boats, plundering and fighting, without any trade. Their most notable signs are simple boats, poor equipment, and backward sailing technology.

The Japanese pirates in this era are generally small in scale, with dozens or hundreds of people, and it is not difficult to deal with them. And with Japan's backward shipbuilding technology, the small early ship produced is not at all an opponent of the Daming Navy. Therefore, these ronin who were born in the Southern Dynasty were simultaneously hostile to the Ming Dynasty and the Northern Dynasty shogunate, and they were quickly wiped out. Then, the composition of the pirates in the East China Sea changed significantly, and came to the second stage.

The second stage is the mid-Ming period in the 15th and early 16th centuries. In this era when the world is about to be connected, it can also be called the Chinese pirate/maritime period. The situation of the Japanese shogunate was stable, and the number of ronin who had lost their land decreased greatly. However, the coastal gentry of Ming Dynasty raised local pirates to control the lucrative maritime private trade.

Because the Ming Dynasty imposed a sea ban, private trade was extremely profitable, but it had to be disguised on the bright side. Appearing in the form of Japanese pirates can not only reduce the risks of the gentry during private trade, but also do some black jobs that are not easy to do officially. The land annexation and wealth accumulation of the gentry in the southeast coast was accompanied by the activity of the "Japanese pirates", which developed rapidly during this period! And because the pirates in the East China Sea need to fight against the Daming Navy and need to carry cargo, the speed of the ship must be very fast and the volume is much larger than that of the Japanese Kozao. The good ships of these Chinese pirates and sea merchants were simply impossible to build in Japan, which lacked shipbuilding technology at this time!

The third stage that is about to appear is the merger of Chinese and Japanese pirates in the middle and late Ming Dynasty in the 16th century, and the Chinese pirates/maritime merchants with more advanced technology and stronger force will dominate. When the global trade is connected by the new sea route opened up, the direct trade between Asia and Europe also means that the profit of sea trade is unbelievably high!

The Chinese pirates and maritime merchants who were originally subordinate to the powerful Ming Dynasty quickly grew from the sea trade, broke free from the shackles of the gentry, and completely controlled the China Sea and the Japan Sea for the first time. In fact, the incredible benefits of maritime trade far outweighed the inefficiency and cost of plunder. And the pirates' desire to open sea trade is even more than that of the wealthy gentry on the coast.

Half a century later, Wang Zhi, the captain of Wufeng, was the first One Piece in the East China Sea. He brought the advanced shipbuilding technology, advanced navigation technology and artillery use technology of the Ming Dynasty to Japan, which was chaotic and fighting in the early Warring States period. He established a real pirate lair in Hirado, Nagasaki, built large ships at sea, gathered Chinese and Japanese pirates, and broke through the coast of North Korea, fell prefectures and counties during the "Yimao Japanese Invasion", and completely established coastal hegemony.

Later, Wang Zhi took control of "Thirty-Six Islands and Tens of Thousands of Pirates", and even established the country as "Song" and called himself "King Hui", monopolizing the maritime trade between the entire East China Sea and the Sea of ​​Japan! And then, Wang Zhi was trapped and killed by Hu Zongxian, Ming Dynasty completely cut off maritime trade, tens of thousands of Chinese and Japanese pirates and maritime merchants lost order and livelihood, and thus opened the long and brutal Jiajing Japanese Invasion...

"Buddha's testimony! The sailors of the Ming Dynasty will not patrol the coast of North Korea. And among the pirates of the Ming Dynasty, there are many heroes, and they will definitely not be willing to be the dogs of the powerful and powerful! There will always be The emergence of forces like the Murakami Suijun..."

The monk Watanabe Masumi's eyes sparkled, and he shook his head slightly when he thought of the pirates from the Ming Dynasty who had met once at sea. The strength of that big bandit at sea is far stronger than that of the Longzhaosi family who has tens of thousands of stones. And with the dense population along the coast of the Ming Kingdom, thousands or even thousands of people could easily be gathered! Fortunately, these powerful pirates of the Ming Dynasty not only look down on the coast of Kyushu, but also have no intention of going to the coast of North Korea to compete with the pirates of Kyushu...

"As for the Kingdom of Korea... Suichiro, there are not many brave warriors in North Korea, and there are no difficult ashigaru! They have so many rich towns and villages, but they don't have enough troops to guard them. A village of thousands of people, often There are only dozens of peasants and soldiers, and there are North Korean uncles who are willing to lead the way everywhere... Those gentlemen in North Korea are more careful about the untouchable people under their rule than us! ... "

"Ah? How is it possible! Isn't there such a rich and prosperous North Korea guarded by powerful warriors?!...Gold Shipsmith, is that so?..."

Hearing Murakami Jitong's question, the shipbuilder Jin Shanshu was silent for a moment, did not speak, but nodded slightly.

At this time at the end of the 15th century, the Lee Dynasty had about 8 million people, but only a few hundred thousand troops, and most of them were military households with low support costs. The military-to-civilian ratio was almost 1:50 or more. In contrast, the stone height of Heguo at this time was about 13 million. According to the Japanese standard of 1.4 stone per person, it is estimated that there are about 9 million people, which is similar to the scale of Lee's North Korea. According to the calculation of the ordinary daimyo's military service of 250 people in Wanshi, Quanhe Kingdom has an army size of at least 300,000, and the ratio of soldiers to civilians has almost reached 1:30!

The ratio of soldiers and civilians in the country is almost the same as that of the Central American tribes that have been in war for thousands of years! However, Heguo does not have high-yield corn, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and cassava, nor does it have complete water conservancy facilities. The agricultural yield per mu is actually far inferior to that of the Mexica Union.

In He country, even the daimyos live in poverty, almost the poorest depression among East Asian countries, not even as good as the nomadic Mongolian chiefs...

"Maitreya Buddha witnesses! Master Watanabe, are there inhuman filth in North Korea? They also slaughter? Gods and Buddhas! Will there be so much filth everywhere?..."

"Hmmm. The Zunduo in North Korea are not just butchers, but more slaves working in the fields! To be honest, their number is probably more than that of civilians!..."

Hearing Watanabe Masumi's guess, the shipbuilder Jin Shanshu bowed his waist and lowered his head unconsciously. He sighed, and began to sing softly, but it was the dialect of the countryside in Gyeongsang-do.

"What is the tortoise, what is the first appearance! The emperor ordered the king to come here to be the king. You dig the soil, pile up the soil and sing loudly. Dance and dance is to welcome the king!... When the king arrives, the Han River will produce a gold box, a gold box Open six eggs, six eggs will turn into a boy, and the boy will become a king!...The king leaps into the air, meets the sun, and will be king for generations!..."

"Under the Great Sun King, if you are born with a thousand stars in the sky, you will be a thousand masters in the sky! The masters are arranged on both sides. When you are born, they descend from the sky and rise back to the sky after death. The blue sky and the stars do two shifts! ... The stars in the sky are immortal , the two classes in the world are eternal!"

"Dari King opened the golden mouth, a thousand stars shine on the earth, filthy insects are hidden in the dung! The filthy insects are transformed into inhumans: witches and prostitutes give birth to prostitutes, concubines give birth to children, male temple gangs, Pansuoli, carpenters, criminals Afterwards, the evil Buddhist disciples... a generation of filthy worms will never be replaced for generations!..."

"Hiss!... Goldboatsmith, what are you talking about! Could it be that you are practicing some kind of Korean witchcraft?..."

"...Master Watanabe, this is a country ballad... It's about King Dainichi, the masters of the second class, and non-human pariahs"

Shipwright Jin Shanshu rubbed his face, put on a respectful smile, and explained in a low voice.

"In the myths and stories passed down from generation to generation, the king is the dragon egg in the golden box of the Han River, which turns into a great sun. The two classes are the stars in the sky, which come from the sky and return to the sky...As for the lowest pariah, they are in the dung. The filthy worms who are born are still pariahs, and they will never turn over..."

"The history of the untouchables, witches, butchers, whores, children of whores, children of concubines, dancers, singers, sculptors, and all offspring of sinners, and There are Buddhists who have been condemned as evil by the government..."

"And as long as one generation becomes a pariah, then their descendants, from generation to generation, will be pariahs! ...Eternal life, eternity, and generations, can't be changed!..."

"Ah! Maitreya Buddha! Even wizards, entertainers, craftsmen and Buddhists are untouchables?..."

"What! One generation is a slave, and the next generation is a slave? This is too scary!..."

Hearing the gold shipsmith's explanation, the Japanese samurai in front of the bonfire looked at each other in dismay, which was really incredible. Of course, there are untouchables in He country, mainly the bottom-level people who are engaged in butchers, leather making, selling leather, cleaning, performing, and selling bamboo and straw ware. But in the final analysis, in the country where wars are frequent, samurai fight for hegemony, and productivity is low, the proportion of untouchables is not high, and it is completely incomparable with North Korea.

For the 1,200 classes of nobles in North Korea, they can reduce the army as much as possible and reduce the treatment of the army. Because the army can't fight, it doesn't matter, there is a powerful Ming Suzerain to guarantee the external security! They could also establish virtual slavery, enslaving the untouchables, who made up nearly half the population. Because it doesn't matter if there is an uprising in the country, you can use the Great Ming soldiers to enter the country and put down the rioting untouchables! …

In other words, the rule of the two classes of nobles in North Korea does not depend on the ruled ordinary people, Baiding and untouchables, but only depends on the suzerain country Daming, so it can be as reactionary as possible to the extreme! This kind of majorism, which is maintained by the suzerain, has also continued into later generations, into the 21st century...

The North Korean Liangban wantonly expanded their lowly status and completely solidified class circulation. They have not changed a bit through the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In 1908, in the first census of the Joseon Empire, the number of fourth-class people was just under 6 million. The number of non-human slaves and hermits reached an astonishing 13 million, or even 70% of the population!

"Blessed by the Great Bodhisattva Hachiman! The samurai of the Korean country rarely have the will to fight to the end. And their military households have even simpler weapons and equipment than the ashigaru in the village... The only thing that makes the samurai of Kyushu a headache is the Korean country. The sailing army! Those patrol boats are much more powerful than our Xiaozao and Guan boats. They conscript labor and shipbuilding speed is indeed very fast! Even if we burn a few sailing boats at all costs Ships, North Korea will soon build new ones..."

The shipbuilding level of the countries in Japan has also been at the bottom of the East Asian countries for a long time, only better than Mongolia. Before Wufeng Shipowner Wang went straight to Hirado and brought the advanced shipbuilding technology of Ming Dynasty to the country, Heguo's shipbuilding level was fully two eras behind Daming and an era behind North Korea!

The plundering warriors of various clans in Kyushu of the Warring Kingdom were never afraid of fighting the Korean army on land, and often dozens of warriors chased and hacked hundreds of Korean troops, achieving a record of one against ten. But once encountering the North Korean navy at sea, Heguo's small boats are like floating coffins, and they can only flee around separately, as much as they can escape. The loss of such ships is also the biggest obstacle for the clans in Kyushu to plunder North Korea...

"However, there are always times when the navy of North Korea is slack! The samurai will leave as soon as they grab it. As long as they don't go too deep, the gains will always be more than the losses... as long as a few samurai and ashigaru die, you can It's a good deal to exchange for a pile of goods that can't be grown in the field!..."

Soldier Watanabe Masumi rubbed his chin, looked at the frozen ocean boat in the distance, the greed and desire in his heart tossed and turned like a tide. Under the persevering looting of Kyushu samurai, various craftsmen from North Korea gradually flowed into He Kingdom with advanced technology from the Celestial Dynasty, bringing the development of crafts in various industries.

"Phew, Hachiman Bodhisattva testifies! As long as there is enough reward, as long as there is enough reward!... All the samurai families in Kitakyushu, whether it is the Zong family, the Matsuura family, the Otomo family, the Ryuzoji family, or even the powerful Shaoer family and Dai family behind the scenes. The inner family doesn't care about human life! And the pearls that really shine in this plump and juicy clam in North Korea are those outstanding craftsmen!!..."

"If you can break through Guangzhou and Goryeong in North Korea's Gyeonggi Province, and capture the top porcelain craftsmen who fired white porcelain...or break through Nampo in South Pyongan Province in North Korea, and capture those master blacksmiths who made refined iron...or break through On Ganghwa Island in Gyeonggi-do, those senior boatmen who can build large ships were captured...even those who plundered around Wangjing in North Korea, and those excellent lacquer craftsmen who made lacquerware were captured...they are all gold that can go far and grow golden leaves Bodhi tree!..."

Under the favor of the suzerain Daming, Lee's North Korea bloomed the flowers of splendid East Asian science and technology, only half a step behind the towering Ming Dynasty. And North Korea's most outstanding is silk weaving, porcelain manufacturing, lacquerware manufacturing, iron smelting and steel making, and dock building...

Although Toyotomi Hideyoshi was defeated by the Ming army in the war of invasion, the various artisans brought back from the captivity made the country's agriculture, construction, steelmaking, shipbuilding, porcelain firing, and other technologies all fully realized. leap! Japanese-style celadon appeared for the first time in Kinki, Japan, during the firing of Korean porcelain craftsmen. When Date Masamune built seagoing ships, in addition to the guidance of Spanish missionaries, there were also Korean shipbuilders who were good at woodworking, all of whom were looted from the Imjin Japanese War!

And when the Jurchen tribes rose up in Liaodong, the iron craftsmen and firearms craftsmen of North Korea were busy day and night for the Jurchen tribes, providing weapons and armor that would not fall to the Liaodong frontier army... It can be said that the flower of technology of Lee's Korea, The delicious fruit it bears can always help its "friendly" neighbors and realize the progress of the entire tribe across the ages!

"Blessed by the Great Bodhisattva Hachiman! If I can go back to Longzoo Temple's home, if I have a fast sea boat, I must...stop! Stop!...Haha! Knowing that ice and snow are water, is there ever a gap between the Buddha's birth? Knowledge and vision If you don't see, you can't know how to stand. It only increases truth and falsehood..."

"Phew! The snow is falling all over the sky, and the weather is getting colder and colder... Letting everyone survive this long winter is the real reason!

The snow and ice rustled down, and my thoughts flew away and flew back. Soldier Watanabe Masumi took a long breath and stood up. He wiped the snowflakes off his bald head, patted the nervous goldsmith, and ended the increasingly greedy conversation.

However, with his Dharma practice, his desire for greed, fame, fortune and power is only temporarily suppressed, waiting for the day when it will sweep again like a summer tide! I just don't know what he looked like at that time...

"Mr. Murakami. The snow is falling more and more frequently, and the snow is getting thicker... We still have twenty people left. Although the food on the boat is rich, I heard that the winter here is longer, and it may last for half a year... So, before the snow covers the horseshoes, let's exchange some food with the surrounding Luyi tribes!..."

"Okay! Buddha blesses you! I'll send three warriors to exchange the last drink in the boat and the iron pot that the tribe is willing to accept!..."

"Okay! Three people go on horseback, it's safer, and you can bring more goods!... Well, be careful, avoid those big tribes...May the Bodhisattva be merciful and the Buddha bless you!"

"Yes! May the Bodhisattva be merciful and the Buddha bless you!"

The sound of devout chanting to Buddha drifted across the vast snow field. And in this ice and snow world far away from the Buddhist kingdom and shrouded in Tengger, can Bodhisattvas and Buddhas hear their prayers? Maybe the Buddhas are not blessed, or maybe the great compassion of the Bodhisattva has already come to the world in the distant horizon...

This is the end of the description of the East Asian background! Hee hee, the author buried a lot of details and foreshadowing, waiting for the follow-up to start, the mighty wave of sweeping efforts to update, ask for a monthly ticket and support at the end of the month!