1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 708 The Ambition of Yizhou Town
On July 1654, 7, Ping An Island (now Catanduanes Island in the eastern Philippines), Fengtai Port (Bilak Port in the south of Catanduanes Island).

Two armed merchant ships under the Qi State Ryukyu Fleet and an immigrant ship from Yizhou Town slowly docked at Fengtai Port Wharf. Slowly walk to the berth of the ship, ready to unload the goods arriving at the port.

Ji Changrong, Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, and other members of the diplomatic mission walked off the ship with exhausted expressions. Because the negotiations on the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Japanese shogunate were not smooth, everyone was not interested. The officials went to the official residence in the city, intending to rest here for a few days, and then take the opportunity to return to the mainland by boat.

It has been 15 years (1639) since Ping An Island was incorporated into the overseas territory of Qi State. Because of a storm, an immigrant ship accidentally drifted to this island, and then unloaded the immigrants and set up a temporary camp for temporary rest. .Later, because this island was the most important node in the eastern immigration route, Qi State then occupied it and focused on construction, becoming a key supply transit point for the eastern route.

Later, because of the need to deal with the Spaniards in Luzon, the State of Qi stepped up its construction efforts on the island and quickly built it into the most important logistics supply center of the State of Qi in the Luzon area, which strongly supported the naval operations of the State of Qi in the area. military action.

There are many hills and low mountains on Ping An Island. The highest peak is 1000 meters above sea level. It is hot and humid all year round. From June to October, typhoons occur frequently.The northeast coast of the island is a plain with fertile soil, and it is the main rice producing area of ​​the island.In addition, the island is densely forested, produces hardwoods, and has a large amount of wild abaca, which can provide sufficient ship materials and rigging for the local shipbuilding industry.

Because the geographical location and port conditions of Fengtai Port are much better than those of Ping Anbao (Bagamanok Town, northern Catanduanes Island) in the north, the Luzon General Administration District is carrying out a vigorous development and construction of Fengtai Port. Finally, seven years ago, the government resident was relocated here.

However, in recent years, as the Qi State successively occupied Yimen Island (now Basilan Island in the southwest of Mindanao Island in the Philippines), Huining Fort (now Zamboanga City in the southwest of Mindanao Island in the Philippines), Luzhong Island (now in Wudao Island in the Philippines) ), the Luzon General District has plans to transfer the government residence, and plans to move the government office to Runing Fort (now Cebu City, Philippines) on Luzhong Island to better manage several Luzon territories under its jurisdiction.

The three ships that arrived at the port carried few supplies, only a small amount of cotton cloth and saltpeter, and most of the shipping space was given to immigrants from Daming.However, from the boat belonging to Yizhou Town, more than 100 short Japanese wandering samurai descended. Although each of them looked tired, they still tried their best to stand up straight and show their bravery and strength. .

Shi Yuanping, the rear battalion commander of Yizhou Town who came with the boat, went straight to the officials of Qi State on the pier and asked them to give the immigrants who disembarked water supplements and arrange a temporary rest camp.As for the expenses, you can directly contact the representative office of Yizhou Town in Ping'an Island for verification at that time.

"Master Shi, you have all these wandering Japanese warriors in Yizhou Town, are you planning to launch an operation against the nearby native tribes again?" A Qi official who was familiar with Shi Yuanping asked with a smile.

"My Yizhou town wants to expand to the north. The natives there are brutal and have hurt many of our immigrants. We are going to launch a large-scale campaign to wipe out the native tribes there." Shi Yuanping replied: "It is said that several gold mines and copper mines have been discovered in the northeast mountainous area two hundred miles away. Do you intend to send troops to the Luzon District?"

"Gold mines and copper mines?" The official's eyes lit up immediately, "Are there rich mines? Unfortunately, some of the township soldiers on the island have been transferred to Hele Island (Jolo Island) to fight the natives. I'm afraid In a short time, we really can’t squeeze too many people.”

"My officers and soldiers in Yizhou Town have found a lot of gold and some copper ores from the native tribes that were suppressed. I think the mineral deposits should be relatively rich." Shi Yuanping said with a smile: "If the soldiers left behind on Ping An Island want to If you make a small fortune, you can volunteer to come to our Yizhou, and together go to the northeast mountainous area to wipe out the natives there."

Although the entire population of Ping'an Island is only over 3000, and there are less than 200 rural soldiers on duty, but having an extra military force to participate in Yizhou's suppression of natives will expand the scope of the suppression and increase the living space of Yizhou .

For more than ten years, relying on the protection and support of Qi State, Yizhou Town has grown from less than 8000 people with only one stronghold to a population of more than 4. The entire Yizhou Bay area (now Albay Bay, Legazpi, southeast Philippines).

Two years ago, together with the Qi State, they invaded the Luzon territory to which Zheng Zhilong belonged, and plundered its population and supplies, which really strengthened the strength of Yizhou.Later, Zheng Zhilong returned to the Ming Dynasty in time anyway, and the two families also withdrew from the Zheng family's Luzon territory as promised.

However, in order to hold the Zheng family hostage and prevent them from repeating themselves, before leaving, the two families occupied a seaside stronghold called Lucena on the north shore of Tayabas Bay, renamed it Xinghua Fort, and built a castle and established a base here.The place is only 120 miles away from Jiangzhou (now Batangas City, Philippines), the territory of the Zheng family, and only more than 200 miles away from Longzhou (now Manila, the Philippines), the capital of the Zheng family's Luzon territory.It can be said that a sharp knife was inserted into Zheng's waist, and at the same time blocked Zheng's further development path to the southeastern part of Luzon Island.

As the power of Yizhou Town gradually expanded, its inner ambitions also grew.Recently, the leaders of several principals in Yizhou Town tentatively asked the top officials of the Qi State what their opinion was on their founding of the country.

Officials of the Qi State have shown great generosity towards the founding of Yizhou, but there is one thing that they cannot be called kings for the time being.Just kidding, my Daqi Kingdom has not yet become the emperor, how can you be a vassal of a local force, how can you become the king, call yourself a widow, and still sit on an equal footing with my Daqi.

The people in Yizhou Town don't care whether they are called kings or not.Anyway, as long as I am allowed to establish a state system and stand on my own in Luzon, then we Luzon labor coolies who have worked hard for more than ten years will have a happy ending.At that time, if your great king of the Qi State proclaims himself the emperor and becomes the emperor, then our Yizhou Town will naturally rise, and take advantage of the situation to become the king, which is also what should be done.

Therefore, Yizhou Town has recently been filled with excitement and high spirits, and it is going to clean up the surrounding native forces before the founding of the country.Then, hold a lively National Founding Ceremony.Of course, in order to respect the suzerain status of the Qi State, the town of Yizhou had to ask the Qi State to canonize it and become an official vassal state of the Da Qi Kingdom.

Two months ago, Shi Yuanping collected more than 200 craftsmen and entertainers in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, and then followed the Qi State warship to Hanxing Island (today's Miyako Island) to temporarily stop for rest.During this period, they went to Ryukyu to recruit more than a hundred Japanese wandering warriors, preparing to bring them back to Yizhou, filling them into the vassal troops under their jurisdiction, and cooperating with the officers and soldiers of Yizhou Town to launch a war against the native tribes.

After fighting a lot of battles with the Luzon General Administration of Qi State, Yizhou Town also gradually discovered that these wandering Japanese warriors are really useful, as long as you give them some Hanzhou silver dollars and fill their stomachs, they can sell their lives down.In the end, they were driven to fight bravely on the battlefield for the expansion of Yizhou Town.Even after retiring in a few years, they are scattered and distributed to various settlements, but they are all good farmers who are down-to-earth and willing to work.

Although these wandering warriors looked poor and short, they were extremely brave in combat, and they were even more fearless in battle. They were considered the best cannon fodder for opening up Luzon's territory, oh, no, the best fighters.

"General Shi, do you think it's true that these Japanese have never eaten a bite of meat since they were young?" The captain of the township soldiers from Fengtai Port rushed to the pier and invited Shi Yuanping and other Yizhou town officers and entourages to have dinner in the city and emigrate At the temporary resettlement site, I found that more than a hundred Japanese wandering warriors recruited by Yizhou Town were holding a big bowl, eating food voraciously, eating a few pieces of fish allotted to each person, and even some fish The bone fishbone is also chewing hard and swallowing.

"Meat is banned in Japan, and the ban stipulates that the meat of the five animals (cow, horse, dog, monkey, chicken) is not allowed." Shi Yuanping said with a smile: "As for fish, it is estimated that people near the sea have eaten it. Ordinary Japanese living in the interior are said to have never eaten meat.”

"What a crime!" Captain Wang Yongzhu looked at the Japanese wandering warriors with some sympathy, "I was poor back then, not to mention meat, and I ate little rice and noodles. However, when I arrived at Ping An Island, I was truly full. I can still eat some fish every day. Even beef, I have eaten it a few times. Tell me, why did the Japanese government issue a regulation prohibiting the people from eating meat? Isn’t this a different way to toss the people below?”

The prohibition of meat in Japan dates back to 674 AD, which is the end of the Asuka era in Japan.At that time, Emperor Tenmu had been on the throne for four years. Because he believed in Buddhism, he issued a ban on eating meat, not to mention killing animals, and asked the whole country to ban the consumption of "meat from the five animals".

Especially beef and poultry, if you secretly eat meat, you will be punished by fasting for 100 days after being found.If you eat pork or venison, you will have to repent for up to 60 days after being found out.With the imperial order issued by the emperor and facing punishment at any time, the poor Japanese people began to live a vegetarian life that lasted for 12 centuries.They take rice as their staple food one after another, accompanied by the habit of eating beans and vegetables.Those famous Japanese dishes, such as tempura, natto and sushi, etc., were all developed by the Japanese in a long-term environment without meat.

During this period, the Buddhist monks in Japan, probably out of the need to consolidate their status, continued to brainwash the people, claiming that eating meat is a symbol of killing, advocating the theory that all people are vegetarians, and developing some very unique The names of vegetarian dishes all have the meaning of "away from evil".

The emperor also vigorously publicized that eating meat will tarnish the pure soul, especially when he is sick, he should not eat meat, and made up a lot of stories about sudden death from eating meat to strengthen intimidation, making people discouraged.

Coincidentally, the Japanese people also believe in Inari God, the god in charge of grains. They believe that white rice is a more noble food than vulgar meat. Regular eating of white rice can bring good luck to the body, and gradually it will be smooth. It's natural to abandon the habit of eating meat.

With long-term development, most Japanese people feel that meat is unclean and corrupt. Only when it comes to special festivals, occasions, or celebrations, etc., Japanese people will choose to eat a small amount of fish Only then did they gradually form a unique habit of eating fish and seafood.

The government imposed pressure on their heads, and the common people dared not disobey, but for the nobles, it was relatively easy to want to eat meat.Especially those famous generals, who have been fighting non-stop throughout their lives, will become weak if they don't eat meat, and they must maintain sufficient physical strength at all times.

Tokugawa Ieyasu, who is known as the "mighty and strong man", is said to like to eat roast chicken, and he seems to be very rare "tall and straight", with the temperament that does not lose to Zhang Fei, the fierce general of the Three Kingdoms, and is also known as "Yamatai Zhang Fei".

Whether Tokugawa Ieyasu is as fierce as Zhang Fei, we don't know, but at least in terms of height, compared with Zhang Fei, the "tall and straight" Tokugawa Ieyasu has lost miserably, because he is only 1 meters poor, and Zhang Fei was eight feet tall, and with a wave of his weapon on a horse, he might just be able to pass over Tokugawa Ieyasu's head, and he didn't even have to lower his head to hide.By the time the fifth-generation General Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was only 56 meters tall, it was no longer a question of whether he was short or not, but close to a dwarf.

These Warring States generals who can eat meat are only so tall, not to mention the ordinary soldiers under them who are born in poverty and rarely eat a bite of meat.It can be said that Japan in this period can be regarded as a dwarf everywhere, an out-and-out "Little Japan".

Long-term vegetarianism not only affects the size of the Japanese, making them smaller and smaller from generation to generation, but also seriously affects their average life expectancy.During the Tokugawa shogunate, the average life expectancy of the Japanese was only 30 years old.And because they don't eat meat for a long time, Japanese people generally suffer from severe "beriberi", even if you are an emperor or princess, it is inevitable.

However, once these Japanese immigrants left Japan and migrated to Luzon or Qi, as if to make up for the resentment of having not touched meat for decades, they would crazily devour any meat, even the shreds of meat in the bones They also try to suck as much as possible, and if conditions permit, they will smash the bones and suck the bone marrow clean.

Whether the Japanese can eat meat, and how evil these wandering warriors are, Shi Yuanping doesn't want to care about it at all.When he accompanied the Qi State diplomatic and commercial delegation all the way to Ping An Island, he heard a naval officer on their ship mention that the Qi State Navy was planning to decommission several old warships and armed merchant ships, and sell them at domestic trading companies and individuals.

For this reason, Shi Yuanping also tentatively asked the young minister of Honglu Temple whether Yizhou Town could have the retired warships and armed merchant ships of Qi State.The other party thought for a while, and then gave an affirmative answer.At the same time, a suggestion is also given. If Yizhou Town is equipped with several warships or armed merchant ships, it can request to form a joint fleet with Qi. This will not only further strengthen the military cooperation between each other, but also train and cultivate Yizhou. The town's maritime armed forces will make due contributions to the joint maintenance of maritime security, trade and immigration routes in the region.

It’s a different matter if you don’t contribute or not. If Yizhou Town has several warships, it will greatly enhance the strength of Yizhou Town in the area, and at the same time play a more active role in the local expansion and immigration transfer of Yizhou Town. promotion.In the future, if you take a fancy to the resources on which island, or want to punish the native tribe on a certain island, you don't have to repeatedly ask the Qi fleet for cooperation and support.

Relying on their own sea power, they can sweep the surrounding islands and frighten the native tribes of the islands. Think about it, how carefree it is.

(End of this chapter)